Two of my favorite shows on television are Dragons Den and Shark Tank, which are basically the Canadian and American versions of the same program. In short, small business owners and entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to some venture capitalists, hoping to get some funding exchange for partial ownership of their companies. It’s a fascinating show, not only for the innovative products, but also the business knowledge that you can gain.

Over the weekend, I caught one episode where a college student was pitching his idea for an eco-friendly, awareness-raising t-shirt brand. He produced a series of slogans that are printed on the bamboo-based shirts and the idea is that these can raise consciousness about social and environmental issues. However, the business had more than a few problems.

For starters, there was no logo to be found anywhere on the shirt, so the branding wasn’t obvious enough to make the brand viral in any way. The shirts simply had text with a certain typeface. For a small company, that’s not enough branding. Second, there was nothing “special” about his shirts; he ordered the shirts in bulk from a supplier and screen-printed the slogans onto the front. Anyone can do this.

Some of the venture capitalists appreciated his enthusiasm and passion, but the business was nowhere near viable enough to warrant their all-important investment dollars. If you want to make it in this world, you need to make sure that your company is offering something special or unique that can separate you from the pack. Why would someone buy from you and not from the other guy?

You’ve probably seen those digital photo frames in your favorite electronics or department store. Since all of our cameras are digital these days, it makes sense to have a digital photo frame to display the pictures too. That said, what if you want a physical copy of that treasured shot?

Fitting somewhere between old school and new school is the iMo Photo Frame Printer. On the surface, it may look like a rather standard digital photo frame, featuring a bright 8-inch LCD screen and a remote control, but the iMo is a photo printer too.

In fact, when you see the picture that you’d like, you can hit the “print” button on the provided remote control and it will start producing a physical photograph for you. It uses an all-in-one print cartridge, so refilling the device is easy. You’ll also find a USB slot, multi-card reader, and 1GB internal memory.

The starter unit includes the photo frame printer itself along with a 12-print cartridge for $99.99. Replacement 36-print cartridges are available for $19.99. Head over to ThinkGeek for more information and to buy.

Many creative types choose to use BlueFur for their web hosting needs. We’ve got bloggers, musicians, and social media gurus. And then we have people who make their living fumbling through clay and shoving them in kilns.

One such BlueFur customer is Alan Grout of Alan Grout Pottery. Based out of Gibsons, British Columbia, Alan Grout Pottery offers a wide range of both functional and decorative creations that will suit a range of different home decor styles. Naturally, there is a slight West Coast spin to much of the artwork.

For instance, you can find many products that feature West Coast imagery. These are mostly stoneware platters with scenery glazed onto them. Actual photographs were used as a guide for the glaze colors and the platters are food safe.

Alternatively, you can take a moment to consider some of the functional pottery offered by Alan Grout. They are all homemade and unique, as no molds are used. Like the platters above, these glazes are also food safe. They can even go in the oven and microwave!

If you are a BlueFur customer and would like to be featured in a future blog post, send an email to blogfeature@bluefur.com with your name, website, and a brief description of what you’d like to see highlighted.

There is a never-ending supply of free WordPress themes on the Internet, but they may not be exactly what you want to have for your own site. You could invest in a premium theme or a custom theme, but those can become pricey endeavors too. What if you could make your own custom theme on your own?

Whether you’re looking to build a WordPress theme for your own blog or you’re thinking of turning your design skills into a small business, it may be a good idea to try ET-Starter Theme as a launching pad. This free WP theme has been designed specifically for your projects, acting as a “skeleton” of sorts for your own custom creation.

With this theme, you can choose to have a single-column, two-column, or three-column configuration, depending on your needs and preferences. You can also select a custom header image, implement your own plug-ins, and easily edit your footer text as needed.

For more information, to check the live demo, or to download ET-Starter, point your browsers over to Empire Themes. They have screenshots too.

Did you manage to survive all the April Fool’s gags that were going around yesterday? Now you can look forward to another relaxing weekend and it’s a long one to boot! Here are some great blog posts to get you started.

Chris Bibey recognizes that there are many aspects to running a successful home-based business. In addition to client acquisition and marketing, you need to keep your home office organized too. Remember to put things back in their place, but don’t be a pack rat either!

Umair Haque offers a fascinating view on this increasingly popular world of social networking. He says that we should differentiate between social media and social strategy. The former is just another “channel” for “old” marketing, whereas the latter can actually shape the industry for generations to come.

Amber Singleton Riviere of WebWorkerDaily tells us that it is important to do your absolute best, but you should also know your limits. In this way, you have to understand the difference between perfection and excellence. Strive to be excellent with your business, to be sure, but be willing to let go when it falls short of being perfect.

Geekpreneur recognizes the appeals of freelancing, but the career choice is certainly not without its shortcomings too. More specifically, Sabrina outlines circumstances when freelancing sucks. Instead of being your own boss, you could just be getting yourself several new bosses instead. “Wasting” your time at a picnic could cost you $150 or more too.

Carl Nelson knows when it’s time to close up shop and move on. That’s why he’s sticking a fork in it and stopping updates to his blog for good. That’s not to say that he won’t still be around on the Internet, however, as he will continue to update his Facebook, Posterous, and Twitter accounts, not to mention his hardware review site as well.

In case you haven’t already noticed, today is April 1st. In many circles, that means it’s time to pull pranks on your friends, readers, customers, and just about anyone else that crosses your path on April Fool’s Day.

This can be fun between personal friends, but what does it mean from a business standpoint? It depends largely on the public perception of the business and the company image. For a “fun” and lighthearted company, people are more likely to accept an April Fool’s gag. On the flip side, it may not be as appropriate for something like a major bank.

For example, a Starbucks blog post announced two new cup sizes: the 128 fluid ounce Plenta and the 2 fluid ounce Micra. The former looks like a bucket of chicken (or popcorn), whereas the latter is about the same size as a shooter glass.

This is a very obvious joke, to say the least, but it’s an amusing one that Starbucks customers can enjoy. In like manner, John Chow says that his book is a NYT best seller and Michael Kwan says that there have been one million pre-orders for their book. Bold sales numbers may be credible, but the scale of these collaborated blog posts lends itself to the April Fool’s gag.

What’s your reaction to company-sourced April Fool’s jokes? It’s one thing to read a gag on a casual news blog, but it’s another thing altogether to get “false” information straight from the horse’s mouth.