Last Wednesday marked the beginning of Lent, the 40-day and 40-night period during which certain religious groups give up a particular vice and abstain from eating meat on Fridays. Plenty of restaurants are taking notice. And it's not just seafood restaurants either. The big burger chains are all promoting their fish options to make sure customers know they don't have to give up their favorite fast-food haunts just because they're giving up meat. In fact, the Filet-O-Fish owes its very existence to Lent. And Mexican fast-food franchises are on board as well, highlighting both seafood options and options that are meatless altogether like enchiladas and tostadas.

There are lessons to be learned from both sides of this trend. First, make sure you're able to recognize times during the year when your product or service will be especially attractive to potential customers. On the flip side, anticipate times when business will be slow and come up with ways to survive the storm.

Also, make it a point to be aware of the surrounding climate as it pertains to your business. Create a balance between catering to your obvious potential customers and trying to rein in a few you might not have thought about right away. The more you know about your potential customers, the more success you'll have in marketing your business to them.

Do you know how to write a thank you letter? Or fake being sick? A new startup called Howcast is combining filmmakers, experts and business for one purpose: to create entertaining, well thought out how-to videos. Anybody can get involved. For example, if you're dying to let your inner Spielberg out, you can get paid to make videos as a Howcast Director. Or if you own your own business, the Howcast Network provides a great opportunity for free promotion of your company. It's a simple idea with plenty of potential.

Techcrunch recently wrote about Howcast and its founders, Jason Liebman, Daniel Blackman and Sanjay Raman, all former Google employees who worked on Google Video and YouTube before they left the company eight months ago. According to Techcrunch, Howcast recently announced an $8 million series A financing led by Tudor Investment Corporation.

Not only are these videos entertaining, but they actually teach you a thing or two. Our favorite how-to's are "How To Fix a Wet Cell Phone"--which could come in handy-- and "How To Dance Without Embarrassing Yourself," purely for the comic value.