XYDO.COM: Small Business

6 Brands Get It Right on Viddy

Viddy, the hot social video editing and sharing app, has racked up millions of ordinary users and a whole host of celebrity participants. Perhaps leery of video, brands are not signing up to the network quite as fast. Nonetheless, there are some early-adopter corporate Viddy accounts worth checking out. We’ve taken a look at six brands currently using Viddy in smart and savvy ways. SEE ALSO: How to Get Started With Viddy Discover which brands we’re highlighting and why. We have included a sample clip from each, so have your say in the comments below: which brand is using the service most effectively and why? 1. DVF The Diane von Furstenberg fashion brand is a big user of the social video platform. As well as using Viddy to show mini-clips of Diane and “everyday” footage, DVF joined forces with Viddy during New York’s Mercedes Benz Fashion Week. DVF staffers used the app to shoot exclusive behind-the-scenes footage as they prepped for the show, encountered celebs. The event highlights were then cross-posted to the DVF Facebook page. Giving fans an insider glimpse is a clever way to make the most of short-form video — viewers feel like they can enjoy special access to a brand they admire. 2. Red Bull UK Because it only recently added its Viddy account, Red Bull UK has only created a handful of viddys, but every single one is worth watching. The beverage brand keeps tight to its sports/action message with footage of the recent Red Bull-sponsored Empire of Dirt BMX contest. Such events are ripe for the “highlights reel” treatment. The content is incredibly shareable, and Red Bull’s editing of the clips is simply superb. We hope to see more of the same in the future from Red Bull — we think the brand has found a match made in heaven with Viddy. 3. General Electric General Electric has made great use of Viddy with its small selection of well-edited clips, which offer viewers a peek at its cool technology and premises. While the company has only posted three clips so far, they are perfectly suited to Viddy’s 15-second format. Each provides a visual insight to the brand in a format that is accessible and fun for Viddy’s youthful audience, especially when longer, more explanatory YouTube videos might not. 4. Warner Bros Records Warner Bros. Records appears to be testing the Viddy waters. It has created a dozen clips, featuring just one artist: American rapper Waka Flocka Flame. The clips are primarily behind-the-scenes footage from music video shoots. They are surprisingly effective, thanks to Viddy’s cool filters and music effects. While we like the style the Warner Bros. viddys thus far, we might question the need in the future for separate Viddy accounts for individual artists. Perhaps the brand can reserve the main account for a “best of” collection of curated content. 5. Southwest Airlines Southwest Airlines has uploaded a variety of content to Viddy, from light-hearted “guess the airport” challenges to in-flight footage to what can only be described as good, honest plane porn. Recently, the airline used Viddy to host fun competition. It challenged users to create a Southwest-themed Viddy for the chance to win roundtrip plane tickets to the Sundance Film Festival. With fresh content every few weeks or so, it seems Southwest plans to use the platform as one tool in its wider social media dashboard, taking advantage of the unique proposition Viddy offers brands. 6. The Muppets Finally, The Muppets brand is no stranger to social media, and it got in on the Viddy action quite early on. Ahead of the release of The Muppets movie in November 2011, the Disney-owned entertainment brand teamed up with Viddy for a production pack, which contained content and special effect filters that featured The Muppets. The super-shareable clips featuring each of the main characters were also posted online to promote the movie. The Muppets-Viddy partnership is particularly exciting, as it shows how the tool could play a part in movie marketing. For example, it would be the perfect platform to issue a series of teaser clips. We look forward to seeing how other brands use Viddy, as more sign up to the service. Have you seen any other interesting uses? Have your say in the comments below. More About: apps, Business, features, General Electric, Marketing, red bull, Social Media, Southwest Airlines, the muppets, viddy, Video, warner brosFor more Business coverage:Follow Mashable Business on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Business channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad

Facebook May Launch Smartphone by Next Year [REPORT]

Facebook may be gearing up to launch its first-ever smartphone by next year, a new report suggests. According to The New York Times, engineers have been sought by recruiters to work on building hardware for a Facebook smartphone. This would be the social network’s third attempt to develop a smartphone, the report said, citing sources close to the matter. The news comes as search engine giant Google completed the acquisition of Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion earlier this week. This move could help Facebook counter that with its own foray into the smartphone hardware business. SEE ALSO: Motorola Under Google: 3 Possible Futures Rumors about a possible Facebook phone have been circulating for the past few years. Although Facebook was reportedly first working on a smartphone in 2010, sources said the initiative stopped due to development complications. Meanwhile, AllThingsD has reported Facebook and manufacturer HTC were working together to develop a mobile device under the code name “Buffy.” It’s believed that “Buffy” may still be in development. Hiring engineers to work specifically on building Facebook phones would position the company to explore other smartphone projects, as well. Do you think a move into the smartphone business would be smart for Facebook or would it overextend itself? Would you buy a Facebook phone? More About: Buffy, Facebook, mark zuckerberg, smartphone, smartphonesFor more Social Media coverage:Follow Mashable Social Media on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Social Media channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad

Tell-Tale Signs Your Employee is Overworked [INFOGRAPHIC]

Are you stressed at work? You’re not alone: A recent Gallup poll indicates that on-the-job pressure is the top reason for employee dissatisfaction in the American workforce, and nearly half of American workers say their job is “very or extremely stressful.” And whether you notice it or not, you’re broadcasting clear signs that should indicate to your employer that you are overworked and need a change of pace. The infographic below, developed by Column Five in conjunction with employee wellness company Keas, shows exactly how employees behave when they’ve been pushed to their limits. Workers tend to develop classic symptoms when their workload gets too much to bear, such as poor memory, fatigue and bad time management. They also exhibit odd behaviors, working too much or too little in response to the level of stress in the workplace. Employers should be watching for these key symptoms and redirecting overworked employees to a more manageable situation. Of course, the consequences of ignoring these signs can be major — 66% of employees suffer from stress-induced health issues, including but not limited to high blood pressure, headaches, sleeplessness and more frequent periods of sickness. Overworked employees are also more likely to have drastically decreased productivity and play hooky than those who are satisfied with their workload. The overall result is clear: Overworked and stressed workers are never good for a company. Check out the infographic below for an inside look into how overworked employees behave — and how it all can be fixed. Do you ever feel stressed at your job? Let us know in the comments. Infographic research and design by Column Five Social Media Job Listings Every week we post a list of social media and web job opportunities. While we publish a huge range of job listings, we’ve selected some of the top social media job opportunities from the past two weeks to get you started. Happy hunting! Social Media Strategy Director at Likeable Media in New York City Online Marketing Manager at USA Football in Indianapolis Social Outreach Manager at Awesomeness TV in Los Angeles More About: features, infographic, job search series, jobs, mashableFor more Business coverage:Follow Mashable Business on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Business channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad

10 Funniest Tweets of the Week

@JoseConseco "Jose Canseco is the Brian Wilson of Twitter and this is his Pet Sounds."Click here to view this gallery.What better way to enhance this three-day weekend than to enjoy a raucous roundup of Twitter comedy? Internet LOL-curator and comedian Jake Fogelnest has selected his favorite hilarious tweets of the week. Whatever you do, don’t google “Neil Young Dubstep.” — Jake Fogelnest (@jakefogelnest) May 20, 2012 “I don’t know how other people use Twitter, but for me it’s a constant stream of entertainment and jokes. It’s also become my first news source,” says Fogelnest. “Sad as it may be, the reality is I find myself seeing ‘OMG DID U SEE THE NEW YORK TIMES?‘ before I actually see The New York Times. This is because I am a ridiculous person and part of the problem!” Fogelnest has requested that all of you retweet the tweets above and favorite them — in some cases, he would like you to print the tweets, take them to a laser cutter and engrave them on the Vietnam memorial. “Some people may say, ‘It’s not appropriate to put a bunch of dumb tweets on the Vietnam Memorial,’” says Fogelnest. “To those people I say, ‘It’s not appropriate to be such an killjoy. Lighten up, you dweeb!!’” (Note: If you have access to a laser cutter, please do not actually vandalize the Vietnam Memorial.) More About: funniest tweets, trending, Twitter

12 Ways to Optimize Your Resume for Applicant Tracking Systems

Mona Abdel-Halim is the co-founder of Resunate.com, a job application tool that tailors and optimizes your resume for a specific job. You can find Mona and Resunate on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. You filled out the job application, updated your resume and clicked “Submit.” But as the days or weeks pass, you never receive a phone call or email from the employer. What happened? Unbeknownst to many job seekers, a whopping 72% of resumes are never seen by human eyes. Why? Well, employers large and small now use applicant tracking software to parse the information from your resume and map it into a database called an ATS (applicant tracking system). From this information, the system will assign you a score based on how well you match the job the employer is trying to fill, and then rank and sort all candidates. Naturally, the potential employees with the highest scores move on, while others are left in the dust. Wondering how you can optimize your resume and rank highly in the employer’s ATS? Here are several tricks to improving your resume’s score. 1. Use Language from the Job Description: Look through the job listing to determine the skills required. Identify industry terms, buzzwords and jargon the hiring manager uses most frequently in the description and incorporate these words into your resume when possible and applicable — the ATS is looking for these keywords. 2. Get Rid of Images and Graphics: Remember, the ATS is breaking down the information you’re providing and sorting it into different “buckets.” It will not be able to read or understand an image. 3. Choose Fonts Carefully: Stick with standard web-safe fonts like Arial, Georgia, Impact, Courier, Lucinda, Tahoma or Trebuchet. 4. Don’t Hide Keywords: Think adding in a bunch of keywords in white text is the best way to rank highly? Think again. 5. Get Rid of Irrelevant Information: Only include past positions and skills that are relevant to the job at hand. Irrelevant positions just end up as filler — a waste of valuable real estate on your resume. 6. Don’t Use Any Special Characters: Standard bullets are fine, but other characters (such as arrows) can cause issues that could prevent the ATS from correctly parsing your information. 7. Avoid Fancy Borders and Shading: Stick to simple templates that are easy to read. 8. Pump Up Your Skills Section: Most employers use their ATS to search by specialized or technical skills. Make sure your resume includes any special skills you’ve attained, such as computer programs, strengths, competencies and other abilities. Spell out your skills and include industry-specific abbreviations or acronyms that the employer may also search for when finding candidates with the right experience. 9. Create a Customized Professional Summary: Include a list of bulleted achievements and qualifications that relate to the job description and desired skills. 10. Ditch Spelling Errors: The ATS will miss important keywords when they are misspelled. Avoid mistakes: Spell check, read your document backwards and have a friend (or two) look it over. You can never be too safe. 11. Place Contact Information at the Top: Don’t forget to include vital information, such as your phone number and email address. The ATS may even send an email after you’ve applied to the position with additional instructions — so check your spam folder religiously to ensure you don’t miss further communications. 12. Tailor Each and Every Resume: Different ads will contain different keywords and phrases. If you want your resume to be one of the top rated for each position, you must tailor your skills and experience to each opportunity. Unless you know your highly stylized resume won’t be taking a trip through an ATS, it’s best to save your infographic resume for the in-person interview and upload a .doc or PDF instead. Do you use the above tricks to avoid the resume “black hole”? Let us know in the comments. Social Media Job Listings Every week we post a list of social media and web job opportunities. While we publish a huge range of job listings, we’ve selected some of the top social media job opportunities from the past two weeks to get you started. Happy hunting! Associate Product Editor at Rodale in New York City Online Marketing Manager at Warner Bros. Home Entertainment in Burbank, Calif. Membership/Community Manager at Word of Mouth Marketing Association in Chicago Image courtesy of iStockphoto, vicky_81 More About: contributor, features, job search series, mashable, resumes, trending

Sleeping With The Smartphone Makes Productivity and Life Balance Possible

I’ll admit I’ve been one of those people. You know, the ones who are a bit disoriented when they are away from the cellphone. You have to give me a break. Analytics requires internet access, so I have heard, and a multi-feature smartphone with hotspot capability has become the “Ernie” to my Macbook Pro’s “Bert.” But as ‘bring your own device’ has spread and more professionals are looking to accomplish tasks while on the go, the methods organizations have learned to manage an always-on work environment, if not society, have been called into question. Rieva Lesonsky’s post on flextime is an example of how valuable work-life balance research has grown. Extending the charge for new life balance is the new book Sleeping With The Smartphone: How to Break the 24/7 Habit and Change The Way You Work by Leslie A. Perlow. When I read my publisher copy, I could not help but realize how essential we need a rethink in professional availability. This brief book speaks to large business, but also works for small business networks that are emulating big business processes more by the day. Break the Cycle of Responsiveness Sleeping With The Smartphone opens with its first chapters examining Perlow’s experiment with Boston Consulting Group, a high demand advisory firm that serves global firms. The experiment was to have a few teams try Predictable Time Off (PTO), a specific schedule away from the regular team tasks. PTO “won’t solve all your problems.” Instead it “unlocks a more persuasive opening about work related and work life issues.” That openness, according to Perlow, can lead to better planning and discussions because issues surface that would otherwise be ignored. PTO at first glance may not sound like breakthrough thinking. But the fact of the matter is that we can be so focused on managing “always on” devices and processes that basic “what-are-we-doing” conversations are overlooked. Perlow calls this focus “the cycle of responsiveness” – altering one’s time to meet the increased demand on their time. And I can say I am seeing this as much of a challenge for small business as it can be for the consulting profession Perlow examines. As the first half of the book covers the experience Boston Consulting Group, you will get to draw some of yourself from the experience. So what were the results of the experiment? Perlow noted a comparison of teams, ones that embraced PTO and others that ignored it. In that comparison, several notable differences in attitude towards work and working together resulted – attitudes which, in real-life, would lead to teams better suited to address problems and solve them: 80 percent of those teams that embrace PTO report doing everything they can to be effective, compared with 42 percent of teams that dismiss PTO. BCG individuals engaged in PTO were more likely to see themselves at the firm a long time and were more likely to perceive that they were providing significant value to their clients. The results also imply a thought shift – teams felt more confident to take more beneficial risks. Thus, people are better able to consider more strategic ways that ultimately influenced how a business is run: “…as it becomes evident that the work could still get done as well, and often better, people’s willingness to take risks with regard to issues they raised and attempted to address – both work and personal – further increased…leading to an evolution in what was “acceptable” to say and do.” Workaholics or Successaholics? That the question the second half makes a team answer, through its explanation and how-to implementation. For fostering communication, I felt the steps Perlow offers are as valuable for small business teams as well as corporate teams. Again there is no earth-shattering new concept – how to manage a team’s time – but the book provides a good arrangement of “what to do” in your team or organization. The takeaways and implementation steps are useful: How a team can form goals to support a common PTO schedule. Pulse Check, a set of questions aimed at the team, is meant to push analytical people to go outside their comfort zone to describe how they feel. Tips for effective facilitation of PTO are meant “when people most find it is hardest to make time for it.” Avoid dilution of goals, ensuring that the team “buys into the system.” All these chapters are linked with the author’s emphasis on a slow process in infusion, requiring champions to develop the right level of expectations for improving productivity. It reflects a wisdom of building trust which technological usage can make us forget easily. Sleeping With Your Smartphone may not solve every challenge you face, but it will enlighten any team trying to sync among themselves while questioning the worthwhile of on-demand accessibility. To note Perlow’s coined successaholic question – Is on-demend accessibility really worthwhile or just a badge of honor? It’s up to you to decide. And you may still be one of “those” people – if so, welcome to the club, brother! But after reading this you’ll be more aware of your teammates conferenced on the smartphone who feel they can deliver your deliverable and still have a life. From Small Business TrendsSleeping With The Smartphone Makes Productivity and Life Balance Possible

Multiple sources can help vets get their small business off the ground - Las Cruces Sun-News

LAS CRUCES - A veteran leaves the service with an idea for a business. Where can he or she turn to find help? The Small Business Development Center in Las Cruces at Doña Ana Community College can lend a hand. "We offer full-service business consulting for vets wishing to start or expand their business," said Fred Owensby, director of the office. "We can help a vet interested in starting a business by assisting her or him with preparing a business plan, marketing plan, financial projections and a proposal to a bank or investor for a loan." The SBDC in Las Cruces is located at the DACC Workforce Center at 2345 E. Nevada Ave., Suite 101. The phone number is (575) 527-7676 and more information can be found online at nmsbdc.org/lascruces. SCORE consists of volunteers from the business and nonprofit sectors who offers free advice to those who wish to start or already own a business. WESST reports that it is a statewide small business development and training organization that cultivates entrepreneurship. "We are there to help and assist veterans," said Tom Heilpern with SCORE. The SCORE office is located 505 S. Main St. and the phone number is (575) 523-5627 and the website is scorelascruces.org. WESST's Las Cruces office is at 2907 E. Idaho Ave., Suite A and the phone number is (575) 541-1583. It's website is wesst.org/contact/wesst-las-cruces-new-mexico. Owensby said that the U.S. Small "This program provides a maximum guaranteed loan amount of $500,000 and lower maximum interest rates than other SBA programs," he said. "The DACC-Small Business Development Center will assist vets in accessing and utilizing these programs successfully." Heilpern said the loan can be used for most business purposes including start-up capital, working capital, equipment costs etc. "It's for vets, service disabled vets and spouses of any of those, or widowed spouses," he said. More information can be found online at sba.gov/content/express-programs. Veteran-owned and Service Disabled Veteran-owned small businesses are invited to attend a business expo where they can meet with prime contractor exhibitors to begin a dialog regarding possible procurement and sub-contracting opportunities. Additionally, all veterans looking for work can attend the job fair where local businesses, large and small, will be there to discuss employment opportunities. The event will be held at the National Guard Armory, 600 Wyoming Blvd. NE in Albuquerque, on June 5 and 6. There will be a reception/meet and greet on June 5 from 5:30 - 8 p.m., for prime contractors and veteran-owned small businesses. The Business Expo and the Job Fair is June 6 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. A booth for the event is $50 for any prime contractor. There is no fee for a veteran-owned small business to attend, however they must RSVP and call (505) 338-4155. There is no fee or RSVP requirements for veterans looking for jobs. They need to bring some form of military ID card or veteran status and résumés. The Veteran's Business Outreach Center (VBOC) reports that it created the New Mexico Department of Veterans' Services helps veterans who want to start their own small businesses, and help existing veteran-owned businesses expand their operations. The NMDVS can assist veteran-owned businesses with formulating a business plan, marketing strategy, or assist with applying for Patriot Express Loans or other low-interest business loans. The VBOC also educates federal contractors - prime and sub-prime - purchasing agents and service-disabled veteran-owned business owners about federal laws which set a federal goal that 3 percent of all federally-awarded contracts be awarded to service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses. The VBOC will assist SDVOB's as well as any other veteran-owned business in all phases of bidding on federal contracts. More information can be found online at dvs.state.nm.us. Brook Stockberger can be reached at (575) 541-5457

Why Brand Building Is Important

Scott Goodson is the founder of StrawberryFrog. His first book, Uprising exploring Movement Marketing has been published by McGraw Hill.

Bank Of America Returns Foreclosed Home To Dirma Rodriguez And Disabled Daughter

There's finally some good news for Dirma Rodriguez and her three children.The family was evicted from the Los Angeles home they'd lived in for over 25 years after they fell behind on a loan. Rodriguez's daughter, Ingrid Ortiz, is a 27-year-old with cerebral palsy, and Rodriguez took out the loan to remodel the house so it would better accommodate her and her wheelchair.But now, KCAL-9's Juan Fernandez reports, Bank of America has bought the home back from the investor who'd bought it in foreclosure, and is going to work with the Rodriguez family so they can stay in the home.Read More...More on Foreclosure Crisis

CITI: The Rise And Fall Of The Equity Cult

The Financial Times had two pieces this week talking about the "death of equities." Barron's Michael Santoli offered his rebuttal on Saturday saying that the FT's observations where late and the ultimate conclusions tend to be faulty. But most thoughtful and comprehensive examination of this call was a meaty 28-page report titled Equity Cult Still Dying published on May 9 by Robert Buckland, Citi's brilliant Chief Global Equity Strategist. In this report, we revisit the cult of the equity. We find that it continues to look sickly, if not dead, across the world. Emerging Markets remain a notable exception. This is not necessarily bearish for global share prices, but does suggest that a meaningful rerating is not imminent. Perhaps the greatest hope for a recovery in the equity cult is an intense bear market in bonds. But perhaps we should be careful what we wish for. The Rise Of The Equity Cult In the late 1950's, all of the conditions were just right to spark a massive global shift into stocks from bonds. The FT and Goldman Sachs Peter Oppenheimer would tell you it happened in 1956 when Ross Goobey, the manager of UK's Imperial Tobacco pension fund, rocked the world when he said stocks provided better long-term inflation adjusted returns than bonds. Buckland writes that it was actually the groundbreaking work of Nobel prize winning economist Harry Markowitz, the father of modern portfolio theory. The rise of the equity cult coincided with the rise of modern portfolio theory. Harry Markowitz provided equity cultists with their most powerful preaching aid; that a diversified portfolio of individually risky equities could be constructed to maximise return and minimise risk. The combination of Markowitz's theory, the Ross Goobey moment, and the extraordinary real returns in the stock market (the 1950s was the best decade for real returns in the 20th century), ignited the beginning of the cult of equity. As you can see in the chart to the right, pension funds aggressively shifted their assets into stocks. And stock and bond valuations, based on yield, switched places in 1958. This trend lasted for 50 years! The Fall Of The Equity Cult As you can see in the charts above, pension funds have been shifting out of stocks and valuations crossed again. Buckland goes through all the reasons why the equity cult has come under attack: Most importantly, the returns from equities have collapsed. US real annual equity returns in the 2000s were a miserable -3.5% while bonds returned +4.0%. Performance chasers have been switching back to bonds accordingly. Pension funds saw equities as a less clean fit with their maturing liability profiles. Index-linked bonds offered a better inflation hedge. The rise of defined contribution pension funds, where individuals take on more of the return risk, has generally encouraged more cautious investment strategies, which tend to minimise equity exposure. Even modern portfolio theory has been questioned by the recent financial crisis. Rising correlations across equity markets have diluted the apparent benefits of diversification. The shrewd Buckland recognized that writing this report would bring out the contrarians who would cite the last time there was a call for the "death of equities." After all, Business Week famously put “The Death Of Equities” on its front cover back in 1979 just as the S&P set off on a 20-year bull run. If, instead of buying that copy of the magazine in 1979, an investor had put the $1.25 magazine cover price into the S&P instead, then it would have been worth $33 in 1999. That’s a serious opportunity cost. Having said that, Buckland believes that the unfavorable underlying secular fundamentals of the market may trump all of that contrarian-ness. The building blocks of the last equity cult remain elusive. Equities have not put in a decade of strong performance relative to bonds. The legacy of the financial crisis means that equity-friendly economic growth is less evident. Baby boomers are retiring. The TIPs market offers a more obvious inflation hedge. Modern portfolio theory is not such a compelling marketing tool. Equities are not especially cheap (on a straight dividend yield basis; they look better if we include buybacks). Here's a summary that Buckland supplied Hope For Stocks? Buckland believes that the "best hope" for a comeback in the equity cult is the fact that bonds look expensive. "The current combination of investor risk aversion and QE-influenced financial repression leaves bonds looking pricey," he wrote. There's also the matter of Tobias Levkovich, Citi's top U.S. equity strategist, and his"Raging Bull" thesis saying that improving housing prospects, increasing energy self-sufficiency, favorable demographics, and the US manufacturing renaissance will be bullish for U.S. stocks at least in the medium-term. Buckland acknowledges Levkovich's thesis but argues that "a return of the equity cult is not needed" to fuel the "Raging Bull" rally. The equity cult represents a much deeper and much longer-term trend. For now, Buckland ultimately believes that the U.S. equity cult is not yet dead. Just sick. Unfortunately, this can't be said for some other countries. SEE ALSO: CITI: These 6 Trends Should Make You A 'Raging Bull' On America > Please follow Money Game on Twitter and Facebook.Join the conversation about this story »

Are Entrepreneurs Self-Important Narcissists Who Just Need To Grow Up? Most "Jobbers" Think So.

Almost everything you hear at graduations – and read on the internet, and watch on television – focuses on the idea of work, especially entrepreneurship, as a means of self-expression and (to use the term from David Brooks) self-actualization. I am as guilty as anyone – see here (why we love entrepreneurs), here (entrepreneurs and authorship of life), and here (perhaps my favorite piece, contrasting disruptive and incremental change).

Are Entrepreneurs Self-Important Narcissists Who Just Need To Grow Up? Most "Jobbers" Think So.

Rick Perry Sounds Warning Over Democrats' Attacks On Mitt Romney For Bain Capital Work

"It didn't work then. It's not going to work now."Texas Gov. Rick Perry spoke from experience Friday when he argued the recent Democratic attacks against Mitt Romney's private equity career will fail to carry much weight in the long run.Read More...More on Rick Perry

Attend a Small Business Event: Here is a List

Educational conferences and networking events for small businesses and startups abound. Here is our hand-picked list of conferences, seminars and events. Don’t miss out on these excellent opportunities to help you start a business, grow it and run it like a pro! * * * * * Startup Weekend Multiple Cities and Dates 2012 – see website for full list Startup Weekends are 54-hour events designed to provide superior experiential education for technical and non-technical entrepreneurs. Beginning with Friday night pitches and continuing through brainstorming, business plan development, and basic prototype creation, Startup Weekends culminate in Sunday night demos and presentations. Participants create working startups during the event and are able to collaborate with like-minded individuals outside of their daily networks. All teams hear talks by industry leaders and receive valuable feedback from local entrepreneurials. The weekend is centered around action, innovation, and education. Whether you are looking for feedback on a idea, a co-founder, specific skill sets, or a team to help you execute, Startup Weekends are the perfect environment in which to test your idea and take the first steps towards launching your own startup. Spark & Hustle Tour Multiple Cities and Dates, May through August 2012 Led by Tory Johnson, the jam-packed, high-energy day enables you to experience big breakthroughs in your business and yourself. Meet great people who can help with product development and packaging; manufacturing and distribution; multiple revenue streams and collaborations; mental preparedness for monumental success; and so much more. Beyond the jam-packed sessions, this event is ideal to meet partners, collaborators and even clients! 8th Annual Kentucky Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference June 1, 2012, Louisville, KY The Annual Kentucky Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference (8th KIEC) will bring together distinguished speakers, tech-based economic development practitioners, researchers, innovators, entrepreneurs, students and postdoctoral fellows. The conference will focus on growing local initiatives powered by science and engineering talent. The Inc. Leadership Forum June 6-8, 2012, Miami The Inc. Leadership Forum brings together the knowledge and experience of industry experts, academics, seasoned entrepreneurs and fellow company leaders to share their methods on how to implement leadership strategies that help businesses flourish. In 2012, the two-day event will immerse attendees in an energizing program with a series of keynote speakers, panel discussions and interactive networking sessions designed exclusively for the unique needs of entrepreneurial leaders. The Forum brings to life the content in Inc. magazine through thought-provoking programming that enables company owners to gain actionable, real-world information to hone their skills and lead their businesses on a path to growth. At Inc.’s Leadership Forum, you’ll learn about innovative approaches, inspirational tools and processes to build teams and workplace environments that have a lasting impact on financial results and personal satisfaction. CT Business Expo June 7, 2012, Hartford, CT The 2012 CT Business Expo offers free educational seminars hosted by industry elite speakers and trainers. All of the educational seminars will be held in custom built classrooms on the show floor. Four educational tracks include Sales, Marketing, Technology and Management. Crain’s Tech Talk Live June 11, 2012, Chicago Join us for a moderated conversation and audience Q&A with mobile Internet pioneer Dag Kittlaus, co-founder and creator of Siri, the new voice interaction feature in the popular Apple Inc. iPhone 4S. Dag will discuss his journey to creating one of the more innovative mobile technologies in recent history—a product that took him from Chicago to Silicon Valley and back to Chicago again. In addition to the discussion about working with Apple, Dag will give his perspective on the differences between the Chicago and California technology scenes. Enjoy drinks, appetizers and lively networking before and after the program. 2012 Veteran Entrepreneur Training Symposium June 11-14, 2012, Reno, NV Designed by Veteran small business owners for Veteran small business owners, VETS2012 brings government agencies, industry leaders and Veteran entrepreneurs together in a small, intimate forum to discuss the questions you need answered. Unlocking the Secrets of LinkedIn to Grow Your Business June 13, 2012, Online You probably think of LinkedIn as “that site” your friends and business associates have used in the past to search for job opportunities. But LinkedIn has become so much more. This webinar, presented by Venture Beat, will explore how LinkedIn can be used to grow your small business. Investor Feedback Forum and Pitch Showdown June 13, 2012, New York City This event is co-located inside the info360 Conference & Expo at the Jacob Javits Center The Investor Feedback Forum and Pitch Showdown is designed to: Help early stage startups refine their investor pitch Provide helpful, actionable advice on each startups business model from active, early-stage tech startup investors Demonstrate to the audience how investors evaluate startup pitches Award prizes to the most viable startups, based on audience and panel voting. The three winning startups are automatically invited to pitch to the NY Angels. TechWeek Conference Chicago 2012 June 22-26, 2012, Chicago Connect to mobile innovations, new advertising technologies, emerging social media practices, and new apps for managing your business and life. Techweek is the largest technology and innovation conference and expo to put the entire digital ecosytem on stage — in Chicago, an up-and-coming global destination for new technology, with a community eager to harness the spirit of innovation. National Veteran Small Business Conference & Expo June 26-29, 2012, Detroit The Department of Veterans Affairs is hosting the National Veteran Small Business Conference and Expo. As the largest nationwide conference of its kind, this event focuses on helping Veteran-owned businesses maximize opportunities in the federal marketplace. Join nearly 6,000 participants in Detroit for the opportunity to: Connect with procurement decision makers from other businesses and federal agencies Expand knowledge through over 200 training and business requirement sessions Engage with other attendees and gain visibility in the Expo Hall of nearly 500 booths Use VetGovPartner to facilitate online and onsite networking including face-to-face sessions with senior procurement decision makers Women’s Business Conference 2012 October 4-5, 2012, Louisville, KY This year’s theme celebrates the entrepreneurial, innovative and adventurous spirit of women business owners. They are starting businesses at record rates and running these businesses on their own terms. They refuse to sit idle, waiting and watching. They have confidence and power to shake things up, take smart risks and do things differently to move forward. They are impacting positive change at every turn, speaking out on issues of public policy, lightening their environmental footprint and creating jobs that fuel the economy. They are part of something much greater than themselves—a grassroots movement of women business owners and their community of supporters all dedicated to helping one another grow, thrive, give back and leave a legacy. The New York Enterprise Report 2012 Small Business Awards October 10, 2012, New York City The New York Enterprise Report Small Business Awards is the annual awards program honoring the achievements and accomplishments of the 500,000+ small businesses throughout the tri-state area. Now in its 7th year, the Awards gala attracts more than 400 business owners and executives and is often referred to as “the networking event of the year.” Don’t miss the chance to do business with the “who’s who” of the New York small business community. To find more small business events, contests and awards, visit the Small Business Events Calendar. If you are putting on a small business event or contest, and want to get the word out, please submit it through our Events & Contests Submission Form (it’s free). Only events of interest to small business people, freelancers and entrepreneurs will be included. Brought to you as a community service by Small Business Trends and Smallbiztechnology.com. From Small Business TrendsAttend a Small Business Event: Here is a List

Facebook Aside, Everyone Who Thinks IPO "Pops" Are Good Has Been Brainwashed

Last Friday, after Facebook stock started trading at $42, most observers immediately pronounced the IPO a flop. Why? Because the IPO had been priced at $38, which meant that the IPO "pop" was only about 10% above the IPO price. Facebook stockholders who had bought the IPO the night before had instantly made 10% overnight--a spectacular return. String together a few months of daily returns like that, and you would quickly be one of the most successful investors in history. But some Facebook speculators had expected to make much more free money overnight--perhaps as much as speculators in LinkedIn and other hot IPOs had made. So they felt disappointed and ripped off. And the media, who have been carefully trained by Wall Street and short-term speculators to view IPOs with big pops as "successful" and IPOs with small or no pops as "flops" immediately dissed Facebook as a flop. Now, there were two serious issues with the Facebook IPO that complicate any discussion focused on this IPO in particular: The NASDAQ screwup that borked at least a day's worth of trading, and the "selective disclosure" scandal, in which the underwriters told their big clients that Facebook's second quarter was weak but did not tell their small clients this. Both of those issues may well have affected Facebook's first day of trading and contributed to the subsequent price decline. And both of those issues are legitimate sources of frustration, for investors and the company alike. (So please don't bother raising these issues in the comments below: They're separate and apart from the point of this discussion, which is about first-day "pops.") According to a source very close to the situation, all other issues aside, Facebook was aiming for a 10% pop. Not a 25% pop. Not a 50% pop. A 10% pop. And for most of the first day of trading, that's exactly what Facebook got. In other words, Facebook did exactly what it was hoping to do. Facebook knew well how this 10% pop would be perceived by the media: As a disappointment. But Facebook understood what most companies that go public don't: Any press grumbling about "disappointments" and "small pops" will be quickly forgotten. The only investors who benefit from "pops" are short-term flippers who won't help the company long term and don't deserve free money "Pops" cost the company and its existing shareholders hundreds of milions of dollars (in Facebook's case, billions) "Pops provide no advantage to the company other than a bit of extremely expensive and ephemeral excitement and PR Pricing the IPO high enough to have only a small pop meant raising millions or billions more dollars that would subsequently be worth milions or billions of dollars to the company Specifically, in Facebook's case, if Facebook had priced the IPO at, say, $30, instead of $38, it would have raised ~$12.5 billion in the IPO instead of $16 billion. In exchange for a bigger "pop," happier speculators, and a more enthusiastic press reception, in other words, Facebook and its selling shareholders would have sacrificed $3.5 billion that they can now use to create real value for the company and its shareholders (including its new shareholders). $3.5 billion is real money. Blowing $3.5 billion on making speculators and financial reporters happier would have been the height of short-term thinking. And, like other great companies, Facebook doesn't make decisions aimed at creating short-term value. It makes decisions designed to create long-term value. The extra $3.5 billion Facebook raised by aiming for 10% pop will create at least $3.45 billion more value for Facebook over the long term than a bigger "pop" would have. (The short-term press hyperventilation and speculator euphoria may create some value for a company, but not much. And it may even be harmful to the company by making everything after the IPO seem like an anti-climax.) But, but, but! What about the IPO investors? Shouldn't Facebook and other IPO companies want to make investors happy? Shouldn't they be less greedy and give investors a reward for taking a chance on them? Yes. IPOs should not be priced "at market value." They should be priced just below market value This rewards initial investors for taking the chance on the IPO pricing (which is always risky--no one knows exactly what "market value" will be). And it gives the investors an incentive necessary to do the research on the company before it goes public. Without that, the investors might just wait to see where the stock traded and do the research then. But any investor who thinks they need more than a 5%-10% overnight return as a reward for placing an order on the IPO is unbelievably greedy. Again, a 10% return overnight is a spectacular return. A 10%-20% return, which is what early-stage IPOs should aim for, is an even more spectacular return. So any investor who thinks they deserve more than that is just greedy. But What About "Broken IPOs" -- They're Terrible, Right? [No] What if the "market value" for a company on the first day of trading is higher than a conservative market value that a conservative investor would place on it? What if the stock drops below the IPO price after the first couple days of trading? What if the company has a "broken IPO?" Yes, what about that. This is where Wall Street's brainwashing of clients and the media about IPOs has been most insidious and effective. So, really, what if a company has a "broken IPO?" Isn't that a huge disaster? No. In fact, it's hardly worth mentioning. What it means is that investors who placed orders for the IPO at certain prices and were intending to hold the stock for more than the first day of trading and were unwilling to tolerate a drop below the IPO price were too aggressive in their bids. That's the investors' fault, not the company's fault. And the resulting disappointment and disgruntlement is called "buyers' remorse." And it happens all the time, in almost every industry and type of transaction on the planet. Let's use a real-estate analogy. Let's say a beautiful house is being put up for sale. The agent hired (and paid) to sell the house advertises it everywhere, so all potentially interested buyers know about it. Then the agent calls for bids. The agent explains that there will be only one round of bidding, so bidders need to submit their highest and best offers. Then the agent and the homeowner look at all the bids and pick one, probably the highest. And then the house is sold at that price. The day after the deal, it is highly unlikely that the buyer would be able to resell the house for the price he or she just paid--because he or she offered the highest bid around. The true "market value" for the house, in other words--the average price paid by most buyers and sellers--might actually be below the price the buyer paid. The seller of the house, meanwhile, has gotten full market value for the house--just as he or she should. No one complains that there wasn't a "pop" in the house price. No one thinks the buyer "got screwed." No one says the agent should have sold the house at 25% below market value just to give the buyer a "pop." In fact, if the buyer ever complains that he or she paid too much for the house, everyone will tell the buyer to grow up and look in the mirror if he or she wants to figure out who to blame. And it's exactly the same for IPOs. Any "pop" in the stock price on the first day is the difference between the IPO price and the market value. The market value is not, perhaps, a "conservative value that only a cautious prudent investor would pay," but the market value--the average value that all investors, conservative and aggressive, are paying. Any investor who chooses to pay market value for an IPO needs to accept that. And if he or she doesn't want to accept that, then he or she just shouldn't place a bid. (This is voluntary stock speculation, after all: We're not talking about selling water and air.) "But It's Not Like Selling A House It's Like Selling Apartments!" [No, It Isn't] There's one more argument that sophisticated "pop" defenders invoke. And that's this: Selling an IPO is not like selling a house. It's like selling an apartment in a big apartment building with lots of apartments. What you're trying to do with the first sale, the pop defenders say, is generate excitement for the stock, by showing how much money can be made if buyers start speculating on the apartments. If you give away a lot of free money to the first few buyers, this story goes, others will see how much money is being made and then they'll pile in and start buying. And the value of all the apartments will go up! That argument sounds sophisticated and intelligent, but it's wrong. Why? Because the shares in an IPO are sold all at once, not one after the other. And future sellers of shares in the company--existing shareholders--will not be selling any more shares for months after the deal, at which point the trading price of the stock will be determined by the first day "pop" on the IPO but by what has happened in the interim. "No!" the IPO pop defenders shout. "The first-day pop determines everything! Investors who don't get a pop will storm off in disgust, and they'll never come back! The company's stock price will be lower forever, because burned investors will always want to punish the company!" I hope no one seriously believes this. The reality is that after a stock settles in the weeks and months after the IPO, what happened on the first day of trading is quickly forgotten. Potential buyers and sellers of the stock react to "news"--to what is happening in the market and industry and at the company--not because of some collective market memory about the IPO price. And, in any event, even in a huge deal like Facebook, the investors who played the IPO are only a tiny fraction of all available investors out there, so even if the investors who didn't get their free-money pop remain disgruntled, plenty of other investors will rush in to fill the gap. So, if IPOs pops are actually bad, why does everyone think they're so good? A few reasons: Everyone loves free money, so when a handful of speculators get lucky and make a lot of it (when an IPO is underpriced), they're very loud in celebrating their brilliance and success Pops are exciting and controversial! Pops give the press an excuse to write breathless stories about the IPO, in which they can rave about the "instant overnight millionaires and billionaires" and the "popular madness and delusions of crowds" and other age-old stories that sell newspapers and cause viewers to tune in (and get clicks). Wall Street has brainwashed companies and the media into thinking that pops are good. Why? Because a healthy "pop" makes it easier for Wall Street to keep both kinds of clients happy--not just the issuer (company) client but the investor clients. Wall Street deals with issuer clients only every once in a while, when companies do IPOs or secondary offerings. But Wall Street deals with investor clients every day. So Wall Street loves to dole out favors to those investor clients at the expense of issuer clients. And those favors often come in the form of huge IPO pops. What a small IPO pop like Facebook's really means is that the underwriter has correctly assessed market value (often hard to do) and then priced the stock just below market value. In other words, they've done a great job for their issuer client and a fine job for their investor clients. Especially on a hot offering, this is extremely hard to do. That's why I said last week that Morgan Stanley had priced Facebook perfectly. Yes, in the week since its IPO, Facebook has traded down sharply. But a lot of that sell-off is due to the NASDAQ screwup and the now-widespread understanding that Facebook is having a weak second quarter (something that was only known by institutions). And a lot of it is also probably due to the fact that many, many players placed orders for Facebook only because they were hoping to get a huge IPO pop. These speculators--and that's what they are, speculators--did get a nice modest pop. Again, on the first day of trading, unless they were burned by the NASDAQ screwup, they could have sold their stock for 5%-10% more than they bought it for the day before--a spectacular return. And if this was still disappointing to them, well, then, that's because they were greedy. Meanwhile, Facebook raised $16 billion at a good price, one that--at the time it priced the stock--was just below the market value. The extra cash that Facebook raised by pricing its stock 10% below market instead of, say, 25%, will create value for the company for decades to come. If the company executes well, meanwhile, memories of the "broken IPO" will quickly be forgotten. And anyone who doesn't believe this should just take a look at Amazon. Back in 1997, when Amazon went public, the stock quickly "broke" the IPO price. As it was for much of its early history, Amazon was shellacked in the press for this. 15 years later, Amazon is up about 75X from the IPO price.* And the shellacking has long since been forgotten. SEE ALSO: EXCLUSIVE: Here's The Inside Story Of What Happened With The Facebook IPO * No, I don't think Facebook is going to go up 75X from the IPO price. This is in part because Facebook went public at a far more mature stage than Amazon. When Amazon went public, it was valued at $500 million. When Facebook went public, it was valued at $104 billion. It's a lot harder to create oodles of future value from a $104 billion level than it is from a $500 million one. Please follow Business Insider on Twitter and Facebook.Join the conversation about this story »

Will Allen's `Good Food Revolution'

His new autobiography chronicles Allen's unexpected journey from professional basketball player to urban farming pioneer.

Read “Rules of the Hunt” and Start Playing Successfully in Business

To say that Rules of the Hunt: Real World Advice for Entrepreneurial and Business Success is one of the most unusual business books I’ve ever read or reviewed would be an understatement. The whole experience of getting this book and reviewing it was rather serendipitous. As is the usual case, I received an email from a publicist who asked if I’d be interested in reviewing the book. Of course, I said “Yes.” The book arrived and I opened the envelope and just put it on the pile – you know the pile I’m talking about – it’s the one my husband just went bananas over this morning – yeah – that one! But then I got a call from Michael Dalton Johnson (@RulesoftheHunt). At first I thought he was talking about the book – but it turned out to be about a completely unrelated reason. As we were ending the conversation he said that the book had an unusual format – but he wouldn’t say more. Well, you know what happened next. I went home, routed through the pile until I found the book, and promptly took it upstairs to read that evening. Rules of the Hunt Looks Like a Book and Reads Like a Blog When you get your copy of Rules of the Hunt you’re going to think you got a book. It looks like a book at first. In fact, it looks like any other business book you’ve ever seen; it has a businessy title and subtitle, acknowledgements, a forward by famous sales guru, Jeffery Gitomer and even a disclaimer. Then you get to the table of contents and you see that there are, what look like ten chapters. The introduction subtly lets me know that I don’t have to read the book cover to cover. OK. A lot of books say that, so I’m not surprised. It isn’t until I turn to page two that I notice the difference – when Michael Johnson said “Rules” – he was being literal. This was a book of RULES ; paragraphs and sections of things that Michael Johnson has learned over the length of his more than 30 years of attending the school of entrepreneurial hard knocks. Let me give you an example. I’m going to select just a couple of short “rules” so that you can get a flavor for what I mean: “With money or time, new customers are bought. The question is how much will new customers cost you? There are many inexpensive ways to acquire customers – word of mouth being the cheapest of them all. Clever advertising, publicity, and promotion are also very effective. You must determine, with a fair degree of accuracy what your acquisition costs are.” OK. So what, you might say. But then there are wonderful, golden nuggets of just plain raw and honest business wisdom like this one: “The immutable law of business gift giving. Women like chocolates and flowers, men like food, gadgets and toys. Quality trumps quantity. A small box of exquisite chocolate truffles is remembered long after a two-pound of so-so candy. That’s all you need to know.” Here’s another one I really liked: “Hire traits, not degrees. The fact that a job applicant has a degree doesn’t reveal much about the candidate’s capabilities. Many people with advanced degrees lack common sense. The Wizard of Oz couldn’t give the Scarecrow brains, but he could give him a diploma. Lots of incompetents have diplomas. Don’t be too impressed by these. Honesty, loyalty, initiative and dedication can’t be taught. The real world of business requires trats and abilities that are not attained by simply having a degree.” How Michael Dalton Johnson Can Pull off a Book Like Rules of the Hunt Not everyone can write a book like this. It takes someone who has lived it and learned from his mistakes to write a book like this and have you actually believe it. Michael Dalton Johnson certainly fits this description. At the age of 15, Johnson dropped out of high school to take a full-time job. He joined the army at age 17. Then, after serving in the military, he worked as a ranch hand, factory worker and construction laborer before venturing into the business world. He’s never taken a business course and it seems like he’s proud of it. Now, let me tell you about what he’s accomplished inside the world of business. Johnson is an award-winning trade book and magazine publisher. He’s been an entrepreneur for over 30 years and is the founder of SalesDog.com. He hasn’t lived an obscure entrepreneurial life, rather, he’s been on more than 200 radio shows and been featured in U.S. News and World Report, The Economist, The Wall Street Journal and many, many more publications that are too numerous to mention here. I had the opportunity to have a conversation with Michael a few weeks ago and I can tell you that the creative marketing and sales secrets he shared with me can ONLY come from someone who has gotten his PhD from the real world of work and not a classroom. Rules of the Hunt is a Mentoring Textbook With so many young people graduating from college and looking to contribute and get to work – this book would be a fantastic graduation present. It’s easy to read and will give them just the right amount of insight to think about – but leave them the freedom to see how they would put it to work. If you’ve been running a business, but not getting as far ahead in the process as you’d like – you might find some clues as to what’s been missing in your strategy. Overall, this is a great general read for anyone who love reading business books. You don’t have to read it cover to cover. You can simply keep it at your desk and open to a random page to see what pops up for you. I really enjoyed Rules of the Hunt and I think you will too. From Small Business TrendsRead “Rules of the Hunt” and Start Playing Successfully in Business

12 Town Centres Named As First 'Portas Pilots'

Twelve town centres have been named as the first "Portas pilots", entitling them to funding and expert advice as they seek to regenerate high streets.

Kickstart Your Business

Kickstarter is one of the most influential websites anywhere on the internet for people who have dreams. Many people will admit that they once had some type of dream but financial problems became an insurmountable hindrance. This is the main reason why Kickstarter was created; the site is slowly be16 Vote(s)

The First Law of Sales

The First Law of Sales is a post from: The Sales Blog | S. Anthony Iannarino Today my friend Chris wrote this piece on his blog. Some guys like the ones in this video ripped off my uncle. He didn’t have any real money, yet he was robbed and preyed upon by this new breed of confidence men. What criminals like these are doing has nothing to do with real sales or marketing, regardless of how much money they make. It’s the same old snake oil and charlatanism that’s been around for Centuries. But this time, it’s digital snake oil peddled by digital charlatans. A few days ago, The New York Times posted this opinion piece on Capitalism. The piece came out a few days after Chase suffered a black eye for some complex financial trading gone wrong and to the tune of Billions of dollars. But trading derivatives of derivatives of sketchy financial deals isn’t real market Capitalism. Especially when people who had nothing to do with the transactions pay for the mistakes of those who do nothing more than speculate. There is no real value being created or traded here. The first rule of sales is that you create value for someone else. The only reason it is okay for you as a salesperson to capture part of the value that you create is that you created value in the first place. This is why market Capitalism works. It’s why selling works. You do the value creating first. If you have no real intention of creating value for someone else, if what you are doing is only to make you money, then you aren’t selling. You are stealing. Selling is meaningful work (as is marketing). It’s meaningful work because it allows you to make a difference in the lives and businesses of other people. It’s meaningful because you can create a better outcome for others. It’s meaningful because it gives you the opportunity to create value. And there is nothing wrong with capturing part of the value that you helped to create. There is everything wrong with trying to capture value without creating value for other people, especially if you lead them to believe that you are going to create value for them. It’s stealing. It’s wrong. And you will never be proud of having done so. The first law of sales is to create value for other people. If you get this part right, the rest of it is much easier. And much more meaningful. Questions Why must you first create value if you are to deserve to capture value? What makes selling meaningful work? Do you know people that try to sell only so they can make money, with now intention of really helping someone else produce an outcome? Related posts:Sales is Meaningful Work Sales is Meaningful Work is a post from: The Sales... Sales Is the Engine Sales Is the Engine is a post from: The Sales... The Real Method to Improve Performance Evaluations and Results (A Note to the Sales Manager) The Real Method to Improve Performance Evaluations and Results (A...

Elon Musk On The Biggest Week Of His Life

What does success sound like?

APPLE SLAPS BACK: Government's E-Books Case Is 'Fundamentally Flawed' (AAPL, AMZN)

The government's antitrust complaint against Apple and six book publishers over e-book pricing is "fundamentally flawed as a matter of fact and law," according to a response it's filed with the court overseeing the case. Ars Technica says that Apple "pulls no punches" in its response, which accuses the government of siding with Amazon, which Apple says is the real monopolist in the market for electronic books. Amazon, Apple points out, sold 9 out of every 10 e-books before Apple introduce its iBookstore. The company also states repeatedly that Apple "lacks sufficient information and belief" to respond to most of the government's allegations. Translated from the legalese, that's a fancy lawyer way of saying "We have absolutely no idea what you're talking about." That's a feisty response, which means this is going to be a fun case to watch. Historically, books have been sold like most physical goods—purchased at a wholesale price and sold at a retail price. That's how Amazon sold print books, and that's how it started out selling e-books. It took a loss on some e-books in order to keep prices low and spur sales of its Kindle e-reader. Publishers worried that Amazon's low prices would set consumers' expectations for e-books prices at a permanently lower level than what physical books sold for. (Never mind that those expectations are probably pretty reasonable and something consumers would arrive at on their own.) Apple, meanwhile, always sold media and apps, including some e-book apps, through an agency model—taking a cut of the transaction rather than profiting from the difference between the wholesale and retail price. Under the agency model, book publishers, just like app makers in the app store, picked a price for the e-books they published. Apple makes a big deal out of its prior use of the agency model in its response. Meanwhile, Amazon has argued that publishers have a monopoly on the titles they publish. Which, in a sense, they do: Copyright law doesn't let one publisher go around and sell another publisher's books. If you want a particular title, you have to go to that publisher. That's the argument Amazon offered when it had a spat with Macmillan and briefly pulled all of the publisher's titles—both print and electronic—from its website, then acceded to Macmillan's demands that it adopt agency pricing. Call this case Jeff Bezos's revenge. Please follow SAI on Twitter and Facebook.Join the conversation about this story »

Zynga, Groupon Lock-ups Expire Next Week

After the Facebook initial public offering, what's next for the new crop of Internet stocks?

This Week In Bots: Saluting The First President Of The Robot Epoch

Bot vid: Darpa's RobbieOne of the more interesting robotics programs that DARPA funds is the Autonomous Robotic Manipulation project, designed to produce robots that can perform relatively complex tasks without too much supervision (obvious military implications here). As revealed over at the Automaton blog, robot maker RE2 has a robot in this program, cheerfully dubbed Robbie. The strength of the robot's design is in its grippers that approximate human hands. They have sensors so the machine even feels "touch" a little like we do.[youtube UpyKt6mClVA]Bot vid: Smart TripodThe winner of this year's Microsoft Robotics @Home competition is interesting: It's a tripod on a mobile base that can follow its subjects around, using a Kinect sensor to navigate and detect the movements of its human subjects for control purposes. The tech can be used for, say, creating a low-budget movie's tracking shots. The winner was Arthur Wait, who earned a check for $10,000.[youtube 6J9uRbjQGjY]Bot vid: FukushimabotThe Future Robotics Technology Center in Japan has just demonstrated its new robot destined to help assess and perhaps clean up the nuclear mess at Japan's tsunami-ravaged Fukushima nuclear site. Rosemary, as the machine is called, is roughly the size of a lawnmower and has unusual feet that swivel to navigate obstacles or crawl up a slope of greater than 60 degrees. Best of all it's strong enough to carry gear weighing up to 60 kilos (approx. 132 lbs.), making it ideal for ferrying sensors, imaging units, and perhaps clean-up equipment into radiation-damaged zones. [youtube a6qBHpyQMas]Bot NewsRobofish. This week a large yellow robot fish could be seen swimming in the ocean off the Spanish port of Gijon, taking part in free water tests of its systems. The five-foot, $31,000 European machine is crammed with sensors designed to detect pollutants that have leaked from vessels or underwater facilities like pipelines, and the goal is to have many fish swimming in sensitive areas to give a very early warning of contamination. Its fish-like design is an attempt to avoid problems like propeller snarl on debris.Ocean swimmers. On Monday the famous WaveGlider robots from Liquid Robotics were sent off from their stopover at Hawaii en route to their final destinations in Japan and Australia. The experiment is already a success, and the devices have proven useful in collecting data on sea and air environments to aid climate studies and weather forecasting. They swim autonomously, propelled by the motion of water waves. Australian telepresence museum bot. By November this year the Australian National Museum, in concert with science body CSIRO, will have a robotic telepresence droid roaming its corridors. Equipped with sensors and clever camera units, the idea is to give remote students access to each of the museum's exhibits in more detail than may be possible with a visit in person. It's a six-month experiment that may become permanent.Bot Futures: The First President of the Robot Era?When the next President of the United States takes office in 2013, it's unlikely he'll have to get to work on a raft of robotics legislation. But as an intriguing NPR piece points out this week, he is likely to be the very first president who has to deal with robotics-related issues on a regular basis. That's simply because robots are everywhere, and their presence in places of work, military forces, police forces, emergency services, farms, factories, and homes is only increasing. Robotic technology is penetrating deeply into American lifestyles.Robots are, for example, finding uses on farms where they can simplify many of the more mundane farming jobs like tilling, distributing pesticide, and even crop-harvesting--potentially driving up efficiency and thus lowering production costs. Robot technology is being used in schools to drive student interest in science and engineeringand even to teach some lessons or boost student writing skills. They're going to take over the role of some military pilots soon enough, and the ever-expanding drone fleet means U.S. robots are killing enemy combatants, and, sadly, making mistakes overseas right now. Drone robots are even penetrating the skies of the U.S. And there are early examples of the use of robots as political agitators, as in the case of the ONE Street Tweeter, which prints political protest tweets on the streets like a giant mobile inkjet printer.A few of the thorny issues facing the next president: Of course robots in the workforce improve efficiency and help drive costs down, but is it better for the population to have more folk employed and working slightly less efficiently? Will American citizens tolerate police forces using drones for surveillance, as they become ever more aware of their right to privacy? What happens when the first armed police drone kills a bystander?By 2017, when the next Comander in Chief takes office, he or she may actually have to develop policies on robots in addition to economic, social, health care, and military matters. Such mechanical issues may even be part of the campaign.[Image: U.S. Navy] Chat about this news with Kit Eaton on Twitter and Fast Company too.

Award-Winning Yogurt Maker's Story Starts Where a Giant Left Off

Chobani's founder Hamdi Ulukaya tells the story of his company's modest beginnings and current growing pains.

A Small Change in Your Business Mindset Can Increase Your Sales

Okay, show of hands, who hates selling? Sure, you know that you must sell. Deep in your heart of hearts though you despise it. You know that making sales is the only way to increase your revenue, build up your company and, well, stay in business. You have heard of the results others get. You know that selling works. But, for some reason, it’s not working for you. You work hard researching and contacting prospects. You do your best to interest them with your work during a sales presentation. Hell, you even follow up, which is not something many small business owners would do. But you still don’t make sales. At least not as many as you would like. You do everything by the book but you get no results. And, the sales that you make, well, sometimes they feel kind of accidental. Like as if they just happened, as if you were simply in the right place at the right time. You know that wasn’t selling, just luck. So, what’s wrong? What’s causing all this hard work to go to waste? Well, I may have an idea so read on. I will show you a simple hack that can help you make more sales almost instantly. This Is Not Only Your Problem Before we begin, there is one more thing I want to talk about. You are not alone. The problem I am about to discuss with you is one of the most common ones amongst all small business owners. There are literary thousands of people that struggle to make sales. Some of them try very hard, others give up because, as someone once told me, “this is the difficult part.” Nevertheless, they make no sales. But do you know what is the reason for that? Wrong Attitude Yep, it’s nothing to do with who you are, what you do and how good you are at selling (well, technique plays a part in that too but it’s not the most important part). It’s your approach to selling that’s causing the problem. Because, you see, you go to a presentation hoping to make the sale (and I fully realize how stupid this sentence sounds but please, read on). The trouble is, it’s true. You go to the sales call with one intention, to get the order. It’s not a genuine, honest reason. It’s being selfish. And, the trouble is, many of your prospects see through that. Do you know what a seasoned salesman does instead? They go to a meeting hoping that their solutions will help the prospect solve their problems and improve their business. They know this, hell, they believe in it. And, they get the sale. Want to make more sales? Go to your next sales call believing that what you are going to do to your prospect is going to help them, improve their business or increase the revenue. And, you know what the best part is? It’s actually quite simple to do. How To Change Your Sales Attitude And Show Your Prospects That You Care 1. Realize What You Are Really Selling You can’t change your mindset if you don’t know what are you really selling. By this I don’t mean the actual product or a service you are offering but what is the biggest benefit of using it. A web designer does not sell websites. She sells the opportunity to promote the business online, to gain more leads and sales for the business. A garden designer does not sell new gardens but rather an opportunity to have a special place to rest and unwind. Find out what you are really selling and figuring out the ways to help your prospects will become extremely easy. 2. Understand That You Are Not The Most Important Part of The Sale By nature, we think of ourselves first. It’s quite natural, however, if you want to make sales, you need to change the way you think. In sales, in spite of what you might say you are not the important part. It is your potential client, their business and the problems they are looking to fix. Everything else is secondary. 3. Prepare Solutions For Your Prospect When you initiate a sales process with a prospect, you usually have a very good idea about the kind of problems they might have in relation to what you are selling. If not, I suggest you stop here and first learn how to research your potential clients thoroughly before making the initial contact. That knowledge should be enough to think of the best solutions for your prospect. It doesn’t mean that you should have the whole proposal ready. But having examples of how you could implement your solution into the prospects business in your presentation will certainly present you as someone who cares. Here’s A Scary Fact Every time you lose a sale, you most likely also lose a prospect for life. It is an unfortunate fact that you may never get a chance to sell to them again. A simple change in your business mindset can make the difference between this and constantly winning new clients for your business. So, what do you choose? Mindset Photo via Shutterstock From Small Business TrendsA Small Change in Your Business Mindset Can Increase Your Sales

Stop Comparing Female Execs And Just Let Sheryl Sandberg Do Her Job

This is a guest post by Kim Polese, a prominent Silicon Valley entrepreneur, innovator and business leader and the co-founder and former CEO of Marimba. When I first read Eric Jackson‘s post Wednesday on FORBES entitled, “Sheryl Sandberg is the Valley’s It Girl – Just Like Kim Polese Once Was,” my immediate thought was – how sad. How sad that as an industry and a society we haven’t advanced over these past two decades when it comes to views on women and leadership. As with all the past lazy, stereotype-ridden articles like this one, it gets the facts wrong. For example, writing about Marimba, the software company I co-founded and led as CEO, Jackson states that “after the bubble burst the company had no future and sold for twice its venture capital raised to BMC.” Actually, after the bubble burst, Marimba weathered the storm far better than most because we had superior products and an enviable customer base of Fortune 500 companies. As a result, in 2004 Marimba was sold to BMC for $239 million – nearly 15 times its venture capital raised (see CNET, “BMC Snaps Up Marimba”). Making that kind of return on capital is a home run. What’s more, Marimba was a pioneer in the now multi-billion dollar Internet systems management market and Marimba’s technology continues to be a core part of BMC’s product portfolio to this day. It’s a matter of public record that Marimba was a success – but the author never bothered to check the facts. As CEO, I led Marimba from zero to nearly $50 million in annual revenue, achieved profitability, took the company public, and we ultimately had a very successful acquisition by one of the industry’s largest software companies for nearly a quarter of a billion dollars. The only way all this could have happened is that I, like any good CEO — woman or man — focused my time on making sure that our customers were successful and executing on all business metrics, while building and leading a highly talented team and a company that was a pioneer in Internet-based software management. But the facts apparently aren’t relevant, because some people are still stuck in old stereotypes. So despite the clear facts, they push the story — once again, for the thousandth time — that it was all a bunch of PR hype, I was just along for the ride, and eventually I got my comeuppance. And now they’re trying to attach the same cliches to Sheryl. The vacuous premise of Jackson’s article (now taken down and replaced with an apology) — that Sheryl is now in danger of falling into the same trap I supposedly did as CEO, neglecting the internal operations of the company in favor of focusing excessively on the “external stuff” – would be laughable if it weren’t so dangerous. Views like these are all too commonplace, and part of a pervasive pattern that belittles, demeans and marginalizes women as leaders. As COO of Facebook, Sheryl is behaving no differently from her male peers when it comes to choosing how to divide her time internally vs. externally — meeting with customers and investors, building partnerships and communicating about the company– just as I did as CEO of Marimba. When we give speeches or interviews, we talk about our companies, our customers, the impact of technology and the Internet, and similar topics. We focus attention on our companies, not ourselves. We don’t spend more time with the press or doing public speaking than our male counterparts. We often receive extra attention as female executives in the technology industry because there are so few of us. However, we don’t have any choice about what the press actually writes or what the layout looks like or the photos that are published. In other words, we behave just like our male counterparts do — we just do our job. We can’t control how the outside world reacts to us. In the past I’ve remained silent about articles like this, believing that if I just stayed focused on delivering results and continued executing successfully, then the facts would stand on their own, and as more women entered the technology industry, these sadly misinformed stereotype-laden views would eventually die out once and for all. However, apparently the idiocy lives on, and now it’s being recycled for a new wave of female leaders. And I’m not going to stand for that. Sheryl is succeeding because she has been delivering successfully. Period. Today only 3.6% of Fortune 500 companies are led by women. And when it comes to the future of women in computing, the numbers are in an alarming downward spiral. The number of women in the U.S. graduating with computer science college degrees has declined from 37% in 1984, to less than 12% today. As a country we need to be doing a much better job encouraging women to enter the computer industry, and become leaders. This nation’s innovation capacity and economic future depends on attracting the best and brightest from BOTH sexes and encouraging them to be leaders. Antiquated views about women like those perpetuated in the FORBES article do the opposite. If women can’t be judged fairly and objectively by their merits here in Silicon Valley — often cited as the ultimate meritocracy – then this exciting place where we’re inventing the future every day is still stuck in the 19th century when it comes to views on women and leadership. Kim Polese is a prominent Silicon Valley entrepreneur, innovator and business leader. As the founding product manager of Java, she led its launch in 1995, and went on to co-found and serve as CEO of Marimba Inc. which pioneered Internet-based software management. Ms. Polese is a leading voice in advocating public policy to increase America’s innovation capacity. She currently serves as an advisor, board member and investor, helping to found and scale a new generation of startup companies.

How To Evolve Your Career

Call it vocational Darwinism: Seeing similarities between the Galapagos Islands and our recession-era ecosystem, Nacie Carson wrote The Finch Effect to help you be more like those titular birds--which adapted their beaks to environmental changes within a single generation--and less like the species that have perished around them.Fast Company spoke with the author about the evolutionary benefits of owning your career, the intersecting axes of personal branding, and why natural selection is not survival of the strongest. This interview has been condensed and edited. FAST COMPANY: The Finch Effect is all about adaptation. What is it that we need to adapt to? NACIE CARSON: What we need to adapt to as modern professionals is the rapid changes that we're seeing in the job market. The start of the recession caught people so off balance. People were standing around, thinking “What are we supposed to do, what's going to happen, how are we supposed to deal with this?” The truth is that because of different factors like outsourcing and how fast communication happens, the pace at which changes in the job market happen is not going to slow down. It's really important for individual professionals to be aware that the price of poker is going up and to really take responsibility for our own careers into our own hands--instead of placing them into structures that might not be able to adapt as well as an individual could. How do you take that responsibility? I spent several years freelance writing, and one of the really great things about that experience is that the onus is completely on you for making yourself financially stable, but also directing your own career. The question of what's next? is not the question that you ask the corporate structure that you're trying to climb the ladder in; it's a question you ask yourself. There are things we can do on our own to go out and get new experience, to diversify our incomes sources, and to help us be more buoyant as things might change in the job market. So how do we add to our buoyancy? The first piece is really the shifting of this perspective. Once you've done that, I think understanding the professional brand that we’re sharing with the world and taking the lead in terms of that is key. All of us are emitting a brand at all times whether we are aware of that or not, and if we understand that, we can have greater control of the message that we're sending to other people. Additionally, take responsibility for our own professional development when possible. It's important for professionals to be comfortable and willing to hold up their hand to get more skill development, to improve the skills they're already great at, and not wait for a company to do that for them, to really take ownership of their own skill development. Think of yourself as someone who can collect different opportunities. That might mean in your company thinking strategically but acting like an employee. Thinking like an entrepreneur, acting like an employee, it might mean seeking additional opportunities for yourself outside of your full-time job, some tangential gig opportunities to develop your skill set and your resume, or it might mean entertaining the concept of actually stepping out and becoming a full-time freelancer or entrepreneur. What are some first steps toward taking control of that personal brand? The really important first step is understanding that you have one whether or not you're purposefully trying to send one out. People are going to be attaching adjectives and descriptors to you all day, every day, and it's your responsbility to grab onto that and potentially shift those adjectives, if necessary. Additionally, you want to think about who your target audience is for your professional brand. For some people it might be their boss and their organization. "My target audience is impressing the people I work with because I'd like to stay here and get more opportunities." For some people it might be new business opportunities, it might be "Hey, I'm just out of school, and I need to find work, so my target audience for my professional brand is going to be recruiters." Like all brands, it's important that you're speaking to your market about what your brand offers in a language and context that they'll most hear. So what are the axes of branding? There is a huge online component. Your Facebook and your Twitter and your LinkedIn, and all of your social media profiles, and your blog if you have one--they all reflect your professional brand. I think really leveraging Twitter as an individual is a powerful social media way to brand yourself. I think you can do that by sharing articles that reflect something that speaks to your brand's mission statement, or providing a service of some kind, sharing a tip for other people, or engaging in conversations, or reaching out to experts, or even job recruiters who are active in the brand space you're working in. There's also the in-person axis. We forget that there's also a need to ensure that we're transmitting the right message in terms of our physical presentation, the way we articulate ourselves, the ability to make eye contact with people. It seems the antecedent to this personal branding is knowing one’s own strengths and weaknesses and interests. How does one go about obtaining that knowledge of self? For me, the strategies that I've found valuable to get to the heart of these things is really being able to ask yourself the right questions and give yourself an unvarnished answer. What are some of those questions? One of the questions I really love is, "How am I seen by other people, or how do I think I'm seen by other people, and how do I want to be seen by other people professionally?" And then the next question is, "What am I doing to project how I want to be seen? How am I supporting that vision, and how might I not be supporting that vision?" One of the great things that you can do is ask the people who you're close to. With your parents, with your siblings, your friends, or a good coworker you can have an honest conversation, saying: "I'm really putting some thought into this: What are a couple words you might use to describe me as a professional, and how am I supporting that description?" The Finch Effect is about professional evolution. How does one become a member of the fittest, if it’s the fittest that will survive? The way that one becomes a member of the fittest is by learning to be adaptable--in this case that adaptability is empowering yourself to make decisions and drive your own career. It's funny because when you say "survival of the fittest," people are like, "oh yeah, dog-eat-dog, only the strong will survive," like it's some sort of a WWE match. It's not going to do anybody any good to be the strongest, or the biggest, or the meanest kid on the playground if they can't change with the times. There is such a powerful lesson in that core message that you don't need to be the best or the strongest or the brightest--you just need to be able to change and to grow, and that's going to take you a long way to being successful.For more from the Finch Effect, read this week's excerpt. [Image: Flickr user Jo Christian Oterhals]

Get Organized! Cleaning Pros Offer Tips

Warm weather brings out the neat-freak impulse. Franchises that provide everything from decluttering to reorganizing supply their best advice.

7 Tips for a Great Day of Travel

Consider these time-saving options that may also save you headaches during a travel day.

Southwest Airlines Offers Unprecedented Access In 'On The Fly,' Including Mid-Flight Marriage Proposal (VIDEO)

It's 2004 all over again, as MSNBC reminds us. Southwest Airlines went the reality TV route back then with the series "Airline," and now they're back with the premiere of "On the Fly" (Thu., 9 p.m. ET on TLC). But this new series takes a much deeper look into the company, with unprecedented access.As such, it speaks to the frustrations -- and there are many frustrated customers shown on the series -- of flying in the modern era of ultra-security. But it also shows the complexities of running an airline from every aspect, including baggage handlers, airport personnel, maintenance crew and the in-flight team as well.It wasn't all negative reactions, though, for the drama. One touching moment came when a flight attendant's boyfriend disguised himself boarding her plane. Then, when they were mid-flight, he called her over and surprised her on one knee in the aisle with a ring and a proposal. She said yes, of course.Read More...More on TV Replay

Facebook market makers' losses total at least $100 million

(Reuters) - Claims by four of Wall Street's main market makers against Nasdaq over Facebook's botched IPO are likely to exceed $100 million, as they and other traders continue to deal with thousands of problems with customer orders. A technical glitch delayed the social networking company's market debut by 30 minutes on Friday and many client orders were delayed, giving some investors and traders significant losses as the stock price dropped. The exchange operator is facing lawsuits from investors and threats of legal action from brokers. Four of the top market makers in the Facebook IPO -- Knight Capital, Citadel Securities, UBS AG and Citi's Automated Trading Desk -- collectively have probably lost more than $100 million from problems arising from the deal, said a senior executive at one of the firms. Knight and Citadel are each claiming losses of $30 million to $35 million, potentially overwhelming a $13 million fund the exchange set up to deal with potential claims. Nasdaq also has to contend with the outside prospect that it could lose the Facebook listing entirely after having just obtained it. Facebook shares ended regular trading on Thursday up 3.2 percent at $33.03, about $5 short of their offering price. Action on the stock, however, has essentially become secondary to the fallout from the IPO -- its price, its size, its execution and questions about selective disclosure of its financial prospects. Regulators including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin are now looking into how the IPO was handled. The U.S. Senate Banking Committee is also reviewing the matter. Advisers familiar with the situation said many investors are now finding out, nearly a week after the fact, that their orders were not executed at the prices they thought. Fidelity, in a statement, said it was working with regulators and market makers on its clients' issues "and we will continue to do so until we are confident that Nasdaq has done everything it can to mitigate the impact to our customers." Morgan Stanley is also still tending to trade orders placed by brokerage customers on Friday, two people familiar with the situation said. Nasdaq has said all orders were returned by 1:50 p.m. EDT last Friday, but a Morgan Stanley Smith Barney source said it did not get trade information in a "systemic, orderly way. Late Thursday, the company held a call with its brokers and told them adjustments would be made to thousands of trades so that no limit orders would be filled at more than $43 a share for stock from the IPO day, a person familiar with the call said. While brokerages may have received confirmation of trades made on Friday, many were still handling customer disputes over what price they received on the trades, officials said. The question is "who is going to eat the cost" of compensating those investors, said Alan Haft, a financial adviser with California-based Kings Point Capital LLC, which has $200 million in assets. One prominent plaintiffs lawyer said what happened with Facebook was reminiscent of the dot-com bubble. "This is just another spin on the same game of unfair treatment of individual investors," said Stanley Bernstein of Bernstein Liebhard. He chaired the plaintiffs' committee in an IPO class-action suit challenging the role of investment banks in more than 300 IPOs between 1998 and 2000. The litigation ended in a $586 million settlement in favor of the plaintiffs. The claims by market makers Knight and Citadel could end up dwarfing some of the brokerage issues, though. "They are certainly facing the specter of some significant lawsuits if this pool is not enough," a source familiar with Knight's situation said of the Nasdaq claims pool. Citadel has sent its losses to Nasdaq for potential compensation, a source familiar with the matter said. Citadel's hedge fund was not affected. The head of trading at Instinet said it still had no idea when Nasdaq would respond to requests for accommodation -- essentially, compensation for the order problems -- or if those requests would be honored. "Were gonna be looking at a loss on our books" if Nasdaq does not honor the requests, Mark Turner said. "We basically made most of our clients whole because Nasdaq told us to go through the process and file for accommodation. If Nasdaq does not accommodate us we're going to end up taking a loss." "I don't know that I want to put a dollar amount on that but it's not nearly as significant as Knight's ($30-$35 million)," he said. Citadel and Knight, as market makers to the Nasdaq, honor their clients' buy, sell and cancellation orders. The orders are supposed to be processed by the exchange within milliseconds, but there was a nearly two-hour delay in processing Facebook orders at the Nasdaq. During that time, market makers had no idea where their orders stood. And in reality, the price clients bought or sold at was sometimes different than the price they actually got. For example, Facebook shares began trading with an opening cross price - the first price at which those not in on the IPO could buy or sell - of $42 per share. If an order to sell 10,000 shares at $42 went in at that time, but wasn't filled until later in the day when shares were trading at around $39, a market maker like Citadel or Knight would make up the difference - in this case, at a cost of $30,000. Several analysts who cover exchanges said Nasdaq's legal liability should be limited, though. According to the analysts, securities rules give Nasdaq wide discretion in determining what, if any, compensation it should pay to customers who claim that they suffered losses due to trading execution. Under exchange rules, Nasdaq's liability regarding client losses from certain trading issues is limited to $3 million a month. Market makers will be arguing that Nasdaq was so grossly negligent that its actions during the IPO opening override the limits, said a source with knowledge of Knight's situation. Other firms said they did not have similar problems to those of Knight, raising questions about the scope of the losses. "The problems were where people were trying to cancel orders; we didn't have that," said Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak & Co in New York. "Because we didn't have a problem doesn't mean there weren't problems." E*Trade Financial Corp said its market making operations realized losses of "well under a million dollars." Charles Schwab Corp had a "small number" of the "tens of thousands of clients" who traded Facebook whose issues still have not been resolved, a spokesman said. "Each one requires some analysis to resolve, which can be time consuming." Shares of Nasdaq fell 1 cent to $21.80 on Thursday. As of Thursday's close the stock was down 5.2 percent from its last close before the Facebook debacle. Over the same period NYSE Euronext is down just 0.1 percent. The slide in the shares is adding to the pressure on Nasdaq Chief Executive Robert Greifeld, who defended the exchange's performance at its annual meeting last Tuesday. (Additional reporting by Jed Horowitz, Erin Geiger Smith, David Randall, Edward Krudy, Suzanne Barlyn and Jonathan Stempel in New York, Tim McLaughlin in Boston, Dan Levine in San Francisco and Ashutosh Pandey in Bangalore; Writing by Ben Berkowitz in Boston; Editng by Steve Orlofsky)

Steve Jobs Had to Wait to Get Into This Restaurant

Trendy San Francisco restaurant flour + water has droves of foodies lining up for locally sourced and hyperlocal cuisine.On any given night, the line of salivating customers waiting to get into flour + water, one of San Francisco's trendiest Mission District restaurants, can stretch out the door and around the corner. The queue hums with excitement and anticipation. The menu doesn't feature rare beluga caviar or bird's-nest soup; no, it's locally grown asparagus and hand-rolled strozzapretti that have everyone abuzz. And if you want in, neither having a big name—even Steve Jobs wasn't allowed to just walk in—nor a reservation may eliminate the typical two-hour wait to be seated. Three years and several accolades since its launch, flour + water has touched on a trend that is taking the restaurant industry by storm: locally grown and produced foods. According to the National Restaurant Association, 72 percent of adults say they are more likely to visit a restaurant that offers locally produced food, while 83 percent of fine-dining restauranteurs and 71 percent of casual-dining operators report that their customers are more interested in locally sourced menu items now than they were just two years ago.That explains why more than 50 percent of fine-dining restaurants feature locally sourced food and wine on their menus. Another market research firm, Mintel, reports that interest in where food comes from will drive the food industry this year.When David Steele, David White, and chef Thomas McNaughton opened flour + water in May 2009, they agreed that a menu featuring only locally sourced food was imperative. That's because if the sustainable-is-chic, organic-everything, locavore movement has an epicenter, it's the San Francisco Bay Area, with its produce-friendly year-round warm climate, and culinary icons who have paved the way—including Thomas Keller and Alice Waters, who now grows gardens of organic vegetable in schoolyards.So the flour + water trio set out to make a statement by fostering close relationships with local farmers and livestock producers, who make several shipments to the establishment each day. "We fancy ourselves a neighborhood restaurant over and above an internationally known restaurant," says Steele. To take it a step further, flour + water boasts hyperlocal menu items. Hyperlocal refers to produce grown on site by a commercial establishment, either for use in a menu or to be sold directly to the consumer. The restaurant has a 450-square-foot rooftop garden that provides about 5 percent of the vegetables used in its dishes, including carrots, herbs, and spinach.Another reason to have your own rooftop garden: bees. The Italian eatery keeps a hive of bees to shine a spotlight on the importance of the insects' role in the maintenance of agriculture. The bees don't just create, ahem, buzz; they also produce honey that is used by the restaurant's chefs. The chefs, committed to the cause, also go foraging three or four times a week around the San Francisco Bay Area, looking for wild plants to incorporate into their dishes. "It's the ultimate local, right?" says Steele. "It's a way for the chefs to stay connected to the earth, and it makes the process of putting food in front of people a more three-dimensional experience."Steele had designs on opening a restaurant for seven years—even drafting a business plan—before the opportunity presented itself. The key was finding the right partners. Working on Wall Street for 20 years, Steele was savvy enough to realize that he needed partners that had experience in running a restaurant and cooking. He found the rest of his trifecta in White, who handles operations, and McNaughton, the executive chef."My theory was, you put three people together from different perspectives to have a symbiotic partnership,” he explains. That formula worked; Steele says the restaurant has been profitable from Day 1.Steele funded 50 percent of the $600,000 needed to start up, while nine other investors provided the rest. Last year, the restaurant earned $3.2 million in revenue and 7 percent profitability. As local and organic is solidifying its place in the mainstream and is growing as a culinary movement, so is this business. The partners opened Central Kitchen—a full-service restaurant—on May 10, and they will open Salumeria (an Italian delicatessen) at the end of the month. Both are located in the same building, only one block away from flour + water. Central Kitchen seats 49 guests, has a rooftop garden, and also houses bees. Salumeria will sell a variety of homemade products, including pastas by the pound, olive oil, and pickles."The new restaurant, Central Kitchen, will not just be a continuation of our philosophy of the hyperlocal, sustainable, seasonal, and neighborhood ethos, but we’re actually going even further beyond that," Steele says.

Is the Health Care Tax Credit a Dud?

A Government Accountability Office report says the effort to help small businesses pay for health care is too complex to be useful.

New CEO Success Buzzword: 'Openness'

Openness, transparency and employee empowerment have become key to business success, a survey of global CEOs say. Social media can help you unlock it.

Series focuses on web marketing

Matthew Baker Countless customers are just a click away in the digital age, but for many businesses finding those customers and being found by them isn’t always easy.To help local businesses make the most of their social media interactions and get value out of their Internet marketing, the Illinois Small Business Development Center at Illinois Valley Community College kicked off a new lecture series, “iMEDIA Marketing Made Easy,” this week.“This is information we need in the region,” said Bev Malooley, director of the ISBDC.The four-part series covers a variety of topics, including in-bound marketing, online tools to increase a business’s visibility, integrating traditional and online marketing and networking with social media platforms.Much of the initial presentation focused on getting participating business representatives to think about how they develop their brand message.“Brand is the DNA of your business,” Malooley said.A brand can change over time and part of the branding process is for a business to understand its actual image and work to bring that image in line with the business’s ideal image, Malooley said.NewsTribune vice president of sales and marketing Scott Stavrakas gave the example of Rip’s in Ladd as a local company with one of the most clearly defined brands. Miller Group Media, which includes the NewsTribune, Illinois AgriNews, Indiana AgriNews and WLPO/WAJK/96.5 The Wolf, is a sponsor of the series along with Informé, IVCC and Google. La Salle State Bank is the corporate sponsor for the series.Speaker Ted Parisot, president of Informé, discussed the value of in-bound marketing, which, simply put, is crafting a relevant and resourceful online presence for a company so interested consumers will be able to find it and any related information they may need.“The more you’re out there, the better chance that you’re going to be found,” he said.While it may not be wise for a company to spread itself too thin by attempting to dive into a variety of online platforms at once, Parisot said it’s important to grow the company’s presence in the form of blogs, social media profiles or other web content.Francie Skoflanc, a graphic design instructor at IVCC and organizer of the Downtown La Salle Canal Market, said she looks closely at the insights gathered from who is reading her blog posts to determine what type of contest is most effective and to see if she is reaching her intended audience.Blogging doesn’t have to mean writing articles. Parisot said business leaders should use the content and medium that best suits their business. “I think there are a lot of businesses (in our area) that lack web presence or who don’t know how to be on the Internet correctly,” said Gina Czubachowski of the ISBDC.A number of businesses could benefit from increasing their web presence in regard to tapping into just tourism markets, she said.A Google field marketing manager will be leading the next iMEDIA presentation that will focus on search engine optimization and search engine marketing.Seats still are open for the iMEDIA series. For more information or to sign up, call (815) 224-0212 or visit http://imedia.informeinc.com. If you'd like to comment on this article, please log in or subscribe.After registering you will be given immediate access to our website for the duration of your web subscription term. A temporary password will be mailed to your email address. If you experience difficulty logging in, please contact a member of our Customer Care staff at (815) 220-6965. Temporary passwords should be changed during your initial login.Home delivery subscribers should expect to receive their first NewsTribune within three days of the date you submit your online subscription form.You may add the website edition to your current home delivered print edition subscription at no additional charge.To get the best savings, select our EZ Pay program which offers you both the print and website editions for only $9 per month. To set up EZ Pay, follow the instructions for that option on the subscription form or contact Customer Care (815) 220-6965.Please note: A unique email address is required for each online account.If you already have an account, please login. Usernames must be at least 6 characters long. Passwords must be at least 6 characters long and must contain letters and numbers. Click here to see a new mix of characters. This is an anti-SPAM device. It is not case sensitive.

How Ecodev Persuades Companies To Bring Manufacturing Back To The U.S. (Hint: It's Cheaper)

Ecodev, a Minnesota-based economic development consultancy, helps American businesses see that manufacturing products stateside isn't just a matter of national pride, it's good for their bottom line. UNITED STATES OF INNOVATION New Ideas, New Markets, New Insights All around the country, Americans are dreaming big. Their boldest ideas are changing their communities--and having a ripple effect throughout the world. CLICK HERE to read about pockets of innovation in other U.S. cities. In the last decade, Americans' perception of domestic manufacturing has done a 180. "10 years ago, customers were demanding that their companies operate overseas because they thought they'd get a cheaper rate," manufacturing consultant Dana Olson says. But a swell of national pride and increasing sensitivity to the health of the environment have conspired against foreign manufacturing. "Now companies would much rather manufacture in the U.S. for loyalty as well as cost savings." A new factory opening in Devils Lake, North Dakota, will bring 500 jobs to the city over the next five years. As president, CEO, and founder of Ecodev, Olson assists companies that want to expand, relocate, and consolidate their manufacturing within the United States. Lately, Ecodov has also helped American companies bring their manufacturing home. Last month, Olson's company announced that one of its clients, Ultra Green, was moving production of its biodegradable paper products (including plates and serving utensils) from China to the United States. A new factory opening in Devils Lake, North Dakota, will bring 500 jobs to the city over the next five years.Mack Traynor, CEO of Minnesota-based Ultra Green, says Ecodev helped his team envision how their products could be efficiently produced in the United States--something they'd thought was improbable. "We realized that if we could find the source of raw material in the U.S. that would be comparable and if we had the proper automation and good old fashioned American ingenuity, we could be competitive with a domestic plant in our own backyard," he says.While companies like Ultra Green come to Ecodev listing various reasons for wanting to make changes, Olson says it comes down to three issues: cost, convenience, and trust. Ecodev creates a comparative financial model for relocation, factoring in various metrics like quality and production time, and often uncovering hidden costs from energy and transportation. In the case of Ultra Green, Olson discovered at one point they were shipping wheat straw from the United States to China, processing it there, and shipping the final products back to the states. Ecodev issued a request-for-proposal to various wheat-producing communities in the United States, and North Dakota came up as one of the biggest suppliers. Devils Lake quickly stood out for its dedication to the company's values as well as a lucrative economic incentive package to bring business to the area. "They have been tremendous," says Traynor of Devils Lake. "The welcoming committee has been outstanding." In most cases, it's not cheaper for American companies to operate overseas. Ecodev is a small boutique business, only taking on 10 clients last year, but Olson says their work is also about correcting perceptions of manufacturing, namely, the myth that's been perpetuated throughout the industrial world that domestic production can't be cost-effective. "These companies are convinced that going overseas was going to save them money," he says. "In most cases, it's not cheaper for them to operate overseas." Although he works with mostly mid-sized companies, he thinks that larger corporations also should take a cue from the changing tide of consumer preference. "If a company is global like Apple, you should be producing in multiple countries, but the U.S. should be one of them," Olson says. Beyond the pride of placing the "Made in the U.S.A." label on his product, Traynor thinks he'll be able to reach a broader audience when production returns home. Increasingly, governments and corporations mandate that certain supplies they purchase be produced in the United States--a trend that's expected to continue apace, Traynor says. "This opens up many new markets and new opportunities that we wouldn't have had," he says. "These are new customers for us." Manufacturing domestically also helps builds a stronger brand on the environmental front. "All the companies we work with believe that to be true," Olson says. "For Ultra Green in particular, they're now going to power their plant with a windmill and foster a green product that's made in America." Now that there's an opportunity for decent manufacturing jobs, people want to move back. Only a few of Ultra Green's top management and technical experts will move from Minnesota, so most of the 500 hires will be made locally in Devils Lake. But Traynor, a Fargo native, has noticed another interesting phenomenon that has made him even more proud of his decision. "We've got calls and resumes sent in from expats--folks who used to live in North Dakota who want to come home," he says. "Now that there's an opportunity for some decent manufacturing jobs, they want to move back."Follow the conversation on Twitter using the tag #USInnovation.[Image: Flickr user Kevin Lallier]

Dear [insert business name], what’s your promise?

You say you want to get closer to customers, but your actions are different than your words. You say you want to “surprise and delight” customers, but your product development teams are too busy building against a roadmap without consideration of the 5th P of marketing…people. You’re employees are your number one asset, however the infrastructure of the organization has turned once optimistic and ambitious intrapreneurs into complacent cogs or worse, your greatest detractors. You question the adoption of disruptive technology by your internal champions yet you’ve not tried to find the value for yourself. You’re a change agent and you truly wish to bring about change, but you’ve not invested time or resources to answer “why” in your endeavors to become a connected or social business. If we are to truly change, we must find purpose. We must uncover the essence of our business and the value it delivers to traditional and connected consumers. We must rethink the spirit of today’s embrace and clearly articulate how transformation is going to improve customer and employee experiences and relationships now and over time. Without doing so, any attempts at evolution will be thwarted by reality. In an era of Digital Darwinism, no business is too big to fail or too small to succeed. These are undisciplined times which require alternative approaches to recognize and pursue new opportunities. But everything begins with acknowledging the 360 view of the world that you see today is actually a filtered view of managed and efficient convenience. Today, many organizations that were once inspired by innovation and engagement have fallen into a process of marketing, operationalizing, managing, and optimizing. That might have worked for the better part of the last century, but for the next 10 years and beyond, new vision, leadership and supporting business models will be written to move businesses from rigid frameworks to adaptive and agile entities. I believe that today’s executives will undergo a great test; a test of character, vision, intention, and universal leadership. It starts with a simple, but essential question…what is your promise? Notice, I didn’t ask about your brand promise. Nor did I ask for you to cite your mission and vision statements. This is much more than value propositions or manufactured marketing language designed to hook audiences and stakeholders. I asked for your promise to me as your consumer, stakeholder, and partner. This isn’t about B2B or B2C, but instead, people to people, person to person. It is this promise that will breathe new life into an organization that on the outside, could be misdiagnosed as catatonic by those who are disrupting your markets. A promise, for example, is meant to inspire. It creates alignment. It serves as the foundation for your vision, mission, and all business strategies and it must come from the top to mean anything. For without it, we cannot genuinely voice what it is we stand for or stand behind. Think for a moment about the definition of community. It’s easy to confuse a workplace or a market where everyone simply shares common characteristics. However, a community in this day and age is much more than belonging to something, it’s about doing something together that makes belonging matter The next few years will force a divide where companies are separated by intention as measured by actions and words. But, becoming a social business is not enough. Becoming more authentic and transparent doesn’t serve as a mantra for a renaissance. A promise is the ink that inscribes the spirit of the relationship between you and me. A promise serves as the words that influence change from within and change beyond the halls of our business. It is the foundation for a renewed embrace, one that must then find its way to every aspect of the organization. It’s the difference between a social business and an adaptive business. While an adaptive business can also be social, it is the culture of the organization that strives to not just use technology to extend current philosophies or processes into new domains, but instead give rise to a new culture where striving for relevance is among its goals. The tools and networks simply become enablers of a greater mission You are reading this because you believe in something more than what you’re doing today. While you fight for change within your organization, remember to aim for a higher purpose. Organizations that strive for innovation, imagination, and relevance will outperform those that do not. Part of your job is to lead a missionary push that unites the groundswell with a top down cascade. Change will only happen because you and other internal champions see what others can’t and will do what other won’t. It takes resolve. It takes the ability to translate new opportunities into business value. And, it takes courage. “This is a very noisy world, so we have to be very clear what we want them to know about us” -Steve Jobs Connect with me: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Google+ The End of Business as Usual is officially here… Photo of matches courtesy of Shutterstock

How to Get Customers Using Your Online Rewards (Video)

Gabe Zichermann explains how offering customers and employees what they want through gamification can create long-term engagement.

5 New Twitter Tools to Boost Your Marketing

Are you seeing the results you want from your Twitter activities?There are over 1,000,000 different apps for Twitter and a new one is added every second. This means it is often quite easy to get confused finding those that actually add real value to your day-to-day tweeting.I took a look at some of the latest and most promising Twitter tools to get you tweeting like a pro.So, if you think it is time to up your game with some new tools, keep reading.Here are 5 tools to help you power up your Twitter marketing efforts.#1: Twylah—Make Your Tweets Live LongerOne of the tools that can make a huge difference to your impact on Twitter is Twylah. Their tagline is “Make Your Tweets Shine” and that is exactly what it does.According to research by bit.ly, your links on Twitter will only last 3 hours. With Twylah, however, you can give your tweets a much longer life—literally forever—displayed beautifully on a custom page.A beautiful fan page for your tweets.The way it works is very simple. After you set up your own Twylah account, this tool will capture, save and display each of your tweets on your personalized Twylah page.Before Twylah, when you glanced over someone’s Twitter stream, you didn’t pick up any great insights about the person. But when you glance over someone’s Twylah page, you get a very good picture of what his or her business or personal Twitter page is all about.Now, you can even click into each individual tweet on any page. Each of these is surrounded by lots of other relevant and related tweets.Keep visitors engaged longer with your tweets.When reaching out to Twylah founder Eric Kim, he mentioned to me:“Because there is so much related content found on the page, visitors spend much more time with your tweets than they would do on Twitter instead—up to 40 times longer.”A feature that is unique to Twylah is the Power Tweet. If you find a link, instead of sending people to that article, you can send them to a designated Twylah page.Send a Power Tweet to show other related tweets.If you want to give more strength to your tweets, be sure to get on the invite list for Twylah. It has had a tremendous impact for me.#2: NewsMix—Discover the Best Twitter Content for Your BusinessA great app I discovered recently is NewsMix. It solves a crucial problem I have with Twitter. If you are new to Twitter, there isn’t much value in your stream yet.Imagine if there was a channel available for you, filled with great curators tweeting exactly about the topics you are interested in.That’s exactly what NewsMix does. It helps you discover great topics based on top influencers for any topic you are interested in.Choose a channel to follow or create your own.You can easily create “channels” to follow on a Flipboard-style interface. Your channels can either be made of individual Twitter users you put together, or even whole Twitter lists.Make a collection of top experts in your niche.NewsMix then allows you to follow these channels either on an iPad or through the web-based version. Here is a powerful social media channel I recently created:Follow your subscriptions (like on Flipboard) on your browser or iPad.#3: SocialBro—Provides Powerful Twitter AnalyticsSocialBro is an app that fits well into everyone’s toolbox. It is a dashboard designed to filter in the absolute best analytics for your Twitter account in an easily accessible way.With Twitter, the quote “You can’t improve what you can’t measure” hits the nail on the head.The first feature I greatly enjoy is to see your Twitter community in charts. You can group your followers by lots of different aspects, for example:LanguageTime zoneNumber of followersTweets sent per dayFind out in which time zones your followers live.In my case, what I discovered with SocialBro was that over 13% of my followers are in the UK, and I was only posting for US time zones. I quickly changed and moved some of my updates to reach the people in the UK as well.You can go even deeper and localize exactly where each of your followers lives on a map.Get the exact location of all of your followers.The final feature I want to highlight from SocialBro is their list-management option. A key to make Twitter work, especially as you grow your network, is to keep track of the most important people via Twitter lists.SocialBro makes it much easier for you to copy lists from one account to another, save lists as a .txt file or specifically move larger groups of people into new lists.Easy list management with SocialBro.#4: Ifttt—Connect Twitter with Your Other Social ActivitiesAn app that can help you automate your social activities in a very powerful way is Ifttt, meaning “if this then that.” In short, it allows you to connect any two web services together, like Facebook with Instagram or Twitter with Dropbox.The different ways you can use Ifttt in connection with Twitter are extremely powerful. By simply sending a tweet, you can trigger a large number of different actions for your other social accounts across the web.Here are 4 ways to use Ifttt for Twitter to make your marketing activities smarter:Send items that you find in Google Reader and tag with “Tweet” straight to Twitter with Ifttt:From Google Reader straight to Twitter.If you post a new picture on Flickr or Instagram, tweet it automatically:Upload a new image and post it immediately on Twitter.If you favorite a tweet, add it to your list for reading later in Pocket:Not enough time to read? Save to Pocket for reading later.If you publish a new blog post, have Ifttt publish a new tweet straightaway:Easily publish your blog posts on Twitter.This is of course only to give you a taste of some of the things you can accomplish with Ifttt and Twitter. There are lots of other connections and channels you can explore for your Twitter account.Above all things, this tool is amazing to discover your own creative ways of using the Internet and Twitter that no one else has done before.#5: Tweriod—Find the Best Time to Tweet to Reach More FollowersThe last tool I want to introduce you to is called Tweriod. This has a very powerful algorithm to analyze your Twitter account and then find out which times will have the most impact for you to tweet.All you have to do is sign in with your Twitter account. The app then prepares a report for you and after a few minutes it sends you a direct message on Twitter with the results. It gives you a detailed breakdown of the most likely days and hours when your followers will be online.Times when your followers are online the most.Once you have your best times to tweet, you will also get a graph like the one below. A recent integration with Buffer allows you to start tweeting at these optimal times through your Buffer account.See your optimal tweeting times in a graph and set them inside Buffer.Tweriod’s algorithm analyzes the performance of your own previous 200 tweets, your followers and the performance of their past tweets and excludes automation apps such as Twitterfeed, dlvr.it, etc. This provides you with the data you need most.Equipped with these 5 power tools I am sure you will be able to up your game on Twitter considerably.What do you think? Which other tools do you use to make Twitter work for you? Which one of the tools mentioned above might be a great fit for your workflow? Please share your comments in the box below. Tweet

Practical Post-Penguin Marketing Ideas for Small Business

A search marketing realignment, reorientation, and for some, total reinvention is in order following Google’s multiple updates in 2012. Here are a few tips for small businesses on how to adapt and launch diverse and creative marketing strategies.

Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Keep On Truckin' Despite IRS

If you live in a state with legal medical marijuana dispensaries you probably know that the feds do what they can to stamp them out. It?s that old federal versus state law tension. In the case of pot dispensaries, the tension is palpable.

READ: Alan Simpson's Hilarious Letter Attacking 'Greedy Geezers' Over Social Security Reform

President Obama's former debt expert Alan Simpson isn't pulling any punches now that he is safely retired from public office. The former Republican Senator's latest beef is with the California Alliance for Retired Americans, a senior citizens' group that isn't very fond of Simpson's deficit-reduction plans. The dislike is apparently mutual. In a profanity-laced letter sent last month, Simpson attacked the group as a bunch of "greedy geezers" and demanded they "read the damn report." Several news outlets obtained a copy of the letter today, and it's hilarious. Read the full text below, courtesy of Politico: To Whom It May Concern: Erskine Bowles and I thoroughly enjoyed our time on the West Coast and received an excellent reception from folks — at least those who are using their heads and have given up using emotion, fear, guilt or racism to juice up their troops. Your little flyer entitled “Bowles! Simpson! Stop using the deficit as a phony excuse to gut our Social Security!” is one of the phoniest excuses for a “flyer” I have ever seen. You use the faces of young people, who are the ones who are going to get gutted while you continue to push out your blather and drivel. My suggestion to you — an honest one — read the damn report. The Moment of Truth — 67 pages, and then tell me if we’re not doing the right thing with Social Security. What a wretched group of seniors you must be to use the faces of the very people that we are trying to save, while the “greedy geezers” like you use them as a tool and a front for your nefarious bunch of crap. You must feel some sense of shame for shoveling out this bulls**t. Read the latest news from the Social Security Trustees. The Social Security System will now “hit the skids” in 2033 instead of 2036. If you can’t understand all of this you need a pane of glass in your naval so you can see out during the day! Read the report. Get back to me. My address is below. If you don’t read the report, — as Ebenezer Scrooge said in the Christmas Carol, “Haunt me no longer!” Best regards, Alan Simpson Please follow Politics on Twitter and Facebook.Join the conversation about this story »

The Real 1% Holding You Back

The Real 1% Holding You Back is a post from: The Sales Blog | S. Anthony Iannarino If you believe that even 1% of your failure to produce the results that you want are someone else’s fault, you will never be as successful as you could be. Until you decide that you alone are 100% responsible for the results that you are producing, you will never produce the results you are capable of. It’s a harsh truth, but it’s the truth nonetheless. Believing that even 1% of the responsibility for your life and your results rests with someone else—or something else—provides enough of an excuse that you won’t be as successful as you might. You have given yourself an out. You have absolved yourself of some of the responsibility. It’s an all or nothing proposition. You have to take 100% responsibility, or you’re a 99-percenter, that group that looks outside themselves to blame others for their results. Don’t Leave a Single Percent . . . Or Anything Greater You can decide to believe that you missed your number because you don’t have a great sales manager. You don’t have the tools. You don’t have the technology. You didn’t get enough training. But in the end, you still missed your number. If you were a 100-percenter, you would empower yourself to act in a way that ensures you make your number, with or without a sales manager, the tools, the technology, or the training. You can tell yourself that you lost that big deal because your competitor undercut your price. You can tell yourself you lost the internal political battle in an attempt to absolve yourself of the responsibility for the loss. But you still lost the deal. If you were a 100-percenter, you would instead believe that you could have created more value and done a better job of shifting the decision from price to cost. You could have built the relationships that tilted to politics in your direction. You can brainwash yourself with the disempowering belief that the economy is responsible for your dismal results. By doing so you deny yourself the gift of your own resourcefulness, your ability to find a way. The 100-percenters found a way, and some of them increased their earnings during the economic downturn. It’s true that taking 100% responsibility for your life and your results is a scary proposition. If you alone are responsible, you have to own up to your failures and your mistakes. But it is also supremely empowering. The 100-percenters look to their losses and their failures for lessons. The 99-percenters look at their losses and failures to find someone or something to blame. You weren’t born with certain gifts or talents? So what? Tough childhood? I’ve seen worse. Messy divorce? Bankruptcy? No college education? It doesn’t matter. If you believe that the past events of your life are in any way responsible for your results, you deny yourself your future. Even if you believe that the events of your past are even 1% to blame. I can point to talentless people who are successful in every way because they take 100% responsibility for producing the results that they desire. I know people with unimaginably horrific childhoods who have set that childhood down and are now successful and happy because they took 100% responsibility for their lives. You know these stories too. You may even have one of your own. What’s the 1% of blame you need reclaim now so that you can empower yourself by taking 100% responsibility for your life and your results. Questions Who is responsible for your losses and failures? Why do we want to shift the blame when we fail or when we lose? What would happen if we took responsibility? How could accepting 100% responsibility for your life and your results empower you? What 1% or greater blame have you passed off to someone or something else do you need to reclaim? Related posts:The Real Secret to Explosive Sales Growth The Real Secret to Explosive Sales Growth is a post... The Real Reason You Are Negative The Real Reason You Are Negative is a post from:... Holding Yourself Accountable Holding Yourself Accountable is a post from: The Sales Blog...

Trade Revolt Against Obama Intensifies

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) introduced legislation late Wednesday to protest the Obama administration's refusal to share information about controversial trade negotiations with the senator. The administration's blockade against Wyden, who chairs a subcommittee on international trade, conflicts with its prior statements to the press, and raises concerns that President Barack Obama's administration is selectively icing out critics of the administration's trade strategy. Wyden said that his office was locked out of information about a trade pact in the works known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The deal, which involves eight other Pacific nations, includes broad details on government contracting terms that would ban "Buy American" preferences for U.S. manufacturers, and intellectual property standards that would increase prescription drug prices abroad. Those positions have drawn criticism from American labor unions, domestic manufacturers and international public health advocates. But while the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative shares draft negotiation documents on the Trans-Pacific deal with the governments of other nations and American corporate executives who serve on advisory boards, it withholds them from the American public and most nonprofit groups -- forcing many public health advocates, for instance, to learn about the deals through illegal leaks or informal channels. "The majority of Congress is being kept in the dark as to the substance of the TPP negotiations, while representatives of U.S. corporations -- like Halliburton, Chevron, PhRMA, Comcast and the Motion Picture Association of America -- are being consulted and made privy to details of the agreement," said Wyden. Bipartisan congressional tension surrounding the Trans-Pacific deal has been building for the past month. More than 60 House Democrats and one House Republican sent a letter to Obama objecting to the "Buy American" ban on May 3. On May 15, House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) called for more transparency in the negotiation process and leaked the entire draft intellectual property chapter from the Trans-Pacific deal to the public on his website. Although the document previously was available over the Internet through legally ambiguous channels, Issa's move dramatically increased political pressure on the administration to share more information about the deal with the public. Publicly, the administration said it shares information on the trade pact with all members of Congress. "U.S. TPP documents are available to members of Congress representing all Americans," USTR told HuffPost on May 16 in a statement. USTR also told HuffPost it works to keep nonprofit groups abreast of its position and give them input into the negotiation process. Wyden's office said the administration has only shared that information with about 12 members of Congress, advancing legal arguments that the only members of Congress permitted to see trade documents are those in the Congressional Oversight Group. According to Wyden's office, a 2002 law requires the administration to share trade documents with all members of Congress. His legislation would make that obligation even more explicit. USTR representatives were not available for comment on Wyden's bill. Like Issa, Wyden spent much of 2011 opposing new intellectual property standards from the Stop Online Piracy Act that Internet experts warned would stifle online innovation and threaten the functionality of the web. Internet freedom groups and tech companies have been critical of the positions advanced by the U.S. in the Trans-Pacific deal, leading many in Washington to assume that Wyden opposes the agreement. Wyden's office detailed the Obama administration's obstruction in a statement provided to HuffPost. "Months ago, we were told our staffer could only view the documents if he got a clearance," Wyden spokesperson Jennifer Hoelzer told HuffPost in an email. "So, he applied for the appropriate security clearance which was completed two months ago. Now, after two months of back and forth to try and get this resolved, it seems that the Administration is interpreting that 2002 law to say that only members on the Congressional Oversight Group or who work for members of the COG are allowed to see the agreements. If that is in fact their interpretation, it means that neither Senator Wyden nor his trade subcommittee staff are allowed to review documents pertaining to trade agreements."

If Your Employees Are Squabbling, Your Company's Probably Standing Still

In today's changing work environment, it's important for leaders to provide clarity of direction. If they don’t, fear, frustration, and inefficiency start to creep in.In the same way that a bicycle is wobbly when it's standing still and becomes more stable the faster you pedal, the same is true with personnel issues at work. It's when the organization is standing still that people start to squabble.Three leadership strategies can help. The first is having a clear sense of where you're going. The second is having a plan for your people so they each know their role going forward. The third is having the tenacity and stick-to-it-iveness to make that plan sustainable.Fail in any of these three areas, and the result will be lackluster financial performance and the creation of an atmosphere where negative human dynamics will begin to grow. Humans cooperate best when they are all moving toward a common goal. When an organization is standing still, the pushing and shoving starts. Parents know this. When do the kids start fighting in the car? When they are sitting still with no place to go.Clear direction is especially important when dealing with people who've been with the organization for an extended period of time. Leaders and organizations generally do a good job of clarifying goals as they are getting new people up to speed. With long-time employees, however, leaders often assume that the employee instinctively knows what's important. As a result, leaders generally don't spend the same amount of time and energy communicating clear objectives to seasoned employees that they do with new hires. When this happens, it's not unusual for veteran employees to lose the focus and discipline necessary to achieve their individual goals.Three strategies for leadersGood performance begins with clear goals. That's job one. If you don't know where you're going--as the Cheshire Cat said to Alice in Wonderland--any road will get you there. Leadership is about going somewhere and clear agreements are the first step. It's a process of creating clarity about why we’re here, what we’re doing, and how we're going to work together.We did a study a number of years ago with a large petroleum company in North America that shows how rarely this clarity occurs. We asked more than 2,000 employees and their managers to share their goal expectations with us. To begin, we asked the employees to rank the top five things they felt they were responsible for. Then we asked the managers to list and prioritize the five things they were actually holding each of their direct reports accountable for. We saw only a 19 percent agreement across the population of 2,000 people! After clear goals are set, leaders must use strong communication skills to make sure everyone's eyes are on the ball. This includes regular one-on-one conversations with direct reports that include feedback and evaluation of how each person is doing against established targets. This helps employees understand how their role impacts the larger picture. It also allows people to have a say in the actions, decisions, priorities, and goals that are subsequently set. Leadership is done best when it is something you do with people instead of something you do to them.The third step is for managers to help people notice and experience the incremental successes they are having. In the past, this was accomplished through extrinsic reward and recognition. Today we use a more intrinsic approach that focuses on discovering the incentives that are meaningful to individual employees to fuel their passion for the task or project they are working on. It’s about creating an environment that leads to sustainable performance.A little structure goes a long wayOn the surface, producing effective results can sound like it's about driving performance and cracking the whip--but, when it's done right, it's more about moving people in the right direction. You can begin by answering these questions: What are we trying to accomplish mutually? What is the organization trying to accomplish? What is our department’s role in accomplishing that? And what are individual contributors being held accountable for?Your role as a leader is to use your management skills to place a certain rigor and clarity around goals. When performance is not what it should be, first ask yourself whether goals have been made clear. Goal clarity helps reduce issues regarding relationships and personnel that plague so many organizations. Set a clear vision and show people how they can contribute to it. When folks are moving in a common direction with clear goals, most workplace struggles will take care of themselves.Scott Blanchard is the cofounder of Blanchard Certified, a new cloud-based leadership development resource and experience. Ken Blanchard is the best-selling co-author of The One Minute Manager® and 50 other books on leadership. You can follow Ken Blanchard on Twitter @KenBlanchard or @LeaderChat and also via the HowWeLead and LeaderChat blogs.[Image: Flickr user Paul Joran]

Small Businesses Suffer in States Hardest Hit By Housing Meltdown

Southeastern states have a particularly high percentage of small businesses being hamstrung by tight credit conditions.

Is it Time to Sell Your Business or Buy a New One?

Have you delayed retirement because the recession was preventing you from getting a fair price for the business you worked so hard to build? Have you been contemplating buying another business, but couldn’t find the financing? Small business owners in both of these situations have a lot to be hopeful about if BizBuySell’s First Quarter 2012 Insight Report is any indication. BizBuySell, an online marketplace for buyers and sellers of businesses, tracks business sales quarterly, and its latest report shows the number of businesses sold is continuing the steady rise begun in the third quarter of 2011. Almost 4 percent more businesses were sold in the first quarter of 2012 compared to the same period in 2011. What’s more, the 1,729 businesses reported sold in the first quarter of 2012 represent the largest number of transactions since the fourth quarter of 2008, making it the most active quarter in more than three years. That sound like reason to celebrate, but there’s some bad news, too (at least, if you’re looking to sell your business): A major reason for the increase in business sales is that prices are dropping. The average sale price as a multiple of both revenue and cash flow decreased compared with the same period last year. In fact, the average sale price as a multiple of annual revenue fell over 10 percent to 0.59—the lowest it’s been since the end of 2008. Of course, lower prices are good news if you’re looking to buy a business. More good news for both buyers and sellers is that it’s getting easier to finance the purchase. BizBuySell reports that there’s been growing demand from people who are laid off and want to buy businesses instead of looking for jobs. However, until recently, those would-be buyers were stymied by the difficulty of getting financing. Now, banks are loosening the purse strings, and more business owners are able to offer seller financing, so buyers have a lot more options. The businesses up for sale are healthier overall, too. BizBuySell reports that the median revenue for businesses sold in the first quarter of 2012 increased from $346,000 to $360,000 compared to the same quarter last year. With many signs pointing to small business optimism, it’s likely mHave you delayed retirement because the recession was preventing you from getting a fair price for the business you worked so hard to build? Have you been contemplating buying another business, but couldn’t find the financing? Small business owners in both of these situations have a lot to be hopeful about if BizBuySell’s First Quarter 2012 Insight Report is any indication. If you’re on the fence about selling your business, CNBC points out another factor that might convince you to make a move: The Bush tax cuts are set to expire at the end of this year. With these cuts’ future uncertain, many business sellers seeking to avoid a possible increase in the capital gains tax are looking to exit their businesses before December 31, 2012. And if you want to do that, you’d best get started on the sale process soon before time runs out. Of course, you shouldn’t let a deadline push you to sell your business before you’re ready—but if you’ve been waiting to sell until you could get a better price, that time just might be now. More entrepreneurs will feel confident enough about their businesses’ health to put them up for sale if they want to. Buy or Sell Photo via Shutterstock From Small Business TrendsIs it Time to Sell Your Business or Buy a New One?

Eyeing a HUBZone? Hold Onto That Status

When it comes to landing federal procurement contracts, getting certified under various set-aside programs can improve your chances. But a HUBZone status can easily slip away as an area changes.

The Beginner’s Guide to LinkedIn

LinkedIn is considered the non-sexy, sleeping giant of social networks. It keeps a low profile, perhaps due to the professional nature of its users. Nonetheless, LinkedIn continues to exert a powerful influence on connected job seekers, brands, recruiters and industries. Founded by Reid Hoffman in 2002, LinkedIn has grown to 161 million members in over 200 countries, making it the world’s largest professional network on the Internet (by comparison, Twitter has 500 million registered users, and Facebook has 900 million). Currently available in 17 languages, LinkedIn remains a relevant platform the world over. That being said, we doubt you spend 20 minutes on LinkedIn per day, like Facebook’s power users do. So, if you need a crash course on what LinkedIn has to offer, browse the network’s most prominent features below. Or send this to your recent grad as he or she prepares to enter today’s daunting job market. SEE ALSO: The Beginner’s Guide to Facebook Have you used LinkedIn to find a job, network with professionals or research hot topics in your industry? Please share your own tips in the comments below. 1. Profile Like most social networks, LinkedIn hosts your personal profile, a page on which you may list information like job experience and professional skills. However, unlike many other social networks, it’s important to complete your profile to the best of your ability — especially if you’re using LinkedIn for the job hunt. LinkedIn measures your “profile completeness” from 0-100%. The higher your profile completeness, the more likely you are to appear in search results. For instance, when you list skills like “Final Cut Pro” and “Photoshop,” potential employers may come across your profile when they perform an advanced search based on those keywords. Handy. To ensure that your profile is 100% complete, LinkedIn recommends including the following information. Industry and postal code A current position with description Two more positions Education At least five skills Profile photo At least 50 connections A summary For more information about optimizing your LinkedIn profile, see these additional resources: 6 Things on Your LinkedIn Profile That Shouldn’t Be on Your Resume 8 Job Search Tips From the Co-Founder of LinkedIn The 10 Most Overused LinkedIn Profile Buzzwords of 2011 2. Connections Of course, to get those “50 connections” mentioned above, you’ll have to expand your network on LinkedIn. Don’t worry — LinkedIn’s algorithms and data mining make it pretty easy. I recommend first performing a series of basic searches to find people you know by name. (See the search box at the top of each LinkedIn page.) Click the “Connect” button next to people’s names to add them to your network. You may send a custom message along with that invitation to make the connection more personalized. Once you have made several connections, head to the “People You May Know” page. LinkedIn’s algorithm will likely have begun determining additional suggestions based on your connections’ networks. LinkedIn labels these connections by degree. People you’re already connected to are “1st degree” connections. People you’re not yet connected to, but who are linked to your 1st degree connections, are 2nd degree connections. And so on. You’ll see a blue icon that says “1st,” “2nd” or “3rd” next to their names. You may also choose to connect your email’s contact list to LinkedIn for the purpose of finding additional connections. Head to “Import Contacts” and allow access your contacts to pull up a list of potentials. Be aware, however, that this may generate a huge list of people, especially if email services like Gmail tend to save every address you’ve ever contacted. 3. Groups LinkedIn groups are spaces in which professionals and experts can share content, ask advice, post or search for jobs and network with others. Groups are tailored to brands, associations and societies, support groups, causes, publications and industries in general. That can mean anything from “On Startups – The Community for Entrepreneurs” to “Cal Alumni Association | UC Berkeley.” On the other hand, don’t confuse LinkedIn “groups” with “companies.” Coca-Cola has a “Coca-Cola Current & Former Employees” group, but its business lives on “The Coca-Cola Company” company page. More on that later. With over 1.3 million groups to choose from, you’re likely to find at few that fit your field and interests. Keep in mind that many groups require authentication before the manager permits you to join. However, nearly one-third of groups don’t require review, and are labeled “open.” Once you’re familiar with group functions, you may choose to create your own group. That means you’re the group owner, but you may also appoint a group manager and moderator, who are responsible for supervising discussions, subgroups, settings, etc. To get the most out of your LinkedIn group, take a look at the following features: LinkedIn Rolls Out Polling for Groups LinkedIn Unveils Dashboard for Groups Statistics 4. Companies Just as you have a personal profile page, many companies choose to represent themselves on LinkedIn, too. Like Facebook brand pages, you may choose to follow the activity and updates of companies on LinkedIn. Company pages contain general information, such as a business overview, list of employees and press mentions. Many companies also choose to list job openings on their pages, and some even encourage applicants to apply through LinkedIn, a very handy tool of the network. Once you follow a company, you’ll see its updates appear on your LinkedIn homepage alongside those of your connections. Mashable, for instance, tends to post business-related articles on LinkedIn, since that seems to be the content most pertinent to the network’s audience. Businesses also use LinkedIn to post company announcements, such as acquisitions, new hires or updated policies. LinkedIn warns against update spam, however: “Businesses that post updates excessively are subject to review by LinkedIn and could risk having their page deleted.” If you’re interested in adding your own company to the network, LinkedIn advises you take the following steps. You’re a current company employee and your position is on your profile. A company email address (e.g. john@companyname.com) is one of the confirmed email addresses on your LinkedIn account. You associate your profile with the right company. You must click on a name from our company name dropdown list when you edit or add a position on your profile. Your company’s email domain is unique to the company. Your profile must be more than 50% complete. You must have several connections. If you’re interested in learning more about how companies can use LinkedIn, see the following resources: 9 Ways to Add LinkedIn to Your Company Website 5 Ways to Market Your Brand on LinkedIn Why Your Non-Profit Needs to Stop Ignoring LinkedIn 5. Jobs Job search and recruitment tools are among LinkedIn’s most valuable features. More and more companies are encouraging candidates to apply for jobs via LinkedIn, due to the social network’s credibility and ease-of-use. Head to the “Jobs” tab, where you’ll find options for applicants. Perform an advanced search for available jobs by keyword, title, location, company, salary and industry. (A search for “developer” within 50 miles of Manhattan turned up 488 results.) Save jobs to review later, and even save searches to check back later for updated results. As an employer, you may post an available job to LinkedIn for $295 for a 30-day period. (Bulk packages are available for better deals.) Once posted, these jobs will not only appear in search results, but also in the “Careers” tab on your company page. Finally, recruiters may “find talent” on LinkedIn, but they must upgrade to a premium subscription plan to search for potential hires. 6. Updates Unlike content shared on social networks like Facebook and Twitter, LinkedIn updates tend to be industry- and professionally-focused. Keep that in mind if you’re attempting to increase engagement. You can share updates from a number of different places, both on LinkedIn.com and from outside web properties. Post a status update from the LinkedIn homepage, and it will be shared as well as posted to your profile under the activity feed. Also, when you engage in discussions in LinkedIn groups, that activity counts as an update. Post updates from sites like The New York Times by clicking the LinkedIn social share button next to an article. Or add the LinkedIn sharing bookmarklet to your browser toolbar to quickly share most sites as an update. Finally, you may also connect your Twitter account to LinkedIn. This not only expands your network, but allows you to post tweets on LinkedIn as if they were status updates. Once tweets post to LinkedIn, users can interact with them as if from Twitter.com, by retweeting, replying and favoriting. Like updates, tweets post to the homepage and live in the activity feed on your profile. Just as LinkedIn advises brands to cool it on excessive updates, you should practice the same self-control. Users appreciate information, not excessive traffic on their feeds. That being said, you can mute certain connections, if you choose. Hover over a user’s update on the homepage and click the “hide” button to stop receiving updates from that user. 7. Applications Applications allow LinkedIn users to customize their profiles and share content in different ways. For example, you may choose to add the WordPress app so that your latest WordPress blog posts share with your LinkedIn network. Do the same for SlideShare presentations you or your company have created. Keep in mind that most apps require permissions to access some of your basic profile information, such as your name or job title. However, all applications must abide by LinkedIn’s privacy policy, which means they’re not allowed to reach any private information not easily accessible by browsing the site. Learn about some of the top LinkedIn apps here: 5 Essential LinkedIn Apps for Sales Teams 8. Mobile LinkedIn has mobile applications for iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry and Palm devices. The app is useful for posting status updates and checking group updates on-the-go, but its inherent advantages lie in networking. Pull up the mobile app to find LinkedIn connections and exchange information at events. After meeting someone, you may choose to email that person a link to your profile, so he or she may connect with you later — no business cards needed. Or search for that person on your LinkedIn mobile app and add him as a connection then and there. You may also choose to download LinkedIn connections to your smartphone’s address book for later contact. For more information on LinkedIn’s mobile presence, see below: 5 Tips for Using LinkedIn’s Mobile Site LinkedIn Launches iPad App, Takes New Direction 9. Upgraded Account Once you’ve explored LinkedIn Free, you may choose to upgrade to a LinkedIn account with more features. Starting at $15.95 per month, LinkedIn has premium subscription plans for businesses, job seekers, recruiters and more. One of the distinguishing features of most upgraded accounts is the ability to send InMail to anyone. InMail is an internal LinkedIn message sent to a person with whom you are not connected. You can message people you are already connected with free-of-charge, but you can’t message non-connections; you must InMail them — and those InMails are limited. The Basic business premium account allows you three InMails per month, while the Business Plus plan allows 10, and the Executive 25 per month. So, choose your InMails wisely. Upgraded accounts also have access to more search results, which can be a huge bonus for LinkedIn recruiters. You also have access to additional tools for saving and organizing profiles, and you can view the full list of people who have viewed your LinkedIn profile. Image courtesy of Flickr, Coletivo Mambembe. More About: Business, features, jobs, linkedin, Social Media