Text PIGFLU to 41411 and we will send updates as news develops about the Swine Flu. The only cost is your cost for receiving regular text messages, and there will be no other billing. We are providing this service in the public interest.

We aim to send out info between 1-3 times daily, with urgent information such as new outbreak information, messages from health authorities and travel warnings as they develop.

The beauty of going green is that it’s usually cheap. Buying used stuff, recycling, and driving less also happen to save you a lot of money. Solar panels do not, but then again, you don’t need those for your home office.

Below are three bare-bones steps to setting up a green home office for $1,000 or less. Note that the prices listed are estimations of how much you need to spend for decent-quality goods. You can always go cheaper or free, depending on how thrifty, patient, and lucky you are:

Step 1: Buy used furniture.

Many cities have office liquidation outlets (I found this one near Denver). You can find a good used office chair for around $70, a clean used desk for $100–IKEA offers new ones for less–and a filing cabinet at the thrift store for $10.

Total cost: $180

Step 2: Buy a refurbished laptop.

You can purchase a good refurbished laptop for as little as 400. I found a Dell Latitude Core Duo for $419. Look around, and don’t be afraid to go used.

Total cost: $420

Step 3: Purchase an all-in-one printer/scanner/copier/fax.

We’ve been touting the HP Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless All-in-One as a good example of the kind of office machine that will save you waste and money. The HP, and devices like it, save you from either buying separate machines, or making endless trips to the copy shop. Buy used if your budget is very tight.

Total cost: $400 (or less–see below)

After completing these three steps, you’ll have the basics. You probably already own a cell phone and minor office supplies like pens and paper. Chances are, you’re already paying for an Internet connection, too.

You can build on your basic, green home office over time by adding more plants, replacing your light bulbs with energy-efficient CFLs, buying space heaters/fans, and making or buying green cleaning supplies.

Note that going green on the cheap might not be the same as going ergonomic. You might require more expensive, back-friendly chairs and raised computer monitors, which could set you back another $500 if you go used. Assess your needs in advance so that you save time, money, and effort buy buying your goods right the first time around.

Note to readers: HP has arranged a special offer for our readers to save 20% ($80) on the new HP Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless All-in-One. Go here for the coupon code and terms and conditions. Visit here for more product information.

HP sent us an Officejet Pro 8500 all-in-one wireless printer to review. We tested it with small- and home-based businesses in mind.

The Officejet Pro Wireless includes a printer, fax machine, copier, scanner, business graphic software, and photo processor. You operate it through a wireless connection or via a full-color touch screen on the device. It comes with a 250-sheet input tray, touchscreen color display, and two-sided print/fax/scan/copying.

HP lists specs here.

Order an Officejet Pro 8500 here.

Overall, the printer performs well. HP advertises it as an eco-friendly, cost-saving device that produces business graphics comparable to a laser printer. It lives up to this claim, with a few caveats.

Pros:

Prints professional-looking documents
Wireless connectivity
Intuitive controls and interface
Double-sided printing
All-in-one device
Green paper- and power-saving features
Quality compares to a laser printer
Comes with helpful software
Cost- and energy-efficient
Powerful enough for a business
Full set of features

Cons:

Some software quirks
Noisy
Slower than a laser printer
Too slow for big print jobs

Installation

The printer is easy to put together. It comes with ink cartridges, print heads, an installation CD, manuals, and a phone cable. The power supply jutting out the back of the printer and the paper tray in front make the printer take up a fair bit of space. The printer needs to be placed on a solid surface, otherwise it shakes.

Installation needs to be done both on the printer’s touchscreen and on a desktop. The machine’s software package requires an impressive 420 mb of space. You can reduce this amount by uninstalling some of the default programs that you don’t need.

Installation and calibration took us about half an hour.

Software

One of the machine’s perks is the software that comes with it. The HP Solutions Center is the most useful program in the package. It displays a control panel for operating the printer, fax, copier, and scanner. The interface also displays cartridge ink levels and the printer’s status. It allows you to change settings and troubleshoot the device in one place. User can forward documents to network folders, a nice organizational shortcut. Shop for cartridges from here, see special offers and tips.

The In-House Marketing button takes you to HP’s online Creative Studio, a marketing resource. You’ll find customizable marketing material templates here (for business cards, startup packages, brochures, posters, blogs, websites, logos, and more). Some designs are free, and they look professional.

Combined with the Creative Studio, the printer enables small business owners to design, customize, and print marketing materials, which saves a trip to the professional printer. It’s a valuable resource.

The HP Document Manager is also handy. It allows you to edit and annotate documents, attach them to emails, convert them into editable text, organize faxes/scans/desktop documents, and more. It’s a time-saving way to manage all the documents you want to involve with your HP all-in-one.

HP Photosmart Essential allows you to edit, organize, share, manage, and print photos. You can drag and drop to print photos, which is nice, but otherwise, Photosmart is comparable to other free photo software on the market.

HP’s default installation also comes with a couple of useless programs, like Shop for HP Supplies (which links you to the product sales page on HP’s website) and the HP Customer Participation Program. These programs need to be uninstalled so that they don’t eat up memory.

Printer

Default (normal) resolution produces high-quality documents. Business cards, flyers, and standard business documents look professional at this setting. You can adjust a document’s properties through the Printing Shortcuts menu, a useful interface offering one-click brochure, two-sided, fast/economical, and other print settings.

The printer operates quickly on one-sided and black-and-white documents. Color printing is fast and good. But the machine prints double-sided color documents slowly. It prints one side, lets the ink dry, sucks paper back up, then prints the other side. The quality is excellent, but, due to slowness, may not be practical for large print jobs.

If you use photos in your posters and brochures, they may need tweaking before looking good in the printer. There’s no easy way to print a double-sided, full bleed brochure on the device. Once you print one brochure, you can duplicate it more quickly through the color copier than by printing.

HP designed the ink pigment to be water-resistant. It produces bold colors that work well for business graphic use. Most documents will look professional on this printer.

It is louder than a laser printer. The biggest paper size you can print is 8.5” x 11.” On the upside, the 250-sheet paper tray gives you plenty of time between paper replacements.
You can print photos directly from a USB stick or memory card (CF, MMC, SD, XD, MS/DUO).

Copier

The copier has a 50-sheet feeder on top. Copies come out quickly, with excellent quality. Two-sided color copies take longest to produce.

Fax

The fax machine has a couple of neat features. One, it lets you block junk fax phone numbers. Secondly, it allows you to send copies of faxes to a network folders instead of printing them on paper, which allows you to save paper. It also has a 125-page memory.

Scanner

Scans show up instantly on your computer screen. You can scan either through the flatbed or ADF (automatic document feeder). Scan quality is very good. It’s not optimal for high-resolution work, eg. with hi-res photos, but is good for everyday use. Like faxes, scans can be filed into network folders. The ADF makes multipage scans easy to execute.

Photos

Upload photos directly to the printer through built-in card readers that take all the standard memory cards and USB. There’s also a PictBridge slot through which you can connect your camera directly.

You can crop and adjust color/contrast using the touch screen. The Photosmart software gives you additional photo editing options.

The machine prints good quality photos. If you want excellent quality, try using the printer with HP paper and ink designed specifically for printing photos.

Additional Remarks

Its strong wireless system helps the printer communicate well from different rooms. It is easy to control jobs remotely. The printer takes about two minutes to check and clean itself whenever you power it on. Every time you activate it, the printer informs every computer on the network of its status, which is annoying for people not involved with the print job. It comes with a 1-year warranty.

Cost Savings

The HP 8500 saves money in several ways:

- It’s EnergyStar rated. One way it saves energy costs is by sleeping when not in use, then activating again when given a print job or by pressing the touch screen.
- It offers comparable quality to a laser printer, for a lower cost. Note that the quality is comparable, not identical, and that speed suffers in the 8500.
- Color cartridges can be replaced individually. HP also offers XL and combo ink packs that lower cost/page.
- It does small to medium-sized print jobs well, saving a potentially expensive trip to the professional printer.
- It saves you from using and maintaining three separate machines.
- A green perk: Send in cartridges for HP to recycle for free.

Final verdict: The HP Officejet Pro 8500 All-in-One Wireless is worth the price. Order one here.

HP has arranged a special offer for our readers to save 20% ($80) on the new HP Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless All-in-One. Go here for the coupon code and terms and conditions. Visit here for more product information.

The folks at Inc. asked me to help reach out to business owners–hopefully, that’s you–so that they can find good applicants for their list. If you’ve been generating revenue since 2005, and have made at least $2 million in revenue in 2008, read on.

A shout out on Inc.’s list is not only excellent PR, but helps give a much-needed national voice to small- and medium-sized businesses. I support what Inc. is accomplishing, and encourage you to take a look at the awards.

Here are some excerpts from their description. Note that the deadline is May 1:

For those who make the list, the Inc. 500|5000 award is a validation of your innovative thinking and relentless hard work—not to mention an extraordinary promotional opportunity for your company. You’ll be featured in Inc. magazine and/or on Inc.com, be honored at one of the most elite gatherings of entrepreneurs in the nation, and have access to year-round networking, promotional, and educational opportunities through the Inc. network.


To be eligible for the 2009 Inc. 500|5000, your company must meet these criteria:
1. Your company must be privately held, for profit, and independent (not a subsidiary or a division of a larger company with other revenue-generating operations).
2. Your company must be based in the United States.
3. Your company must have been generating revenue by the first week of 2005 at the latest.
4. Your company’s revenue must have been at least $200,000 in 2005.
5. Your company’s revenue must have been at least $2 million in 2008.

Bonus: No points against you if your company’s revenue took a hit last year.

Apply at http://www.apply5000list.com. Or click the button below.

East Rutherford, NJ – MWW Group (www.mww.com), one of the nation’s top ten public relations firms, today launched a national initiative asking America, “What Change Are You Ready For in the First 100 Days?” MWW Group is searching for individuals and organizations to provide “100 Words for 100 Days,” defined as a written or spoken description of a positive change that can be effected within the first 100 days of the Obama administration. The winning organization will earn three full months of PR support from MWW Group to help implement that change. The winning individual will earn a paid internship.

MWW Group is one of the nation’s top ten public relations agencies and is known for its results-driven approach to public relations and “Aim High… and Deliver” commitment to client service. For the past four years, MWW Group has been honored with the #1 ranking in the Holmes Report agency client satisfaction survey. MWW Group achieved top rankings in the categories of account leadership, strength of account team, creativity, strategy and planning, and program execution. In 2006, MWW Group was named PR Agency of the Year by The Holmes Report and Mid-size PR Firm of the Year by PR News, in recognition of the firm’s growth, strategic account leadership and industry-leading employee retention. MWW Group is part of the Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE: IPG).

We all seem to be broke these days. Why would anyone in their right mind want to donate money during a financial crisis?

Easy. Because the person you’re donating to feels the economic crisis, too. The difference is that while you may lose your house, they may lose their lives.

The financial crisis has resulted in drastically reduced commodity prices. That’s good for us, but not so good for the farmers in the developing world who sell the things we consume. For them, tumbling prices mean higher odds of starvation, losing educational opportunities for their children, perishing from health problems, or turning to prostitution to survive.

50% off is not always pretty.

When you give a microloan, you’re not just helping someone out. In bad global economic situations like the current one, you could save someone’s life.

Kiva.org offers microloans to select entrepreneurs around the world. Through donations, the organization helps lend tiny amounts of capital to entrepreneurs who would otherwise not have access to funds at all, or be subject to loan sharks.

Most recipients are women. Their businesses run the gamut from car repair shops to small farms. Business owners generally take their loans very seriously and repay them as soon as they can.

Loan applicants are featured on Kiva’s website, allowing lenders to connect to them as people as well as lenders. When website users decide to lend money—usually a few hundred dollars—the money goes to a microfinance institution, which then hands the money to the entrepreneur.

Loans aren’t risky–defaults are at 1.4%. And Kiva is totally hip. Here are some of Kiva’s most recent statistics, from their website:

Total value of all loans made through Kiva: $45,292,510
Number of Kiva Lenders: 343,694
Current repayment rate (all partners): 98.62%
Average total amount loaned per Kiva Lender (includes reloaned funds): $131.69

If you’re a traveler, Kiva certainly beats giving money to begging children. If you have a big heart, browsing through entrepreneurs’ profiles is enough to convince you that the program works.

Entrepreneurs usually take up to a year to repay loans. Kiva donations start at only $25.

Sound good? Advanta now offers a credit card that will match 100% of your Kiva grant donation of up to $200/month. Additional perks include:

–A 5% credit on all grants made to Kiva, other charities, and some qualifying purchases. Hitting the limit of $1,200 nets you $60 in credit each year.
–15 months of balance transfers at 0% APR.
–APR is fixed at 7.99%.
–No annual fee.
–It’s called a business card, but individuals can apply, too, if their credit rating is very good.

The card is a simple way to do serious good. If you can pay it off, try it out.

Thanks in part to tech companies like Google, office environments are becoming less pristine and more like playgrounds. Plastic action dolls and disarming signs complement–and sometimes replace–mahogany and philodendrons.

Business Pundit researched ten items that straddle the gap between professional and fun. Some items, such as the digital picture frame, are adaptable enough even for the Department of Motor Vehicles. Others, like the Omni bean bag, might require a more relaxed environment.

One thing’s for certain. Housing one or more of these office items in your cube will bring you back from the dead, even on the slowest of summer afternoons. Here they are, in order of necessity:

10
ROCK GARDEN

Life-giving element: Oxygen. Plants recycle carbon dioxide into breathable oxygen, making them essential for life.

Cube use: Recycle the stale air in your work-box with only a minimal commitment by cultivating a rock garden like the one above. Unlike some indoor plants, this little garden will survive weekends and holidays.

9
DIGITAL PHOTO FRAME

Life-giving element: Memories. Rotating pictures of your friends and loved ones remind you that you have a life outside of your cubicle and department meeting room.

Cube use: Load your digital frame with pictures of family, vacations, wild nights, and other memories that make you feel good. Best-case scenario: Motivation to work hard in the name of weekends and vacations. Worst-case scenario: Minutes of wistful pining.

8
HANDY WIPES

Life-giving element: Hygiene. Keeping your hands clean helps you stay healthy. Keeping crumbs off your desk helps you feel like less of a slob.

Cube use: Hands, coffee rings on desk, crumbs on keyboard, finger grease on mouse–Handy Wipes are good for just about everything. Except for your face.

7

CHOCOLATE-COVERED ESPRESSO BEANS

Life-giving element: Energy. Instant, tasty energy that doesn’t come in brown liquid form. Satisfying crunching sound when chewing. Candy with benefits.

Cube use: Good for hijacking afternoon slumps and getting buzzed before meetings.

6
AFRICAN DWARF FROGS

Life-giving element: Pets. When people think of low-maintenance aquatic creatures, they think of goldfish. Dwarf frogs are infinitely more interesting, but require almost as little care as the standard goldfish.

Cube use: All these fascinating little critters require is a small, filtered tank like this one, an aquatic plant or two, and food. They like to hang out upside down and stare into space, creating an ideal distraction for long days in front of the computer.

5
PLUSH MICROBES

Life-giving element: Uniqueness. Teddy bears are so played out–why not get a stuffed E. Coli to mix things up?

Cube use: Hang or place your favorite microbe (the deadlier, the better) in a peripheral place, such as the entrance of your cube. it will catch you by surprise and invoke a giggle when you least expect it.

4
SUMO BEAN BAG

Life-giving element: Rest. Of course, you don’t ever do that at work. Right?

Cube use: Lean this rectangular bean bag against your wall or under your desk. Its shape-shifting qualities allow you to stash it in a variety of places. Then, at an acceptable time, use the Sumo as a chair, a sleeping mat, a pony, or any other shape that comes to mind. (Ed.: Sumo sent Business Pundit an Omni to try out. We loved it, both as a cube toy and a cure for the common, circular bean bag.)

3
CLIMBER’S PUTTY

Life-giving element: Relief. Climber’s putty is another form of the common office squeezy toy, an ideal way to reduce tension.

Cube use: The stuff stores in a large plastic fist, making it an interesting decoration with utility. Bust out the putty when your clients, direct reports, boss, and/or colleagues have you ready to beat down your cube wall.

2
REARVIEW MIRROR


Life-giving element: Safety. Nobody–no employee, no client, no boss–can sneak up on you when you have the advantage of a mini-mirror.

Cube use: Clamp your little friend on a flat-screen monitor, desk, or any other jutting corner. If your back faces the entry to your cube, this mirror will be invaluable.

1
DEMOTIVATIONAL POSTERS

Teamwork: There’s No “I” in Drunk

Life-giving element: Satire. If you can’t make fun of your surroundings, what can you make fun of?

Cube use: Decorate your walls with one of these de-spiring posters. Here are just a couple of the many messages waiting to be tacked onto the padded walls of your cube (via ThinkGeek):

–Customer Disservice Because we’re not satisfied until you’re not satisfied.
–Consulting. If you’re not a part of the solution, there’s good money to be made in prolonging the problem.
–Give Up. At some point, hanging in there just makes you look like an even bigger loser.

*

Once you secure all the items on the list, add a couple of employee recognition awards and a really complicated project chart. You’ll be set for success–and quality distraction–in no time.

Some of the key note speakers for this summit include Jeff Bell, Corp. VP of Global Marketing, Interactive Entertainment Business, Microsoft; Richard Tait, Grand Poo-Bah of Cranium Inc. and Andy Sernovitz, Author of "Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking."

Register on-line today at http://www.womma.org so you don't miss out:

Five Reasons You Need to Be Here

All of that … all in one conference.

The premier conference in Search Engine Marketing and Optimization is happening this summer in Silicon Valley: SES San Jose – happening on 20-23 August 2007 at the San Jose Convention Center.

SES San Jose is organized by Search Engine Strategies, the leading global conference & expo series that keeps you informed about search engine advertising, including optimization and marketing issues.

Here is the list of the day-to-day activitiesat the SES San Jose:

August 21: Networking Reception in the Exhibit Hall
August 21: AOL Search Lunch
August 21: Google Dance 2007
August 21: Keynote conversation with Ask.com CEO Jim Lanzone
August 22: Keynote conversation with Marissa Mayer, Vice President, Search Products & User Experience at Google
August 22: WebmasterRadio.FM SearchBash

You may register now to get the following conferences packages:

• Platinum Passport (August 20-23, 2007): $1,745 through August 3 and will become $1,895 after August 3
• Any One Day Pass: $745 through August 3 and will become $895 after August 3
• Training Classes (August 24, 2007, limited space): You may choose from ½ day for $745 or full day for $1,345
• Expo Only Pass : Free In Advance or $25 On-Site

Take note that the first two packages come with free expo hall pass. And if you register in advance, you can get the expo hall pass for free as well. So hurry and register as early as possible.

Read the complete registration information.

This post is sponsored by Search Engine Strategies.

Current trends in search technology and how these can be tapped to help the growth of online advertising, will be discussed during the Red Herring East Technology Event to be held on June 26-28, 2007 at the Hyatt Harborside, Boston, MA.

Red Herring East Event Panel Discussion: Search: The New Frontier

Experts from Microsoft, Ask.com, Answer.com and more will gather for a one-of-a-kind panel discussion exploring trends in search technology, and how new search developments are expected to help the evolution of online advertising.

For more details, check out the agenda, full list of speakers and registration information.

Sponsored post by Red Herring East.