Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Microsoft LinkedIn Deal Worth $26.2B Announced

In a joint statement, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and LinkedIn (NYSE:LNKD) announced that the networking site would be acquired by the tech titan in an all cash deal worth $ 26.2 billion. The terms of the deal value LinkedIn at $ 196 per share. That’s considerably higher than Friday’s closing price of $ 131.08. The deal is expected to close […]
Mergers & Acquisitions – The Cerbat Gem

Microsoft LinkedIn Deal Worth $26.2B Announced

Samsung Announces Acquisition Of Joyent For Undisclosed Sum

Samsung (SSNLF) has announced that it will purchase Joyent, an 11-year-old company that is a cloud provider and container pioneer. According to a statement from the companies, Joyent will operate as an independent subsidiary within Samsung and will use Samsung’s global reach to acquire additional clients. Several of Joyent’s key executives will join Samsung’s executive […]
Mergers & Acquisitions – The Cerbat Gem

Samsung Announces Acquisition Of Joyent For Undisclosed Sum

China Trademarks and Your Chinese Distributor

China distributorsClients sometimes come to our China lawyers with an apparent conundrum. They have found a Chinese distributor for their product, and both sides are ready to begin selling products in China right away. As in, tomorrow. So far so good. But our client sells a branded product, and they haven’t registered their brand as a trademark in China. Not so good.

The client knows (perhaps from reading this blog) that the only realistic way to get trademark rights in China is by registering them, because China is a first-to-file country.

And then they learn that it usually takes 12-18 months to register a trademark in China. At this point they become concerned about the nontrivial period when their distributor will be selling their branded product in China without any sort of trademark protection.

They should be concerned. But not too concerned, as long as they file their China trademark application right away and enter into a written agreement with their Chinese distributor. The distribution agreement should contain provisions stating that the trademark belongs to the client and the distributor may use the mark in China, but will not file any competing applications, oppositions, or invalidations.

The distribution agreement should also include appropriate contractual language protecting the IP more generally. And if you want this agreement to work to protect your trademark in China, it is much better for it to be in Chinese.

A distribution agreement with the above provisions (along with countless others, of course) will sufficiently protect your IP as against your China distributor. The remaining concern, which cannot be addressed in a distribution agreement, is infringement by a third party while the trademark application is pending.

Without a valid registration in China, there usually isn’t much you can do to stop a third party from using “your” mark. But any legitimate Chinese company is going to shy away from a strategy that only gives them 12 months to establish and profit from a brand name, after which it must stop using it or risk paying damages. That leaves the counterfeiters, for whom 12 months is more than enough time to make a profit, but who aren’t going to be interested until a brand has developed enough name recognition to be worth ripping off. Still, yet another reason to file a trademark application now. Because the distributor is going to be the one who really bears the brunt of any infringement in China. Sophisticated Chinese distributors know this and so we often have situations where American or European companies come to us after having been instructed by their potential or actual distributors to file their trademarks in China.

One final note: many foreign companies do not create a Chinese brand name before selling their product in China, only to discover that a name has been created for them and registered as a trademark – often by their Chinese distributor. If you haven’t already come up with a Chinese name for your product, do so now, and also make sure your distribution agreement requires the distributor to assign to you any Chinese-language marks that relate to your product that it has already registered.

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China Law Blog

China Trademarks and Your Chinese Distributor

China Manufacturing Gone Bad

China Manufacturing AgreementsOne of the most common emails we get are those from someone having problems with their China manufacturer. Those problems are all over the map, but one of the more common ones is the Chinese manufacturer starting to make the foreign company’s products and starting to compete with the foreign company in the foreign company’s own market. There is a simple remedy for this and that is to have your manufacturing agreement forbid your China manufacturer from making or selling your product and from using your trade name or your logos. The other thing to do is to register your brand name as a trademark in China and wherever you sell your products. But nearly always when we get an email from someone with this sort of problem with their China manufacturer, they have done few or none of these things.

The below is a very typical email exchange, modified in various ways to hide any identifiers. I am running this because it is a good lesson of how planning is essential when you are having your products made in China. For the basics on protecting your company when manufacturing in China, check out Having Your Product Made In China: The Basics on Protecting It and You.

EMAIL FROM CHINA CONSULTANT TO ONE OF MY FIRM’S CHINA LAWYERS: I hope you are doing well. I’ve got an interesting story for you which could potentially mean some contract work for your China team. This is our largest client who would definitely see the value in paying for an enforceable contract in China. They currently have a contract, but it was badly written. We knew this going in, however it’s sometimes a little tricky telling your client that their contract is not good, or even that their colleagues have no idea what they are doing. I’m sure you can relate.

Our client has a Chinese factory producing product for them. There is a contract in place which details minimum order quantities annually and clauses related to exclusivity in the EU. For the last year or so, our client has failed to meet the minimum order quantities, hence exclusivity would not be certain. The main reason for not meeting the order quantities is problems the factory has had with packing the product in a way that protects it during shipment and also problems with the product itself. These issues have now been sorted out my client is ready to move ahead with up to 60 containers a month. There are also moulds involved that are worth well over a half million RMB.

My client received an email from the factory last week telling them they will be attending the ___________ trade fair, and asked for my client to send a sales person to represent them. So they want to exhibit in Europe and show my client’s product! Though this email was quite amusing as they also asked for

China Manufacturing Gone Bad

The Town Square and the Marketplace

Street Market - courtesy http://depositphotos.comNow, more than ever before, it’s important that we develop and nurture a platform where we can be heard. At the very same time that these tools become easier and easier to use, the world is more noisy. Add to this the fact that I believe we often forget a very important detail, and that this mistake might be costing you a lot of time wasted for very little return.

The Town Square vs The Marketplace

In times of old, most towns and villages had a central square. It was where government came to read their announcements, where religious leaders came to preach their doctrine, where scholars came to share their philosophies, and where crazy people came to rant. (Sometimes, one person fit all those categories at the same time.)

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The Town Square and the Marketplace

Biggest Energy Movers: Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES), Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES) shares ended at $ 53.94 with 5.82 mln shares exchanging hands. That puts the market capitalization at $ 17.08 bln. It opened the session with a $ 54.72 price tag, later ranging from $ 53 to $ 54.83, the range at which the stock has traded at throughout the day. The stock stands nearly -17.4% off versus the 52-week high and 48.73% away from the 52-week low. The number of shares currently owned by investors are 316.62 mln.

Sell-side analyst recommendations point to a short term price target of $ 65 on the shares of Hess Corporation (HES). The consensus rating is 2.4, suggesting the market has given up on the stock. It has been assigned a low target price of $ 47 and a high target price of $ 80.

The current price is staying below the SMA lines which signify weakens and is generally unhealthy/negative and may provide the momentum for driving the share price lower. Current price places the company’s stock -2.65% away from its 200-day simple moving average, -8.19%, away from the 50-day average and also -9.46% away from 20-day average.

For this year, Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES) is performing -13.41%. Over the past five trading sessions it is -5.62%; -15.03% for the month; 7.41% for the last quarter; 1.48% for the past six-months; and 29.31% for the last 12 months. The last close places the company’s stock about $ 11.62 off its 52 week high of $ 65.56 and $ 8.57 above the 52 week low of $ 45.37.

Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) closed down -0.89 points or -1.05% at $ 83.61 with 5.55 mln shares exchanging hands. Current price level places the company’s stock about -4.82% from the 52-week high and 29.82% away from the 52-week low. Sell-side analyst recommendations point to a short term price target of $ 96.03 on the company shares. The consensus rating is 2, indicating analysts in general look favorably on the company’s future prospects. It has been assigned a low target price of $ 70 and a high target price of $ 110.

Schlumberger Limited (SLB) opened the session with a $ 84.17 price tag, later ranging from $ 83.195 to $ 84.47, the range at which the stock has traded at throughout the day. The stock stands nearly $ 3.67 off versus the 52-week high of $ 87.84 and $ 18.07 above the 52-week low of $ 66.1. The number of shares currently owned by investors are 1.39 bln. The current price change puts the market capitalization at $ 116.34 bln.

In an overview of the current analyst recommendations, Buy count is 30 and Overweight is 4 while the number of analysts recommending Sell and Underweight are 0 and 1, respectively. Also, the Hold rating count is 9 as of 01/30/17. The analyst recommendations from a month ago are 31 Buy, 4 Overweight, 0 Sell, 7 Hold and 1 Underweight. Investors might also notice that three month ago the Buy recommendations (30) outnumbered Sell recommendations (0). The count of Hold ratings in that period was 7.

Over the past five trading sessions shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) are -0.78%; -1.21% for the month; 5.66% for the last quarter; 5.12% for the past six-months; and 18.74% for the last 12 months. The current price is staying above the SMA lines which signify strength and is generally healthy/positive and may provide the momentum for driving the share price higher. Current price places the company’s stock 5.26% away from its 200-day simple moving average, -0.74%, away from the 50-day average and also -2.08% away from 20-day average. The stock is performing -0.4% year to date.

The Wellesleys News

Biggest Energy Movers: Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES), Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB)

Thursday, January 26, 2017

Habits to Pick Up to Feel Good Everyday: Posture, Breaks And Hydration

hydrate

It takes around 66 days to develop a new habit, and it requires that you make daily efforts to engage in whatever new behavior or action you’re trying to pick up and perform automatically. We only have one life to live, and it’s important that the habits we do pick up are good ones. While some such as biting your fingernails have minimal negative effects, there are others that decrease our overall quality of life and well-being. However, when you make the conscious effort to pick up good habits, you can reap a lifetime of positive benefits, and there are a few habits you should pick up on to feel good every day.

Cut Soda and Drink Water

With little effort, we can enjoy a cold soda or uplifting energy drink. However, these beverages are full of additives that can cause tooth decay, fat buildup, and more. It’s recommended that the average person drink eight cups of water per day. This may seem excessive, but it’s the amount of water you actually need in order to operate at your maximum capacity.

When you fail to get the necessary water amount, your body goes into storage mode. This storage comes in the form of water that adds body weight and can make you appear larger than you actually are. Don’t be surprised if, during the early stages of your increase in water intake, you expel large amounts of water as waste. This is just the body ridding itself of its storage since it’s now getting what it needs to stay healthy.

Be Aware of Your Posture

Let’s face it. We encounter many challenges and responsibilities each and every day, and there’s a lot on our minds. From the moment we wake up, we have to make decisions, and our brains are constantly engaged. Therefore, it can be difficult to continually focus on your posture. Most of us are aware that poor posture can cause us to look sluggish, but what many don’t realize is that there are some more serious consequences to long-term poor posture such as:

  • Long-term pain and discomfort due to changes to the spine
  • Exacerbation of cardiovascular issues
  • Poor digestion
  • Development of varicose veins
  • Back pain

There is a solution that can help you assume and maintain proper posture without even having to think about it. Posture correctors are devices you wear under your regular clothing, and it works to properly align the spine during the course of the entire day comfortably. This effectively helps you develop the right habits when it comes to your posture. There are a variety of products on the market with varying degrees of quality, and it’s a good idea to read reviews so you can find the best posture corrector for your unique needs.

Switch Up Your Breaks at Work

It’s beneficial that we take regular breaks from our work to allow our brains the chance to rejuvenate, thus making employees more productive. However, just how do you utilize your time? If you’re like most people, you’ll spend your break or lunch hour in a sedentary position such as at a desk or table.

A great habit to pick up is to incorporate some sort of exercise into this time. Not only will it give you a chance to stretch your legs and possibly get some fresh air, but it also has a number of health benefits. Depending on where you work, you may have to get creative, but just a few ideas to consider include:

  • Taking a brisk walk around the block
  • If you have enough time, signing up for a noon fitness class. Many only last 30 minutes and can be easily worked into an hour lunch break.
  • Simply standing while you eat lunch rather than sitting

Living the Quality Life You Deserve

We only have a limited time on this earth, and most of us have the desire to do what we can to live ours to their fullest. However, little things you do every day can hinder your success in the achievement of this goal. Only you hold the power to turn the power of habit in your life into a positive one. While it does take consistency and determination, anyone with the desire to do so can develop these good habits. Once you have gotten to the point where you do these things automatically in your life, you can enjoy the many benefits they produce for years to come.

The post Habits to Pick Up to Feel Good Everyday: Posture, Breaks And Hydration appeared first on Blogtrepreneur — For Busy Entrepreneurs.

Blogtrepreneur – For Busy Entrepreneurs

Habits to Pick Up to Feel Good Everyday: Posture, Breaks And Hydration

Johnson & Johnson Inks Deal For Abbott Eye Health Unit

Johnson & Johnson has reached an agreement to buy the eye health unit of Abbott Laboratories for about $ 4.3 billion in cash. The unit, called Abbott Medical Optics, makes eye drops and contact lens cleaners, as well as equipment used for cataract surgery and laser vision correction procedures. Abbott bought the business for $ 2.8 billion […]
Mergers & Acquisitions – The Cerbat Gem

Johnson & Johnson Inks Deal For Abbott Eye Health Unit

How Chris Guillebeau Built A “Cult of Personality”

Chris Guillebeau Recently, an up-and-coming fitness coach and friend of mine asked me how to get more visibility online. I’ve built successful marketing funnels for web hosting companies, this blog, a software-as-a-service company, and now a chain of retail stores. All of those marketing funnels are different, but the one a coach or a consultant follows I would call a “cult of personality.” It’s what I did with this blog, and it’s also how several people I know became quite famous and are making large incomes online.

Let’s explore one of them: Chris Guillebeau.

I got to know Chris Guillebeau when, many years ago, he asked on Twitter if there was a place he could stay in San Diego while he met with his agent (this was as he was writing his first book!) A mutual friend suggested me, so I got to hang out with Chris for a couple days at my house and get to know him on a personal level.

Be Dedicated. Turn Off the TV!

The first thing that struck me about Chris was his complete dedication to his readers. There he was, sitting on my couch one night…I knew a mutual friend of ours who was really into “The Amazing Race”, and wanted Chris to see it. I had a couple of recent episodes saved up on my Tivo, so I queued them up for Chris.

While I was engrossed in the show, Chris was furiously typing on his laptop. It turns out he was responding to every email he received and every comment he got on his blog (a dedication that Pat Flynn also picked up and used to his advantage.) Chris didn’t watch TV or do anything else until he got those emails done. And the thing about Chris was, even back then, I don’t think the emails ever stopped coming in!

Back then, Chris used to post pictures of his cat on his blog and call his cat his assistant. I encouraged him privately to get a real, human assistant, but I understood why he didn’t. He wanted all those people to know he really cared about them, and he felt like an assistant would weaken the connection he had with his readers.

With my low energy levels at the time, plus bad (undiagnosed at the time) ADHD, I wasn’t good at replying to emails and comments. (I’m better today, but I’m still nowhere near Chris’s level.) But those replies, to whatever his readers had on their minds, helped him develop an unmistakable bond with them. I suspect many of them still read and buy everything he has to offer, because 8 years ago he took his personal time to respond to their email. I have massive respect for his dedication in that area.

Achieve a Really Difficult Goal…And Share Everything Along the Way

Chris got publicity by having a really difficult goal and then writing constantly about his efforts toward achieving it. If you know Chris or follow him, you’ll immediately know what I’m referencing, because everything he did or said looped back to it. If you don’t know or haven’t followed Chris, his goal was to visit every country in the world by the time he was a certain age.

He did end up completing this goal in 2013, but when he stayed at my house he was still working on several of the more difficult countries–ones that wouldn’t let him get a visa or had exorbitant entry fees–and it was really unknown whether he was going to make it or not. He shared that doubt honestly in his blog, and it drew readers in like nothing else.

I’ll dig in to some of the factors that made this a huge success. First, Chris, if you know him, is a really genuine and unassuming guy. But he’s also dogged in pursuit of his goals. The goal itself was polarizing to a lot of people (if you can’t imagine why a goal like that would be polarizing, well, welcome to the Internet!) There were people who complained he was wasting his time, that he was ruining the environment by flying so many places, and–the most common complaint I saw–that his goal was stupid because it didn’t do anything or prove anything.

But his true fans got it. Chris’s personality helped; he was an introvert, but people genuinely liked him. The dude had basically no ego (I doubt he does even now; though I haven’t seen him in a while, he struck me as the type of person who would be exactly the same when he achieved his goal as before he achieved it.)

And the goal itself was an interviewer’s dream: Why would someone come up with that goal? How did he plan to achieve it? Where did he get all that money for travel (Chris was quite intelligent about this and turned his unique way of getting frequent flyer points into a “travel hacking” course and several blog entries)? Who was this introverted, slightly awkward kid with huge dreams who wrote about visiting every country in the world on a blog?

How to Build Fame When You’re Nobody

Now, if you’re wondering what you can take away from this, it’s that you don’t necessarily need to be “already famous” to make it online. But what you can do is have a polarizing, challenging goal and write about it. Think about what people would want to read about in a magazine. Then build a blog and videos and show yourself, every day or at least a few times a week, working toward that goal. Make people believe it is possible. Build your audience–get an email list going and have them sign up. Then, as you draw in fans, respond to their fears, concerns, and goals that they write to you about.

I look back at myself at that time and I certainly could have gone the “cult of personality” route. In fact, by 2012, this blog drew in over a million unique visitors a year. But I decided I didn’t want to; instead, I wanted to grow another business that was larger than just myself. Ever since then, I’ve been growing businesses, including the chain of retail stores I now co-own that has been hugely successful.

The Downside of “Cult of Personality” Businesses

My health then was precarious; I didn’t want to grow a cult of personality based all around me and then fall ill and suddenly stop producing content. That’s the negative side of any cult of personality business–it’s all based on you and your ability to perform. So consider this before you jump in with both feet: yes, it feels great to be famous, but can you really commit to living, breathing, and growing this business every day? To taking risks and being exposed if you do fail (and believe me, you’ll fail!)? To continuing to produce content even when you’re not on top of your game, and to producing extra content when you are on top of your game so you can take a break or be sick sometimes? You must consider all of this carefully before you begin.

If you think you can–then, by all means, grow a cult of personality! I’ve given you some insight on how to do it. This is why I’m back and blogging again; I’ve finally gotten my health in the right place to really commit to being here and showing up for my readers. I’m aware of the commitment it takes and I’m willing to do it this time around. The only question I have for you is: Are you ready, too?

NOTE: I didn’t reach out to Chris or interview him for this blog post, for a specific reason: I didn’t want to be influenced by what he felt made him successful. My goal was to write from my own perspective of knowing and following him in his early years and watching him grow his blog and business. If you’d like to learn from Chris in his own words, I encourage you to take a look at his 279 Days to Overnight Success manifesto (written back when he was still getting started) or his more recent “Success as a Travel Blogger” post.


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The post How Chris Guillebeau Built A “Cult of Personality” appeared first on Starting Your Own Business with Erica Douglass.

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Starting Your Own Business with Erica Douglass

How Chris Guillebeau Built A “Cult of Personality”

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Mylan Under Fire For Creative Accounting Of EpiPen Profits

The currents swirling around the steep price increases on Mylan NV’s (NASDAQ:MYL) lifesaving EpiPen drug just got a little deeper for the company’s embattled CEO. When the company’s chief executive Heather Bresch testified before a congressional committee last week, it was claimed that Mylan’s profit on a $ 608 two-pack of the injectors was just $ 100. […]
Corporate News – The Cerbat Gem

Mylan Under Fire For Creative Accounting Of EpiPen Profits

Twitter Inching Closer To A Sale

Twitter’s (NYSE:TWTR) board has reportedly been considering a sale this month. The microblogging service has reportedly started talks with a number of technology companies to sell itself. Speculation that Twitter would be sold has gathered steam in recent months. Now, sources are saying that a sale could occur in the next 30 to 45 days. […]
Corporate News – The Cerbat Gem

Twitter Inching Closer To A Sale

Western Union Reaches Settlement On Fraud Charges

Western Union Co. (NYSE:WU) has reached a settlement with U.S. regulators over charges that the bank failed to stop money laundering and wire fraud. The bank agreed to pay $ 586 million as part of the settlement. The penalty was imposed by the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission. The fine is the biggest ever against […]
Corporate News – The Cerbat Gem

Western Union Reaches Settlement On Fraud Charges

Analyst EPS Estimates Coverage: Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF)

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF) was up +0.35% ($ 0.12) to $ 34.17 and showed a volume of 1.6 mln shares. It has ranged in price between $ 33.885-$ 34.27 after having started the session at $ 34.08 as compared to the previous trading day’s close of $ 34.05. The GAP was therefore 0.09%. Over the 52-week time span, the stock notched a high price of $ 38.5 and its minimum price was $ 28.24. The firm’s stock has a market capitalization of $ 10.19 bln.

The analysts offering 12 month price targets for Fidelity National Financial, Inc. have a median target of $ 41, with a high estimate of $ 48 and a low estimate of $ 38. The median estimate represents a 19.99% increase from the last price.

According to Zacks brokerage recommendations, Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF)’s Buy count is 0 and Strong Buy is 3 while the number of analysts recommending Sell and Strong Sell are 0 and 1, respectively. Also, the Hold rating count is 0, as of 24 Jan 2017. The analyst recommendations from a month ago are 0 Buy, 4 Strong Buy, 0 Sell, 0 Hold and 1. Strong Sell. Investors might also notice that two months ago the Buy recommendations (0) were less than Sell recommendations (0). The count of Hold ratings in that period was 0. Chicago-based equity research firm Zacks Investment Research has assigned this stock ABR (Average Brokerage Recommendation) of 1.5, indicating analysts in general look favorably on the company’s future prospects.

Now, the FactSet Research estimate calls for Q4 2016 earnings of US$ 0.62. A month ago, analyst EPS consensus estimated earnings of US$ 0.62 per share. They were forecasting US$ 0.65 per share three months ago. The Q1 2017 consensus earnings estimates for the company have stabilized at US$ 0.38 per share. A month ago, they told us to expect earnings of US$ 0.38 per share while three months ago their EPS consensus estimate was US$ 0.39.

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF) soared 0.62% year-to-date. The shares have slowed down in recent weeks, with their price down about -6.08% in the past three months. FNF rose 0.92%, plunged -1.19% and sank -9.4% in the week, one month and six months, respectively. The most recent short interest data show 1.83% of the company’s stock are short sold. It would take about 2.53 days to cover all short positions. In terms of volatility, it has a beta coefficient of 0.7 and technical analysis volatility indicator called Average True Range or ATR around 0.48.

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (FNF) closed -1.87% below its 200-day moving average and is 2.03% above another chart threshold, its 50-day moving average. The stock stands nearly -10.09% off versus the 52-week high and 24.14% away from the 52-week low. The number of shares currently owned by investors are 298.07 mln.

The Wellesleys News

Analyst EPS Estimates Coverage: Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF)

Investment Research Analysts Opinion: Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE), Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST)

Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) tinted gains of +1.43% (+0.86 points) to US$ 60.92. The volume of 4.37 Million shares climbed up over an trading activity of 3.11 Million shares. EPS ratio determined by looking at last 12 month figures is 1.6. Over the same time span, the stock marked US$ 68 as its best level and the lowest price reached was US$ 34.9. The corporation has a market cap of US$ 19.48 Billion.

Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE)’s earnings per share has been growing at a 21.6 percent rate over the past 5 year when average revenue increase was noted as 0.7 percent. The return on equity ratio or ROE stands at 8.5 percent while most common profitability ratio return on investment (ROI) was 5.6 percent. The company’s institutional ownership is monitored at 81 percent. The company’s net profit margin has achieved the current level of 4.1 percent and possesses 11.8 percent gross margin.

Daily Analyst Recommendations

A number of key analysts, polled by FactSet, shared their views about the current stock momentum. The forecast of 9 surveyed investment analysts covering the stock advises investors to Buy stake in the company. At present, 2 analysts call it Sell, while 6 think it is Hold. Recently, analysts have updated the overall rating to 2.5. 1 analysts recommended Overweight these shares while 0 recommended Underweight, according to FactSet data.

Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) is worth US$ 14.69 Billion and has recently fallen -0.33% to US$ 50.81. The latest exchange of 4.29 Million shares is above its average trading activity of 2.69 Million shares. The day began at US$ 51.3 but the price moved to US$ 50.26 at one point during the trading and finally capitulating to a session high of US$ 51.37. The stock tapped a 52-week high of US$ 51.56 while the mean 12-month price target for the shares is US$ 50.2.

Currently, the stock carries a price to earnings ratio of 29.42, a price to book ratio of 7.59, and a price to sales ratio of 3.71. For the past 5 years, the company’s revenue has grown 7.4%, while the company’s earnings per share has grown 7.4%. With an institutional ownership near 80.6%, it carries an earnings per share ratio of 1.73.

Inside Look At Analysts Reviews

Latest analyst recommendations could offer little help to investors. The stock is a Buy among 3 brokerage firms polled by Factset Research. At present, 13 analysts recommended Holding these shares while 1 recommended sell, according to FactSet data. 1 analysts call it Underweight, while 0 think it is Overweight. Recently, investment analysts covering the stock have updated the mean rating to 2.8.

The Wellesleys News

Investment Research Analysts Opinion: Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE), Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST)

Healthcare Shares Need To Consider: GenVec, Inc. (NASDAQ:GNVC), Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:PPHM)

GenVec, Inc. (NASDAQ:GNVC) shares ended at $ 6.57 with 1.67 mln shares exchanging hands. That puts the market capitalization at $ 14.72 mln. It opened the session with a $ 6.12 price tag, later ranging from $ 6.11 to $ 7.14, the range at which the stock has traded at throughout the day. The stock stands nearly -53.07% off versus the 52-week high and 143.33% away from the 52-week low. The number of shares currently owned by investors are 2.24 mln.

Sell-side analyst recommendations point to a short term price target of $ 15 on the shares of GenVec, Inc. (GNVC). The consensus rating is 2, indicating analysts in general look favorably on the company’s future prospects. It has been assigned a low target price of $ 15 and a high target price of $ 15.

The current price is staying above the SMA lines which signify strength and is generally healthy/positive and may provide the momentum for driving the share price higher. Current price places the company’s stock 22.9% away from its 200-day simple moving average, 70.53%, away from the 50-day average and also 42.64% away from 20-day average.

For this year, GenVec, Inc. (NASDAQ:GNVC) is performing 104.67%. Over the past five trading sessions it is 7.18%; 107.26% for the month; 72.89% for the last quarter; 11.36% for the past six-months; and 31.4% for the last 12 months. The last close places the company’s stock about $ 3.87 off its 52 week high of $ 10.44 and $ 6.3 above the 52 week low of $ 0.27.

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:PPHM) closed up +0.02 points or 4.93% at $ 0.31 with 1.67 mln shares exchanging hands. Current price level places the company’s stock about -72.66% from the 52-week high and 9.36% away from the 52-week low. The consensus rating is 1.5, indicating analysts in general look favorably on the company’s future prospects.

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (PPHM) opened the session with a $ 0.292 price tag, later ranging from $ 0.2857 to $ 0.31, the range at which the stock has traded at throughout the day. The stock stands nearly $ 0.83 off versus the 52-week high of $ 1.12 and $ 0.01 above the 52-week low of $ 0.28. The number of shares currently owned by investors are 259.03 mln. The current price change puts the market capitalization at $ 79.31 mln.

Over the past five trading sessions shares of Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:PPHM) are 5.59%; -1.23% for the month; -9.94% for the last quarter; -17.24% for the past six-months; and -70.27% for the last 12 months. The current price is staying above the SMA lines which signify strength and is generally healthy/positive and may provide the momentum for driving the share price higher. Current price places the company’s stock -16.4% away from its 200-day simple moving average, -1.92%, away from the 50-day average and also 0.4% away from 20-day average. The stock is performing -1.23% year to date.

The Wellesleys News

Healthcare Shares Need To Consider: GenVec, Inc. (NASDAQ:GNVC), Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:PPHM)

Dividend Stock Buzz: Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS)

Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) share price jumped at US$ 84.6 before falling back to end the trade at US$ 83.92 a share. The dividend stock is -4.59% off a 52-week high stock price of US$ 88.53 but is up 24.6% since hitting the US$ 68.6. Investors are buying the stock with a trailing-twelve-month price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 19.94.

After a -0.08% fall from previous close of US$ 83.99, Hasbro, Inc. (HAS) has a US$ 10.44 Billion market cap. The company pays a US$ 0.51-cent-per-share quarterly dividend, giving it a 2.43% yield. That brings its full year payout to US$ 2.04 and 46.7% annual payout ratio based on EPS.

The HAS has soared 7.88% year-to-date. The equity has gained steam in recent weeks, with shares up about 2.39% in the past three months. It added 0.07%, climbed 3.64% and jumped 5.69% in the week, one month and six months, respectively. Revenue growth rate was recorded at 2.1% and net income per share was seen moving at a 5.4% rate in the past five years.

Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) is over 1% above analysts’ consensus price target of US$ 86.7. The stock has blown through analysts’ low price target of US$ 82, but is still below the high US$ 98 target. On a price appreciation basis over the past 12 months, the stock returned 17.98%.

The most recent short interest data show 6.82% of the company’s stock are short sold. It would take about 5.82 days to cover all short positions. In terms of volatility, it has a beta coefficient of 0.77 and technical analysis volatility indicator called Average True Range or ATR around 1.69.

Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) closed 1.97% above its 200-day moving average which many technicians use as a guide to the long-term trend, so stocks above the line are considered to be in longer-term uptrends, while those below it are considered to be in downtrends. The stock is 0.54% above another chart threshold, its 50-day moving average and 3.05% above its 20-day simple moving average.

The Wellesleys News

Dividend Stock Buzz: Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS)

Can Your China WFOE Survive the Local Mayor’s Arrest?

China WFOE formationThe Chinese media has lately been replete with stories about corruption investigations against Huang Xingguo, former acting Party chief and mayor of Tianjin Municipality. Whenever I read about something like this, I always wonder how many foreign companies will get caught in the crossfire.

How does that happen? Let me explain with an example of a China law story I never tire of telling.

Many years ago, an American company retained my law firm to form a WFOE in a fairly remote China city. Remote in terms of foreign companies anyway. This American company had a Chinese General Manager based in that remote city on whom it relied for pretty much everything. Very early on in the WFOE formation process, it became clear to our China lawyers working on the WFOE formation project that there was (and would continue to be) tension between how our China lawyers wanted to form the China WFOE and how the Chinese General Manager wanted to form the China WFOE. You see, we wanted to form the China WFOE completely by the book, but the Chinese General Manager viewed us as naive and kept insisting that he could do it much faster and with virtually none of the formalities because he had friends in the government. So we put it to the owner of the American company: either give us full control over how this WFOE formation is going to be done or just fire us. Because having us involved and paying lawyer fees to do the WFOE formation “the Chinese way” (the General Manager’s term, not mine) makes no sense at all. The American company agreed with our assessment and told us that it had to go with its General Manager because without that person it would have no Chinese company. We parted on shockingly amiable terms.

So amiable in fact, that about two years later the owner of the American company wrote me to say that though it had managed to get the WFOE formed really easily and really quickly, Beijing had come in and audited the local government and shut down a bunch of improperly formed WFOEs, including theirs. Beijing had come in after terminating a whole crop of local government officials for corruption and then, as it so often does, it throws out a fair amount of the bath water (our client’s WFOE for instance) with the bath (the officials who were terminated and jailed). This sort of thing goes on all the time in China.

So if you have a Tianjin WFOE now would be a good time to go back and figure out whether you have one that is legitimate enough to withstand what looks like will be coming down the pike. And if not, you should do whatever you can to shore it up or even just prepare to have to tear it down.

Just saying….

Bottom Line: If you are not operating legally in China, there will come a time when you will pay the price for that. Going after American companies operating illegally in China is low hanging and lucrative fruit for the Chinese government and it is just one of the ways we see China retaliating against Trump. The Chinese government has stepped up its law and order efforts and that has meant that time is coming more often these days for foreign companies doing business in China. China’s Tax Authorities Want You.

 

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China Law Blog

Can Your China WFOE Survive the Local Mayor’s Arrest?

Why Lead Generation Websites Need Great CRO

Companies with lead generation websites tend to under-prioritize conversion rate optimization (CRO). This is especially true of small and midsize firms when it comes to their initial web designs and ongoing website testing and maintenance.

Why Lead Generation Websites Need Great CRO

Neglecting CRO is a huge mistake. Frankly, it’s a bigger one than even our agency realized until we completed a massive study of more than 300,000 online sales leads. Then we learned something very surprising.

A full 84 percent of online leads — generated from SEO, PPC and other online lead generation marketing campaigns — occurred on the first visit. Click To Tweet

This research data is discussed in more detail in the presentation below, 10 Ways to Make Your Lead Generation Website Convert on the First Visit, and led to our agency offering first visit conversion advice.

We realized the do-or-die importance of getting visitors to submit a form or phone-in on the first visit. I created this CRO guide to help companies bring the conversion readiness of their websites to a higher level. The goal is also to keep their lead pipelines flowing, or start them flowing.

The importance of data and testing

CRO is a very technical and data-driven discipline within the web design field. E-commerce companies are masters of CRO because their very solvency depends on it. CRO involves big-picture issues, such as the writing style of content. It also involves micro-details, such as the shade of color of a “Submit” button on a contact page.

There are literally thousands of variables on web pages. These variables affect a visitor’s decision of whether or not to submit a form or place a phone call. E-commerce firms have big budgets for CRO and perform a multitude of tests on a continuous basis. They do all of this in order to squeeze more and more conversions out of product pages, as well as out of other pages.

CRO is complex and comprehensive. I therefore approached this presentation with the goal of putting some manageable scope around CRO for lead generation websites. My intention is to help companies like yours know which of the thousands of CRO items should be high priorities.

If you’ve never engaged in a serious CRO program before, it’s wise to start with a limited focus. Otherwise, your efforts will be haphazard and unlikely to lead to any noticeable improvement in first-visit conversion rates.

It’s an ongoing process

As a final introductory thought, it’s important to view CRO as an ongoing part of the marketing plan.

You could implement the tips in this presentation as a one-off project. In that case, you might see a marked improvement in conversions. Whether or not you do will depend a lot on what your starting point looked like.

However, to really turn your website into a lead generating machine, you have to keep testing. People are unpredictable—if you have a sales force, you already know that. No matter how good the theory is behind a CRO-driven website change, there’s no telling for sure how visitors will react.

That’s why you need to observe their on-site behavior through analysis of data and then try alternative changes. Testing will put miles of distance between you and the competition in lead generation.

See the presentation now:

The post Why Lead Generation Websites Need Great CRO appeared first on Growmap.

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Why Lead Generation Websites Need Great CRO

Business Expansion: Increasing Sales to Enter New Markets

Business man with newspaperIf you’re serious about business expansion, be sure to get serious about increasing sales. This strategy will empower your company to maintain the revenue necessary to purchase products and services that will extend your organization’s sphere of industry influence. Since this is the case, now is the time to learn more about which strategies you can implement to optimize your company’s sales. Here are four techniques that can help you realize this business-building goal:

Purchase Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software

As many marketing experts know, optimizing your relationship with your customers is a great way to improve retention rates. While there are several strategies you can deploy to improve these relationships, purchasing high quality CRM software is one of the most effective ways to realize the objective. This software will help you and your sales team keep careful track of key factors like the best time to call clients and which types of products and services they purchase most frequently. When you start looking for the ideal CRM software, make sure that the product in question comes with most or all of the following capabilities:

  • Tracking Partners
  • Product Support
  • Flexible Security
  • Business Process Automation
  • Access Permissions
  • Billing
  • Data Reporting
  • Hardware Monitoring
  • Integration with External Applications
  • Invoicing Functionality

These features can help your call center dialer become more effective when contacting prospective clients and current customers.

When you start looking for new CRM software, make sure that you’re purchasing your products from a reputable company. Be sure to do thorough research on the company and identify an organization that possesses all of the following attributes:

  • great online reviews
  • a good Better Business Bureau (BBB) rating
  • reasonable pricing
  • a warranty
  • a fair return/exchange policy
  • perks and benefits

Optimize Your Online Presence

In addition to investing in great CRM software, make sure that you optimize your online presence. This strategy is very important and effective because more and more people are buying products and services online. By connecting with your target market via Internet, you can build your brand in a powerful manner and even cause your product line to become global in recognition.

While there are several techniques that you can employ to build your online presence, one of the simplest and most effective strategies is hiring a team of digital marketing professionals. The individuals from these companies will typically be able to offer you diverse services, some of which may include:

  • content marketing
  • search engine optimization
  • social media optimization
  • web design and development
  • online reputation management

Build Brand Ambassadors

As many marketing experts know, one of the best ways to optimize sales is through word-of-mouth advertising. When an individual speaks positively about specific products or services, other people are more likely to believe in the value of the brand. Since this is the case, it’s a good idea for you to build brand ambassadors.

Brand ambassadors are clients who share information about your product line with individuals in their social networks. There are numerous ways that you can turn a regular customer into a brand ambassador. One is by including Share Buttons on your blog posts and web articles. Another is by providing incentives. An example would be offering a customer 20% off when they are successful in having a friend sign up for your company’s monthly e-newsletter.

Repair Your Company’s Credit

One final strategy you can implement to increase sales for your company is by using one of the best credit repair companies to help repair the organization’s credit. When you repair your company’s credit, you’ll have an easier time purchasing commercial real estate and entering new markets.

By having more real estate and being able to be in new markets you will give your sales force new opportunities to do their job and increase the amount of sales for your company.

Don’t Delay: Start Increasing Your Sales Today!

If you’re serious about improving your company’s sales, it’s important to access and implement proven strategies that will help you realize the objective. You can implement some or all of the techniques outlined above to ensure that your company gets on the path to increasing sales and entering new markets!

The post Business Expansion: Increasing Sales to Enter New Markets appeared first on Blogtrepreneur — For Busy Entrepreneurs.

Blogtrepreneur – For Busy Entrepreneurs

Business Expansion: Increasing Sales to Enter New Markets

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Staff vs. Independent — Why Staff Photographer Jobs are Declining and What to Do About It

There has been much ado in recent years about the overall decline in the number of staff photographer positions at newspapers, yet an anecdotal observation of these same newspapers shows they are publishing the same number of photographs in print, and even more images are being consumed online.  The dire declines in circulation of a newspaper is irrelevant to the number of photos used, it’s the same paper (save for the instances where there’s also a reduction in page count) just fewer copies are printed. So why are staff photography jobs being slashed practically everywhere you turn?

It’s simple math really.

Consider the cost of a staff photographer. Let’s break it down using validatable figures:

The mean wage of a news photographer is $ 43,090 (US Govt DOL, here).  To outfit that photographer with two cameras, lenses, etc, is roughly $ 10,000 a year (updating, replacing, new, repairs, etc) and about $ 3k every three years for a new laptop equates to $ 1k a year for a computer, and a smart phone at $ 100/mo which allows you to transmit photos, or $ 1,200 a year.  It also takes approximately 151 square feet of office space per employee (see here for details) and at $ 23.23 per foot (see here for details), or $ 3,507.73 per month to provide an employee with a desk, chair, parking, shared cost of a break room,  etc, so that’s $ 42,092.76 a year.  The average person drives about 12,000 miles a year. For a photographer, who is always driving to every assignment, that’s low, but let’s use that low figure. That equates (at $ 0.57mile, the IRS  rate) to $ 6,840 a year. The cost for their employee benefits works out to be 1.25 to 1.4 times the salary (see here), so on the low end, benefits and taxes cost the employer $ 10,772.50. For futher review, MIT has an interesting outline of costs, here). And a paid employee typically has two weeks vacation, so they work 50 weeks a year.

$  43,090.00 Base salary
$  10,000.00 Gear
$    1,000.00 Laptop and software licensing
$    1,200.00 Cell phone (not incl. office desk line)
$  42,092.76 Office space
$    6,840.00 Vehicle (or reimbursement allowance)
$  10,772.50 Benefits
$ 114,995.26   TOTAL COST FOR ONE EMPLOYEE PHOTOGRAPHER

As such, the average cost, per week, to have one staff photographer with gear and desk and car is 2,299.91 over 50 weeks.  Every day of a 5 day week, that’s $ 459.98. Even if  you want to debate the cost of the office space, and say it’s $ 0, the daily cost of the staff photographer is still $ 291.61. It’s not $ 0 though, and accounting and HR don’t think it’s $ 0, so don’t make an argument that you’ll likely lose on this point. (FYI — for those of you in the Washington DC area, where the mean salary for photographers is $ 66,130, that’s benefits of $ 16,532.50, and with DC as the most expensive place for office space, at $ 48.96 per square foot, that’s $ 88,715 for your office space. As such, the total cost is $ 190,417.50, or $ 761.67 per day 5 days a week.)

It doesn’t matter if it’s a slow news day.  That is a hard cost for an employee whether they are shooting or not. The rights that photographer grants are work-made-for-hire. They do not own their photographs, the employer does. They pay you every day regardless of whether you’re shooting, sick, on vacation, on a comp-day, preparing your entries for a contest, booking your itinerary for your next assignment, or editing your photos at your desk.

There is not a single wire service or newspaper that pays $ 459 (or more) for an independent photographer. In fact, there are many who pay less than the cost of renting the equipment.

The same rights that the employee grants to the outlet are being demanded — and provided — by the freelancer. This means that the outlet has just as many rights to the visuals produced as they did with their employee.

In addition, these independent photographers are available, in abundance, on an as-needed basis. Why obligate a company to paying for someone 5 days a week when you only need to pay for someone when you need them to actually produce?

What can those in the industry do?

(Continued after the Jump)


What’s a Photo Editor to Do?

Photo Editors want the ability to produce excellent results for their newspaper, on a consistent basis. The viewing public, in a landmark survey conducted recently by the NPPA bears out the importance of professionally produced images (more here). The churn in the independent photographer causes the photo editor to spend an inordinate amount of time constantly finding new photographers as others fail and drop out of the profession. The constant learning curve for these new photographers means lost time and dropped balls when it comes to working with them for the company.

A Photo Editor can be certain that a combined review of costs of an employee by both the HR department and the Accounting Department will result in the comparison of the employee versus independent costs of producing visual content.

A Simple analysis shows that if an as-needed photographer costs $ 250, and an always obligated employee photographer costs $ 459, why would the employer pay the higher rate? This does not take a rocket scientist to figure out. The Harvard Business Review (here) references that, without severance, it’s near impossible to cut costs by 30%. The shift from $ 459 to $ 250 is a 54% cost savings, even considering you had an independent photographer working every day. That number can significantly increase if they are only working as-needed, not every day. (For those in DC, that’s a 77% cost savings at $ 250 when the per-day employee cost is $ 761.)

As difficult as it sounds, one of the administrative obligations of a Photo Editor (or at the very least, the Director of Photography), should be to know the total cost of their department, factor in the value of each producing staff photographer every day, and then pay the independent photographers a rate that is at least equal to the cost to the company of the employee, if not more.

Yes, it’s clear that this is not as easy as it sounds. However, if you want a department that will continue to exist, This is necessary. That also means if you value your own job, you should be doing this, or, you may lose your own job. If  you doubt the veracity of this concept, look no further than what happened at The Washington Times (here), and the Chicago Sun Times (here), among many others. Next, ask yourself, at the figures above, would any independent photographer be «living the high life»? They need benefits just like you have. They need an office space just like you have.

In order to preserve the ability to produce great content for your outlet, knowing the cost to your company of an employee allows you to ensure that you are doing the best service to the company.  Cost-cutting is not always what’s in the best interests of your company, and when you cut too much, quality suffers. In the current environment, cuts have been so extreme, that quality has suffered.

Your department often sets the rate they will pay. Set one that ensures the quality and consistency of your outlet, not to mention survivability. As a side benefit, the photographic community will be better off as well.

What’s a Staff Photographer to Do?

A staff photographer who knows what their job costs the company they are working for should look at an independent photographer working for less than that figure, as similar to a «scab». What’s a «scab?» (see here) Simply put, it’s someone who is putting the job of the employee (almost always a union employee) at risk during a strike, where the employees are fighting for their jobs and fair pay.  An independent photographer who works for less than half of what it costs your employer for you to do your job is, quite simply, putting your job at risk. Anyone who tries to tell you otherwise is lying. Countless other photo departments can prove this point. Just ask around. There are many out-of-work former staff photographers  who can validate this point.

Staff photographers should

Staff vs. Independent — Why Staff Photographer Jobs are Declining and What to Do About It

Setting up Your For Hire Page: Do’s and Don’ts

This is a guest post from @IvanWalsh, a blogger and online marketer with over twenty years of IT experience who has been online since 1992 which is as early as you could BE online. He has skills in all the Internet Marketing Strategies you need to take your business or blog to the next level.

Setting up Your For Hire page: Do’s and Don’ts

Image Credit: Geralt at Pixabay modified with Canva.

Do you rarely get asked to provide consultancy services?

If so, you need to examine your For Hire page. Look at your For Hire page and ask yourself:

  • What do others think of this page?
  • What do I want them to do next?

How can I improve my For Hire page so that passive browsers become active customers?

Why Set Up a For Hire Page?

Why do you need a For Hire page? Because it is one of the top three ways to earn an income from your skills and talents.

There are three ways to make money online:

  1. Products
  2. Services
  3. Advertising

If you want to provide services, such as writing designing and marketing, you need to create a sales page for your services. Click To Tweet

So, let’s look at how to set up a For Hire or Services Offered page and attract more clients.

Before we start. What goes into the For Hire page?

What prospective customers want:

You need to break it out into five sections:

  • Who you are – keep this brief, use a real name (or even a pen name) and include a photo. People like to see who they’re dealing with.
  • What you offer – list three to five services you provide. Don’t write a laundry list. Keep it focussed.
  • Customers – list customers you’ve worked with. If you’re new to this area, discuss who you’ve worked for in the past. If you’re totally new, highlight the sites you’ve guest posted for. It all helps.
  • Credentials – highlight qualifications, endorsements and other types of social proof that position you as an ‘authority’. More on authority later.
  • Contact – provide multiple ways for prospective clients to contact you. I added my telephone number recently and was surprised (read: amazed) that people started to phone instead of emailing.

These are the five areas to concentrate on. If you look at blog superstars, you’ll notice that… they DON’T do this.

Why? Because they’ve already established their authority, you know what they offer and you probably already follow them. And they’re after corporate clients. Maybe you’re not.

With that in mind, develop your For Hire page for the ‘specific’ customer profile you’re trying to attract. This is very important. Let’s look at this for a moment.

Create your For Hire page so that it matches your prospective customer’s deepest:

  • Pain points
  • Urgent needs

People come to your site because they have a problem.
How do you solve it?

TELL THEM!

They need to fix it now – how will you help them do this?

Design your For Hire page along these lines and you’ll get more inquiries.

How to Set Up a For Hire page

The next step is to create your services page. This will take a few drafts until you get it right, so take your time.

Don’t overwhelm readers with text. Write the page to be scanned. Use lots of H2 headings and bullet lists.

  • Summary – identify what you offer in twenty words. Be ultra specific. Remove waffle. Keep it tight.
  • Bio – provide a short pen portrait of who you are and link to your About Us page; include a warm, friendly photo.
  • Services – bullet points for the five services you offer. Link each service to its own dedicated services pages. This gives readers the in-depth information they’re after while keeping your primary (For Hire) services page focused.
  • Social Proof – this means that the reader can see who you’ve worked with, what qualifications you have (degrees, published papers, awards), who recommends you, what sites you’ve written for and anything else that reduces their anxiety, doubts, or concerns.

Your goal here is to reassure that reader that you’re a real person, that others trust you (your testimonials or recommendations) and that you’re an authority in your field.

Another way of looking at this?

The Purpose of your For Hire Page:

  1. Hire meEstablish yourself as a definitive authority (one reason to write a book as it gives your status almost immediately)
  2. Show who else believes this (endorsements, guest posts etc)
  3. How you provide value for money

SEO Considerations:

While we write for humans first, we also need to consider search engines.

  • Page Title – Write a short focused keyword rich title.
  • Page Description – As this will appear in the search engine results, write it as a question. For example, ‘Google Analytics?  Ever wonder what they really mean? Contact us today to… ’ This will get you more visits as it addresses the reader’s pain/needs.
  • Linking – Add links to this page from blog posts. I know this sounds obvious but most bloggers forget to link to their For Hire page. Don’t over do it, but do add links where it makes sense.

6 Mistakes to avoid:

I think you get the idea of what we need to cover. So, what happens if you’re not getting leads?

  1. Authority – have you demonstrated that you’re an expert? If not, why would someone hire you, right? How can you do this? Create very long detailed tutorials that establish you as the definitive authority on this topic. Create a suite of articles (5-7) and interlink them. Pretty soon these will become the most trafficked pages on your site. Then link from here to your For Hire page.
  2. Credentials – how do I trust you? Ask your colleagues, friends and others for recommendations. If you’re new to blogging, look for ways to generate goodwill (e.g. ghost write a set of posts, design graphics, setup Facebook pages for non-profits, etc). People will return the favor in time.
  3. Examples – link to your best work; add logos/badges of sites you’ve written for. If you don’t have any clients, then provide cheat sheets, FAQs, and presentations that demonstrate your expertise.
  4. Social Proof – If you have 300 followers on Twitter, it’s unlikely that others will see you as an expert. I know you can ‘buy’ followers, but try to avoid this. Instead spend 30 min every day building up your network and engaging with others. The fastest way to generate goodwill is to put others first (i.e. big up your friends) and ask for help later on.
  5. Contact – It’s shocking the number of bloggers that don’t include their address on their blog. I don’t mean street address but even a PO Box or telephone number. What’s the worse thing that can happen if you put your telephone number online? Now think of the best 
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Allergan Announces Pair Of Acquisitions

Allergan Plc. (NYSE:AGN) announced a pair of acquisitions on Tuesday, both of companies developing treatments for liver disease. Allergan changed its dealmaking strategy following the collapse of its planned $ 160 billion merger with Pfizer Inc. Now, the company is focusing on acquiring small and mid-sized assets. The company will hold a conference call Wednesday, September […]
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Allergan Announces Pair Of Acquisitions

Controlling your own wealth as a basic human right

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A few months ago, the Indian government withdrew 86% of banknotes in circulation. Ostensibly, it was to cut down on the black market…

Continue reading on The Coinbase Blog »

Stories by Brian Armstrong on Medium

Controlling your own wealth as a basic human right

Viacom And CBS May Be Merging Soon

CBS and Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ:VIA) may be getting back together after spending nearly a decade apart. Reports emerged Thursday that they are considering a merger. Viacom bought CBS in 2000. The companies split six years later because of views that CBS and its traditional media assets were a drag on Viacom’s younger-skewing platforms. The Redstone […]
Corporate News – The Cerbat Gem

Viacom And CBS May Be Merging Soon

Bass Pro To Acquire Outdoor-Gear Rival Cabela’s

Bass Pro Shops is close to acquiring Cabela’s Inc. (NYSE:CAB) after partnering with Goldman Sachs Group Inc’s private equity arm and Capital One Financial Corp. to submit the winning bid for the company. The wilderness-themed retailer is buying Cabela’s for $ 65.50 per share, or about $ 5.5 billion. Bass Pro reportedly beat out private-equity firm Sycamore […]
Mergers & Acquisitions – The Cerbat Gem

Bass Pro To Acquire Outdoor-Gear Rival Cabela’s

Amazon Ramps Up Holiday Hiring By 20%

Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) announced that it would be increasing the number of seasonal associates it hires for the holidays by 20 percent this year. Amazon will be hiring more than 120,000 temporary workers for this holiday season. The Seattle retailer hired 100,000 seasonal associates last year. The seasonal positions will be created at fulfillment centers, sorting […]
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Amazon Ramps Up Holiday Hiring By 20%

Plan To Make Your Long Distance Road Trip Ideal

roadtrip2Everyone enjoys a good road trip. It’s an experience friends and family can share for years. All successful road trips have certain things in common. It takes the right people combined with the right attitude who have made the right preparations.

Route

One of the first things that need to be done is to determine destinations and routes. This will depend on the travel style of those going on the road trip. Some people enjoy staying at hotels; some are content with an RV while others look forward to an opportunity to do some camping. This preference will impact routes selections. It’s also good to determine sites to see while traveling toward a final destination. An interstate may be good for some people who want to get to a destination as fast as possible. Rural roads and their unique attractions may be the preference of others.

Budget

It’s important to understand that road trips cost money. The important thing is to know they often come with unforeseen costs, and it’s important to budget for them. Unforeseen costs could be a surprise accidently losing something important, a desire to try a unique eatery, need to replace clothing, unexpected car repair and more. Some travel experts recommend people determine the costs for their food, lodging, gas as well as entertainment and add an additional fifteen percent to ensure money won’t be a problem.

Visuals

When people go on road trips, they will want to photograph the experience. One of the most important methods is with cameras, cell phones and more. The next thing to decide is if the pictures and video recordings are going to be taken on impulse or planned out. Some people invest in tripods, special camera lenses, selfie sticks, GoPro cameras and more. Others are content to just take some random pictures and video with their cell phone and move on to the next destination.

Packing The Car

The goal of packing a car is to consolidate all of the bags and other items to the maximum possible capacity. Some people like to put all of one type of thing in each bag. They put things into bags based on a category. Some travel experts suggest there will be more room when packing a car if the focus is on item size and making the best use of space. People need to try and pack light and only take what they’ll need. This will provide ample room to bring back items purchased during the trip.

Car Maintenance

According to Consumer Reports, it’s important to make certain that any vehicle used for a road trip is properly maintained. It’s important that all scheduled maintenance on the vehicle be performed. This includes checking the wiper blades, fluid levels and more. The battery needs to be checked to make certain it’s strong, and its terminals are clean. Tires need to be inspected for any tears or bulges. There needs to be a sufficient amount of tread on the tires. The vehicle’s brake system, including the brake pads, need to be checked and more. Prior to leaving on a road trip, the vehicle being used should have an emergency kit as well as a flashlight and first aid kit.

Roadside Assistance Plans

Nothing could ruin a perfect road trip more than having something unexpected happen in a remote part of the country. It’s important to have a roadside assistance plan in place prior to leaving. Most of these plans provide 24/7 assistance in most areas. It can cover such things as jump starts, towing, lockouts and more.

Auto Insurance

Auto insurance is an important part of every ideal road trip. Before leaving, it’s essential that an auto insurance policy is current. Depending on the vehicle, it should have liability, comprehensive as well as collision coverage. If a person believes they are paying too much for auto insurance, it is time for them to get some car insurance quotes. When people know have the right car insurance, it always makes the road trip much better.

The post Plan To Make Your Long Distance Road Trip Ideal appeared first on Blogtrepreneur — For Busy Entrepreneurs.

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Plan To Make Your Long Distance Road Trip Ideal

Monday, January 23, 2017

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Caterpillar Woes Continue With Weak Demand In 3Q

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) continues to suffer in the global commodities bust. Sales of construction, mining and oil equipment remain weak. Caterpillar is currently the world’s largest maker of mining and construction equipment, including bulldozers, trucks and other heavy machines, so it is feeling the effects more than most in the industry. Caterpillar Chairman and Chief […]
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Caterpillar Woes Continue With Weak Demand In 3Q

4 Tips to Attract the Best Employees

team-1697987_640In running your business, are you doing everything conceivable in order to attract the best employees?

As the New Year draws ever closer, now would be a good time to assess how you are going about bringing in new talent.

Keep in mind that hiring such talent is not simply the result of placing a help wanted advertisement online and/or in the newspaper.

Not only do you have to get qualified candidates through the door for the interview process, but you then have to determine which one or ones are best positioned to help your business moving forward. As you might imagine, there are no 100 percent guarantees when you hire someone. They could be one of the best workers ever to come through your doors or one of the biggest mistakes you will end up making.

That said do you know how best to go about attracting the top employees?

Incentives Can Go a Long Way

So that you are able to have the best odds of bringing in and keeping to-flight employees, remember these four tips:

  1. Workplace – First and foremost, do you have a workplace environment that is second-to-none? For many workers in today’s workplace, having a place to call home for many years is not the norm. In many cases, employees will use one job to eventually get to another one. In doing so, they may turn out to be great workers in their time at a place, though they could also turn out to be real duds. By offering a workplace environment that is inclusive and makes people feel welcome, you stand a better chance of getting solid employees, employees willing to go the extra mile for you and ultimately stick around;
  2. Incentives – Offering your employees incentives will be a great means to keep them around, not to mention make sure they are happy during their time with you. For example, solid group benefits for employees are a great place to start. Given how expensive medical insurance is becoming for many individuals these days, paying for a sizable portion of their medical needs oftentimes proves a big help for both you and the employee. If you’re worried about the costs becoming too astronomical for you, shop around for the best medical plans out there. In doing so, you can oftentimes find a plan that is financially cost-effective for you when all is said and done. Other incentives include not only increases in salary over time, but also the ability to grow within the company (see more below).

Don’t Overlook Growth Importance

  1. Growth – When it comes to growth, many workers will state that having a chance to climb up the corporate ladder is important to them. Without those opportunities for growth, some employees will feel like they are simply going through the motions each day, something that is a problem for you and your customers. Be sure to make growth opportunities one of your key offerings when sitting down and interviewing candidates;
  2. Honesty – Lastly, don’t you like it when employees are honest with you? Assuming the answer is yes, you need to return that ounce of respect. If you don’t, you can lose people (both figuratively and literally) before you know it. Be honest with workers when there are problems, be they with the individuals themselves or the company in general. If you see cutbacks coming down the road, don’t wait until the last minute to inform those impacted by them. Also speak honestly in grading one’s performance level. If you’re not honest with them, you hurt both them and your business overall.

As a business owner, how do you go about attracting the best employees to keep your company churning along?

Photo credit: Pixabay

About the Author: Dave Thomas covers business topics on the web.

 

The post 4 Tips to Attract the Best Employees appeared first on Successful Blog.

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4 Tips to Attract the Best Employees