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marți, 4 februarie 2014

In Coffee Shops But Not in Classrooms?

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In Coffee Shops But Not in Classrooms?

ConnectED is President Obama's initiative to enrich K-12 education for every student in America -- empowering teachers with technology and training to make the most of it, and empowering students through individualized learning and rich, digital content. At the center of that program: a challenge to connect 99% of students to next-generation connectivity within five years. Because, as the President has said, "In a country where we expect free Wi-Fi with our coffee, why shouldn't we have it in our schools?"

Today, at Buck Lodge Middle School in Maryland, President Obama announced major progress toward realizing the ConnectED goal.

Learn more about President Obama's big ConnectED announcement:

Seth's Blog : Are you looking for a project? (a live event in New York in March)

Are you looking for a project? (a live event in New York in March)

Six years ago, I wrote about a job of the future, the (online) community organizer.

And for a long time, I've been talking about the advantage of picking yourself.

It recently occured to me that there's an increasing overlap between the two, and I'll be doing a live event in New York to explore this. Here's a quick overview:

A hundred years ago, Mark Twain, like many authors of his time, made a living traveling to various cities and giving lectures. Today, of course, we've come full circle, and everyone from Amanda Palmer to Cyrille Aimée are making an impact (and making a living) by performing at house parties, conferences and local events. Authors, speakers, performers, musical troupes—there's increasing demand (and need) for artists to get out in front of people.

At the same time, there's ever more demand for individuals to meet each other, to connect face to face. We've gone from giant shows like Comdex to a long tail of local and international events, all designed to bring tribes together and make an impact.

Here's the opportunity: Mark Twain didn't book his own gigs, and Cyrille Aimée doesn't want to book hers. There's a huge void for impresarios to fill. The impresario invents a new event, finds the venue, the talent and the audience and makes something happen.

Some of the events can be put together small and grow in scale (Startup Weekend has been held in more than 470 cities, and there are more than three TEDx events held every single day worldwide) while others take a long time to pull together and plan but make a singular impact on their industry.

The talent is waiting to get picked. The audience is waiting to get invited. Where are the impresarios? It's something I think you could be really good at if you put your mind to it.

I'd like to share what I know from putting on dozens of events around the world, from being the asked and the asker, the organizer and the attendee. I'd like to open some doors and help you see the opportunity and the challenge of making something happen.

This event, held at the fabulous Helen Mills Theatre in Manhattan on March 1, is open to no more than 100 people. It's a workshop in the best sense of the word, with a focus on organizing impresario projects.

General admission tickets go on sale in a few days (I'll post the link then), but if you'd like an invite for an early-bird guaranteed seat, check out this quick form.

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Filthy Linking Rich: How to Passively Attract Valuable Links

Posted: 03 Feb 2014 03:15 PM PST

Posted by JamesAgate

The best ideas for "building links" seldom arrive whilst you are sat there thinking of ways you can build links. I don't mean to start off on the wrong foot here and provide you with one of those posts that proclaims "just hit publish" and links will rain down from the sky if your content is "great" enough.

We'll be getting links with the process I am talking about today, but there are also a whole load of benefits besides links to come from doing this.

Why you should still care about links

Despite all the noise in the industry, links form the very basis of the web and remain the key component in Google's algorithm, so having a plan in place for how links are going to be attained is essential for any ambitious business.

Beyond the dramatic improvement in search engine visibility that we all know links can deliver, the right kinds of links can offer:

Significant referral traffic
Online brand awareness
Social proof (improving conversion)

Links were here before Google; they are the stitches that connect the patchwork quilt of randomness that we call the internet. I don't want to pretend that I forget all about Google when we're looking at link opportunities but we are constantly looking at ways to get more than just ranking potential out of a link.

Earning links isn't a myth

The organic, editorially earned link isn't a myth. Unless you are a big brand, though, it will require some time, creativity, and investment up front. Get it right by building a piece of long-term foundational content, (not solely tapping into something that is hot for five minutes and then gone), and you can provide your business with a platform that means every month you're not starting with a blank scorecard. You can then layer additional online marketing efforts on top and enjoy a compound effect.

How to get filthy linking rich

Many of you will be familiar with Robert T. Kiyosaki's Rich Dad Poor Dadâ€"it's worth a read if you haven't. The premise of the book is that the rich don't work for money but rather have money work for them, Robert explains he effectively had two dads growing up (one actually being his friend's dad); one who died a multi-millionaire, and one who died broke despite having had a decent job and a good education. Long story short, you get rich (and subsequently richer) by thinking differently than everyone else.

There are comparisons that can be drawn between what the book is talking about and most things in our daily lives; the fit get fitter, the rich get richer, bestsellers sell better and so on and so forth. When it comes to SEO, it's no different.

In fact Mike Grehan wrote a paper which discussed this concept specifically in relating to links and search engines. He highlighted;

"...how great the bias is for high ranking pages which are fundamentally ordered on link based algorithms, to attract more links."

In essence, those pages that rank prominently strengthen their lead naturally because they attract more links as a result of ranking at the top. Smart marketers can turn some links into more links.

I wrote a post a while back about targeting influencers and content creators at the exact moment they were looking to link, therefore increasing your chances of getting a link. Since then, though, it has become clear to me that this concept really is much bigger than that. We've slowly but surely developed and refined the process to maximize the links and eyeballs a content asset can attract passively over time.

And it is that process which I am going to run through today...

Concept
Seed placement
Prime
Supportive outreach
Extend

The chart below shows the growth in referring domains for a content asset we developed using the above process:

ahrefs.com-2014-1-20-13-10-29

The asset was launched six months prior to the start date of this chart and the consistent growth continues to this dayâ€"it was designed to meet a need in the market and is something that users and influencers alike have an interest in and will continue to have an interest in for years to come.

That's over 100 links attained passively, and the average Domain Authority of those (according to LinkBabel) is 63, so these are decent links as well. Sure, not all are big-hitting-need-to-write-home-about links but they are relevant and most are with publishers we'd ordinarily seek a relationship with if we were promoting it proactively.

Here's a chart showing pageviews for the 6 months after launch (it's certainly not what we in the industry would consider "viral," but the asset targets a long-tail phrase, and pageviews are showing steady month-over-month growth):

www.google.com 2014-1-22 15 51 59

Stage 1: Concept

We're more often than not seeking to cover a question, tackle an industry concept, challenge a misconception or provide the most comprehensive and useful piece on a particular topic.

What makes a good idea?

Something you can talk credibly about: It may sound obvious, but don't stretch your fabric of expertise too far.
Something that has long-term appeal: You want to be a value investor rather than a speculator.
Something that will appeal to customers AND other content creators.
There is currently a void of decent content covering the subject.

Sources of inspiration

The key to this part of the process is to get inspired and then begin the fairly manual process of identifying which of the ideas are the real opportunities. Again, I can use an investing analogy here because it is no different to investing in anything else; start broad, do your research and narrow it down to the opportunities you are going to pursue.

Magazines in your industry: Look for the pillar topics that have evergreen potential and see if they are as well served online.
Talk to sales teams: They often have valuable insights into customer pain points and common questions.
Keyword research tools: Dig through industry keywords (often more toward the long tail, but in some cases big head terms to find people looking for answers and solutions).
Use Google Images: Sometimes visual queries are under-served.
Related topics in Wikipedia: Browse the "See Also" section to help ignite some lateral thinking.

How do I know it's an opportunity?

You are ultimately looking to identify queries that are underserved.

Picture yourself in the shoes of both a potential customer and a fellow content creator. Do you feel you can find what you are looking for with the current results that are returned on query X or Y? If not, why not? And how can your planned asset fill that gap?

If you can reach both of those types of users then once you've given the asset that little initial nudge, the content itself pays its own way for life.

A strong example of an underserved query is the question "what is outsourcing?" Quite a broad term, but if Google's Keyword Planner Tool is to be believed, one that gets asked over 5,000 times per month. A good number of those are likely to be other content creators who are seeking a nice succinct explanation or guide to outsourcing that they can reference and link to for a piece they may be writing on a related topic. Imagine creating a visual tutorial that introduces outsourcing and looks at how a business can get started. That would certainly beat the current lineup of content on offer, then you'd just need to carefully optimize it to make sure yours is the asset people find.

What type of assets will work?

I'm a big supporter of evolution rather than revolution in SEO. The format of the content isn't necessarily the thing you need to focus on ("OMG we can't do infographics because they are so 2013!") it is the substance of the piece that is more important. The "problem" isn't with infographics per se, but rather the way they are executed. Granted, sometimes the opportunity actually is bringing a different format to the table, but the world doesn't declare books (physical or digital) as "dead" just because a couple of authors put out a couple of bad books.

Maybe it isn't the vehicle, but rather the person driving it. But I digress.

My point is that this process can be applied to a multitude of different content asset types, the key is recognizing the opportunity you have at hand and whether it is the substance of the piece, the format of the piece, or both, and then act accordingly.

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Note: The extent to which and the order in which you complete the following 4 stages depends entirely upon the type of content asset, the type of project and the goal of that project.

For example, we've worked on projects where the client didn't want the asset on their site, they wanted to give it exclusively to a 3rd-party publisher and focus on helping the asset reach prominence on that site so that they could leverage the social proof and traffic (although not the links). Equally, we've worked on projects where we publish first on the client site before seeding it with a big publisher.

I'll be running through each of the stages and then I'll leave it up to you to slot them together in the way that makes sense for whatever it is you are working on.

---------

Stage 2: Seed placement

This is going to be a high-profile publisher directly in your industry or perhaps tangentially related (go where the audience is!), and that site should enjoy prominent syndication. A good example of this is Entrepreneur.com being syndicated to regional news websites who leverage the deeper coverage of business issues that they don't. We could get into a whole conversation about duplicate content and auto-syndicated links, etc., etc., but I'll take authoritative, relevant links any day of the weekâ€"particularly if I only have to build a relationship with one publisher to get them!

Why give the seed placement to someone else?

The "initial exclusive" ensures we get the attention of the influential blogger and power publisherâ€"they are getting something we've put blood, sweat, and tears into first, before anyone elseâ€"in some cases before we even publish on the client site. This is frequently a powerful bargaining chip. Remember, though, that the residual links can end up with that third-party site if they end up outranking you (not always the case), but that shouldn't put you off, because often giving a site an initial exclusive opens doors that wouldn't be possible when pitching content that is already live on your blog.

Where can I find a seed placement?

If you are stuck for ideas then a good place to start would be one of the multitude of premium advertising networks out there including BuySellAds or Federated Media. Or you can take a dip inside Google Adwords and use their display planner to get some ideas. If you are doing this for a client, then talk to them and ask them which sites they read.

What qualifies as a seed placement?

A fairly straightforward but not necessarily perfect barometer is whether you quote the site by name (because it is a publisher with a recognisable brand), or whether you describe it based on domain authority (because you know nobody has heard of the site). If its the former then you've probably got a good candidate, if it's the latter it doesn't mean it isn't a good site but it might be more suited for contacting during the supportive outreach stage in this process.

Another key reason to use the calibre of brand as a barometer is because you can leverage this initial seed placement when it comes to supportive outreach. This publisher's brand (and their editorial integrity) lends huge amounts of credibility to your asset resulting in a much lower level of friction when talking with other sites because there is a feeling of "If it is good enough for X, this piece must be legit."

Stage 3: Prime the asset

Publish the asset on your site and prepare it for immediate and long-term success by priming it for easy social sharing and incorporating common sense optimization of on-page factors.

More specifically;

Accessibility and visibility of social sharing buttons
Accessibility and visibility of any embed codes or downloads
Keyword research and optimization of titles and the content itself, relating back to the opportunities identified in stage 1.

These things serve to heighten your visibility across social channels, reduce friction should someone wish to share the piece (either socially or in the form of a link) and finally it heightens your visibility in searchâ€"to maximize your reach and longevity of the piece with customers, other content creators and influencers at the very moment they are doing research (looking for a source to cite).

Grab this solid checklist that Rand put together about on-page optimization for a checklist.

Stage 4: Supportive outreach

The aim of this part of the process is to secure the last of the proactive coverage. Links lead to more links so getting your asset visible with some nice initial traction is how we can be sure it'll be a success long term.

The likelihood is that the types of publishers you'll be working with at this stage are going to be more niche-specific bloggers, smaller or regional publications and even personal blogs that are authored by experts in your industry.

I put together a post to help you identify, research, and organise link prospects which you might want to have a read of.

Securing the seed placement is a lot more like a high-touch sales/business development relationship so it is harder for me to design a process for you. When it comes to supportive outreach, however, we can probably afford to tailor a template email rather than write bespoke each time. We're not mass email-blasting here, but we are looking to secure a higher number of links, therefore we need to be efficient.

It isn't easy to get noticed in someone's inbox, but there are some best practices for sending these kinds of emails:

Find the person's name
Get a professional email address
Make sure it is the right person
Be meticulous in your proofreading
Be personal (but sincere)
Respect their time and be concise
Think carefully about certain words that might flag spam filters

As well as some really good guides on the subject:

Subject line: this guide
Persuasive body copy: this guide
Signature (and overall format): this guide

Stage 5: Extend

There are several aspects to this stage, all of which I'll go over in more detail below:

Paid content discovery
Paid social media advertising
Attribution checks
Content repurposing

Paid social media advertising

The three main platforms we work with for these types of campaigns are:

Facebook: Read this guide from First Conversion
Twitter: Read this guide on KissMetrics (basic but gives a good grounding if you are getting started on the platform)
StumbleUpon Paid Discovery: Read this guide on Search Engine Land

Paid content discovery

A good presentation from Wil Reynolds on this subject.

The three main platforms we work (or have worked) with for these types of campaigns are:

We prefer Outbrain, but it isn't perfect by any stretch. We've found some campaigns devour the budget in minutes, and others barely get any impressions at all despite being for the same client, but I'll leave you to make your own judgement as to their effectiveness. I wanted to present them as valid campaign extension options because they more often than not tend to add some value.

Content repurposing

Here's a solid guide to content repurposing over on the Content Marketing Institute.

And some quick ideas to get you started:

Translate into other languages: English-language markets are inundated with content, and international markets less so.
Turn into other formats such as video, slide decks, or eBooks for wider distribution.

Attribution checks

This is something that can be done on an ongoing basis because if your asset is attracting links on an ongoing basis it will also likely be attracting people who are pinching it or from it and not attributing.

In the early stages of the campaign you can often find some really juicy link opportunities by finding the sites that have covered the piece but not attributed correctly. After that you may find people who "borrow" large chunks of it (Copyscape to the rescue) then you could always ask for the attribution and send them a DMCA if not.

Reverse image search using Google Images or Tineye: Need a solid guide to image link building? Look no further than this one.
TalkWalker Alerts: Set up a few including parts of the title, full title, brand name etc.
Monitoring brand name mentions and manually reviewing these to see if any are content asset coverage with a citation but no link.

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Finally - I confess, I haven't been entirely honest with you, because to really get the most out of this method, you can't be 100% passive. You might need to tend to it from time to time, updating the piece to keep it relevant, for example. Or consider further "extension" promotions if there are seasonal peaks of interest in the piece; the asset is, after all, dual-purpose. Just because you've got it positioned to consistently drive links and traffic, what's to stop you from being proactive and using it attract more customers at, say, a key buying season in your industry?

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So, there you have it: Our process in 3,000 words for developing content assets, some of which go on to earn thousands of links and generate thousands of social shares long after we've finished active promotion. With the right idea, the right format, a good initial seed placement, intelligent priming, and thorough supportive outreach, a content asset can take your link building campaigns to a whole new level.

I'd welcome any feedback or questions in the comments below.

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Seth's Blog : Bat boy syndrome

Bat boy syndrome

Here's a common fantasy: Your team wins the pennant. It goes on to the World Series. It wins! And you're there for it, all along, the bat boy, helping out the sluggers, doing your job, proximity to greatness.

The line to get a job at Disney and Google and Pixar is long indeed. Countless people eager to get picked to join a winning team. Not as the person who is going to have to step up and cause success, no, the opportunity sought is to be on the team, to bask without being asked for heroics (which of course, carry risk).

The industrial culture, the resume-building mindset—it's no wonder so many have bat boy syndrome. The alternative, the alternative of picking yourself, is frightening because we've been hoodwinked and brainwashed into believing that it's not up to us. But it is.

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luni, 3 februarie 2014

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Portuguese Debt About to Implode? What About Spain?
Huge Miss in ISM; Largest Decline in New Orders in 4 Years; Weather to Blame?
Loan Rates in Argentina Reach 65% Annually; Is 65% a Good Rate?
Why are Taxpayers Subsidizing Big Mac Buyers?

Portuguese Debt About to Implode? What About Spain?

Posted: 03 Feb 2014 07:22 PM PST

Is Portugal about ready to implode?

That's what one hedge fund manager believes. For now, interest rate action suggests otherwise.

We will explore the case for implosion but first consider this chart of 10-year sovereign bonds.

Portugal 10-Year Sovereign Debt Yield

One certainly could have made a fortune plowing into 10-year Portuguese bonds. Does that mean Portugal is out of the woods?

I don't think so, and neither does Tortus Capital hedge fund manager David Salanic.

The New York times describes the setup in A Lonely Bet Against Portugal's Debt, but I am more interested in Tortus Capital's thesis.

Salanic maintains the status quo is not sustainable. Here is his overall thesis.

Portugal Debt Implosion Thesis

The Troika Program is off track. Portuguese bondholders are at the mercy of that market.
Portugal has excessive public and private debt financed from abroad. Portugal can neither grow nor devalue that debt.
Austerity fatigue has set in as the people carry the full burden of the adjustment.
Corporates are defaulting en masse and cannot sustain their debt burdens, leading to a vicious cycle of deleveraging.
The long-term outlook is bleak.
Debt-to-GDP is very high and growing one percent per month. Portugal is the third most leveraged country in the Eurozone.
Accounting for growth and interest expense, Portugal's debt is the highest in the Eurozone and is not sustainable.
Portugal can neither raise taxes nor cut expenditures, leaving little room to improve debt-servicing capacity.
40 consecutive years of deficit and 18 years without a primary surplus confirm that Portugal cannot sustain so much debt.
In the most optimistic case, the Portuguese sovereign has at least 30% too much debt.

Salanic does a fantastic job presenting his case in a 62 page document, Rehabilitating Portugal.

I recommend reading the presentation in entirety, but here are a few charts.

click on any chart for a sharper image

Solidarity

Missed Deficit Targets

Missed GDP Targets

Wishful Thinking

Subordination

Debt Financing

Credit Ratings

Inability to Outgrow or Devalue Debt

Corporate Debt Levels

Debt to GDP

Debt to Revenue

Interest Expense vs. Revenue

Target 2 Liabilities

ECB Liabilities

Mish Comments

That was a lot of charts, but there are another 40 or more in the article. I didn't count.

Other than target 2 imbalances (debt owed to other countries), Spain appeared at least as bad in most of the comparison charts.

Portugal alone is enough to sink the Eurozone given ECB leverage.

I have said repeatedly there is absolutely no way the Eurozone can stay intact and the above analysis strongly supports my claim.

That bond yields are so low in spite of the fundamentals is not an indication things are getting better. Rather, it is a strong sign of a bubble-supportive speculative mentality that central banks have fostered.

I do not know what the catalyst for a breakup will be, or when it happens, but Portugal is clearly back on my radar of things to watch.

Sincere thanks to Tortus Capital fund manager David Salanic for an outstanding report.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Huge Miss in ISM; Largest Decline in New Orders in 4 Years; Weather to Blame?

Posted: 03 Feb 2014 10:10 AM PST

Expectations for continued growth in the US remain overoptimistic.

For example Bloomberg reports the median forecast of 85 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a decrease in ISM to 56 from a December reading of 56.5.

Instead, the index plunged to 51.3, a number marginally above the expansion-contraction reading of 50.

Here are the numbers from the January 2014 Manufacturing ISM Report On Business®

ISM at a Glance

Series Data	Jan Index	Dec Index	Percentage Point Change	Direction	Rate of Change	Trend (Months)
PMI™	51.3	56.5	-5.2	Growing	Slower	8
New Orders	51.2	64.4	-13.2	Growing	Slower	8
Production	54.8	61.7	-6.9	Growing	Slower	17
Employment	52.3	55.8	-3.5	Growing	Slower	7
Supplier Deliveries	54.3	53.7	+0.6	Slowing	Faster	8
Inventories	44.0	47.0	-3.0	Contracting	Faster	2
Customers' Inventories	44.0	47.5	-3.5	Too Low	Faster	26
Prices	60.5	53.5	+7.0	Increasing	Faster	6
Backlog of Orders	48.0	51.5	-3.5	Contracting	From Growing	1
Exports	54.5	55.0	-0.5	Growing	Slower	14
Imports	53.5	55.0	-1.5	Growing	Slower	12

ISM Report Snips

PMI

Manufacturing expanded in January as the PMI® registered 51.3 percent, a decrease of 5.2 percentage points when compared to December's seasonally adjusted reading of 56.5 percent. A reading above 50 percent indicates that the manufacturing economy is generally expanding; below 50 percent indicates that it is generally contracting.

New Orders

ISM's New Orders Index registered 51.2 percent in January, a significant decrease of 13.2 percentage points when compared to the December seasonally adjusted reading of 64.4 percent. This represents growth in new orders for the eighth consecutive month, but is also the largest decline in new orders in the last four years. A New Orders Index above 52.1 percent, over time, is generally consistent with an increase in the Census Bureau's series on manufacturing orders (in constant 2000 dollars).

Production

ISM's Production Index registered 54.8 percent in January, which is a decrease of 6.9 percentage points when compared to the seasonally adjusted 61.7 percent reported in December. This month's reading indicates growth in production for the 17th consecutive month, but at a significantly slower rate than in December. An index above 51.1 percent, over time, is generally consistent with an increase in the Federal Reserve Board's Industrial Production figures.

Employment

ISM's Employment Index registered 52.3 percent in January, which is 3.5 percentage points lower than the seasonally adjusted 55.8 percent reported in December, and represents the seventh consecutive month of growth in employment, but at a slower rate than in December. An Employment Index above 50.6 percent, over time, is generally consistent with an increase in the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data on manufacturing employment.

Weather to Blame?

The median forecast was for an index reading 56. It came in at 51.3, an enormous miss.

A number of ISM respondents and economists blamed the weather. Cold weather certainly did not help auto sales any, but didn't the economists know the weather was cold when they made their forecasts?

I think the economy is slowing more than economists realize, even if weather is partially responsible for this.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Loan Rates in Argentina Reach 65% Annually; Is 65% a Good Rate?

Posted: 03 Feb 2014 09:25 AM PST

Emerging markets continue to crumble, and the spillover on major economies is obvious. Problems always start somewhere, usually at the periphery.

Via translation from Lanacion, please consider Credit Is More Expensive.

Following the peso devaluation and sharp hike in interest rates by the central bank, interest rates on loans increased as much as 11 percentage points.

For a personal loan, private banks now charging at least 44% per year. Factoring in fees and other administrative expenses (up to 11 percentage points), the total financial cost exceeds 65% annually.

Public banks have with nominal rates for personal loans in pesos that range from 32% to 44%, with a total financial cost up to 55% annually.

Banks also shortened their terms and revised installments on credit cards

Is 65% a Good Rate?

If Argentina is in the midst of full-blown hyperinflation, then any loan rate is a good rate, because the peso will soon become worthless.

If banks believe that is likely, they may publish rates, but credit will completely dry up.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Why are Taxpayers Subsidizing Big Mac Buyers?

Posted: 03 Feb 2014 01:17 AM PST

A friend of mine who wishes to remain anonymous claims the following:

Walmart employees (as a group) are often the biggest recipients of federal and state aid within each state.
McDonalds employees are up there as well.

Specifically, my friend asks "Why are Taxpayers Subsidizing Big Mac buyers?"

His proposed solution is to raise the minimum wage to the poverty level, about $23,550 for a family of four.

My friend claims the employer, not the taxpayer will pick up the tab.

Seen and Unseen

My otherwise bright friend is not bright enough to examine the seen and the unseen costs and benefits of his proposal.

It's a given that those who are employed by McDonalds and WalMart will be better off, provided they retain their jobs.

That's a pretty big "provided". But it's far worse than that. Here are 10 things I came up with (and it only took a few minutes to do so). I am sure my list is incomplete.

There are no proposals to reduce food stamps or any other government subsidies if minimum wages rise. Money allocated on food stamps and other subsidies will still be spent unless Democrats agree to cuts.
Prices at WalMart and McDonalds will rise
The higher the wages, the more pressure there will be on businesses to reduce the overall number of employees by other methods, including hardware and software robots
The higher the overall costs (of which wages are a huge component), the fewer the number of store that will be built
When corporations don't open stores they otherwise would have, construction jobs are lost, shipping jobs are lost, merchandising jobs are lost, corporate income taxes do not rise as they would have, and property tax collection does not rise as it would have.
Marginal stores will be shut.
Employees at those marginal stores will be laid off .
Shut stores pay no corporate income taxes or property taxes.
Vacant stores are a form of blight. They reduce property tax collection and lower rent prices.
Marginal store closings and refusal to open new marginal stores will most likely happen in the very neighborhoods most desperately in need of jobs and services.

Moreover, for all the bashing of WalMart, please note that it pays one of the highest corporate tax rates in the country.

Other Problems With Minimum Wage Laws

Minimum wages impair the liberty of workers and employers to freely enter into voluntary contracts. They are extremely unfair to unskilled and low-skilled workers, many of whom will either lose their jobs or no longer find any.

Young entrants into the labor force won't even have a chance to improve their lot by gaining job experience because they won't be allowed to offer their labor for less than the minimum wage, even if they want to. Instead they will become dependent on handouts.

Issue of Fairness

The government cannot wave its hand and order nature around. Economic laws will remain valid regardless of legislation and regulations. And that means that all those whose labor is simply too expensive at the new minimum wage will be priced out of the market, typically the lowest skilled and poorest workers. It matters not if anyone thinks that is 'fair'. It is simply what is going to happen.

Please consider points number five, nine, and ten one more time:

When corporations don't open stores they otherwise would have, construction jobs are lost, shipping jobs are lost, merchandising jobs are lost, corporate income taxes do not rise as they would have, and property tax collection does not rise as it would have.

Vacant stores are a form of blight. They reduce property tax collection and lower rent prices.

Marginal store closings and refusal to open new marginal stores will most likely happen in the very neighborhoods most desperately in need of jobs and services.

The above points should be so obvious, my friend should be embarrassed with his simplistic "hike the minimum wage" solution.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

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