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Thursday, November 8, 2012

Comments - SCORE Small Business Success Blog

I ?Googled? myself for a recent workshop presentation I made for unemployed job seekers.? It was an advanced LinkedIn class and I hoped to show them how to use this tool to enhance their job search.? This was an exercise to demonstrate the power of LinkedIn profiles, and my experiment worked.

To be blunt, I have been building a personal on line presence since mid-2009 when I decided to seriously prepare for retirement after working in direct sales since 1980.? My goal was to become a Web marketing consultant for small business owners and help build Web site traffic, just as I did for my wife Judy.? My stated purpose was to be found in natural (organic and free) searches for specific keywords I chose to market and promote.? As other shoestring budget entrepreneurs, I had more time than money to invest in attaining these objectives.

However, regardless of all my personal efforts, my LinkedIn profile shows up higher in the SERP (search engine results page) than any thing I did prior to promote myself.? When I search for my name LinkedIn always appears exactly as number one.? This does not surprise me in the least;? in fact the reason is crystal clear and most obvious.? It has to do with the power of LinkedIn?s clout with search engines.

LinkedIn has a Page Rank, or PR, of 9 out of 10 (where 10 is the best; i.e. USA.gov has a page rank of 10) and an Alexa traffic ranking of 12 (where 1 is the best;? i.e. Facebook is 1, Google 2,? Amazon 10).? Note:? See Wikipedia for a definition of Page Rank or Alexa Ranking.

OK, you must be asking yourself about now:? ?So, where is this leading to??

If you are like most Americans, you use a search engine (66% are most likely to use Google) to look for information on the Internet.? The converse is true as well with regards to your business.? Anyone you may come into contact with for a potential business relationship is likely to do the same.? It is rather safe to assume those people you meet will probably Google you just to ?check you out.?? It?s the modern equivalent of ?checking references.?

This calls for a number of serious questions you should reflect upon:

What results will they find if you do not have a LinkedIn profile?
What if your LinkedIn profile is less than complete and like most, sketchy and vague?
What impression will you then convey?
Will the investigator proceed to your number two result or just quit?
In this competitive world can you afford the latter?

Reality check!? LinkedIn gives you the opportunity and ability to build your online credibility, your brand, as well as the mark of your professionalism.? And, you have the ability to tie it all up with a nice bow and stamp it with social proof statements.?? To ?top off the cake,? this entire combination is free to you with a basic membership, although I admit there is a time commitment.? However, the return on your investment may more than warrant the time, if done correctly.

Your LinkedIn profile is your rock solid foundation just as the foundation is in constructing a house or driven piles, drilled shafts, caissons, etc. are in erecting a skyscraper.?? Yet I see too many use a skeletal approach, just entering the bare minimum.? This laissez faire approach just doesn?t cut it in setting yourself out from the crowd and showing what makes you different.? You must answer the question on the visitor?s mind:? ?What?s in it for me??

Your first objective is to complete your profile to 100% of the recently modified LinkedIn parameters.? To complete it correctly you need a full understanding of your options.? Here are LinkedIn?s guidelines:

? LinkedIn Instructions for Completing Your Profile

There are important data fields in your LinkedIn profile and you should utilize the available characters (as versus words) within each of them.? Here is my list and rough calculation for each field:

Headline (Slug, Tag) (120)
Present & Previous Position (100)
Summary (1,500 ++)
Specialty (300 ++)
Job Descriptions (2,000, each)
Skills (up to 50)

However, this is just the start of building your social proof.?? In addition:

Although LinkedIn de-emphasized recommendations I feel they are important and are really the main profile area where someone else besides you is writing about you.
If you are an active LinkedIn user, you noticed ?endorsements? were added in September 2012.? These are a version of other social media sites? stamps of approval.
You should expand on your available skills past the LinkedIn minimum criteria of 5.? You can have a maximum of 50.

There are additional ?sections? and ?applications? you may add to further embellish your profile. You find them under your profile highlight box while in ?Edit Profile? mode.? Click the? < Add sections > blue hyperlink on the bottom right (see below) to reveal 10 sections and 15 applications.? Use those appropriately to establish your credibility and professionalism.

Some of the sections and applications I use include:

Publications (section):? Various Blog articles I wrote and were published as well as a Webinar on which I was the main guest and presenter.
Volunteer Experiences and Causes (section):? I list the locations I teach unemployed, SCORE Chicago, etc.
Blog link (application):? My personal WordPress business blog articles are automatically added.
Box.net (application):? PDFs mainly of written letters of reference from sources in addition to the LinkedIn recommendations received.
Slide Share Presentations (application):? PowerPoints and YouTube Videos.
Reading List by Amazon:? To partially demonstrate my autodidact training.? Plus I get to make comments on the books for all to read!

In the next article I?ll discuss why a large network is important to you in targeting your potential market and we?ll explore several ways to expand your LinkedIn connections.

Source: http://blog.score.org/2012/michael-yublosky/branding-your-image-and-credibility-on-linkedin-part-2-of-4/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=branding-your-image-and-credibility-on-linkedin-part-2-of-4

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Election Day bears fruit? Boehner, Reid talk of compromise on 'fiscal cliff.' (+video)

Senate majority leader Harry Reid claims a mandate from Election 2012 to let tax cuts expire for the 'richest of the rich.' House Speaker John Boehner says the mandate is for members of Congress to work together.

By David Grant,?Staff writer / November 7, 2012

Senate majority leader Harry Reid and House Speaker John Boehner hit a note of compromise not often heard in the last Congress as they weighed in Wednesday on how to deal with the "fiscal cliff" in Congress's upcoming lame-duck session.

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But their conciliatory tones, in separate briefings on Capitol Hill, belied sharply different views on how to handle the looming fiscal crisis ? and how Tuesday's election should impact lawmaking in Congress.

?If there is a mandate in yesterday?s results, it is a mandate for us to find a way to work together on solutions to the challenges we face together as a nation,? Speaker Boehner said in a briefing with reporters. ?My message today is not one of confrontation, but of conviction."

Senator Reid, a former boxer, concurred.

?I know how to fight. I know how to dance. I don't dance as well as I fight, but I'd much rather dance any time,? he said, in a separate briefing. ?It's better to dance than to fight.?

But whether Congress tangos or tussles, congressional action is needed before the American economy goes off the fiscal cliff on Jan. 1. That?s when expiring fiscal policy amounting to more than $600 billion in higher taxes and new mandated spending cuts goes into effect. Economists say that could put the economy into a recession in the first half of 2013.

Reid said Congress should deal with the cliff as part of what others have called a ?grand bargain,? a wide-ranging debt and deficit reduction deal. And Congress should grapple with that big-picture problem as soon as possible.

?I'm not for kicking the can down the road,? the majority leader said. ?I think we've done that far too much.... We know what the issue is. We need to solve that issue. Waiting for a month, six weeks, six months, that's not going to solve the problem. We know what needs to be done. And so I think that we should just roll up our sleeves and get it done.?

Boehner explicitly ruled out such a move in his own statement to the press.

?We won't solve the problem of our fiscal imbalance overnight, in the midst of a lame duck session of Congress,? he said. ?And we certainly won't solve it by simply raising tax rates or taking a plunge off the fiscal cliff.?

Instead, Boehner set out a goal of achieving a ?down payment? on the nation?s long-term financial solvency that would be a ?catalyst? for ?major solutions, enacted in 2013.?

Reid swore that neither he nor the speaker would ?draw any lines in the sand? on the policy measures needed to avert a fiscal disaster ? before both men did everything except say the words, ?I have drawn a line in the sand.?

However, he did see Tuesday's election ? President Obama?s electoral thrashing of Mitt Romney, a larger Democratic majority in the Senate, and gains for Democrats in the House ? as a mandate from voters to allow the Bush tax cuts to expire for households with income over $250,000.

?The mandate was, look at all the exit polls, look at all the polling,? Reid said. ?The vast majority of the American people ? rich, poor, everybody ? agrees that the rich, [the] richest of the rich, have to help a little bit.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/TrUdfIkSV2M/Election-Day-bears-fruit-Boehner-Reid-talk-of-compromise-on-fiscal-cliff.-video

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Wendy's loss widens amid turnaround push

NEW YORK (AP) ? Wendy's reported a wider net loss for the third quarter that fell short of Wall Street expectations, but a key sales figure rose.

The company, which is in the middle of a turnaround push, said Thursday that revenue at restaurants open at least 15 months rose 2.7 percent, marking the sixth straight quarter of growth. It's a good gauge of a retailer's health because it strips out the volatility of newly opened and closed stores.

Wendy's, based in Dublin, Ohio, is trying to position itself as a purveyor of higher quality burgers and sides compared with its fast-food rivals, a move that would follow shifting consumer trends and allow the company to charge more for meals.

For the three months ended Sept. 30, The Wendy's Co. lost $26.2 million, or 7 cents per share, as it booked charges for the early retirement of debt. It posted a loss of $4 million, or a penny per share, a year ago when it incurred costs related to the sale of Arby's.

Not including one-time items, Wendy's says it earned 3 cents per share. Analysts expected 5 cents.

Total revenue rose 4 percent to $636.3 million. Analysts forecast $640.6 million.

The company declared an increase in its quarterly dividend to 4 cents per share from 2 cents per share.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wendys-loss-widens-amid-turnaround-push-125523091--finance.html

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Friday, June 8, 2012

Like sports and recreation, arts deserve support, too

Published: June 07, 2012 5:00 PM
Updated: June 07, 2012 5:49 PM

Dear editor,
Recently in the Comox Valley we were treated to Elevate the Arts, an initiative of some very dedicated art lovers.
All kinds of artists and artisans performed and presented their works of art and crafts. Some artists were there to demonstrate the techniques of producing their art.
This whole event was a wonderful display of partly spontaneous artistic expression.?The event drew people into downtown Courtenay and couldn't help but improve traffic into local businesses.
It seems that the value of art is often tied to its economic impact, and that's fine. Art through time is often, if not always, a way of connecting with the gods or symbolically producing prosperity in the hope that it will become real in the next fall harvest.
Art has also been used as a means of enhancing or questioning authority and power.?Its importance waxes and wanes.
In a time like ours, art works, paintings, sculptures, etc., become commodities like everything else and some art works sell in the millions of dollars.?In some senses, art is big business and it is affected by economic ups and downs as much as anything else is, but it has always played a major symbolic role in our lives, beyond its economic importance.
To think about how important art is to us, just think about no music (and poetry), no performance, no entertainment, no paintings, pictures, photos, sculptures, (building) design, floral arrangements, prints, clothing with artistic design, among many expressions. Marketing and business in general use art extensively.
Given art's historical importance and contemporary relevance, it's always seemed strange to me how reluctant governments have been to support the arts and culture unless they can show a direct link to their economic impact.
All three levels of government in Canada dedicate miniscule proportions of their annual operating and capital budgets to the arts although some communities are much better at it than others.?All levels of government spend relatively much larger proportions of their budgets on sports and recreational activities and facilities.
I'm not suggesting that the arts should be funded at the same level as libraries, sand playing fields and golf courses, but, in a real sense, the arts are just as essential to good community health as sports and recreation.
All governments have supported the arts and culture in the past.?We are very grateful for this.
Over the almost 40 years of the existence of the Comox Valley Art Gallery, all levels of government have extended to it their financial support. Local governments, the CVRD, the Town of Comox but particularly the City of Courtenay have all supported the Gallery. The City has most recently supported the Comox Valley Art Gallery with special funding allowing it to continue operations, but by and large, funding is usually ad hoc, project-based and insecure.
Governments need to step up and support major arts organizations in the same way they support sports and recreation, not necessarily at the same level, but in the same way, using budgetary line items or creating services. ?
Roger G. Albert
Editor's note: Roger G. Albert is the president of the Comox Valley Art Gallery.

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Obama to speak about state of US economy

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama will talk about the nation's economic woes in remarks at the White House Friday.

The White House says the president will address the state of the economy, including the debt crisis in Europe that continues to be a drag on the U.S. The president will also call on Congress to pass proposals that he says would put construction workers, teachers and first responders back to work.

Obama's statement in the White House briefing room comes in the midst of a rough patch for the president and his re-election campaign.

A dismal jobs report last week has raised new fears that the nation's economic recovery has slowed. And Obama's campaign raised less money last month than Republican rival Mitt Romney.

Associated Press

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AMD shows off LiveBox mini desktop based on one of its Fusion chips (video)

Between the Raspberry Pi and the new Chromebox, we've been spending more time than usual lately talking about miniature desktops. Until now, though, AMD hasn't really entered the discussion; all of the models we've tested have featured either an ARM chip or Intel processor. So we were intrigued, then, when we found this mini PC hanging out at the company's Computex booth. It's called the LiveBox, and it runs one of AMD's X86-based Fusion chips. Before we get into specifics, though, have a gander at our hands-on photos and check out that funky design. In addition to being tiny, it has a two-pronged power connector attached, allowing you to plug it directly into an outlet. We're not sure individual consumers will prefer that cordless design, but we can see it translating well in businesses and schools -- precisely the sorts of places where AMD thinks these boxes might find a home.

Again, the LiveBox is based on a Fusion APU (a 1GHz C-60 chip, to be exact), complemented by 1GB of RAM and Radeon HD 6200 graphics. As for storage, the unit on display had a Samsung-made 64GB SSD. Take a tour around the edges and you'll find two USB 2.0 ports (no USB 3.0), a Gigabit Ethernet jack and an HDMI socket. There's also a memory card reader, a SIM slot for quad-band 3G (WCDMA) and Bluetooth 4.0, in case you want to pair it with any wireless peripherals. As you can see in the video below, those modest internals are enough to output smooth 1080p video, which means this setup should suffice for basic things like email, web surfing and YouTube. Unfortunately, the machine on display was running Windows 7, not 8, which is a bummer. We also wish we knew more about the target price: AMD won't say what brand will be selling this, or when it will be available. Until then, it's tough to say where the LiveBox fits in. But hey, hands-on photos and video can't hurt, right?

Gallery: AMD LiveBox hands-on