Business wisdom… Australia trails on the net… Infomercials’ positive side

Quick business wisdom

“An entrepreneur is somebody who steals office supplies from home and brings them into work.”

That’s just one of the pithy tidbits of business wisdom to be found on the clever Business Rules of Thumb wiki (wiki = online content driven by reader contributions).

The wiki, managed by Ben Casnocha, contains hundreds of business rules of them on diverse topics including negotiation, marketing, raising money and entrepreneurship.

And because it’s a wiki, contributions are always welcome.

China and India internet boom, Australia lags

The number of internet users worldwide grew 10% over the past year, fuelled by growth in China India and Russia. China’s use surged 20% to 86 million; India was up 33% to 21.1 million, according to has a new ranking of countries by Internet usage from Comscore. Australia does not even make the table.

Excludes traffic from public computers such as internet cafes and access from mobile phones or PDAs

Infomercials make sense

Consumers don’t always recognise “infomercials” but they like them. New research by Leading Edge, commissioned by infomercial producer NOW Screen, found that some infomercials deliver valuable product information and are as engaging as traditional brand ads, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

The study’s 500 participants rated infomercials as relevant and helpful for understanding products, but said they were less entertaining and memorable than brand ads. New, unpredictable formats would help.