Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Skype and Nokia Top Executives Invest in Finland Food App

Even with huge billion dollar players already in the food delivery industry, the food delivery app Wolt based in Helsinki has be able to raise over $ 11 million fresh funding from wealthy Nordic investors that include the Skype founder and the Nokia chairman as the business announced its launch in Stockholm on Friday. We now […]
Corporate News – The Cerbat Gem

Skype and Nokia Top Executives Invest in Finland Food App

China Copyrights: No, You Can’t Call It Fair Use

China copyright lawsFormally, China’s copyright laws have been in line with those of the United States and other developed countries since China became a signatory to the Berne Convention in 1992 and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) in 2001. But it’s hardly news that you can get a pirated copy of pretty much any movie, CD, or book in China with only a modicum of effort. Years ago you could find bootleg DVDs outside nearly every supermarket and mall in the country. Nowadays it’s more difficult to find such sellers, but not because of China’s efforts to curtail counterfeit goods; it’s because the market has moved to the Internet.

But as China’s homegrown media companies like Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent continue to pay serious money for the rights to stream tv shows, movies, and other copyrighted material, more lawsuits are being filed in Chinese courts seeking to enforce China’s copyright law, and more official efforts are underway to reduce the amount of pirated material available in China. A (slightly) more subtle form of copyright infringement is still thriving, however: creative works that coopt key elements from copyrighted material, from storylines to characters to music cues and beyond. Television shows in China will make a few slight changes to a copyrighted format and then insist it is an entirely new creation, as with The Voice of China last year. It’s not always clearly a copyright dodge, either; the popular Chinese singing competition I Am a Singer (我是歌手) is an official licensee of a copyrighted  Korean format – or was, until the title and format were altered recently in the midst of China’s unofficial restrictions on Korean content. Presumably it is no longer considered a Korean-content show, which as a side benefit probably means the show cannot be held liable for copyright infringement.

Chinese manufacturers have long excelled at taking the key elements of an existing product and incorporating them into a “new” product. So it’s no surprise that the same thing happens in entertainment. It’s been happening for decades with the most famous story in China, the 16th century novel “Journey to the West,” which has been adapted into a movie or tv series dozens of times. We complain in America about the overwhelming number of sequels and superhero movies, but at least most of them have a different plot. This would be like having one of our greatest stories – you know, like Point Break – remade multiple times in different formats every year for forty years.

It’s important to understand, however, that Chinese law prohibits the unauthorized use of a copyrighted work, or elements thereof, unless such use falls under one of the twelve specific exceptions listed in Article 22 of China’s Copyright Law:

(1) personal use;

(2) “appropriate” quotation in order to introduce, comment on, or explain;

(3) media use to report current events;

(4) republishing or rebroadcasting of another media entity’s story;

(5) publishing or broadcasting a public speech;

(6) translation or reproduction of a scientific work solely for use in teaching or research;

(7) use by a government entity “to a justifiable extent for the purpose of fulfilling its official duties”;

(8) reproduction of a work in its collections by a library, museum, etc. for display or preservation purposes;

(9) a free live performance;

(10) copying, drawing, photographing or video-recording a public artwork;

(11) translation of a Chinese citizen’s work from Mandarin into a Chinese minority language, for distribution in China; and

(12) transliteration of a published work into braille for publication.

The above exceptions are similar to the American concept of “fair use,” a doctrine that allows for unlicensed use of copyrighted material under certain conditions.

Although not always interpreted consistently, China’s fair use exceptions are quite limited. When you’re watching a Chinese reality show and hear a dozen music cues lifted from American pop songs, that’s not fair use. When you’re watching a Chinese television show that seems exactly like Mad About You, that’s not fair use either. That leaves copyright infringement (the former) and legal licensing of a copyrighted format (the latter).

As the value of copyrighted material in China increases, it’s increasingly important to take a broader view of IP protection. Licensing TV shows to China is a big and growing business. Anti-piracy efforts are still important, but it’s even more important to have a properly drafted license agreement. And to take legal action when you find another media company using your copyrighted material. If you don’t protect your own IP, who will?

United Airlines Adding New Routes And Aircraft In Expansion

United Airlines, a unit of United Continental Holdings (NYSE: UAL), has announced a major expansion that includes 4 new cities and 31 new routes. United president Scott Kirby said, “Starting this summer we ‘re offering more flights to more destinations at more convenient times than in recent memory.” Most of the new flights are beginning […]
Corporate News – The Cerbat Gem

United Airlines Adding New Routes And Aircraft In Expansion

5 Reasons Why Animated Explainer Videos Could Boost Your Social Media Campaigns

Animated videos are everywhere! The reason why is that consumers can easily become entranced by a short animated video (who doesn’t love a good cartoon, right?). And businesses are using videos to their full advantage on their social media marketing campaigns.

5 Reasons Why Animated Explainer Videos Could Boost Your Social Media Campaigns

If you want to create a memorable and effective video that will dazzle your online followers, then hiring an animated video production company might be the way to go. Social media platforms, such as Facebook and YouTube, are the places where people gain information on just about anything.

People enjoy the fact that they can keep themselves entertained when they are feeling bored and/or want to lighten their moods. Plus, they get to connect with their friends and loved ones by sharing and messaging.

Consumers share original animated videos because such videos are informative, creative, engaging, and even inspiring. On the other hand, businesses also share these videos for a variety of purposes.

These purposes include marketing in an engaging and unique way and making sales presentations to prospective customers. Animated explainer videos make an excellent choice for a business’s content marketing strategy because of their emotional and psychological appeal.

In the social media generation, video has turned into the easiest online content to share. On Facebook, people like photos twice as much as they like text. But they share videos 12 times more than links and text combined. And on Twitter, users share 700 videos every minute. Now that’s amazing!

Thus, video posting, watching, and sharing is now defining a new era of internet users. Both big and small online companies are turning their efforts to online video production. And that’s where animated explainer videos are playing their main role. Online, these videos effectively reach out to potential customers by demonstrating a product or service in less than two minutes.

Here are 5 reasons why animated explainer videos (or AEVs) could boost your social media campaigns and drive more sales.

1. AEVs are the most cost-effective and engaging online content

More and more every day, internet and social media networks are turning to visual, emotional and quickly engaging media. An animated explainer video combines all three aspects in the most cost-effective way. And it does so while describing your product or service better than any other online content, such as an infographic.

You can use animated explainer videos to deliver complex ideas in a simple way. You can create engaging visual metaphors by combining those ideas. At the same time, you can present enticing experiences on an emotional level.

Plus, your explanatory and effective content can cause people to share your video. Video has the potential to grow conversions by up to 60% on average because of its visuals, attractive storytelling, and even its lovable characters.

2. AEVs are mobile-friendly

As you might already know, mobile devices are influencing the sharing of video content on social media. With the advent of cartoons and animations on mobile devices and the transition of mobile networks, people can’t seem to get enough of videos.

Today, the latest smartphones have the capacity to display videos, photos, and other rich content in HD quality. And the use of OTT messaging/sharing applications such as Whatsapp and Viber has become widespread.

Currently, video makes up 50% of all mobile online traffic, and this traffic is expected to grow by 61% in the next 2 years (Cisco). Simultaneously, iPhones and smartphones make up 40% of YouTube’s global watch time. As this trend continues, it is in every business’s best interest to focus on creating mobile-friendly videos so they don’t lose that market.

3. AEVs are easy for you to measure

All marketing specialists are aware that their efforts must be measurable in order to know the true reach and success of their campaigns. It can be easier and more effective to measure your video’s social media performance than to measure any other online content.

On YouTube, for instance, you can track and analyze the exact time when your video was viewed. You can also see how many times it was shared and if it was played all the way through. YouTube also allows you to analyse your audience’s demographics, such as gender and age groups.

Apart from free basic metrics like the ones on YouTube and Vimeo, you can opt to use more complex leased services, such as VidYard or Wistia. These provide more in-depth information, including the amount of re-watches from the same user or the full viewership rates of your video.

4. AEVs could go viral

When any video goes viral, it genuinely generates free distribution and even free advertising. Your video has the potential to get thousands or even millions of views! However, people sharing your video is not the same as your video going viral. Going viral means there’s an enormous leap in the quantity of shares.

You also need to know that some videos have a greater likelihood to be viral while others do not. Although there’s no secret to viralization, we know for a fact that comedy (50%) and how-to videos (38%) are the most likely to become viral.

AEVs have both qualities because they explain the product or services in an engaging and perhaps funny way. As a result, they could easily go viral and eventually increase their marketing benefits for your business.

5. AEVs are useful on any marketing campaign

With just a single investment in an explainer video production company, you can boost every one of your marketing campaigns. This possibility is available through social media, mobile communication, email, your business presentations, and even your blog and website. The cool thing about animated marketing videos are that they’re visual, they’re emotional, and they’re effective, no matter where you put them.

AEVs can be your greatest business tool for providing a boost to your social media marketing. They’re also an affordable investment that generates branding and boosts conversions and sales. And the good news is that you can also use them in every kind of online marketing campaign.

The post 5 Reasons Why Animated Explainer Videos Could Boost Your Social Media Campaigns appeared first on Growmap.

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5 Reasons Why Animated Explainer Videos Could Boost Your Social Media Campaigns

Analyst Research Roundup: Equity Residential (EQR), Washington Prime Group Inc. (WPG)

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) tinted gains of +0.76% (+0.48 points) to US$ 63.26. The volume of 1.46 Million shares climbed down over an trading activity of 2.19 Million shares. EPS ratio determined by looking at last 12 month figures is 11.64. Over the same time span, the stock marked US$ 75.49 as its best level and the lowest price reached was US$ 58.28. The corporation has a market cap of US$ 23.14 Billion.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)’s earnings per share has been growing at a 108.7 percent rate over the past 5 year when average revenue increase was noted as 9.7 percent. The return on equity ratio or ROE stands at 40.4 percent while most common profitability ratio return on investment (ROI) was 4.5 percent. The company’s institutional ownership is monitored at 97.8 percent. The company’s net profit margin has achieved the current level of 0 percent and possesses 66.8 percent gross margin.

FT reports, The 19 analysts offering 12 month price targets for Equity Residential have a median target of 65.00, with a high estimate of 70.00 and a low estimate of 56.00. The median estimate represents a 2.75% increase from the last price of 63.26.

Daily Analyst Recommendations

A number of key analysts, polled by FactSet, shared their views about the current stock momentum. The forecast of 4 surveyed investment analysts covering the stock advises investors to Buy stake in the company. At present, 1 analysts call it Sell, while 20 think it is Hold. Recently, analysts have updated the overall rating to 3. 0 analysts recommended Overweight these shares while 0 recommended Underweight, according to FactSet data.

Washington Prime Group Inc. (NYSE:WPG) is worth US$ 1.74 Billion and has recently risen 0.22% to US$ 9.3. The latest exchange of 1.46 Million shares is below its average trading activity of 1.6 Million shares. The day began at US$ 9.26 but the price moved to US$ 9.17 at one point during the trading and finally capitulating to a session high of US$ 9.36. The stock tapped a 52-week high of US$ 14.15 while the mean 12-month price target for the shares is US$ 10.9.

Currently, the stock carries a price to earnings ratio of 31, a price to book ratio of 1.89, and a price to sales ratio of 2.07. For the past 5 years, the company’s revenue has grown 8.1%, while the company’s earnings per share has grown -22.1%. With an institutional ownership near 94.3%, it carries an earnings per share ratio of 0.3.

According to Financial Times, The 18 analysts offering 12 month price targets for Worldpay Group PLC have a median target of 326.00, with a high estimate of 400.00 and a low estimate of 278.00. The median estimate represents a 19.72% increase from the last price of 272.30.

Inside Look At Analysts Reviews

Latest analyst recommendations could offer little help to investors. The stock is a Buy among 0 brokerage firms polled by Factset Research. At present, 2 analysts recommended Holding these shares while 0 recommended sell, according to FactSet data. 0 analysts call it Underweight, while 0 think it is Overweight. Recently, investment analysts covering the stock have updated the mean rating to 3.

The Wellesleys News

Analyst Research Roundup: Equity Residential (EQR), Washington Prime Group Inc. (WPG)

Dividend Stock To Watch: Hanesbrands Inc. (HBI)

Hanesbrands Inc. (NYSE:HBI) share price jumped at US$ 21.53 before falling back to end the trade at US$ 21.38 a share. The dividend stock is -28.29% off a 52-week high stock price of US$ 30.42 but is up 13.91% since hitting the US$ 18.91. Investors are buying the stock with a trailing-twelve-month price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 15.26.

After a 2.2% rise from previous close of US$ 20.92, Hanesbrands Inc. (HBI) has a US$ 8.13 Billion market cap. The company pays a US$ 0.15-cent-per-share quarterly dividend, giving it a 2.81% yield. That brings its full year payout to US$ 0.6 and 31.1% annual payout ratio based on EPS. According to FT, Year on year, both dividends per share and earnings per share excluding extraordinary items growth increased 10.00% and 31.42%, respectively. The positive trend in dividend payments is noteworthy since very few companies in the Apparel/Accessories industry pay a dividend. Additionally, five year annualized earnings per share growth is in-line with the industry average relative to its peers.

The HBI has tumbled -0.14% year-to-date. The equity has slowed down in recent weeks, with shares lower about -11.1% in the past three months. It added 2.54%, climbed -9.61% and jumped -22.06% in the week, one month and six months, respectively. Revenue growth rate was recorded at 6.3% and net income per share was seen moving at a 18% rate in the past five years.

Hanesbrands Inc. (NYSE:HBI) is over 27% above analysts’ consensus price target of US$ 27.54. The stock has yet to strike analysts’ low price target of US$ 22, and is still below the high US$ 34 target. On a price appreciation basis over the past 12 months, the stock returned -22.29%.

Financial Times data shows, In 2016, HanesBrands Inc reported a dividend of 0.44 USD, which represents a 10.00% increase over last year. The 9 analysts covering the company expect dividends of 0.57 USD for the upcoming fiscal year, an increase of 29.77%. The most recent short interest data show 7.51% of the company’s stock are short sold. It would take about 3.62 days to cover all short positions. In terms of volatility, it has a beta coefficient of 0.74 and technical analysis volatility indicator called Average True Range or ATR around 0.69.

Hanesbrands Inc. (NYSE:HBI) closed -12.85% below 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 -1.49% below another chart threshold, its 50-day moving average and 0.9% above its 20-day simple moving average.

The Wellesleys News

Dividend Stock To Watch: Hanesbrands Inc. (HBI)

Monday, February 27, 2017

Dividend Overview: PulteGroup, Inc. (PHM)

PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) share price jumped at US$ 21.77 before falling back to end the trade at US$ 21.73 a share. The dividend stock is -2.08% off a 52-week high stock price of US$ 22.4 but is up 32.77% since hitting the US$ 16.6. Investors are buying the stock with a trailing-twelve-month price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 12.22.

After a 0.6% rise from previous close of US$ 21.6, PulteGroup, Inc. (PHM) has a US$ 6.87 Billion market cap. The company pays a US$ 0.09-cent-per-share quarterly dividend, giving it a 1.66% yield. That brings its full year payout to US$ 0.36 and 20.1% annual payout ratio based on EPS. According to FT, Year on year, both dividends per share and earnings per share excluding extraordinary items growth increased 9.09% and 28.11%, respectively. The positive trend in dividend payments is noteworthy since very few companies in the Construction Services industry pay a dividend.

The PHM has soared 18.23% year-to-date. The equity has gained steam in recent weeks, with shares up about 16.02% in the past three months. It added 1.83%, climbed 6.31% and jumped 1.69% in the week, one month and six months, respectively. Revenue growth rate was recorded at 13.1% and net income per share was seen moving at a 38.8% rate in the past five years.

PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) is over 8% above analysts’ consensus price target of US$ 23.96. The stock has blown through analysts’ low price target of US$ 15, but is still below the high US$ 27.5 target. On a price appreciation basis over the past 12 months, the stock returned 27.74%.

Financial Times data shows, In 2016, PulteGroup Inc reported a dividend of 0.36 USD, which represents a 9.09% increase over last year. The 8 analysts covering the company expect dividends of 0.37 USD for the upcoming fiscal year, an increase of 3.06%. The most recent short interest data show 7.32% of the company’s stock are short sold. It would take about 4.12 days to cover all short positions. In terms of volatility, it has a beta coefficient of 1.13 and technical analysis volatility indicator called Average True Range or ATR around 0.41.

PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) closed 10.75% 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 8.89% above another chart threshold, its 50-day moving average and 1.46% above its 20-day simple moving average.

The Wellesleys News

Dividend Overview: PulteGroup, Inc. (PHM)

Dividend Stock Buzz: NetApp, Inc. (NTAP)

NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) share price jumped at US$ 41.05 before falling back to end the trade at US$ 40.95 a share. The dividend stock is -2.92% off a 52-week high stock price of US$ 42.18 but is up 85.36% since hitting the US$ 22.5. Investors are buying the stock with a trailing-twelve-month price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 37.13.

After a 0.02% rise from previous close of US$ 40.94, NetApp, Inc. (NTAP) has a US$ 11.27 Billion market cap. The company pays a US$ 0.19-cent-per-share quarterly dividend, giving it a 1.86% yield. That brings its full year payout to US$ 0.76 and 65.7% annual payout ratio based on EPS. According to FT, Year on year, growth in dividends per share increased 9.30% while earnings per share excluding extraordinary items fell by -55.94%. The positive trend in dividend payments is noteworthy since very few companies in the Computer Storage Devices industry pay a dividend. Additionally, five year annualized earnings per share growth is in-line with the industry average relative to its peers.

The NTAP has soared 16.73% year-to-date. The equity has gained steam in recent weeks, with shares up about 12.12% in the past three months. It added 0.96%, climbed 7.91% and jumped 18.88% in the week, one month and six months, respectively. Revenue growth rate was recorded at 1.6% and net income per share was seen moving at a -14.7% rate in the past five years.

NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) is over -1% above analysts’ consensus price target of US$ 41.38. The stock has blown through analysts’ low price target of US$ 27, but is still below the high US$ 62 target. On a price appreciation basis over the past 12 months, the stock returned 70.48%.

Financial Times data shows, In 2016, NetApp Inc reported a dividend of 0.71 USD, which represents a 9.30% increase over last year. The 12 analysts covering the company expect dividends of 0.76 USD for the upcoming fiscal year, an increase of 7.80%. The most recent short interest data show 4.43% of the company’s stock are short sold. It would take about 4.14 days to cover all short positions. In terms of volatility, it has a beta coefficient of 1.45 and technical analysis volatility indicator called Average True Range or ATR around 0.81.

NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) closed 28.61% 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 9.98% above another chart threshold, its 50-day moving average and 4.71% above its 20-day simple moving average.

The Wellesleys News

Dividend Stock Buzz: NetApp, Inc. (NTAP)

You’re Not Supposed to Have All The Answers

Chris Brogan I’ve been struggling with my new book, but not in the way that most people mean that. It’s not that I have too few ideas or too many ideas. I’ve got millions of ideas and I know how to cull them. It’s just that I need something specific to happen with this book, and I need to craft it well to make that work. No, not a bestseller. Been there. But in the process of this, I’ve learned a lot and I want to share some with you.

I’m Not A Group Kind of Person, I Think

For most of my life, I’ve been averse to mastermind groups or things like it. I’m not good at clubs. I don’t attend any regular meetings of any kind. One reason is that I worry that if I get involved in something like this, maybe I’ll hog it and try to make it all about me. I worry also that maybe all the ideas will be bad. Or that people will be pushy. Or that I won’t get a turn to share.

Continue Reading

The post You’re Not Supposed to Have All The Answers appeared first on chrisbrogan.com.

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You’re Not Supposed to Have All The Answers

How to Sell Your High Value Equipment to China

How to sell to ChinaThis is the first in an eventual series of posts I will do on the business and legal issues related to foreign companies selling high value equipment to Chinese companies. The behavior of Chinese companies in this area is quite uniform, and it is therefore possible for me to present a uniform approach to sales into China. Before moving to a detailed analysis, it will be best to step back and consider how Chinese companies view the process. Once the fundamental viewpoint of the Chinese side is understood, it is then much easier to determine how to craft an effective sales strategy for China.

Chinese companies purchased a fair amount of advanced equipment from foreign companies in the 90s. But these purchases slowed considerably as Chinese companies shifted their focus to manufacturing for the export market. However, these export oriented Chinese companies have recently started showing a renewed interest in purchasing advanced equipment from foreign manufacturers. That China is now Germany’s largest trading partner is good proof of this.

The reason Chinese companies are buying more advanced equipment from overseas is clear to anyone who visits Chinese factories. The simple truth is that much of the production equipment in these factories is old technology nearing the end of its useful life. The Chinese businesses that have made China the factory of the world have  pushed their manpower and outdated tools to the limit and for them to continue to compete in the world manufacturing market, technical upgrades are required. Chinese companies are mostly unable to innovate in this area on their own; so they are reluctantly making purchases from foreign entities.

Though the world has greatly changed since the 90s, the attitude of Chinese companies towards the purchase of foreign equipment has not. There are five basic beliefs that drove Chinese advanced equipment purchases back when I was working on them in the 1990s and those same five basic beliefs drive these purchases today. Once these beliefs are understood, Chinese behavior on these equipment transactions becomes easy to understand. Once you understand the basis for the behavior of your Chinese counterpart on these deals, you can design a program that can be successful in the Chinese market.

In entering into a sales agreement with a Chinese factory interested in buying your high value equipment, you should understand that the Chinese factory owner almost certainly holds the following five fundamental beliefs that will drive its behavior in the sale process:

1. Your price is unfairly high. The important thing to know is that the Chinese side believes your price is both too high and fundamentally unfair. The Chinese side views this as the legacy of foreign imperialism, designed to keep the Chinese down, always under the thumb of the foreign oppressor. This attitude is supported by the general ideology of the PRC government. Under this basic belief, the Chinese factory owner feels morally justified in working to avoid paying you the full price for the equipment.

To achieve this, the basic strategy of the Chinese side will be the following:

a. Insist on paying in installments, then not paying the last installment.

b. Insist on a major discount, in the range of 30% to 40%. This then becomes the new base price for the equipment.

c. After paying the discounted price for the first two units, insist on an additional discount for future purchases.

2. Training is not necessary. Any requirement for training the Chinese side in how to use your equipment is just another way for you to unfairly extract more money from the Chinese side. It is also a way to keep the Chinese side down by showing that the Chinese have something to learn from foreigners. The Chinese believe that operation of the equipment is governed by a simple magic pill. Foreign companies that insist on a training program are withholding access to the magic pill.

3. Proper equipment set-up is not necessary. Your requirement that the Chinese side retain you for proper equipment set-up is a waste of time and designed to shift blame for operational failure onto the Chinese side. The Chinese side believes the equipment should “just work.” For this reason, elaborate site set up and pre-operations testing should not be required. Just turn the key and go.

4. After sale support and maintenance is not required. Requirements from the foreign equipment supplier for such after-sale support is designed to do two things: unfairly extract more money from the Chinese side and keep the Chinese side employees ignorant about the true nature of how the equipment operates. That is, you are unfairly hiding the magic pill from them. In addition, the equipment should “just work,” with no need for after sale maintenance or support. Your requiring a service contract or related after-sale support is either your admitting that your equipment is fundamentally defective or your trying to unfairly milk more money from the Chinese side.

5. Your attempts to protect your IP is foreign oppression. Intellectual property protection that prevents the Chinese side from copying your equipment is just another form of foreign oppression. The Chinese side does not believe the design of your equipment is the result of years of hard work and R&D and it wants to be able to copy it so that it can be manufactured in China at a “fair” price.

This then means the Chinese side’s standard strategy will be to purchase as few units as possible and then use its initial purchase(s) to extract the “magic formula.” The strategy is to abandon future purchases and have clones of your equipment manufactured in China.

Obviously not all Chinese companies subscribe to all five of these beliefs and some Chinese companies do not subscribe to any of them. But most do and I know this from what they have told me (in Chinese), from what I have overheard (in Chinese) and from what I have read (in Chinese). I mention all this because foreign companies find this all hard to

How to Sell Your High Value Equipment to China

High-Momentum Healthcare Stocks: MannKind Corporation (MNKD), PharmAthene, Inc. (PIP)

MannKind Corporation (NASDAQ:MNKD) shares ended at $ 0.51 with 1.58 mln shares exchanging hands. That puts the market capitalization at $ 239.85 mln. It opened the session with a $ 0.501 price tag, later ranging from $ 0.4924 to $ 0.519, the range at which the stock has traded at throughout the day. The stock stands nearly -77.05% off versus the 52-week high and 25.39% away from the 52-week low. The number of shares currently owned by investors are 466.54 mln.

Sell-side analyst recommendations point to a short term price target of $ on the shares of MannKind Corporation (MNKD). The consensus rating is 4, suggesting the market has given up on the stock. It has been assigned a low target price of $ and a high target price of $ .

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 -32.73% away from its 200-day simple moving average, -17.97%, away from the 50-day average and also -9.56% away from 20-day average.

For this year, MannKind Corporation (NASDAQ:MNKD) is performing -19.26%. Over the past five trading sessions it is -4.18%; -24.44% for the month; -11.35% for the last quarter; -40.91% for the past six-months; and -52.4% for the last 12 months. The last close places the company’s stock about $ 1.73 off its 52 week high of $ 2.24 and $ 0.1 above the 52 week low of $ 0.41.

PharmAthene, Inc. (NYSEMKT:PIP) closed up +0.02 points or 1.66% at $ 0.93 with 1.53 mln shares exchanging hands. Current price level places the company’s stock about -73.57% from the 52-week high and 96.83% away from the 52-week low. The consensus rating is 2, indicating analysts in general look favorably on the company’s future prospects.

PharmAthene, Inc. (PIP) opened the session with a $ 0.88 price tag, later ranging from $ 0.88 to $ 0.97, the range at which the stock has traded at throughout the day. The stock stands nearly $ 2.62 off versus the 52-week high of $ 3.5 and $ 0.41 above the 52-week low of $ 0.47. The number of shares currently owned by investors are 65.62 mln. The current price change puts the market capitalization at $ 60.71 mln.

Over the past five trading sessions shares of PharmAthene, Inc. (NYSEMKT:PIP) are -11.9%; -71.54% for the month; -70.16% for the last quarter; -63.86% for the past six-months; and -42.9% for the last 12 months.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 -65.02% away from its 200-day simple moving average, -65.7%, away from the 50-day average and also -48.99% away from 20-day average. The stock is performing -71.54% year to date.

The Wellesleys News

High-Momentum Healthcare Stocks: MannKind Corporation (MNKD), PharmAthene, Inc. (PIP)

A Much Wanted Impact: Best Social Media Practices for Blog Growth

Blogging has become a profession of its own, replacing “traditional” careers such as law.

A Much Wanted Impact Best Social Media Practices for Blog Growth

Blogging isn’t a demanding career because it is flexible and it is easy to adapt it to your needs. You just need to create your own spot for writing (at home, the office, a café, etc.). Then prepare your mind to unleash your inner world. But you may ask: how can I live from something so personal?

The bright side of this challenge is that many people worldwide share the same interests as you. People are looking for inspiring stories that will make them get out of their chairs and start doing what they have always dreamed about. And if you can add a monetary value to that, that’s even better, right?

Today we are going to review the best practices you can apply to help your blog to develop. By doing so, you are also securing your path to success.

1 – Create your own niche

Even if you want to express every single idea that comes to your mind, that doesn’t mean your blog has to host posts ranging from gardening to photography or cover both motorsports and ballet. That’s madness and will certainly drive visitors away from your site.

Take two to three days and think carefully about what your very own passion is. After that, you can start writing about it, as well as topics related to your passion. You can even write about out-of-niche topics as long as you relate them to your blog’s theme.

If you find creative ways to gain an audience, then you certainly are going to secure loyal visitors.

2 – Engage your audience

Now that you started building your audience, it’s time to invite them to interact and to keep them anticipating what are you going to do next. In my personal opinion, there’s no better platform for this goal than Instagram.

Instagram allows us to communicate through images, which are immensely appealing and valuable. But also, given its latest updates, Instagram also helps us to dialogue with our so-called “followers.” And yes, people are following what you have to say, so keeping the one-post-a-day recipe is the first step to success.

People coffee tea meeting

By keeping an eye in your personal stats (follower count, post count, likes), you can determine the best strategy for maintaining and growing your fan base. Tools like Gramblast are indispensable for having an accurate knowledge of your follower count because Instagram doesn’t show the exact number after 10k followers.

Keep an eye on your image quality: avoid any kind of pixelated images! Nothing expresses the term “unprofessional” more than that.

3 – Get some extra help

Guest posting is a practice well-known by many bloggers. The idea behind guest posting is to use the reach of authority websites in your own niche to help you grow your visitor count.

How do you do that? First, you need to reach the authority site’s admin/editor and do a proper proposal. Many websites ask for a fee in exchange for sponsored posts or visual advertisements (some of them on a monthly basis!). Others require you to include advertisements from their sites or to give them a product you sell—in case you happen to host a store as well—in exchange for a spot on their site.

This is where you need to play your cards well: refrain from doing self-promoted posts. Both admins and users hate that. But do tell your story through the article you’re giving to the host site. Any links you include in your post should be natural and be educational to your readers.

You can learn more vital practices on how to pitch your guest blog post from this infographic by Infobrandz.

Pitch Your Guest Blog Infographic

Infographic Courtesy Of Infobrandz.com

4 – Don’t post too often

As bad as it is to neglect a social media profile, doing the opposite is just as bad, if not worse. Those who post around four to five times per day on a platform such as Instagram or Facebook are only scaring off their audiences. Posting so often looks like an information bomb that has no unique content.

Keep an editorial schedule where you organize your blog posts, but also sort the blogs you post on places like Instagram and Facebook. Twitter works differently. You literally need to tweet your way through the ranks, and the more the merrier as long as your tweets are relevant and not spammy.

5 – Keep healthy SEO practices

From well-written titles and metas to adding tags to your images and posts, giving SEO the attention it deserves is crucial. SEO is the fastest way to grow your website’s authority. There are several guides around the net that summarize the essential elements of SEO, but overall follow these points:

  • Naturally add keywords throughout the text
  • Do interlinking (adding links in your blog to internal pages of the site on which you’re posting)
  • Remove plugins that slow down your website and don’t upload large images—page load time is crucial
  • Always fill in alt-tags for your images
  • Link to authority sites

By following these tips, you are taking the first step towards becoming a blogging star. However, keep in mind that this is a step-by-step job, and you can’t expect success overnight. With time and dedication, your efforts will pay off. Good luck!

The post A Much Wanted Impact: Best Social Media Practices for Blog Growth appeared first on Growmap.

Growmap

A Much Wanted Impact: Best Social Media Practices for Blog Growth

Where Technical Charts Stands for CYS Investments, Inc. (CYS)

CYS Investments, Inc. (NYSE:CYS) was up +0.89% ($ 0.07) to $ 7.95 and showed a volume of 1.11 mln shares. It has ranged in price between $ 7.85-$ 7.95 after having started the session at $ 7.88 as compared to the previous trading day’s close of $ 7.88. The GAP was therefore 0%. Over the 52-week time span, the stock notched a high price of $ 9.21 and its minimum price was $ 7.42. The firm’s stock has a market capitalization of $ 1.19 bln.

The analysts offering 12 month price targets for CYS Investments, Inc. have a median target of $ 8, with a high estimate of $ 8.25 and a low estimate of $ 7. The median estimate represents a 0.63% increase from the last price.

According to Zacks brokerage recommendations, CYS Investments, Inc. (NYSE:CYS)’s Buy count is 0 and Strong Buy is 2 while the number of analysts recommending Sell and Strong Sell are 0 and 4, respectively. Also, the Hold rating count is 1, as of 24 Feb 2017. The analyst recommendations from a month ago are 0 Buy, 2 Strong Buy, 0 Sell, 1 Hold and 5. 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 1. Chicago-based equity research firm Zacks Investment Research has assigned this stock ABR (Average Brokerage Recommendation) of 2.71, suggesting the market has given up on the stock.

Now, the FactSet Research estimate calls for Q1 2017 earnings of US$ 0.24. A month ago, analyst EPS consensus estimated earnings of US$ 0.25 per share. They were forecasting US$ 0.25 per share three months ago. The Q2 2017 consensus earnings estimates for the company have stabilized at US$ 0.24 per share. A month ago, they told us to expect earnings of US$ 0.25 per share while three months ago their EPS consensus estimate was US$ 0.24.

CYS Investments, Inc. (NYSE:CYS) soared 2.85% year-to-date. The shares have accelerated in recent weeks, with their price up about 1.21% in the past three months. CYS rose 0.76%, climbed 0.51% and sank -5.82% in the week, one month and six months, respectively. The most recent short interest data show 3.37% of the company’s stock are short sold. It would take about 3.1 days to cover all short positions. In terms of volatility, it has a beta coefficient of 0.62 and technical analysis volatility indicator called Average True Range or ATR around 0.13.

CYS Investments, Inc. (CYS) closed -0.34% below its 200-day moving average and is 1.98% above another chart threshold, its 50-day moving average. The stock stands nearly -8.28% off versus the 52-week high and 18.68% away from the 52-week low. The number of shares currently owned by investors are 150.13 mln.

The Wellesleys News

Where Technical Charts Stands for CYS Investments, Inc. (CYS)

Sunday, February 26, 2017

Dividend Stock To Watch: Harley-Davidson, Inc. (HOG)

Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) share price jumped at US$ 57.97 before falling back to end the trade at US$ 57.68 a share. The dividend stock is -6.36% off a 52-week high stock price of US$ 62.35 but is up 44.82% since hitting the US$ 41.63. Investors are buying the stock with a trailing-twelve-month price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 15.15.

After a 0.23% rise from previous close of US$ 57.55, Harley-Davidson, Inc. (HOG) has a US$ 10.19 Billion market cap. The company pays a US$ 0.365-cent-per-share quarterly dividend, giving it a 2.53% yield. That brings its full year payout to US$ 1.46 and 36.6% annual payout ratio based on EPS.

The HOG has tumbled -0.5% year-to-date. The equity has slowed down in recent weeks, with shares lower about -0.45% in the past three months. It added 0.65%, climbed -2.76% and jumped 8.77% in the week, one month and six months, respectively. Revenue growth rate was recorded at 2.5% and net income per share was seen moving at a 10.4% rate in the past five years.

Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) is over -3% below analysts’ consensus price target of US$ 57.29. The stock has blown through analysts’ low price target of US$ 44, but is still below the high US$ 73 target. On a price appreciation basis over the past 12 months, the stock returned 40.59%.

Financial Times data shows, In 2016, Harley-Davidson Inc reported a dividend of 1.40 USD, which represents a 12.90% increase over last year. The 14 analysts covering the company expect dividends of 1.47 USD for the upcoming fiscal year, an increase of 4.71%. The most recent short interest data show 8.86% of the company’s stock are short sold. It would take about 8.05 days to cover all short positions. In terms of volatility, it has a beta coefficient of 0.86 and technical analysis volatility indicator called Average True Range or ATR around 0.99.

Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) closed 9.83% 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 -0.63% below another chart threshold, its 50-day moving average and 0.91% above its 20-day simple moving average.

The Wellesleys News

Dividend Stock To Watch: Harley-Davidson, Inc. (HOG)

China Employment Compliance and Audits: THE New Big Thing

China employment law complianceChina is serious about improving the situation for its workers. I repeat, China is serious about improving the situation for its workers.

I feel the need to repeat this because many foreign companies doing business in China believe decreasing economic growth will lead the government to favor foreign employers. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Foreign employers do not protest; Chinese employees do, and the Chinese government values stability above nearly all else.

Our China lawyers are seeing this play out in the following ways:

  • China”s government, courts and administrative bodies are getting tougher on foreign companies that do not comply with China’s labor and employment laws. Like pretty much everything else related China’s employment laws, the extent to which this is happening varies by location. See China Employment Law: Local and Not So Simple.
  • China employers that violate China’s labor protection laws will be named “and shamed.” Employers are also getting graded on their compliance with China’s labor and employment laws. I explain what this means below.

Beginning earlier this year, China enacted Measures for Announcing Major Violations of Labor Security and the Measures for Credit Rating Evaluation of Enterprise Labor Security Compliance. These measures evidence the government’s seriousness regarding employment law compliance and they give the government new powers to ensure compliance. According to the Supreme People’s Court, new labor disputes accepted by the Chinese court system totaled 483,311 in 2015, up a whopping 25 percent from the previous year. And I have no doubt that these numbers have been rising in a straight line upward ever since. China employees are getting smarter and more proactive about enforcing their legal rights against their employers, especially as against foreign employers.

The new measures include publicizing “serious” employer violations in newspapers and magazines and on TV. These public announcements will include the employer’s name, address, and registration code, along with the full name of the legal representative or key person in charge and the exact violation and fines or other sanctions imposed. Just imagine what this will do for your company’s reputation and your ability to hire new employees. Will individuals who have been named and shamed want to leave China? Will they have to do so?

In addition to naming and shaming, employers will receive A, B or C grades based on their compliance in various areas, including the following:

Employer grades will eventually be shared with various Chinese government agencies, including (it is widely believed), taxing authorities. In other words, if your company scores a C on its labor compliance, it may find itself at risk in all sorts of seemingly unrelated areas (beyond just fines for labor law non-compliance), such as income tax or environmental compliance. We expect China’s biggest cities with large numbers of foreign employers will get out in front of employer inspections and enforcement first and early.

Your job (pun intended) as a China employer is to get out in front on compliance as well. The best way to do this is to have an independent audit conducted on your employer-employee situation. As recently as a year ago, our China lawyers were rarely asked about “employer audits,” but hardly a month goes by these days without such a discussion. Foreign employers in China are seeing what is going on around them and they are reading the news. They recognize that the Chinese government now realizes there is lots of money to be made by fining foreign companies for failing to comply with China’s employment laws, while improving employee/citizen satisfaction at the same time. Our best employer audit clients are those who have already been fined, sanctioned or sued for employer violations. Our second best employer audit clients are those who know of someone in their own industry who has already been fined,

China Employment Compliance and Audits: THE New Big Thing

Dividend Stock Buzz: Hasbro, Inc. (HAS)

Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) share price jumped at US$ 98.98 before falling back to end the trade at US$ 97.05 a share. The dividend stock is -2.3% off a 52-week high stock price of US$ 99.33 but is up 35.32% since hitting the US$ 75.14. Investors are buying the stock with a trailing-twelve-month price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 22.35.

After a -1.79% fall from previous close of US$ 98.82, Hasbro, Inc. (HAS) has a US$ 12.01 Billion market cap. The company pays a US$ 0.57-cent-per-share quarterly dividend, giving it a 2.35% yield. That brings its full year payout to US$ 2.28 and 45.2% annual payout ratio based on EPS. According to FT, Year on year, both dividends per share and earnings per share excluding extraordinary items growth increased 5.07% and 14.38%, respectively. The positive trend in dividend payments is noteworthy since very few companies in the Business Services industry pay a dividend. Additionally when measured on a five year annualized basis, dividend per share growth is below the industry average relative to its peers, while earnings per share growth is in-line with the industry average.

The HAS has soared 25.53% year-to-date. The equity has gained steam in recent weeks, with shares up about 14.04% in the past three months. It added -0.81%, climbed 14.28% and jumped 19.62% in the week, one month and six months, respectively. Revenue growth rate was recorded at 3.2% and net income per share was seen moving at a 9% rate in the past five years.

Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) is over -4% below analysts’ consensus price target of US$ 95.5. The stock has blown through analysts’ low price target of US$ 90, but is still below the high US$ 110 target. On a price appreciation basis over the past 12 months, the stock returned 31.3%.

Financial Times data shows, In 2016, Hays PLC reported a dividend of 0.03 GBP, which represents a 5.07% increase over last year. The 20 analysts covering the company expect dividends of 0.04 GBP for the upcoming fiscal year, an increase of 44.83%. The most recent short interest data show 6.08% of the company’s stock are short sold. It would take about 3.85 days to cover all short positions. In terms of volatility, it has a beta coefficient of 0.86 and technical analysis volatility indicator called Average True Range or ATR around 1.86.

Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) closed 17.31% 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 13.35% above another chart threshold, its 50-day moving average and 5.99% above its 20-day simple moving average.

The Wellesleys News

Dividend Stock Buzz: Hasbro, Inc. (HAS)

Dividend Stock To Monitor: Sysco Corporation (SYY)

Sysco Corporation (NYSE:SYY) share price jumped at US$ 53.02 before falling back to end the trade at US$ 52.89 a share. The dividend stock is -6.76% off a 52-week high stock price of US$ 57.07 but is up 27.72% since hitting the US$ 42.77. Investors are buying the stock with a trailing-twelve-month price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 28.78.

After a 0.27% rise from previous close of US$ 52.75, Sysco Corporation (SYY) has a US$ 28.72 Billion market cap. The company pays a US$ 0.33-cent-per-share quarterly dividend, giving it a 2.5% yield. That brings its full year payout to US$ 1.32 and 66.9% annual payout ratio based on EPS. According to FT, Year on year, both dividends per share and earnings per share excluding extraordinary items growth increased 3.39% and 42.93%, respectively. The positive trend in dividend payments is noteworthy since only some companies in the Retail (Grocery) industry pay a dividend. Additionally when measured on a five year annualized basis, both dividend per share and earnings per share growth ranked in-line with the industry average relative to its peers.

The SYY has tumbled -3.9% year-to-date. The equity has slowed down in recent weeks, with shares lower about -0.97% in the past three months. It added 0.27%, climbed -1.18% and jumped 1.49% in the week, one month and six months, respectively. Revenue growth rate was recorded at 5.1% and net income per share was seen moving at a -3.4% rate in the past five years.

Sysco Corporation (NYSE:SYY) is over 1% above analysts’ consensus price target of US$ 54.31. The stock has blown through analysts’ low price target of US$ 46, but is still below the high US$ 60 target. On a price appreciation basis over the past 12 months, the stock returned 25.88%.

Financial Times data shows, In 2016, Sysco Corp reported a dividend of 1.22 USD, which represents a 3.39% increase over last year. The 9 analysts covering the company expect dividends of 1.28 USD for the upcoming fiscal year, an increase of 4.84%. The most recent short interest data show 2.49% of the company’s stock are short sold. It would take about 3.84 days to cover all short positions. In terms of volatility, it has a beta coefficient of 0.55 and technical analysis volatility indicator called Average True Range or ATR around 0.66.

Sysco Corporation (NYSE:SYY) closed 3.62% 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 -2.22% below another chart threshold, its 50-day moving average and 0.75% above its 20-day simple moving average.

The Wellesleys News

Dividend Stock To Monitor: Sysco Corporation (SYY)

Mitsubishi Motors Stock Ready to Drop to New Record Low

On Thursday, shares of Mitsubishi Motors were not traded as they were swamped with massive sell orders and were ready to hit a new record low after the automaker based in Japan admitted to manipulating data on fuel economy. The sixth largest Japanese automaker announced on Wednesday that it had manipulated the test data to […]
Corporate News – The Cerbat Gem

Mitsubishi Motors Stock Ready to Drop to New Record Low

7 Steps to Launch Your Small Business

pexels-photo-28462The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in America today. Increasing numbers of people are opening their own small businesses in an attempt to gain economic freedom and command their own destiny. Unfortunately, statistics show that ninety-five percent of new businesses don’t last past ten years. New restaurants have even a worse record: fifty percent of them will close within the first year of opening.

Many of these failed business owners might have succeeded if they’d planned and followed an organized process on how to start a business. Even more starkly, there are thousands upon thousands of Americans who never take the risks of entrepreneurship – not because they lack the ideas, but because they don’t know where to start. As Suzy Kassem has told us, “Fear kills more dreams than failure ever will.” In order to help ease fear and mitigate the risk of failure, here are seven steps you should follow before your launch your own new business:

1. Research Your Idea
Ask yourself if there is a market and a demand for your business offering. Your intuition says that there is, but remember that you are unique, and your desires and excitement may not be indicative of the greater population. If research shows there isn’t a sizable market, stop. Go no further. Without demand, there are no sales and your business is doomed. Trying to create a demand for something new is extremely difficult and expensive. “A business that doesn’t make money is a hobby” (Dave Ramsey).

2. Choose a name
Pick a name that describes you and your business. Make it descriptive, distinctive, and eye-catching. Once you’ve picked a name, check with the CIPC to see if the name is available. If so, register it. Keep in mind that the name you choose will help in your reputation building as an owner and successful business person. You will want to register a domain name for your website that matches your business name. It is important enough to match the business name to the domain name that you may want to choose a business name based partially on which domains can be easily and cheaply obtained.

3. Write a Business Plan

Every new enterprise should have a business plan to guide you through the launching process and into the first year of operation. There are many resources that provide outlines and sample business plans you can study. Entrepreneur Magazine has this helpful guide to creating a business plan. Having a detailed plan will help you know what you need to do at every point in your journey.

4. Pricing Your Product or Service 
You need to determine the cost of producing your item before you can peg an asking price for it. You might have the best idea for an item since sliced bread, but if you can’t bring it to market at a competitive price, your business will fail. Study your competition to see what the costs of alternatives might be.

5. Finance Your Venture
The dirty secret of business financing is that the SBA Loan is the cause of most business failures. Debt of any kind is a stranglehold on a business at any stage, and especially in its vulnerable infancy. Successful businesses typically finance their growth and operations organically, meaning they pump profits back into the business repeatedly until it becomes self-sustaining.

6. Legal Structure
You should consult a tax or business advisor to determine what legal entity you should operate under. Your choice of a sole proprietorship, a partnership or a corporation could be instrumental in the taxes you pay and the long-term life of your business. What you learned about ownership structure in business classes was probably overly simplistic compared to the complicated structure of the business tax code.

7. Determine Your Cash Flow Needs

Cash is king in business, especially if you are going to manufacture an item to wholesale to a retailer. Many small businesses have failed who had a great product but didn’t have the cash necessary to produce large quantities of their product for buyers who only paid on extended terms. Try and secure a line of credit from a bank that will allow you to borrow money for short periods of times in order to cover these periods in between shipment and payment.

There are obviously many other factors you need to consider when opening a new business other than the seven offered above. If you follow these steps, however, and plan, plan, and plan, your chance for success should be greatly enhanced.

 

Rachael Murphey is an entrepreneur and writer on topics of business, finance, leadership, and self-improvement. She has written for Idea Cafe, Reputation Building, and the Odyssey. Rachael currently lives in Denver, CO with her dog Charlie.

The post 7 Steps to Launch Your Small Business appeared first on Blogtrepreneur — For Busy Entrepreneurs.

Blogtrepreneur – For Busy Entrepreneurs

7 Steps to Launch Your Small Business

China and Mexico: The Two Amigos? Part IV

China lawyerIn my first post, I discussed China’s efforts to build stronger economic ties with Mexico – and why Mexico should be clear-eyed about China’s motives. In my second post, I examined the current economic relationship between Mexico and China. In my third post, I explained why the economic relationship between China and Mexico has made so little progress. In this, my fourth and final post, I will look to the future and discuss how to improve the China-Mexico business relationship.

My first piece of advice is for Mexican companies to be realistic about what China wants and what China is truly prepared to do. Just because China offers itself as an alternative to Trump’s America doesn’t mean it is the right alternative, or even a good alternative. Every country has its own agenda and it would be foolish to think otherwise.

Beyond that, every Mexican company should ask itself if it is truly ready to do business with China, and every Chinese company should ask itself if it is truly ready to business with Mexico. It makes no sense to talk about strategic partnership without companies the right companies that are willing and able to profit from a reinvigorated relationship between the two countries. And in my company’s experience, there is a lot of work to be done on both sides, including the following:

  • Companies must adopt corporate governance principles and incorporate due diligence into their everyday processes to ensure compliance with the other country’s laws and regulations.
  • Mexican companies must make IP protection their top priority and register their copyrights, trademarks, and patents in China as soon as practicable. This advice applies whether they are directly operating in China or are merely operating in the US, Europe, or any other jurisdiction that would put them on the radar of a Chinese squatter.
  • Executives must understand not just the relevant laws in the other country, but also the cultural mores and unwritten business rules – and the implications for their company. Mexican executives need to realize that they are both in charge of the Chinese operation and accountable for it. Similarly, Mexican companies should balance the obvious need to hire Chinese nationals with the need to retain personnel (probably expats) who “get” China but also understand Mexico’s business culture and are truly on the side of the Mexican company. This sort of cultural fluency is in many ways more important than language fluency.
  • Mexican companies must move beyond the idea that they are direct competitors with their Chinese counterparts. Instead they should either engage in further specialization, or move up the value chain. Patents and trademarks and geographic indicators/appellations of origin can play a key role in differentiation. But being different only goes so far – if you don’t have a product Chinese consumers want, being different is irrelevant.
  • Companies on both sides need the support of their respective government, as well as the counsel of qualified international lawyers. Many of the deals I see today have neither, but as the monetary value of the deals goes up, the rest will/must follow.

Almost all of the above address what private companies can do. But the Mexican government has a role, too. It needs to implement an effective economic agenda, and maintain progress toward North American integration.

An effective economic agenda involves more investment in trade intelligence and entering into trade and investment policy negotiations with China that are derived, as much as possible, from the political and ideological considerations that have characterized China’s relationship with many commodity-producing countries in our region. At the same time, Mexico needs to rise up the global value chain, and that requires investing in infrastructure, facilitating trade, and improving the quality of accreditation.

It may seem odd to talk about further North American integration against the backdrop of Trump’s rhetoric against NAFTA and against globalization. But China has long been the de facto 4th member of NAFTA and it’s silly to pretend otherwise. And given the enormously important economic ties among the NAFTA countries, a purely bilateral agreement (i.e., solely between China and Mexico or China and the US) seems increasingly unrealistic.

My company’s bottom line is that we cannot wait to see what Trump does or doesn’t do. Or for that matter, what China does or doesn’t do. China is not going to replace the US as Mexico’s largest and most important trading partner. Each Mexican company’s China strategy should be stand on its own terms. Mexican companies should expand into China because it makes sense to do so and because they think they can succeed there – not because they think China is going to replace the US as Mexico’s most important trading partner.

 

The above post is by Adrián Cisneros Aguilar. Adrian is the founder/CEO of Chevaya (驰亚), an Asia-Pacific internationalisation services company. Adrián has a Doctor of Laws from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and an LL.M. in International and Chinese Law from Wuhan University.

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China Law Blog

China and Mexico: The Two Amigos? Part IV

Saturday, February 25, 2017

Business Opportunities for Budding Entrepreneurs in Singapore

Business Opportunities for Budding Entrepreneurs in Singapore

Are you eager to begin a new business? You may be surprised to discover that Singapore is a fantastic place to establish yourself – the best in the world.

Beginning a new life there is a great option, and a visa for entrepreneurs is something that can be acquired relatively easily if you meet the requirements.

They host a ton of opportunities for those interested in setting up or expanding their companies. More than 3000 foreign corporations have based themselves here – it’s a sign that something’s working. So, let’s take a look at what options are open to you.

What’s The Leading Business To Run?

Without a doubt, the majority of companies who prosper the most are the ones who deal in food. Not only does everyone need to eat food to survive, they also gain great pleasure from it.

However, it’s incredibly competitive and it’s highly likely that you won’t stand a chance. Opening a restaurant may be a little too ambitious to begin with, but creating a smaller-scale place that sells snacks may be more suitable.

You don’t need to invest a lot of money into it and, once you get it going, it can be extremely profitable – Singaporeans love fast-food and snacks that they can pick up on the go.

Agriculture

The agriculture sector comes with minimal competition, even though there’s such an enormous need for food and other items that cultivation can produce. Those who are in this industry are actually becoming overwhelmed with the demand, so you’d be welcomed to be a part of the industry to lend a helping hand.

Although, the cost for the technology to operate this kind of business is high, if you’re prepared to endure this short-term cost, you’ll see big-time profits shortly afterward.

Electronics

The tech trade is currently thriving in this country. It takes up a hefty chunk of the division of production. Furthermore, people are always going to be needing electronic items, and there are a couple of ways you could approach making sales.

If you’ve got a limited amount of start-up capital, you could try to specialize in certain types of products. But, if you obtain the money to spend, it would be wise to stock as many various items as possible.

Even those with a business elsewhere can benefit. This country is a great place to expand even further. The climate of businesses is always welcoming and supportive, which is why there’s a multitude of companies operating there.

There’s also a wide scale of different markets you could choose to invest in. It’s a great place to launch a new company and plan for your future. The standard of living is exceptional, as are the chances for you to succeed.

The post Business Opportunities for Budding Entrepreneurs in Singapore appeared first on Blogtrepreneur — For Busy Entrepreneurs.

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Business Opportunities for Budding Entrepreneurs in Singapore

How to Find and Work With Influencers

We have yet to see the full power of where the influencer economy will take us. What many don’t realize is this is only a new twist on the old game of having celebrities endorse your products or services. The difference now is what constitutes influence.

How to Find and Work With Influencers

Where once only the rich and famous had significant influence (and they still do), today there are many paths to becoming influential enough to derive an income. We all have many more choices of influencers when we want to promote our book, product, or business.

Types of Influencers

Brands have been paying mom blogs to promote their products for years because their readers are loyal and trust their recommendations more than advertising.

Authors are investing money with social media influencers to push their content onto the “Most Popular” page of major sites like Forbes. They could spend more and get it featured on the home page.

Celebrities can now rise from the working class to become valuable on a specific social media platform. We see this most often on YouTube, Instagram or Snapchat, but that type of influence is also found on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and LinkedIn.

This fascinating story on Entrepreneur relates How This Entrepreneur Went From Dead Broke to Mega Influencer in One Year. He leveraged his connections to create demand for introducing important people to each other in a social setting.

While most of us do not have those kinds of connections, what he did is what I do to grow work for all my collaborators. The difference is that only those who can pay 4 figures can participate in what he is doing while anyone can benefit from working with us.

Influencers tend to know each other, and that influence grew out of their relationships. But what if you’re not an influencer? Maybe you want to become one or perhaps you would like to engage influencers to promote your business.

Finding and Working With Influencers

Fortunately, platforms exist to identify influencers and enable anyone to connect with them. ClearVoice is a creator marketplace enabling users to discover the optimum content creators for their needs.

I mention them because they go beyond just creating content or finding influencers; their platform provides a workflow for content strategy from start to finish.  Inside the ClearVoice platform, businesses can:

  • search for ideas in their idea lab by topic or keyword
  • create a project and add it to an editorial calendar
  • find and hire a content creator
  • provide specific, detailed instructions
  • review, request revisions, and approve
  • measure results

These new platforms make it much easier to stay on top of projects when you have many influencers involved.  Whether you automate your activities or do them manually, it is essential to stay organized from start to finish.

Using Influencers for Promoting Your Content

Creating content is just the first step. Just as important is promoting it well. If you choose content creators who are also influencers, ask them how much promotion is included and whether they offer additional types of promotion.

Babbly is a new method of amplifying social sharing. Unlike previous tools that influencers use to share your content on one platform at a time, when they use Babbly they click one button and the content is sent to their attached Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts.

Increase your reach by spreading the word among your collaborators about any tools you use. This one is so easy to use it should grow quickly, and the more users they have the more visibility the content you share there can receive.

This post offers some tips to identify additional influencers to promote your brand. Once you make contact with an influencer, ask them who else they know who would be a good fit for your projects.

Influencer Marketing Tips

The more guidance you give your influencers, the most satisfied you will be with the results you achieve. Share your goals in advance. Are you primarily interested in visibility, in driving traffic back to your site, or in capturing leads?

Develop your landing pages and 1500 word evergreen pillar content first. The better your existing content, the more your influencers can do for you. Work with a content strategist to determine your direction and set a strategy before you bring any influencers on board.

Influencers are in more demand than ever – and they’re very busy. Many brands do such a poor job of reaching out to them that they either get ignored or get a reputation as a company to be avoided.

Remember that influencers talk to each other, so if you treat any one of them badly, word will spread and getting influencers on board for your projects will become much more difficult.

Lee Odden at TopRankBlog has compiled these 50 Ways to Fail at Influencer Marketing. Be sure to read that post so you know what to avoid. If you don’t take these seriously, you will end up having to hire an influencer to try to fix your reputation among influencers!

The post How to Find and Work With Influencers appeared first on Growmap.

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How to Find and Work With Influencers

Keep in touch with dividend stock: Cardinal Health, Inc. (CAH)

Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) share price jumped at US$ 81.85 before falling back to end the trade at US$ 81.73 a share. The dividend stock is -5.28% off a 52-week high stock price of US$ 87.85 but is up 31.16% since hitting the US$ 62.7. Investors are buying the stock with a trailing-twelve-month price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 19.66.

After a 0.8% rise from previous close of US$ 81.08, Cardinal Health, Inc. (CAH) has a US$ 25.63 Billion market cap. The company pays a US$ 0.45-cent-per-share quarterly dividend, giving it a 2.2% yield. That brings its full year payout to US$ 1.8 and 39.9% annual payout ratio based on EPS. According to FT, Year on year, both dividends per share and earnings per share excluding extraordinary items growth increased 12.99% and 19.52%, respectively. The positive trend in dividend payments is noteworthy since very few companies in the Biotechnology & Drugs industry pay a dividend. Additionally when measured on a five year annualized basis, both dividend per share and earnings per share growth ranked in-line with the industry average relative to its peers.

The CAH has soared 13.56% year-to-date. The equity has gained steam in recent weeks, with shares up about 17.07% in the past three months. It added 1.63%, climbed 9.48% and jumped 0.85% in the week, one month and six months, respectively. Revenue growth rate was recorded at 3.4% and net income per share was seen moving at a 9.6% rate in the past five years.

Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) is over -2% above analysts’ consensus price target of US$ 82. The stock has blown through analysts’ low price target of US$ 74, but is still below the high US$ 97 target. On a price appreciation basis over the past 12 months, the stock returned 1.78%.

Financial Times data shows, In 2016, Cardinal Health Inc reported a dividend of 1.55 USD, which represents a 12.99% increase over last year. The 10 analysts covering the company expect dividends of 1.79 USD for the upcoming fiscal year, an increase of 15.50%. The most recent short interest data show 3.56% of the company’s stock are short sold. It would take about 4.47 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 1.35.

Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) closed 7.53% 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 8.88% above another chart threshold, its 50-day moving average and 6.05% above its 20-day simple moving average.

The Wellesleys News

Keep in touch with dividend stock: Cardinal Health, Inc. (CAH)

How to Effectively Transition from a Corporate Career to a Freelance Career

More people than ever are making the transition from working at a company to working for themselves in a freelance career. Some of these freelancers set up an LLC, but in actuality they are working for themselves rather than being part of a larger company.

How to Effectively Transition from a Corporate Career to a Freelance Career

Not all of the people who transition to freelancing are successful as there are plenty of places where an individual can fail. One freelancer could have problems finding work at the appropriate rate while another could have had their skills nullified by new software or technology. What follows are tips for transitioning from working in a corporate environment to working for yourself.

Do Not Quit Your Job Immediately

One mistake that many people make when transitioning to a freelance career is quitting their jobs too early. What many of these people do not realize is that it might take months to make a living wage freelancing.

Working a few hours per day on your freelance gig can help you develop clients who will be your base when you do decide to quit. There is also the possibility you’ll decide not to leave your current job as your skillset might not be in demand like you thought it would be previously.

Once you are making enough money to quit your current job, take a few months before doing so to build up a nest egg financially in case the freelance life doesn’t go as you planned.

Take What You Can Get at First

Freelance writers or web designers that leave a big agency might overvalue their skills. Great writers and web developers can make copious amounts of money, especially if they work closely with a content creation company. But as a freelancer you will not be able to charge agency rates for websites or content when you are first beginning.

Take assignments at rates below what you think your work is worth in the beginning. Most companies and websites have no problem paying more for higher quality work if you ask for a pay increase after you complete your first few projects successfully.

Look Into a Freelancer Platform

There are a few different freelance platforms that you can use to build a client base. Upwork is the most reputable because it connects clients and freelancers on millions of projects yearly. Be aware that freelance platforms are going to take a percentage of the money that you make.

Connecting with the client outside of the platform after a few successful jobs is something that most clients have no problem doing. Building these relationships is essential since Upwork takes up to 20 percent of your earnings when you first start out.

Filling out as much as possible on the site and encouraging clients to review you can help bolster your reputation. Taking proficiency tests, such as the grammar and language tests, can help you find work, but finding work is not guaranteed.

Cash in Those Favors

People want to believe that they started their own home based businesses without any help. While this is true in some cases, it is much easier to start a business yourself if you have some help from those who might owe you a favor.

Such people could be former clients or friends whom you know need the help of a freelancer. Do not be too proud to ask for a favor—the worst the person could say is no. Reach out to people on LinkedIn if you do not have their email information or if they have changed their email addresses.

Consider asking your current company to contract work out to you since they already know the quality of your work. If you are leaving on good terms, many companies will accommodate you because they understand your desire to work for yourself.

As you can see, simply quitting your job and expecting money to come pouring in during the infancy of your freelance career isn’t realistic. Use the above steps to get yourself going in the right direction. Freelancing allows a sense of freedom that very few professions can offer.

The post How to Effectively Transition from a Corporate Career to a Freelance Career appeared first on Growmap.

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How to Effectively Transition from a Corporate Career to a Freelance Career

Microsoft and Google Agree To Stop Their Regulatory Battles

Microsoft and Google have come to an agreement to end their regulatory battles that have been going on for years and to stop making complaints to government agencies with regard to the other. Microsoft has been one of the companies that took the lead in calling for different governments to investigate Google for potential violations […]
Corporate News – The Cerbat Gem

Microsoft and Google Agree To Stop Their Regulatory Battles