Selected by zackmiller

• 
  New Rules of Investing

• The Web’s Best Stock Screens: Looking for the next winning investment

  9 Feb 2010 | 3:58 am

  Stock screens allow investors to sort through lots of different stocks in search for only the ones that fit certain criteria.  Investors looking for the next stock pick for their portfolios can use basic screening tools, available at both Yahoo! Finance and Google Finance. MSN recently retired its highly-regarded stock screening tools, leaving what’s freely available somewhat lacking. Screening 2.0, something I like to discuss on the site, provides the same outcomes but incorporates more algorithmic know-how, some artificial intelligence (how do you deal with an infinite P/E one…

• Superbowl team: online finance’s best

  8 Feb 2010 | 4:48 am

  In the wake of the big commercial fest Super Bowl yesterday (wait, there was a game yesterday??), I thought it would be interesting to put together a team of the Web’s best financial analysts, talking heads, and pundits.  An all star team of sorts for online finance. Offense Quarterback: The Big Picture, Barry Ritholtz.  Barry’s the go-to guy, calling the shots — the plays, as you will — of what’s happening as it’s happening.  With the eye of an on-field general, Barry’s commentary pulls no punches and provides a certain vision. Wide receiver: Zero…

• Study shows (again) that mutual fund hot hands quickly cool

  7 Feb 2010 | 7:08 am

  As if we needed another study to spell this out, S&P published a recent study (.pdf) that undermines the hot money chasing performance in the mutual fund industry.  The study shows that very few funds demonstrate persistence — the ability of asset managers to consistently achieve top-quartile or top-half performance. The amazing take-away from the study: Over the five years ending September 2009, only 4.27% large-cap funds, 3.98% mid-cap funds, and 9.13% small-cap funds maintained a top-half ranking over the five consecutive 12-month periods. No large- or mid-cap funds, and only…

• ETFs, overindexing and the power of financial brands

  7 Feb 2010 | 6:33 am

  Just doing some thinking about the growth and future of the ETF industry: In my eyes, ETFs began as a second-generation of mutual funds with the following characteristics: Passively managed: ETFs were passively managed (though that’s changing), building upon Jack Bogle’s success at Vanguard.  Most research at the time clung to the Efficient Market Hypothesis and academics declared that trying to beat the markets was a fool’s game.  ETFs were this vehicle. Cheap: They were cheap.  If theory shows that you can’t pick stocks and win the game that way, better to index…

• Investment newsletters REALLY bearish — time to buy?

  4 Feb 2010 | 6:30 am

  Wow! Expectations that U.S. stocks will drop at least 10% has risen to the highest levels since April 1984. In a recent survey of investment newsletters by Investors Intelligence, Bloomberg reports that: The following are results from Investors Intelligence’s analysis of investment newsletters for Jan. 27 through yesterday. The company determines the proportion of writers who are bullish and bearish on U.S. stocks, as well as the percentage who anticipate a correction, or 10 percent decline, in the market. This Week Prior Week Comments Bullish 38.9% 40.0% Lowest since July 21 Bearish 22.2%…

• 
  WSJ.com: US Business

• Google Adds 'Buzz' to Gmail

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:36 pm

  Google launched a new service to bring social updates such as photos and Web links into Gmail and some Google mobile products, in a challenge to Facebook and other sites where people go to check up on their friends.

• Outfront on Calories

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:17 pm

  The beverage industry, including Pepsi and Coke, unveiled new labeling plans that will move the calorie content to the front of containers by the end of 2012.

• FSA Chief Sants to Step Down

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:03 pm

  Hector Sants submitted his resignation as chief executive of the Financial Services Authority, the U.K. financial regulator that he led through the credit crisis but which faces an uncertain political future.

• Beer Makers' Volume Slips

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:40 am

  MillerCoors said quarterly results, adjusted for a year-earlier charge, declined due to a drop in sales. Molson Coors, meanwhile, also saw volumes slip.

• Fiat to Forge Venture in Russia

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:34 am

  Fiat and Russian auto maker Sollers are forming a joint venture to make Fiat cars in Russia, a spokesman for Putin said.

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  WSJ.com: Markets

• Germany Considers Loan Guarantees for Greece

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:39 pm

  Germany is considering a plan with its European Union partners to offer Greece and other troubled euro zone members loan guarantees in an effort to calm market fears of a default.

• Stocks Gain on Hopes for Greece

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:36 pm

  The stock market traded off its highs but remained on track for its best full-day gain in three months, helped by hopes for a financial rescue of Greece.

• Showdown at Infineon Tests German Governance

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:59 am

  A group of shareholders are challenging the nomination of Klaus Wucherer, a longtime supervisory board member at Infineon Technlogies, to become chairman of the supervisory board.

• Greek, Portugal CDS Spreads Tighten

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:57 am

  The cost of insuring the sovereign debt of Greece, Portugal, and Spain against default fell sharply after Portugal announced plans for a 10-year, syndicated bond issue.

• Gold Gains on Steadier Euro

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:34 am

  Gold futures moved higher on hopes of support for the euro zone economy and as Chinese customers buy the metal ahead of Lunar New Year's celebrations.

• 
  Financial Times - US homepage

• Berlin looks to build Greek ‘firewall’

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:33 pm

  Schäuble to brief on aid for troubled nation either bilaterally or via EU

• Warner chief sees no barriers to EMI tie-up

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:33 pm

  Warner Music sees no regulatory barrier to a bid for part of EMI, its chief executive said, heightening expectations that the UK music group’s debt troubles may lead to a combination of the two labels

• Obama urges unity on jobs measures

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:27 pm

  President Obama made a new appeal for bipartisan efforts on tackling ‘the pressing challenges’ facing the US, especially job creation and deficit reduction, and attempted to neutralise criticism from both Republicans and the press with a new openness

• BofA and Citi warned over credit ratings

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:26 pm

  The planned overhaul of US financial rules prompted Standard & Poor’s to warn it might downgrade the credit ratings of Citigroup and Bank of America on concerns that the shake-up would make it less likely that the banks would be bailed out by US taxpayers if they ran into trouble again

• Greek rescue rumours help bourses regain poise

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:01 pm

  Global Markets Overview: Euro rises on news as it emerges that Jean-Claude Trichet, ECB president, is returning from a banking summit to attend Thursday’s meeting of European leaders

• 
  Reuters: Business and Finance News

• U.S. job openings rise, hirings steady in December

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:03 pm

  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. job openings rose in December and the number of unemployed workers fell, according to a government report on Tuesday that supported views the labor market was on the brink of recovery.

• Toyota to recall more 2010 Camrys in U.S.

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:00 pm

  DETROIT (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp will recall 7,314 model-year 2010 Camry sedans in the United States due to the risk that a potential defect in steering may make it harder for drivers to stop the vehicle.

• MetLife may pay AIG in stock, cash for unit: source

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:49 am

  NEW YORK (Reuters) - MetLife Inc plans to pay American International Group Inc in stock and cash for American Life Insurance Co (Alico), as the two sides negotiate what could be a roughly $15 billion deal, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

• Wall Street jumps on reports of help for Greece

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:44 am

  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks advanced on Tuesday, with the Dow on track for its largest daily percentage gain since November, boosted by reports about an aid plan for heavily indebted Greece.

• Obama courts Republican support on jobs, deficit

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:44 am

  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama sought common ground with Republicans on Tuesday on his top policy priorities of job creation and deficit reduction, winning hints of support in both areas but a rebuke on healthcare reform.

• 
  DealBook

• Study: Short Sale Disclosures Could Disrupt Market

  By ZACHERY KOUWE

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:30 pm

  A new study commissioned by the hedge fund industry's chief lobbying group has concluded that forcing investors to disclose their short positions in certain stocks could lead to less liquidity and wider price spreads, ultimately making trading more expensive.

• For L.B.O.'s, the Key Is Less Risk, Not None

  By RHEA WESSEL

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:03 pm

  The head of ICG told an audience at Super Return 2010 that for leveraged buyouts, lenders are looking to simplify risks, but aren't shying away from them.

• S.&P. Issues Negative Outlooks for BofA and Citi

  By DEALBOOK

  9 Feb 2010 | 10:53 am

  Standard & Poor's lowered its credit rating outlooks on Bank of America and Citigroup to negative from stable on Tuesday, saying the government appears less likely to provide a further bailout if either bank needs it in the future.

• Opel's Strategy Has Fewer Jobs and Less Capacity

  By DEALBOOK

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:39 am

  Adam Opel, the European unit of General Motors, announced an ambitious turnaround plan Tuesday, vowing to become profitable in 2012 by cutting capacity by 20 percent and reducing its work force by 8,300.

• For Private Equity, a Time for Wary Optimism

  By RHEA WESSEL

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:30 am

  It's time for "paranoid optimism" about the economy as the world maneuvers its way into a new balance of power, John Micklethwait, editor in chief of The Economist, argued at the Super Return 2010 conference on Tuesday.

• 
  Random Roger

• Greece Is Too Small? Really?

  9 Feb 2010 | 5:20 am

  We all know much more about sovereign debt solvency than we did a couple of years ago. We now understand some of the dynamics of insuring sovereign debt, we know a lot more about the debt loads of numerous countries than we maybe ever even thought about previously. The most recent concern would seem to be Greece and of course the rest of the PIGS or PIIGS as some prefer to think of, that second I being Italy. The folks at Zero Hedge would also point us to the STUUPID countries as well.One line of thinking that I have read and heard repeatedly, getting back to Greece, is that it is too small…

• We Can Be Our Own Worst Enemy

  8 Feb 2010 | 5:14 am

  Last week Mike Shedlock made a comment in passing about people being economically and financially illiterate. Collectively we do not know as much as we should and maybe illiterate is the best word.We should all know how credit card interest works, know enough to only take out a mortgage we understand, know that we have to save money, have some idea what to do with those savings and that our bills should not add up to more than our income. Beyond that some understanding of macro economics to understand some of the basics of what has happened in the last couple of years would be nice and maybe…

• Sunday Morning Coffee

  7 Feb 2010 | 5:05 am

  Yesterday a reader left this link from DealBook about Burton Malkiel's thoughts on active management along with the other side of the discussion as observed by James Tierney from WP Stewart, and active manager running a very concentrated portfolio with an outstanding track record versus the market going back to the 1970s.You've heard the basics of Malkiel's argument before; no one can consistently pick winning stocks and no one can consistently time the market. In addition to the difficulty Malkiel also notes the problem of human emotions getting in the way. I imagine the argument in favor of…

• The Big Picture for the Week of February 7, 2010

  6 Feb 2010 | 5:23 am

  On the surface this may seem obvious which is ok to think but it speaks to a bigger point. I've talked before every portfolio being vulnerable to something or a few things. Ever since the low in March it seems that the things that have struggled the most in these various pullbacks have been foreign/emerging equities, certain types of materials stocks and commodity related products.The logic applied by the media is simple; with yields at zero, money is borrowed in USD and invested in foreign/emerging equities, certain types of materials stocks and commodity related products among other things…

• Europe Is Dicey

  5 Feb 2010 | 5:09 am

  Things escalated quickly yesterday. The Network was in all hands on deck mode as the world tries to figure out if Europe is going to go out of business and take the rest of the planet with it. The countries on the front burner these days are Greece and Portugal followed by Spain and if you listen to Bill Gross the UK.There is TV coverage and internet content dissecting every aspect of this as it certainly newsworthy and has a chance to be historic as the Iceland collapse was historic (don't take that as an attempt to predict magnitude).One idea that I've written about countless times in the…

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  footnoted.org

• Morningstar acquires footnoted!

  Michelle Leder

  9 Feb 2010 | 5:50 am

  For the past 6 1/2 years, we’ve written frequently about various mergers and acquisitions. Today, we have some M&A news of our own: Morningstar (MORN) has acquired footnoted.org. You can download the official press release here, but I wanted to personally share with you why I’m so excited about this deal and why I think Morningstar, which is already well known for its independent research, is the perfect partner to help me continue growing footnoted. Whether you’re a longtime reader or a recent convert to footnoted, chances are that you appreciate the inherent value in…

• It’s time for raises and bonuses at KBW…

  Sonya Hubbard

  8 Feb 2010 | 7:50 am

  When a company files a document with the SEC at 5:10 on a Friday evening, it’s a little like waving a red cape at the footnoted staff and yelling, “Look at me!” (although, thankfully, there’s no blood and gore involved). At least, that was the metaphor that came to mind when we saw the 8-K that KBW, Inc., the parent company of full-service investment bank Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc., filed late last Friday. It was a meaty filing in several ways, starting off with the announcement that its top five executives received cash bonuses totaling more than $6.35 million and 110,586…

• A Fashionable Start at Jones New York…

  Sonya Hubbard

  5 Feb 2010 | 8:24 am

  Yesterday, Jones New York (JNY) filed an 8-K that disclosed the terms of its new employment agreement with fashion wunderkind Richard Dickson. Next Monday, Dickson, who’s only 41, will become the President and CEO – Branded Businesses of the Company for Jones Apparel Group, Inc.  He’ll report to Wesley Card, who is giving up the title of President but will remain the company’s CEO. Dickson’s agreement, which runs through the end of 2012, states that he’ll earn a base salary “of not less than” $1,000,000 and get a sign-on bonus of $455,000.  So long as he stays through the…

• Shareholders, watch your language…

  Sonya Hubbard

  4 Feb 2010 | 7:38 am

  If you read enough SEC filings, you begin to recognize certain sections like they’re old friends.  You might think, “Oh!  There’s the section on Executive Compensation Discussion & Analysis!” or “Hi, Forward-Looking Statements.  How are the Risk Factors looking today?” But occasionally – perhaps rarely – something pops out that you’ve never noticed before. Such was the case when we read the proxy statement that vitamin and nutritional supplement producer NBTY, Inc. (NTY) filed recently.  At the top of page 10, a passage in the “Communications  to Directors”…

• Fresh Carrots at The Children’s Place…

  Sonya Hubbard

  3 Feb 2010 | 6:30 am

  It may be winter in much of the United States, but recently one executive at The Children’s Place (PLCE) received a bumper crop of reasons to stay with the company for another 14 months. The “carrots” in question come in the form of impressive “special bonuses” going to Susan J. Riley, the Company’s Vice President, Finance and Administration.  According to the 8-K that contains the details, the money is being paid “in recognition of her past contributions to the Company and in order to secure her future services to the Company.” Riley will receive $1,000,000 if she stays with…

• 
  Smartbrief: Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association

• Concern about government debt weighs on corporate-bond market

  8 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pm

   -More- 

• Learn about SIFMA's advocacy efforts for OTC derivatives

  8 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pm

   -More- 

• Fed aims to inspire confidence with clear exit strategy

  8 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pm

  The Federal Reserve is walking a fine line as it plans to withdraw from stimulus efforts.  -More- Pricing & Valuation Services—As the credit default swap market evolves, financial institutions face a growing need for accurate and timely CDS & ABCDS pricing and liquidity scores that can be used for independent valuations as well as performance benchmarking and risk assessment. Visit www.fitchsolutions.com to learn more about our Pricing & Valuation Services.

• SII 2010 -- New speaker announced: Kenneth Duberstein, former White House chief of staff

  8 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pm

  Kenneth M.  -More- 

• Government lacks exit strategy for Fannie, Freddie

  8 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pm

  Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were among the first financial institutions to receive federal aid to help them overcome the finan -More- 

• 
  Smartbrief: The Financial Services Roundtable

• BofA CEO Moynihan aims to take harder line on risk

  8 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pm

  Brian Moynihan, chief executive officer at Bank of America, recently sent a memo to the bank's employees, encouraging them to -More- 

• Nasdaq CEO Greifeld scrutinizes proposed curb on proprietary trading

  8 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pm

  Nasdaq OMX CEO Bob Greifeld said it would be difficult to distinguish when banks are trading on their own behalf or on behalf -More- 

• Lincoln National posts fourth-quarter profit of $102.3 million

  8 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pm

   -More- 

• Treasury may be backing away from loan-modification efforts

  8 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pm

  Comments made by Seth Wheeler, senior adviser to the Treasury Department, to the American Securitization Forum last week sign -More- 

• Principal Financial reports $150.2 million quarterly profit

  8 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pm

   -More- 

• 
  JD Supra Securities Law

• SEC Issues Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations Regarding Proxy Disclosure Enhancements

  Miller & Martin PLLC

  8 Feb 2010 | 11:43 pm

  Contributor: Miller & Martin PLLC [View: Profile | Documents]

• Securities and Exchange Commission Issues Interpretive Guidance Document on Disclosure Obligations Related to Climate Change

  Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP

  8 Feb 2010 | 11:14 pm

  Contributor: Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP [View: Profile | Documents]

• Securities & Exchange Commission Issues Climate Change Disclosure Guidance

  Dave Scriven-Young

  8 Feb 2010 | 9:36 pm

  Contributor: Dave Scriven-Young [View: Profile | Documents]

• SEC Announces Sweeping Changes to Encourage Individuals and Companies to Cooperate and Assist in Investigations

  Lane Powell PC

  8 Feb 2010 | 4:31 am

  Contributor: Lane Powell PC [View: Profile | Documents]

• The Future of Aiding and Abetting Liability

  Lane Powell PC

  8 Feb 2010 | 4:29 am

  Contributor: Lane Powell PC [View: Profile | Documents]

• 
  I Will Teach You To Be Rich

• Announcing the “Earn Your First $1,000 On The Side” course

  Ramit Sethi

  4 Feb 2010 | 8:02 am

  [Edit]: The course is now closed. Today I’m thrilled to announce a totally new course called Earn Your First $1,000 On The Side. The short version: An all-new course that I’ve been quietly developing for a year, which includes 16 super-specific lessons on finding a profitable idea, testing it, finding clients, pricing, marketing, all designed to help you earn $1,000 (and more) on the side — every month. Also includes hours of gorgeous HD video strategies and tactics, Master Classes from people like Tim Ferriss (4HWW) on specific topics like marketing, time management &…

• The Briefcase Technique — to earn thousands of dollars

  Ramit Sethi

  1 Feb 2010 | 11:03 pm

  Here’s a technique I’ve used to earn thousands of dollars in salary and freelance negotiations. The Briefcase Technique God I love it This is just one simple example of the hours and hours of HD video in a new course I’m launching, called “Earn Your First $1,000 on the Side.” Live webcast tonight, Tuesday, 2/2 So tonight, I’m hosting a special webcast. In the webcast, you’ll see… 2-3 “teardowns” of people’s freelance ideas: I’ll get them on the line, analyze their freelance business, and show them how to skyrocket their…

• This week, I’m unveiling the new I Will Teach You To Be Rich course to earn more money

  Ramit Sethi

  1 Feb 2010 | 2:12 am

  Over the past 4 years, the #1 request on this site has been how to earn more money. Over the last 3 weeks, I’ve covered earning more money in extreme detail. But over the last 11 months…I’ve been quietly working on building the I Will Teach You To Be Rich course on earning more money. This week, after previewing it to 10,000+ people, I’m ready to release it publicly. Here’s a quote from people one of my preview members: Q: What’s surprised you so far? A: “The level of polish, thought, and effort that goes into every aspect of it so far. It is…

• Why do so many personal-finance sites focus on spending LESS?

  Ramit Sethi

  27 Jan 2010 | 1:21 am

  I’m in the middle of my private Earn1k course this week before announcing something next week. I was doing a live webcast last night and I was trying to make a point, but I wasn’t sure how to say it. It seems like 98% of personal-finance material (blogs, magazines, books) focus on spending LESS — keeping a budget, saying “no, no, no” to lattes, jeans, and vacations. Why? Why don’t they cover earning more, or negotiating, or increasing your responsibilities at work, or understanding the psychology of your own behavior, or all the other things besides cutting…

• Recap of the 3-week course on earning money

  Ramit Sethi

  22 Jan 2010 | 1:31 pm

  This course on earning more has been a lot of fun. Instead of more useless tips on saving money on lattes and burritos, we’ve gone through case studies, exercises, and specific email scripts to earn more money on the side. The important thing is to understand that it’s not simply a series of formulaic tactics to follow. To earn money, you have to get inside your customers’ heads and understand what they really want. For example, check out the comments on this post — you’ll see that some people can do this very well, while others cannot. Here’s a recap of…

• 
  eMarketer Articles

• Measuring Return on Social Investment

  8 Feb 2010 | 8:01 pm

  Marketers must connect business goals to social media objectives

• What Works in Online Video

  8 Feb 2010 | 8:01 pm

  Shorter spots see higher completion rates

• Social Media Marketing Best Practices

  7 Feb 2010 | 8:01 pm

  Debra Aho Williamson eMarketer Senior Analyst

• Mobile Marketers Demand ROI

  7 Feb 2010 | 8:01 pm

  Quantifying returns needs most improvement

• At Container Store, Mothers Get Royal Treatment

  4 Feb 2010 | 8:01 pm

  Catherine Davis Direct Marketing Director The Container Store

• 
  ReadWriteWeb

• Can Google Buzz Succeed Where FriendFeed Couldn't?

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:20 pm

  Google just launched Google Buzz, the company's new social networking service which will be tightly integrated with Gmail. There can be little doubt that Google Buzz looks a lot like FriendFeed, the social aggregation service that was acquired by Facebook in August 2009. Today, FriendFeed's developers are Facebook employees and aren't likely to continue to improve the service in any meaningful way, while the active user community on FriendFeed continues to shrink rapidly. Given the similarities between the two services, we can't help but wonder if Google Buzz will be able to succeed where…

• How Google Buzz is Disruptive: Open Data Standards

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:31 am

  Google rolled out a social stream service today called Buzz. It looks on the surface like Facebook, FriendFeed and other stream reading and writing services. It will compete with Facebook and Twitter. Under the covers, though, this major product was built by a team of people taking a radical new approach to online publishing: Buzz is all about open, standardized user data. Google Buzz data can be syndicated out to other services using the standard data formats called Atom, Activity Streams, MediaRSS and PubSubHubbub. That couldn't be more different from Facebook. Google has taken open data…

• Mobile Health: Will Network Applications Help Us Get Healthy?

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:30 am

  Last week, we were at the mHealth initiative conference in Washington D.C. The keynotes were all about the impact mobile health applications are having in shaping the future of the health care system. Nothing demonstrates that more than the iPhone. In the 18 months since it was released, it has been perhaps the biggest thing to happen to health care electronic records, which has seen billions of dollars worth of investment in past decades. Mobile and wireless health applications directly impact the individual's health and have the promise of ensuring that when a patient leaves a doctor visit,…

• Foursquare Partners with Zagat, New York Times

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:17 am

  Foursquare has come out strong in recent weeks with partnership deals that look to put it at the top of the location-based app game. Last week, it announced a partnership with Bravo, the style and fashion-centric television network, and today it has come out with a partnership with Zagat, the restaurant guide, and the New York Times. As we wrote last week, Foursquare is competing in an increasingly crowded space. These partnerships may help it attract a whole new audience and remain competitive against other services like Yelp that are just joining in the location-based arena. Sponsor…

• Live Blogging from Google: Launch of Google Buzz

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:11 am

  This morning, Google is announcing some exciting new features for two of its most popular applications. Team Red, as we affectionately call ourselves, is present at the Googleplex in Mountain View, and we'll be live blogging the event, giving you, dear reader, a fascinating play-by-play. Stay tuned for updates! The event will begin at 10 a.m. Pacific (UTC -8). Just refresh this post to see new content as events unfold. Additional on-the-fly research and images from RWW journalist Frederic Lardinois. Sponsor 11:11: The event is over! Time to chase people down and ask some more pointed…

• 
  Mashable!

• 5 Ways Airlines and Hotels Can Drive Revenue with Social Media

  Shashank Nigam

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:18 pm

  Shashank Nigam is the CEO of SimpliFlying.com, an award-winning blog on airline branding. He tweets at @simpliflying.Social media is no longer the “new” thing, especially for airlines. JetBlue has over one an a half million followers on Twitter. Lufthansa allows passengers to update their Twitter or Facebook status about where they are in the sky. AirAsia drives buzz about its new destinations through custom micro-sites. However, most airlines (and airports and hotels) are still struggling to earn direct revenue from their social media efforts.Yet if Dell can make $6.5 million from…

• Google Buzz: The Official Demo [VIDEO]

  Adam Ostrow

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:08 am

  Google has just unveiled its latest attempt to become more relevant in the social media space: Google Buzz. The product is integrated within Gmail and will be rolled out gradually to all of the webmail service’s users over the next few days.We’re still digesting all of the implications of Buzz (and will have more coverage throughout the day), but in the meantime, here’s the two-minute demo of the product in action both on the Web and via mobile that Google showed off during today’s press conference:This video from Google looks specifically at the mobile features of Buzz:What are your…

• BREAKING: Google Goes Social with Google Buzz

  Ben Parr

  9 Feb 2010 | 10:21 am

  It’s official: Google has just announced Google Buzz, its newest push into the social media foray. This confirms earlier reports of Gmail integrating a social status feature.On stage revealing the new product was Bradley Horowitz, Google’s vice president for product management. While introducing the product, Mr. Horowitz focused on the human penchant for sharing experiences and the social media phenomenon of wanting to share it in real time. These two key themes were core philosophies behind Google Buzz.“It’s becoming harder and harder to find signal in the…

• Facebook Kills Lexicon, Focuses on Analytics for Page Admins

  Samuel Axon

  9 Feb 2010 | 10:20 am

  Facebook has removed its Lexicon analytics app, blogger Steve Rubel noticed last night.Don’t know what Lexicon was? That’s OK, a lot of people didn’t; it was announced very quietly, but it was a neat tool. You could use Lexicon to see how frequently, and when, certain terms were trending in status updates, just like you can use Google Trends to do the same with search terms.For example, our own Stan Schroeder was a bit perplexed a couple years back when the word “sex” had a massive spike in usage on May 30, 2008. It was the launch day of the Sex and the City…

• 7 Ways to Promote Your Offline Event Using Social Media

  Susan Payton

  9 Feb 2010 | 10:10 am

  Susan Payton is the President of Egg Marketing & Public Relations, an internet marketing firm. She blogs at The Marketing Eggspert Blog, and teaches marketing courses at Marketing EggSchool. Follow her on Twitter @eggmarketing.We all know about Tweetups and online events, but what about events that you didn’t specifically invite the Twitterati to attend? Conferences, meetings and parties are all events that might not have started online, but which can definitely benefit from online promotion and mention.Leverage your offline event with some smart social media marketing. Here are…

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  ProBlogger Blog Tips

• Blog Like a Cartoonist – Six Stunning Secrets to Help You Break Through Bloggers Block

  Darren Rowse

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:24 am

  And now for a guest post with a difference from Cartoonist Mark Anderson from Andertoons.com who created this comic to illustrate the writing techniques he uses to create his cartoons, and how they can help bloggers push through writer’s block. Post from: Blog Tips at ProBlogger. Blog Like a Cartoonist – Six Stunning Secrets to Help You Break Through Bloggers Block Share This

• Have a 37 Minute Coffee Break with Me [Audio Interview]

  Darren Rowse

  9 Feb 2010 | 5:43 am

  If you have a spare 37 minutes today to grab a coffee with me (or at least are doing something that will allow you to listen to something for 37 minutes in the background) check out this interview I did with Robb Sutton late last week. Robb’s also transcribed it for those who prefer to read. In the interview Rob asks me about a whole range of stuff including: my background in blogging my philosophy on lots of sites vs focusing upon a single (or just a few) sites the process of going full time (and my wife’s six month ultimatum) my shift in focus to e-books and membership sites a…

• What Is Your Blogging Goal for February?

  Darren Rowse

  8 Feb 2010 | 6:22 am

  A few days back I asked readers a question: What Have You Been Putting Off and What’s Holding You Back? Some of the responses to the question in comments (and via email and Twitter) revealed a lot of bloggers really wanting to step things up and get what they’ve been putting off done. So – lets set some goals – what do you want to achieve by the end of February? I’m not going to be calling you up to check up to see if you’re meeting your goals – but hopefully in putting them down publicly you’ll find yourself a little more spurred on to reach…

• 9 Tricks I Used To Triple My AdSense Earnings In 30 Days

  Daniel Scocco

  7 Feb 2010 | 6:34 am

  Guest post by Daniel Scocco from Daily Blog Tips. I have been using Google AdSense to monetize my blogs and websites for as long as I remember. In fact it was the first method I ever tried (I made a whooping $15 on my first month… back in 2005). Over the years I migrated to other methods (e.g., direct sponsors and affiliate marketing), which made AdSense become merely an inventory filler. I was still making around $1,000 monthly from it, but whenever I could I would use other methods over it. Then some months ago I started noticing an upward trend on the CPC of my sites, and I figured that…

• How I Got Some Paying Sponsors Without Really Meaning To

  Darren Rowse

  6 Feb 2010 | 6:21 am

  A guest post by Josh Hanagarne. World’s Strongest Librarian was about four months old when I got interested in sponsors. I’d read the articles about how to do it, and none of them sounded that plausible for me and my situation. For one, my traffic wasn’t impressive, certainly not to the point where sponsors were approaching me. And, while my blog has become slightly more focused in its first ten months, it wasn’t targeted at any group of readers in particular, so I wasn’t sure how confident niche advertisers would be. It’s a little more focused now, but I can’t really think of a…

• 
  Copyblogger

• Does Writing for People Work for SEO?

  Brian Clark

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:16 am

  Hang around web writing circles for any length of time, and the inevitable “write for search engines or write for people” debate comes up. It’s a bit strange, really. Last time I checked, it’s people who use search engines, not some other life form. So you’re always writing for people. Obviously, the debate stems from the fact that search engines are powered by computer algorithms. But as search engines have gotten smarter, writing that pleases people and satisfies spiders is not that far apart, if at all. Let’s look at four factors that work well for SEO and see how well they…

• The Art of Shameless Self-Promotion

  Nathan Hangen

  8 Feb 2010 | 7:49 am

  I’ve found it just doesn’t pay to crow too much about what I’ve accomplished. Sure, I celebrate when things go well. But I’ve found that talking too much about my achievements leads not only to criticism, but to disappointment. There’s always going to be someone who’s done more or worked harder. And until they carve my name into the side of the moon, I see no reason in puffing myself up. The minute you get a big head is the same minute that reality smacks you and you realize that you aren’t as cool as you think you are. So self-adulation is something I try to stay…

• Five Areas to Focus On for Effective SEO Copywriting

  Brian Clark

  5 Feb 2010 | 8:51 am

  When I first started Copyblogger in 2006, I was almost militantly against on-page search optimization. Seems strange, since I’d been a successful student of SEO since 2000. It was because I saw all these people fretting over keywords like it’s 1999, and yet they had no links. Their content was weak. Their sites weren’t trusted. You can’t optimize something that’s dead in the water. So my initial goal was to get people to focus on content that attracted attention and links first. Only then do you have something you can make better (that’s what optimize means, naturally). Fours…

• Landing Page Makeovers 2007-2009: Where Are They Now?

  Roberta Rosenberg

  4 Feb 2010 | 6:46 am

  This is another addition to our ongoing series of tutorials and case studies on landing pages that work. It occurred to me late last year, as I was readying yet another Landing Page Makeover, that the end of one year and the beginning of the next was a good time to do a “Where are they now?” post. So first things first, I went back and contacted all makeover participants from the very beginning of the series. Of the more than 20 contacted, I learned that one is no longer in business, MagicPumpkinArt.com (Makeover #14) and two are in the midst of developing new products or revising…

• Does SEO Copywriting Still Matter?

  Brian Clark

  3 Feb 2010 | 8:28 am

  If there’s any one thing that can be said about SEO with certainty, it’s that it manages to cause a lot of confusion. For example, it seems like many people’s idea of SEO was formed 10 years ago, and hasn’t bothered to change with the times. Even an online veteran like Robert Scoble is completely clueless about modern best practices for search engine optimization. So, before we go any further, let me answer the question posed by the headline . . . Yes, SEO copywriting still matters. Here’s why. Search is still the biggest game in town “Pick your survey, search remains one of the…

• 
  Logic+Emotion

• We Are The Media. Do We Trust Media?

  David Armano

  9 Feb 2010 | 9:22 am

    First, an informal disclaimer. While I work for the firm (Edelman) that conducted the 2010 Trust Barometer, the following opinions expressed are personal and I was not involved with the research or creation of the report. That said, I wanted to express a few non data based thoughts around the the specific finding that there is less trust in a "person like yourself".Now, let's get into why this is worth discussing. Based on comments and conversation which I've seen in industry publications and elsewhere there seems to be a concern that this finding flies in the face of social conventional…

• The Unofficial SXSW Survival Guide

  David Armano

  6 Feb 2010 | 12:07 pm

    Having passed on my slot to the folks at Dachis Group, I will not be speaking this year at SXSW (interactive) but I will be attending. It will be my second time, and I'm happy to share that there will indeed be a sequel to the sleeper hit event last year known as "Allhat". This year we are going with "Allhat II: Return of the Cattle", and it's sure to be even better complete with local live music thanks to the support from Edelman Digital. That said, there were several things I learned from surviving SXSW, and you might want to take some of them into consideration.Go With The FlowSXSW can…

• Why I'm Not Writing a Book (Right Now)

  David Armano

  31 Jan 2010 | 8:17 pm

  There's really nothing like a book—they are portable, intimate, useful, influential and the good ones tend to go "viral" in the sense that you share them with people you know. And of course today we have new ways to digest them: from audio to Kindles to iPads etc. A question I've been getting a lot lately is:"When are you writing a book"?I've had some interest—from publishers you've heard of. But the answer is:"Not right now".My logic is simple. One cannot serve two masters—and serve them well. Either my full time job or the book would suffer. So the time is not now. I've got things to…

• Six Ways to Find Social Media Talent

  David Armano

  29 Jan 2010 | 6:40 pm

  More articles on Harvard BusinessAs organizations move their social media strategies from theory to practice, they discover a difficult truth they must confront: Finding the "perfect" social media talent is practically impossible. To start, the field is flooded with thousands of self proclaimed "experts" who have reinvented themselves to take advantage what looks like a growing business opportunity. Maybe they do know social media, but many don't. They need to be vetted. More broadly, most candidates for social media positions fall at the ends of a spectrum. On one end is the person who…

• The 5 Reasons You're Failing In Social Media

  David Armano

  21 Jan 2010 | 1:28 pm

  1. You really don't want to engage directly with customers, employees, etc.—you just want them to hear what you have to say. 2. You're not ready to create new roles, update process, re-distribute resources and budgets, re-train people, and revise old policies. 3. Social media actually threatens how you make money—but you pay lip service out of fear.4. Politics.5. You see it as a career advancing opportunity as opposed to a significant business transformation.Reverse any of these, and you've likely improved your chances of succeeding in a business environment that's becoming increasingly…

• 
  chrisbrogan.com

• Earn Your GED- Find Success Tomorrow

  chrisbrogan

  9 Feb 2010 | 1:30 am

  No, not your General Equivalent Degree. The GED to which I refer is “guest experience design.” What the heck am I talking about? I’ll tell you. Old words: customer service. New words: guest experience. Disney, where I am this week, has a concept called a Moment of Truth. A moment of truth is “any time a guest comes into contact with any aspect of a business, however remote, is an opportunity to form an impression.” Note that it’s “an impression.” It can be good; it can be bad. Why “guest?” Because guest is much more hospitable than…

• Pursue the Goal Not the Method

  chrisbrogan

  8 Feb 2010 | 1:30 am

  In the back of a town car hired to take me to the Kansas City International airport, talking to Jeff, a driver with two kids, self-proclaimed ADD, and a history of quitting rote sales jobs every few months, I realized something of importance to the story of what’s brought me to this place: I am a seeker of the goal, not the method. Now, to unpack. The Method Is What We’re Taught to Pursue We learn our times tables. We learn the 50 states (in the US, at least). We are taught all these rules, these patterns, these systems, these methods. Musicians learn their scales. Painters copy…

• Your Blog From the Prospect’s Point of View

  chrisbrogan

  7 Feb 2010 | 7:34 am

  When you use your blog to complain or report sideways about the industry at large, what message is that sending to your potential new clients? If you’re spending your time analyzing what other people in your space are doing, citing why they’re wrong, and providing your commentary about all the things they’re doing, what does your next potential customer come away thinking? Is your negative commentary helping them make a buying decision? I’ve rarely seen the tactic work in traditional advertising. You can graze them a little bit. For instance, I’m a bit fond of…

• Just Lucky I Guess – Kitchen Table Talks

  chrisbrogan

  6 Feb 2010 | 1:46 pm

  In this Kitchen Table Talks video, I just want to address all the nice folks who call me lucky, or who think I’m just sitting around being handed my lot in life. Can’t see the video? Click here. Direct link to the video “Lucky” is absolutely what I am. Here’s what I do to earn my luck: Write a blog post or two a day. Write a newsletter every week. Comment and connect with others daily. Answer and send hundreds of emails daily. Read voraciously. Work with the best clients I can find. Reach into new markets weekly. Travel extensively. Seems lucky to me. People…

• Some Of The Third Tribe Conversations

  chrisbrogan

  6 Feb 2010 | 1:02 pm

  I’m really enjoying participating in the forums at the Third Tribe site. I was just adding my two cents to a handful of forum postings, and thought that I’d show you what some of the topics we’re talking about are, so you’d have a sense of what’s going on. We don’t really share the contents, because the people participating there like having the chance to speak openly/candidly about their marketing challenges, but I don’t see the harm in sharing a few of the topic titles. Here they are: Favorite copywriting and marketing books? Third Tribe Blogroll? 2…

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  Google Blogoscoped

• What Happened In My Birth Year

  Philipp Lenssen

  8 Feb 2010 | 2:39 am

  What Happened In My Birth Year is a new site I’ve been working on. Feedback to this project very welcome, bug reports too! [Thanks Tony, Niniane and Aaron for early testing!] [By Philipp Lenssen | Origin: What Happened In My Birth Year | Comments][Advertisement] Directory Journal: Search Engine Friendly Directory

• Google to Air Super Bowl Ad?

  Philipp Lenssen

  7 Feb 2010 | 5:15 am

  On their way to become a more normal company, Google went from No Ads to Mostly Good Ads. Two examples are the “story” videos for for Google search and one for the Nexus One phone. Some speculations are that Google will now air an ad in the Super Bowl due in some hours. Wikipedia explains: The Super Bowl has been the championship game of the National Football League (NFL), the premier association of professional American football, since 1967. In most years, the Super Bowl is the most-watched American television broadcast. Many popular singers and musicians have performed during…

• Frequency of Strip Versions of Various Games (xkcd)

  Philipp Lenssen

  6 Feb 2010 | 4:55 am

  [Cartoon from Xkcd by Randall Munroe, (cc) free to share but not to sell] [By Philipp Lenssen | Origin: Frequency of Strip Versions of Various Games ... | Comments][Advertisement] Books about Google available on Ebay

• Google Chrome PageRank Checker

  Philipp Lenssen

  6 Feb 2010 | 1:24 am

  I was just trying to find out the PageRank of a couple of sites using Internet Explorer’s Google Toolbar, but something was broken. Google Chrome has a nice PageRank extension, though. As you can see in the screenshot, it’s helpful by immediately showing the actual value instead of just a green bar. A couple of times it reverted to zero after loading, but otherwise the values it was showing looked like they were the correct ones. (Considering it doesn’t look like it’s an offical extension, I’m not sure though how accurate the values are now, or will be in the…

• Google People Hopper

  Philipp Lenssen

  5 Feb 2010 | 2:53 am

  Google’s social network site Orkut has a new application that lets you morph one face into another. Called People Hopper, it was broken yesterday but is working now. I’ve created a profile for this purpose (I deleted my real one a while ago) and morphed the first picture, Mr. John Cleese, into Tony Ruscoe below: The interesting part here is that the intermediate steps themselves are other people from Orkut. Clicking on any face will take you to their profile. Nice here is that Google does some face detection, so you don’t need to work with perfectly cropped portraits. Beyond…

• 
  Writing on the Web

• Why Video Works with Content Marketing to Attract Clients- An Audio Interview

  dr-patsi

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:45 am

  Do you have personality? And are you showing it to your blog readers? Do they know what you look like and sound like, and can they get a glimpse of what your office space looks like? Do they know your hobbies, where you live? Right now I'm in pajamas and there's a few strands of hair sticking up in the air. My work space is full of papers, books, coffee and Huey, the cat. But a professional video might show a different view... One of the things I put forth in the Click Predictions ebook for content marketing trends for 2010 is that companies are going to start showing more personality. It's…

• Content Marketing for Online Profits - Video

  dr-patsi

  8 Feb 2010 | 4:10 am

  Here's my video description of the new ebook I released last week, Content Marketing for Online Profits. I have to ask your forgiveness for my amateur video which I shot myself with an inexpensive Logitech Web cam, on a Sunday morning at home. My intention was to write a polished script and do a better job than this, but I've run out of time. The important message is that if you haven't done so already, please click this link to register to gain access to Content Marketing for Online Profits. It's an online learning program brought to you through MyKnowledgeGenie.com, which is quite amazing…

• Content Marketing Profits: Learn for Free...

  dr-patsi

  6 Feb 2010 | 4:00 am

   If you'd like to learn about how online content works to get found, get known, get clients and make sales, register for Content Marketing for Online Profits. It's free, and from what readers tell me, it's easy to use and learn from. Click, register, get instant access. Then tell me what you think!

• How Does Content Marketing Lead to Sales?

  dr-patsi

  5 Feb 2010 | 5:32 am

  This is the real question, isn't it? After writing good content that educates and entertains, after posting on web pages, blogs, and a few key social media sites... how does content work to generate sales?"Show me the money," you might say.For some people, if the ROI can't be pin-pointed, forget about it. I'll leave the analytics to experts. Google keywords like "return on investment content marketing," for example. There's no question that the return on investment of content marketing can be measured and proven. If it didn't, then why would 6 out of 10 marketers be spending more money on…

• 10 Content Marketing Success Tips

  dr-patsi

  3 Feb 2010 | 3:24 pm

  Are you writing this down? Take notes, these 10 tips for online success with Content Marketing are important. I didn't write them, but one of my favorite bloggers did, Adam Singer over at Online Marketing Blog. (#1 top Junta42 Content Marketing blog).Here's what he says:"As more companies, marketers and industry professionals flood the web with content, the value of those with a true understanding of content marketing keeps going up. "More noise increases the value of signal. If your content marketing defines you as that source of signal, you’ll consistently be found, referenced and chosen…

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  Business Blogs: How to Build A Better Blog

• Business Blog Review - Chronic Illness Coach Blog

  Denise Wakeman, The Blog Squad

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:31 am

  A couple of weeks ago I announced that I would pick 2-3 blogs to do quickie blog reviews - a 5-10 minute screencast video to point out a few things bloggers can do to boost the effectivness of their blogs.I got over 130 entries! As much as I would like to, I just didn't have time to look at every blog that was submitted to decide which to choose. I had my VA create a spreadsheet with all the names and blog URLs and then I used random.org to choose 3 numbers. The winners have to agree to let me post the reviews publicly, here on this blog and on video distribution sites like YouTube and Vimeo,…

• Without Traffic Your Content Doesn't Get Read

  Denise Wakeman, The Blog Squad

  7 Feb 2010 | 1:39 pm

  How to drive traffic to your blog or web site is a hot, hot, hot topic. It goes without saying that if you don't have traffic, your content, no matter how great, is invisible so whether you want organic traffic from search engine results or you want traffic from social networks, you must actively work to get it and there are many tactics you can implement. At the recent Niche Affiliate Marketing Systems workshop, I shared the stage with Willie Crawford and we did a session on tips and tricks for driving traffic. Willie is a master and shared how he repurposes his articles in numerous ways. …

• 21 Tips for Driving Traffic to Your Blog or Website

  Denise Wakeman, The Blog Squad

  3 Feb 2010 | 9:36 am

  At the recent Niche Affiliate Marketing System event, I had the honor of sharing the stage with the amazing Willie Crawford, a legend in the Internet Marketing world. We did an informal presentation about how to drive more traffic to your sites.  While Willie was doing a presentation on list building, I made a quick list of 21 ways to drive traffic. We used my list as a starting point and had a great discussion that went nearly 90 minutes (you can get the audio of this session and all the other awesome speakers for only $97). After the presentation, the audience asked for my list. Since it…

• 14 Mistakes Many Business Bloggers Make

  Denise Wakeman, The Blog Squad

  29 Jan 2010 | 8:01 am

  When I do one on one business blog reviews, I almost always find the same problems. On Sunday I'll be doing blogging hot seat reviews at the Niche Affiliate Marketing System workshop. Here's a list of a few things I'll be looking for when I do the reviews. Study the list and then take a look at your blog. Are you making these mistakes?Are you making these mistakes on your business blog?Content1. Not posting frequently enough.2. Content is not focused or optimized for the search engines.3.  Articles are too long. (I know I said there are no rules, and you have to take online reader behavior…

• Blogging Hot Seat - Submit Your Blog for A Quickie Blog Review

  Denise Wakeman, The Blog Squad

  26 Jan 2010 | 9:57 am

  Want to sit on the blogging hot seat? I'm prepping for my business blogging presentation at the Niche Affiliate Marketing System event on Sunday. First I'm giving a presentation about blogging, then I'm conducting a one hour blogging hot seat where I will review 2-3 blogs (22 blogs were submitted for consideration by the participants!) and demonstrate how they can be improved and what makes an effective, optimized blog. You'll be able to "watch" vicariously if you follow the #NAMS twitter stream 10 am - 1 pm ET. Then I got an idea (actually it was inspired by a conversation with my colleague…

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  Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

• Why Businesses Still Aren’t Engaging Online With Their Customers

  ME Liz Strauss

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:54 am

  A Guest Post by Frank Angelone Are you a business? Whether you are a large corporation or a small business, you should be engaging with your customers. As many already know, the best way to engage with your customers is through social media. There are so many sites available at your disposal to be an active participant, yet many businesses still aren’t using social media to its full potential. Why is this? Well, I believe it can be answered in 5 bullet points… Laziness. It’s as simple as that. If you don’t engage in social media, your sales for your business…

• 3 Simple Steps to Add Irresistible Influence to Your Brand

  ME Liz Strauss

  8 Feb 2010 | 7:20 am

  Magnetic from the Very First Minute! What makes a person or a company unforgettable from the second you interact? Why do some folks motivate and energize us? What is it about some folks that attracts people so powerfully? What makes a magnetic personality? Is it possible for a company or a brand to have those qualities? Can we carry them online and off? 3 Simple Steps to Add Irresistible Influence to Your Brand The brands and the businesses we love don’t just deliver on a promise. They make us feel good about working with them and feel good about being part of what they’re doing.

• Beach Notes: What Goes into Effortless?

  ME Liz Strauss

  7 Feb 2010 | 7:25 am

  by Guest Writers Suzie Cheel and Des Walsh A couple of times recently we have seen this man at our local beach, Rainbow Bay, with a didgeridoo ( or yidaki), the traditional Australian Aboriginal musical intrument. This day we saw and heard him playing with the end of the “didge” submerged at the water’s edge. My thought was that there might be some spiritual explanation, connecting with the spirits of the sea, etc. A bit of a web search suggests something more mundane. Evidently the exercise of playing the instrument in this way trains the diaphragm and builds the player’s…

• Thanks to Week 224 SOBs

  ME Liz Strauss

  6 Feb 2010 | 8:56 am

  Successful and Outstanding Bloggers Let me introduce the bloggers who have earned this official badge of achievement, and the right to call themselves Successful Blog SOBs. I invite them to take a badge home to display on their blogs. They take the conversation to their readers, contribute great ideas, challenge us, make us better, and make our businesses stronger. I thank all of our SOBs for thinking what we say is worth passing on. Good conversation shared can only improve the blogging community. Should anyone question this SOB button’s validity, send him or her to me. Thie award…

• SOB Business Cafe 02-05-10

  ME Liz Strauss

  5 Feb 2010 | 7:03 am

  Welcome to the SOB Cafe We offer the best in thinking — articles, books, podcasts, and videos about business online written by the Successful and Outstanding Bloggers of Successful Blog. Click on the titles to enjoy each selection. The Specials this Week are Doc Searls Weblog What you have to appreciate, even admire, is how well Apple plays the vertical game. It’s really amazing. What you also have to appreciate is how much we also need the horizontal one. The iPad needs an open alternative, soon. There should be for the iPad what Google’s Nexus One is for the iPhone. Up the creek…

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  PR 2.0

• The State of Social Media Around the World 2010

  brian

  8 Feb 2010 | 3:09 am

  If you were to look at Social Media the United States and many other parts of the world, you would believe that the world of Social Media was flat, dominated by social continents including Facebook, Twitter, blogs, YouTube, and Flickr. As we zoom in, we visualize other established and emerging social services that depict provinces and outlying settlements of our social atlas.Upon publishing the original Conversation Prism, which was the culmination of a year’s work documenting and organizing the social web by usage and conversational patterns, the world responded by creating…

• The Roles of Facebook and Twitter in Social Media Marketing

  brian

  5 Feb 2010 | 4:14 am

  Social Media marketing is rapidly earning a role in the integrated marketing mix of small and enterprise businesses and as such, it’s transforming every division from the inside out. What starts with one champion in any given division, be it customer service, marketing, public relations, advertising, interactive, et al, eventually inspires an entire organization to socialize. What starts with one, a domino effect usually ensues toppling each department, gaining momentum, and triggering a sense of urgency through its path. And, it also marks the beginning of our journey through the ten…

• Mobile Internet Market to Eclipse Desktop Internet

  brian

  3 Feb 2010 | 4:42 am

  Sounds like a sensationalistic headline, but if you read Morgan Stanley’s latest series of reports on the Mobile Internet, you’ll walk away with the same impression.Morgan Stanley’s global technology and telecom analysts documented the rapidly changing mobile Internet market to provide a framework for emerging trends and direction.To set the stage, Morgan Stanley forecasts that the mobile Internet market will be at least 2x the size of desktop Internet when comparing Internet users to mobile subscribers.According to the report, Apple’s iTunes + iPhone/Touch ecosystem…

• The Human Algorithm: How Google Ranks Tweets in Real-Time Search

  brian

  1 Feb 2010 | 4:57 am

  In 2009, Google struck a deal with Twitter, rumored at $15 million, to integrate tweets into keyword related Google searches. And last month, Google also integrated real-time search technology to surface blog posts and news content as they hit the Web – dramatically improving the previous five to 15 minutes its spiders would take to crawl the Web. I should also note that Collecta also offers the ability to search the real-time Web, but its results also include popular networks within the social Web. Between Google and Collecta, Twitter Search is starting to show its age.The opportunities…

• Who is the ME in Social Media?

  brian

  29 Jan 2010 | 4:11 am

  Good friend Stowe Boyd recently shared a quote by Gabriel García Márquez, “Everyone has three lives: a public life, a private life, and a secret life.”Indeed, quite simply many of us live life allowing specific, trusted individuals to know us in one or more of our personae. Our moral compass as well as outside influences affect how we balance our three lives. The size and permeability of our personal dividers vary in the separation of each life and resemble doors that open and close based on our desires. We nurture each individually with slight coalescence, but concentrate on…

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  Seth Godin

• TEDthink

  Seth Godin

  9 Feb 2010 | 3:00 am

  Can you factor this? If you're like most people, you get a little queasy at the thought. And when you were in tenth grade, you surely wondered why they were bothering you.(the answer is (x-2) times (x-2), in case you were curious.)It turns out that the real reason you needed to do this work was to be able to play with numbers in your head. Abstract numerical thought is an important skill among educated people.Which brings us to TED, a conference held every year in Long Beach. It's going on right now. Watch a few TED videos and try to get ahead of the speaker. They have an idea...it's probably…

• Frightened, clueless or uninformed?

  Seth Godin

  8 Feb 2010 | 2:57 am

  In the face of significant change and opportunity, people are often one of the three. If you're going to be of assistance, it helps to know which one.Uninformed people need information and insight in order to figure out what to do next. They are approaching the problem with optimism and calm, but they need to be taught. Uninformed is not a pejorative term, it's a temporary state.Clueless people don't know what to do and they don't know that they don't know what to do. They don't know the right questions to ask. Giving them instructions is insufficient. First, they need to be sold on what the…

• The least I could do

  Seth Godin

  7 Feb 2010 | 3:35 am

  One way to think about running a successful business is to figure out what the least you can do is, and do that. That's actually what they spent most of my time at business school teaching me.No sense putting more on that pizza, sending more staff to that event, answering the phone in fewer rings... what's the point? No sense being kind, looking people in the eye, being open or welcoming or grateful. Doing the least acceptable amount is the way to maximize short term profit.Of course, there's a different strategy, a crazy alternative that seems to work: do the most you can do instead of the…

• iPad app of my dreams: the digital talking pad

  Seth Godin

  6 Feb 2010 | 8:10 am

  Here's the spec. If you build it and it's great, I'll use it and I'll blog it.A while ago, I posted about the talking pad and a modern version of it.I think there's a killer app version of this for the iPad, and I hope someone will build it. The talking pad is an interactive presentation tool for smart people.OverviewIt's a very simple concept: a collection of pages (slides, images, type, let's call them pages) that are easy to navigate in a non-linear way. Along with the standard zoom features, I'd like to be able to write on any of them in real time using my finger. I can also call up, on…

• The relentless search for "tell me what to do"

  Seth Godin

  6 Feb 2010 | 2:26 am

  If you've ever hired or managed or taught, you know the feeling.People are just begging to be told what to do. There are a lot of reasons for this, but I think the biggest one is: "If you tell me what to do, the responsibility for the outcome is yours, not mine. I'm safe."When asked, resist.

• 
  PsyBlog

• Why The Media Seems Biased When You Care About The Issue

  Jeremy Dean

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:48 am

  Research shows both pro-Arabs and pro-Israelis watching the same news reports think it is biased against their own side. The media may well be biased, in fact it would be a miracle if it were permanently and perfectly balanced, that isn't what this post is about. Instead this is about how you and I perceive the presence or absence of bias in the media. This study, conducted in the 1980s, helps to explain a lot of the heat and light that gets produced by those commenting on media bias across the political spectrum, including the remarkably vitriolic outpourings often seen in the comment…

• Recruitment Closed: Online Expressive Writing Study

  Jeremy Dean

  8 Feb 2010 | 7:07 am

  Update: Thanks for your interest in this study but recruitment is now closed. Are you currently feeling a little under the weather, fed up or stressed? Do you live in the United Kingdom? Are you over 18? Would you be interested in participating in an expressive writing study? If so, read on... About this research Many studies have found that when people write about past emotional events in their lives they can show improvements in physical or mental health. We want to test the effects of expressive writing in a study carried out completely online. Here are some brief details of the study,…

• Why We Love Narcissists (At First)

  Jeremy Dean

  3 Feb 2010 | 3:02 am

  Paradoxically we initially like narcissists more because of their exploitative, entitled behaviour—but it doesn't last long. Despite being self-absorbed, arrogant, entitled and exploitative, narcissists are also fascinating. And not just from a clinical perspective; the research finds that we are strangely drawn to their self-centred personalities, their dominance and their hostility, their sensitivity and their despair, at least for a while. Psychologists are fascinated by narcissists, both why we like them despite on some level recognising their dysfunction, and because they embody so…

• 10 More Brilliant Social Psychology Studies: Why Smart People Do Dumb or Irrational Things

  Jeremy Dean

  26 Jan 2010 | 4:18 am

  Which is your favourite social psychology study? Over the last 7 months I've been exploring 10 more of my favourite social psychology studies, each with an insightful story to tell about how our minds work. This follows on from an article I wrote two years ago (10 brilliant social psychology studies). Key insights from each study are below but click through to get the full story of each experiment. Once you've had a look, vote for your favourite at the bottom of this page. Why You Can’t Help Believing Everything You Read By default are we critical or gullible? This study shows that…

• The 7 Psychological Principles of Scams: Protect Yourself by Learning the Techniques

  Jeremy Dean

  21 Jan 2010 | 5:28 am

  How hustlers trick 3.2 million people each year in the UK into handing over £3.5 billion. Good hustlers are excellent intuitive psychologists. Just like magicians they understand enough about how the mind works to exploit its vulnerabilities. Our fascination with hustlers is insatiable and, despite being criminals, they are frequently portrayed by Hollywood in a flattering light, in films like The Sting, Catch Me If You Can and the Ocean's Eleven trilogy. Of course the reality is nowhere near as romantic, especially if you've fallen for one of the cons. Frank Stajano, a security expert at…