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	<title>Peter Renton is the founder of Lightning Labels, Inc. (website link below) the leaders in digital label printing. He writes regularly about the label printing and packaging industry on &lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.lightninglabels.com&quot;&gt;his blog&lt;/a&gt;.</title>
	<link>http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz/author/index/681/Peter-Renton.php</link>
	<description>Peter Renton is the founder of Lightning Labels, Inc. (website link below) the leaders in digital label printing. He writes regularly about the label printing and packaging industry on &lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.lightninglabels.com&quot;&gt;his blog&lt;/a&gt;. - Latest business
news &amp; management advice on how best to build your own business -
Free, independent business articles on Strategy, eBusiness, Change
Management &amp; much, much more.</description>
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	<pubDate>Tue, 07 Sep 2010 12:25:12 +0000</pubDate>
	<managingEditor>admin@buildyourownbusiness.biz</managingEditor>
	<webMaster>admin@buildyourownbusiness.biz</webMaster>    
	<item>
      <title><strong>Change - It's Not What It Used To Be</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[It was the ancient Greek Philosopher, Heraclitus, who said, &amp;quot;nothing endures but change.&amp;quot; That is certainly just as true today as it was in the time of Heraclitus, over 2,500 years ago. Change is all around us. In nature, in our personal lives, at work, everything is changing all the time. Sometimes the changes are subtle and we barely notice them, other times they hit us like a freight train.

Inevitable Change

Many of us have never heard of William C. &amp;quot;Billy&amp;quot; Durant, but he was one of the true innovative business thinkers in the early 20th century. He was the head of the Durant-Dort Carriage Co., the largest producer of horse drawn vehicles in the country in 1900. His company was producing around 150,000 vehicles a year in 14 factories, mainly in Michigan. He, of course, was aware of these new horseless carriages that were just coming into existence. Even though most people considered them just a toy for the wealthy, and they were somewhat unreliable, Durant embraced them. In 1904 he turned his company around and went into a joint venture with David Buick of the Buick Motor Company. From there he went on to form General Motors and the rest is history.

Now, I don't know many business leaders today who, at the height of their success, would turn their company around and go in an entirely new direction. More than anything that takes vision and courage, and the ability to embrace change before it becomes necessary. From today's perspective, this change seemed inevitable, but at the time there would have been no way to know that the automobile was going to be as wildly popular as it proved to be.

Ever since the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th century, there have been quantum shifts that have caused inevitable changes in the business landscape. When consumer refrigerators first were manufactured the writing was on the wall for the ice manufacturers, word processors and computers have made typewriters all but obsolete, steam powered  ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>The Opportunity of Private Labeling</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[I was having breakfast at a local restaurant the other day when I noticed on the table there was a bottle of hot sauce with the restaurant's name on it. I was impressed because I knew this was no chain - it is just a small independent restaurant who was taking advantage of private labeling. It is one of a growing number of small restaurants that enhance their brand by putting their own name on products.

First, let's be clear about what I mean by Private Labeling. According to Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, private label products or services are typically those manufactured or provided by one company for offer under another company's brand. So this covers everything from Wal-Mart brand products to the small restaurant putting their label on someone else's hot sauce.

It is amazing the number of businesses now that are engaged in some form of private labeling. Restaurants, hotels, spas, hair salons, even car dealers are all putting their own brand on products such as hot sauce, lotions, shampoos, coffee, lip balm, bottled water and wine. Many corporations want to put their own logo on products that they giveaway to reinforce their brand. The corporate gift market is particularly busy around Christmas. There are also many small businesses that want to appear more professional by having their own brand of products to sell - coffee and bottled water are particularly popular here.

Getting Started

So as manufacturer how do you get started selling your product via private label? The easiest way is to just start selling to other local companies. If you sell coffee then start with the local cafés and donut shops - many companies are happy to support other local companies, particularly if they can get their own brand name on the products. Obviously, your existing customer base would also be a good place to start. You can offer to put their name and logo on the labels that go on your product.

Once you have a few private label customers you can then start a f ..]]></description>
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      <title><strong>10 Innovative Packaging Ideas</strong></title>
      <description><![CDATA[It was Peter Drucker, the leading business thinker of the 20th century, who said that business has two functions - marketing and innovation. This article is going to merge both these ideas. Packaging is ultimately a marketing function, it is the final marketing message your customers will see before purchasing your product. If you are selling at a retail store your packaging can be a major factor in determining the success of your product.

Today, to break through the clutter of the hundreds of other competing products out there it pays to be different. Look at what your competition is doing, and make sure you have an innovative and unique look. Innovation in packaging will get your product noticed, it will help build your brand, and it will give your product some personality. Whether you like it or not your product is initially going to be judged by your packaging.

So, how do you create innovative packaging? You can pay a packaging design firm thousands of dollars to come up with some ideas or you can create the ideas yourself. Here are ten ideas that will hopefully stimulate some packaging innovations for your own products.

1. Create a Reusable Package

The boutique beverage market is mature and extremely competitive, so you might think there are few really new ideas when it comes to packaging. You would be wrong. POM Tea has created something truly different. For a start the product itself is different - it is tea infused with pomegranate juice. But it is the packaging that is remarkable; the drink is packaged in a regular tall drinking glass with a lid and a clear shrink wrap label. It says on the label: Remove the label, keep the glass. In our local Wild Oats it retails for $2.79, not that expensive for a bottled tea, and you get a free glass. No need to worry about recycling here - you get to reuse the packaging.

2. Add a Little Extra to Your Packaging

Sometimes you can have very standard packaging, but stand out from the crowd by just adding a ..]]></description>
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