I know it’s been a while since my last update. Basically I have been swamped and this blog got put on the back burner a few times. Anyway, I’m getting back into blogging and the first thing I wanted to do with this blog is narrow its focus a bit. I’ll keep the money and investment commentary going here but the web admin topics will be posted on my new blog in the future.

As you probably know (if you’ve read my blog in the past), I run a web development and marketing company NURV. I’m launching a sister site/blog titled “The Nurv” where I’ll comment on various aspects of the web development and marketing industries. Check out my new blog and make sure to bookmark it. I’ll also be updating Money Complex again shortly so keep an eye out here as well.

So yes, I’ve dropped the ball on the “daily updates”. Became overwhelmingly busy with some other things and sort of stopped blogging here altogether. Somehow readership has picked up though while I was gone, and after getting several emails from people wondering what had happened I have decided to be a bit more active on this blog once again. I can’t say for sure whether it will be a daily thing or not, but I’ll certainly try to get more than one blog post in every three months like this last break has been!

So, hopefully everybody has been well and thanks to the few who have continued to read this blog even though the latest post has been the same for quite a while now. Seems like a few of you should have emailed me sooner but hey I’m back for the time being and that’s all that matters.

If you have a new idea that you think will go over big, go for it. I know two people who are just now starting new businesses due to ideas they have had recently. Both of them have received large amounts of funding for their new projects. One of them is getting more as we speak. If you have a new idea, it’s best to strike while the iron is hot. Go for it while it’s still fresh in your mind and before you talk yourself out of it. Otherwise you could be missing out on a great thing.

I have some new ideas myself that I will be developing soon. I’ve just thought of these recently and am hoping to raise the necessary cash soon to get things going. The trick is to lay out everything on paper and make sure everything makes sense. If you are looking to bring investors on board then it is especially important to make sure everything is simple and straight forward. I’d recommend NOT using investors unless your project requires more money than you are able to come up with on your own.

As you probably know, the final installment of the ever popular Harry Potter book series has come out last Friday. I was reading an interesting article on Business Week about the money behind the franchise and who is profiting. Apparently the lunch box and school supply market hasn’t been able to cash in successfully on the series. It seems that the only person who has really hit the jackpot was J.K. Rowling, the author of the books. I’m sure Scholastic isn’t too far behind her in profits, but when it comes to cashing in, according to Business Week, things haven’t been as easy as people had expected.

The movies have done well enough that Universal Studios will soon be dropping close to a half a billion dollars to create the “Wizarding World of Harry Potter” with Warner Bros by the end of 2009. Disney apparently lost out in the bidding for the rights to build such an attraction. If you ask me this seems like it will be enough of a draw that Disney should have made sure they won it. Ooops.

Harry Potter has certainly been a great example of pop culture success during the last several years. Regardless of whether or not lunch boxes and toys are making money,  the name has easily become more than just a household name by now. It has become a part of many people’s daily conversations. J.K. Rowling could easily have retired after just the first book. Now with seven full books out it’s safe to say that she will be doing just fine. Maybe she will move on to write other fantasy based books. Only time will tell.

The US Federal Minimum Wage is set to go from $5.15 to $5.85 an hour this coming Tuesday. According to statistics from the Labor Dept, there were around 1.7 million people earning $5.15 or lower per hour in 2006.

At the new rate of $5.85 an hour, a full time employee would make around $10,000 or less per year after taxes. The federal poverty level for singles is also just around $10,000 a year. Some people are arguing that the minimum wage should be even higher, due to the fact that it seems unfair for a full time worker to be classified under poverty. The problem with this argument is that many businesses will simply compensate for the extra hourly expenses by raising their prices or cutting out jobs Restaurants will have higher menu prices, while grocery stores will have less people bagging groceries.

The change won’t effect every state, however. Several states have already set higher minimum wage standards. The Federal increase simply forces the states who were still at $5.15 to get with the times.

Source: AP

Today marks Money Complex’s 100th consecutive daily blog. To be honest I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be blogging daily, but, I’ll be shooting for another 100 if possible. Today’s blog is going to be a bit short though. I’m going to be prepairing for a long hike tomorrow so chances are tomorrow’s blog won’t be too exciting either. Maybe though.

Anyway, check out Yahoo for a recent story about Google’s new site search engine feature for businesses. They are going to allow companies to pay $100 a year for a custom Google search function for their specific website. It doesn’t seem like something most companies will use right away but you never know.

Today is the three month checkpoint for MoneyComplex.com. I’ve blogged daily for the past three months without missing a beat. Don’t bet on me giving up anytime soon either. I think I am starting to like this blogging thing.

Also, Money Complex is coming up on 100 consecutive daily blog posts. If you’ve read this blog from the beginning then I would love to hear what your thoughts are on my subject matter and topic choices. If you want to see more stock and investing related posts by all means let me know. If you want to see more webmaster and online marketing related posts then I’d be glad to hear your input. Anything is fine with me really. I like talking about it all and I can go on for a long time about quite a few money related topics.

Lately I’ve been focusing on business news for the most part. I like to follow business and stock related news mostly because I find it very interesting to watch how news and announcements effect stock prices. I’ll probably key in on business news more in the future because I’ve been getting some nice feedback on the news related blogs. Either way though like I said earlier, if you want me to cover something here just drop me an email through the contact page, or post a comment on todays blog post and I’ll see it here.

Lastly, if you like this blog then be sure to comment regularly. Top commentators will receive a free backlink from the side menu of every page on this site. With the PR update coming this month (supposedly), and this site predicted to be a PR5+, it certainly won’t hurt you to have some free backlinks from this blog.

There are a few types of new clients you will come across in business. Rerrals and cold leads are two important groups to take into consideration. Referrals can also be described as “warm leads” because by default you have more of a connection with them than with a total stranger. After all, somebody did send them your way. This means that these people will most likely order your product or services with a little bit of convincing, if that.

On the other hand, cold leads are more of a pickle to work with. They probably contacted you out of the blue, and you are now put into the salesman role. It’s up to you to close the deal. Often times this means you will want to lower your price to get the sale. In my experience this has always been something I have regretted later. I would rather not have the extra work than lower my standards, pricing, etc, and effectively showing clients that my prices are up for negotiation. I’ve learned this the hard way, but luckily I’ve learned it quickly. When offering new clients your prices, let them know that these are the prices. If you want to have a garage sale and negotiate nickles and dimes that is up to you, but in the end you will come across as more professional if your rates are as you state them.

Would you pay $650,100 for a buffet lunch? How about a “Buffett” lunch? Mohnish Pabrai, an investor from California won the bidding for the annual charity lunch with investing legend Warren Buffett. The $650,100 will be donated to charity. As for what’s for lunch I’m not sure, but, hopefully Mr. Buffett is a slow eater. I’m sure Pabrai won’t mind if the lunch takes some time.

I’ve been following this annual lunch for a few years. Last year’s lunch sold for $620,100 and was the highest lunch sold to date. Obviously this year raises the bar a bit. Maybe there will be a few extra courses this time around.

100% of the winning bid will be donated to the charity Glide.

Source: CNN

I have nothing against college, and I think it’s definitely a good experience, let alone a good way to get into your choice career, however, there are a few industries that I don’t think are worth going to college for. Lately it seems that a lot of the technical jobs that are available can and ARE being done just as efficiently by overseas workers. The fact of the matter is companies are starting to go where they can get the best deal. Why pay somebody in the US when in many cases you can find somebody to do the work much cheaper overseas? Personally I see both sides of this. Sure it’s nice to save some money, but, my question is why aren’t people being made more aware of the limited job market here in the US for certain technical jobs?

Colleges are passing out degrees for all sorts of technical jobs but unfortunately not all of these people are able to find jobs in their field. It’s sad that even though some people go through years of college, the jobs aren’t here in the US anymore by the time they graduate. And with so many people flooding the tech market here, jobs here have been able to hire people for much less than they could a few years ago. Entry level tech jobs are a dime a dozen, and it’s not exactly easy to even get one of those. Everybody wants to get their foot in the door somehow. Entry level jobs don’t pay much, but, people are taking them regardless.

I don’t think there is a way to stop the movement of tech jobs to overseas markets. Luckily there are some jobs that are best handled on-site. I think server admin and on-site technicians and networking engineers don’t have anything to look out for. Many companies prefer the benefits of an on-site technician who can take care of any situation immediately over saving money and using remote administration software.