Stop eating at your desk, again

I know what you’re thinking. You’re so busy that taking lunch is just a waste of time. Think again. Forbes says that keeping your nose to the grindstone may actually be costing you money and career advancement. True that you’ll lose about 90 minutes of work time, but you’ll also connect with a new client or build a relationship with an important contact. By the way, at biz lunches, keep conversations to trends, don’t order anything messy, and ask your lunch date about himself or herself. Note to self: Must. Leave. Desk.

Business 2.0

Blogging for dollars

Think blogging is just a hobby? Michael Arrington at TechCrunch is making $60,000 a month in ad revenue. Boing Boing, a four-person outfit, is on track to gross an estimated $1 million this year. PaidContent.org is set to rake in even more than that. And Fark.com, a site run by one guy in Lexington, Ky., is on pace to become a multimillion-dollar property. The kicker? They've only just begun. While only a few blogs pull in this kind of cash, a short time ago they came out of nowhere. Now they challenge mainstream media. Who's mainstream now?

Fortune Small Business

Coupons on a keychain

Do you clip coupons? Me neither. We're not alone. Fewer than 1 percent of coupons ever get redeemed. But ScanAps thinks it has figured out how to change that -- and save manufacturers and grocers money and time. It's a USB scanner that fits on a keychain and lets shoppers scan paper-coupon bar codes at home and download them in the store. In tests with the device, consumers spent 8.3 percent more and used 26 percent more coupons. Hmmm . . . it might work.

Seth Godin's blog

They didn't get the memo

While technophiles are all hyped up about Apple's iTV or social networks, Seth Godin reminds us of the diffusion of innovation -- the fact that technological innovation and change happens at the leading edge by a narrow minority of the population. Most people still haven't gotten the memo. Research shows 31.4 percent of Americans don't have Internet access; 59 percent of American households have zero iPods in them; 1 percent of Internet users use Digg on an average day. But 98.2 percent of U S households have cable TV. Innovation is always at the beginning of the curve.

Bill Tancer's blog

Satellite kills Stern?

Every once in a while Bill Tancer peeks into the data Hitwise tracks on Internet usage. His latest post analyzes how Howard Stern's brand equity has changed since his move to Sirius Radio. While visits to Stern's site have been steadily declining, his star power has made Sirius Radio surpass XM Radio in site visits. No surprise. But if search queries for ``Howard Stern" can be used as a proxy for brand equity, Howard Stern is in the tank.

Charlene Li's blog

The culture of generosity

Forrester says that 24 percent of Gen Y (ages 18-26) reads blogs. Compare that to 12 percent of Gen Xers (ages 27-40), and 7 percent of Young Boomers (ages 41-50). Li says that marketers targeting Gen Y should monitor blogs they care about. But creating one as a way to connect with them is even better. Just be prepared. You're entering a culture of generosity. Simply foisting your message or handing out freebies won't cut it. Instead be generous with information and the truth.

SearchEngineWatch

Google goes local

Google is teaming with Intuit, the maker of QuickBooks (3.7 million small-business users) to integrate Google features directly into the workflow of QuickBooks. Simultaneously Google has acquired StepUp, a company that provides information on what's in stock at local stores and how much it costs. OK, so here's what it means. Right within QuickBooks 2007 retailers will be able to sign up and track a Google AdWords campaign , list their business on Google Maps for free, and list all their products on Google. So will Mom and Pop do it?

(Correction: Because of a reporting error, an item in yesterday's Business Filter column in the Business & Innovation section incorrectly said Google acquired StepUp Commerce Inc., a firm that provides information on what's in stock at local stores. Intuit Inc. acquired StepUp last week for $60 million.)