Welcome to this week's edition of the Carnival of the Capitalists.
It's Carnival time again!
Grab your popcorn and cotton candy and sit back and enjoy Carnival of the Capitalists: The Greatest Business Show in the Blogosphere.
That was a little long for a tag line. I'll have to work on improving that one.
One of the truly exciting aspects of hosting Carnival of the Capitalists is the wide assortment of bloggers who enter.
Many of the entrants to this hosting of Carnival of the Capitalists are here for the very first time.
This is my second hosting of the Carnival of the Capitalists and I hope you enjoy the show.
Got your refreshments in hand?
Let's join the midway!
Marketing
Toby Bloomberg of Diva Marketing suggests storytelling as a powerful form of marketing. Nothing deepens and enriches a relationship with others like telling them a good story.
Marketer Michele Miller of WonderBranding: Marketing To Women recommends that when approaching the topic of marketing to women, stop thinking feminine. Instead, she says, focus on the logical.
Is it possible greed is a great quality for salespeople? Or is the word so tainted, it's an unacceptable quality for all people and professions? Those are the provocative questions posed by Jim Logan of JSLogan as he channels Gordon Gecko of the movie Wall Street.
Laurence Haughton of BusinessBlogcasting graphically illustrates the purpose of marketing in a world where marketers are encouraged to be liars.
Empowering employees is key to creating remarkable customer experiences is the message from Joseph DePalma of Joseph's Marketing Blog.
James Cherkoff at Modern Marketing says The 4Ps is an idea that most marketeers have come across during their education. That makes it a good vehicle to discuss change as it is so widely understood. For those who don't know it refers to Price, Place Product and Promotion, the mixture of areas that traditional marketing has concerned itself with. James asks: So what do the 4Ps mean in a digital era?
John Jantsch at Duct Tape Marketing recommends bringing small groups of your clients together to meet, network and generally discuss how brilliant you are. After an opening like that, you simply have to read on.
Heather Burke at Pro Wrestling Impact asks what to do when something goes wrong at your event is something you should always plan for. She says the reason you should plan is because you need to have some idea of what you want to do to compensate your fans if something goes wrong. Her advice on planning ahead is applicable to any special event marketing.
At The Guerilla Marketer Michael McLaughlin says it's common for clients to experience sticker shock when they see the price tag of a consulting project. With a little work, you can soften the blow.
Gina Vescio at A Weight Lifted describes how the diet and weight loss industry is marketed and how many well known historical persons would be left out of the so-called marketing ideal body type.
Blogging, Reading, and Writing
Vikk Simmons of Down The Writer's Path discusses writing and the creative process. Evoking the legendary science fiction writer Ray Bradbury as an example, Vikk tells us how to free up our creative minds.
Over at The Blog Studio, Peter Flaschner sends us Part Two of a series examining how certain businesses could benefit from blogging. In this case, Peter suggests that realtors become bloggers. The post includes specific tips and examples.
Yvonne DiVita at Lip-Sticking says "Smart Blogger, Andy Wibbels" makes us look good by being both informative and funny in this interview on blogging and more. Read some dood business advice, in a fun environment, guaranteed to bring a smile to your face.
Ed Deevy of The Deevy Report describes what he's learned about blogging from six months of online publishing. Deevy writes from the perspective of an individual who is a "lay person" when it comes to Internet technology. He clearly sees the blogging platform as a powerful easy-to-use communications tool...and he's on a mission to convince his clients and colleagues that they should get on-board with the Blogging Revolution.
At Seeking Alpha, David Jackson discusses the attractiveness and drawbacks for finance bloggers of adding ads to their sites.
Evelyn Rodriguez of Crossroads Dispatches receives a new book, A Clear Eye for Branding, that reminds her that "Keep it Simple, Stupid" is sage advice in business and life and sets off the trigger for this post.
Here at Blog Business World as my own entry, I offer a post entitled "Case studies: A blogging idea" where I suggest writing real life case studies as a regular blog posting feature.
Tinu Abayomi-Paul of Free Traffic Tips invites us to tell our business story. As a multi-part post series, start with the first entry and enjoy the story of "Your Business and the Story of a Tree: Part One".
Finance, Markets, and Investment
FMF of Free Money Finance has a post featuring people commenting on the outrageous sums that they’ve spent on their pets. Poor Fido and Fluffy.
Over at TechTrader, Anonymous discusses buyouts of IUSA. Wanna get in on the share trading action?
Toni Staka of The Prudent Investor - seeing too many bubbles asks is there a rift developing on the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors? It seems so. Toni suggests that Governor Donald Kohn has started the finger-pointing, by distancing himself from other FRB members. 'Don't blame me, I told you so,' he will be able to say in the future, once economic developments have turned sour. "It is not the time for complacency", he warned bankers, who should put in extra hours to finetune their risk management systems.
You may often ask how much money do you need to save to pay for college for you or your kids? Ironman at Political Calculations has a tool to find out what you'll need, to cover the costs, of what many people consider to be the most important investment they'll ever make.
John Mudd of Tampa Bay's Inside Real Estate Journal discusses the explosion of condo sales in the Tampa, Forida area.
Peter at Fund Universe offers a few tips that can help you build the wealth you will need to assure your future financial security. In fact, Peter provides "8 Rules That Will Make You Wealthy".
Joshua Sharf at View From a Height discusses a popular means of evaluating fund managers' style. It is something called "Returns Based Style Analysis". Joshua believes that a much better system can be developed.
Joe Kristan from Roth & Company Tax Update cites reports that say that the US Justice Department may indict KPMG. Joe discusses why that would be unwise.
When moving out of a rented apartment your security deposit is typically returned in full. However, as Ezra Marbach of Sound Money Tips says, landlords have been known to argue for deducting money from your deposit in order to cover supposed issues that you are leaving behind. The post offers some pointers on getting your rented apartment's security deposit back in full when you move out.
Big Picture Guy at Big Picture, Small Office talks about how the Board rejects loyalty rebates on the basis that customers are commodities that can be bought and sold...like feeder cattle and corn. What is the price of "Pork Belly Futures" today?
Business Management and Methods
Gretchen Ross of The Green Lantern comments on the rumoured proposal from Wal-Mart that their employees be on call and available for work around the clock.
Gautam Ghosh of Gautam Ghosh on Management suggests that eventually every KM project is an attempt to change the corporate culture of the organization and the behavior of people in the organizational systems. He says this change can never be sustainable unless human and organizational processes change to support this change. Gautam believes that is the insight that traditional OD consulting brings to KM.
When you are in business, says Rosa Say of Talking Story says learning to be a reader gives you a definite edge. She says this post is about organizing yourself to take advantage of opportune pockets of time. Rosa suggests don't let "I have no time to read" be your excuse.
Practical advice arrives from Susan Getgood of Marketing Roadmaps on how to make sure your sales and marketing teams are really communicating with each other, not just talking (and complaining) at each other.
Aleah at Ricksticks believes that successful organizations must honour individual spirit. Note the Lord of the Rings reference in the post too.
Elana Centor at FunnyBusiness examines corporate culture from the lighter side of the street. Elana ponders a new Universal Symbol --MY BUTT IS ON THE LINE. I can see her design possibilities on Post-It notes already.
Skip Angel of Random Thoughts from a CTO asks the following questions about leadership and principles: As a leader, do you want people to understand you better? Do you want them to know what you value and what you don't?
At pc4media, Peter Caputa discusses how Fundable.org is a website that lets users create fund drives. Peter says the fund drives can be for any purpose: to fund a software project, to raise funds for a non profit, to raise funds for a group purchase. The goal, continues Peter, for how many participants and how much each has to give is set by the person creating the action. If the goal isn't met, all the money is refunded. Peter concludes that it is a no risk way to support a mini or a major cause.
Christopher Bailey from The Alchemy of Soulful Work asks is there a good time to conduct a learning dialogue? Christopher concludes: Sure there is. The timing of a manager's criticism is as important as its constructiveness.
Mad Anthony of Mad Anthony is "Going Postal". Well not really. Actually, he is taking a look at the things the post office does right and wrong - and why.
"How big are your batteries?" asks Lisa Haneberg of Management Craft. Lisa sends a thoughful post about how people are equipped with different natural energy levels.
Communications, Technology, and Podcasting
Neville Hobson of Nevon provides a detailed step by step primer on putting the power of podcasts into production for your blog or online business and public relations program.
The joys and triumphs, and trials and tribulations and everything e-mail are fodder for cehwiedel of Kicking Over My Traces. Also provided are some ideas for eliminating spam. Now I know you want to read that!
Improving your voice mail message is the message from Phil Gerbyshak at Make It Great. Practical tips and techniques are included. No more "name your own adventure"!
At her Selling To Small Businesses blog, Anita Campbell says despite all the free tools available for online collaboration, there is still a market to sell such tools for a fee to small businesses. Anita says once small businesses get a taste for online collaboration -- especially in this day and age of small businesses working virtually from multiple locations -- they will find that they need these tools. Anita beleives the availability of the free stuff will actually increase the demand for paid products that are easier to install, configure and customize to the small business's needs. She concludes that today the use of "free" tools is what actually creates a market demand for the upgraded, fee version of the products.
The User Experience approach, in the opinion of Barry Welford of The Other Bloke's Blog is most useful for websites and coffee-grinders. Barry believes it would work wonders for the remodernized Montreal International Airport.
Russell Buckley of The Mobile Technology Weblog says the community showed its displeasure as eBay continued to host Live 8 ticket auctions. Russell states that eBay were forced to quickly back down as the community responded to Bob Geldof's calls to "mess up the system".
Economics
Charkie Quidnunc of Rip and Read Blogger Podcast give us a listen to a podcast called "Democratic Anti-Economics" where he sends a clip of the appearance by Alan Greenspan, before a Congressional committee, discussing the concept of class warfare with Maurice Hinchey.
Brian Gongol of Gongal.com addresses the causes and effects of debt relief for poor countries, and some of the consequences resulting from different solutions.
Martin Lindeskog of EGO says that Ebay has been in business for 10 years. He provides thoughts on the future of online auctions between individuals, and questions on B2B e-auctions.
Join David of satire as he takes you on campus with Steve Jobs of Apple fame. It's definitely an interesting and surprising ride.
Mastiff of Critical Mastiff says if we are serious about cutting back on subsidies, we need to start with the biggest beneficiaries: ourselves, or more specifically government-subsidized homeowners.
Les Jones at Les Jones.com believes sales tax is a huge issue for online operations. As an example, Les says "Borders.com Must Charge California Sales Tax".
Gullyborg at Resistance is futile! points out that it's big economic news, but it's not getting reported in the mainstream media: despite Bush's so-called "reckless tax cuts," the US government has just set a new record for tax revenues.
At The Big Picture, Barry L. Ritholtz asks "How Much Does Sarbanes-Oxley Cost?". Barry believes the cost is much different than publicly presented and thinks that some intellectual dishonesty afoot.
Half Sigma at Half Sigma addresses the question of whether competition causes higher prices. Yes, says Half Sigma, this is the opposite of what everyone "knows" to be true.
Steve Conover from The Skeptical Optimist offers a fiscal responsibility plan to keep the American debt burden under control, for the next fifty years. The result might be a surprise.
At Interested-Participant, Mike Pechar is concerned about "Legislation to Regulate Indoor Air". Mike states it's not clear what the long-term implications of the legislation would be, but it is clear that the state would dump a plethora of expensive design and habitability regulations on industry and the public while empowering some sort of sniffer police to enforce the provisions of the law.
Over at Mover Mike, Mike Landfair is enjoying that the Treasury International Capital (TIC) report is out and US Federal Reserve Chairperson Alan Greenspan relies on the government for his information. Mike is laughing about that turn of events. Give him a chance to recover a bit. Okay?
International Business, Trade, and Economics
While Anita Campbell of Small Business Trends was on vacation this week, Martin Lindeskog of EGO made an interesting guest post commenting on the difference in the entrepreneurial climate in Sweden and in the United States. Martin would love to get comments from others on some of the differences.
The trade agreement called CAFTA is examined by Will Frankin of WILLisms.com. Will calls CAFTA "The most important American free trade agreement in a decade", making the post a must read.
Over at The Sharpener, Stuart presents a short piece on how GBP 2.8 bn (that's a lotta dollars...) government subsidy to the BBC is killing regional media in Scotland: first radio,TV and advertising. According to Stuart, now Scotland's newspapers are struggling to maintain an online presence in the face of state monopoly.
Trent McBride at Catallarchy challenges the conventional wisdom that agricultural subsidies in the First World promote suffering in the Third World. The discussion in the comments section is also interesting, with numerous trackbacks along with guest appearances from well known bloggers Jonathan Dingel, Megan McArdle, and David Tufte.
Brian David Crane from BrianDavidCrane.com discusses some techniques for doing business in Latin America. Along with the tips for opening business, Brian points out a few pitfalls to avoid.
According to Aamon Lamba of Audit Trails Of Self the $23-billion Reliance Industries, representing 4% of India's economy, will be split between the brothers Anil and Mukesh Ambani. Aamon provides details of the transaction.
Education, Careers, and Employment
In "A Student's Guide To Landing a Great Job" blogger and student Devin Reams of BusinessBits offers real world, nitty gritty ideas for landing the job of your dreams...or at least for avoiding the job of your nightmares.
Deputy HeadMistress at The Common Room sends us Part One of an Economic Education. Deputy HeadMistrss says ecause the employees did not understand some basic economics (and had no consideration for others) an employee nearly loses her job. (In part II, she lost her job).
School Choice is the topic for Warren Meyer of Coyote Blog. Warren presents his views on the joys of capitalism and choice, particularly as applied to schools.
You own a firm and you want to promote the career of the young rising star. Michael Higgins at Chocolate and Gold Coins asks how do you avoid allowing her career to fall victim to office politics?
John Dmohowski at Drakeview tells us that a number of companies and institutions conduct periodic surveys of small and medium businesses. Interland and Florida International University have recently published theirs. John says the hosting services firm reports SMB owners are focused and optimistic about their businesses. FIU reports fewer people are seeing start-ups as viable career options. John concludes this is not surprising given the diversity and dynamics of the SMB universe.
Over at Ripples we find David St. Lawrence suggesting that there are times when your work situation just does not work out well. Even the best of employers can create a losing situation while trying to add a new position to the organization. David offers ideas for improving and changing an unpleasant employment situation.
Politics and Politicians
Matthew at TriggerFinger writes that blogger The Bitter Bitch questions whether requiring businesses to allow firearms owners, who are also employees, to lock guns in their cars without risk of being fired is a good thing. The question for Matthew is, of course, prompted by recent legislation in Oklahoma allowing that very thing. He says she's got a point, one which I approached slightly in my commentary on the case of Feliciano v 7-11. Matthew thinks there's a good point of differentiation, though.
David Gerstman from Soccer Dad: Maryland's CEO writes that
The Washington Post doesn't like it that Governor Bob Ehrlich makes his case on talk radio instead of in its printed pages. David says the reason is that the governor has a case to make that the paper just won't consider.
David at satire follows Virginia Governor Mark Warner (D), a Presidential hopeful, during an interview with Salon.com who said that he wants, "to change the framing of the political debate, from right vs. left, conservative vs. liberal, to future and past. But...Mark Warner, who was a honest professional poker player, before becoming a shrewd professional politician, explained his winning strategy in terms easily understood by the rural Americans and the popular World Poker Tour tele-viewers. Keep reading for the rest.
Thanks to Jay and Rob for letting me host the Carnival.
Update: Next week, look for Carnival of the Capitalists at replacement host BusinessBlogCasting
And finally, a big thank you to all of the contributors and to everyone who dropped by and peaked under the big tent.
I couldn't have done it without you.
