El Reno was a Killing Field | YouTube Videos

~ CBPS ~ Leave a comment

The El Reno EF-5 Tornado that killed three storm chasers surprised them by changing from the typical northeast track to a southerly track, trapping them.

There are literally dozens of videos of this tornado, but I’ve posted the ones that communicate the instantaneous threat those following these storms found themselves in.

Adding to the mix were scores of amateur chasers and hundreds of regular citizens, who left the relative safety of their homes because they mistook the advice of a weatherman who advised a portion of the viewers to head south. Hundreds clogged the roads, making retreat impossible for those at the front of the line.

Continue reading “El Reno was a Killing Field | YouTube Videos” →

Speaking With Russian Entrepreneurs | Peter Mehit

~ CBPS ~ Leave a comment

Sirgut-1

Last Friday, we had the honor to speak with a room full of entrepreneurs in Surgut, Siberia via teleconference. The conference was set up by Michelle Skiljian of the Inland Empire Women’s Center and Dr. Tapie Rhom, an IT professor at CSUSB along with the help of many others. We filed into  the tele-learning center at Cal State San Bernardino for a 7:00pm start. The tele bridge started late because the participants on the Russian end had to fight a snow storm to get to the venue. The crowd was slow to build but after about twenty minutes there were fifty or so participants involved in the conversation with about 15 Southern California business owners.

They aren’t all that different than us, except they have higher expectations for what America does for it’s start up nation. Most of their questions centered on sources of capital (with an interesting sidebar about support for parolees), the kinds of businesses we start here and, in particular, the kinds of businesses women are getting into. The Russian audience was majority women and the only three business owners that spoke were women. They explained the split of business owners in Russia 85-15% male, with the majority of women owning care giving or service businesses.

Continue reading “Speaking With Russian Entrepreneurs | Peter Mehit” →

Fake It Until You Make It | Entrepreneur.com

~ lmehit ~ Leave a comment

Do you ever feel like you don’t quite deserve your success or aren’t fully qualified to do what you do? That common feeling is what psychologists call the “impostor syndrome,” a phenomenon where successful people feel like frauds waiting for someone to realize that they’re unfit for their leadership roles.

“Millions of people, from entrepreneurs to celebrities, have a hard time internalizing their accomplishments,” says Valerie Young, an expert on impostor syndrome and, author of The Secret Thoughts of Successful Women (Crown Business, 2011).

Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Photo Credit: Shutterstock

The impostor syndrome is especially common among people who become successful quickly or early, and among outsiders, such as women in male-dominated industries. “They explain away their success as luck or timing,” Young says. “They feel this sense of waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

That fear is stressful, and often leads people to hold back instead of pushing for bigger clients or more challenging opportunities.

Most of the people who feel like impostors are actually exceptionally capable. It’s their self-image that’s off. “Feeling like an impostor is different than being an impostor,” Young says. “Feelings aren’t facts.”

Read More.

Rebranding Helps Nudge Clothing Lines to a New Level | Apparel News.net

~ lmehit ~ Leave a comment

Last year, iconic fashion house Yves Saint Laurent renamed itself Saint Laurent Paris, and just recently, its parent company, PPR, one of fashion’s most esteemed companies, announced its own name change. It will be called Kering, according to Chief Executive and Chairman Francois-Henri Pinault.

DENISE’S NEW LOOK: Alpinestars by Denise Focil changed its name to AS by DF and debuted a more contemporary look.

The new name demonstrates growth and new focus, Pinault said. “In a few months’ time we will have completely transitioned from a holding company with an unfocused portfolio into a cohesive, integrated, international group focused on apparel and accessories,” he said.

Some veteran Los Angeles–area fashion lines are in the process of renaming, or “rebranding,” themselves, too. The process is risky, but rebranding can make the difference between sagging sales and stellar business.

Read More.

Bhutan to Go 100% Organic by 2020 – GreenPacks.org

~ lmehit ~ Leave a comment

Bhutan, the tiny remote kingdom nestling in the Himalayas, is already a largely organic nation. The kingdom however wants to do more on that front. Bhutan has now announced plans to go 100% organic.

And, when that gets done, Bhutan will become the first country in the world to follow fully organic agricultural practices. Thus it will ensure food safety and security to its population of around 700,000. They are planning to attain 100% organic in its food production by 2020.This decision by the state was announced by Bhutanese minister for agriculture and forest Pema Gyamtsho at the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit 2013 as a part of their decision to live in harmony with nature.

Read More.

Sleeping Bag Coat For The Homeless Draws Fashion Industry Attention | Huffington Post.com

~ lmehit ~ Leave a comment

A coat developed by a social entrepreneur and designed for homeless people is now a somewhat hot item in the high-end fashion world.

Sleepig Bag Coat

Earlier this month, 23-year-old Veronika Scott told PBS News Hour that she had plans to add a for-profit arm to her non-profit company, The Empowerment Plan, which has donated over 1,000 coats to the homeless since launching in late 2010.

Scott’s foray into the private market comes after she debuted the coats at last year’s Aspen Fashion Week to much fanfare, helping her land a $100,000 investment from the billionaire founder of Spanx, Sara Blakely.

Read More.

Co-marketing is a powerful lead generation tactic|ducttapemarketing

~ lmehit ~ Leave a comment

One of the greatest lead generation tactics around is the trusted referral. I mean, I know you know that, but what are you actually doing to take advantage of it?

photo credit: Wicked LIttle Cake Company via photopin cc

What are you doing to make certain that every single day dozens of unpaid sales calls are being made on your behalf?Sound intriguing? Co-marketing, or getting others to actively market your business, isn’t a new concept, but surprisingly few do it actively.

The basic idea behind it is to form a small network of “best of class” providers who can act as an additional arm of marketing for each other. I’ve seen this done with remarkable results – sometimes tripling and quintupling the number of leads an organization creates –  particularly for businesses that operate on a the local level.

Read on for how to set it up.

Big Brother – Facebook Style

~ CBPS ~ Leave a comment

My friend Ben Hillman is an animator and graphic artist who has his own firm in New York. He possesses an acerbic wit and very definite political opinions. When he learned that Facebook’s Mark Zuckerman was a proponent of (and investor in) the Keystone Pipeline and drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Reserve, he developed a little graphic to display his ire:

fuckzuck blank

Ben posted this on his wall on Facebook. Shortly thereafter (less than a minute) I saw the post and shared it on my wall. It appeared on my wall for less than one minute. There was a page refresh and then it was gone. It was also removed from Ben’s wall as well. 

The take away is this: Everything you post is being monitored by Facebook in real time. You have no privacy. They will censor your political and social opinions.

Finally, Mark Zuckerberg is a thin skinned douchebag.

For some interesting reading on the same subject, click here.

The censor of the graphic is mine. We’re trying to run a relatively PG blog here. For the actual, uncensored NSFW graphic, click here – Ed.