Monthly Archives: February 2016

How Chris Rock Turned Girl Scout Cookies Into the Oscars’ Biggest Brand Winner | Adweek

Posted on February 29, 2016 by knjohn | Leave a comment

While most people watching Sunday night’s Oscars knew host Chris Rock would come up with a hilarious, cutting response to the #OscarsSoWhite controversy—and weren’t disappointed—no one expected that he would engineer the night’s biggest, and sweetest, brand spotlight for one of the most high-profile Girl Scout cookie sales in history.

An hour and a half into the ceremony, Rock explained that because of his Oscar hosting duties, “I’ve been away from my two daughters at a very important time in their life. I have missed most of Girl Scout cookie season.” After explaining that his younger daughter, Zahra, lamented coming in second during her troop’s cookie sales, he told the audience, “I want you to reach into your millionaire pockets, and I want you to buy some of my daughter’s Girl Scout cookies.”

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Posted in News and Views

Tagged Chris Rock, Girl Scout cookies, Oscars

Leap Day: The Story Behind This Quirky Calendar Event | Live Science

Posted on February 29, 2016 by knjohn | Leave a comment

Monday is Feb. 29 — the bissextle or “leap day,” an artifact that dates back to the year 46 B.C.

Back then, Julius Caesar took the advice of the learned astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria, who knew from Egyptian experience that the tropical year (also known as the solar year) was about 365.25 days in length. So to account for that residual quarter of a day, an extra day — a leap day — was added to the calendarevery four years.

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Tagged Julius Caesar, Leap Day, Leap year, Sosigenes of Alexandria

Citigroup receives FIFA corruption subpoena | CNN Money

Posted on February 29, 2016 by knjohn | Leave a comment

U.S. banks are now being questioned in the FIFA corruption scandal that has rocked the sports world.

Citigroup (C) said in a recent securities filing that it has been slapped with a subpoena from U.S. officials investigating alleged “bribery, corruption and money laundering” at FIFA.

Anti-money laundering laws require banks to alert authorities about shady transactions like the ones at the heart of the FIFA scandal. Senior FIFA officials used various U.S. banks — including Citi, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Bank of America (BAC) — to transfer and receive $150 million in bribes and kickbacks, authorities alleged last year.

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Posted in News and Views

Tagged Anti-money laundering laws, Bank of America, Citigroup, FIFA, JPMorgan Chase

5 Important Lessons New Female Leaders Need to Learn | Business News Daily

Posted on February 26, 2016 by knjohn | Leave a comment

Women have long been told that thinking and acting “like a man” in the workplace is the only way to get ahead and to be taken seriously. This mentality may have prevailed decades ago when women were just gaining a foothold in the professional world, but modern women have learned that career success is not about adjusting to the male-dominated status quo. It’s about changing that status quo by embracing what makes the female perspective unique, and overcoming the doubts that keep women from reaching their full potential.

This is especially true of young female professionals who are just beginning their careers and have aspirations of rising through the ranks in their industry. Women who want to lead may find themselves up against superiors who question their priorities or blame disagreements on them being too “emotional” or “aggressive.” Worse yet, these women may have trouble find the leadership opportunities they’re looking for in the first place.

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Tagged Female Leaders, female perspective, female professionals, leadership

Why Paying Fixed Bonuses is Hurting Your Business | Page19

Posted on February 26, 2016 by knjohn | Leave a comment

Hi there! My name is Sina. Among other things, my mission is to make Blinkist the best place to work in Berlin. Tasked with reviewing our incentive strategy, I realized something: we were doing it wrong—and everybody else is, too.

In many industries it’s common practice to award employees a contractual bonus in the form of an annual one-time payment, tethered to company KPIs. It’s actually so commonplace that many founders introduce these same old corporate procedures in their otherwise modern and progressive ventures.

Unfortunately, what’s good for the goose isn’t always good for the gander. Oldschool incentives in a 21st-century business create an ideological discord that negatively impacts individuals and overall company culture. So what seems like a well-meant motivating measure is actually an expensive misunderstanding that hurts startups and other developing, aspiring companies.

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Tagged bonuses, contractual bonus, page 19

30+ Ways for You To Use YouTube Effectively | Small Biz Trends

Posted on February 26, 2016 by knjohn | Leave a comment

YouTube is one of the hidden gems in online marketing. It is a terrific way for small business owners to compete with the big brands. But creating effective (as in watchable) content and then promoting it can be intimidating.

Of particular interest to business owners who are wondering if the time creating and marketing with video is worth it is the YouTube Partner Program, created in 2007. It now has more than a million creators earning money from their videos. Thousands of channels are making six figures a year.

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Posted in Tools and Information

Tagged creating effective (as in watchable) content, online marketing, YouTube

8 Low Cost and Creative Employee Loyalty Programs | BusinessTips.com

Posted on February 25, 2016 by knjohn | Leave a comment

If you are reading this article then you are probably leading a team or running a business and are curious what I mean by this title. If you haven’t had to do any hiring lately – CONGRATULATIONS! If you have, then you know how very difficult it is to find great talent. This may be the wildest market I’ve seen – in some ways more active than the late 90s. This is due to the fact that, in order to beat the competition, businesses are utilizing all sorts of new tactics to attract talented individuals to their ranks. I actually saw a help wanted LED sign on the Boulder Valley YMCA – and they need a bunch of folks. When was the last time you saw help wanted at the YMCA?

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Tagged Employee Loyalty Programs, leading a team, running a business

FAA Working on Rules That Will Allow Drones to Fly Over People | Entrepreneur

Posted on February 25, 2016 by knjohn | Leave a comment

The Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday said it would develop drone regulations allowing some unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to fly over people, an authorization eagerly sought by a range of industries including real estate and agriculture.

The U.S. aviation regulatory agency, under pressure from Congress and industry to accommodate commercial drones, said it established a rule-making committee that would recommend a new regulatory framework by April 1.

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Tagged drones, FAA, new drone rules, UAV flying over people

5 Secret Questions Successful People Ask Daily| Getentrepreneurial.com

Posted on February 25, 2016 by knjohn | Leave a comment

While studying Great Depression businesses created by successful entrepreneurs, I discovered five core practices that were daily habits for them. They asked themselves five questions daily that charted their course to success.

You become a successful business person, also, by asking yourself these same five questions daily. The five questions to ask so you become positively successful are:

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Tagged 5 Secret Questions, daily habits, Questions Successful People Ask Daily

Another Oil Crash Is Coming, and There May Be No Recovery | Bloomberg Business

Posted on February 24, 2016 by knjohn | Leave a comment

It’s time for oil investors to start taking electric cars seriously.

In the next two years, Tesla and Chevy plan to start selling electric cars with a range of more than 200 miles priced in the $30,000 range. Ford is investing billions, Volkswagen is investing billions, and Nissan and BMW are investing billions. Nearly every major carmaker—as well as Apple and Google—is working on the next generation of plug-in cars.

This is a problem for oil markets. OPEC still contends that electric vehicles will make up just 1 percent of global car sales in 2040. Exxon’s forecast is similarly dismissive.

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Tagged electric cars, oil, oil crash