I was struck by a story in the New York Times today about entrepreneur Christy Prunier, who introduced a line of soap, cosmetics and bath products for preteen girls under the brandname "Willa." She started the product line three years ago after her 8-year-old daughter, Willa, put her foot down and said she no longer wanted to use soaps meant for babies.

Hmm. A personal care product called Willa...Willa...Willa....Hey, doesn't that sound sort of like the haircare brand Wella? Yes, it does!

Procter & Gamble, owners of the Wella brand, sent a cease-and-desist letter to Prunier in January. She is undeterred, and the case goes to trial in October. It could cost her $750,000 in legal fees, the Times reports.

So, a couple of thoughts here.

• If you're going to spend three years developing a product, hire a trademark attorney to look for any similarly named products. Why tug on Superman's cape? This was a totally foreseeable situation.
• It seems a shame to waste $750,000 in legal fees over soap and lip balm for young teenage girls. How many starving people could be fed for that amount?
• How about not clogging up the courts over nonsense? Ms. Prunier: change the name, for goodness sake. Hire a branding company for $50,000 and save $700,000.

I can anticipate the comments already, so bring it on:  "Why are you taking the side of the big corporate monster?" and  "Why are you getting down on this particular product -- after all, it's entrepreneurship at work. " On the first question, I think P&G is right to defend a brand they spent $7 billion acquiring. On the second question, I have to admit I might have a different point of view if the product line in question wasn't lip balm, facial masks and other stuff aimed at the terribly under-served tween-girl market. So sue me.

Just when you thought you had social media covered with Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, now there's Google+. And it turns out that for small businesses who don't have as much time as they'd like for social media anyway, Google+ may be the most important one to start focusing on.

Social media analyst/blogger Chris Brogan writes that he's getting a lot more traffic to his website since engaging with Google+,  and frankly, that's enough for me to take the platform more seriously. He notes that, "First (and important) Facebook is not indexed by Google for search results, meaning that everything you do inside there stays inside there. Second, Facebook and LinkedIn both are set up for more of an 'exclusive' model, which means that you have to know someone to know something. That's why you see companies pushing so hard for 'likes,' and why you see people spam the LinkedIn Groups."

So, if you haven't already, start your Google+ activities this week. The best thing to do when getting started is to specify your "Groups" early. Like "Clients," "Prospects," "Influencers" and make sure your posts are available to those people. If you get this platform under your belt now and grow with it as it grows its scale and features, it's likely to be a very valuable addition to your overall marketing strategy. No matter what your entrepreneurial niche, you can't afford to ignore it. Please share what you're doing with Google+ by posting a comment.

I love me some Morning Joe on MSNBC .I'm watching the founders of Method, the nearly-ubiquitous "green" cleaning brand. The two young founders (under 40) look like they came straight from central casting. Their products displayed in front of Mika, Willie, Barnicle. "Our house is full of this stuff," Willie says. Mika said she's going to take a bunch of it home. The founders have a new book out (I am always a little suspicious when small business execs have time to write a book, but nevermind), called The Method Method. I checked out their website and, wow, it is really very good. While I have never purchased their products (I'm more of a Costco guy when it comes to soap),  I could only admire their presentation, branding and messaging. If you're starting a company in an impossibly crowded market like soap, you can learn something from these guys.  Here's what I found noteworthy about Method:

• The founders are well-practiced, media trained and camera-ready. Hiply dressed and coiffed. (And clean, of course.)
• They have a good narrative. One's a chemical engineer, one's a marketer. Childhood friends. From Detroit, which gives them a street-cred vibe. Lived together in San Francisco with five guys in one dirty apartment.
• The products look great on TV, and on the shelf. Slick design, clear bottles that show off vibrant colors of the soap. No need to dump the hand soap into another container before putting it on your sink.
• The website is truly interesting. It looks more like a home furnishings site than a soap site. The copy is excellent. Rotating headlines like, "Helps put the hurt on dirt." And "Get pumped to do the dishes." And a page called "Best Smellers." Nice. They even have "limited edition" soap. And a club called People Against Dirty -- you can give the company a lot of personal information and join the clean conversation.
• Method appears to be walking the talk. They even deliver their products in trucks that run on biodiesel.

Method proves there is no market too crowded for entrepreneurs who have talented marketing and product development people. Who else out there is doing a great job breaking through in a crowded market? Leave a comment.

The folks who made my buggy-slow two-year-old BlackBerry released their second quarter earnings yesterday -- down 58.7 percent. Whoops! The New York Times reported that analysts are circling overhead in buzzard formation: "Mike Abramsky, of RBC Captial Markets, challenged the company's forecast, saying to Mr. Balsillie [the co-CEO], 'I'm just wondering why you feel that confident.'"

Why is it that I can't wait until my Verizon contract upgrade is available so I can switch to iPhone or an Android from my BlackBerry Curve? Why is it that companies who had their markets by the tail almost always end up hanging on for dear life? Is there anyone willing to bet that you'll be able to buy a BlackBerry two years from now? I wouldn't bet more than $100 on that. Make that $10.

What are the signs that a company is headed down the drain?

• They start madly imitating the market leader, long after the train has left the station. BlackBerry's ridiculous PlayBook ripoff of Apple's iPad is a pathetic and perfect example.
• They think that what got them here will get them there. Yahoo! was a search engine, then it became a content hub, and it rode that identity hard. Its lately rode-outta-town-on-a-rail CEO, Carol Bartz, didn't want to admit that Internet content and media in general was fracturing into a Big Bang of billions of new stars. One thinks of Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard. Yahoo! is ready for its closeup, Mr. DeMille.
• They could care less what customers want: Before President Obama saved their sorry steel behind, the people (management and labor) who ran General Motors had nothing but contempt for their customers. Ugly, awful I-hesitate-to-call-them-cars that rivaled anything the old Yugoslavia had to offer.

  Who are the next giants to fall? And why are they (boards, shareholders, management, labor) letting it happen? What's your take?