OIS Announces Economical Small Company Sales Force Automation Software

If you own a small or even medium size business, you know that sales are always a top priority. After all, without sales how could one hope to make profit or even come close to breaking even? In short, how could he make money at all? Getting sales means putting people in the field, having them make calls, send out emails, or even go door-to-door marketing the company or product. With any outside sales force, it’s key to keep communication and by automating the process, communication is made ten times easier. OIS iMobile sales software solves this issue and many others, as well.

OIS iMobile was professionally developed by Orders In Seconds to make tracking sales and customers easy and efficient. Customer orders are instantly processed and stored simply by making a few entries into the system. These entries can be done on essentially any Apple or Android platform that has internet connectivity. It works in conjunction with Google Maps to store customer location as well, helping boost sales force efficiency.

OIS iMobile is an application currently being used by companies with one sales representative to hundreds of sales reps, and is available in the Apple Store and Android Market. The application helps automate the sales process by keeping open database connectivity. Essentially, anything that happens in the field can be immediately documented and seen from headquarters. This is essential in terms of getting a mobile sales force up and running. Not only does this save time – and time is money, after all – but it also makes other key elements of business like merchandising much, much easier to keep track of.

The software makes the accounting process much more effective by tracking not only field sales, but also in-store audits. This will allow your business the ability to cut down personnel numbers and will even save time in the process. No longer does your business need to hire someone to track every sale – it’s done for you and with 100% accuracy.

Orders In Seconds also provides training and support for the application. So, you can easily train your sales force in the use of the application and any problems can be quickly rectified. They also have a team of experts that will help you easily integrate the application.

If you aren’t sure whether the software is what you need for your business, there’s a 30-day free trial available. So, you can take a look at it yourself and make sure that it really is as useful and effective as promised.

Writing The Ideal Maid Of Honor Speech

Maid of honor speech or that for the matron of honor is one of the most significant events in a wedding. If you are donning the responsibilities of a maid of honor speech or a matron of honor speech then you certainly would want to get the speech right. First, there is a need to understand the subtle difference between maid of honor and a matron of honor. A maid of honor is the best friend or a sister of the bride who is unmarried. A matron of honor is a close friend, sister or a relative of the bride who has been married. Almost every bride would have a maid of honor but it is often seen that a maid of honor is also accompanied by a matron of honor. The reason to know the difference is to get the ideal speech for the couple and what would perfectly suit you. Since there is a difference in the marital status, there are a few things that can be penned down in a maid of honor speech but not in that of the matron of honor and vice versa.

Writing the ideal maid of honor speech or that of matron of honor requires four important steps.

• The moment you get to know that you would have to prepare the maid of honor speech, you must start working on it. A matron of honor or maid of honor speech must never be left for the last minute. If you think you can be spontaneous on the big day or night and pull things off then it’s a different story otherwise you have to start working.

• A maid of honor speech or that of matron of honor has the sole purpose of honoring the couple and talking about good things. You must make a list of everything that you may or may not want to include. Details such as how the couple met, what they like in each other, what their collective wishes are and things like that would certainly make it to the final maid of honor speech.

• Speaking with the bride is a great idea. She might have some suggestions or reservations and knowing that would ensure that the maid of honor speech makes the most special person happy on her day.

• It is not unwise for the matron of honor to speak with the best mate on his speech. If a maid of honor speech complements that of the best mate’s, the collective impact will be profuse.

Maid Of Honor Duties

There are numerous maid of honor duties that have to be catered to and if you thought being a matron of honor or a bridesmaid is only about having fun then you would be pleasantly surprised. In many cases, maid of honor duties make a maid of honor or matron of honor busier than the bride herself. The maid of honor duties can be classified into pre-wedding, wedding and post wedding stages. Here we shall take a look at all the maid of honor duties during the pre wedding phase.

• Maid of honor duties commence from the moment one gets a confirmation from the bride that she is going to be the maid of honor or matron of honor. The first few maid of honor duties would be to work with the bride and her family to get the list of invitees’ right. Making suggestions, pinpointing those who have been missed and also trying to organize the entire exercise are integral to maid of honor duties.

• Shopping with the bride is mandatory for a matron of honor. Not only would shopping for the bride or herself be one of the maid of honor duties but also ensuring that the dresses, jewelry and all accessories are in place for all the bridesmaids and the entire bridal gang.

• Playing an active role during the phases when the cake is being ordered, the cards are being selected, the invitations are being sent out and all such activities are significant maid of honor duties.

• One of the most important maid of honor duties is to organize a bridal shower. Now, a matron of honor can organize it herself or one can team up with a few bridesmaids to do the same. The latter is less hassle and most maids of honor opt for that.

• Throwing a bachelorette party is also one of the maid of honor duties. A matron of honor may or may not be obligated to do the same but if one has a perception that because of being married, a matron of honor cannot organize a bachelorette party then you can rest assured that it is perfectly alright.

• Handling logistics is often a part of maid of honor duties. A matron of honor may have to be completely available during the pre wedding days when guests are arriving and putting up at hotels or at the house of the bride and attending to all of them are also among the maid of honor duties.

• Attending all pre wedding parties are also integral to maid of honor duties.

The Best Electronic Cigarette? Just a click away!

All the best electronic cigarette manufacturers can lay claim to many of the same benefits.

Yes, they're a safer nicotine alternative than smoking tobacco cigarettes. Yes, they don't stink up the house or clothes like your old smokes did. Yes, they're safer to be around -- and the plethora of flavors and scents are much more pleasant. And yes, of course, they don't clutter up waste bins and sidewalks with ash and cigarette butts.

But just because the benefits from one manufacturer to the next are similar doesn't mean picking the best electronic cigarette for you is going to be easy.

Some products work or taste better than others, and there are a lot of them out there -- from the nondescript booth at the mall to the earnest mail-order business online, you could spend thousands of dollars trying to purchase and test them all. What's more, it seems a new product, cartridge or kit is available every time you turn around. Is the new one better? Should I pay a premium for something not available anymore?

The good news is we've got it covered for you. Electronic Cigarette Review gets together all the best electronic cigarette news and reviews in one place -- rating the best electronic cigarette makers and their products with real-world answers to your questions, offered by long-term E-cig smokers who truly understand the product.

Real reviews, real experience, and real insight into the best electronic cigarette available is what the site brings, with information on everything from flavors and technology to how much vapor is produced, how long a particular battery lasts, what kinds of features a model presents, the quality and feel of the overall product, and what discounts are available . An online Electronic Cigarette Review is everything you need to make an informed choice when you're ready to kick the old cigs to the curb.

Super Dingo vs the Pirates

Super Dingo, The Chief, Chinaman Bill, Johnny Two Trees, Kelly and Bushman run a secret bush agency that protects the outback. They battle pirates in what's said to be episode 1 of a new web-series.

It's a far out adventure with lots of laughs and some great FX. Visit the Super Dingo YouTube channel to see the crazy series and get updates from the secret bush agency via the Super Dingo facebook page.

Do not get burned by an extended vehicle warranty

When a vehicle is purchased there are two opportunities to make decisions about extended warranties, at the point of purchase and then later via mail or phone solicitation. These purchase decisions need to be evaluated carefully regarding cost and actual benefit. Often, these warranties only cover specific repair expenses and in many cases only up to defined capped limits. In addition, they often require co-pays or deductibles. As a Shop Owner for many years, I have witnessed firsthand the disappointment on the part of the consumer when repairs were not covered in full.

These extended warranties are highly profitable for the marketers, financing institution and warranty companies themselves. These warranties are designed to be profitable and rates are formulated to maintain this profitability. Consumers should be particularly wary of after the sale solicitations and are advised to not agree to any purchase until they have had a chance to carefully review the coverage and the terms of payment.

Many consumers have discovered at the time of repair that the warranties do not cover to the extent assumed. Additionally, the consumer is often required to pay the full term of the warranty without an opportunity to drop the program.

There are, however, instances where these warranties make sense. If the vehicle purchase price is above $40,000, a reputable warranty may be a good investment. These high-end vehicles tend to have higher than normal average repair costs due to the more complex technology and expensive accessories. These higher repair costs often justify the upfront expense of the extended warranty.

There are several important points to consider when deciding to purchase an extended warranty. Warranties offered by Auto Dealerships are usually reputable and could be considered a safe purchase.

Aftermarket warranties need to be researched by asking your local repair center, OEM Dealership as well as checking the company’s reputation on Internet. You will also need to carefully review items covered, deductible or co-pay requirements and payment terms.

Professional Fleet Services does not sell or endorse any of these products but has had positive experiences with Guardian Warranty, Wynn’s Warranty and OEM extended warranties. If you run into problem it is time to call Sam @ Your Lansing Auto Repair Experts! http://www.professionalfleet.com

Skateshops, a new trend in lifestyle, and a community beacon for Newark

The Kanek Skate shop is a unique and new shining example of why Newark as a city is flourishing. This landmark was built by the people, by lovers of the skating life, and has cropped up to a new cultural epicenter in it of itself – in downtown Newark New Jersey. The crisp night air lights up the concrete streets with a waning that makes any boarder wish they had the dopest deck, and could hardline a handrail, at 15mph. And the wheels! A magnificence to behold. The decks and boards at the Kanek Skate shop was akin to visiting a modern art gallery. You have, HAVE to stop by this place if you pass nearby Newark New Jersey. Skateheads are going to revel in the modern artistry of Kanek artists. The party is in downtown Newark, NJ and its name is KANEK. One love.

How to Save up to $1100 Each Year on Homeowners Insurance

You've heard about ways to save money on homeowners insurance before. Shave a little cash here and a little there and you've lowered your premiums. Is it really worth the time and effort just to save a few bucks? How much can you really save? Well, that depends on a great many factors such as the home, where you live and how far you are willing to go to save money. If you take a few minutes to read through this article, you can learn some great tips for how to save up to $1100 each year on homeowners insurance.

Home Safety and Security

Home safety and security are important for not only the safety of you and your family, but also for lower rates on your home insurance. Safety and security are tied to a few basic things: fire, theft and vandalism. Homes that have more safeguards in place qualify for lower rates. That means smoke alarms, fire extinguishers, sprinkler systems, deadbolt locks, outside lighting and a security system can all pay for themselves through lower homeowners insurance rates. It can also be helpful to have a neighborhood watch. It helps build community relationships, guards against vandalism and theft, and can reduce your insurance premiums with some companies. Not only do these things pay for themselves and more over time, but they keep you, your family and your home safe and secure.

Reinforce Your Home Against the Elements

If you live in areas that are at a high risk for certain perils such as hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes, you will pay more for your homeowners insurance. However, there are things you can do that will help you save money. Storm shutters are an affordable option to begin the process. It can also benefit you to have a roofing contractor consult with you on what exactly you can do to reinforce your roof. If in an earthquake prone area, you will want to make sure your home meets or exceeds building codes for structural strength. A strong home can better withstand a natural disaster. It may take upfront money to get your home up to the level it needs to be, but it will pay off down the road with cheaper homeowners insurance rates and a reduced likelihood of having to pay that deductible to repair your home.

Take Advantage of Discounts

A great way to increase your savings is to understand what it takes to get as many discounts as possible on your policy. Some companies offer as many as 40 discounts for policies that range from a few dollars off per month to 25 percent off your premiums. There are discounts for:

• Bundling auto and other policies with your home insurance

• Specific occupations

• Retiring

• Staying loyal to your insurance company

• Marriage

• Paying premiums in full rather than installments

• Having premiums deducted from bank account

This is a short list, so take a few minutes to look through a couple of insurance company websites to see a complete list of the specific discounts they offer.

Pay Attention to Changes in Your Life and Environment

Changes are constant and they can have an impact on how much you pay for your homeowners insurance. It's not up to the insurance company to keep up with these changes; it is up to you to inform them of these changes. Even changes you may not think important to your homeowners insurance may lower your rates. For instance, if you get married, your rates may drop. If you change jobs to one that garners a discount, tell your insurance company immediately. If a fire hydrant is placed closer to your home, your rates can drop. If you switch from well water to municipal water, you may get a discount. If a fire station is built closer to your home or goes from volunteer to paid, you can save money.

Online Price Comparisons

Saving money means finding the best bargain. How can you do that without comparison shopping? Luckily, you can now comparison shop online. This quickens the process and gives you more options for comparison. When shopping, be sure you are looking at respectable insurance companies with a strong history of good customer service and a variety of policy offerings. To find the best price among the strongest candidates, get online quotes. Quotes will provide you with the prices you need to make a comparison and find the biggest savings.

You can use our free rate quote tool to get as many as 10 or more quotes in minutes. The more quotes you get the better. Yes, by doing the things mentioned above and comparing rates, you can save as much as $1,100 on your homeowners insurance. http://www.homeownersinsuranceaxis.com/

EPROMODA FASHION FILMS

As Spain’s # 1 makeup and fashion school with locations in Madrid and Barcelona, EPRO has now also recently launched their very own fashion club titled EPROMODA which is quickly making a stand on the online makeup and fashion marked.

It makes perfect sense really that EPRO branches out in this direction as they for over 5 years now have trained and graduated thousands of Online makeup artist, fashion styling and fashion design students, both in English and in Spanish. The more amazing factor is that the students are drilled in a manner that allows them the same exams level and certification at the end of study as their in-house students in Madrid and Barcelona gets.

EPRO states the following about EPROMODA: “The videos, articles and tutorials have a mission of staying true to the expectations of our fans and readers, and will always seek out to use new and fresh models who´ll be given a great opportunity to start their career. EPROMODA understands their fans and students need for high-end fashion that is also doable and approachable and therefore strives for a commercial fashion look that will inspire, motivate and illuminate the days of our readers and viewers. “- And to be quite honest- they do exactly that!

The videos are great, professional and the makeup is technically amazing- but what is even better is how user-friendly they are. We have all seen hundreds of artsy fashion films, that are great, but it doesn´t necessarily give direct inspiration to something a makeup and fashion lover or professional can or would do themselves…

The videos, articles and tutorials´ variety are also a great plus as it caters for every taste, color and facial structure. They don´t always choose to use super polished models which is very admirable as it gives fashion a true face- finally! As far as we can tell, there is no Photo Shop used either (!) and the looks are very straight forward and easily explained without skipping a step just to appear simpler.

So there you have it EPROMODA- so far so good and we´re excited to see the coming stuff you´ll create for us! www.eproimagecourses.com

Launching of a New Internet Concept: A Video Blog Society!

If you missed out investing in eBay, Google or Facebook, then you have another chance to a ground floor opportunity to invest in a brand NEW concept that will hit the internet soon! Investors are now being sought to buy a USD$100 “Royalty Certificate” for VIBLOS, a video blog society!

our video in Youtube: http://youtu.be/rVaoXjcsZq4

The goal for launch is 10,000 investors, but once at least 5000 investors have participated, the internet website will go live in the Fall of 2012. After pledging your USD$100 by credit card, it will be on file until at least 5000 investors have signed on before processing.

www.thousandsofpartners.com

Concept: Allowing people, from all over the world and all walks of life to promote their own personal 1-minute videos. They can be informative, show talents and/or advertise a service. Exposure on the WWW or World Wide Web (aka Internet) will be extensive, resulting in satisfied people and more users. Advertisers will be drawn to the site and revenues will be generated. Investors will reap the rewards of sharing 30% of the net profit. Not bad for a USD$100 investment!

The motto of this video blog society will be “Thousands of Partners Worldwide,” and the team and groundwork is in place. It is now up to YOU, to help supply the funds needed for promotion and marketing costs. It will be an important concept to whet the public’s appetite and set some anticipation for this NEW concept! Remember all the advance publicity about “the information highway is coming?” before the WWW launched!

The team behind it all: Bettina, Beat, Andre, Carlos and Adroit Computing represent an international gathering of talent. This team includes a marketing and communications expert, a WEB service hosting provider, a financial advisor and a web designer! Adroit Computing, based in Austria will provide programming, developing, design and consulting services. All they need now is YOU!

The Viblos team.

Death Doctor (FAKE MD) Behnaz Yazdanfar scammer murders patients and attempts to hire hackers to clear reputation

Today I am going to share a story that might be kind of disturbing to you guys. It was disturbing for me the first time I heard it. But I think the story has an important message that we need to spread and raise awareness about.

In September 2007, young mother Krista Stryland went in for a liposuction procedure at the Toronto Cosmetic Clinc. She would never return. Turns out, the "surgeon" that performed the procedure on her, was not a surgeon at all. The doctor had no surgical experience, no surgical accreditation. She removed too much fat and fluid from Krista, way more than what is allowed. And, after the procedure, she only spent 30 seconds evaluation Krista's condition before going ahead and moving on to another patient.

Dr. Behnaz Yazdanfar has been stripped of her licence to practise medicine for two years and indefinitely banned from performing surgery on her own following the 2007 death of Krista Stryland

At her hearing, it was noted:

"“She operated on patients who should have had their procedures done in hospital,” the ruling noted. “She did larger operations than she should have done. She discharged patients inappropriately. These errors in judgment spanned her practice and were not isolated events.”

What happened to Krista? She died. What happened to Krista's little boy? He has no mommy. What happened to the doctor? Umm. She was stripped of her medical license for two years. She can apply for her license to be reinstated after a year, and even then, she can still be a surgical assistant.

Ridiculous.

So, when Krista's friends and families tried to spread the word to warn others about this doctor's actions... Allegedly, the doctor's office revenue plummeted... So what was the doctor's office to do?? They hired someone to HACK sites like Ripoff Report to remove these reports and silence victim's families. I find this to be horrible!

I can't believe that this site and this man would consciously remove the reports that were warning others about this!

I find this very disturbing and I wanted to share this story with others so that you can be informed about this type of hacking and that it does in fact, exist.

Have you ever heard of something like this? Please share in the comments if you have.

Reblogged from Flipoutmama

Anonymous bloggers identified and postings deleted from the Internet

Ripoff Report Special Investigation : Reputation Management companies billing themselves as 'Internet Bounty Hunters' with the ability to identify anonymous bloggers; posters and close the free flow of information, if you pay their fee$. There is a reason that the right to free speech is in the First Amendment, and not the Second, Third, Fourth, etc

http://www.ripoffreport.com/organized-crime/matthew-cooke/matthew-cooke-removeyourname-9086b.htm

Tired of Ebay and Amazon then try this it works!

Tired of Ebay and Amazon then try something else. I LOVE selling things and I know most of you love buying things. We are a perfect match.I started selling online about 3 years ago. I'm a medical contractor so my job involves traveling around the US at various hospitals working on 8-13 week contracts. I have been gone from home as little as 2 weeks to as much as 11 months. I never really know how long I'll be gone on an assignment. I got into selling while I was on the road. When you're on the road in a strange town it's sometimes hard to find things to do.

I always had my laptop with me so it was easy for me to connect with my friends far away. One day someone suggested that I try selling on E-Bay. I listed a few items and they sold so I had a few extra dollars in my pocket. Anyone who sells on E-Bay knows what I mean by a "few" extra dollars. By the time Ebay took out their 15% and Pay Pal took out a few more dollars, I didn't make very much but I still liked the idea of selling online. So it didn't take me long to leave Ebay. Next I tried Amazon.com but I didn't like the idea that they took 15-20% and also kept my money until the buyer was satisfied which left me to pay for everything upfront. After selling on Ebay I already knew that no buyer is ever satisfied. So you can guess how that ended up.

I then started looking around and found some really great sites that were "seller friendly" and "computer user" friendly. They have low fees and allow you to sell almost anything without limitations. The sites make it easy to list your item (with no listing fees) and the percent that they take is much lower than Ebay or Amazon. Also a couple of sites allow you to copy your items from one site to the other (even import your Ebay listings). They actually do all the work for you all you do is press the importer button. How great is that. You can link your account for free to Twitter and Facebook so you can tell all your friends about what your are selling. Over the last few years many of these websites offer loyalty incentives for you to shop on their site. You can collect Photons, Addoway Bucks or Reward Tokens. You can get these by interacting with other sellers on the sites. It's kind a like and interactive Ebay without all the drama. Many time the items that you list will show up on the first one or two pages of Google. People can go directly to your store without logging into the website which makes buying a lot faster and hassle free. Check out the site listed on this blog page and see if this is something you would like to do. There are many sites like these out there with more popping up every day. The best sites are the ones that connect to social networks because that's the place to sell right now.

Check out my Booth on Bonanza.com at http://www.bonanza.com/booths/kumdo

Happy Blogging and Have a Great Day !!

Corporate Rule Is Not Inevitable

You may remember that there was a time when apartheid in South Africa seemed unstoppable.

Sure, there were international boycotts of South African businesses, banks, and tourist attractions. There were heroic activists in South Africa, who were going to prison and even dying for freedom. But the conventional wisdom remained that these were principled gestures with little chance of upending the entrenched system of white rule.

“Be patient,” activists were told. “Don’t expect too much against powerful interests with a lot of money invested in the status quo.”

With hindsight, though, apartheid’s fall appears inevitable: the legitimacy of the system had already crumbled. It was harming too many for the benefit of too few. South Africa’s freedom fighters would not be silenced, and the global movement supporting them was likewise tenacious and principled.

In the same way, the legitimacy of rule by giant corporations and Wall Street banks is crumbling. This system of corporate rule also benefits few and harms many, affecting nearly every major issue in public life. Some examples:

• Powerful corporations socialize their risks and costs, but privatize profits. That means we, the 99 percent, pick up the tab for environmental clean ups, for helping workers who aren’t paid enough to afford food or health care, for bailouts when risky speculation goes wrong. Meanwhile, profits go straight into the pockets of top executives and others in the 1 percent.
• The financial collapse threw millions of Americans into poverty. 25 million are unemployed, under-employed, or have given up looking for work; four million have been unemployed for more than 12 months. Poverty increased 27 percent between 2006 and 2010. And students who graduated with student loans in 2010 had borrowed 5 percent more than the previous year’s graduating class—owing more than $25,000. Meanwhile, those who caused the collapse continue the same practices. And the unwillingness of the 1 percent to pay their fair share of taxes means the the public services we rely on are fraying.
• Scientists say that we are on the brink of runaway climate change; we only have a few years to make the needed investments in clean power and energy efficiency. This transition could be a huge job creator—on the order of the investments made during World War II, which got us out of the Depression. But fossil fuel industries don’t want to see their investment in dirty energy undermined by the switch to clean energy and conservation. So far, by paying millions to climate deniers, lobbyists, and political campaigns, they’ve succeeded in stymieing change.
• Agribusiness get taxpayer subsidies for foods that make us sick; for farming practices that destroy rivers, soils, the climate, and the oceans; and for trade practices that cause hunger at home and abroad.
• Through ALEC, the private prison industry crafts state laws that boost the numbers behind bars, lengthen sentences, and privatize prisons.
• Big Pharma jacks up prices; insurance companies raise premiums and delivers fewer benefits; the burden of inflated care drags down the economy and bankrupts families. But only a very few politicians stand up to the health care industry's war chests and advocate for Canadian-style single-payer health care, which would go a long way toward solving the cost problem.
• Corporations and wealthy executives fund an army of lobbyists and election campaigns, spreading untruths and self-serving policy prescriptions.

It’s not that we, the people, haven’t noticed all this.

In a recent poll by the Pew Research Center, 77 percent of Americans said too much power is concentrated in the hands of a few rich people and large corporations. In a poll by Time Magazine, 86 percent of Americans said Wall Street and its lobbyists have too much influence in Washington.

And 80 percent of Americans oppose Citizens United, the pro-corporate Supreme Court ruling that turns two years old today. Eighty percent—that’s among Republicans, Democrats, and Independents.

Some say corporations have such a strong grip on politicians and big media that it is impossible to challenge them, no matter how many of us there are.

But I believe we can do it. In the past few months, YES! Magazine has been researching ways that ordinary people can challenge corporate power (look for strategies in our spring issue, out in February). And we found that there are actually a lot of tools at our disposal:

• Corporations were created by public law to provide a public benefit. If we the people no longer feel that a corporation is providing a benefit—or if we feel that it is operating in a lawless and destructive manner—we can revoke their charter. That’s what Free Speech for People has asked the attorney general of Delaware to do to Massey Energy, which has been one of the worst culprits in mountaintop removal and which has operated its mines in a lawless and negligent manner, resulting in 29 deaths at the Upper Big Branch Mine.
• We can insist that, in exchange for use of our public airwaves, broadcasters provide free airtime to candidates for public office. If they don’t need to raise millions for media buys, they don’t need to be as beholden to the 1 percent.
  
• We can get our governments to quit banking with Bank of America and Chase, and start our own state banks—14 states, including California and Washington, are considering such a move. And while we're at it, we can localize food, energy, and other aspects of our economy so local, independent businesses and cooperatives can thrive.
• We can stand up to specific parts of the corporate agenda by engaging in the sort of direct action that halted the KXL Pipeline.
  
• We can call for a constitutional amendment overturning Citizens United, corporate personhood, and the ridiculous notion that money is the same thing as speech. So far, Los Angeles, New York City, and about 50 other towns and cities have done so far.
  
• We can use mechanisms like clean elections, electoral transparency, citizen review of legislation, and recalls to keep corporate control of our democracy in check.
  
• Finally, the reason I am most hopeful today: We can take a cue from Occupy Wall Street and continue to name the source of political corruption—something the political establishment and mainstream media have refused to do. We can occupy homes that are slated for foreclosure, as people have been doing all over the country. We can mic check places like Walmarts that intimidate and fire workers who want to unionize. We can set up tents in public places and in other ways join with the Occupy movement to take a stand for a world that works for the 100 percent—a world where we all benefit.
  

None of these actions will be easy. It will take time—potentially years of work—to make big change. But just as the legitimacy of apartheid crumbled well before the institutions of apartheid went down, the legitimacy of corporate rule is crumbling. So I’m convinced that, with you and me and all the others out there creating alternatives and taking a stand, we will see change.

Search Engine Marketing

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) tactic seeks to increase web presence of business though online networks. Some people do tend to think SEM and SEO as one and the same thing but subtle differences to exists. The Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO) includes SEO in its industry definition by SEMPO industry experts. But, organizations like New York Times differentiates SEM as the “practice of buying paid search listings”.

Whatever controversy may surround SEM services, it is one of the preferred mode for emerging web presence. Huge SEM networks like Google AdWords, Microsoft adCenter, and Yahoo Search Marketing earn millions of dollars annually. In 2008, the SEM market was pegged at USD 13.5 billion in investment. SEM is more popular than traditional marketing and other online channels of marketing.

Why Should Clients Indulge in SEM?

- 80% of online searches users place are through search engines and therefore, utilizing SEM for your website will ensure your site comes at the top.

- More than 400 million searches are placed everyday in search engines. Imagine where your site will stand amidst millions of websites if it is not channeled properly and makes to the top website listings.

- Search engines are the number one source for reaching valuable customers. How? Because they are looking for particular product or service, they are placing search engine requests. If your website is SEM and SEO efficient, your site will receive loads of heavy traffic daily.

- Though a billion dollar industry, search engine marketing comes at low cost. This means you don’t have to spend lots in investment.

At MayLevy, our team specializes in making S.E.M. really work for our clients. All our team members are equally proficient in their field of service. The popular saying goes – “great minds think alike” – when the “great minds” in our team come together, it creates only positive buzz, which we channelize effectively for increasing web presence of client websites.

To learn how to do more to influence the search spider in raising your page rank for organic search results, check out our Search Engine Optimization services.

This Article Explains Why Apple Makes iPhones In China And Why The US Is Screwed Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/you-simply-must-read-this-

The manufacturing processes of Apple and other electronics companies have come into sharp focus of late, with the revelation of more details about what life is like for the Chinese workers who make the world's gadgets.

When one reads about these working conditions — 12-16 hour shifts, pay of ~$1 per hour or less, dormitories with 15 beds in 12x12 rooms — the obvious assumption is that it's all about money:

Greedy manufacturers want to make bigger profits, so they make their products in places with labor practices that would be illegal in America.

And money is certainly part of it.

But an amazing new article by Charles Duhigg and Keith Bradsher of the New York Times reveals that there's a lot more to it than that.

The article illustrates just how big a challenge the U.S. faces in trying stop the "hollowing out" process that has sent middle-class jobs overseas — and, with it, the extreme inequality that has developed in recent years.

The reason Apple makes iPhones and iPads in China, the article shows, is not just about money.

Manufacturing an iPhone in the United States would cost about $65 more than manufacturing it in China, where it costs an estimated $8. This additional $65 would dent the profit Apple makes on each iPhone, but it wouldn't eliminate it. (The iPhone average selling price is about $600, and Apple's average gross margin is about 40%. So Apple's gross profit on each iPhone is probably in the neighborhood of $250.)

The real reasons Apple makes iPhones in China, therefore, are as follows:

• Most of the components of iPhones and iPads — the supply chain — are now manufactured in China, so assembling the phones half-a-world away would create huge logistical challenges. It would also reduce flexibility — the ability to switch easily from one component supplier or manufacturer to another.
• China's factories are now far bigger and more nimble than those in the United States. They can hire (and fire) tens of thousands of workers practically overnight. Because so many of the workers live on-site, they can also press them into service at a moment's notice. And they can change production practices and speeds extremely rapidly.
• China now has a far bigger supply of appropriately-qualified engineers than the U.S. does — folks with the technical skills necessary to build complex gadgets but not so credentialed that they cost too much.
• And, lastly, China's workforce is much hungrier and more frugal than many of their counterparts in the United States.

On this last point, Duhigg and Bradsher tell the story of Eric Saragoza, an engineer who began working in an Apple factory near Sacramento in 1995. The plant made Macs, and for a few years, Saragoza did well, earning $50,000 a year, getting married and having kids, and buying a house with a pool.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/you-simply-must-read-this-article-that-explains-why-apple-makes-iphones-in-china-and-why-the-us-is-screwed-2012-1#ixzz1kF7WmRZX

The Uphill Battle Of Social Event Sharing: A Post-Mortem for Plancast

Nearly three years ago, I left my position at TechCrunch to start my own Internet business, with the idea of creating a web application that’d help people get together in real-life rather than simply helping them connect online as most social networking applications had done.

Plancast was the service conceived a few months later from that basic inclination. Its approach was to provide a really easy way for people to take whatever interesting plans they had in their calendars and share them openly with friends, with the rationale that greater social transparency for this particular type of personal information would facilitate serendipitous get-togethers and enable a greater awareness of relevant events. Personally, I figured that knowing more about the events my friends and peers were attending would lead to a more fulfilling social and professional life because I could join them or at least learn about how they spent their time around town.

Along the way my team built a minimum viable product, launched from obscurity here on TechCrunch, raised a seed round of funding from local venture capitalists and angel investors, and worked like mad to translate our initial success into long-term growth, engagement and monetization.

Alas, our efforts began to stall after several months post-launch, and we were never able to scale beyond a small early adopter community and into critical, mainstream usage. While the initial launch and traction proved extremely exciting, it misled us into believing there was a larger market ready to adopt our product. Over the subsequent year and a half, we struggled to refine the product’s purpose and bolster its central value proposition with better functionality and design, but we were ultimately unable to make it work (with user registration growth and engagement being our two main high-level metrics).

This post-mortem is an attempt to describe the fundamental flaws in our product model and, in particular, the difficulties presented by events as a content type. It’s my hope that other product designers can learn a thing or two from our experience, especially if they are designing services that rely on user-generated content. The challenges I describe here apply directly to events, but they can be used collectively as a case study to advance one’s thinking about other content types as well, since all types demand serious analysis along these lines should one seek to design a network that facilitates their exchange.

Questions are welcome by others who wish to learn more about the product and how we developed it, either by email (drop me a line) or in the comments below. There’s also a possibility that someone who reads this will be inspired to continue the work we’ve begun. And if you’re a user, I’d love to hear about what you do or don’t like about the service (and whether the following points resonate with you).

Sharing Frequency

Social networks (by my general definition and among which I count Plancast) are essentially systems for distributing content among people who care about each other, and the frequency at which its users can share that content on a particular network is critical to how much value it’ll provide them on an ongoing basis.

Unlike other, more frequent content types such as status updates and photos (which can be shared numerous times per day), plans are suitable for only occasional sharing. Most people simply don’t go to that many events, and of those they do attend, many are not anticipated with a high degree of certainty. As a result, users don’t tend to develop a strong daily or weekly habit of contributing content. And the content that does accrue through spontaneous submissions and aggregation from other services is too small to provide most users with a repeatedly compelling experience discovering events.

I run the service, and even I currently have only five upcoming plans listed on my profile, with a total of 500 plans shared over the last couple of years, in contrast to almost 2,800 tweets on Twitter over the same period of time. People often tell me “I like Plancast, but I never have any plans to share”. With social networks, this is sometimes a case of self-awareness (such as when people say they don’t know what to tweet), but often they’re simply telling the truth; many Plancast users don’t have any interesting plans on their calendars.

Consumption Frequency

People also don’t proactively seek out events to attend as you might suppose. I’ve gotten into the habit of thinking about people as divided into two camps: those who have lots of free time and those who don’t.

Those who do are often proactive about filling it, in part by seeking out interesting events to attend in advance. They are generally more inquisitive about social opportunities, and they will take concrete steps to discover new opportunities and evaluate them.

Those who don’t have much free time often desire to conserve it, so rather than seeking out or welcoming additional opportunities, they view them as mentally taxing impositions on a limited resource. For them, planning is a higher-risk endeavor, and usually they’d rather not plan anything at all, since if they’re busy, they likely have a preference to keep their free time just that – free.

It’s hard to generalize by saying most people are in one camp or the other, but suffice to say, there are many people in the latter. And for them, it’s hard to get them excited about a service that will give them more options on how to use their time.

Tendency to Procrastinate

Even putting this bifurcation aside, most people resist making advanced commitments before they absolutely need to make them. People fear missing out on worthwhile events but don’t actually like to take the deliberate initiative to avoid such missed chances, which requires planning.

This can be attributed primarily to people’s desire to keep their options open in case other conflicting opportunities emerge as the date and time of an event approaches. If they can afford to wait and see, they will. Therefore, their commitment will be secured and shared in advance only when they’re particularly confident they’ll attend an event, if they need to reserve a spot before it fills up, or if there’s some other similar prerogative.

Incentives to Share

Returning to the topic of sharing plans, it’s not only a matter of having interesting plans to share but being compelled to actually share them. And unfortunately, people don’t submit information to social networks because they love data set integrity or altruistically believe in giving as much as possible. They do it because the act of contribution selfishly results in something for them in return.

Most social networks feed primarily on vanity, in that they allow people to share and tailor online content that makes them look good. They can help people communicate to others that they’ve attended impressive schools, built amazing careers, attended cool parties, dated attractive people, thought deep thoughts, or reared cute kids. The top-level goal for most people is to convince others they are the individuals they want to be, whether that includes being happy, attractive, smart, fun or anything else.

This vanity compels folks to share content about themselves (or things they’ve encountered) most strongly when there’s an audience ready and able to generate validating feedback. When you post a clever photo on Instagram, you’re telling the world “I’m creative!” and sharing evidence to boot. Those who follow you validate that expression by liking the photo and commenting positively about it. The psychological rush of first posting the photo and then receiving positive feedback drives you to post more photos in the hope of subsequent highs.

Sharing plans, unfortunately, doesn’t present the same opportunity to show off and incur the same subsequent happy feelings. Some plans are suitable for widespread consumption and can make a person look good, such as attending an awesome concert or savvy conference. But, frustratingly, the vainest events are exclusive and not appropriate for sharing with others, especially in detail.

The feedback mechanisms aren’t nearly as potent either, since coming up with a worthy comment for an event is harder than commenting on a photo, and “liking” a plan is confusing when there’s also an option to join. The positive feedback of having friends join is itself unlikely since those friends have considerations to make before they can commit, and they’ll tend to defer that commitment for practical purposes, per above.

Additionally, if a user wants to show off the fact they’re at a cool event, there is little additional benefit to doing so before the event rather than simply tweeting or posting photos about it while at the event. An important exception is to be made for professionals who style themselves as influencers and want to be instrumental parts of how their peers discover events. This exception has indeed been responsible for much of our attendee-contributed event data among an early-adopter community of technology professionals.

Selectivity & Privacy Concerns

Vanity, of course, is not the only possible incentive for users to share their plans. There’s also utility to getting others to join you for an event you’ll be attending, but this turns out to be a weak incentive for broadcasting since most people prefer to be rather picky about who they solicit to join them for real-life encounters.

While event promoters have a financial interest in attracting attendees far and wide, the attendees themselves mainly turn to their closer circle of friends and reach out to them individually. You don’t see a lot of longer-tail plans in particular (such as nights out on the town and trips) because people are both wary of party crashers and usually uninterested in sourcing participants from a wide network.

The Importance of an Invitation

On the flip-side of this reluctance to share plans far and wide is the psychological need for people to get personally invited to events.

Plancast and other social event sharing applications are rooted in an idealistic notion that people would feel confident inviting themselves to their friends’ events if only they knew about them. But the informational need here is not only one of event details (such as what’s going to happen, when, where and with whom). People often also need to know through a personal invitation that at least one friend wants them to join.

When you have a service that helps spread personal event information but doesn’t concurrently satisfy that need, you have a situation where many people feel awkwardly aware of events to which they don’t feel welcome. As a result, the most engaging events on Plancast are those that are open in principle and don’t solicit attendees primarily through invitations, such as conferences and concerts, where the attendance of one’s friends and peers is a much less important consideration for their own.

Content Lifespan

Getting content into a social network is not enough to ensure its adequate value; there’s also an importance of preserving that content’s value over time, especially if it just trickles in.

Unfortunately, plans don’t have a long shelf life. Before an event transpires, a user’s plan for it provides social value by notifying others of the opportunity. But afterwards, its value to the network drops precipitously to virtually nothing. And since most users don’t have enough confidence to share most plans more than one or two weeks in advance, plans are typically rendered useless after that length of time.

Contrast this expiration tendency with more “evergreen” content types, such as profiles and photos. Other people can get value out of your Facebook profile for years after you set it up, and the photos you posted in college appear to have even increased in value. Nostalgia doesn’t even have to play a part; people’s hearts will melt upon viewing this puppy on Pinterest, Tumblr, and other visually-heavy content networks for a long time to come. But how much do you care that I attended a tech meetup in New York last October, even if you’re my friend?

Geographic Limitations

Geographic specificity is another inherent limitation to a plan’s value. Unlike virtually all other content types (with the exception of check-ins), plans provide most of their value to others when those users live or can travel near enough to join.

I may share plans for a ton of great events in San Francisco, but few to none of my friends who live outside of the Bay Area are going to care. In fact, they’ll find it annoying to witness something they’ll miss out on. Sure, they might appreciate simply knowing what I’m up to, but the value to that kind of surveillance is rather modest all by itself.

This is especially problematic when trying to expand the service into new locations. New users will have a hard time finding enough local friends who are either on the service and sharing their plans already, or those who are willing to join them on a new service upon invitation. People who encounter the service from non-urban locations have the hardest time, since there aren’t many events going on in their area in general, let alone posted to Plancast. Trying to view all events simply listed within their location or categories of interest yields little for them to enjoy.

Looking Forward

Despite all of these challenges, I still believe someone will eventually figure out how to make and market a viable service that fulfills our aims, namely to help people share and discover events more socially. There’s simply too much unearthed value to knowing about much of what our friends plan to do to leave information about it so restricted to personal calendars and individuals’ heads.

Another startup may come along that develops insight into an angle of attack we missed. Or, perhaps more likely, an established company with an existing event or calendaring product will progressively provide users with a greater ability to share their personal information contained within. On the calendaring side, Google is possibly the best-situated with Google Calendar and Google+, which together could make for a very seamless event sharing experience (one of the things we considered seriously for Plancast was deep personal calendar integration, but a sufficient platform for it simply wasn’t available). On the events side, companies like Eventbrite, Meetup and Facebook have services that are primarily compelling for event organizers but already contain useful data sets that could be leveraged to create their own social event discovery and sharing experiences for attendees.

Plancast managed to attract a niche audience of early adopters who found it to be among the most efficient ways to share and hear about events (thanks, users! you know who you are). Over 100,000 have registered and over 230,000 people visit each month, not to mention enjoy the event digests we send out by email each day. For that reason alone, and despite its growth challenges, we’re going to keep it up and running for as long as possible and are hopeful we’ll find it a home that can turn it into something bigger. It’s my expectation that one day mainstream society will take for granted the type of interpersonal sharing it currently enables for just this small community, and I look forward to seeing how technological advancements overcome the aforementioned challenges to get us there.

Is It Time to Finally Ditch Your Paper Business Cards?

If you’ve ever returned from a business trip with a stack of business cards, you’ve no doubt wondered — as you’re manually typing in all those names, phone numbers and email addresses — if there’s a better way.

It turns out there are lots of better ways. Too many, in fact, and that’s the problem. The lack of a standard means that a great solution like the Bump app will only work if the person you’re trying to link up with has the app, not to mention an iPhone or Android-based smartphone. You could, of course, use your phone’s camera to take a picture of the other person’s business card, but that would still require that he or she has a business card in the first place. And after you do that, you’ll still have to manually enter the information anyway.

In November, LinkedIn announced an alternative that avoids the lack-of-a-standard conundrum by essentially digitizing an analog card. As the video below outlines, the CardMunch iPhone app works by capturing the image of a business card, recognizing it and then saving it on your phone as a contact. In another nice perk, LinkedIn also integrates that person’s information from his or her profile on the network.

Sid Viswanathan, product manager at LinkedIn, says that CardMunch began with the pragmatic realization that the paper business card is not going away any time soon. “We understand that business cards still exist,” he says. “They’re still used out in the field when you’re attending conferences.” Viswanathan says that 10 billion business cards are printed annually — that’s more than one for every person on Earth.

As great as LinkedIn’s solution is to the business card dilemma, you’ll note that CardMunch still requires one of the parties to have a standard business card. It’s also quite possible that you will run into someone who doesn’t have the CardMunch app and will still need a paper card.

On the other hand, if you’re in the tech industry, the type of business card you use says something about you. Perhaps this isn’t the case now, but some time down the road, handing out a paper card will have all the cachet of an @aol.com email address. Viswanathan says that, with 130 million members, that’s not a big issue for LinkedIn. “We maintain that the social protocol of exchanging business cards is still intact,” he notes. But Viswanathan concedes that in Silicon Valley circles, that may be more of a concern.

Until that comes to pass, though, there are a few good options for businesspeople who want to set aside their business cards, once and for all. The following two-step solution will allow you to do just that:

First, use CardMunch to capture business card information that’s presented to you. This way, you don’t have to ever take a business card home again. (Of course, you might have to take one if you’re not getting good reception on your phone, but once you’re in range, you can process the card and pitch it.)

If you want to present your business card, meanwhile, there’s another free app called Cardcloud. As outlined in the video below, Cardcloud lets you create a digital card that you can email to your prospective contact. Cardcloud also boasts LinkedIn integration — new users can sign in via their LinkedIn profile. (You can also use your Facebook account.)