Junior’s, the World’s Most Fabulous Cheesecake, is a New York City landmark; since 1950, the Rosen family has been making delicious confections for locals. The global marketplace challenged them to develop a system that would let them satisfy the cravings of Fabulous Cheesecake fans near and far. The family-owned business met the challenge with an online store. Now, you can sit down in one of Junior’s restaurants in NYC to enjoy a cheesecake and coffee, or you can sit on your porch in Ohio and enjoy the same treat, thanks to new technology.

Say you own a small, family pharmacy, and you carry your own line of cosmetics. Suppose your cosmetics lines are very popular in your local market and you think there is potential to go bigger – much bigger. How are you going to do it? One ready answer is catalog sales, but that means you must print and mail thousands of catalogs, at a pretty hefty price tag. On the other hand, says Ian Ginsberg, owner of Bigelow Chemists, think about all the people you know who read their email every single day.

Phillip Choi, the moving force behind the success of Silla Cooling, decided not so long ago that he wanted to add something new and innovative to his operation. Over the course of two decades, Silla opened facilities in 20 locations across the country to provide radiators and condensers to people in the automobile industry. Mr. Choi was determined to add a new profit center to the business. His solution: direct online sales.

How does a family company that started in 1950 keep pace with changes in its industry and adapt the way it does business to serve a nationwide market? Ask Neal Magaziner and Stephen Polin, who today run Hughes Enterprises, the company their uncle and founder Max Polin started more than five decades ago. Hughes Enterprises is a wholesale supplier of packaging materials, equipment and systems to businesses across the country. That wasn’t always the case, though. Before the firm adopted new technologies, they were more limited in their ability to reach distant clients.

It is no secret that franchise operations can be a very expensive proposition for the franchisee; it can be hard to decide if the benefits outweigh the costs. Still, many consumers are most comfortable in the world of brand names and they make their purchasing decisions based on branding alone. So what can a small, independent hotel operator do to attract guests without breaking the bank? Tom Magnuson, founder and chief executive officer of Magnuson Hotels, Inc.

The anime industry is not one that traditionally relies on a slick web presence to attract hits and make its point with fans. In fact, a quick web survey turns up a huge collection of very basic, static sites. Infinity Studios, an American company that publishes anime, wanted to break out of that mold and offer customers a more engaging online experience.

The following profile was compiled from an interview with John Terzich, Director of Sales at Lanworth. Read on to learn how they are using technology to generate revenue.

Get some valuable advice and the recipe to this business’ Secret Sauce!

It is all too common for modern couples to have a hard time making time for each other and their relationships, so Paul and Debbie Lamb are using technology to provide a new way to help couples reconnect. They founded Lambs on Love, Inc., the company that launched Be A Better Partner online.

You might wonder how a refrigerator repair business would be linked to the world of high tech. The relationship is no mystery to John Jowers, creator and operator of AntiqueAppliances.com. A line of work that started almost as a lark grew so quickly by word of mouth in his local area that Jowers realized he had a winner and sought some way to go national with it. High tech was his answer.

The business of insurance has a long history – for many years, businesses have paid a premium to ensure they won’t be wiped out in the event of a property loss. Naturally, the party providing insurance does not want to pay out more than they must, so they avoid unnecessarily risky propositions and we tend to think of the industry as being pretty conservative. Today, one successful insurance man has embraced technology to reach out to other entrepreneurs who make their livelihood with technology and help them meet their insurance needs.