Office Depot Closing 112 Stores

It's been reported that Office Depot will be closing 112 stores. Although not filing for bankruptcy, it appears to be joining the ranks of Circuit City and CompUSA. Office Depot claims that the closing of underperforming stores is in alignment with it's strategic goals.

The move will allow Office Depot to reduce expenses and continue to be competitive in a changing market. New online competitors such as StockMyOffice.com seek to grow their market share in the office supply space. Included in the store 112 store closings are 6 distribution facilities and 2,200 employees that will be added to the current high unemployment rate.

In my own opinion, Office Depot is going to have a tough time moving office chairs, desks and office supplies at an affordable price if they have to support the overhead of stores and facilities that are not profitable on their own. I'm sure the store locations were a good pick at the time, but things change from one minute to the next, and unfortunately, sometimes consolidation is a necessary evil for big companies to stay competitive.

I'm Considering Amazon Turk

It's my understanding that with Amazon Turk, you can put together an on demand work force to do various tasks. I'm considering using it as a marketing method. I figured that I might pay $1 for people to do a 5 or ten minute blog post.

There are plenty of places that offer pay per post, but it could be expensive. This experiment might be the start of a lot of cool new things. Potential the ability to outsource some tasks. I'll post my findings back here.

WebJunction Minnesota

All Minnesota multicounty multitype library systems and five of the twelve regional public library systems (MELSA, Lake Agassiz, Traverse des Sioux, Great River, SELCO) have agreed to contribute time and effort to making WebJunction Minnesota a one-stop destination for library staff seeking news & information about Minnesota libraries, resources to improve library service, continuing education and more. Liaisons in these systems will help the WJMN Team get the word out, find content, and keep the site fresh and useful for you.

Recession Proofing Your Wallets With Amazon Associates

Want to be recession proof? Earning some extra income in these long recession days is a blessing to anyone who can get it. One of the easiest ways to earn a little extra money to pay the bills is simply to become a virtual merchant by selling products for Amazon. Earn a commission by generating sales for Amazon.

Amazon has a program called Amazon Associates. It will allow you to sell anything in their huge product catalog and earn a commission once an item ships. You might even find that the Amazon Associates program is better then your sales job. Work on your own hours, with no boss other then your own personal motivation. Work more, earn more.

Here's a very reasonable scenario of what the Amazon Associates program could do for you each month. I've attached a screen shot of my earnings for the first 11 days of the month. So far only $336.44, but that's more then enough for a car payment. With the remaining days of the month, I'll make enough to pay the electric ($150), water ($15), internet ($60), website ($30), marketing ($100), Savings ($200+ remainder of commissions). The beauty of the Amazon Associates program is that you can spend as little or as much time as you like, so while most of you won't quit your job just yet, you can work in your spare time from anywhere with internet access.

There are different ways that you can promote Amazon products like a blog or website. It's important to have a professionally designed website that is ready to attract online shoppers. Don't worry if you don't have technical or web design skills, there are lots of free scripts available and even some professional designers that make Amazon Associate e-commerce websites. E-commerce For Everyone is one of the few developers creating innovation solutions for Amazon Associates. While the recession has negatively affected many sectors of the economy, online shopping is one of the few sectors that has seen continued growth.

There is no question that in the near future online shopping will far exceed brick and mortar shopping carts. With broadband access being rolled out world wide at a break neck speed, savvy businesses will be ready to do business online in the global marketplace.