About 2 million workers across the United States receive a 70-cent hike in their federal minimum wage Thursday, from $5.85 to $6.55 per hour, according to the Associated Press. It's the second in a three-tiered increase as part of a law passed in 2007. Next year the federal minimum will climb to $7.25 per hour.

Small businesses may choose to pass the cost of the increased wages on to consumers, according to the AP, while many businesses already pay more than the lowest wage.

The federal increase won't catch up with the 23 states that have a higher minimum. Experts say next year 5 million workers will see a boost because $7.25 will meet or exceed their states' minimum. --Elizabeth Wilson

These days, it seems just about every business is finding a way to go green, making it that much harder for well-intentioned consumers to distinguish companies with green products and services. That's why Evo.com, which acts like an Amazon.com for certified, eco-friendly items, handpicks its items, which include clothing, house and office wares, gadgets and travel destinations. If you're looking for ways to green your business and resources, Evo is a good place to start.

Evo also lists businesses and brands that correspond to green items on the site. Anyone can recommend a business for certification as a "B Corporation." The "B Corporation" designation simply means that your company's product or services "benefit all." It allows your true eco- and cause-friendly business to speak for itself and stand out, as opposed to other companies with exaggerated green marketing campaigns.--Whitney Chen

Following up on our previous blog post, here's an article from Yahoo! News about how rising gas prices are affecting workplaces across the country. Some employers are offering workers a four-day week to help save gasoline.

Los Angeles Times columnist, David Lazarus, ponders what life in Los Angeles would be like without suffering through commutes that take days off your life and gas bills that put expensive purchases to shame. He concludes that while public transportation only does so much--especially in a city like Los Angeles--perhaps it's time for employers and employees to consider telecommuting and working from home.

According to an American Electronics Association report in April 2008, an estimated 1.35 billion gallons of fuel could be saved if all Americans who could telework, did so 1.6 days per week. So not only would that spare the atmosphere billions of pounds of carbon dioxide, but that would mean fewer people on the roads and less frightful commutes.

Some employees will be bold enough to ask for telecommuting options, however according to Tom Abate from the San Francisco Chronicle there's an advantage to business owners initiating the move toward more at-home-work: lower office occupancy costs and better retention of key employees. Making work easier (and cheaper) for your employees may mean more efficiency. Phones with QWERTY keyboards and Wi-Fi connectivity also allow employees to spend less time in the office or on the road, and more time getting stuff done.--Whitney Chen

Add this to the "Why didn't I think of that?" column: tear-off labeling for wine bottles. We've all been there, desperately trying to memorize the name and year of the delicious bottle of wine consumed at dinner, only to wake up the next morning with no memory of it whatsoever. South Australia's Oxford Landing has the solution. According to Trend Central, Oxford Landing's Shiraz features a tear-off section on the back of the label, complete with all the pertinent information. It's a great example of taking a traditional product and putting an innovative twist on it--something consumers will appreciate.

First there was Red Mango--or was it Pinkberry? Regardless, ever since those two rock stars of the fro-yo market burst into song, everyone's wanted to sing along to their tune. New stores produce their own renditions of the Red Mango/Pinkberry-style yogurt, with more flavors and toppings while still boasting yogurt's natural health benefits and flavorful taste.

This store, however, offers something new: self-serve fro-yo. For 30 cents an ounce, California-based Yogurtland allows its customers to dispense the flavor or combination of flavors they want directly into a paper cup and scoop the toppings they want atop their mountain of tart and/or sweet frozen yogurt. The long lines show that business is booming and the chain plans to open new stores in San Diego, Honolulu, Las Vegas, and Dallas throughout the year.

And just as quickly as the frozen yogurt trend has grown, Yogurtland's self-serve business strategy has also spread. Yogurtopia and Tutti Frutti Yogurt have adopted a similar "freedom of choice" approach with customers. Tutti Frutti Yogurt has locations in Texas, Georgia, California, and Washington State, while Yogurtopia plans to open its second California location this fall.--Whitney Chen

What happened to the days of laying your head on your desk and drifting off for 20 minutes of bliss? Though most of us haven't enjoyed naptime since elementary school, some scientists say naps aren't just for 6-year-olds. According to this washingtonpost.com article, "sleep scientists have discovered advantages to napping, which they view not just as solace but also as something akin to brain food."

The article cites a 25-year survey conducted by researchers at the University of Haifa in Israel showing that naps, when taken in the workplace, can increase productivity and reduce "general crabbiness." Other experiments echo those findings. For example, Matthew A. Tucker of Harvard Medical School discovered that a 45-minute nap can enhance the ability to perform tasks relying on memory.

As a result, some companies are making nap rooms available to their employees, or encouraging them to relive their elementary school days by resting at their desk. One New York City sleep salon, Yelo, is taking advantage of the trend by offering a place for clients to nap for 20-to-40 minutes at a time.

To read more about the growing acceptance of napping, and to determine if you could use more naps, check out the book Take a Nap! Change Your Life, by Sara Mednick, or utilize her website.

Does your company need a chief blogger? That's the question being asked by this Advertising Age article. Now that the novelty of corporate blogging has passed, blogs are being viewed as a branding voice. Companies like Coca-Cola, Marriott and Kodak have all hired chief bloggers to engage customers and share their stories.

But, as the article points out, a blog voice isn't necessarily right for every brand. Analysts say that companies that want to blog should first identify the reason they want to do so. "They really need to start with reading, following their customers, commenting on communities. Then think about creating something," says Sean Howard, director of strategy and innovation at Lift Communications and blogger for CrapHammer.com.

According to Geoff Livingston, CEO of Livingston Communications and blogger for Buzz Bin, companies need to look beyond the blog. "What [companies] need to focus on are the principles behind social media that make it work, like participating in a larger community works, and not controlling the conversation works," Livingston says.

Leap year day only happens every for years--and companies across the country want to take advantage of it when it arrives this year, on Friday, February 29. From frog-oriented promotions to marketing campaigns playing off the date, leap year day is becoming another day for marketers to integrate into their plans. Some businesses, like Boston Market and Morton's The Steakhouse, are offering free lunches or dinners to those born on February 29. Other promotions, like Papa John's Perfect Pan Pizza, which launches this Friday, play off the name of the day with a tag line like "One Giant Leap for Pankind." According to the Honor Society of Leap Year Day Babies, there are about 200,000 leap day babies in the U.S.

Before you try to work leap year day into your marketing this week, here's some advice from Allen P. Adamson, director of the New York office of branding firm Landor Associates. "For certain brands, it perks things up," Adamson says. "But it wouldn't fit with anything serious like insurance, financial services or medical things. Using leap year in those instances could really undermine the rest of the message."

It all started when Netflix--the online movie rental giant--began persuading movie junkies to give up weekly Blockbuster runs to try something new.  Now Netflix is providing their service to more than seven million loyal subscribers. Entrepreneurs like Lori Pope are catching on to the popularity of the online rental trend. In October 2007, Pope launched Baby Plays, a web-based online toy rental service based in Houston. A mother of two, she got the idea after becoming frustrated with piles of toys cluttering her house as her infant twin sons lost interest in them. So Pope scoured the internet to find a similar service. When her search showed zero results, she knew she was on to something.

Baby Plays currently offers about 200 toys for newborns through preschoolers. Like Netflix, customers build a wish list of the toys they'd like to rent, and Pope's staff sends parents four or six toys in the mail every month. Pope makes an effort to stock sturdy and easy-to-clean toys with parts that are easily replaced. Rates range from $28.99 to $35.99 a month based on the length of the term. When children are done with them, the toys can be shipped back in the same box they were sent in, with a postage-paid return label provided by the company. New toys are shipped out when the old ones are received.

So far, Pope has invested $250,000 of her own money, and continues to put in $12,000 more each month. Parents have spread the word, and Pope’s concept is catching on. Though Baby Plays started with 10 customers, Pope says she now has about 200 customers nationwide. Thanks to the popularity of her idea, Pope predicts she'll turn a profit by this fall.

DailyCandy has announced the winners of its Sweetest Things 2007. The site asked readers to vote for their favorite nominees in the realms of fashion, food, beauty, arts and culture. You can view the winners in your city or winners from across the country. Some of our favorites include:

• Sound category: Bedtime Beats, created by Cindy Bressler and Lisa Mercurio
• Smell category: Cure Custom Aromas, created by Ann Reed
• Taste category: Holey Donuts, created by Frank Dilullo

Rising gas prices are having a widespread effect on consumers across the U.S. That's according to a new Nielsen Company study, mentioned in this MediaPostPublications article. According to the study, 49 percent of U.S. consumers are reducing their spending because of high gas prices. As a result, 70 percent of consumers are making car trips count by combining shopping trips and errands. 41 percent are eating out less and 30 percent say they're staying home more often. "Manufacturers and retailers need to be alert to the fact that consumers are looking to save by altering where they shop, how they shop and what products and brands they buy," said Todd Hale, senior VP of Consumer Shopping & Insights. "Value, convenience and competitive pricing will be more important than ever in the year ahead."

Specifically, Hale said manufacturers and retailers should look for growth in at-home meal solutions and at-work meals. Also, Hale says research shows a jump in online shopping. According to Hale, manufacturers and retailers should "step up to their 'direct-to-consumer' efforts and utilize the internet to communicate directly with consumers in 2008."

Today's under-10-year-old crowd makes up one-third of digital music player users. According to Advertising Age, that means there's a new market for specialized players and other products, in addition to a growing demand for kid-appropriate video and music content. "By third grade, half of the kid population in grade school has an MP3 player," said Paul Metz, senior VP at C&R Research. Their player of choice? The iPod Nano.

So far, accessory makers haven't flooded the market yet with cartoon-themed iPod cases, despite an estimate from the Consumer Electronics Association that the market will top $1 billion this year, increasing 45 percent from 2007. Forrester analyst James McQuivey believes marketers may be hesitant to push products to young children. But, he suggests they take a different approach--marketing with a positive parenting angle. "Smaller headphones with limits on audio [volume] for children could be beneficial, as well as things like packaging appropriate music for children. I would expect that we'll see more things like that by next holiday," said McQuivey. Don't forget about what goes inside those iPods--children will also be on the lookout for more kid-themed content, from videos to podcasts.

According to  a MediaPost Publications article, internet advertising is skyrocketing. In fact, Yankee Group predicts that advertising will more than double from $21.7 billion last year to $50.3 billion in 2011. Currently, the research firm estimates that the internet is responsible for about 20 percent of overall media consumption, but only 7.5 percent of ad budgets.

The group forecasts increasing investments in new online media formats like video, gaming and virtual worlds. Yankee recommends that advertisers double online advertising budgets each year to take advantage of video and mobile ad opportunities. "The reality is it takes time, and this market is just about reaching adolescence now," said Daniel Taylor, senior analyst at Yankee Group.

Last month, Entrepreneur  predicted that specialty and gourmet foods would continue prospering in 2008. So far, it looks like that prediction is holding up. According to this article from SignOnSanDiego.com, despite the slowdown in the economy, specialty foods continue being gobbled up. Here's some food for thought: The National Association for the Specialty Food Trade found that while overall food sales have increased about 4 percent over the past two years, the specialty food sector has grown 17 percent. "Historically, if the economy is bad, when disaster strikes, people buy food," said Lynne Barra, president of Paradigm Foodworks. Barra agreed with other foodies who say that while people may cut down on cars, boats or jewelry, chances are good that gourmet food will still be a must-have.

Another reason specialty foods continue their upward path is attributed to more consumers seeking out healthy products at stores like Whole Foods. "The specialty business is coming of age," said Russ Bruhn, president of Carlsbad Gourmet, referring to the many consumers concerned about high-fructose corn syrup and trans fats.