About the Author
Brett Snyder is the author of the award-winning consumer air-travel blog The Cranky Flier (crankyflier.com). Brett has worked for multiple airlines including America West and United in a variety of functions including revenue management, marketing, and strategy. On his blog, he focuses on explaining to travelers why the airlines do what they do from the perspective of someone who has been on the inside and understands it well. The result is Brett now works full-time as President and Chief Airline Dork of Cranky Flier LLC.
Bretts success with The Cranky Flier has led to other opportunities to complement his work, including an air travel column for CNN.com alongside writing for Cond Nast Traveler and Intuits Small Business Blog. In 2009, he started his Cranky Concierge (crankyconcierge.com) air-travel assistance business as a complement to the blog and it has grown quickly.
Brett has appeared on radio and television programs on CNN, Bloomberg Television, and NPR-affiliated stations among others. He is regularly quoted as an airline expert in news media including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and in many local papers. He is also known internationally. In the UK, The Cranky Flier was named one of the fifty most powerful blogs in the world by The Observer Magazine.
The credibility he has built using The Cranky Flier as a platform has allowed him to make a good living doing what he loves. Visit him at crankyflier.com and crankyconcierge.com.
Acknowledgments
Thanks are due to everyone who has helped me build my own business to the point where I can now write this book to help others do the same. Heather and Chris were instrumental in getting my blog off the ground. My wife, Kirsten, has been my sounding board and strong supporter throughout. Countless others have contributed in ways they probably dont even realize.
Appendix: Resources
Accounting Software Providers
Outright: www.outright.com
Quicken: www.quicken.com
QuickBooks: www.quickbooks.com
WaveAccounting: www.waveaccounting.com
WorkingPoint: www.workingpoint.com
Affiliate Program Managers
AffiliateManager: www.affiliatemanager.com
Commission Junction: www.cj.com
FlexOffers.com: www.flexoffers.com
LinkShare: www.linkshare.com
Business Registration Search
Alabama: http://www.sos.alabama.gov/vb/inquiry/inquiry.aspx?area=Business%20Entity
Alaska: http://commerce.alaska.gov/CBP/Main/
Arizona: http://starpas.azcc.gov/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=wsbroker1/connect.p?app=names-report.p
Arkansas: http://www.sos.arkansas.gov/corps/search_all.php
California: http://kepler.sos.ca.gov/
Colorado: http://www.sos.state.co.us/biz/BusinessEntityCriteriaExt.do
Connecticut: http://www.concord-sots.ct.gov/CONCORD/index.jsp
Delaware: https://delecorp.delaware.gov/tin/GINameSearch.jsp
Florida: https://www.myfloridalicense.com/wl11.asp
Georgia: http://corp.sos.state.ga.us/corp/soskb/csearch.asp
Hawaii: http://hbe.ehawaii.gov/documents/search.html
Idaho: http://www.sos.idaho.gov/corp/corindex.htm
Illinois: http://www.ilsos.gov/corporatellc/
Indiana: http://www.in.gov/sos/business/2436.htm
Iowa: http://sos.iowa.gov/search/business/(S(o0dsud55cqdad2umdqikpdrq))/search.aspx
Kansas: http://www.kansas.gov/bess/
Kentucky: https://app.sos.ky.gov/ftsearch/
Louisiana: http://www.sos.la.gov/tabid/819/Default.aspx
Maine: https://icrs.informe.org/nei-sos-icrs/ICRS?MainPage=x
Maryland: http://sdatcert3.resiusa.org/UCC-Charter/CharterSearch_f.aspx
Massachusetts: http://www.sec.state.ma.us/cor/functionality/search.htm
Michigan: http://www.michigan.gov/statelicensesearch
Minnesota: http://mblsportal.sos.state.mn.us/
Mississippi: https://business.sos.state.ms.us/corp/soskb/csearch.asp
Missouri: http://www.sos.mo.gov/BusinessEntity/
Montana: https://app.mt.gov/bes/
Nebraska: http://www.nebraska.gov/sos/corp/corpsearch.cgi
Nevada: http://nvsos.gov/sosentitysearch/
New Hampshire: http://www.sos.nh.gov/corporate/soskb/csearch.asp
New Jersey: http://www.njportal.com/DOR/businessrecords/
New Mexico: http://web.prc.newmexico.gov/Corplookup/(S(dg5pqgf1f0i4qvegemajnhm5))/CorpSearch.aspx
New York: http://www.dos.ny.gov/corps/bus_entity_search.html
North Carolina: http://www.secretary.state.nc.us/corporations/csearch.aspx
North Dakota: http://www.nd.gov/sos/businessserv/registrations/business-search.html
Ohio: http://www2.sos.state.oh.us/pls/bsqry/f?p=100:1
Oklahoma: http://www.sos.ok.gov/business/corp/records.aspx
Oregon: http://egov.sos.state.or.us/br/pkg_web_name_srch_inq.login
Pennsylvania: http://www.corporations.state.pa.us/corp/soskb/csearch.asp
Rhode Island: http://ucc.state.ri.us/CorpSearch/CorpSearchInput.asp
South Carolina: http://www.scsos.com/search%20business%20filings
South Dakota: http://sdsos.gov/Business/Search.aspx
Tennessee: http://tnbear.tn.gov/ECommerce/FilingSearch.aspx
Texas: http://ourcpa.cpa.state.tx.us/coa/Index.html
Utah: https://secure.utah.gov/bes/action
Vermont: http://www.sec.state.vt.us/seek/keysrch.htm
Virginia: http://www.scc.virginia.gov/clk/bussrch.aspx
Washington: http://www.sos.wa.gov/corps/corps_search.aspx
West Virginia: http://apps.sos.wv.gov/business/corporations/
Wisconsin: http://www.wdfi.org/apps/CorpSearch/Search.aspx?
Wyoming: https://wyobiz.wy.gov/Business/FilingSearch.aspx
Forming a Corporation
LegalZoom: www.legalzoom.com/incorporation-guide/forming-a-corporation.html
Nolo: www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/form-corporation-how-to-incorporate-30030.html
ProBlogger: www.problogger.net/archives/2008/07/07/should-you-incorporate/
Small Business Administration: www.sba.gov/category/navigation-structure/starting-managing-business/starting-business/establishing-business/inc
Free Analytics Providers
AWStats: www.awstats.org
Google Analytics: www.google.com/analytics
Site Meter: www.sitemeter.com
Webalizer: www.mrunix.net/webalizer/
Hosts
DreamHost: www.dreamhost.com
FatCow: www.fatcow.com
InMotion: www.inmotionhosting.com
Pair Networks: www.pair.com
Yahoo! Web Hosting: www.smallbusiness.yahoo.com/webhosting
Industry Research Tools
Alexa: www.alexa.com
Alltop: www.alltop.com
Blog Catalog: www.blogcatalog.com
Google: www.google.com
Technorati: www.technorati.com
Wayback Machine: www.web.archive.org
Merchandise Sites
CafePress: www.cafepress.com
PrintMojo: www.printmojo.com
Spreadshirt: www.spreadshirt.com (limited to clothing)
Zazzle: www.zazzle.com
Photo Hosts
Facebook: www.facebook.com
Flickr: www.flickr.com
ImageShack: www.imageshack.us
Picasa: www.picasa.google.com
SmugMug: www.smugmug.com