Amazon Gets Real About Fakes | Bloomberg

November 28, 2016November 28, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Randy Hetrick first noticed counterfeits on Amazon.com Inc. in 2013. He had been selling his TRX Training System– an exercise kit of suspension straps– on the site since 2008. When he began noticing cheap imitations, he had his employees scour Amazon for more, then go through the tedious process of reporting them for removal. But new imposters would pop up right away, and by 2014, “We realized this was an epidemic,” said Hetrick, who estimates phonies cost him $100 million a year, twice his annual sales.

Amazon’s Marketplace gives inventors like Hetrick exposure to hundreds of millions of shoppers without the big expense of building and promoting a website from scratch. Merchants give Amazon a commission on each sale. But a hot-selling product on Amazon encourages counterfeiters to make flimsy knockoffs with cheap materials, steal sales and damage a brand with few consequences.

24% Of Americans Have Now Worked In The Platform Economy | Co.Exist

November 28, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Fully 24% of Americans have participated in the peer-to-peer or “sharing economy,” according to a new Pew Research report. Which is perhaps bigger than we thought.

Pew counts everyone who’s taken a task on a digital platform (like TaskRabbit), sold something to another community member (eBay), made something and sold it online (Etsy), driven their own cab (Uber), or rented a house (e.g. Airbnb). “These platforms also allow users to earn money in a range of other ways, such as sharing their possessions with others or selling their used goods or personal creations,” it says.

Final nail in coffin for Federal Reserve, central bank independence | Business Insider

November 28, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

One of the central tenets of the Federal Reserve and most central banks throughout the developed world in the modern era has been their ability to stay above the political fray.

With a few notable — and fairly disastrous — exceptions, the Fed has acted without fear of political retribution from the executive branch, although the chair still has to testify to Congress and the president periodically.

The assumption of independence, however, has come under fire in recent months. After President-elect Donald Trump floated the conspiracy theory that the Fed was intentionally manipulating interest rates to help President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, a hostile congressional questioning of Board Chair Janet Yellen in September, and the possibility of Trump packing the Board of Governors with sympathetic members, it no longer is a given that the Fed will be able to maintain its freedom going forward.

The Key to Ranking Your Local Business in Google | Duct Tape Marketing

November 23, 2016November 23, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

For local businesses, showing up on page one is a must – showing up in the Google 3-pack (or whatever it is called this week.) can be the difference between thriving and merely surviving.

All Google products evolve as they find ways to make search better and, let’s face it, make more money from that fact.

There are a handful of factors that Google uses to decide what sites to show when a person searches for a local business.

While we have previously shared our thoughts on reviews, schema markup, and citations, today I want to talk about the linchpin of the local listing game – your Google My Business Page.

10 Misused Words That Make Smart People Look Stupid | Entrepreneur

November 23, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

We’re all tempted to use words that we’re not too familiar with. We throw them around in meetings, e-mails and important documents (such as resumes and client proposals), and they land, like fingernails across a chalkboard, on everyone who has to hear or read them.

No matter how talented you are or what you’ve accomplished, using words incorrectly can change the way people see you and forever cast you in a negative light. You may not think it’s a big deal, but if your language is driving people up the wall you need to do something about it.

Frequent Flier Miles Don’t Matter Anymore—Get Some New Credit Cards | WIRED

November 23, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

OH, THANKSGIVING: A time for turkey, a time for uncomfortable political discussions, a time for the most nightmarish airplane trips imaginable. Nearly 30 million Americans will fly with US airlines this week, and a lot of them will be thinking: Hey, at least I’ll come out of this misery with some frequent flier miles for that solo kayaking trip to New Zealand.

Except, not so much. For the first time since frequent flier programs got their start in the 1980s, most American airline passengers are earning rewards in a new way. To put it bluntly, the frequent flier mile is dead.

Financial Success and Ethical Consumption | The Simple Dollar

November 22, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Donna writes in with a great question:

Hi Trent!

I am really struggling with balancing ethical consumption with my dreams of financial success. Quite often, getting the most “bang for the buck” for a product involves buying from a company that cuts a lot of ethical corners in terms of their products. […] Looking for some insights into how to balance those concerns.

First of all, let’s look at what ethical consumption actually is. From Wikipedia:

Guest Post: How to Teach a Class to Get New Clients . . . Based on the Cycles of Nature | marketingforhippies.com

November 22, 2016November 22, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Today I’m going to teach you a very practical marketing skill that I love and use regularly in my own business: teaching a free or low-cost intro class that gives people a taste of you and your offering so they can’t wait to work with you.

And get ready – it’s a long post, but it will walk you through all the steps you need to design a really rocking class.

If you have something interesting to teach and you enjoy teaching (or you’re willing to push yourself a bit and put your gifts out there, nudge-nudge), this is one of the easiest ways to get new clients.

What’s unique about what I’ll show you here is that it’s a nature-based model for teaching and learning. It will give you the confidence to deliver an effective class, and have your students feel deeply held in a strong, interactive, inspiring container… that feels totally natural, and not awkward.

15 Simple Tips For Storing Your Produce and Keeping It Fresh | Life Hack

November 18, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Food expenses form a major part of monthly family budgets, so it is important to buy smartly and to store them properly. If you want to reduce the food wastage, the answer is not just buying less, you also need to make sure that you store it properly. Sometimes it may be more budget friendly to buy in bulk, especially when an item is available at discount offers.

Though refrigerators have made the storage of food products much easier, you do not always need to rely on a fridge to increase the shelf span of food products. Here are some useful tips for storing foods and making sure that the food stays fresh for a long time.

Business Travelers Will Pay Less To Fly In 2017 Despite Airlines’ Efforts To Limit Capacity Growth | Forbes

November 18, 2016November 18, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The biggest U.S. airlines finally are getting serious about reversing the steady decline in recent years of the average price of their fares, but the smart folks at American Express Global Business Travel – part of the world’s largest travel services company – say that’s not enough to keep fare prices from falling again in 2017.

AmEx, the parent of the world’s largest travel agency and a major player in corporate travel cost management through its American Express charge card business, said Wednesday that it expects the kind of fares purchased by business travelers for short haul travel with North America to decline, on average, by 2.5% to 5.5% next year. Average long haul fares for travel both within North America and to/from North America should fall between 0.2% and 4.6%, according to AmEx’s annual Global Travel Forecast, released Wednesday.