Category Archive 'Social Web + More'
24.01.10
Surprising to many, there are a considerable number list of conservative actors. While their political position is certainly questionable among many the United States voters, they are a serious force. Perhaps they choose not to make political remarks due to the often hypocritical Democratic political position of Hollyweird. With that said, those that elect to make themselves known are not afraid to let their voice be heard.
One of the most popular is writer David Lynch known for many, many insanely popular flicks. Via a recent tv interview with Ed Downey they went on record, “I love the Republican party and won’t thought much of the blue counties.”
That passionately anti-American vision caused quite a hundreds phone calls to the popular liberal shows. This disorder founded a modern conversation among American citizenry. The unprecedented differentiation in the middle of the dichotomous ideologies might noticeable to this day. Democrats and Republicans are soberly unqualified of getting on.
Today is an period when Celebrities have come ahead of time and have begun to become able to disputing the massess assumptions and stimulate human beings to think intelligently.
Despite the slight societal distinction, Conservative of Fame are ,after a long time, appreciated for their supremely remarkable and expressive viewpoints.
05.01.10
Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co (KKR) was established by Henry Kravis and his partner George Roberts in the mid-seventies with help from the First Chicago Corporation. But recently they have put together an extraordinary green enterprise that focuses not only on how much money they can net, but also on the ecological impact of the companies they invest in. Green business practice became more broadly accepted last year when Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co’s Henry Kravis and the non-profit environmental advocacy group Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) got together. Issues like hazardous emissions and exaggerated water consumption rank high on their agenda. In order to accomplish these goals, they use a procedure labeled eco-efficiency, this involves down-to-earth techniques such as maximum use of renewable resources, using clean energy, and reducing the waste of resources. Simple and effective, yet the KKR and EDF did not even understand the scope of the advantages of the program until Ken Mehlman, the head of the project and global public affairs, reviewed the program when it had been up and running for a year. Much to everybody’s surprise, Ken found that this program not only cut down on the impact on the planet, but was increasing the profits from each and every business organization besides. Well-nigh all of the companies affiliated to Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co and Ken Mehlman nowadays actively participate in the Green Portfolio Project. All The Same, when you consider that the group has a 2009 portfolio with an estimated worth of eighty six billion USD, you may be sure that this was no easy see what an enormous accomplishment this is. The original program now encompasses new and innovative initiatives. The Climate Corps Program set up by the EDF is a good illustration of this, it heightens awareness of eco-efficient business techniques to MBA interns. KKR and Ken Mehlman have been formulating a series of analytical tools which evaluate and oversee resources. With this information available, businesses can assess their day-to-day procedures and discover where they can resolve any issues while at the same time seeing their progress.
Henry Kravis, the KKC, and the Environmental Defense Fund have encouraged all sorts of businesses to reduce their ecological impact. In summary, the work of these organizations has made green business techniques not only viable, but commercially desirable, and their novel ideas are setting a new standard in the business world of today.
07.12.09
Have you heard of a business called Trilegiant? When you look at its area, the management of subscription initiatives, the firm is among the most prominent in the United States of America. Liaising with many retail and service brands, several major firms in entertainment, shopping, health, travel organizations among many others, Trilegiant strives to improve the shopping experience. Nathaniel Lipman and Trilegiant are certainly not new to the field. Opening its doors for the first time over thirty-five years ago, Trilegiant began in the town of Norwalk, Connecticut and can now boast eight major sites spread across a full six states and containing 3000 staff members ready to address your problems. This organization means they can provide for upwards of twenty five million consumers across North America. The business is famous for creating risk-free solutions that enable consumers to make savings, acquire high quality products and services, in addition to making shopping smoother. Initiatives such as Buyers Advantage give members easy access to low priced extended warranty protection, return guarantee protection, and insurance on repair costs to leave them safe in the knowledge that their assets are secure. Trilegiant also, of course, offer other programs including HealthSaver — which provides reasonably priced healthcare with no drop in quality — just to look at a single example. It is when they turn their attention its attention to the home community that Trilegiant’s dream shows its true colours. One-off programs organized within the business by even small-scale factions of the workforce regularly generate charitable donations of tens of thousands of dollars in roughly 5 days — an accomplishment one can admire.
Mr Lipman and his workers researches into subjects of significance to clients. Had you read that in 2005 alone there were about six and a half million reported road fender benders in the USA alone? The business is all too aware — and it worries them. And that’s only the reported collisions — the number doesn’t include unrecorded collisions or “road rage” incidents which happen in their millions each year. No one would want their own truck to factor in these figures, particularly the nastier accidents, and since 2007 members of the Autovantage car club have been receiving the company’s yearly “road rage” data. To help you stay safe, the tips and information these factsheets contain are written to make you aware of problems while you have the opportunity to take steps.
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Enriching the community where you’re based is vital, even if most companies don’t are aware of it; Trilegiant is happy to be counted among the companies showing awareness. Their varied initiatives enhance the retail experience for members, and their dedication to charitable goals and the desire to educate the public regarding important questions shows that Trilegiant’s heart is in the right place. In summary, you see in them the essence of a customer subscription based firm.
09.11.09
Stephen A. Schwarzman’s story is one of altruism and a willingness to work hard. Only last year Steve Schwarzman placed number fifty three on Forbes’ list of the richest people in the United States, but it’s his significant accomplishments in the world of business not to mention his donations to society which set his business-man apart. This Blackstone Group top executive is inspiring and his life goes to prove that wealth can be gained by working hard and being really centered your career. Steve Schwarzman and Peter Peterson set up the portfolio management and financial advisory firm Blackstone Group in the eighties. At this point in time the Blackstone Group is a household name with investments as qualified as e.g. Allied Waste and Catalent Pharma Solutions, to name but two of them. Living for many of his formative years in Pennsylvania, Steve got his schooling in suburban Philadelphia. When he finished high school he decided on an undergraduate degree course at Yale. He went on to advance his training at the notable Harvard Business School, gaining his Master’s degree in Business Administration in 1972. Once he had finished his time at college, Steve began a career at Lehman Brothers. Before he celebrated his thirty-second birthday Steve was already on the board. Steve Schwarzman volunteered his services as an ancillary professor at the legendary Yale School of Business Management and also offers his patronage to a number of not for profit organizations, educational programs, and the arts. He is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the JFK Center for the Performing Arts in New York. In addition, Steve just last March presented to the New York Public Library 100 million dollars to back their recent expansion project. He is also one of the trustees of the library. Stephen A. Schwarzman is now an inspiration to a new generation of business people — last year he was cited amongst Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People on the planet in acknowledgement of his international influence on business. His supremacy in the business community has definitely been nothing short of miraculous, and coupled with his readiness to support his own community as illustrated by his generous donations to the arts and education projects is an inspiration to people who are now following his lead.
So the business community waits with interest breath to see what Steve will do next. In summary, Steve Schwarzman has made an enormous difference to the financial space and to the world as a whole.
20.10.09
Most eminently acclaimed business people are constructive members of their respective communities and Mr. Naveen Jain is certainly no exception. You’ll most probably have come across Mr. Naveen Jain’s name the co-founder & CEO of Intelius, Inc. the acclaimed information commerce market leader. On top of having a ranking on the Forbes list “400 Richest in America” 2000, this eminently successful businessman has gained a number of choice awards including the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, the Albert Einstein Technology Medal, and the WSA Industry Achievement Award, to cite but a small selection. Yet things absolutely expand out from there. That’s because Naveen Jain and his relations are equally as avid about philanthropy and will try to lend a helping hand as frequently as they can. The young generation indisputably incorporate our most priceless resource. This entrepreneur sees - and treats - children as the pivotal focus of his charity dealings, and he takes every chance available to support them. This is the main reason why he is always intensely leveraging every chance he can to lend a helping hand wherever at all possible. Thus, Naveen Jain, his relations and his employees at Intelius, Inc. pledge their time and efforts to a variety of philanthropical institutions such as TreeHouse, the Overlake Service League, and the Children’s Hospital. Obviously, they give magnanimous material aid but most importantly, they sacrifice their time and energies to the most deprived and at risk children. What’s more, he supports the Children’s Hospital, contributing to meliorate children’s health.
Because Jain is a graduate of XLRI Jamshedpur and the Indian Institute of Technology, it is no surprise that professional training enjoys a tremendously significant preference within his philanthropic activities. This also includes campaigns and good causes that range from the regional to the global. Thus, Intelius and its CEO are sponsoring voluntary organizations and charitable entities, for example the University Preparatory Academy, Child Rights and You (CRY) and the University of Washington. Providing for the planet’s destitute constitutes an additional essential challenge for Jain and his relations and to him, it makes not a speck of difference. Although he is cognizant that the task of getting food for all the planet’s famished is a colossal one, he also believes that the impossible can truly come to be achievable if the whole world works in concert. If this entrepreneur should actually have his way, the final curtain will come down on famine and poverty in the world one day.
One would suppose that being the leader of a spectacularly successful enterprise and a dedicated husband and parent would leave practically no resources for volunteering and support. Even so he sees to it that all of his philanthropic ventures will receive as much assistance as he can possibly contribute. This idealistic businessman is positively more than just a business trailblazer. He is (even more importantly) also a very unique person and an authentic champion of his community.
23.08.09
Not so long ago, if you were online, you might have had just one password to remember for your email account. These days though it’s not uncommon to have 20 or 30 passwords for innumerous web services that you’re a customer of. So what happens? A good many individuals are inclined to utilise the very same password for all or nearly all the services they’ve signed up to. Some individuals may not consider their Facebook photo gallery as being majorly important, but it is if you’re applying the same password as you are for your Google Checkout account. Of course, it’s convenient to only have to remember just one password, but what happens if a hacker gets their hands on that one password? That’s right, they in theory have their mitts on all of the servives you’ve signed up to that use that same password. And if you think they can’t know the other online services you’ve joined, it isn’t essential. They run web application programs which examine literally thousands of online services against your account name/password pairing that they already have.
It’s a problem, but it’s easily remedied. Actually, you don’t need to remember each and every account name/password. Let your browser do it. Be it your Bebo sign in or Email password. Ask your browser to store each username/password, and then setup a master password just in case an individual gets hold of your computer. If they do so, they will have to type in the master password to login to any of your services. In other words, you can join hundreds of web services, and only have to actually remember one password : your master password for your web browser.
When creating passwords, make them long and random, for example X4563Jde34 which is a mix of numbers, lower and upper case characters. Since you don’t need to remember them, be as obscure as you like. Whatever you do, don’t use dictionary words as your password, as these are effortless to identify for hackers.
08.08.09
A rising number of outstanding entrepreneurs are actively involved in philanthropy nowadays. You’ll most likely have seen Mr. Naveen Jain’s name as being the CEO as well as co-founder of Intelius, Inc. the leading information commerce company. Beyond making the Forbes 400 Richest in America list 2000, this maverick businessman has been given various notable awards including the Albert Einstein Technology Medal, the WSA Industry Achievement Award, and the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, to cite but a small selection. But that is definitely not where it ends. For Naveen Jain and his family are by the same token as impassioned about philanthropy and will seek to help out wherever possible.
All our hopes for the future are carried in today’s children. They are moreover an essential inspiration for this entrepreneur, and he uses every opportunity available to assist them. This, obviously, is the primary reason why he is always intensely exploiting every opening he can to support them, wherever it is at all viable. Hence, Naveen Jain, his relatives and those at Intelius give their time to philanthropical associations such as United Way, TreeHouse, and the Overlake Service League. They offer magnanimous financial aid but even more importantly, they commit their time and attention to the most needy and danger prone children. Moreover, he supports the Children’s Hospital striving to improve children’s health.
Because Jain is a graduate of XLRI Jamshedpur and the Indian Institute of Technology, it’s not at all astounding that professional training also constitutes a key pivot point in his benevolent endeavors. This incorporates campaigns and charities local, state, and nationwide. Thus Intelius and its CEO are sponsoring aid agencies and charities such as the Rotary Club, the Vedic Cultural Center and Hopelink.
Providing for the planet’s famished represents another critical objective for Naveen Jain and his folks and he refuses all differentiation as to whether the person in need is a mere baby or very old, and neither where they are domiciled, be it the greatest city or the loneliest hovel. Although he is cognizant that the mission of locating food for all the planet’s famished is an eminently herculean one, he is also cognizant that the unfeasible can really be positively feasible when each person struggles towards a unified end. If this CEO should actually have his way, there will come a conclusive close to hardship and hunger everywhere in the future. You may probably be pardoned for assuming that being the man in charge of a spectacularly successful enterprise plus being a devoted family man would leave him with no spare time for philanthropic acts. All the same Naveen Jain takes care that all of his altruistic endeavors obtains all the assistance he can possibly muster. Indeed this philanthropic entrepreneur is undoubtedly way more than merely a business leader. He is, even more importantly, an extraordinary person and a genuine advocate of his community.
16.10.08
Working moms could bedescribedas modern heroes of today. They could be the person behind a successful business entrepreneur, the strength of a leader, the one who runs a well managed and maintained household and the one who comforts and hones the dream of child in a preschool.
Working moms are the women of today. Women who know what they want. And know how to achieve then yet still trying to live another life out of her office, down her corporate wardrobe and the multitasked person as she is.
Sometimes it makes us wonder how they are able to manage all this and what it’s like to be in their shoes. How does balancing work at home, job, family and spiritual life seem possible for them? Working moms are busy
women; busy juggling kids, work and home, relationship with their spouse and trying to combine and climb the corporate ladder all at the same time.
Working moms are still our ordinary moms. They could be ideal to many and admired and envy by few. They work all day, bring home the bacon, and fry it up in a pan and while they are at it, we’re raising young children, along with our spouses/partners.
Surely most of us would not want to be in their place, others might not even want to imagine it but just the same these persons who become working moms are truly great and truly worth to be admired because they choice to make the best of both worlds, just being a mom and working at the same time to help and provide for her beloved family.
11.01.08
Conversation is at the heart of all networking activity.
How confident and comfortable are you, engaging people in conversation?
Many people have asked me recently about how to initiate and engage in conversation. In fact, over the past year, this has been one of the most popular questions!
Here are some of the ways it shows up:
- How to open the conversation
- How to break the ice
- Knowing what to say
- How to cut into a conversation
- How to find out what people want to hear from me or what questions I should ask them
- Getting to know people
- Finding the confidence to initiate a conversation
And so on…
Sound familiar?
Since it seems to be a common concern and question for many people, here’s a short but powerful exercise for those who are really serious about tackling this question.
This exercise may seem easy or even superficial, but it’s not.
The questions I’m asking here are not trivial — the more thought and effort you put into doing this exercise, the more you will get out of it.
So here it is:
PART 1: Gather “data”
For the next 7 days, keep an eye out for the following situations each day:
- When during the day did you initiate a conversation with a “stranger” (i.e. someone you didn’t know)?
- What was the situation or context? For instance, were you in the grocery store, the train station, an airplane, etc.?
- What led you to initiate the conversation? For instance, did you need information (e.g. directions), were you curious about something, did you have information you wanted to offer the other person, etc.?
- How did this feel conversation for you? (E.g. comfortable, awkward, neutral, etc.) Why is this?
Jot down what you notice at the end of each day, so you can remember it.
PART 2: Look at your “data”
At the end of the week, look through your notes:
- What patterns do you notice about when and how you initiate conversations?
- What allows you to initiate conversations?
- What specifically makes you to feel comfortable or uncomfortable in such conversations?
- How are these situations similar or different from business networking conversations?
PART 3: Action Plan
Now use this information to your advantage.
- What did you learn about yourself and how you engage in conversations with “strangers”, from doing this exercise?
- How will you use this information in the context of business networking?
As I said, it can be a very powerful tool for you, if you do actually do this exercise.
So if this topic is of importance to you, invest the time to do this seriously. I guarantee you will see improvements in your ability to converse with people. Good luck!
(c) Copyright 2006, Srirupa Dasgupta
Sri Dasgupta helps business professionals get better results from their business networking efforts through focused and relevant conversations. She is the author of the Effortless Networking, and writes regular articles offering business networking tips and related resources.
01.10.07
The heart of any business is the connection it has with other businesses and individuals that it can call upon to help meet its needs. Networking - any activity designed to create, maintain and utilize interpersonal connections - is an essential business skill. But not all business people take the time to truly master. However, without a solid understanding of how to network effectively and efficiently, no business can make the vital connections that it needs to survive and prosper in today’s super-connected economy. Here are some tips you can use to increase your networking - and business - success
Go with a goal. One of the first and most common mistakes that people make when entering a networking situation (planned or otherwise) is to fail to have a firm goal in mind. Are you looking to acquire new prospects, meet colleagues for possible collaborations, create a mutual referral partnership, create name recognition for you and your business, find funding or just “shop around” for interesting news and trends you can use? If you haven’t taken the time to determine what your goals are for the encounters ahead, you will have a hard time meeting them.
Of course, most businesses have several different needs, but in many cases any given networking opportunity is unlikely to provide more than one or two types of results, depending on the situation at hand. For example, if you are attending an event made up primarily of others in your industry or trade, you are unlikely to meet prospects, since everyone will be a provider just like you, nor are you likely to find referral partners, since almost everyone will be a direct competitor. So if your primary needs are clients and referrals, such events, while not an entire waste of time, might not be your best use of it. On the other hand, if you are desperately seeking a partner to expand or are looking to find out the latest, greatest technology in the field to offer to your client base, then you’re definitely going to be in the right place.
Hone your message. When someone asks you what you do, can you articulate not only your business but it’s benefit to them in a clear and concise manner? How about your “elevator speech” or 15-second intro - is it crisp, to the point and compelling, or do people’s eyes glaze over before you get to the end? This is not the time to give a dry and deadly-dull job description. Save that for your resume. When someone asks about you and your business, you are being given a golden, but brief, opportunity to knock his or her socks off and to persuade them that you are the best thing to happen to them since sliced bread. Make sure you do so.
Important - leave your sales pitch at home! Networking is networking, and sales is sales. Confuse the two and you’ll lose out on both. Nobody wants to be sold to, especially when they’re quite plainly not in a sales environment. And remember that anyone who tries to work a networking event under the “three-foot rule” (anyone within three feet is an opportunity to make a sale) is likely to find others unwilling to get within three feet of them in a very short period of time.
Check your gear. Make sure that you have everything you need to make a great impression. Are your business cards or other hand-outs up to date, and as professional-looking as you can make them? If this is a planned event, do you know who will be attending and have you isolated a few people you definitely want to make sure to meet, or are you going in blind and resigned to winging it?
And don’t forget to double-check the time, date and venue. Nothing is more irritating than showing up only to find that you’re too early, too late or unable to find a parking space closer than a quarter-mile away.
Educate your audience. Are you seeking a collaborative partner for a project? Then make sure everyone knows what the project is and what sort of partner you are looking for (and the general parameters of the partnership they’ll be investing their time into). If you’re looking for referrals, then do your potential referral sources know what constitutes a good referral for you? It’s a waste of your time and a drain on your referrer’s good will and reputation if you turn down or do a bad job for everyone they send to you because the referrals were inappropriate. Likewise, a well-educated referral source might wind up sending you fewer referrals, but those are much more likely to be quality prospects that have a high probability of becoming solid clients.
On the other hand, if you are directly prospecting do your prospects know that you’re the answer to their prayers and why? Remember that all prospects are tuned into station WII-FM - What’s In It For Me - and unless you make sure that they know why they should consider working with you, they won’t.
Follow through. The most important part of networking happens after the initial contact. The best impression, the snappiest laser marketing message and the deepest desire to work together will all come to naught if they don’t hear from you in a timely manner - or even worse, never hear from you at all. No matter who said what about calling whom, always follow up promptly and in a manner designed to strengthen the relationship and add value for the other person.
A simple follow-up email may be okay for old contacts touching base, but for a new contact that can provide you with crucial funding or superior referrals, or a hot prospect itching to clear your warehouse of your top-shelf merchandise your follow through needs to have all the finesse, power and elegance of a figure skater’s best jump - and all the holding power of a solid landing.
There are three keys to an effective follow through:
- It reinforces the original intent of the contact. Refer to your original conversation, restating any key points and reaffirming any agreements that were made or intimated. Follow through on any promises you made to deliver information, provide samples, initiate a meeting, put through a request, whatever - before the follow-up call, unless time constraints or lead-time make that impossible.
- It carries the scent of enthusiasm without the stench of desperation. Follow up as promptly and as regularly or frequently as the circumstance warrants, but don’t turn into a stalker or a pest. And if you can find a way to add value to the relationship through your skills, influence, position or connections, by all means offer to do so, but don’t cross the line from generous associate to obsequious sycophant. And if the other person makes it clear that they are not interested, move on. “Kicking and screaming” is not an acceptable level of participation in networking, and neither is “beaten into submission.”
- It includes the seeds for the next contact. Don’t get caught in the dead-end follow up. Unless it is clear that no further relationship is warranted or desired, make sure that there is some agreement on a next step or arrangement made to continue the conversation. Make that phone call and at the end, set up an appointment for lunch a few weeks down the road. At lunch, offer to forward an important report or offer to broker a desirable introduction to someone higher up the food chain, and so on. Make sure you never leave the table without an invitation to resume your seat at a later date.
Like a good golf swing or a stunning presentation, effective networking boils down to three essential stages of activity: preparation, delivery and follow through. And like an electrical circuit with a short or a break, a failure at any of these points stops the flow of life-giving connective energy - the healthy and continually renewed cycle of which your business requires to maintain a strong, stable potential for growth, resilience and success.
Mastering the art of effective networking, like any other business activity, requires time, dedication and attention. But in the end, the dividends it pays are well worth the time it took to cultivate them. Take the time to master these five tips and you will be amply rewarded with the prodigious fruits of your networking labor.
(c) Soni Pitts
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Soni Pitts is a Personal and Spiritual Development Coach who specializes in helping people break free of “life as seen on tv” and reclaim the sacredness of living.
Get your copy of her free e-book “50 Ways To Reach Your Goals” and over 100 self-help and inspirational articles, as well as other products and resources, at http://www.sonipitts.com.
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