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2008-12-04T13:53:00.000-08:00

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Firemen & Vacation Days

2008-12-04T13:52:00.000-08:00

One of early members of child was wanting to be President of the United States. Then, I wanted to be President of NBC. Then a DJ. Then a center for the Atlanta Hawks. Somewhere along the way I ended up going to college to be study to be an engineer, and ended up being an Air Force Acquisitions Officer, to give it all up to become a DJ.

Never once did the thought of becoming a fireman cross my mind. But that is main role with my company, despite every effort I take to make it otherwise. This becomes more apparent every time I take a true day off like I did Tuesday...then came back to mass insanity of half-projects yesterday...which lead to me working about 6 hours (so far) on work related project on this supposed day off...and will drive probably drive me insane as I am slated to take off every Tuesday and Thursday in the month of December to burn my vacation days.

Because the real reason I hate taking the day off and being to myself: I can effectively schedule a productive day for myself. I can also be flexible enough for interruptions and emergencies. In fact, I found I could make a list of things to do for the day, and then could chose to blow off every activity on the entire list, and would have found some way to accomplish something.

At work, I often begin with a long list of things to get done, and find myself quickly confronted with various ‘emergencies’ that take me away from my list that after completion didn’t pan out to be exactly emergencies. And I always end the day by leaving work late, and always leaving work frustrated from not making any actual progress in the job.

Unfortunately, I can not change my fate at work (oh, have I tried...) at this moment, and as I choose to continue showing up every morning, I am stuck with the weary and tireless (yes, I know they mean the same thing) life of a fireman, keeping a corporation from coming down on itself.

But for you, I offer some advice. If you find yourself stressed out at work by maximum effort but minimum, if any, progress, steal a moment to yourself and think about what your workday might be missing:

A Routine: the act of following a ritualistic daily routine will help you easily gage your progress in your daily tasks...unless you routinely never get anything done.

Proper Focus: the ability to focus on a single goal as you move toward it, or even focus on a single task as you try to finish it, will do wonders for your sanity and productivity.

A Score Card: I might not have mastered getting anything checked off my daily master list, but I still attempt it. Your to do list becomes your roadmap to success, or at least a way to gauge when you have finished something.

A System To Keep People Away: If you don’t plan out what you are going to do with your time, someone else will easily fill that time up for you. But if you have bosses that respect what you do for you company and themselves personally, they will find ways to divert some of the problem children and their problem projects far enough away from their office aces (you are an office ace, right?) to minimize distractions. If the boss can’t help, partner up with a co-worker to work a little misdirection for each other. And if you are lucky enough to be a supervisor, make sure you take good care of that assistant who is able to say “no” in just the right manner to get the point across.

MeritAid.com - $11 Billion in Scholarships

Job Motivations Must Be More Than A Paycheck

2008-11-25T02:43:00.000-08:00

Even with the news of more and more layoffs, you CAN NOT lesson your professional goals.

If you are showing up for work with the sole purpose of trying not to get fired, you are selling yourself and your company short.

I work for a company that isn’t doing so well at the moment, but our mission is pretty clear, at least locally. Come to work today, learn a little more, innovate a little bit, keep kicking the competition’s ass, and chances are we’ll get to do the same thing tomorrow.

It IS NOT show up, lay low, and take home a check at the end of the week.

My personal goals are insanely high. That in itself is a personal problem with failure at times to reach expectations...

…but if my only expectation was to show up, lay low, and take home a check at the end of the week, what kind of existence is that? It’s not worth my time, and probably not worth the money my company or personal clients pay me. And they currently aren’t paying that much

I have recently finished the book Fire Your Boss by Stephen M. Pollan and Mark Levine, where the authors pretty much smack you in the face with the notion that your job is your job because they pay you, and you have every right to leave a job if someone offers to pay you more. But what’s going to motivate anyone to pay you more…or let you stay and keep your current paycheck. Marginal effort or massive effort?

The Fruit Company

Keep A 'What Worked Journal'

2008-11-24T13:29:00.000-08:00

This is a trick I learned from a farmer friend of mine. This person has learned to log everything--and I mean just about everything--attached to growing his crops. He says it’s a lot easier to do today than it was twenty years ago, with computers able to automatically record things as minute as soil temperature and weather condition from his tractor, but the result is the same as if he were taking a pencil to his ledger in the 80’s.

Because he records just about everything, the farmer ends up with an incredible amount of data. Much more that the farmer would seem to need for the normal season. Until he finds himself facing a problem with a growing crop.

Once the farmer stops getting a decent yield from a crop, he goes back to his logs and studies the data. Piece by piece, line by line, step by step. If there is anyway possible to correlate one factor that is not being done that could be the difference in his current yield, this farmer will find it. Just about any good farmer would find it, because they have plenty of examples and information to test to make sure you were doing it right in the first place.

From this example, I’ve come up with the suggestion of a different kind of journaling. I have brought up the power of a journal many times before, and often steal a phrase from Tony Robbins, ’any life worth living is worth writing down.' This time, I am proposing a mostly 'work' journal that will take a good bit of effort, but can save you time in long run in back research, and may prove to be the perfect tool to save you from a CYA situation.

This ‘What Worked Journal’ is simple in concept, but is a bit labor intensive. It requires writing down JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING that is relevant about a project as it happened and notating whether it actually succeeded or failed.

And then you let it sit for a while. You add a little more for you next project, and then it sits. New project, new inputs, then more sitting.

The usefulness of the What Worked Journal is the ability to go back to that place in time when you were working on a similar project, and compared what you are doing now to what you did then. If your current project is on a path heading for obvious failure, open up the journal and look back to the past, and see if you can find some step you missed that could have been the critical key to actual progress. If things going a little too well for you comfort, turn back to your similar projects that did end in failure, follow the road map backward, and find a way to not do it again.

Anthony Robbins: Personal Power II

Three Reasons Why Your Customer is Your Best Advertisement

2008-11-12T15:39:00.000-08:00

Written By Scott Oliver

While you might already know that your customer is always right 'and make steps to ensure that they know this too' did you realize that your customer can also be your best advertisement? It's easy to forget that customers interact with our businesses more personally than we ever will. And while we think we know our business inside and out, it's actually the customer that sees whether or not our business is doing the job it says it can do. Here are three reasons why your customer is your best advertisement ' and why you need to make sure they're always satisfied.

They Will Share Their Good Experiences

Nearly everyone has a story about a good customer service experience they've had with a business. Whether there was a problem that got quickly addressed or perhaps the business simply went above and beyond what was expected, nearly everyone has had one moment in which they wanted to sing the praises of their business transaction. So, if you had this experience, you told people and then they went to the business you did and then they told others of their experiences, etc. When something good happens, people are going to talk about it, letting you get more positive advertising than you could ever get on your own.

But at the same time, you need to remember that if there is a bad experience; customers are more than likely going to share that too. When things go wrong and you don't take the time to fix them, you are going to start a conversation between your customer and their friends ' one that ends up in you getting less business. Each experience that your customer has with your website or with your business should be as positive as possible. While you don't have to go out of your way each and every time, it's better to be more than they need than to be less than they deserve.

They are More Believable Than You Are

So, what makes these customer experiences so important to your advertising? Customers who talk to their friends and to their family are more believable than you will be. This isn't to say that you're not trustworthy, but people tend to believe things they hear from their friends more than they will trust things that come from a business that wants to make money.

Again, this is why treating the customer well is so important. Because whatever they share with their friends is going to be taken as the absolute truth, you aren't going to get a second chance to change their minds.

They Can Give Testimonials

When a customer does have a good experience with you, you might want to talk to them about writing a testimonial. This is simply a summary of the compliments they have about your business that can be posted on your marketing literature or on your website. In exchange, you might want to offer them a discount on future purchases, but many people will simply be excited to see their name and their picture on your business site. These testimonials should be verbatim of what your customer says, along with a release that says you can use the statement for your business. If you receive a testimonial that isn't written as well as you might like, as the customer if you can edit it and then show them the changes you made. If they agree to the final copy, then you have another marketing tool at your disposal.

Your customers are the best advertisements for your business and you need to make sure they are advertising well.

About the Author:

Scott Oliver offers free video coaching to help you build a profitable home business FAST. Get an hour of "Website Traffic Secrets" and "Minisite Creation Tactics" for FREE -- immediate access here: http://www.InstantWebsiteBusiness.com

Economic Downturns The Perfect Time For One Of Those Leaps Of Faith

2008-10-20T19:55:00.000-07:00

Sure the economy is bad, but is that just an opportunity to get into business at bargain basement prices? That statement might be an exaggeration, but Paul Graham does have a great post on Why to Start a Startup in a Bad Economy.

Logo Design Guru

Every Job Isn't Worth It

2008-10-20T17:12:00.000-07:00

Do you take the time to evaluate just what you might be getting into when you accept a new project? You might want to check out this post from BusinessPundit.com on the 5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Accepting New Work. It might save your sanity and a good relationship.

Advertising Jobs Central

Learning

2008-10-15T06:28:00.000-07:00

When you take on new responsibilities, it is amazing what you learn about yourself.

I have taken on a weird hybrid role with out sales staff in helping them and clients understand our capabilities from the websites. In this time, I have been able to confirm that I am still a horrible sales person. Not exactly earth shattering, but knowing your limits are important.

But I have found that I am a much greater marketer than I thought. Which isn't the same thing. I have been able to rationalize that my 'ability to close the deal' isn't up to par, but my 'ability to push the idea and product' is strong. Very strong. If I am ever able to work full time as on-air talent, I think this will prove valuable.

I have also gain another level of respect for our fine sales staff. While all are trying to do the best they can for themselves, its not every man and women for themselves. No serious jealousy, backstabbing, or sabotage. Our sales staff do there best to hype each other up, just like a solid sports team. Our sales staff know how to work each other to get the best competition for themselves internally, without being over-competitive. They are impressive.

Your Career, The Little Dutch Boy & The Dyke

2008-09-07T09:21:00.000-07:00

Does your career follow a warped version of the story of the Little Dutch Boy?

The Cliff Notes Version of the Little Dutch Boy has a hole in a dyke that was threatening to burst, and little boy walks up an sticks his finger in the hole and shores up the dyke with the simple act...a decision that is a little tough because it makes him late for school, which will get him in trouble. Eventually, some passerby sees the boy, and brings back help to fix the dyke. The story is told to teach quick action and self-sacrifice, because if the boy leaves, the dyke is back in the same peril that it was in before, and he has no guarantee that help is on the way.

Switch the story to an analogy of your career. Were you on your way to something bigger and brighter, came across a problem that you could offer up a quick fix, and then got stuck supporting your quick fix forever? In real world work, sometimes the people whose job it is to actually fix things will do everything in their power to go nowhere near the problem, sticking you with your quick fix approaches, and bogging you down with unresolved issues that keep you from accomplishing bigger goals and moving forward.

I believe you have three ways to approach this problem:

1: JUST DON’T STICK YOUR FINGER IN THE DYKE: If it’s not your problem, its not your problem, and don’t lift a finger (pun intended) to fix it.

2: PUT YOUR FINGER IN THE DYKE FOR A WHILE, THEN TAKE IT OUT AND DEMAND ACTION: Save the company for just a little while, figure out what the real problem is, then kill your quick fix and get in the faces of those who have the responsibility to fix it, and make sure they fix it.

3: PUT YOUR FINGER IN THE DYKE, AND PRAY THAT THE RIGHT PEOPLE WILL DO THE RIGHT THING ON THERE OWN: …which probably won’t happen…but a little faith might help…

When I came across the idea for this post, I knew I was going to be short on answers, but I hope that just putting the thought out there will help those stuck ‘with their finger in the dyke’ to get a better picture of their current situation, and find a way out of it.

E-Z Rent-A-Car: -The Car Rental Coupons Online!

Introducing...The Anti-Bio

2008-08-19T18:47:00.000-07:00

Inspired by Drea Knufken at BusinessPundit.com.

For those of you having trouble putting down your accomplishments in a CV, resume, or traditional biography, try a new exercise: The Anit-Bio.

This is my attempt here:

J Cleveland Payne hates his bio. While he is extremely proud of all his accomplishments, he hates having to take the time to write them down.

Payne has always been more comfortable being a little bit socially awkward, and spent the bulk of his life trying to prove to others that he was a slacker, and his master plan to accomplish this was by working hard at every day at making sure the job was always done to the best level possible (not one of his more well thought out plans, but he’s had worse). From this, Payne acquired a work ethic that is second to no one, and the ability to outperform in just about any task put in front of him. Payne has never let minor details like lack of talent, resources, or authority get in the way of getting the job done.

Payne has come up with a title to describe his work self: Reluctant Jack Of All Trades Looking To Become A Master In Something. Current goals are to survive the week without killing someone. Future goals include becoming a college business professor (small school, junior college, or vo-tech), a consultant for businesses and personal development, a certified fitness instructor, a certified life, life coach, and a radio talk host (a regular radio talk show host with a regular gig...and getting paid for it).

Payne created “10 Rules For Life” as a basis of his personal beliefs and motivation, but his simply life goal is to live a life by the Yiddish word chutzpa, to live without apologies.

Payne works best when he is in the capacity of being a catalyst, able to make things around him work better without changing, or at least overly taxing, himself. He also works fairly well as a filter or gatekeeper, keeping unwanteds of various kinds out and only allowing the wanted or not-necessarily-wanted-but-necessary in.

Payne believes you can't judge anything, especially life, on a scale of 1 to 10 unless you begin with something that is worth a one and something that's worth a 10, and a lot of things in between.

Payne likes to think of himself as being in the people business. His products are tools and systems used to help people get their business off the ground and keep them in gear.

Go Freelance: Click. Work. Collect.

Plan Of Attack Of Your Workload

2008-07-17T06:17:00.000-07:00

A simple, two-part plan for improving your output at work:

Part 1: Do the best job you possibly can today.

Part 2: Tomorrow, try to do a little better.

If it were only that easy…

In order to improve your output, it’s going to first take a little detective work, and then a little doctoring. In extreme cases, major surgery.

Take some time to examine your workload, and do a better job of pre-planning your work before you actually start doing it.

Travelocity.com

Taking Your New Year Career Audit Halfway Through The Year

2008-07-12T09:48:00.000-07:00

I came across Joan Lloyd article's “Career Audit for a New Year” as I was clearing out some old and duplicate files on my computer this morning. It had a great set-up of re-evaluating your mental job contract with your employer, whether there has been major change or not, just to see if you are still the right person for your own job, or if you should start the process of moving on.

There is just one flaw in the New Year time frame. A regularly scheduled audit of your career can be the key to help you maintain your career goals and your sanity. But when do you usually schedule your career audit?

If you are like most people, you set yourself for you annual dreaded time of reflection at the traditional end or beginning of something. For most, that means Christmas time reflections and New Year's Resolutions, where you swear you will take time to sit down and patiently go through your last 12 months in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the over-commercialized holiday season. No, this is not really a good time.

So how about right now? Yeah, right now, in the middle of the summer, just about SIX MONTHS into the year that is and before the year to come, where the only burdens weighing you down are to much potato salad at the 4th of July picnic and how to cut down on use of air conditioning. Waiting around until right now, in the slow days of the summer time could be just the right time to get away from yourself (and possibly get away from the trappings and distractions of work and life for a short period of time) and do a true evaluation of your live and career.

So take a weekend, take a deep breath, and take the time to sit and go through this list. And for more information on how Joan Lloyd & Associates can help you out, visit their website at http://www.JoanLloyd.com.

25 Businesses You Can Start & Run From Your Home From Entrepreneur Magazine

Free Listbuilding Software

2008-07-12T05:55:00.000-07:00

I'm evaluating a viral listbuilding software tool from the folks at ListHero.com. It's the fastest, simplest and easiest way to build your list that I've seen in a long while.

Here's all you do...

Create a short ad that promotes your newsletter or ezine

Add some code to the pages of your website

... sit back and watch your list grow.

ListHero helps you generate 1,000's of highly targeted subscribers for free and pays you generous affiliate commissions as your list grows.

I'll let you know what I think of it once I've had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile go grab access to this free viral listbuilding software while it's still free.

WorkTree.com

Staying After Infidelity Is Still Going To Cost You

2008-07-08T13:21:00.000-07:00

As the crazy details ars starting to unravel on A-Rod's pending divorce, Lela Davidson at Business Pundit tell us about her introduction the the little known but booming ‘relationship industry.’ And it looks like a scary and expensive method for those looking to actually fix a failing relationship.

Gladwell Breaks Down Draft Combines For Egghead Academics

2008-07-08T10:09:00.000-07:00

Malcolm Gladwell is a genius. And he has great hair. Watch Gladwell and his hair give a speech on problems of modern firing practices, especially using a 'combine' system to weed out the best available players from “Stories from the Near Future,” the 2008 New Yorker Conference.

Everybody Is A Salesperson

2008-01-13T13:28:00.000-08:00

Everybody is a salesperson. Period.

Whether you are representing yourself or your company, every time you step out into public, you are representing something that should be highly important to you. You might not be getting a commission from the ‘sale,’ but do not discount the impact your image in person, and these day online, will have.

And because everyone is in sales, you can always use a little refresher to keep your sales skills up. Here are some books that I got off a suggestion list (I think they came from Mark Cuban) that I found that helped me understand how to become an more effective salesman in all aspects of my life:

- Cold Calling Techniques That Really Work by Stephen Schiffman
- Closing Techniques That Really Work by Stephen Schiffman
- 25 Sales Skills They Don't Teach at Business School by Stephen Schiffman

Direct Email Marketing with Constant Contact

What's Really Important At Work: Coffee

2007-12-12T16:52:00.000-08:00

Now for something really important. Over at Dumb Little Man, they've got an article on The Pros and Cons of Coffee Drinking.

Now I can tell my doctor that my 12 cups of coffee before 9am are actually helping my Type II Diabetes, not hurting it. (DISCLAIMER: I actually wake up at 3am, so its only two cups of coffee an hour. I don't think that is unreasonable...)

Coffee For Less

Maybe It Is Time To Break Away

2007-12-12T05:36:00.000-08:00

So you've read my post on Deconstructing a Struggling Start-Up, and you still want to find a way to leave your boss behind, and step into the world of a business owner?

Here's an article by Sally Hogshead written for Advertising Ad Magazine on How to Know When It's Time to Strike Out on Your Own. Read that, and if you still haven't been scared away, check out more from Sally at her blog, or pick up one of the more awesome books I've come across in the last few months, Radical Careering.

Climber.com: Your Perfect Job Is Out There Somewhere

Deconstructing a Struggling Start-Up

2007-12-09T17:45:00.000-08:00

Think you're ready to tell you boss to shove it and leave the rat race of a 9-5 and take on the adventure of a start-up? Just remember, for every Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) and Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), there are thousands of ideas that are just crazy, stupid, or poorly planned.

Take some advice from Philippe, co-founder and CEO of MyCarpoolStation.com, who is now running like crazy from his own creation. Take a little time to read his story on how the start-up he created to change the world and make a little money just didn't work.

Before you step out to follow your dreams, just make sure you are ready to suffer a fair amount of unexpected consequences (maybe some good ones, probably some bad ones).

Reseller Marketplace

Tired Of Fighting Other People's Fires

2007-12-02T07:09:00.000-08:00

After a very long week, I woke up yesterday with no real plans for the day, and a few ideas that were burning to get down on paper. I sat down to my computer and sketched out a beginning to a piece I was going to post on Cool Corporate dot COM, did a quick review of the special document to be posted at Bachelor Cooking, ate breakfast, and began to get the laundry started before I sat down to continue to write.

Then the phone rang, and all that forward moment was gone. No writing done, and I barely had the mental capacity to do laundry.

That's what I've been fighting for some time now. Other people's fires. Starting a day with a solid plan, or even just a good idea of where the day should run, and some seemingly random piece of news or someone else's emergency destroys the hope for a successful day. It eats away time, energy, resources, and at times sanity.

Luckily, there are a few things you can do to deal with it

DON'T DEAL WITH IT: What should be fairly obvious is the hardest to handle. Letting other people handle the messes they've gotten themselves into should be straight forward, and should end your involvement before it begins. This only works if they can't find a way to convince you that there problem will soon be your problem. Usually, you'll see realize this will soon become your problem before they even bring it up.

DEAL WITH IT JUST THIS ONCE: Put your foot down from the git go. You'll step in and assist now, but never, ever, EVER again. This usually works about as well as refusing to not assist in the first place, as you will end up stepping in to help again anyway.

TEACH/HIRE SOMEONE ELSE TO DEAL WITH IT: While convincing HR that you need someone on the payroll to sit back and wait for catastrophes to happen is feasible to the companies bottom line might be a challenge, pulling key employees away from key activities to fight other people's fires, some key, some just dumb, isn't the most effective use of there time either. And if you can't hire that backup backup who only seems to come around when trouble strikes or during corporate softball season, train some of the lower-level employees to step in and handle the dire situations. It earns you points for leaderships and earns them points for initiative. Just make sure you train people you believe have the ability to handle the situation, not just the people your bosses say have potential. That potential may be to make things even worse.

LEAVE: Not the easiest decision to make for you career or life, but sometimes, you just know things will never get better, and you will never achieve the goals you thought you were hired for because you're to busy keeping superstar employees from doing stupid things. If you can move out of your mother's basement and stop dating that hot chick who wanted to pick out china patterns on your second date, you can ask to be reassigned to another department at work, or find work elsewhere. No need to start drama either, just look for a good opportunity within your current company that your manages would be crazy not to put you into, and make sure you won't find yourself troubleshooting as much in the old position. Or just find a new job. If you're as good as you think you are, someone somewhere will see it.

getorganized.com

Hiring The Right Replacement

2007-12-01T06:26:00.000-08:00

The University of Arkansas is dealing with a coaching change in the football program. After ten years, Houston Nutt is out as the head football coach of the Razorbacks, only to
take a new job the next day as the head football coach at the University of Mississippi. But if you can separate yourself from the irrationalities of team loyalty in college football, what it all boils down to is a common personnel/HR issue (need to fill the position) that adds a few minor wrinkles of complexity (top leadership position, high paying position, and we lost the old guy to our direct competition).

At my day job, we went through a recent ‘coaching change,’ with our general manager leaving. After a few weeks of interviews from around the country, our new GM was hired from within. The General Sales Manager took the top position as a promotion, but left the same need to now fill a her vacant position.

Whether you're looking for a new CEO or parking garage attendant, filling a vacant slot is hard enough when you don’t factor in the actual reason why you have to fill the position. Sometimes a person gets promoted, moves on to a new company, gets fired, dies…and now you’ve got to put somebody in thier old position, and the more important the position, the more critical it becomes to hire the right person, and the sooner it needs to happen.

Pay close attention to all the visible workings of the hunt for replacements around your company. Do they look for the best available? The cheapest? The quickest person they can get hired? Is the search being directed internally or externally? Do they really want to do away with the empty position, but can't figure out how to divide the work that person did? Do they really want to expand the position, and can't get the proper approval?

And don't think you're helpless in the decision making process. You're going to have to live with the new boss, peer, or peon that gets hired, so if someone asks for your input, give it freely and honestly. If no one directly asks your opinion, bring up the job search in small talk conversations with those involved, with prior knowledge that you won't get the full scoop. Try to listen more for what isn't said and how the information is delivered to you.

In the end, you have to refer to the old adage, 'The only thing constant is change.' The University of Arkansas may have had the luxury of a football coach with ten years tenor, but Houston Nutt wasn't going to be there forever. Your boss will not be your boss forever. You will not be in your position forever. Eventually, they'll have to find replacements. Study up on the process while its still not your responsibility, so that when you do get the power to hire and fire, you'll have some experience in making a search process as painless as possible.

Calendars.com

A Potential Star Employee's Wish List

2007-10-31T12:58:00.000-07:00

If you are a manager, every so often you will come across an employee in your organization, hopefully under you supervision, that just shines above all the rest of their peers without much effort. That star or potential star employee is a gem you may have lucked upon, but it will take more than a little luck to keep them working for you and your company. And even worse than them leaving for your competition, they could get sullen and just stop putting forth any effort, and are no longer working 'with' your company.

How do you keep your stars happily working in their cubicles and shining for your company? If you were to ask any of these employees, I bet the following items would all be on their wish list:

* Give Them Co-Workers Who Can Keep Up - Nothing is more frustrating to a highly motivated, highly mobile worker that being partnered with a slug who just simply can't keep up. Chances are your star is not stuck up or conceited, but if you place them in teams that aren't performing because they truly can't perform or just don't care all long as the checks don't bounce, you’re just showing your star that you don't care about their level of effort. They'll find a place where movement at their speed matters.

* Give Them The Resources They Need - Just like being placed with bad people, having poor or no resources available to get the job done means it will be harder--if not impossible--to get the job done. Make the jobs easier to get done, and they'll get more jobs done.

* Give Them The Time They Need - Micromanagement is awful. Insane deadlines are awful. Not letting your stars get their job done, or rushing them to complete tasks sooner than they need to be completed will frustrate, confuse, and infuriate.

* Give Them A Chance To Screw Up - If Jack Welsh gets to blow up a building and still become CEO of General Electric, a star employee in the making could surely survive a missed deadline, target, or even bombing a presentation. They're not screwing up on purpose. They'll learn a valuable lesson from the occasional failure, and especially from a huge failure.

You've got a star employee, or a potential in the making. You've got a prime chance to directly effect the career and life of person who could be an eventual rock star CEO, or just another business burnout. Most of their outcome will truly be up to time, chance, and their own efforts. Don't be the jerk that makes it harder that it needs to be.

StealthSurfer: Protection from spyware and online ID theft

On Not Getting The Blogging Job Done In 2007

2007-10-30T18:49:00.000-07:00

(This is being cross-posted to Cool Corporate dot com & Life in Fast Forward)

A newsletter I receive for talk radio host and producers recently had a rant on the basics you really needed to be a good talk show host:

1) have a personality
2) have something to say

For bloggers, the same applies, except you have to add a third axiom: have time to post. Under that point, I am definitely failing in the 'big-time' blogging talent department.

Excuses aren't really necessary, since no one is really reading my blogs these days (based on my lack of posting of course). It no one's fault but my own that I planned on growing these blogs (and other blogs and personal projects) and have been constantly sidetracked by my twin nemeses, “Real Life” & “Paying Job.” But it really hurts me personally that ever plan to make my personal business ventures and a personal sense of accomplishment/peace can be so easily hijacked.

Trust me, I'm not missing the chance to blog because of lack of ideas. What I have is a true lack of time and energy coming from personal exhaustion. 2007 was supposed to be my break through year, and it has turned into a near breakdown.

That's near breakdown, mind you.

Two more months and then a whole new year. Big plans missed in 2007 will hopefully mean a chance for bigger plans to come to pass in 2008. That is what I'm shooting for, and hope you will still be around for the ride.

Thank you,

-J.C.

Cool Corporate Blog Picks 10/16/07

2007-10-14T16:36:00.000-07:00

lifegoalaction would like you to stop faking it until you make it

An article from the Atlantic from March of 2004 Caring for Your Introvert,
which may have unwittingly touched off an Introverts' Rights revolution.

Over at The M.A.P. Maker, a post on The Great Balance Boondoggle dicusses the reality of "work/life balance" and gives a quick over of the book "Juggling Elephants" by Jones Loflin and Todd Musig.

Businesspundit.com takes a look beyond resumes and uses the example of rare sports find to to show What Derrick Locke Can Teach You About Hiring Good People

And Edith Yeung.com give you 12 Reasons Why People Want to Keep Your Business Card

Investor's Business Daily

Cool Corporate Blog Picks 10/13/07

2007-10-13T13:21:00.000-07:00

PickTheBrain drops some knowledge I really needed right now: 7 Ways to Overcome the Fear of Failure

Does your energy flow in cycles? Life Learning Today teaches how to get though by Rolling with Your Cycles

Life Coaches Blog has found a way for Getting the Most out of Life

StudyHacks looks into The Einstein Principle: Accomplish More By Doing Less

Finally, Execupundit.com asks Why We Don't Practice Good Leadership

All-Battery.com: Rechargeable Batteries & Chargers

Cool Corporate Blog Picks 9/18/07

2007-09-18T16:12:00.000-07:00

Some blog postings that caught my attention today:

- Jason Alba from JibberJobber Blog helps you with visualization

- Seth Godin show you the difference in what you don't know and what you 'don't know'

- Jay White at Dumb Little Man gives us over 35 great time saving tips, but not before making you feel old and unaccomplished

- Adam Richardson tells you why you should read I book that I also recommend, "Made to Stick"

- and Priscilla Palmer from Personal Development Demands Success on how big the role do habits play in your daily life

Earn Rewards at MyPoints.

How To Read More, Or At Least Make It Seem That Way

2007-09-11T13:12:00.000-07:00

I love to read. Being a constantly engaged, workaholic, the only thing I find truly relaxing is sitting down with a book, so it pains me that I have somehow become so engrossed in activities of my day that i can never remember what I actually accomplished, left alone make time for an hour to read every day.

Yes, I used to read for an hour every day before I went to bed, no matter what time I went to bed or when I had to get up. And that was a personally required minimum, as if I was given the chance in the middle of the day to sit in solitude and read, be it a white paper related to some new technology for work, or a quick throw away novel I happen to stumble upon, I would take it over any other activity.

But for various reasons, I fell out of the habit of my exceptionally good reading habits, and have payed the price for it. Eventually, I learned that I was truly missing reading, both from a learning aspect and for knowing it was on of the very few sources of relaxation I get for my constantly buzzing mind. To get back on track, I came up with some tricks to increase m 'reading' in what little time I actually had.

- Audio books: Despite all attempts you have made in the past, you can't really effectively 'multi-task' because you really can't do too many conflicting actions at the same time, somethings you do that really don't take massive efforts can be combined. Take the work out of actually reading the book and purchase a book on CD or download, and 'read' while you do various things. Just like you sit in your car or at your desk singing along to music, you can keep an audio going and listen while doing many basic function of your everyday life, such as cleaning up around your house or office, filing paperwork, and the most obvious, just driving around in your car.

- E-books: The magic of having e-books (electronic files of books) is there sheer portability. You can really take them anywhere, and while pulling up a trashy novel on your laptop during a meeting while you are supposedly taking notes is not the use that I would prefer to promote, it is the general idea of being able to pull out a book just about anywhere that will help you get more reading in. While you might not be able to carry that hardback book or large case study around with you throughout your work day, chances are you can put the file on your PDA, blackberry, or smart phone and flip through a few pages as you wait for appointments, while sitting at lunch, or even at the meeting where you should be giving your full attention.

- Book Summaries & Condensed Books: My mother used to read stories to my sister and I from the Reader's Digest condensed books. it killed three birds with one stone: mom got to read the books she wanted and faster, and we got stories. There was also a better chance that we kids could understood them, since the condensed books left only what was absolutely necessary to get the point of the story across, even if it meant some of the flavor and spice gets left out of the recipe. The same thing goes for executive book summaries, written especially for busy business people who know they don't have the time to read but want to get the gist of the newest business texts.

- Shows About Books On TV/The Radio/The Internet: Don't knock those dedicated viewers of C-Span's weekend programing BookTV. Just the pure genius of finding a use for an open cable channel is impressive, but to funnel so much information on books and authors in a 48 hour period has to be a daunting task. Luckily, you don't have to stay glued to the television set from midnight Saturday to midnight Monday. Tune in when you have a spare half hour and see what authors are being showcased, or do a little research on what programing your local radio or tv station my provide to book lovers. And do not forget to search the Internet and iTunes for blogs and pod cast from book lovers around the world, looking to share with anyone for just the cost of their effort. You might have to search a lot of rough to get the diamond you are looking for, but it will be worth a quick look.

- Produce A Morning Show And Have The Authors Tell You The Gist Of The Books Themselves: Not exactly practical, but this is one of the luxury of my job that I have to draw on when I remember just how little money there is in broadcasting. The payoff is in opportunity, and I have had the opportunity to meet some of the best people with the brightest minds in the nation just by seeing a title for a new book pop up and calling the publisher to book them for the morning news show I producer for radio. I have also met some of the dullest people with most cluttered and confused minds, but that is the price you have to pay. Getting the finer points of a book told to you by the author is an experience that always brings a sense of pride and joy to on one who put in so much effort to put it all down on paper--even if the interviews can turn into agonizing events for the guy asking all the question.

If you are a person who loves reading books and doesn't have the time, or just loves the idea of reading books and are a little to lazy to do so, there are plenty of ways to glean entertainment and information from the latest tomes, in some cases with minimal effort necessary. All in all, just be determined to get you hands on more new book knowledge, and find the time to read--or at least make it seem like reading--more books.

BookCloseouts.com

Overhaul...

2007-07-28T17:34:00.000-07:00

...of Cool Corporate dot COM is in the works. New content is coming, new look is coming.

Video Résumé Are The Future

2007-04-22T15:20:00.000-07:00

What seemed like a over hyped joke just a few years ago, and is still as equally misunderstood as it is becoming more popular, video résumés and the rise of the media specialist training may not even be the future as I put in my title. They might as well be right now, and many are going to miss their first chance at jumping on the band wagon.

An article from yesterday's Business section of the New York Times by Abby Ellin, Auditioning in a Video Résumé, gives the details, and a few reasons why you shouldn't be so quick to scoff at the idea.

I'M Instant Media

A Late Christmas Present From Ben Stein

2007-01-07T07:32:00.000-08:00

Ben Stein gave the world a great Christmas present that I am sad that I am just now getting around to open. From his "How Not to Ruin Your Life" column at Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) Finance on Christmas Day, Success Is All in a Day’s Work shares a conversation Ben has with a young and talented writer who can seem to find a way to capitalize on his talents. He also seems to have little desire to actually write, and can't fathom why his status as a writer isn't progressing. The moral is simple: effort equals success.

- Success Is All in a Day’s Work (Yahoo! Finance)

Vault: The Most Trusted Name in Career Information

Testing a logo

2007-01-06T20:38:00.000-08:00

I've been playing around with various idea for a Cool Corporate dot COM logo since this blog's inception, and nothing good has become of it. Here's an example...

Employees Find Noose Hanging At Work

2007-01-06T13:36:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, and welcome to what I hope will be a much more frequent and successful run of posting here at Cool Corporate dot COM. I wish my first post of the new year was a little more positive.

Let's say you're a Black employee, and you come into work one morning and find find a noose hanging in the work area accessible only to the white managers of your company. When questions, the best answer (most just shrug it off) was to hang two black employees.

This actually happened on December 7th of 2006, and of course legal action is being pursued against 180 Connect, a company that installs cable, telephone and Internet service to residential customers of Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC) in Nassau County, New York, along with many with Time Warner (NYSE:TWX) Cable. 180 Connect itself operates almost entirely in the United States, but the company has its corporate headquarters in Canada and trades on the Toronto stock exchange.

To say an act like this is stupid is a serious understatement. Its was also a shock to some of my younger co-workers, as I ways showing them in the newsroom as I picked up this story, that this sort of racism does exist.

Actions like this will obviously not be tolerated, but in the not to distant past, it might have been the norm. I am glad to be living in an age were there is much less of a hostile racial environment, but I know it would be Pollyana-ish to think this kind of thinking has been completely wiped out of the workplace. The topic of race is a tough one to deal with on its own. Race, and also gender, religion, and culture, can be one of the biggest 'forbidden zones' in sorting out office politics.

What do you think?

AnalyzeMyCareer.com

Once Again, As Promised, A New Blog A Comin'

2006-11-02T05:55:00.000-08:00

I know this is cliche for ~~failed~~ ~~lazy~~ unsuccessful bloggers who have to re-launch (in my case, multiple times on multiple blogs), but I foresee a window of opportunity of available free time in my life, and instead of spending it with my loving family or getting a good night's sleep, I'm planning to use it for blogging.

Expect fresh and (hopefully) insightful post to appear soon.

You've Got Mail & Ten Minutes To Clear Your Desk

2006-08-31T16:52:00.000-07:00

Earlier this month, a lady in the UK takes a sick day from work because of a migraine, then turns on her cell phone the next day to find out she's been fired via a text message. This week, just as they had been warned, RadioShack Corporation (NYSE:RSH) emailed layoff notices to 400 of its workers at the Forth Worth Texas headquarters. While severance is being offered, former employees won't get any checks until their company-issued BlackBerrys, laptops and cell phones are returned.

Technology has been portrayed as a godsend for its ease of use in getting a message to anyone anytime, and as a curse straight from hell for the exact same reason. This may not be as cold blooded as, say, getting a divorce via text message, but it certainly can't be endearing when these employers go looking for new employees.

- UK Store Worker Fired By Text Message (San Jose Mercury News)
- You've Got Mail: You're Fired (Forbes)
- Malaysia Permits Text Message Divorce (BBC News)

The Return Of Company Perks

2006-08-26T08:09:00.000-07:00

At their last spring company meeting, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) released an expanded package of company perks, with the loudest applause coming with the announcement of the return of free towel service at company gyms. Eliminated two years ago in a $60 million cost-cutting campaign, the return of this simple convenience, along with services like dry cleaning and grocery delivery, and worth more than to-go meals from Wolfgang Puck, increases in restricted-stock awards and valet parking.

More proof that in today's workplace, great compensation is always nice, but you can easily boost workplace morale and productivity by just making 'working' a little more convenient.

- The return of perks at work (CNN Money)
- Is Parking A Pain? Not At Microsoft, Thanks To Valets (Seattle Times)

Trump University

LinkedIn Bloggers Blast Of The Week: eMoms at Home

2006-07-13T09:52:00.000-07:00

I have be derelict in my duty as a member of the LinkedIn Bloggers Yahoo Group on participating in the weekly blog boost. Unfortunately, I have missed out on contributing on many of the great sites presented by various LinkedIn members. This week, I am not missing out on the chance to push eMoms at Home for Wendy Piersall in this poorly spell-checked blog post.

eMoms at Home is "a blog for starting, running, and succeeding in your home based business," and it has plenty of tips that any business owner can use. Since she recently went through a hosting and platform change for her blog, we both share a a few headache, and I quickly noted three posts on her bypassing a quick buck now to grow web traffic (brilliant!), ways to keep that traffic coming (also brilliant), and how to actually change your hosting platform for your blog (which I still am having problems with). I'm sure she will do just fine in building up traffic at her new blog home.

- eMoms at Home

Eforcity: Offering Cell Phone, PDA, & iPod Accessories

The New MG: China Invades Under The Guise Of The British Flag

2006-07-12T16:57:00.000-07:00

Several Chinese carmakers are on the verge of exporting vehicles to the United States. But the Nanjing Automobile Group has bigger plans. Their planning to export British cars to the United States...and their going to build them in Ardmore Oklahoma!

When we think of the People's Republic of China, we still have a lot to fear that doesn't involve having the largest army in the world. I'm a little more concerned by the fact that the government that puts a near total clamp on information from the outside world and can force some mega companies like Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) and Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) to conform or else don't seem to have a much trouble ignoring international copyright laws and make billions on pirated cds, dvds, and software.

But the Chinese people are quickly becoming addicted to Western culture and products in spite of (or maybe because of) restriction, and Chinese businesses are out to prove that they're ready to play on the global stage. After all, it was the Chinese company Lenovo that that became a savior of sorts to the PC innovators at International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM), taking their failing PC and laptop business from them.

But back to cars. Nanjing purchased the assets of MG Rover Group from bankruptcy and plans production of a newly designed MG TF Coupe in 2008, to sell for around $20,000 to $25,000. They first plan to reopen the shuttered assembly plant near Birmingham, England and produce MG TF Roadsters for the market in 2007.

- Chinese Company Intends To Build MG's In Oklahoma (New York Times)

Edmunds.com

What Can Women Get Away With As 'Professional' Dress?

2006-07-10T10:29:00.000-07:00

Jennifer Barnett Reed has an article from last week's Arkansas Times on what should constitute a professional wardrobe for a woman who wants to still look stylish, especially if she's under 40. The article sites a couple of studies and a lot of testimonials from local women in Little Rock about their personal style of dress for work.

A bit of a disclaimer needs to be made here that may solve some confusion. They interview women from two restaurants on President Clinton Ave, down the street from the William J. Clinton Presidential Library and the University of Arkansas' Clinton School of Public Service, where the standard uniform for women are tank-tops. Clinton Ave, before they built the Clinton Library there and changed the name, was (and still is) the home to some prominent Downtown business and shops...and a lot of bars. You're just going to have to go along with it. Insert you're own Clinton joke here if it makes you feel better...

The issue on professional dress boils down to youth. Younger women, for various reasons listed, aren't dressing in a way many older professional women consider 'professional.' But they're not getting slammed for their fashion, because part of the problem is women's 'fashion' and a double standard when compared to men's professional 'fashion.

- What's Provocative? (Arkansas Times)

ClassicCloseouts

The Power Of A Mentor

2006-07-06T10:05:00.000-07:00

Penelope Trunk has a column up at Forbes.com that is essentially an interview with Fox News' Alisyn Camerota about how the power of a good mentor can help you not only get your foot in the door, but climb your way to the top.

- Finding A Mentor (Forbes.com)

Soundview Executive Book Summaries

Juneteenth: A History Lesson & Example Of Missed Communication

2006-06-18T19:57:00.000-07:00

For the last few days I have been busy with Little Rock’s big Juneteenth Concert Celebration, and really focusing on the history of day. Bear with me as a do a bit of inflection.

Juneteenth is the celebration of the slaves in Galveston, Texas getting word that they were freed...two and a half years after the civil war ended. Imagine how much more these free people could has accomplished with a two and a half year head start? Imagine how life would be in your business if you communications pipelines were this slow?

Granted, information travels at speed faster that pony express in the 21st century, but the basic principals remain. There must be a sender and a receiver for communication to occur, and because everyone is so afraid of missing some critical information, they make themselves available at all hours across multiple platforms. Cell phones, pagers, email, text messages, and even newer, faster forms of communication are being developed every day. Imagine watching the signature of the Emancipation Proclamation around the world live on a 24 hour news network, or having imbedded journalists with the Union soldiers at Gettysburg.

It is apparent that it becomes harder to get your message across to the masses as you get more moving parts between you and your people, even with today’s flood of devices created to find a way to do so. Imagine running your business today under the real world conditions of the 1860’s.

- Juneteenth (Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia)

Rhapsody Online Music Services

Mothers & Fathers Make Money For The Phone Companies In Their Own Special Way

2006-06-18T18:15:00.000-07:00

There's an urban legend that states that Mother's Day is the biggest holiday for phone calls and Father's Day is the busiest for collect calls.

Thanks to Snopes.com, we get a confirmation...and it's the truth. A quote from Dave Johnson, a spokesman for AT&T's corporate headquarters in New Jersey in 1998, "Father's Day is our biggest day for collect calls, not just the biggest holiday, but the biggest day of the year."

They also tend to be much longer... three to four minutes longer. Hope you picked up a few extra shares of your favorite telecomm stock last week...

- Pew Research Center: Calling Mom on Mother's Day (Pew Research Center)
- Urban Legends Reference Pages: Holidays (We Love You - Call Collect) (Snopes.com)
- Collect Calls (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Net 10 Wireless

Cool Corporate News Clippings - 6/13/06

2006-06-13T12:57:00.000-07:00

In a day to busy to post so far, here are some business stories that at least need a mention:

- WWE's Profit In A Chokehold (CNNMoney.com)
- Lunch Break Becomes Briefer As 'Hour' Shrinks (USA Today)
- Fendi Sues Wal-Mart Over Sales Of Fake Handbags (Reuters)
- Opinions On Aging May Contradict Reality (Post Chronicle)

Forbes Magazine

The Incredible Shrinking Office Space

2006-06-12T20:20:00.000-07:00

Maybe it not just an over-active imagination with a view from an overly-cluttered cubicle. Maybe your workspace, the space you actually inhabit at work, is shrinking.

This article written by Justin Matlick for the Puget Sound Business Journal tells how many companies in the Seattle area are taking advantage of the rising costs of commercial real estate to possible take advantage of workers by allowing them a few less square feet to work in than before.

The national trend shows a noticeable de-sizing in office space over the past decade. According to the International Facilities Management Association, per-employee square footage has seen a 31 percent decrease in as much time, shrinking from 589 in 1994 to 406 in 2002. And group is working on updated numbers to show considerable further shrinkage since 2002.

Two companies included in the article are the Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) and Washington Mutual, Inc. (NYSE:WM), both looking to cash in by planning smaller cubicles and an expanded array of conference rooms as part of their revamped work environments in the Seattle area.

- Offices Getting Smaller (Puget Sound Business Journal)

EverythingOfficeFurniture.com

CNN Pipeline Is Cool, But Is It Paying The Bills?

2006-06-12T10:50:00.000-07:00

Thank to Brian Stelter at TVNewser for finding an article that is showing even the cable news networks are having headaches with the same issues I'm having with my day job. CNN, owned by parent company Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX) is now working to cut deals with cable operators and broadband providers to expand the distribution of the CNN Pipeline product. As a quote from Senior Vice President and General Manager of CNN.com, David Payne (no relation) says, "Subscription content has been a tough sell to online users."

The internet is geared up for the potential to make money on a multitude of services...yet most people are still looking to keep the same services, along with any new ones, for free? As more audio and video content is being accessed via a computer on demand, what should the cost of this access be? What cost will people actually pay? Will it be enough to justify the time, energy, and resources to do it right?

- News Networks' Top Story: Facing the Future (Multichannel News)

SuperMediaStore.com

Cool Corporate News Clippings - 6/12/06

2006-06-12T10:26:00.000-07:00

A few business stories that warrant a mention in lieu of a proper post:

- Johnson Hopes To Work Image Magic With Food Service (USA Today)
- Wal-Mart On Black Enterprise Diversity List (Arkansas Business)
- Famed Microsoft Blogger Scoble Leaves For Start-Up (Washington Post)
- iTunes Under Legal Fire In Europe (Spotlighting News)

WolfCamera.com

Cultivating Your Minor League Talent For A Major League Call Up

2006-06-11T20:20:00.000-07:00

A quick look at sports as a business. Teams are only successful if the right players are in the right positions. The NFL and NBA gets fresh players mostly from the college ranks through a yearly draft, throw a lot of money at a prospect, and hope they get a return before there rookie contract is up and they test the free agent market.

But Major League Baseball drafts player to play in the minor league to hone skills and see if what are essentially kids are really ready for the pressure of prime time coverage and the grind of a 162 game season. The minor leagues are the basis of the baseball farm system that allows teams to pull from its own resources of players already in tune with the systems and cultures at a moments notice to fill a void at any position.

Now lets go back to the world of you average corporation. What would seem like a simple concept of recruiting good talent and growing your own successors from within this pool of talent isn't. At least not in the execution. This comes from an article by Ann Marsh in this month's Business 2.0 Magazine titled, "Why Companies Overlook Their Own Talent," documenting how companies aren't making cultivating talent a top priority. The result in many cases is serious problems when its time to begin the executive succession process, a serious neglect of potential leaders at lower and middle levels of management, and the tendency to lose out on prospects who see greater potentials for opportunity at competing companies.

The article lists various companies who got the secession plans outlying home grown talent wrong (like NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE), Gateway, Inc. (NYSE:GTW)) and right...eventually (like Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN), Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX)).

- Why Companies Overlook Their Own Talent (Business 2.0)

Baseball Express

Hope For The Shy Corporate Professional

2006-06-09T04:54:00.000-07:00

Or to be more accurate, introverts. If you're prefer a smaller social circle and need a little alone time after large social events to get back to being yourself, you have a lot in common with many corporation CEOs and top executives, who often say that it's lonely at the top and confide in a small circle of friends to stay connected.

Included in a list from the article from USA Today.com:

- William Swanson of Raytheon Company (NYSE:RTN)
- Jim Green, formerly with Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ:SUNW) and now CEO of Composite Software
- Chris Uhland of SkyeTec CEO
- Chris Scherpenseel, president of Microsoft's FRx Software subsidiary and the
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Chairman himself, Bill Gates

As stated in the article, some organizations don't see the rise of many introverts because they are seen as uninspiring, but that same personality trait can be seen elsewhere as calm, unemotional and wise.

- Not all successful CEOs are extroverts (USA Today)

Trump University

Career Advice For IT Professionals

2006-05-29T12:43:00.000-07:00

Deborah Rothberg has an article at eWEEK.com with views and insights from various workers from the IT world on how to make your way up the corporate later.

- Climbing The IT Ladder: Career Advice From Experts (eWEEK.com)

Professional Career Development Institute

Vacation: Fear & Loathing Of A Day Off

2006-05-29T05:23:00.000-07:00

As I have spent the last three weeks dealing with the consequences 4 days personal vacation for myself from the radio show I produce, 4 days of vacation for one of the host of said program, special programming for today's company holiday to cover all the talk hosts having the day off, and the mythical comp day that comes from me working yet another holiday. Believe it or not, as hard as it is doing double work to cover for missing persons in the studio, I barely survived my own time off, even with a little cheating by calling my fill-in producer twice a day...for the sake of her sanity, honest...

With the building completely empty for most of the day, and just about no one to interrupt me, I pulled up some information on vacations that we have used on the show a part of the build up to summer. Not to my surprise, many American workers surveyed have a similar out look as I to vacation time. According to a telephone survey based on a sample of 618 small-business owners conducted by American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) , two-thirds of small-business owners are planning to take at least one full week of vacation this summer, though more than half plan to check in with their business at least once a day while gone. Only 25 percent of business owners say they will not check in at all on vacation, which is what I said two weeks ago. Did I mention that I actually stopped by the station one day...

The problem with missing a day of work is the fear you are going to miss something important. In this survey, 31 percent of respondents said they worry about missing an important business opportunity, while 26 percent were actually worried about judgment calls their staff might make while they are away. 31 percent of the small-business owners surveyed said they will find a way to mix vacation time with business opportunities save time and money. This is down from 34 percent in 2005.

Need more? Harris Interactive Inc. (NASDAQ:HPOL) and Ipsos Reid conducted Expedia.com's sixth annual Vacation Deprivation Survey for Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) , which once again rates American workers the most vacation-deprived in the world. This survey says Americans are likely to give up a total of 574 million vacation days in 2006, with comes out to one vacation day forfeited for each employee 18 and older.

The survey found that the France, Germany and Australia scored the highest in receiving and using up their vacation days. Employed adults in France received an average of 39 days of vacation each year, with 40 percent taking a three- to four-week vacation during the summer months. In Germany, the average employed adult used 26 of their 27 vacation days, placing vacation as a priority over work.

And at home, 38 percent of employed U.S. adults report regularly working more than 40 hours per week. Many Americans agree that vacations are necessary for their emotional and mental well-being. 36 percent of Americans surveyed reported that they felt better about their job and more productive upon returning from vacation...once they work up the nerve to actually get away.

- Vacation Comes But They Can't Stay Sway (Chicago Tribune)
- US Workers The Most Vacation-Deprived In The World, Study Says (Occupational Hazards)

Go Ahead Tours

Vacation: Making Note Of The Work Week That Wasn't

2006-05-21T06:34:00.000-07:00

I'm coming back to my computer after a week of vacation from the day job, in which I forced myself not to do anything productive unless sheer creativity took over. Not that having a legitimate excuse is that much better of a reason to not post for nine days, but in forcing myself not to work on anything, I was able to find clarity in many of my workaholic quandaries I've been mulling through in the past few weeks. I have come to terms with:

- knowing that I have way too many newsletters and blogs to attempt to write for and no reason to do so, other than 'well, I've been doing this for so long, why stop now...'
- the reality of time being a non-renewable resource. Time spend being productive is usually productive time. Time spend being wasted isn't necessarily wasted time. And despite how you spin it, there are very few higher level functions that you can truly do at the same time (although folding laundry while catching up on episodes of 'Days Of Our Lives' from NBC Universal, a division of General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) has to come close, right?)
- the idea that if Cool Corporate dot COM and all this other stuff I do online is supposed to be run as a business, then it can't run second fiddle to my day job just because my day job actually provides income--actually that was established long ago. The kicker that I just realized is--MY ONLINE COMPANY WORK IS TO BE TREATED AS EQUAL TO MY DAY JOB, OR ONE OF THEM HAS TO GO...
- knowing no lives will be lost if I'm not their to do my job in the overly redundant and complicated way I do things. I might not like the mess left behind for me to clean up upon my arrival back...

Finally, one of my favorite bloggers Itzy Sabo has collected a few quotes on the effects of overload on the quality of work over at his blog Email Overloaded. They pretty much sum up the stresses I've been feeling with getting things done at work and at working on this blog, although most of them are self-induced because of my workaholic nature.

I've got a few post regarding some business observation from the work week that wasn't that require a little extra polish before they go live online. Hopefully, a few helpings of dated news will be better than no news at all.

Travelocity

Is There Bad New On The BlackBerry Horizon?

2006-05-20T15:39:00.000-07:00

Fans of the BlackBerry handheld device, I have some good news and some bad news for you.

First the good news. For those who still can't get enough 'Crack'-Berry insight and information, I've found the blog for you. Russell Shaw's BB Hub Blog (http://www.bbhub.com/) offers plenty of daily information regarding the BlackBerry and similar technologies.

Now the bad news, or, how I came to stumble across this great blog. Russell Shaw is an enterprise computing journalist who writes for various periodicals and posts on CNET Networks, Incorporated's (NASDAQ:CNET) ZDNet Convergence blog. Scanning through some stories this afternoon, I found his post describing how the stock for BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion Limited (NASDAQ:RIMM) began to tumble just hours after the company wrapped up its annual Wireless Enterprise Symposium in Orlando last Thursday. What should have been a mass cheerleading session for retailers and BlackBerry fanatics--just wasn't, and stock prices fell to a nearly three-month low. Shaw pointed out that in the worlds of tech-addicted users and the bloated money bags that hope to make a profit off then, the people that keep an eye on the stock price are often the soothsayer of doom for the company. It must also be noted that because of the heavy business use of the BlackBerry, many people who watch RIMM find themselves living in both worlds. Make sure you take a moment to read the entire post.

On Friday, RIM stock closed at its lowest level since dealing with patent infringement with NTP that threatened BlackBerry services shutdown for most of North America.

- Russell Shaw's BB Hub Blog
- Stock Plunges After Annual Meet: Trouble In BlackBerry-Land? (ZDNet)

Eforcity: Offering Cell Phone, PDA, & iPod Accessories

Laura’s Winning Ideas: LinkedIn Blog Blast Of The Week

2006-05-10T12:58:00.000-07:00

If there was ever a chance that fate decided to reminded me of something that I already know and ought to not ignore, it was the pick for this week's LinkedIn Bloggers selection for the Blog Blast. Laura Ricci blog, Laura’s Winning Ideas, is a work in progress, but has more than enough information to help someone who is writing a proposal get on or keep on the right track.

As a person who does not know how to function unless he is managing some sort of project, and having a 'former life' in the Air Force that consisted of writing and reviewing proposals, I could read through this blog and see plenty of examples of things I coulda/shoulda'd and things that I had to learn the hard way in dealing with the 'civilian' world that still boggle my mind today. Especially timely are the tips on 'How to Prevent Burnout' (as I have been recently 'convinced' that sticking to a 40-hour work week might actually be good for one's health and one's co-workers' collective sanity), the struggles of 'Professional Bloggers' to glean good information from a lot of not-so-good sources, and one of the biggest buzz kills of my career path, bosses that insist on 'Fiddling with Employees’ Work' (I haven't had many who did this, but the few who did were able to earn more than their fair share of resentment from me while I worked for them).

I couldn't just view this blog from the eyes of proposal writing. This is everyday, every department business sense--common sense really. As we are constantly reminded in the world of business, everyone is selling something and you know you don't have resources to buy some of everything. If you have some time, check out Laura’s Winning Ideas. If you don't have time, make some.

- Laura’s Winning Ideas

Adobe USA Store

Saving The Source Magazine From Itself

2006-05-03T09:39:00.000-07:00

Textron Financial Corporation, a Providence, R.I.-based lender and holder of the majority of stock controlling hip-hop magazine the Source is rumored to be close to finalizing its sale of the magazine. The perceived frontrunners for the assets and title of the magazine are Black Enterprise Greenwich Street Growth Partners, affiliated with Earl G. Graves Ltd's Black Enterprise magazine, and retired Rapper Jay-Z, with backing from a handful of recording executives.

The Source is a troubled title with a history of misfortunes to draw from as examples of their trouble (bad management, executives’ extreme misuse of assets, fighting at the Source Awards tapings to name a few). At one point, subscribers stop receiving the magazine by mail because their wasn't enough funding to pay postage.

But why save it? The Source was once considered the bible of hip-hop by all that mattered, and still is seen as a source of some of the finest information from the hip-hop world. Wouldn’t you like to have a head start in the information business, having a name that while not as prominent as it once was, at least conjures memories of profitable years as a name you could trust?

As a still young person, and an early die-hard follower of all things in the rap game, the chance to take a piece of history that may have grown out of favor, and to rehabilitate it, would be worth all the money I could find to out into it (assuming, of course, that I had the skills to fined a way to rehabilitate sales and revenue in the process). As I have made note of various print publications in previous posts, an push for some to evolve for the next age of the media, sometimes prematurely, even a magazine in severe disarray like the Source still has a decade's old core in place to draw from that would make a pretty good head start for many a publisher.

- The Source, Going Once... (New York Post)

Napster.com

Inappropriate Company Behavior Not Best Format For Team Motivation

2006-04-27T10:59:00.000-07:00

You might want to check you employee handbook for clarification on inappropriate behavior. Apparently, getting a spanking in front of your coworkers can be considered embarrassing to some employees.

The spankings were a part of a voluntary team building program for the sales teams at Alarm One Inc., a home security company based in Anaheim, California, and were given to all workers indiscriminately--both male and female--along with wearing diapers, throwing pies and calling each other losers.

The spanking in question went to 53-year-old Janet Orlando, who quit her job after the exercise, alleging discrimination, assault, battery and infliction of emotional distress. She is suing for at least $1.2 million, and as her lawyer said in closing arguements:

No reasonable middle-aged woman would want to be put up there before a group of young men, turned around to show her buttocks, get spanked and called abusive names, and told it was to increase sales and motivate employees.

Alarm One officials ceased the practice in 2004, the year Orlando sued, after another employee complained of being injured, according to court records.

- Spanked employee seeks $1.2 million (CNN)

Flowers Across America

The Everyday Economist: LinkedIn Blog Blast Of The Week

2006-04-26T16:40:00.000-07:00

The LinkedIn Bloggers have become a valuable resource to me, especially with the amount of information that can be gleaned from the huge and well-diversified knowledge base. One day, I hope to have gained enough knowledge to be a lot more creative in presenting the blog boost target for the week, but seeing as I have been hopelessly overworked at my day job in the last few weeks (more on that later...if i can find the time to write on it) and have missed many great blogs in the process, we're stuck with a blatant 'Here it is folks...'

And so, this week, they have randomly selected The Everyday Economist as the target for this week's blog boost. What you get from this site is true to the definition of the word, with post about various points of the overall theory as a social science, not just purely dealing in cash.

A topic of discussion that is about to be tackled is using game theory to explain why the U.S. went to war with Iraq, and it was opened by providing a explanation for game theory so basic that I might have actually passed econ the first time if I would have had it. Also check out the economy as God sees it, and how an Easter egg hunt can teach the principles of wealth distribution.

- The Everyday Economist

Experian Automotive AutoCheck®

Changes In The White House Could Shape Changes For Small Buiness & How 'Business' Is Done

2006-04-26T11:19:00.000-07:00

A fair amount of reshuffling has occurred in the White House as Joshua Bolten has taken the reigns as the new Chief of Staff. A new head man is usually a good cover to move unwanted personnel out of positions of prominence and possibly out of the administration.

This is not what is being said by Hector Barreto, who is resigning from his position as the head of the Small Business Administration. Barreto will be taking a job as the head of the Latino Coalition, a small Hispanic advocacy group that has lent support to many of President George W. Bush's business and domestic initiatives. This is all a matter of good timing according to Barreto, who is proud of his time with the SBA and denies that criticisms of his agency or pressure by Bolten had anything to do with his resignation. The White House immediately announced plans to nominate Chicago business executive Steven C. Preston to take over the SBA. He is a senior vice president with ServiceMaster Company (NYSE:SVM).

But the big new of the day is Tony Snow. The as of this morning former Fox News Radio host and weekend anchor for Fox News Channel, two jewels of the News Corporation (NYSE:NWS) empire, is now the White House press secretary, taking over for Scott McClellan. Snow is taking a pay cut for the privilege of taking a beating from former colleagues, after getting a clean bill of health from his doctors for his cancer treatments. Rumors have it that when he agreed to take the position, he was promised special access to the President when shaping policy, and the right to revamp the role of his own office as he sees fit.

- Hector Barreto Resigns As SBA Chief (BusinessWeek)
- Bush Names Fox News Radio's Snow Press Secretary (Reuters)

Salary.com

Black-Owned Businesses Growing

2006-04-19T05:26:00.000-07:00

A report by the US Census Bureau released yesterday is singing the praises of Black Americans as entrepreneur. Black-owned businesses are among the fastest-growing segments of the American economy, with the number of black-owned businesses growing by 45 percent from 1997 to 2002, more than four times the national rate for all businesses. And just as important, revenues from black-owned businesses increased by 25 percent during the period, to about $89 billion.

It is also a testament to the spirit of small business. 92 percent of these businesses have no employees other than the owners. By comparison, about three-fourths of all US businesses have no employees.

The report is based on administrative records and a survey of 2.4 million businesses.

- Black-Owned Firms Growing At Fast Pace (Houston Chronicle)
- Black Entrepreneurship Expands (Boston Globe)

Priority Pass

Paul Allen Has "Come To Terms" With His NBA Franchise’s Losses

2006-04-16T09:51:00.000-07:00

Losing money is a hard thing for a businessman to take. Especially if you are a billionaire, like Paul Allen, who made his billions as a co-founder of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) with Bill Gates.

Being able to own a professional sports franchise has to be one of the coolest things in the world, and Allen has two of them. But after purchasing the Portland Trailblazers in 1988, it has becoming painfully apparent that his NBA team isn’t returning to is glory days, and is going to continue to lose money.

Allen told The Oregonian newspaper in Los Angeles on Friday night that he has come to terms with selling the trailblazers and relieving himself of the burden of losing millions of dollars each year in futile efforts to keep his team afloat. The team has the worst record in the NBA this season, and is stuck with one of the worst contract situations with its home, the Rose Garden. While billionaire owners are always crying foul when it come to wanting public funds to help build facilities for their private franchises, the tactic seemed to work for Allen’s NFL franchise, the defending NFC Champs the Seattle Seahawks.

There was already plenty of heat from fans and financial trouble for Allen to deal with already in his sports ventures. He announced the official hunt for a buyer for The Sporting News magazine and syndicated radio network in February, which has suffered its share of problems with generating revenue and being dealt a mighty blow by the United States Department of Justice after agreeing in January to a $7.2 million settlement after being accused of promoting Internet gambling by taking advertisements for online casinos abroad.

Former Trail Blazers guard Terry Porter is currently the head of an Paul Allen-esque effort to round up potential investors interested in buying the team and the Rose Garden, in a effort to save the franchise and keep it in Oregon. Minus the billions in personal assets, of course.

- Allen Has ‘Come To Terms’ With Selling Blazers (MSNBC)
- Porter Trying To Assemble Group To Buy Trail Blazers (Yahoo! News)
- Sporting News Is Formally Seeking A Buyer (New York Times)
- All Bets Are Off, Online Anyway (Wired News)

Comcast High Speed Internet

MSO & Macy's: Yes, Kmart Did Notice

2006-04-14T07:56:00.000-07:00

In what may become a Friday tradition for Cool Corporate dot COM, Martha Stewart is the center of attention. In an update from last Friday's post 'Is M Diddy Putting Kmart On Notice,' the Chairman of Sears Holdings Corporation (SHLD), Edward Lampert, said this week that Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc.'s (MSO) plan to partner with the Macy's chain from Federated Department Stores (FD) does raise questions about the future of Martha Stewart Everyday merchandise and Kmart.

Omnimedia announced last week it was launching an exclusive line of home products in Macy's stores for a fall 2007 debut to make an appeal to more upscale clientele. Lampert gave a statement that while it seems like a business deal that makes a lot of since for their company, "it also shows you where their head is at."

Sears Holdings was formed last year when Kmart bought Sears, Roebuck & Company. The new company produced plans to share exclusive brands between the two chains, including longtime Sears staples such as Craftsman tools and Kenmore appliances. But a 'problematic' contract that predates the Sears buyout make it difficult to license Martha Stewart branded merchandise to competitors. Macy's and Sears are were viewed as closer competitors that Macy's and Kmart.

Lambert didn't come out and say that Martha's time on the Kmart shelves were coming to an end, but he did say that the Omnimedia contract with Kmart was "not that great," and made it no secret to his desire to renegotiate the terms. The current licensing deal expires in 2010.

- Sears Chairman Sounds Off Against Martha Stewart (Advertising Age)
- Martha Stewart's Macy's Deal Strains Sears Ties (Reuters)

Liquidation.com

Ali Sells His Good Name For $50 Million

2006-04-12T05:48:00.000-07:00

Billionaire marketing entrepreneur Robert Sillerman thinks he's found the perfect product to market as the next big thing: Muhammad Ali.

Sillerman's company, CKX Inc. (NASDAQ:CKXE), has paid the champ $50 million for an 80 percent stake in the 64-year-old former heavyweight champion's name and likeness. It will be handled by an operating company to be named G.O.A.T. LLC, an acronym for "The Greatest of All Time."

In a world where Michael Jackson owns a chunk of the Beatles music catalog, its not such a strange thing to know that somebody literally owns you, or at least part of you, and is able to make good money on it.

More proof that an monster ego may be the greatest motivator ever known to man, Ali, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, is expected to work with CKX and G.O.A.T. to effectively market himself and the trademarks he owns, ensuring that all deals done in his name are still in his best interest. Anybody that would challenge that Muhammad Ali, despite the toll Parkinson's has taken on his body, is not still just sharp in the mind as he was in his fighting days deserves to go back in time and spar a few rounds with the old Cassius Clay.

Although you might question the company he will keep. CKX also holds the rights to the IDOLS television brand, which includes the show "American Idol," and the rights to Elvis Presley's marketing.

- What's In A name? Ali Knocks Down $50 million (Louisville Courier-Journal)
- $50 Million Puts Ali In Ring With Elvis and 'American Idol' (New York Times)

BiGFiTNESS.net

More On Elle Girl: Embracing Change Early

2006-04-11T12:44:00.000-07:00

In an update to my post from last week, Elle Girl To Transform Into Online Only Magazine, we get a little insight on why print version Elle Girl magazine is going away in May, despite the magazine's progress this year in increasing ad pages by nearly 50% and its paid circulation almost 20%.

First a correction. Elle Girl is not a publication of American Media, Inc., which just shut down operations of Celebrity Living, Shape en Espanol and MPH magazines due to normal slump factors. Elle Girl belongs to Hachette Filipacchi Médias, who despite growth is getting rid of the paper mag and going to go online only, expanding its ellegirl.com web site.

While no one seem to know (or at least no one is willing to tell) whether it was a matter of turning a profit, Hachette Chairman and CEO wouldn't Jack Kliger says the move is a matter of keeping up with the teen lifestyle Elle Girl was aimed at, and their moving a away from paper and toward computers and PDAs.

He sees a move to more internet and digital content as extending his brands. Hachette is already making all its titles available on the Zinio digital distribution platform, and its forthcoming Shock magazine will depend in large part on Web and mobile content in addition to paper.

- Why Jack Kliger Killed The Successful Magazine 'Elle Girl' (Advertising Age)

MagMall.com

King Of All Media Now Missing 8-10 Million Followers

2006-04-11T11:03:00.000-07:00

Howard Stern made such a big commotion over leaving terrestrial airwaves of CBS Radio to be available exclusively on Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI), that he was sued by his former bosses at Viacom, Inc. (NYSE:VIA) for using their medium to promote his exodus. The problem is, seems like nobody is winning in the end. Stern didn't sell to as many paying customers as he would have liked, and the two guys brought in to fill his shoes aren't living up to the half of hype they were supposed to share.

Stern long ago proclaimed himself the 'King of All Media,' and it was once a kingdom that commanded a national audience of 12 million daily listeners. Since his big jump to Sirius in January, he has lost quite a few subjects. A estimated 8 million to 10 million radio listeners nationwide don't want to pay a satellite subscription fee to get what they once got for free, and don't like the free replacements, David Lee Roth and Adam Corolla.

The listeners are currently living as radio morning show nomads, wandering the dial looking for someone to sell them something. In a time when terrestrial radio is already worrying about the sales of Apple Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) branded iPods and other portable media players, and both Sirius and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:XMSR) still in the debate as to whether they're profitable, 10 million non-committed customers could lead to that many or more headaches for media companies.

- Trying to Corral Stern's Lost Herd (LA Times)

SIRIUS Satellite Radio

Is M Diddy Putting Kmart On Notice?

2006-04-07T06:40:00.000-07:00

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. (MSO) and Federated Department Stores (FD) have inked a deal that will get an exclusive line of Martha Stewart branded home goods on the shelves of Macy's Department Stores starting in the fall of 2007. Gaining access to a more upscale batch of clientele is a move that investors and analysts like and I'm sure Martha loves.

And if you're one to believe rumors, you may also believe that Martha has a thing for flexing her muscles to show just how much power a domestic goddess can wield. While I can't confirm she is getting any actual enjoyment from this business move, it does create a bit of a quandary for Kmart Stores and parent company Sears Holdings Corporation (SHLD), with their current licensing deal with Omnimedia ending in 2010.

As much as I do believe Martha appreciates the revenue that she earns from the masses that are keeping Kmart alive by buying Martha Stewart Everyday products, I see nothing wrong with shrewd business woman M Diddy not showing love for the shareholders that roll with Sears. If the Macy deal works out a little better than expected, and so good that loss of Kmart money can be mostly made up, why not focus on the upscale and force the average house wife to drive the extra 15 minute to go to the mall? They might not mind.

As Kmart fights for basic business survival and to keep some market share against the likes of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT) and Target Corporation (TGT), having the exclusive lines from not only Martha Stewart, but brand names like Jaclyn Smith and Joe Boxer is key. What will it take to keep the Omnimedia powers that be happy, and ensure they keep the Everyday line on the Kmart shelves?

- The Martha-Macy's marriage: A good thing? (MSN Money)
- Martha, Macy's Ink Swank Household Goods Deal (Forbes)

NBC Universal Store

Elle Girl To Transform Into Online Only Magazine

2006-04-05T08:30:00.000-07:00

American Media, Inc. is shutting down the operations of four of the magazines it publishes: Celebrity Living, Elle Girl, Shape en Español and the automobile magazine MPH. The company is also moving the operations of long standing supermarket tabloid, The National Enquirer, out of New York City and back Boca Raton, Florida. After about a year of operating in New York while trying to revamp the 'nutty' tabloid image of the Enquirer, the city was too deemed expensive of an environment in which to operate.

American Media Chairman and CEO David Pecker gave a statement that "the magazine industry is in a very challenging time for both advertising and circulation." While growing concerns from the companies creditors didn't help, the ultimate culprit is the crowded market that is the nature of the magazine industry. When you do business in a world where dozens of new magazines are launched each year when it is also expected that dozens are expected to fold, you might end up doing some of the folding.

But Elle Girl isn't going away as quietly as the others. The company plans to redesign the web site ellegirl.com, and continue to update it with editorial content. Elle Girl, the paper magazine, suffered from the same proliferation and success of the celebrity weeklies as its sister mag Celebrity Living did, but had the luxury of a little more history (started in 2001 as opposed to being launched last year) and having almost three times the circulation (600,000 to 225,000) to warrant the attempt at an second life. A limited life with much less fanfare, but a life.

- Elle Girl and Celebrity Living Will Shut Down (New York Times)

Buy.com

Fortune 500: Someone New In The Top Spot

2006-04-03T10:53:00.000-07:00

There is a new number one in the annual Fortune magazine's 500 list. Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM) has beat out Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT) for the top spot on the Fortune 500 list, which was released this morning. Exxon's top billing was based on rising oil prices that drove up the company's revenues, up 25 percent from the previous year, at 340 (b) billion dollars.

Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart had held the spot for four years, but at least for now has slipped to the number-two spot in the ranking of the nation's largest publicly traded companies. Wal-Mart, is still the world's largest retailer, and not to far behind Exxon with nearly 316 (b) billion dollars worth of revenues.

As a now Arkansas, I have to give props to many companies that fuel my state's economy that are staples of this list: Springdale-based Tyson Foods Inc (TSN), El Dorado-based Murphy Oil Corp(MUR), Little Rock based telecommunications company Alltel Corp (AT) and retailer Dillard's Inc (DDS). Lowell-based trucking company JB Hunt Transport Services Inc (JBHT), and Fort Smith-based trucking firm Arkansas Best Corp (ABFS) are two more companies of note making the magazine's top 1,000.

- Exxon Dethrones Wal-Mart On Fortune 500 (MSN Money)
- FORTUNE 500: A New Number One (CNN Money/Fortune Magazine)

Soundview Executive Book Summaries

IPods And The Workplace: The Debate Begins

2006-03-27T09:34:00.000-08:00

As the amount of Apple iPods and other portable media devices continues to grow, users are increasingly putting their entire entertainment lives on them, and carrying them everywhere. Including their office cubicles.

Bringing music to the office is nothing new, but the just like complaints are increasing about cell phone use in public, complaints are starting to come in about the use of iPods in the workspace. More to the point, a new rudeness and lack of basic etiquette when dealing with personal versus shared space.

- Music Hath Charms For Some Workers - Others It Annoys (USA Today)
- IPods And The Office (USA Today's Pop Candy Blog)
- IPods At The Office (CFO.com)

Try Rhapsody for 14 days FREE

More On Advertising: Brand Recognition

2006-03-27T08:03:00.000-08:00

According to a new study by the trade group Television Bureau of Advertising, people planning to buy an SUV are 30 percent more likely to remember the brand featured in an SUV ad than are those with no such plans.

The results of the study examined the receptiveness of viewers to ads in the categories of cholesterol medication, pickup trucks, SUVs and fast-food hamburgers. The study was meant to determine whether people in the market for a product respond especially well to advertising for that product. The answer was...mostly yes.

Why mostly yes? An example given in the article from the New York Times uses some of the research around burgers. People who eat hamburgers at least four times a month are slightly less likely than everyone else to remember the brand behind an ad for a hamburger restaurant. For staples and very small ticket items, most of the time a consumer doesn't see much difference per brand. A burger is a burger, and you might as well go to the one closest to you at the moment then go out of your way.

- Going Out For A Burger At What's-Its-Name (New York Times)
- IAB Study: Ad Relevance Does Matter (Mediaweek)

Yahoo! Sponsored Search

Do You Buy From Ads On TV?

2006-03-23T05:39:00.000-08:00

In a joint survey by the Association of National Advertisers and Forrester Research, marketers from Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Verizon and Colgate were among the 133 people surveyed, and was found that nearly four in five of the marketers surveyed believe that television advertising is less effective than it was just two years ago. This study, released yesterday, also noted that marketers are increasingly interested in exploring new ways of getting their messages across with their continued believe in the failing power of traditional means.

- Study: Advertisers Believe Their TV Commercials Are Less Effective (USA Today)

Survey Payoff

The $100,000+ Career: Another Book Suggestion

2006-03-22T17:45:00.000-08:00

Another book plug, this one from John Davies, who wants to help you get your next job.

John's book is entitled "The $100,000+ Career: The New Approach to Networking for Executive Job Change ," and he says its as simple as meeting new people. Following the 'Law of 100' if you basically find a way to introduce yourself to 100 new people, you will find yoconnectionion to a new employer (and chances are you won't have to go any where near 100 actual introductions before you make that connection).

You can hear his interview from Little Rock's KARN Newsradio's First News here (.mp3 format).

UPDATE: John Davies has his own blog, 'The "Law of 100" Certified, Copyrighted, and Official Blog.'

Pongo Resume

Conversations Blog: LinkedIn Bloggers Blast Of The Week

2006-03-22T09:53:00.000-08:00

LinkedIn is a website/online tool for building and maintaining a network pool. A group of very successful networkers and staunch believers of LinkedIn started the LinkedIn Bloggers Yahoo Group to discuss how blogging and related technologies can support their professional networking and self-promotion in the spirit of LinkedIn.

In that spirit was born a weekly blog blast, where a randomly selected blog gets the gift/curse of mass promotion from the blogs of the group members. This week's blog is Conversations Blog, maintained by Philippe Borremans, which opens up with a motto: "Talk is cheap, free speech isn't..." An interesting observation, if you see it from the eyes of an American (me) viewing it in the writings from a person who is European.

More specific, Phillipe is from Belgian, and many of his posts are inspired by his interest in the state of blogging and its legal landscape in the European Union. Very fitting for a guy who works in Public Relations for the technology industry.

If you ready for some insightful views on PR, technology, or even Europeans, I invite you to check Phillipe's Conversations Blog.

- Conversations Blog

ProStores - an eBay Company

Not So Breaking News: Microsoft Has A Delay In Software Release

2006-03-22T09:05:00.000-08:00

Technology stocks are seeing and early fall in trading today, after Microsoft Corp (MSFT)' announced yesterday that the next version of its Windows operating system, Windows Vista will not be available for release for consumers until January 2007. The big fear is that a delay for retail release until after the holiday shopping season will result in a big miss for consumers who are already willing to make big ticket purchase at that time of year.

Windows Vista is already two years late as far as being released to the public.

- Microsoft Delays Wide Launch Of Windows Vista (MSNBC.com)

Alienware Home & Office Systems

Mark Cuban On Business Success

2006-03-20T08:28:00.000-08:00

Say what you want about Mark Cuban, the man knows how to get things done. So I was surprised to read on his blog the other day that as a pioneer of getting content to people over the internet, he doubts the future ability of getting higher quality content to people over the internet.

I was further surprised to see him write about how as an genius and young entrepreneur, his businesses couldn't take off until he figured out that his shortcomings were actually shortcomings, and became willing to partner with the right person who could handle those shortcomings and (mostly) fight fair when the ying and the yang couldn't easily settle an issue.

I am becoming more impressed by Mark Cuban as a business man now that he is spending less time being a pure maverick against everything. He also seems to be awful with capitalization and punctuation, which will always earn points with me.

- Think The Internet Will Replace TV ? Think Again (Blog Maverick)
- Success & Motivation - Dont Lie to Yourself (Blog Maverick)

StubHub.com

Bosses Not Buying The Need For Mentoring

2006-03-13T16:52:00.000-08:00

An article I found from reading the Employment Digest Blog caught my attention today, because it essentially turned one of my strongest maxims for a young business professional, finding a mentor, and turned it on its head. It also confirms one of my fears in the process of finding that old salty dog that's been to hell in back in their career and has the knowledge you need to get ahead.

They don't want to be bothered with you. You're too much trouble.

Bosses are finding that they're too busy doing their multi-tasking jobs to stop and scrutinize every thing subordinates are doing, even if it is the what helped to mold them on their way up the corporate ladder.

On the flip side, the mechanism for stepping to give quick motivation or assistance to the junior executive who underperforming but has potential. Or to quickly weed out those who just don't have what it takes.

- Bosses Find Mentoring Isn't Worth The Time, Risks (AZ Central.com)

Soundview Executive Book Summaries

Request For Reader Input: Links

2006-03-12T13:04:00.000-08:00

We're looking to do some spring cleaning on Cool Corporate dot COM, and we need your help.

The 'Links' section in the upper right hand section of this page needs updating. While most of the links are to good sites, the freshness and relevance of some of the links don't exactly fit the page as originally hoped.

So we're looking for suggestions. Just give a comment with a site name, the web address, and why they should be listed on this site.

Thanks for your help,

-J.C. Payne

Not Having To Replace Your Blackberry Will Cost RIM Big In The Wallet

2006-03-03T18:07:00.000-08:00

Research In Motion Ltd (RIMM) reached a $612.5 million dollar settlement today with NTP, the small technology company who actually hold the patents to the email technology used by the BlackBerry Wireless Devices, and were threatening to pull the plug on the Canadian company and millions of wireless addicted handheld owners.

For weeks, I have talked to a financial advisor I work with on the radio about this, asking if this issue on the patent will all go away if RIM just handed over a bag full of money. His answer was, 'It depends.' RIMM is not a stock that he follows, but he follows trends, and the fact that this little gizmo has become so ingrained into the lives of business people and tech junkies meant something had to be done regardless, because somebody will find a way to make money off of them.

One of those companies hoping to take advantage of a world without BlackBerrys was Palm Inc. (PALM), who are now seeing stock prices fall after hopes of having one less competitor were dashed after the settlement.

- Settlement Ends BlackBerry Patent Suit (CBS News)
- Deal Averts BlackBerry Service Shutdown (ABC News)
- Palm Shares Fall After BlackBerry Settlement (Reuters)

ING Direct High Yield Savings Accounts

LinkedIn Bloggers Blast Of The Week: Email Overloaded

2006-03-02T17:06:00.000-08:00

Replacing Your Blackberry Will Cost You Big In The Wallet

2006-03-02T14:59:00.000-08:00

While everyone is waiting to see what will become of the injunction to shuts down BlackBerry e-mail service in the United States, analysts are evaluating the landscape that will be affected. And while Palm Inc. (PALM) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT) would love to get there hands on a large influx of customers leaving Research In Motion Ltd (RIMM), the customers themselves will find that the cost of replacing one handheld unit for another, along with service and the proper interactive software won't come cheap

- Analysts: BlackBerry Switch Will Cost Users (eWeek.com)

Net 10 Wireless

Bud Light Wins Big In Super Bowl Ad Choices

2006-02-06T04:58:00.000-08:00

The beer may be losing its market share, but Anheuser-Busch continues to be a hit when it comes to Super Bowl advertising, with the sudster airing six of the top 10 ads as rated by USA Today's Super Bowl XL 18th Annual Ad Meter. Top three ads, in order, were the Bud Light magic fridge, the young Clydesdale pulling the beer wagon with a little help, and the Cave man who got fired for not using FedEx, which hadn't been invented yet.

Read the write-up on how the ads fared and watch them and see if you agree.

- 'Magic Fridge' Of Bud Light Ices An Advertising Win (USA Today)
- Super Bowl XL 18th Annual Ad Meter (USA Today)
- AOL Sports: Super Bowl Commercials 2006 (AOL Sports)

Two Books To Check Out

2006-01-26T18:42:00.000-08:00

One of the perks of booking for a radio talk show are all the authors hawking books. It offers plenty of access to books--lots of them free--for avid readers. I used to get a lot more books when I worked the talk shows with long segments for interviews. Booking for the morning news show is a lot trickier, since the interview blocks are only 4 minutes under best conditions. But I do get to sneak in a lot of business related books and authors who can talk about relevant business topic while hawking their books.

Two authors we featured on the show recently were Bill Diffenderffer, author of "The Samurai Leader," and Katherine Graham Leviss, who wrote the book "High-Maintenance Employees."

"The Samurai Leader" is a book that would easily catch the interest of those business leaders who read translation of Sun Tzu or Machiavelli and adapt those principles to today's business situations. My host Meg was flying solo the morning she interviewed Bill Diffenderffer and you can listen to the interview here (.mp3 format).

"High-Maintenance Employees" gives you the tools and hopefully the courage to deal with those high-performance employees that tend to need special care and feeding. Kathi Graham Leviss join Neal & Meg on the show this morning, with our focus on managing what we're calling milleniuals--those twenty-somethings who intelligence and competence can possibly make them toxic to an organization, and you can hear it here (.mp3 format).

The WB And UPN Lose Their Letters, Become CW

2006-01-24T08:57:00.000-08:00

And then there were 5. Les Moonves, the chairman of CBS Corp (CBS), made a statement today announcing the creation of a new broadcast television network and a new business venture. Warner Brothers and CBS will combine the WB and UPN, replacing it with something called CW in the fall of this year. It will contain a mix of programming from the old networks, and launch a 50/50 joint venture for the companies involved.

Says Moonves,

"This new network will serve the public with high-quality programming and maintain our ongoing commitment to our diverse audience."

It is not known, as of yet, what it means as far as local onwership to television stations.

- CW Network To Replace WB, UPN (CNN/Money)
- Enter 'The CW' - Ailing WB, UPN Networks Merging (New York Daily News)
- WB Net, UPN To Join Forces As One Network (Hollywood Reporter)
- CBS Corporation and Warner Bros. Entertainment Form New 5th Broadcast Network (Press Release)

Cool Corporate News Clippings - 1/19/06

2006-01-19T04:37:00.000-08:00

- Exec Linked To Livedoor Scandal Found Dead (ABC News)
- Valley's Big Tech Stocks Stumble (San Jose Mercury News)
- New Spinoff Plan For McDonald's (MarketWatch)
- WSJ: Disney In Talks To Buy Pixar (MSN Money)
- Konica Minolta To Quit Camera, Photo Business (Reuters.uk)

Cool Corporate News Clippings - 1/13/06

2006-01-13T11:45:00.000-08:00

- Army Cancels Lockheed's Spy-Plane Contract (Washington Post)
- Federated Plans To Sell Lord & Taylor (Chicago Tribune)
- SEC Opens Formal Scrutiny Of IBM (Seattle Post Intelligencer)
- BlackBerry To Support Google Messaging (Los Angeles Times)
- Teacher Pay Tied To Test Scores In Houston Schools (USA Today)

Cool Corporate News Clippings - 1/09/06

2006-01-09T03:32:00.000-08:00

- Postal Rates Increase Today (News Journal)
- Looking Beyond The SUV (ABC News)
- Texas Instruments To Sell Sensors Unit (MSN Money)
- Yahoo Local Dials YellowPages Deal (WebProNews)
- It's A Macworld After All (San Jose Mercury News)

King Of All Media Takes On Satellite Radio Tomorrow

2006-01-08T09:32:00.000-08:00

In a story so big all the major news outlets have to cover it, Howard Stern goes back on the air tomorrow morning. The 'Kings of All Media' apparently gets to set his own hours, as the statement from his official web site sets the tone of Monday morning's show as starting 6 AM ET starting time and signing off whenever he's good and ready.

Sirius Satellite Radio, Inc. (SIRI) takes a turn for what they hope is the better in ratings and revenue, and not for the worse in what they may have gotten themselves into. It isn't exactly selling their souls to the devil, but a five-year, $500 million contract which gives Stern two channels of uncensored airtime is a gamble.

But so far, the gamble is paying off. Because of the introduction to a truely uncensored Howard Stern along side a NFL coverage package that was completely top notch, XM Satellite Radio (XMSR) the industry leader, saw for the first time ever the number two Sirius land more new net subscribers (a Sirius press release reports "more than 1.1 million new satellite radio fans" during the fourth quarter, an XM press release reports "nearly 900,000"). That news was good enough to get Stern an award of more than $220 million in Sirius stock before his channels have even gone live.

But there are two big questions everyone wants to know the answer to: what will Howard do tomorrow? And have you paid the $12.95-a-month subscription fee for Sirius, plus the cost of whatever version of the radio you wanted, just to find out?

- Can Howard Stern Get People To Pay For Satellite Radio? (Allentown Morning Call)
- You Can't Say That On The Radio (AZ Central.com)

Job Numbers Are Good!

2006-01-05T11:33:00.000-08:00

What bad economy? The government reported today number of U.S. workers seeking new jobless benefits fell last week to its lowest in over five years. Based on this data, economists are expecting tomorrow's report from the Labor Department on employment to show a solid 200,000 gain in nonfarm payrolls for December, with the jobless rate holding steady at 5 percent.

The unexpected fall in jobless claims was not the product of a particular special factor, a government analyst said, but cautioned there is often volatility around holidays.

- New US Jobless Claims Hit 5-Year Low (Reuters)

Cool Corporate News Clippings - 1/05/06

2006-01-05T03:55:00.000-08:00

- McAfee Fined $50 Million (San Jose Mercury News)
- The Lion, The Witch And The World Trade Talks (The Age)
- Sony Unveils Blu-Ray Disc Products (Techtree.com)
- Independence CEO Says He Doesn't Regret Gamble (USA Today)
- Pot-Based Drug OK’d For Tests (Red Herring)

Palm & Microsoft Attempt Togetherness With Treo 700W

2006-01-04T19:19:00.000-08:00

It's not exactly a sign that ice cold Dasani will soon be a well stocked item in every vending machine in hell, but it may be close. Palm Inc (PALM) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT) have decided to play nice, and the result is the Treo 700W. To make the story more interesting, wireless service is now provided by Verizon Communications Inc (VZ).

Will this unholy alliance be enough to shake off troubled Research In Motion Ltd (RIMM)? I present three random reviews that hopeful shed some light.

- A Marriage Not Made in Heaven (New York Times)
- Palm Treo 700w Available from Verizon Wireless (Geekzone)
- Microsoft-powered Treo debuts (CNET News.com)

Cool Corporate News Clippings - 1/03/06

2006-01-03T04:41:00.000-08:00

- The Wisdom Of Wall St.? Sometimes It's Wrong (New York Times)
- Fares In Many Cities Could Be On Their Way Up (USA Today)
- Starz Unveils Vongo Download Service (MarketWatch)
- Intel Unveils New Brand Identity (Techtree.com)
- Yellow Roadway Changes Name, Ticker Symbol (Reuters)

New Look . . . Still A Work In Progress

2006-01-02T08:39:00.000-08:00

Today is the day we debut the new (or at least currently new) look to the Cool Corporate dot COM blog. As I tinker with the html involved and making this thing work, and fight off those who are wise enough to keep me from tinkering with it as much as I might like to, expect more changes, which will hopefully deemed improvements.

For now, welcome to Cool Corporate dot COM, v2.0.

Feel free to post responses to articles, or to email us at coolcorporate@sbcglobal.net.

Cool Corporate News Clippings - 1/02/06

2006-01-02T05:50:00.000-08:00

- BofA Completes Merger With MBNA (Miami Herald)
- Starbucks Wins Chinese Logo Case (BBC News)
- CBS Completes Spinoff From Viacom (MarketWatch)
- Middle-Class Job Losses Batter Workforce (My Way Finance)
- Chevron Fights Rights Abuse Allegations (Yahoo! News)

Cool Corporate News Clippings - 12/29/05

2005-12-29T02:24:00.000-08:00

- Family Costs Press Pentagon As More Soldiers Have Spouses, Kids (Bloomberg)
- U.S. Music Album Sales Off 7%; Downloads More Than Double (USA Today)
- Ex-Enron Exec Pleads Guilty (CNN Money)
- Delta Pilots Accept Pay Cut (Boston Globe)
- SBA Finds 9/11 Loan Recipients Ineligible (Washington Post)

Cool Corporate News Clippings - 12/28/05

2005-12-26T13:13:00.000-08:00

- New Yankee Stands To Cash In On Endorsements (USA Today)
- Former Enron Executive Said To Be In Plea Deal (Los Angeles Times)
- Satellite Radio: Now It's A Race (BusinessWeek)
- Krispy Kreme Franchisees Close Stores (MSN Money)
- Marriott Customer Data For 200,000 Missing (Yahoo! News)

What Is Left To Learn From 'The Apprentice?'

2005-12-22T12:58:00.000-08:00

A question is asked in this article announcing the winner of 'The Apprentice: Martha Stewart,' wondering if there is really anything left to be learned about business from this brand of reality TV shows, er, show (Stewart season one will be the one and only, while Donald Trump's original 'The Apprentice' gets a change of venue, filming season 5 in Los Angeles). If the producers go to all the trouble to cast mavericks, wild cards, and crazy people who have found a way to seemingly succeed in business, why are the eventual winners always straight-laced and boring text-book business types?

Maybe that is the lesson, and it just needs to be reinforced over and over . . .

- Martha Goes With The Pros On Her 'Apprentice' (MSNBC)

Cool Corporate News Clippings - 12/20/05

2005-12-20T08:09:00.000-08:00

- New York City Transit Workers Strike (Yahoo! News)
- Firefox Victory (Forbes)
- No Kisses For Book Cover: Hershey Files Copyright Suit (USA Today)
- Toyota, With 2006 Forecast, Challenges for Top Car Maker (NY Times)
- BlackBerrys Will Keep Working Despite Suit, RIM Executive Says (Washington Post)

It's A Launch . . . Re-Launch . . .

2005-12-19T19:29:00.000-08:00

Cool Corporate dot COM is officially re-launched! While the site is not really finished (in fact, I might make a minor template change soon), it is functional, and ready to get some views.

You know the premise. It's a website/weblog/wanna-be online magazine that takes a look at the business world from the perspective of a young manager trying to make it in a world where the information is scarce and sometimes guarded about how to get things initiated. Here, you will find a variety of posts, articles, and news clippings that cater to that young manager, but without being overly basic that it bores the seasoned business professional.

Feel free to post responses to articles, or to email us at coolcorporate@sbcglobal.net.

Cool Corporate News Clippings - 12/16/05

2005-12-16T07:52:00.000-08:00

- Trump Chooses Randal Pinkett As 4th 'Apprentice' (USA Today)

- Visto Sues Microsoft Over Patents (PC World)

- Zucker To Head NBC Universal TV Group (Forbes)

- BellSouth To Slash 1,500 Management Jobs (Seattle Post Intelligencer)

- India's Looming IT Labor Shortage (Yahoo! News)

The Comeback Of The Neck Tie

2005-12-12T18:55:00.000-08:00

It not just the pop culture of the 80's that is in vogue. The centuries old fashion staple of the neck tie, once shunned by those caught up in the hype of the 90's new economy, and is coming back in style.

Old Business men are wearing them, looking like business men again. Young business men are wearing them, looking like business men for the first time.

Comedian Jimmy Kimmel, co-creator of the anti-establishment 'Man Show,' has found that ratings for his late night talk show have seen a boon since he started dressing more business like. Even the youth dominated sports world is being forced to review its style, with college girls being scolded for wearing flip-flops for their official photographs with the President and the NBA enacting a dress code mandating business casual attire for fear that the Hip-Hip fashion is scaring a few of the starched collar corporate sponsors.

The trend away from casual and back to professional has not been without controversy. The backlash comes from the young professionals, who are now being pushed into the labor force more resembles both in dress and in demeanor the more traditional workplace of years past.

While the relaxed managerial styles and flexible rules are here to stay--and increasing necessary to deal with the expectations now demanded by young generations who don’t realizes they have not necessarily earned them--the hard line business fashions are making a comeback. And so is the business of business fashions.

Retail sales of neckties peaked at $1.3 billion in the early 90’s, only to drop to about $750 million near the beginning of the new millennium, when casual became the new norm. Now, regular ties, novelty ties, designer label ties and even the always teased but never dead bow ties will bring an estimated $1.1 billion in sales this year. With more ties sold come the sale of more suits, shirts, socks, belts, shoes, and other accessories, putting a wide smile on the faces of many of the sale people who wait diligently at a men’s wear store near you.

Sources:

Ties are back? - http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1205/p13s01-lihc.html
Kimmel Winning in a Tie - http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,17916,00.html?fdnews

Cool Corporate News Clippings - 12/12/05

2005-12-12T04:59:00.000-08:00

- Job Web Site Gives Recruiters Sporting Chance (The Business Journal of Phoenix)

- Man Apologizes After Fake Wikipedia Post (Forbes)

- WB Network Cuts Staff, Executives (MSNBC)

- AOL Choice Will Affect Ad Market on the Web (NY Times)

- Mistrial Declared In Federal Vioxx Trial (ABC News)

Articles For Distribution Available Here

2005-12-11T13:38:00.000-08:00

Are you looking for article content for your business or personal development online magazine or newsletter? Long form articles are now available here at Cool Corporate dot COM.

Look for a prettier new interface to come, but for now, just take a look at the list in the menu column to the right. There are currently two article listed for distribution. Please follow the copyright information, and a courtesy email alerting me of its use is appreciated.

- HOW BLOGGING MAY BE HARMFUL FOR YOUR CAREER
- DO YOU WANT TO WORK FOR THE BEST LEADERS?

Cool Corporate News Clippings - 12/11/05

2005-12-11T05:41:00.000-08:00

- Protesters Denounce WTO At Hong Kong Rallies (Yahoo! News)

- Xbox II: Quest For The Game (Boston Globe)

- Restarting The Rally (CNN.com)

- UAW, Ford Reach Deal On Healthcare Coverage (Los Angeles Times)

- Yahoo Buys del.icio.us (Red Herring)