luni, 15 aprilie 2013

Seth's Blog : The easy trap

 

The easy trap

The prospects that are the easiest to engage with online--the ones that believe big promises, simple come-ons and garish interfaces--are often the very people who will become your lowest-value customers.

The person who's the easiest to get a first date with might not be the person you want to marry. When I was selling new media promotions in 1994 (!), many big companies had someone in charge of buying new stuff. They were easy to meet with, easy to make a small sale to--but ultimately a waste of time. That's because they were charged with buying things that were new, not what worked. Once we weren't new, we couldn't get repeat business from them. No, it was the other guy, the guy who bought what worked, the one in charge of the real budget--he wasn't easy, but he was worth it...

If it's easy to get a meeting or make a first sale, consider that the very ease that enabled that sale might be a sign that the long-term value of this customer is pretty low. It's easy to get the door answered if you're selling vacuum cleaners house to house, not so easy to get a meeting with the head of merchandising at Wal-Mart. It's easy to get the tech-savvy hordes to sign up for your new whiz-bang free beta, hard to visualize how these easily bored window shoppers are going to become your tribe.

But if all you're doing is measuring the response rate of your initial pitches, you're going to ring more doorbells, not do the long-term trust-building work of earning a reputation.


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duminică, 14 aprilie 2013

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

"Wise Men" Propose Theft to Bail Out Banks

Posted: 14 Apr 2013 08:01 PM PDT

Far be it from bondholders or banks that caused the debt crisis to be punished for their sins, German 'Wise Men' push for wealth seizure to fund EMU bail-outs.
Two top advisers to German Chancellor Angela Merkel have called for a tax on private wealth and property in eurozone debtor states to force the rich to fund rescue costs, marking a radical new departure for EMU crisis strategy.

Professors Lars Feld and Peter Bofinger said states in trouble must pay more for their own salvation, said arguing that there is enough wealth in homes and private assets across the Mediterranean to cover bail-out costs. "The rich must give up part of their wealth over the next ten years," said Prof Bofinger.

The two economist are members of the Germany's Council of Economic Experts or "Five Wise Men", a body that advises the Chancellor on major issues. There is no formal plan to launch a wealth tax but the council is often used to fly kites for new policies.

Prof Feld said a new survey by the European Central Bank had revealed that people in the crisis countries are richer than the Germans themselves. "This shows that Germany has been right to take a tough line of euro rescue loans," he said.
Study Details

Supposedly the median or midpoint wealth level, stripping out the super-rich is as follows:

  • Spain €183,000 for Spain
  • Italy  €172,000 for Italy
  • Portugal €102,000
  • Cyprus €671,000
  • Austria €265,000
  • Germany €195,000
  • Holland  €170,000
  • Finland €161,000

One look at the data is all it takes to conclude the report does not pass the "sniff test". A closer look shows the study was also undertaken before the Spanish property bubble imploded and that it ignores pensions.

Yet, the "Wise Men" embraced the study. Why?

The answer is simple. The study gave them the incentive to propose what they wanted to propose all along: theft to bail out failing banks that made stupid loans.

As Ambrose Evans-Pritchard points out in his article "Any serious move to a wealth tax could the erode the pro-euro ardour of South Europe's uber-rich."

Indeed. So just how wise are the alleged "wise men"?

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.

Five Alternatives to FDIC "Insured Deposits"

Posted: 14 Apr 2013 11:09 AM PDT

In the wake of capital controls in Cyprus and statements by the Dutch finance minister Jereon Dijsselbloem that brought into question the entire notion of deposit insurance in the eurozone, readers are wondering where to safely keep their money.

Concerns heightened when people discovered New Zealand banks have no insurance (see Fraudulent Guarantees; Fictional Reserve Lending; Comparison of US to Cyprus; What About New Zealand?).

Reader Sam asks ...
Hey Mish

What alternatives to "FDIC insured deposits" are out there so we can protect our money? 

I'm a daily huge fan and thanks for all your wonderful work.
Sam P
In the US, I do believe deposit insurance will be honored, but it shouldn't be, at least on interest bearing accounts. And the only way deposit insurance could realistically work on non-interest bearing accounts was if there were regulations that banks could not lend deposits available on demand (checking accounts).

Keeping money under the mattress is one obvious answer, but not one that I recommend. Here are some better choices to consider.

Five FDIC Alternatives

  1. Treasury Direct:  You can safely buy short-term US treasuries directly.
  2. Short-Term Treasury Funds: The iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF (SHV) holds Short-term U.S. Treasury bonds with remaining maturities between 0 and 1 year.
  3. Brokerage account at places that hold excess cash in treasuries. Not all brokerages hold client cash safely. Interactive Brokers is one of the better ones in my opinion. ETrade nearly went under because of risks it took. See E*Trade Heads For Bankruptcy?
  4. Physical gold or silver in your possession
  5. GoldMoney, Bullion Vault, and other places that store precious metals for you. 

I prefer GoldMoney to other precious metal holding companies but that is an admittedly biased opinion as I have a relationship with them. Anyone wanting additional information on GoldMoney: Please Email Mish

Again, I do believe deposit insurance will be honored, whether or not it should be, but you certainly do not want to exceed the FDIC limit at any one bank.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.
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SEO Blog

SEO Blog

Top Tips For Improving Your Social Media Experience In 2013

Posted: 14 Apr 2013 10:01 AM PDT

Social media is an important influence in today’s world. From business marketing to personal communication social media is vital. Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or LinkedIn, most people are part of some sort of social media community. And if you want to improve your social media experience for 2013, then...
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Publicat de 1 la 15:08 0 comentarii

Seth's Blog : The brand is a story. But it's a story about you, not about the brand.

 

The brand is a story. But it's a story about you, not about the brand.

Why prefer Coke over Pepsi or GE over Samsung or Ford over Chevy?

In markets that aren't natural monopolies or where there are clear, agreed-upon metrics, how do we decide?

Yes, every brand has a story—that's how it goes from being a logo and a name to a brand. The story includes expectations and history and promises and social cues and emotions. The story makes us say we "love Google" or "love Harley"... but what do we really love?

We love ourselves.

We love the memory we have of how that brand made us feel once. We love that it reminds us of our mom, or growing up, or our first kiss. We support a charity or a soccer team or a perfume because it gives us a chance to love something about ourselves.

We can't easily explain this, even to ourselves. We can't easily acknowledge the narcissism and the nostalgia that drives so many of the apparently rational decisions we make every day. But that doesn't mean that they're not at work.

More than ever, we express ourselves with what we buy and how we use what we buy. Extensions of our personality, totems of our selves, reminders of who we are or would like to be.

Great marketers don't make stuff. They make meaning.


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sâmbătă, 13 aprilie 2013

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Former Portuguese Prime Minister Says "Portugal Cannot Pay Its Debts", Calls for "Argentine-Style Default"

Posted: 13 Apr 2013 09:35 AM PDT

It's rare to hear any bit of common sense from political leaders, but today I have a sterling example. Mário Soares, Prime Minister of Portugal from 1976-1978 and 1983-1985, and the 17th President of Portugal from 1986 to 1996 speaks the truth.

Soares says "Portugal Cannot Pay Its Debts". He calls for an "Argentine-Style Default", and states "The desire please chancellor Merkel is ruining the country."
"Portugal can not pay what you owe and however much they impoverish people, however much they steal the money to people who have it, not be able to pay what you owe. And when you cannot, the only solution is not pay. " The president of Portugal, Mario Soares socialist argues that it is impossible for Portugal to return all of its foreign debt. So has asked to make a Argentine-style default to avoid economic collapse.

"Look at Argentina, was in crisis when he said we do not pay. 'And something happened?" Asks Soares. "No, nothing happened," he says in an interview with Antena 1, which airs tonight and that includes the Business Journal.

Soares, who was also prime minister, has called for the overthrow of the government, has criticized the European Commission president, José Manuel Barroso and launched a series of warnings to the President of the Republic, Cavaco Silva. The former head of state also defended as imperative the change in government and an end to austerity.

"This desire to be useful to Mrs Merkel, are ruining the country and forcing him to sell everything. In two years, this government has destroyed almost everything in Portugal," he says.

For Soares, "any politician with an ounce of common sense when booed-as are the government every day, calling them thieves, should have the dignity to leave. But they cling to power," he concludes.
Sooner or Later

Sooner or later some politician is going to run on that exact platform and be elected. Alternatively, a politician will decide the same thing while in office.

Eurozone math practically guarantees that outcome. For further discussion, please see Eurozone Math; One Size Fits Germany; Door Number Two.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.
Publicat de 1 la 23:06 0 comentarii

Why I'm not giving the Weekly Address

The White House, Washington
 


Hello, everybody --

Each week, like many presidents before me, I sit down to record a short address to the nation. It's something I take very seriously because it offers a chance to bring focus to an issue that needs to be part of the national dialogue.

But today, I've asked someone to take my place.

Francine Wheeler is a mother. She and her family live in Newtown, Connecticut. Four months ago, her six year-old son Ben was murdered in his elementary school, along with 19 other children and six brave educators.

Joined by her husband David, Francine shares her perspective about the steps we can take to reduce gun violence and prevent the kind of tragedy she understands all too well.

It's a message that every American should hear:

Watch Francine, then join her in speaking out to make our country safer.

This week, because people like Francine and like you got involved, the U.S. Senate took a step forward on commonsense reforms to reduce gun violence.

And that's good. Because this shouldn't be about politics. This is about doing the right thing for families that have been torn apart by gun violence, and for all our families going forward.

But we've got a lot of work to do before Congress finishes the job.

So if you believe that we can take sensible steps to protect more of our kids from gun violence and protect our Second Amendment rights, stand up and join us.

Just visit WhiteHouse.gov to get started:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/newtown-address

Thanks,

President Obama

 

  
 

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The White House • 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW • Washington, DC 20500 • 202-456-1111

 



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Seth's Blog : Paying attention (to someone else's agenda)

 

Paying attention (to someone else's agenda)

The person who sets your media/incoming queue owns your best work.

There goes another an hour. An hour of responding to incoming from people I can't help, looking at stats that don't matter, thinking about problems that aren't the ones I set out to solve, and waiting for a response when I should be creating instead.

Choose wisely. It's perhaps the most important decision we make, every day.


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