How To Make The World's Easiest $1 Billion With all the banks paying back the TARP money, some folks are assuming that the great Wall Street bailout is finally coming to an end. But of course it isn't! Taxpayers are still guaranteeing all big bank bonds (Too Big To Fail) and subsidizing huge bank earnings and bonuses with absurdly low interest rates. But instead of bellyaching about it, you might as well just smile and cash in. After all, that's what Wall Street's doing. So here's how to make the world's easiest $1 billion: STEP 1: Form a bank. STEP 2: Round up a bunch of unemployed friends to be "bankers." STEP 3: Raise $1 billion of equity. STEP 4: Borrow $9 billion from the Fed at an annual cost of 0.25%. STEP 5: Buy $10 billion of 30-year Treasuries paying 4.45% STEP 6: Sit back and watch the cash flow in. At this spread, you should be earning at least 4% per year on your $10 billion of capital, or $400 million. You'll have made $400 million in a single year! Don't be greedy. So proceed to Step 7. STEP 7: Go public.
Infographic: What Happens Online in 60 Seconds? On the world wide web, things can move at a lightning-fast pace. In just a minute, you can probably read through and compose quite a few tweets and look at dozens of Facebook photos. That said, the Big Picture has put together a pair of infographics that show just how much happens online every 60 seconds. The data is pretty impressive, according to the first infographic. On Facebook alone, each minute there are more than 695,000 new status updates, 79,364 wall posts, and 510,040 comments. With 800 million users and counting and a massive new data center planned for Sweden, that huge volume of posts will only grow.
Luckie's 30-Day Social Media Makeover The Social Path About Luckie Luckie & Company is a marketing agency packed with Southern charm and a freakish love of new ideas. About us David Griner is a social media strategist for Luckie & Company . Luckie's 30-Day Social Media Makeover. Throughout January, The Social Path is running daily tips on how to improve your social life — online, at least. Here's a quick recap of all the tips posted to date: Introduction. Comments Great Idea, guys. Posted by: Rebecca Caroe | January 02, 2010 at 02:51 PM This is a great idea! Posted by: Ginidietrich | January 04, 2010 at 04:51 PM Hey guys--this is great stuff... I came across it (a bit too late, as it's almost February) from StumbleUpon, and I've been going through the stuff that's new to me. Thanks for posting it, I've linked to it from my blog (www.nickthacker.com), and will be sharing it with my networks as well. Thanks for the great info and wonderful blog! Nick Posted by: NickThacker | January 30, 2010 at 01:13 PM Great Post.... Bo GREAT article! heh
Social Media Strategist 7 Steps to Closing a Deal Via Email In most cases, you’ll want to close deals either in person or on the telephone. It’s more personal and more likely to work. And you’ll know, right away, whether you’ve got the business. Even so, it’s sometimes more convenient to ask for the business via email. Here’s a simple seven-step process for writing an email that can actually close: Step No. 1. Just as important as what you DO put in the email is what you DON’T. Your corporate history, motto, values, etc.Technical details about the solution.The price (!!!!) The reason is simple. Key concept: If you’re still talking technical details and price, you’re not ready to close. NOTE: The above is adapted from a conversation I had with the amazing Tom Sant, author of Persuasive Business Proposals (Amacom, 2003), tempered by my own extensive experience of closing business using email.
100 Ways to Measure Social Media Originally published in MediaPost's Social Media Insider If there's anyone out there left who says you can't measure social media, here are a hundred answers. At most of the events I've been to lately, measurement continues to be a hot topic. Some entries here can be interpreted several ways. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99. 100. There you go.
29 Ways to Collect Email Addresses for Your Business Looking for ways to grow your list of newsletter subscribers? There are a ton of ways to get people to sign up for your weekly or monthly email marketing campaigns. I’ve put together a list for you to read, so you have heaps of options for growing your list. Include a link to your newsletter sign up form in the main navigation bar of your website and/or blog. (Or better yet, include a sign up form in the main navigation bar).Create a “sign up” call to action on your Facebook business page.Create enticing visuals encouraging people to sign up for your list, and post them on social media channels (especially Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn).Attend or exhibit at a trade show or networking event and bring a newsletter email sign up clipboard or book. Bonus: Optimize your site for appropriate SEO keywords, and ensure your business is on appropriate online listings. Have any additional ideas? Need more ideas for your next email? Send your next email for free using VerticalResponse.
10 Creative Ways to Make Money Just about everyone I know has experimented with a variety of creative ways to make money. Here is a list of 10 creative ways you can make money starting today! 1. Busking – Street Performance Do you play an instrument exceptionally well? 2. You’ve probably never seen those two words together. 3. A list of creative ways to make money would be incomplete without a mention of Etsy. 4. Why not combine your love of decor and design with your love of all things wedding? 5. Do you love making something beautiful with glue and scissors and bits of colored paper? 6. Are you the family historian trying to catch on video every major milestone? 7. There are thousands of folks with industry knowledge from real estate to bee keeping who would love to start a blog. 8. Since the dawn of time, man has loved stories. 9. While we’re on the topic of writing, we can’t overlook one of the best creative ways to make money online. 10.
106 Excuses That Prevent You From Ever Becoming Great The following is a rare guest post, this time coming from Tommy Walker. Tommy Walker is an Online Marketing Strategist and host of “Inside the Mind” a fresh and entertaining video show about Internet Marketing Strategy. Be honest. How often do you sabotage yourself? On any given day, you have tasks you’d like to finish because you know they’d positively impact your business, and tasks you actually do. You trick yourself into thinking that keeping up with industry news, and reading the latest “10 tips to ______” post is “working”. You know better, but some part of you believes that simply reading the article will help you move forward. That having a deep understanding of all things online marketing will better position you when the time is right. But that time doesn’t come. Something is holding you back, and you can’t quite put your finger on it. You may have one excuse; you may have several. What follows are 106 of the most common excuses you might tell yourself. You don’t have the knowledge.
The 7 Secrets of Social Media Conversion [INFOGRAPHIC] 7 Ways to apply conversion centered design strategy to the social media conversion funnel [INFOGRAPHIC]. (Click infographic for full size view) Social media should be good for business, but there are two lingering problems. If you’re using Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn etc. to drive traffic to your business – but the results are less than inspiring – you’re probably making fundamental mistakes during the conversion phase of the social media conversion funnel (see the infographic attached to this post). The 7 Secrets While they’re not as sexy as Victoria’s, or even close to being in the same league as “Aladdin’s Cave” – these 7 secrets (shhh) will help you leverage social media in smarter ways to improve your conversions. SECRET #1 – Use a landing page please Let’s start with a simple vocal warmup exercise. “Don’t drive traffic to your homepage. Your homepage is a terrible destination choice for social campaign traffic because your message gets diluted upon arrival. Scenario A Scenario B
WAVE - Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool I'm not sure if I've been fired (MoneyWatch) Dear Evil HR Lady, I was fired over the phone for what my supervisor is calling "an untruthful absence" for which I used vacation days for. They are now emailing me demanding that I come into the office at my scheduled start time and report to our General Manager once there. I don't feel it necessary as I have already been told that it is in my best interest to not go back to the office and that I was fired. First go in. Additionally, very few companies allow a direct supervisor to simply fire someone over the phone, on their own, without concurrence from their manager and HR. Now, the question is, what did you do wrong? But, otherwise, there shouldn't be any punishment for what you do on your scheduled day off. Who told you that it wasn't in your best interest to go back to the office? If that's the case, be grateful and get your behind back to work. But, go in. Have a workplace dilemma?
pinatas DIY Honeycomb Pinata Favors by Michaela Egger Jordan is most definitely the queen of pinata crafting! I loved her mini pinata favors so much! I thought I’d come up with a slightly more simple pinata favor DIY. I think these little hexagon honeycomb shaped favor boxes and printable tags are perfect for a spring party and they won’t take super-long to make. Click through for materials & instructions! (more…) Mini Ghost Piñatas DIY By Kathleen Ballos When I look back at the Halloweens of my childhood, I’d have to admit that the candy was my favorite part. (more…) Pineapple Party Invitation by Kitiya Palaskas I love the idea of giving my guests something a little different at my next summer party. Click through for instructions… (more…) Huge Giveaway with Splendid! Have you heard about the Crafting Community event at the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs? ps: We made these mini pinatas favors inspired by the Crafting Community event. Click through for Mini Pinata DIY… (more…) Watermelon Pinata DIY (more…)
9 Best Blogs to Follow on Social Media & Content Marketing - Simplify360 When you have the zeal to learn something , internet is the best resource. Internet is filled with really smart people who share the information for free. In my last blog I have listed down some of the problems which marketers face in social media monitoring Today I bring you 9 must follow blogs on social media & content marketing. 1. Mashable Facebook: Likes- 2.5M, PTA- 326K Twitter:Followers- 4.06M Mashable is a valuable informational hub, if you want to what’s new and buzzing in social media sites. While its primary focus is trending news stories (most of them are social media related), Mashable also offers insight and breaking news on the latest trends, and is a great source for content and discussion ideas for the Facebook or Google+ page. 2. Facebook: Likes- 20K, PTA- 326K Twitter: Followers- 136K Co-Founder of Market Motive and the Digital Marketing Evangelist for Google, Author of Web Analytics 2.0 and Web Analytics: “An Hour a Day”. 3. Facebook: Likes- 1K, PTA- 45 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.