web2business

Dollar Dumping Will Remain the Hot Trade - Market Insider with Patti Domm - CNBC.com

2009-10-21T23:21:00.000-03:00

Dollar Dumping Will Remain the Hot Trade - Market Insider with Patti Domm - CNBC.com

Startups: Eight Web Resources.

2009-03-12T18:39:00.002-02:00

1. VentureBeat

VentureBeat is a blog for those who are interested in private business and venture capital.

2. How to Change the World

How to Change the World is the blog of Guy Kawasaki who is a well-known figure in the online community of entrepreneurs.

3. The Netsetter

The Netsetter is a fairly new, but very interesting and informative blog aimed at a particular subset of startups with its very own culture, needs and ways of operating – that is, web-based business.

4. Men with Pens

Men with Pens is actually the website of a US & Canadian copy and design business, but their blog is incredibly informative and covers everything from business to marketing and the kind of copy you should be using.

5. Venture Hacks

Venture Hacks, a blog with the tagline “Advice for entrepreneurs” just in case you weren’t clear on why it made the list, is an interesting read.

6. The Startup Lawyer.

The Startup Lawyer is a blog that combines that most important type of advice with the topic of startups. What could be more useful?

7. Independent Street

Independent Street is a Wall Street Journal blog, yet another case of old media trying to get into new media. This particular blog is, of course, aimed at entrepreneurial types and start-ups.

8. Inc.

Inc. is an interesting website aimed at small businesses and entrepreneurs.

The medias which understand Youtube.

2008-08-21T19:04:00.002-03:00

Although, the news lately involving YouTube seem to present media companies which complain about using their videos without permission, there are also some news about other enterprises understanding how to use YouTube as a way to generate income.

They create alliances with Google and at the same time, let fans who want to share videos, do it without problems. And it's interesting to see that one thing brings the other, when one of these media companies (among which are CBS, Universal Music, Lionsgate and Electronic Arts) finds one of their videos, simply sends an e-mail to the user reading:

"This video is copyrighted by the company X. This company has authorized its use but those who watch the video will also watch advertising"

In other words, this means that these companies are claiming their intellectual property right, but, at the same time, recognize the value of marketing generated by Youtube users, allowing private use and share advertising revenues between them and YouTube.

This is a web 2.0 business model much more interesting than create a proprietary video site incapable of putting together a community large enough and sue YouTube by asking for something as ridiculous as the IP data of all visitors.

Restore trust into Argentina's economy.

2008-08-18T16:51:00.002-03:00

Two years ago, on this blog, I have showed my confidence in Argentina's economy and recovery. The model seemed to be working. This year's mess (provoked by) with the agriculture sector, cooled down my hopes. Here is an interesting analysis about the future of Argentina's economy posted by Patrick on his blog that I translated:

"Argentina Economy, how to restore investor confidence?

Please do not cry wolf too soon. The financial ratings agencies are expecting for next year another termination of payment. The purchase of Argentine treasury bonds for $ 1 billion by Chávez at a 15% interest rate has naturally aroused the suspicions of an impending crisis. To the extent that these bonds immediately placed on the market have lost 11% to all Argentine bonds.

We know that 2009 will be a difficult year, that the interests of the debt deal will be close to $ 20 billion while the primary fiscal surplus would cover only half of it. We also know that if Indec's inflation rate was to be presented for real, it is a sum of more than 3.4 billion, that should be found to compensate for coupons that are indexed on the inflation.

The governement will have, one way or another, to give the true inflation rate, make amends. Without that, productive investments in Argentina will not be there for this emergent economy.

All this without talking about the billions in bonds hold by people who still haven't been part of the renegotiation of the debt. Unorthodox recipe , but common in Argentina, the government will use the reserves of the central bank, which now reach $ 40 billion, especially since the electoral future of the Kirchner now seems a little bleaked.

The opposition, once again, will have to cope with the financial mess left by the peronism if it takes power after Cristina's mandate. The philosopher Barrionuevo once said at the end of Menem's last term: "The best solution would be to stop stealing for two years."

It is certainly a good advice. Still, I doudt it will happen one day."

Social Marketing Blogs and Businesses using Web 2.0.

2008-07-25T15:09:00.004-03:00

To continue with the use of web 2.0 as a tool to improve the social aspect of your business, two posts, one from Mashable France and the other one from Friday Traffic Report.

In the first one, you will find 25+ examples of companies experiencing with web 2.0 tools. For instance, Sun' s CEO Jonathan Swartz's blog, recognized (as well by yours truly) as one of the most quoted CEO blog in the blogosphere.

In the latter, a list of of the top 142 social marketing blogs. It was created because it is a list that is much needed by marketers who want to get great news, opinions, and insights by credible, popular bloggers and experts in social marketing.

How to improve the social aspect of your business.

2008-07-21T13:03:00.004-03:00

Still, many people are wondering if web 2.0 is ready for the business world. More about that debate here, here, here, here, here and here.

If you read french, here is a good post from Mashable France about five steps to improve the social aspect of your business. It will allow you to be closer to your customers and measure the impact of your communication strategy. If you don't read french, here is a translation made by the Google linguistic tool, then you will have to decode it a little bit (sorry don't have time to improve it).

1) Listen "Social media" is a term we use to talk about tools that facilitate the conversation. Before your company is part of these conversations, you need to know what people say and seek the best way to contribute. To do this, you can use tools to probe what is said on the Web, is harder to choose keywords to be scanned. Here is a non-exhaustive list of tools that can help you: Social Media Firehose: Joseph Kingsley has used Yahoo to create an RSS feed that lists the results from Flickr, Digg, Youtube, FriendFeed and other social media. Latest Blog Mentions Pipe: This is another tool using Yahoo will display results from search engines such as blogs Technorati, Icerocket and Google Blog Search. Alltop: This site brings together the top items of top blogs in the world. Given that divides the blogs into categories by subject, it is also a good place to start looking blogs that you can read. Be as specific as possible in your search for little results, but the most relevant possible. This step may be long, but once you find the right keywords you will find many blogs, profiles and videos on Twitter your area. We will use these results in step 2) to develop your social strategy. [Update: More information on this subject here] ]

2) Prepare The social platforms allow a dialogue between individuals, not businesses. Now that you know what people perlent, it is time to choose the people in your company who will participate in the discussions. Find people People want to talk to people in your company who are experts in their field, who are passionate about their work and are able to implement the feedback from the community. If you want to concentrate on a vertical marketing, pick someone of your marketing team. IDEM if you want to participate in discussions concerning the development or the packaging of the product. Part of this process will be to learn to use your teams of social media. Set a doctrine Be sure that your company has a doctrine which defines the conduct to be adopted on social networks. You can have a look at the doctrine of microsoft on channel9. Set your strategy There are many social platform. First you interested in only one or two to begin history not to get lost in the maze of the web. Have a good strategy allows you to define how long your employees will have to devote to social platforms and better measure the success of your communication. The analyst Jeremiah Owyang wrote an article on social strategies for companies (in) which may be worth the detour.

3) they're off! Here are the most interesting part. Begin to leave comments on the blog, send images on Flickr, create a community on Twitter or FriendFeed or any service that allows you to initiate a discussion and show your interest in these tools of communication. Remember that your employees are best placed to promote your product. Thus, give them time to express their ideas may prove fruitful, I think particularly like Blendtec whose employees have launched the mode of "Will it Blend?". The result speaks for itself: 100 million video views and a turnover multiplied by 5!

4) Switch to notch higher ConversationBien that social media, you can be close to your users, nothing beats a face to face. Participate in various events that you will create strong links with members of your online community. These events can take any form, whether it be an exclusive session, an informal lunch, etc…

5) The time to take stock It is now time to ask the right questions: -- Have we learned something our customers that we did not know before? -- Our customers have learned something about us? -- Have we been able to undertake further conversations with our customers? -- Our employees have an effective tool for measuring feedback and our reputation? We recommend that you use the tool Trendpedia, a search engine for blogs that you can follow what people are talking about talking about them on the web and compare them. You can observe the influence of your campaign of social communication with your competitors by comparing your results before and after your work.

Social Advertising 101.

2008-06-07T21:41:00.001-03:00

How would you define “social advertising”? For instance, a traditional destination website (e.g., ESPN.com) is a public forum. The basic way to advertise there is to post a sign (i.e., a banner ad). That banner ad might be well targeted, or it might be loaded with rich media, but it’s just a sign.

Ads on a blog are no different. Although blogs are broadly considered a form of social media, they are nothing more than destination websites with commenting (which is not a knock on blogs).Social advertising happens in sites where people are linked together in some way (e.g., as “friends”). The obvious examples are Facebook and MySpace. However, not all ads in social networks are “social ads.”

For an ad to be social, it has to be just that, social. This means that the ad is there because it has been invited. It has voluntarily been taken across the threshold and allowed into the inner sanctum of the profile page, just as a teenager might hang a picture of a Nike sponsored athlete on her bedroom wall. Social ads are those ads allowed “in the circle.” All others are “outside the circle.”Ads get invited inside the circle for one of three reasons:

1. The ads are tied to great content
2. The ads have utility, and/or
3. There is an economic incentive.

Most examples fall under category #1 (e.g., SplashCast’s Converse campaign). The art and science around these three factors will be the secret sauce of social. Additionally, some ads, if not explicitly invited are accepted. For example, a music application tied to a sponsorship is social.

So, why should marketers care about all of this? The reason is simple: the power of word of mouth. Social ads create a powerful form of recommendation within the context of friend-to-friend connections found in social networks. This type of advertising is far more rich and authentic than other forms, and, ultimately, far more valuable.

Conversely, ads that haven’t been invited inside are “anti-social.”For example, banner ads, however well targeted, appearing on a social network page are anti-social. They are, therefore, typically rejected (as evidence by their comically low click-through rates and CPMs). Anti-social ads are like the junk mail that you would rather not invite into your house.

See, it’s all that simple.

Trackthis: Follow your Shipments through the Web.

2008-05-14T15:16:00.003-03:00

The Web 2.0 business-oriented services are beginning to have a major presence in what is Internet, and now arrives TrackThis, a service which allows you to follow a shipment via FedEx, UPS, DHL and USPS with only a shipping number or code.

In other words, you tell it a package tracking number from FedEx, UPS, USPS, or DHL, and it will Twitter you back whenever there's an update from the shipper.

The advantages to use Trackthis:

First, you can attach a descriptor to your query (like "lamp shade"). Second, you can use Twitter to easily change your message delivery options: you can quickly turn on or off SMS updates for Trackthis alerts, for example.

Clever and useful...

Valleywag's guide on How to write your Company's Blog.

2008-03-20T21:34:00.003-03:00

Life is full of surprise. Like this diaporama I found on Valleywag. Valleywag is usually a Silicon Vally gossip blog site more that anything else. Well, to be honest, there are pretty good posts too, but all related to the behind the scene web 2.0 lifestyle. For instance, check those posts about Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales.

And now this diaporama about How to write your company's blog. That is neat.

Toyota ad campaign in Youtube.

2008-03-12T20:43:00.002-02:00

An article written by Emily Steel in the WSJ on March the 7th highlights an upcoming Toyota ad campaign on YouTube as an example of how mainstream big brands are getting more aggressive with social media to engage their target demographic.

Below are 3 interesting snippets:

"Marketers increasingly are interested in building games or contests, creating special sections on sites or even producing their own Web TV series. Those campaigns, however, typically require too much labor for what is often a niche promotion."

"Sites such as YouTube see personalized marketing campaigns as the key to getting big companies excited about advertising with online video."

"One drawback [to these types of custom social media campaigns] is that because they require so much time and manpower, they aren't the most effective way to generate revenue. A better model, they say, would be to offer a basket of interactive marketing options that can be individualized but also easily replicated."

Groundswell

2008-03-11T15:57:00.002-02:00

A blog I encountered through a post published about SXSW on TechCrunch français. The blog's entire name is "Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies". It is strongly recommended by the TechCrunch blogger. What is it about?

In Groundswell Charlotte Li and Josh Bernoff 's own words:

"The world is changing. And we're not going to sit by and watch. We're not just going to document what we see. We're seeking to understand what's happening, really understand it. And to help you to deal with it.

In this blog, and the book that will spring from it, we call it this change the Groundswell – a spontaneous movement of people connecting, using online tools, taking charge of their own experience, and getting what they need – information, support, ideas, products, and bargaining power – from each other. "

This blog seems pretty interesting. I added the feed to one of my Netvibes page. Hope my first impression will last?

Here is their presentation made for SXSW.

View Upload your own

Webwares ready for business?

2008-03-04T16:03:00.003-02:00

To continue with the postings about webware for business started here and here, let me use this discussion on IT News Digest published by Andy Moon, a Networking and LAN administrator from Galveston, Texas.

According to him, Web applications are gaining some traction, and the online collaboration options are as compelling as the functionality in the applications themselves. All of the major players include the ability to share files with other people, with varying levels of permissions granularity. One option, ThinkFree, gives you a gigabyte of storage space, runs in a JVM, and provides a surprising variety of options for a browser-based application.

Making the switch from Microsoft Office to Web apps (News.com)

Web applications are poised to become a major player in the overall software market, and companies like Nexaweb aim to make it easy to move traditional apps to the Web. Still, moving applications, particularly internal business processes, to the Web is risky business. A recent security report pointed out that over 70% of security vulnerabilities are attributable to Web applications.

Nexaweb offers way to move apps from desktop to Web (InfoWorld)

Study: The Year's Top-10 Web Application Vulnerabilities (Campus Technology)

I have already started the conversation about using GMail and Google Apps as the primary em-ail and productivity solutions for my workplace. It hasn't gained much traction yet because there are certainly risks to be mitigated, but if we can figure out things like backup and recovery options, permissions granularity, and true desktop integration, I could see using such a service in the place of MS Exchange and Office. Are there any Web applications that you consider ready for SMBs or larger organizations?

And in a comment he continues:

Are web apps dependable enough for the enterprise? Web applications certainly have their appeal, with most costing far less than the ubiquitous MS Office suite, and some are even being given away for free. Premium services exist but there are definitely problems, ranging from security issues to offline access to files. Do you see any web apps that are mature enough to use in your business?

Moneymaking bloggers' half truths.

2008-02-29T17:53:00.002-02:00

An interesting post about the so-called moneymaking bloggers who, according to one of them, avoid explaining the wholr truth about their success.

"Are pro bloggers really just cheap tricksters?

Well that may be a little harsh, but it’s essentially true. Just about everyone who blogs about how to make money blogging is little more than a street magician. A simple illusionist and nothing more.

Some bloggers even go so far as lying to their readers about how they earn their money, but most of them will simply withhold small amounts important information that you need to make informed decisions.

Why? Because if they told you everything, you’d be able to go out and take all their business."

The complete post here.

Create your own product in seven steps.

2008-02-29T17:50:00.001-02:00

7 Steps to Creating Your Own Product Within Hours

When it comes to making money online, having your own product line can put you miles ahead of the competition.

But if you’re like most online business owners, creating a complete product line will take hundreds of hours of your time, or thousands of dollars of your money! That’s why I put together this step-by-step plan to show you how to create your own product as quickly as possible.

Step #1: Decide on Your Topic – Chances are you already have a niche area that you’re focusing on. If not, that’s the place to start. To do this, consider topics that you already have some interest in. Then browse the search engines, forums and even sites such as Clickbank and eBay to see what type of demand there is.

Step #2: Find the Content – I’m a big believer in using Private Label Rights (PLR) content as much as possible. It’s an affordable way to get some really unique content that you can use as your own. There are lots of sources of PLR so do a bit of research to find a few that will give you a variety of information on the same topic.

Step #3: Decide how you’ll use the content – There are many different types of products that you can create. A good idea is to have several options at different price points so that your customers have a good selection to choose from. This will also encourage them to purchase more than one product! When using PLR content, you can easily take articles and combine them to create a special report, ebook or mini-course. For higher end products, record them to create an audio product or have them printed as a physical product.

If you’ve found a great PLR ebook but want to do something different, add additional articles to it, or bundle it with an audio to create a complete product. The key is to be creative and think about what will be of interest to your target audience.

Step #4: Combine content to create a unique product – As was mentioned briefly in step #3, combining PLR content is a great way to create a product that is uniquely yours. Although others have access to the content separately, chances are that how you choose to combine it will be something that only you do. Select related information from several sources to create a comprehensive product.

Step #5: Add some of your own flare – If you’ve combined PLR content from several sources to create your product, it’s not necessary to rewrite everything. But adding your own personal touch is always a great way to engage your customers. This can even be as simple as writing an opening and closing letter that gives your spin on the information presented.

Step #6: Get some feedback on your product – Always have a few people read over your product before you release it to the public. This can be a spouse, friend or colleague although if you choose potential customers you’ll get better feedback. And you may even get a couple of testimonials that you can use in your marketing materials.

Step #7: Put together a sales letter – Some PLR content comes with pre-written sales letters. Since you will have added some additional information you’ll need to modify these materials. Or, sit down and write your own sales letter that highlights all of the benefits of your product.

Repeat these steps for multiple products at different price points and you’ll soon have a complete product line. It doesn’t get any easier than that!

* You have permission to re-print this article on your own website, newsletter or blog as long as you leave it intact including the full text and "About the Author" box. Thanks!

To Your Success,

From: John Elley (more about me)
Owner Free Viral Advertising
Internet Marketing 101 Blog
Co-Owner Classy Clicks 4U
My e-Books
Newbies Guide To Online Fortunes
Affiliate Marketing Success Roadmap
20 Sure-Fire Techniques
Traffic Exchange Secrets

WorkLight Inc.

2008-02-28T16:33:00.004-02:00

In relation with the post titled Social Networking for Business: the Next Killer App, this post from ReadWriteWeb about a software for business that integrates some pf the best social web apps.

The company, WorkLight Inc. , works with fourteen of the most common social networks and social tools, including MySpace, Facebook, Netvibes, iGoogle, RSS, del.icio.us, and more to create enterprise-grade applications. The software, which was previously Linux-only, has now been made available for Windows servers, too.

Read the complete post here.

Viral Marketing: Five Key rules.

2008-02-26T12:21:00.002-02:00

From avangate.com, how to improve your viral marketing campaigns.

"Viral marketing is about marketing techniques that are meant to increase brand awareness, on the basis of preexisting social networks. It works by means of self-replicating viral processes, which might prove (in a more metaphorical way) similar to the spread of pathological viruses.

Viral marketing is usually delivered through word-of-mouth or even enhanced by the network effects of the Internet and it is seen as a marketing "strategy", encouraging people to pass along a marketing passage voluntarily.

This strategy starts from the premises that a satisfied customer always tells other people about a certain product/service he was satisfied with. I recently read an article about what viral marketing is not , which I found quite useful, underlining the skills necessary for a viral marketing campaign."

The complete post here.

Social Networking for Business: the next killer app?

2008-02-23T14:43:00.004-02:00

In this post from Blogoramification, there is a reflexion on the importance of social networking sites like Facebook in teenagers life and the introduction of such sites in the workplace. But can Facebook be useful for business?

Scott Karp from Publishing2.com thinks it is not. In a previous article, Facebook is not for business, he explains that the big problem with Facebook is " ... that it's not clear what it is you can DO with Facebook in a business context that you can't do with LinkedIn or, dare I say it, email. Sure, it's cool because all the cool kids use it, but coolness should not be confused with utility".

In a more recent post, he also added that:

"Social networking applications can and will be a killer app for business, but only where it's clear to prospective users what they can accomplish with the application that they can't accomplish without it.

In short: How will this social networking application help me do my job better? "

Maybe, like it is explained in an article from Lifehack that I reproduced in Webwareforall. For the moment, the only business use of Facebook would be as an unlikely free collaboration management app.

Kiva.org and Microplace: microcredit 2.0

2008-01-24T12:49:00.000-02:00

The last two posts (here and here) are related to the concepts of emergent economies. And one way to help those emergent economies' entrepreneurs-to-be is microcredit.

The idea of microcredit has been around for a while now. According to Wikipedia, microcredit is the extension of very small loans (microloans) to the unemployed, to poor entrepreneurs and to others living in poverty who are not considered bankable. Microcredit is a financial innovation which originated in Bangladesh where it has successfully enabled extremely impoverished people to engage in self-employment projects that allow them to generate an income and, in many cases, begin to build wealth and exit poverty.

I encountered a microcredit 2.0 site through The Gurteen Knowledge Website. Its name: Kiva.org. Kiva lets you connect with and loan money to unique small businesses in the developing world. By choosing a business on Kiva.org, you can "sponsor a business" and help the world's working poor make great strides towards economic independence. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates from the business you've sponsored. As loans are repaid, you get your loan money back.

It also has a blog here. Want to hear ex-President Clinton explains what is Kiva:

http://www.kiva.org/app.php

(Update 31/01/08) Another site linked to Ebay with the same purpose is Microplace.

https://www.microplace.com/

Two blogs to do business in Argentina.

2008-01-21T18:11:00.000-02:00

Argentina is an emergent economy and proposes many business opportunities. Here are two blogs which could help start a business by this side of the world.

First Vanesa Kolodziej's blog titled Right Brain. She introduces it ths way:

"This blog is dedicated to those who are struggling to provide work and create wealth where there is not: THE ENTREPRENEURS. The posts for this blog are based on my opinions, my readings and my talks with other entrepreneurs. Life allowed me to get married with an entrepreneur whom I admire. I started many businesses and, now, I work "for the other side"-in an investment fund, which allows me to have another glance on these issues."

http://ecrt-argentina.blogspot.com/

Then, Ismael Briasco' blog titled PsicoGeek. In his own words:

"Since 1995, I have dedicated my professional time and leisure to the Internet and the IT world. Over the years, I have gone through several top-level companies. I am a director and founder of psicofxp.com, a virtual community which has evolved, since 2000, into one of the most visited sites in Argentina. My main interests go through everything related to new technologies, SEO, Digital Marketing and Business."

http://www.psicogeek.com/tag/emprendedores/

Emergent economies: Brasil and South Africa

2007-12-30T20:22:00.000-02:00

In this blog, I wrote a few posts about Argentina's emergent economy. If the emergent economies interests you, here a blog about two of them: Brasil and South Africa written by John Baeyens who travels regurlarly by our side of the world.

http://www.emergingsouth.net/

Two webwares for you, corporate bloggers: Mint and Highrise.

2007-12-21T15:05:00.000-03:00

I really like the idea of creating,editing, and sharing documents and computing power “in the cloud”, accessible by whomever you want from wherever you want on whatever system you have handy. So, here are two webwares exclusively for you, corporate bloggers.

Mint: Online money management made almost frighteningly easy, Mint allows users to add all their bank accounts, credit cards, stock trading accounts, and other financial information into a simple, clean view. Although some have raised concerns about the security of all this sensitive information, Mint’s model was impressive enough to garner the TechCrunch40 Top Company Award (and $50,000 seed money).

Highrise: From the good folks at 37signals comes Highrise, an enterprise-grade contact manager and customer relations manager. 37signals sets the standard for web 2.0 apps, so you know it’s good: clean design, a highly functional interface, and interconnectivity with other 37signals apps.

YouBoss

2007-12-19T13:47:00.000-03:00

Youtube fait des émules dans le monde de l’entrepreneuriat. La première plateforme de partage vidéo dédiée aux entrepreneurs, Youboss .tv , vient en effet de voir le jour sur le Web, sous le nom très inspiré de “YouBoss“. Tous ceux qui ont un rêve, une idée ou un projet sont invités à réaliser une petite vidéo et la présenter sur Youboss.tv. Son positionnement : “La Web TV des porteurs de projet et créateurs d’entreprise”.

Blogs corporativos en Wordcamp Argentina

2007-12-17T17:19:00.000-03:00

Wordcamp Argentina was a conference held in Buenos Aires on October 31st for Wordpress users and developpers. Now, all the presentations can be watched in VPod.

Here a video of a presentation (in spanish) about corporate blogging.

Facebook blog

2007-12-06T16:37:00.000-03:00

Well, obviously, because Facebook is a social web entity, you would expect to find a official corporate blog linked to it. Here it is. I mention it because the most recent post is a mea culpa made by Mark Zuckerberg about what could be called now, the Beacon affair.

I am happy to see that the Facebook blog is not only just a PR strategy or its CEO self-centered personal toy. To use it as a channel to explain the bad decisions that were taken is also a good PR strategy and a honest one. Although, it took 70000 signatures before admiting the problem.

I'd also like to mention a post written by Ouriel Ohayon from Techcrunch in french:

"Dear Facebook: Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

During the month of August, Facebook opened its messaging system to enable its users to incorporate their regular mail accounts. We had written a post about it to mention this spirit of openness, but we also suggested further improvements.

Before today, Facebook was only sending alerts to tell me that I had received messages, which required me to log me in Facebook to read them. Starting today, all that has changed: Messages from Facebook arrive in their entirety in my regular email box. This allows me to know right away if their content is important and whether or not I should sign in Facebook to respond. It's great! Excellent! And Facebook did this knowing that the impact on the number of pages viewed is clearly enormous… but the user experience is greatly improved."

Cheap Christmas online shopping.

2007-11-15T17:20:00.000-03:00

This is not a story among Wire's ten most read of this popular magazine. But, for the common online shoppers, every advise to save a few bucks are welcomed. So, here an large extract of an article published last Friday about hacking the holidays and score the best deals online.

Start shopping early. Thomas Harpointner, the CEO of e-commerce consultancy AIS Media believes that it's better to start sizing up gift options and online retailers as soon as possible. "The end of back-to-school really represents the beginning of the online shopping season," says Harpointner. "Once Labor Day ends, online retailers know that there isn't much on the calendar except Thanksgiving, so if consumers aren't already looking around they may actually end up behind."

Sign up for newsletters. According to Harpointner, one of the best ways to score early deals is by signing up for e-mail newsletters from retailers. "Online merchants understand that people are spontaneous," Harpointner explains. "So if customers receive an e-mail with an offer or coupon that matches their shopping list, there's a good chance they'll make the purchase early."

Use coupon codes. In addition to e-mail blasts, cost-conscious online shoppers can also augment their savings with coupon codes, which they enter during the checkout process at specific merchants to get a discount. Most merchants offer codes for free shipping, but with enough searching (try entering the words "coupon code" plus the name of a product or merchant on any search engine) diligent shoppers can drum up codes for merchandise discounts and even free accessories. Or check a coupon code site: Currentcodes and RetailMeNot are two of the larger hubs on the web for sniffing out these codes."Coupon codes really are one of the internet's hidden treasures," Harpointner admits gleefully. "Everyone uses shopping engines like Buy.com, but what most people don't do is a separate search for coupon codes. Flowers.com is famous for (offering coupon codes). It's helpful and gives customers an additional incentive to shop online and beat the mall traffic."

Get the jump on Black Friday. Not everyone is organized enough to compile lists and sift through promotional e-mails week after week. And let's face it, some of us will always be doing our shopping at the last minute. If that's your style, there's a whole separate set of online shopping tricks and a totally different timetable. The key to this method is to tackle the day after Thanksgiving head-on. This date, which is known as "Black Friday" in the retail trade (and which falls this year on Nov. 23, the earliest possible date), is one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Many merchants offer special deals, online and offline, to help goose weekend sales even further. The trick is getting advance information on the planned discounts, so you know where to shop and when.Sites such as BFAds.net and TheBlackFriday.com provide details on major retailers' Black Friday sales plans. While retailers such as Wal-Mart have sought to shut down these sites, much information is still available. If you spot something you want listed in one of these contraband ads, you can easily outflank other shoppers by hitting the retailer's website early -- say at 11:59 p.m. EST on Thanksgiving day.

Shop at work. If Black Friday doesn't produce the killer buy you're searching for, there's always the second brass ring of online retail -- "Cyber Monday," or the Monday after Thanksgiving (Nov. 26 this year). Retailers see this day as their first opportunity to target holiday shoppers trapped at their work computers, so a lot offer additional promotions. The Black Friday trick of shopping in the wee hours can also help you snare Cyber Monday deals starting at 11:59 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 25.

Clean your cookies. Retailers base a lot of their online promotions and price points on shoppers' habits. So, it's not uncommon for shoppers to notice price fluctuations after repeated purchases on the same site. Prices typically drop for these power shoppers as an incentive, but there have been documented occurrences of increases, too. You can check to see if this is happening to you by logging out from the retail site, clearing your browser's cookies, and then revisiting the product page. If you find a lower price, buy it -- re-registering with a new customer account if necessary.

Don't miss out on free shipping. Subsidized shipping has become the ultimate boon for holiday shoppers, but it comes with a catch. Many retailers only offer free shipping as an incentive to early shoppers. So, it's crucial that any online orders are placed by the industry-benchmark date of Dec. 12 to take advantage of these offers. After that date, be prepared to pay through the nose for shipping, especially if you want your purchases to arrive before Dec. 25.

Buy refurbished. Another dark horse when it comes to netting some of the best online promotions is finding an online retailer that specializes in factory-refurbished equipment. Not only are the discounts deep, but the merchandise is often sold in virtually new or "like new" condition, and additional promotions may cut your costs even further.

Three very good ideas

2007-11-06T16:51:00.000-03:00

From the last post, about America's young entrepreneurs, I was very interested by these three enterprises: Clixconnect, TableXchange and Flyingcart. I supposed because I am more into Internet startups and webwares.

Clixconnect which is a site that helps online retailers improve customer service on their Web sites.

http://www.clixconnect.com/

TableXchange is an online marketplace to buy and sell restaurant reservations.

http://www.tablexchange.com

The third site is discussed here.

America's Best Young Entrepreneurs: 2007

2007-11-05T18:40:00.000-03:00

A news that I read in YahooFinance but was taken from BusinessWeek Online.

The credit crunch notwithstanding, it's a heady time for young entrepreneurs starting new businesses in the U.S. The Web, a constant in most young Americans' lives, makes it cheaper than ever to get going, there's plenty of encouragement in the form of twentysomething role models such as Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, and a wide array of entrepreneurship programs are available across the country. Plus, running your own business is considered cooler than ever.

"Millenials in particular want to be able to control their own destinies, and entrepreneurship allows them to do this," says David Galbinski, the chairman-elect of Entrepreneurs' Organization, a 6,600-member networking group for business owners whose businesses' yearly revenues exceed $1 million. The number of EO members in the 18-to-35-year-old age group has more than tripled since 2001, to 3,356, and Galbinski expects entrepreneurship to become increasingly attractive to young people.

The complete article here.

MTV is coming to town

2007-10-26T17:07:00.000-03:00

The station will open a new base of operations in Argentina. As reported, MTV Buenos Aires will focus on the entire production of music videos for Latin America . Recently several international media put foot in Argentina to set up a base of operations for all Latin America.

Another example is the case of Turner Bradcasting System (TBS), which, a few days ago, purchased a portfolio of seven channels belonging to Claxson: Fashion TV, HTV, Infinity, I-Sat, Retro, Much Music and Space.

Fox Latin America applied the same strategy. The holding company acquired Telecolombia and online developer site, Click Journal, in Buenos Aires.

Thus, MTV follows the international tendency, and also installs itself in Buenos Aires.

Google: new investments in Argentina

2007-10-08T16:46:00.000-03:00

Google's executives announced to the argentinian Government that they will add more activities in the Argentina branch which will provide services to Europe and the United States.

Google's Vice-President of operations for Asia Pacific and Latin America, Singh Cassidy, made the announcement last week.

The argentinian branch ranks as the third operational base, along with those of Mountain Views (United States) and Dublín (Ireland). And although, the company does not give exact numbers, Google's Latin American operations could contribute for around 250 million dollars annually.

From Argentina, Google would develop products for about 2,500 companies from Latin America and 2,500 from Spain. Now the objective of the company is to reach more European countries and the North American spanish speaking market.

First aid by cellphone made in Argentina.

2007-09-14T18:35:00.000-03:00

Pablo Diaz, a student of the National University of Tucumán, created a free program for cellphones that explains how to give first aid during an emergency. He also developed a system of fast consultation that offers phone numbers, addresses and maps to communicate with the province's health centers.

Governance

2007-09-10T12:47:00.000-03:00

A TI/business blog I encountered this morning: governance. The english version is here. It is Javier Llinares Salas' TI/business blog who is Madrid General Manager at T-Systems.

After taking a look at it, I would say that it has a similar psycho tone as Lifehack, but focusing more on business and TI.

http://www.javierllinares.es/

Entre Nos

2007-09-09T18:58:00.000-03:00

This blog about corporate blogging has also included posts about the Argentina's emergent economy. Today, I present you another blog in that line of thought: Entre Nos.

It is a blog in spanish dedicated to entrepreneurship in Argentina. Take a look by yourself.

http://www.lecantolas40.com.ar/entrenos/

Para emprender y Como ganar dinero en internet.

2007-08-29T13:07:00.000-03:00

Antes de iniciar un blog corporativo, necesitas una empresa. Talvez aquellos dos blogs pueden ayudarte: Para Emprender y Como Ganar Dinero en Internet. Me agregué a sus listas de actualizaciones. También, bajé el libro en formato PDF : 101 Negocios que puede iniciar con Poco o Sin Dinero. Uno nunca sabe ...

El blog de Daniel Hadad (2)

2007-08-17T15:49:00.000-03:00

En la entrada anterior, presenté el blog del señor Daniel Hadad, dueño de algunas de las más importantes empresas de prensa de la Argentina. Hoy, por casualidad, encontré un comentario en el blog del periodista Darío Gallo, Bloc de periodista, del blog en cuestión.

DG:Esto no tiene nada que ver con el post, pero quería comentarte un par de perlas que encontré en el blog de Daniel Hadad.Primero que nada los comentarios que hay a los "muchos" posteos de DH son todos elogiosos, ni uno crítico. Probé dos veces dejar mensajes críticos, pero fueron "moderados" y obviamente borrados.Lo que me llamó la atención es la presencia de "personajes conocidos". El comment 85 del post "Hola Mundo!" está firmado por.... Dario G., que supuestamente sos vos. Y pone link al blog y cierra el comment firmando DG. ¿Sos realmente vos ese?Después hay otro de Diego Igual, que supuestamente es tu querido amigo Papipo, en el mismo posteo, que es el comment 110. Este no tiene link al blog de él.Bueno eran un par de detalles interesantes. Lo otro es que la mayoría de los comments son con nombres de pila, cuando todos sabemos que en la mayoría de los blogs los comments son anónimos.Saludos!Nicolás 17.08.07 - 12:29 pm #

Tengo tres preguntas: ¿Es verdad lo que comentó este lector?. Si es la verdad: ¿Por qué perder su tiempo con un blog "medio falso" cuando uno tiene tantas empresas de prensa para influir sobre la opinión pública?. ¿Es usted que lo escribe?

El blog del dueno de C5N: Daniel Hadad

2007-08-15T14:45:00.000-03:00

Com la aparición del nuevo de canal de noticias argentino C5N, el CNN made in Argentina, me enteré de la existencia del blog de su dueño: Daniel Hadad. Es abogado, periodista y dueño de muchas empresas de prensa.

Es su primer blog, y la verdad, no sé por qué tiene la necesitad de escribir. Cuando sos el dueño de tantas empresas de prensa, tenés ahí los recursos y las herramientas para expresarte y transmitir tus formas de pensar.

De todos los modos, no voy a ser mala onda y le va a dar la bienvenida en la blogosfera.

http://www.danielhadad.tv/

INDEC: el blog que lo defiende.

2007-08-14T17:49:00.000-03:00

En esta nota acerca de Cómo invertir en la nueva economía argentina recibí un comentario que me dirigió hacía este blog.

El Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos -INDEC- es el organismo público, de carácter técnico, que unifica la orientación y ejerce la dirección superior de todas las actividades estadísticas oficiales que se realizan en el territorio de la República Argentina. Su creación y funcionamiento está reglamentado por la Ley 17.622 y el Decreto 3110/70, así como el Decreto 1831/93.

Hace unos meses que el INDEC está atacado por sus indices de inflación, por lo menos, según los observadores, un poco truchos. La inflación parece más baja que lo que estamos experimentando en la realidad. La verdad es que al gobierno le corresponde muy bien un indice de inflación bajo en el cálculo de los intereses de la deuda. Entonces, aparecen rumores que el gobierno está poniendo la mano en el INDEC y la perdida de credibilidad del instituto.

El contrapeso está acá:

No somos pibes. La mayoría sobrepasa largamente los 25 años de edad y, generalmente, más de 10 en el INDEC. Somos mujeres y hombres de distintas posturas e ideologías, pero nos unen un par de ideas en común: conservar la fuente laboral y lavar los trapos sucios dentro del Instituto.No somos alcahuetes de este ni de ningún gobierno, ni pretendemos tapar el sol con la mano.

Para reestructurar el INDEC hay que organizarse creativamente, y poner orden y modernidad en las metodologías. No defendemos el bestialismo, oficial o sindical.Los despelotes políticos exceden el marco de este blog; sólo somos los que trabajamos. Lo demás se cocina a otro nivel, y nadie ignora las luchas de poder. El tema político es interesante e intrincado pero, y lo más importante, NO TIENE NADA QUE VER CON NOSOTROS Y NUESTRO BLOG.

Trabajamos en serio, y realmente tenemos puesta la camiseta del INDEC. No somos nosotros, precisamente, los que hemos mentido, coimeado y agitado las aguas. Sólo hemos creado un lugar de expresión que tratamos de que sea de buen nivel.Todas las inquietudes con respecto a EL INDEC QUE TRABAJA serán muy bienvenidas.

http://indecquetrabaja.blogspot.com/

General Motors: investments of $500 million in Brasil and Argentina

2007-07-18T18:38:00.000-03:00

Rick Wagner, GM's president, announced wednesday in Sao Paulo that his company will invest up to $500 millions in Brasil and Argentina.

The money will boost the production of two new car models for emergent markets like Brasil and Argentina.

This money comes after the economical recovery of these two south american giants. Brasil should receive about $300 millions and Argentina $200 millions.

Blogs corporativos en Argentina: OfficeNet, Telefonica y Intel

2007-06-22T18:00:00.000-03:00

Some parts of the article published in Clarin's iEco section about the importance of using corporate blogs and wikis in a healthy enterprise communication strategy. Also, three videos: OfficeNet's manager explains its views about the subject, then an employee explains to a customer and colleagues how to use the enterprise's web, and finally, a short movie produced by some OfficeNet's employees.

VIE 22/06/07 08:00 Los blogs y videos en portales comunitarios se convirtieron en las nuevas herramientas de comunicación entre empresas, empleados, clientes y candidatos. La revolucionaria experiencia de Officenet en Argentina y los casos de Intel y Telefónica.

Estoy convencido de que todas las respuestas a nuestras preguntas de negocio están acá dentro, somos 300 personas y hay uno, no sé quién es, que ante cierto estímulo me va a dar lo que quiero". Para el gerente de Officenet, Leonardo Piccioli, el blog personal en el que sus empleados colaboran vía comentarios es una de las herramientas para saber quién es esa persona que tendrá la solución.

La otra es el más reciente Wiki corporativo en el que cada empleado aporta sus conocimientos sobre los productos para oficina que vende la empresa o "el box", un formulario disponible en la Intranet para enviar mensajes anónimos a Piccioli con todas las garantías de que ni la gente de sistemas podrá rastrear quién lo envió.

YouTube se ha convertido además en una herramienta de capacitación y reclutamiento. Tienen cursos para sus clientes que también sirven a los empleados sobre el manejo de la web de la empresa. Una campaña de reclutamiento que hicieron con Bumerang "fue vista por 25 mil personas" de los que tres mil se acercaron a la empresa para pedir el puesto: "Fue un problema seleccionar entre tanta gente pero si tengo que elegir entre el problema de tres mil candidatos y muy pocos, prefiero tres mil".

Telefónica e Intel son otros ejemplos de filiales argentinas con blogs corporativos pero ninguno de ellos con la vocación de desnudarse ante el público que caracteriza a los de Officenet y ElServer. El de Telefónica apunta a la divulgación de noticias tecnológicas mientras que el de Intel se concentra en ofrecer juegos o hablar de sus productos a los internautas, aunque Intel sí se ha dado cuenta del poder de YouTube y adjunta en sus posts videos explicativos cuando la ocasión lo requiere.

For Google, Latin America is a priority.

2007-06-18T15:10:00.000-03:00

“When we look towards the region, what we see is growth”, said Google's general manager for Latin America, Gonzalo Alonso. He also added that taxes in that region are lower than those seen in the U.S.A., Europe and even Asia.

“Latin America has been priority for Google”, which was reflected in the decision to install in Argentina the branch office for the entire region, he added. This company, that autodefines itself as a advertisement mean and whose actions include the use of web technology in the corporate as in the residential sphere, developed a strategy to include small and medium entreprises to its network.

In many international markets, between the 30 and 50 percent of these enterprises do not have a Web site. “Small and medium companies without Web sites can use AdWords Business Pages as an online advertisement strategy instead of spending money creating their own Web site”, indicated Alonso.

Argentina: Qué conviene hacer con el dinero que tiene ahorrado

2007-06-11T17:15:00.000-03:00

Entre la crisis y la recuperación, no han sido mayoría los argentinos que lograron un gran ahorro. En general, el dinero que se tiene ha costado mucho esfuerzo y no es suficiente para comprar un departamento.

De hecho, uno de los principales problemas de la actualidad económica son las dificultades de acceso al crédito hipotecario: porque el ingreso es insuficiente, porque no se llega al porcentaje exigido del valor del inmueble (entre 20 y 30%) o bien, por el valor del inmueble.

Qué hacer con el dinero plantea otra dificultad. Quienes pueden sacar una hipoteca y mudarse, a tasa fija y a buen plazo, seguramente están a punto de hacerlo o lo hicieron. A los que aún no les alcanza para eso, se les presenta el desafío de decidir sobre un abanico de opciones, no siempre muy claras en su rendimiento.

No se sabe si tener el dinero en pesos, en dólares, en euros, en el colchón o en una cuenta en el banco. ¿Qué hacer entonces?

Lo mejor es tener información. Asesorarse. Ver opciones. Luego, elegir en qué se quiere “apostar” o en “quién” es posible confiar. Siempre con cuidado –hacerlo con instituciones reconocidas del mercado- y en base a comparaciones de rendimientos.

Infobae.com consultó al analista financiero Federico De Cristo, de InvertirOnline, quien dio opiniones y algunas opciones. Igualmente, es importante que quien tiene el dinero analice su caso en particular: si necesita gastar ese dinero ya, en un año, a 6 meses, si lo quiere invertir o simplemente resguardar su valor de la inflación por caso, si está en pesos.
Se le preguntó rendimientos probables de aquí a fin de año para:

Plazos Fijos: No es la inversión más atractiva. Los indexados por CER, no compensan mucho la inflación y el plazo resulta extenso, por lo que muchos prefieren volcarse a otro tipo de activos. De los plazos posibles, hoy conviene optar por los cortos, ya que la diferencia no es muy importante. Hay que preguntar en las entidades bancarias ofertas disponibles.

Dólar, euro y otras monedas: Como explicó el experto, la tendencia a nivel internacional es de un dólar que se vaya depreciando con respecto al euro y al yen y yuan. Queda por ver qué ocurre con las tasas de interés de los Bancos Centrales y cómo van a impactar en los valores de las monedas. Estados Unidos fue el país que comenzó con una política monetaria laxa, cada vez más restrictiva y está teniendo sus efectos sobre el crecimiento.

Esto puede impactar sobre la tasa de referencia. Bajo este escenario, con un dinero no muy grande, lo que hay que tener es “un poco de todo” siempre de aquí a fin de año. “Pero vamos a dar más importancia a euros y yenes y en esos países vamos a evitar los bonos”, dijo.

El problema es que, en la Argentina, para acceder a monedas como el euro o el yen, debe primero pasarse por el dólar, por lo que tiene un costo más elevado la transacción. Esto debe calcularse porque, si se piensa en entrar y salir rápido de la moneda, entonces, se perderá dinero.

Bonos y acciones: Hay quienes piensan en invertir y que el dinero no quede parado, pese a que se pueda asumir un riesgo. Para invertir en la Bolsa, lo primero que debe hacerse es recurrir a una Sociedad de Bolsa y solicitar asesoramiento, definir un “perfil” si se prefiere hacer apuestas conservadoras, moderadas o agresivas.

“Si el inversor es muy conservador, va a tener una proporción más importante de bonos indexados por CER. El CER perdió credibilidad por lo que pasó con el Indec, pero la inflación anual alcanzará a 9% lo que implica un alto rendimiento más los puntos de TIR. Por eso, se están apreciando”, comentó.

En cuanto a acciones, “algunas empresas son atractivas como Aluar, que aumentó la capacidad de producción y tiene para aumentar precios y por tanto, la facturación, también los bancos tienen un buen pronóstico durante el año”, dijo.

Otra opción es averiguar el canje de cheques en la Bolsa y comparar rendimientos o bien, los Fondos Comunes de Inversión (FCI). De Cristo señaló a los “ETF” como opción interesante.

Oro y otros metales: Tanto el oro como el petróleo subieron mucho y ya tuvieron su rally alcista. Si bien mantienen la tendencia, pueden tener variaciones abruptas. Lo mismo ocurre con metales como el cobre y el aluminio.

(via Infobae)

Kill meetings to get more done

2007-06-09T18:38:00.000-03:00

Lifehack is a very good personal growth and down to earth business blog. Once in a while, you will find an different post subject like the following one:

In some high schools, meetings are used to keep the staff busy for a few hours and supposingly communicate important stuff. Yeah, sure. We don't know how to read.

You’ve got your list of things you want to accomplish for today, and yet, after a series of meetings that you had to go to throughout the day, none of the things on your list got done.That’s because meetings are almost always a huge drain on your time, and should be killed on sight.

Think about the last few meetings you attended — did you sit through them wishing you were somewhere else, or finish the meeting wondering what the point of the meeting was, or worse yet, feel that the same thing could have been accomplished through a simple email? Meetings are time hogs, and often leave you wishing you could get that time back.

Is it possible to have a productive meeting? Sure, but it’s rare. A productive meeting would be if ideas could be communicated and agreed upon faster than through phones or email, not longer. A productive meeting would have a clearly stated purpose, be as short as possible, and have an outcome with assigned tasks to be completed after the meeting. In all the organizations I’ve worked for or been involved with, those meetings are truly rare — if they even exist.

Instead, kill the meetings in your life, and get tons more done. Here’s how:

Don’t hold meetings. If you’re the boss, or you’re in charge of scheduling meetings, you have the authority to cancel them. Try going one day without them. Instead, have the same purposes be accomplished through email. Do you have a meeting where people give you progress reports? Have them email you a progress report daily, at a specified time each day, and have your assistant collect them compile an overall daily report for you. A meeting at a glance.

Communicate through email, phone, then person-to-person. Make email your default communication mode. If someone wants to set up a meeting, ask them to email you with their questions instead. If that’s not good enough, agree to talk on the phone about it. As a last resort, agree to a 5-minute face-to-face, standing up. Don’t agree to coffee or lunch — most of the time, you’re just chit chatting. And when you do talk on the phone or in person, get to the point quickly — eliminate the preliminary friendly chatting. Just dive right in: OK, what needs to be done here? What are we trying to accomplish? What tasks will be done by whom? And then you’re done.

Beg off. If you’re not the boss, you might not control whether meetings are held or not. In that case, ask to skip it. Say that you’ve got an urgent project on deadline, and you won’t be able to make the meeting. If your boss tries to insist that you make it, ask if he or she would like to grant you an extension on your project.

Accomplish the agenda. Before the meeting, ask for a copy of the agenda. Then accomplish whatever’s on the agenda before the meeting even takes place. For example, if the meeting is to discuss a report, annotate the report thoroughly with your comments, and put your recommended actions at the bottom. Email that to your boss, and say that you’ve already done what’s required, so you can work on another project instead. Eliminate the need for you to be at the meeting.

The Puppydog Technique. Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-hour Workweek, suggests that you use the Puppydog sales technique to get out of meetings. Basically, this technique was originally used by pet shops to make a sale — if the customer is wavering, tell them to just take home the puppy and give it a try, and if it doesn’t work out, they can bring the puppy back. Many people will agree to this little trial — and they rarely bring the puppy back. Ask your boss if you can skip the meeting, just for today, as you need to finish something urgent. Just this once is hard to turn down. Eventually, your boss will realize that you don’t need to go to the meeting and that you’re more productive if you don’t.

Work from home. Convince your boss to let you work from home, and you can skip all meetings. This, of course, is ideal. Just make sure you’re more productive at home than at the office.

Get stuff done. If you are able to skip a meeting, actually get stuff done — important stuff. Be 10 times as productive as the people who went to the meeting.

Show proof. When the boss comes out of the meeting you skipped, turn in that big report or project. Show that you were super productive without the meeting — with cold, hard proof. Do this enough times, and you will impress your boss and the unproductive meeting will be a distant memory.

(via Lifehack)

Cisco's John Chambers preaches Web 2.0 gospel.

2007-05-24T21:32:00.000-03:00

At the Interop conference in Las Vegas, Cisco CEO John Chambers talks about the need for businesses to increase productivity by implementing Web 2.0 tools such as wikis, mashups, and virtual conferencing. He also explains how Cisco used Web 2.0 principles in its $7 billion acquisition of Scientific Atlanta.

How to start a business without (almost) spending a dime.

2007-05-23T14:26:00.000-03:00

Lifehack is a blog where you encounter posts about every aspect of life: techno, personal and business growth. Here is an example of post:

The biggest mistake I see first time entrepreneurs make is that they spend too much money.
They rent an office or retail location, pay big incorporation fees, hire employees, and build an expensive website (just to name a few). And all before they’ve earned their first dollar!
Each month their cash reserves get lower and lower while they struggle to make sales to cover their expenses. Eventually the fledgling business dies with no cash flow, leaving the owner hurt emotionally and financially.

Luckily, it is possible (and actually quite simple) to start up a business without spending a dime. The beauty of using this method is that you can test out a new business idea quickly and with zero risk. And instead of spending time negotiating leases or dealing with employees, you can spend 100% of your time on the most important thing: making that first sale!

The first thing you’ve got to do is get past the idea of spending. Work out of your home or Starbucks on nights and weekends. Instead of hiring employees just get started with what you can do yourself, or ask friends for help. Don’t incorporate just yet, be a sole proprietorship. Don’t hire an expensive graphic artist to make your logo, stick with something simple…you get the idea.

You can spend money on all that stuff once you are bringing in revenue!

Now to actually get started, here are 10 steps you can use to launch a new business, without spending a dime. The first five are logistical. The last five are all free ways to market your business (after all, the most important step is bringing in that first sale!)

Get an EIN at the IRS website. This one is specific to the USA, but all companies need an Employer Identification Number (EIN). You can apply for one online at the irs.gov in about 5 minutes by clicking here. List yourself as a sole proprietor for now.

Setup Your Business Financials. Get a free business checking account. This will allow you to keep your business’s money separate and track it (vitally important!). I like Washington Mutual’s free business checking. They will also give you a debit card to track your expenses (never use a credit card) which are currently zero! Then get a Paypal account and link it to your business account so you can accept payments.

Choose a domain name. The fastest ways to get eyeballs on your new business is the internet these days. Choose a domain name that is a keyword phrase your potential customers might type into a search engine. So if you are offering salsa lessons in Boston, you might choose “SalsaLessonsBoston.com”. The benefit of doing this is that you will most likely end up on the first page of Google results for that keyword phrase within a month or two. This will bring your customesr, and is much better than showing up on the first page for “John Smith’s Salsa Company” or something that no one ever searches for.

Make a simple website. The fastest way I know of to launch a website is using WordPress (wordpress.com or wordpress.org). If you don’t mind using a subdomain like “mydomain.wordpress.com” it’s free. But even if you want your own domain you can get one with WordPress pre-installed for about $70/year. Wordpress comes with over 2500 “themes” to change the look and a great back end interface to edit the pages just like you’re in Microsoft word. LifeHack.org uses WordpPress as do many other popular sites.

Set Your Prices. Most first time entrepreneurs set their prices too low. People assume low prices mean low quality, and you are worth more. Give away your product or service to the first five customers free if you’d like (it will help built buzz and you can ask them for testimonials), but after that set your price in the top 1/3 of your industry. It’s always easier to lower them than to raise them.

Start Marketing on CraigsList.com. The next five steps are all free marketing. Start by making regular posts on Craigslist.com. This is a free classified website that attracts millions of viewers. You can get some traffic to your website instantly by making some posts here, and you should continue to repost them every few days.

Start a Meetup.com Group. Meetup.com helps people with similar interests get together. If a group exists in your area with potential customers, join it. Try to be invited as a guest speaker and offer value to members of the group (don’t pitch them). Just by making friends and helping out you will start to bring in business. If a MeetUp group for your topic doesn’t exist yet, that’s even better. Start one up! You’ll be viewed as the authority in the area.

Post a Video to YouTube.com. YouTube is a video sharing website, and it gets ridiculous amounts of traffic. It’s actually easier to make a video than you think, and it doesn’t have to be professional at all. You can record one with your digital camera, make a screen recording of your computer (even a powerpoint presentation) with software like Camtasia, or purchase a $20 webcam. Teach or show something useful, and include a link to your site at the end of the video. You will get traffic!

Network. Send an email to all your friends and family (and really everyone on your contact list) telling them about the business you just started. Put a note at the end asking them to forward the note to anyone they know who might be interested (and tell them about the free offer for the first five customers). You’ll not only reach your network, but you’ll reach your network’s network (an exponential difference). You should also get people’s business cards that you meet (far more effective than giving them since few people will write you back) and offer to help them.

Write an Article and Give it Away! Even if you aren’t a writer, you can put together a great article. Think of something your potential customers might want to know. Then write a “top ten” list (e.g. the top ten beginner salsa moves) or a “ten step” format (e.g. the then steps to learning salsa basics). Contact the owners of a dozen different websites that your potential customers might visit, and see if they’d like to use your article for free. Include a link to your website at the bottom in the “About the Author” section.

Using this simple format you can launch a new business in about a month, and hopefully make your first sale. But the best part is, even if it doesn’t work, you’ve learned a priceless lesson and risked little or no money.

Wallstrip: a different business blog.

2007-05-22T16:52:00.000-03:00

CBS just bought Wallstrip for 600 000$. This blog is a different type of business blog with a format close to Rocketboom format. A business videoblog with zest and spice.

“Cult video blog RocketBoom has been joined by a new competitor in the daily
three-minute online video market.” - Will Head - vnunet.com

“Wallstrip is a daily show that highlights one public company each day. Today
it’s Adobe day. The videos are short, funny and snarky.” - The Boston Globe

“But Wallstrip has gone beyond showing a pretty talking head tapping keys,
flailing arms, and mugging for the camera. Adam Elend and Jeff Marks have
produced 22 original and watchable shows in their first month.” - Frank
Barnako - CBS Marketwatch

“Now video blogging has come to Wall Street. Wallstrip, a financial site
tracking various stocks is a mostly worthy affair.” - John Gapper - The
Financial Times

“I’ve gotten more email and IMs from this interview than from my last 10 CNBC
appearances combined. craziness! and high quality, of course.” - Dave Kansas -
Editor - Wall Street Journal

http://www.wallstrip.com/theshow/

Video llamada llega a la Argentina

2007-05-14T20:06:00.000-03:00

Es un servicio que incorpora la imagen a la comunicación de voz. Será lanzado el jueves por Personal, del grupo Telecom, en el marco de una serie de inversiones por $500 millones destinados al desarrollo de redes de tercera generación (3G).

(via Infobae)

Welcome to ZDNet's CIO Vision Series.

2007-05-14T16:24:00.000-03:00

See and hear what CIOs the world over think about the business of technology and how it's changing the way we live and work. Find out how technology helped financial services giant Charles Schwab get back on its feet after the dot-com bust, how Churchill Downs harnesses wireless wagering at the Kentucky Derby, and how top CIOs are syncing up with business counterparts and collaborating with COOs and CEOs to meet today's business challenges. Bookmark this page and check back often to find the answers to these and many more questions.

All this in ZDNet's CIO Vision Series.

Business podcasting / Podcasting para empresas

2007-05-10T14:14:00.000-03:00

Enterprises (small and large) and professionals can benefit from the creation of podcasts. The advantages are not very tangible but if they are used well, podcasts can bring good results for very low costs.

* They educate and they give additional information about your services. They become a new channel of marketing.
* They put you in front of the Internet buzz
* They allow to share knowledge. They help you articulate and communicate better your knowledge.
* They help your customers and future clients to feel closer to you.

Podcasts allow a small company to compete at the same level of a radio or TV show. Listening to one's favorite podcasts in its computer or its iPod consumes a great amount of time as listening favorite his podcast, relegating the traditional chanels or replacing them completely. In many occasions, listening to a podcast means total attention , which is very valuable. We can categorize three types of business podcast. Of course, it can have many variants but, in general, one encounters thesee three types of business podcast.

Educative Podcast. To support employees training and continuing qualification. A serie of podcasts covering a subject in particular or diverse tips about products or services.
Podcast of positioning. It can be seen more or less similar to the educative podcasts because knowledge is shared as well. But, at the difference that the approach is oriented to position the company or the profesionals like a reliable source for the product or service.
Podcast of payment. A premium content can be paid for. We talk here of an exclusive content, of high value, that is appreciated by the clients and who become a residual and constant entrance for the enterprise.

Las empresas (pequeñas y grandes) y los profesionistas independientes pueden beneficiarse al crear un podcast. Las ventajas no son muy tangibles pero si son explotadas adecuadamente, pueden traer buenos resultados a costos muy bajos.

* Educan y dan información adicional acerca de tus servicios. Se convierten en un nuevo canal de marketing.
* Te coloca en la vanguardia en Internet por lo que se puede tener mayor exposición en medios tradicionales como en blogs y los competidores que entren tarde estarán en desventaja.
* Permiten compartir conocimiento. Demuestran si se tiene o no el conocimiento. Te ayudan a articular mejor tu manera de comunicar tu conocimiento.
* Hacen que tus clientes y prospectos te conozcan más de cerca.

Un podcast permite a una pequeña empresa competir al mismo nivel que un programa de radio o T.V. Los escuchas de podcast invierten gran cantidad de tiempo escuchando sus podcast favoritos en su computadora o en su iPod, relegando a los medios tradicionales o sustituyéndolos por completo. En muchas ocasiones los escuchas le dan la atención total a escuchar el podcast, lo cual es invaluable.
Tres tipos de podcast para un negocio

Puede haber muchas variantes pero, a grandes rasgos, estos son los tres tipos de podcast que podría explotar una empresa o un profesionista.

Podcast educativo. Puede ser un entrenamiento o capacitación, una serie de podcasts cubriendo un tema en particular, tips diversos acerca de los productos o servicios.

Podcast de posicionamiento. Puede ser similar al podcast educativo en la medida en que se comparte conocimiento, pero con un enfoque más orientado a posicionar a la empresa o al profesionista como fuentes confiables del producto o servicio.

Podcast de paga. Se puede pagar un contenido premium. Es decir, un contenido exlusivo, de alto valor, que sea apreciado por los clientes y que se convierta en un ingreso residual y constante para el empresario.

Foreign investment in Argentina.

2007-05-07T17:03:00.000-03:00

The foreign investment numbers in Argentina dropped by 4% in 2006 compared to 2005 whereas it increased by 1,5% in the region. 5 billion US $ for Argentina for 72 billion for the area: 19 Billion for Mexico, 19 for Brazil and 8 for Chile. Nothing to be proud of. The investment in the area Latin America and the Caribbean have accounted for only 8% of the world investment, the lowest percentage for th last 15 years. Two countries only knew an exodus of capital: Argentina and Venezuela.

Y además de Infobae:

"El ex director del Hemisferio Occidental del FMI, Claudio Loser (foto), afirmó que la necesidad de "sincerar los precios" se presenta como "un elemento negativo" en las posibilidades que tiene la Argentina de recibir inversiones extranjeras.

Según Loser, "aunque el país tenga superávit fiscal, alza en ingresos y crecimiento económico, hay elementos que lo están debilitando y es por ello que aunque la Argentina no tendrá una debacle en una situación de crisis internacional, a su economía le va a pegar".
El ex funcionario del FMI refirió además que a la Argentina "le está yendo muy bien, y aunque baje su tasa de crecimiento anual a un siete por ciento, no habrá problema; sin embargo, registra un aumento muy fuerte del gasto público, que va más allá de (la performance que muestran) sus ingresos".
,
"Comparado con Brasil o Perú, las exportaciones de estos países han crecido en volumen más que las exportaciones argentinas, y eso es un problema, ya que se ha dado una desaceleración", explicó Loser. Al respecto, el economista comentó que los resultados que presenta el comercio exterior del país con relación a otros estados de la región "va a tener un impacto negativo sobre la Argentina".

Make money online

2007-05-04T14:48:00.000-03:00

John Chow dot Com is a blog that helps you make money online. He is offering to link to your blog if you review his blog.

John Chow is a blogger whose hobby ( his personal blog) turned to be his a money source on which he lives now, and really generates a great amount of money.

We've been hearing of John Chow for a while now. Apparently, only for the month of april, he earned 11 702.66 USD. And since his personal blog is about how to make money on line… It seems pretty clear to me that he knows what he is talking about.I took a visit to his web page. It is not surprising to see how much money he gains, since it is carpeted with publicity. To make money online, it is an necessary evil. So if you don't like this type of sites: avoid it. But you will miss a good learning
opportunity.

John Chow dot Com es un blog que te ayudará hacer dinero en linea. Si escribís
una crítica de su blog, te ofrece un enlace a tu propio blog a partir de su sitio.

John Chow es un blogger que convirtió su hobby (su blog personal) en una fuente de dinero de la cual vive, y que genera una gran cantidad de dinero. Hace algún tiempo ahora que estamos leyendo s6bre este tipo, John Chow . Al parecer, solamente para el mes de abril, él ganó 11 702.66 USD. Y puesto que su blog personal está sobre cómo hacer dinero en línea… A mí, me parece claro que él sabe de lo que está hablando. Hice una visita a su página Web. No estoy sorprendido ver cuánto dinero él gana, puesto que está pintada con publicidad. Sin embargo, para hacer dinero en línea, es un mal necesario. Tan si no tienes ganas por este tipo de sitios: evitálo. Pero, te vas a perder una buena oportunidad para aprender.

Pageflakes

2007-04-27T17:34:00.000-03:00

I rearranged the information contained in this page in:

http://www.pageflakes.com/gagneericwebware/10161259

and

http://www.pageflakes.com/Community/Pages/Page.aspx?moduleKey=337804

Argentina business in Wall Street / Otra empresa argentina es protagonista en Wall Street.

2007-04-27T15:46:00.000-03:00

Edenor's president, Alejandro Mc Farlane, was in charge of ringing the bell. It is the first Argentine's public services company to enter Wall Street's stockmarket since the decade of the 90's.

Edenor's president, Alejandro Macfarlane, and the main shareholder of that electricity distributor, Marcelo Mindlin, participated in the opening ceremony in New York's stock-market, where they began to quote the company actions.

Macfarlane described as “spectacular”, the demand of actions on the part of the investors, and detailed it as “four times and half higher than the offer”.

In New York, the subscription price to ADR (American Depositary Share) reached 17 dollars for 20 actions, “and now, upto 17.80 $”, added MacFarlane.

“The actions share represents 49 percents of the company's capital with the 51 percent remaining into the hands of the Dolphin Group (headed by Mindlin),concluded Macfarlane.

El presidente de Edenor, Alejandro Mc Farlane, fue el encargado de tocar la campana. Es la primera compañía argentina de servicios públicos que abre su patrimonio en la Bolsa desde la década del 90

El presidente de Edenor, Alejandro Macfarlane, y el principal accionista de esa distribuidora de electricidad, Marcelo Mindlin, participaron hoy de la ceremonia de apertura de los negocios financieros en la Bolsa de Nueva York, donde comenzaron a cotizar acciones de la compañía.

En declaraciones a DyN, Macfarlane calificó de "espectacular" la demanda de acciones por parte de los inversionistas, y detalló que "resultó cuatro veces y media mas alta que la oferta" de tales papeles.

En Nueva York el precio de suscripción del ADR (American Depositary Share) equivalente a 20 acciones fue de 17 dólares, "y hoy esta cotizando a 17,80", remarcó el directivo para señalar que "esto es una muestra de mucha confianza en la compañía, la primera de servicio público de la Argentina que sale al mercado después de la crisis que afrontó el país en 2001".

"Las acciones lanzadas a la Bolsa representan 49 por ciento del capital y el 51 por ciento restante queda en manos del Grupo Dolphin (que encabeza Mindlin), refirió Macfarlane.

"Mankiw's 10 principles of economics, translated for the uninitiated", by Yoram Bauman,

2007-04-24T13:18:00.000-03:00

Found in Youtube. Presented at the AAAS humor session, February 16, 2007. For the record, the talk contains two unattributed quotes ("9 out of 5" is adapted from a line attributed to Paul Samuelson---although apparently he said it about Wall Street indices, not macroeconomists---and "wrong about things" is paraphrased from P.J. O'Rourke's Eat the Rich) and, of course, the Einstein "simple" quote is an intentional misquote. The talk is based on a published article in Annals of Improbable Research.

Insulin enabled cows / Vacas y leche con insulina

2007-04-19T20:06:00.000-03:00

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentine scientists said on Tuesday they had created four cloned and genetically modified calves capable of producing human insulin in their milk, a step they said could cut the cost of treating diabetes.

The newborn Jersey heifers -- who the scientists have named Patagonia 1, 2, 3 and 4 -- will start producing the human hormone when they reach adulthood, said the biotechnology company behind the project, Bio Sidus.

"This model of a genetically modified cow is a model that allows us to produce large quantities of products at very low cost," said managing director Marcelo Criscuolo, adding that insulin produced by cows would be at least 30 percent cheaper.

IBLNews.- Los bovinos se han convertido en una alternativa para luchar contra la diabetes gracias a un proyecto argentino pionero en el mundo en el que vacas clonadas y transgénicas son capaces de producir en su leche un precursor de la insulina humana.

Las terneras Patagonia I, II, III y IV nacieron entre febrero y marzo pasados, son de la raza Jersey y poseen en su material genético el gen del precursor de la insulina humana, a partir del cual se puede generar la proteína de la insulina.

El proyecto ha sido llevado a cabo por la empresa farmacéutica Bio Sidus, que en 2002 había conseguido clonar vacunos que producen la hormona del crecimiento.

A las terneras Patagonia se les modificó el ADN con el gen precursor de la insulina humana y no con la proteína insulina porque "sería un riesgo que ésta pasara a la sangre porque los niveles de glucosa bajarían", declaró el doctor Andrés Bercovich, gerente del proyecto.

Google:1000 new jobs for Argentina / 1000 nuevos puestos en Argentina

2007-04-13T17:22:00.000-03:00

Fuente: Clarin. The CEO of the Internet giant, Eric Schmidt, confirmed it when meeting with the vice-president of the Nation, Daniel Scioli. The company will install one office in Buenos Aires that will centralize its operations in Latin America. When Vice-president Daniel Scioli met this morning with the Google CEO, Eric Schmidt confirmed him that the company will inaugurate one center in Buenos Aires to centralize its operations in Latin America. As a consequence of this project, the Internet giant announced that it will create 1,000 jobs for Argentine professionals. Also, Schmidt indicated that, to medium term, the company expects to generate two thousand more direct and indirect jobs.

Lo dijo el titular del coloso de Internet, Eric Schmidt, al reunirse con el vicepresidente de la Nación, Daniel Scioli. Tal como adelantó Clarín, la compañía instalará una sede en Buenos Aires que centralizará sus operaciones en América Latina.

El vicepresidente Daniel Scioli se reunió esta mañana con el titular de Google, Eric Schmidt, quien informó que la compañía inaugurará una sede en Buenos Aires para centralizar sus operaciones en América latina. Para concretar este proyecto, el coloso de Internet anunció que creará 1.000 puestos de trabajo para profesionales argentinos.Asimismo, Schmidt señaló que, a mediano plazo, la empresa planea generar otras dos mil plazas laborales más (entre empleos directos e indirectos).

Real Estate Boom in San Telmo, Buenos Aires

2007-04-11T14:39:00.000-03:00

From Jeff's blog: Buenos Aires, city of faded elegance.

From all the signs hanging on the outside of buildings, this must be the time to sell in San Telmo. (I count 9 for sale signs in this photo). I just wish that someone would go ahead and buy all those buildings so that they can take down those for sale signs and return the streets to normal. All the signs are messing up everyone’s photos of these lovely streets.

Actually, there’s a building down the street from me on Av Caseros that was sold over six months ago and the “for sale/sold” signs are STILL hanging all over that building. Enough!
Walking somewhere along Chile I came across this new stencil, imploring that San Telmo not become Palermo.

But I think that it’s a lost cause. At least San Telmo has more interesting architecture than Palermo.

Increase investments. / Incrementar las inversiones.

2007-04-10T13:51:00.000-03:00

Source: Infobae

The B.I.D. (Banco Interamericano de Desarollo) warned about obstacles that restrain the investments. Luis Moreno, president of B.I.D.) affirmed that the country (Argentina) must generate more incentives to increase the incoming of money from the outside.

Meanwhile, he emphasized “that there is a great opportunity to obtain to much more investment portafolio related in Argentina”. Luis Moreno warned, today after an act in the House of Government, that the existing regulations at the moment in the country discourage the incoming of investments and called to correct the situation to stimulate the outside investments.

“I agree that there is a great opportunity to obtain much more investment portafolios related in Argentina. I also believe that this situation is caused more by the regulatory laws than the lack of confidence of the investors. Surely, the Argentine government would want to take a careful look at these laws”, added Moreno.

El BID advirtió sobre trabas que frenan las inversiones.

Luis Moreno afirmó que el país debe generar "incentivos correctos" para incrementar el arribo de dinero del exterior. Al tiempo que destacó "que hay una gran oportunidad de conseguir mucha más inversión de portafolio en la Argentina".

El presidente del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID), Luis Moreno, advirtió hoy tras un acto en Casa de Gobierno que las regulaciones que existen actualmente en el país desalientan la llegada de inversiones y llamó a corregirlos para incentivar la llegada de dinero.

“Coincido en que hay una gran oportunidad de conseguir mucha más inversión de portafolio en la Argentina, pero creo que eso pasa no necesariamente por falta de confianza como por temas regulatorios que seguramente el gobierno argentino quiere mirar con cuidado”, opinó Moreno.

Informe completo aquí

Espiritu Empredendor / Entrepreneur spirit

2007-04-06T12:18:00.000-03:00

A blog about Management 2.0 and entrepreneurship in South America. If you read spanish, of course.

http://juancarloslucas.com.ar/

Domain name search

2007-03-28T14:36:00.000-03:00

Here are three articles found today on how to pick a good domain name. Whether it is for a regular web site or a blog site, finding a good domain name is very important. Especially, if you decide to get your own business blog site domain, a good blog domain name will help the search engines find you with more ease and therefore, enable you to reach the potential readers and increase your blog traffic and possible influence and/or revenues.

8 tools and tips for picking a domain name.

5 Ways to Think Up a Great Domain Name That's Still Available.

How to Pick a Great Domain Name.

Ten tips for business blogging

2007-03-22T18:21:00.000-03:00

One more interesting site for business blogging with more advises to blog well.

http://technology.inc.com/slideshow_INCTECH/slideviewer.cgi?list=bizblog&dir=&config=&refresh=-1&direction=forward&scale=0&cycle=on&slide=1&design=default&total=12

Investing in South America / Inverciones en America del Sur

2007-03-21T16:52:00.000-03:00

Some financial news from South America / Noticias financiales de America del Sur:

Brazil is by now the tenth greater world-wide economy. The Brazilian economic activity shows better results from those of the last four years, according to a new formula to calculate the Internal Gross Product considered by the economists more adapted to the reality.

Brasil pasó a ser la décima mayor economía mundial
La actividad económica brasileña creció por encima de lo que se creía entre 2002 y 2005, según la nueva fórmula para calcular el Producto Bruto Interno, considerada por los economistas más adecuada a la realidad.

Argentina and Italy want to guarantee investments. The European country analyzes the creation of a bank in South America. This idea arose in an encounter between Daniel Scioli, Argentina's vice-president, with the vice-president of Telecom Argentina, Gerald Werthein, and important local italian industralists. The conclave, made in Rome, served as opportunity to discuss the creation of a bank for Latin America which will have the purpose of endorsing future italian investments in Argentina.

La Argentina e Italia buscan garantizar inversiones.El país europeo analiza la creación de un banco en Sudamérica, según surgió en el encuentro que mantuvo Daniel Scioli con el vicepresidente de Telecom Argentina, Gerardo Werthein, e importantes empresarios locales.El cónclave, realizado en Roma, sirvió de marco para discutir la creación de un banco para América Latina, que tendrá como finalidad respaldar futuras inversiones italianas en la Argentina.

Argentina's economic activity registered in January a growth of 8.4% compared with January 2006 numbers.

La actividad económica argentina registró en enero un crecimiento de 8,4% con relación a igual mes del año pasado

A different point of view about the international finance world

2007-03-20T17:36:00.000-03:00

The BNN Business Network News site offers a choice of programs in the WindowMedia format about business and finance with a canadian point of view that could be slightly different from the overpresent american point of view.

http://www.bnn.ca/

The Venture World awaits you

2007-03-14T17:34:00.000-03:00

If you want some fresh news from the Venture Capitalists of this world go to Will Price's blog. It is sober, well-done and interesting. An insightfull and informative look at venture capitalism with a human touch.

http://willprice.blogspot.com/

Looking for real estate in Argentina / Buscando una vivencia o edificio/ Une maison ou un édifice

2007-03-07T13:46:00.000-03:00

A personal business-oriented blog about real estate in Argentina. It offers deals and answers to whom want to invest in real estate in this emerging country.

Un blog de commerce personnel à propos de l'immobilier en Argentine. Il contient des offres et des réponses pour ceux qui veulent investir en Argentine.

Un blog personal de negocio acerca del inmobiliario en la Argentina.

http://marceloperotti.blogspot.com/index.html

Two interesting blogs from New York

2007-03-06T15:44:00.000-03:00

Today, in the Infoe page, I was reading an interview made with Elizabeth Spiers, founder and editor at Dead Horse Media, an entreprise responsible of five of New york's most important blogs. In fact, one of them, named Dealbreaker, is according to Spiers, New York's most read blog. Among those five sites, you can find two business oriented blogs:

Supermogul: Updated multiple times each day, Supermogul is a news and commentary site for c-level (CEO/COO/CFO/etc.) executives and senior managers.

http://supermogul.com/

Dealbreaker: DealBreaker is an online business tabloid and Wall Street gossip blog. It seeks to cover the personalities and culture that shape the financial industry, offering original commentary, news and entertainment.

http://dealbreaker.com/

Argentina's economy/ Economie argentine/ Economía argentina

2007-03-01T14:53:00.000-03:00

Argentina's economy goes very well. You can feel it in the news. Inflation is under control. Investments, from the inside and outside, are on the rise. It is an emerging economy. there is a reemerging middle class and poverty is decreasing.

The three main sectors on the rise are: tourism, telecommunication and real estate. For instance, this article published in Argentine, au jour le jour about the average price of a square meter in Buenos Aires' buildings:

"It is about the average price expressed in US $. It is one of the lowest in the world. It is why Buenos Aires attracts so many foreign investors nowadays. The city is pleasant, you would think you are in a European city, the cultural life as well as the night life are intense. You can eat very well for a very low price, the tourists are numerous. Comparative prices with other capitals of the world:
Buenos Aires : 1.500
Madrid : 5.200
Zurich : 7.714
Rome : 7.908
Tokyo : 8.000
Paris : 8.667
Washington 9.500
New York : 12.000
Londres : 18.879 "

The congressional opening speech of president Kirschner (in spanish) gives a good idea of the changes occuring right now (but, let's not forget that we are in an election year).

Kirchner Congreso
envoyé par profhete

10 erreurs/ 10 mistakes / 10 errores

2007-02-26T16:54:00.000-03:00

At the end of this previous note, I wrote that I would explain why I don't respect all the ten rules.

Rule #1: I have other blogs in Blogger about other subjects. For that reason, I can't detail my profile since they would all have the same. I don't pose as a specialist. I only want this blog to be a central ressource when one looks for basic informations (and surprises) about corporative blogs.
Rule #2: See #1
Rule #7: I intend to be as regular as possible. It also depends on my inspiration or what interesting stuff I found that day.
Rule #8: I have four blogs: personal, blog about blogs, science and this one.
Rule #10: I am thinking about it. But I am still experimenting with blogs. So I will wait for a while.

Al fin de esta nota, escribió que iba a explicar por qué no respecto todas las diez reglas:

Regla #1: En Bloggers tengo otros blogs acerca de otros temas. Entonces, todos tendrían el mismo general perfil. De todos modos, no me presento como un especialista sólo como un recurso central cuando uno busca informaciones y sorpresas sobre los blogs corporativos.
Regla #2: Ver #1
Regla #7: Quiero escribir con regularidad pero también depende de mi inspiración y de lo que encuentro en la Red.
Regla #8: Tengo cuatro blogs: personal, blog de blogs, ciencia y este.
Regla #10: Estoy pensando en esto, pero sigo experimentando con los blogs,entonces voy a seguir así un rato.

Walmart: blog fictif/ fictious blog/ blog falso

2007-02-21T18:03:00.000-03:00

It is not the first false step of a public relations company when it comes to blog but it is strange coming from Edelman that has an alliance with Technorati, who took a pair of professionals of the area with years of blogging experience and who, always, was the hardest when criticizing the bad examples of corporative blogging.

Basically they created a blog about the history of a couple who travels around the USA, sleeping in his car in the Wal-Mart's parking and saying things like “... it is possible to park our car because there is a WM in each city” or “it is the better way to save money”. Well this blog turned out to be a fiction blog written in Edelman's offices.

In fact the problem is not to use fiction in blogs but to make it seem real without clarifying that it is part of a communications strategy. Richard Edelman was left telling how sorry he was.

Now, about this matter, certain groups of bloggers will pay more attention to PR in the blogosphere than the public in general; not only because the transparency is not a preoccupation of the consumers in general, but because the “excuses” were not done where the problem happened (Walmart's blog) and because, for a giant like WalMart, with a certain type of consumers, this kind of problems does not bother him unless it gets in the traditional press.

Ce n'est pas la première fois qu'une compagnie de relations publiques fait un faux-pas en ce qui concerne l'utilisation des blogs. Mais, il semble étrange de la part d'Edelman, qui a une alliance avec Technorati et qui a utilisé une paire de professionnels du secteur avec des années d'expérience en matière de blog et qui a toujours été le plus dur dans ses critiques des mauvais exemples de blog corporatif.

Fondamentalement, ils ont créé un blog ayant comme sujet l'histoire d'un couple qui voyage autour des Etats-Unis, dormant dans sa voiture dans les stationnements de Wal-Mart disant des choses comme « … il est possible de garer notre voiture parce qu'il y a des WM dans chaque ville » ou « c'est la meilleure manière d'économiser de l'argent ».

En réalité, ce blog s'est avéré être un blog fictif, écrit dans les bureaux d'Edelman. En fait le problème n'est pas de faire un blog de fiction, mais de le présenter comme réel, sans clarifier qu'il fait partie d'une stratégie de communications de relations publiques. Richard Edelman a été laissé à lui-même et a dû faire des excuses.

Maintenant, à ce sujet, certains groupes de bloggers prêteront plus d'attention aux relations publiques dans la blogosphère que le public en général ; non seulement parce que la transparence n'est pas une préoccupation des consommateurs en général mais parce que les « excuses » n'ont pas été faites où le problème s'est produit (le blog de Walmart) et parce que, pour un géant comme WalMart, avec un certain type de consommateurs, ce genre de problèmes ne le tracasse pas à moins qu'il apparaisse dans la pression traditionnelle.

Básicamente crearon un blog donde se contaba la historia de una pareja que viajaba alrededor de USA durmiendo en su auto en los estacionamientos de Wal-Mart (a mi no me pregunten la lógica de esa historia :P) y diciendo cosas como “es que se puede estacionar porque hay un WM en cada ciudad” o “que mejor forma de ahorrar plata” pero resultó ser un blog falso, escrito desde las oficinas de Edelman. ¿Volvemos a lo mismo? No lo hagas… pero si hacés algo asi que no te descubran.

No es el primer paso en falso de una empresa de relaciones públicas al “ponerse a bloggear” pero es extraño viniendo de Edelman, la que tiene una alianza con Technorati, que se llevó a un par de profesionales del área con años de bloggear y que, siempre, fue durísima al criticar los malos ejemplos de blogging corporativo.

En realidad el problema no es hacer un blog de “ficción” sino hacerlo parecer real sin aclarar que es parte de una estrategia de comunicaciones. Al menos Richard Edelman salió a pedir “disculpas” y fue bastante claro en este punto porque Rubel se cubrió el solo .

Igualmente, a este tema le prestará más atención un grupo de bloggers interesados en RRPP que el publico másivo; no solo porque la transparencia no es un preocupación de los consumidores en general, sino porque la “disculpa” no se vió en el sitió donde ocurrió el problema y porque en un gigante como WalMart, con ese tipo de consumidor, este tipo de problemas no lo molesta a no ser que llegue a la prensa tradicional.

Ten mistakes to avoid in the design of your blog./ Dix erreurs à éviter./ Diez errores comunes

2007-02-13T16:38:00.000-03:00

In this page published by Jakob Nielsen, the top ten mistakes to avoid when designing your corporate blog. You might also notice that, in my own blog, I don't respect all his advises. In the next entry, I will explain why.

Dans ce site publié par Jakob Nielsen, les dix erreurs les plus importantes à éviter dans la conception de son blog corporatif. Vous noterez aussi probablement que mon propre blog ne respecte pas tous ses conseils. Dans la prochaine chronique, j'expliquerai pourquoi.

En el sitio de Jakob Nielsen, los diez errores más importantes en el diseño de su blog corporativo. Les digo ahora que se van a dar cuenta que en mi blog propio no respecto todos sus consejos. En la próxima nota les voy a explicar por qué.

Three interesting articles/ Trois articles intéressants/ Tres crónicas interesantes

2007-02-12T16:54:00.000-03:00

Three very good articles about blogging in the corporate world/ Trois excellents articles au sujet des blogs corporatifs./ Tres crónicas impactantes acerca de los blogs corporativos:

10 excuses for boards NOT to blog, de IR Web Reports

Like it or not, Blogs have legs, de Wired Online

Why corporate boards should blog, de IR Web Reports

Fortune 500 blogging Wiki

2007-02-08T15:02:00.000-03:00

In the New York Times, an article about a Wiki that is "a directory of Fortune 500 companies that have business blogs, defined as: active public blogs by company employees about the company and/or its products.

Dans le New York Times, un article à propos d'un annuaire de type Wiki contenant les blogs corporatifs d'entreprises (blogs publics et mis à jour publiés par des employés concernant leurs produits et services) appartenant au prestigieux groupe des Fortune 500.

En el sitio del New York Times, un artículo acerca de una lista de forma Wiki que contiene los blogs corporativos (blogs públicos y actualizados sobre productos y servicios publicados por los empleados) de algunas empresas del prestigioso grupo Fortune 500.

http://www.socialtext.net/bizblogs/index.cgi

Robert Scople's manifesto

2007-02-06T17:39:00.000-03:00

He is Microsoft's technical evangelist for the US .Net Platform strategy. His manifesto was first published in 2004.

Il est l'évangéliste technique de Microsoft en matière de stratégie pour sa plateforme US du .Net.

Es el evangelista tecnico de Microsoft en la elaboración estratégica para la versión norteamericana de su plataforma .Net.

http://wp.mazoo.net/wp-content/2.02.CorporateWeblog.pdf

Blog de J Schwartz's blog

2007-02-01T15:27:00.000-03:00

Le premier blog que j'aimerais vous présenter est celui de Jonathan Schwartz, CEO de SUN. Pourquoi? Selon Mariano Amartino, auteur de la chronique Weblog sobre weblogs du quotidien Clarín, Ce serait un des meilleurs blogs corporatifs qu'il ait rencontré jusqu'à maintenant. Il souligne un commentaire lu sur le blog de Schwartz:

"Un CEO qui blogue, c'est rare. Un CEO qui admet publiquement ses erreurs, ça n'a pas de prix." ... mais un CEO comme Schwartz et sa "transparence", c'est unique.

J'avoue être impressionné par ce blog. Il est sobre sans être monotone. On peut le faire afficher en onze langues differentes tout en étant très bien traduit. Du moins, pour les versions française, espagnole et portugaise, on est loin de la traduction automatique des moteurs de recherche comme Google.

Je le placerais dans les catégories 1-3-4-7 presentées dans la première entrée de ce blog. La marche est haute pour les autres blogs de CEO que nous allons visiter.

The first blog that I'd like to present you is Jonathan Schwartz's blog, SUN'S CEO. Why? According to Mariano Amartino, author of the chronicle, Weblog sobre weblogs, in the newspaper, Clarín, it is one of best corporate blogs than he has ever met until now. He also underlines a comment read on the Schwartz's blog: “A CEO who blogs is rare. A CEO who publicly admits a mistake is priceless.” … but a CEO like Schwartz and his “transparency” is unique.

I must admit that I am really impressed by this blog. It is not flashy without being monotonous. You can read in eleven different languages while being very correctly translated. At least, for the french, spanish and portuguese versions, we are miles away from the automatic translations of search engines like Google.

I would place it in the categories 1-3-4-7 presented in the first note of this blog. I am sorry for the other CEO's blogs that we will visit, but as I like to say: we start with the best, too bad for the rest.

Leído en Clarín: Jonathan Schwartz es el CEO de SUN; y tiene uno de los mejores ejemplos de blogs corporativos que conozco. En su último post se disculpa con Matt Mullenberg por la forma en la que SUN se acerca a los Startups en USA.

Estos son otros posts que valen la pena leer: Transparencia y Visión donde dice sobre la utilidad de los blogs "La luz del sol es el mejor desinfectante" o cuando habla sobre el soft libre: ni un solo cliente de los Fortune 2000 en el mundo va a correr el corazón de su negocio con productos que no tengan el número de teléfono de la casa de alguien del otro lado. Y ningún desarrollador o nación en desarrollo al que se le presente con un producto open source equivalente o mejor.. va a elegir una opción propietaria

Un comentario por ahí dice que "Un CEO que bloguee es raro. Un CEO que admita públicamente sus errores no tiene precio"... pero un CEO como Schwartz y su "transparencia" es único.

http://blogs.sun.com/jonathan/

http://blogs.sun.com/jonathan/

C'est un départ/ Steady as he goes/ Para empezar

2007-01-29T15:13:00.000-03:00

In this first entrance, I will begin by presenting eight good reasons to start a corporate blog/ Dans cette première note, je vais commencer par donner huit bonnes raisons de créer un blog corporatif./ En esta primera nota, ocho razones de abrir un blog corporativo.

Become the Expert: position yourself and your company as the thought leader of your business.
Customer Relationships: in a forum where your main objective not is to sell, you'll have a more personal relationship between you and your customers. Blogs are a fast way to join the customers' discussions, provide tips and insights or receive feedback.
Media Relations: it's every PR-consultants dream to create a channel where media regularly check what you have to say, instead of media just being passive - sometimes indifferent - recipients of press releases.
Internal Collaboration: use blogs as a workspace where project members keep each other updated without wasting time writing reports or searching the Outlook inbox.
Knowledge Management: blogs work in two ways. First of all, they're an easy way for the readers to find information and resources they want or need. That's obvious and could be used internally in many organizations. Second, blogs are a kind of "university light" for the blogger. Blogging is on-the-job learning.
Recruitment: if you establish your company as a thought leader, people in your business will pay attention. They'll read and discuss what you have to say. Chances are good they will see you as an attractive employer.
Test ideas or products: a blog is informal. It's part of a conversation where people (often) can comment, and the blog can provide you with a measure of value. Publish an idea and see if it generates interest. Does anyone link to you? What do they say?
Rank high in search engines: well, this has nothing to do with relations. But Google and other search engines rewards sites that are updated often, that link to other sites and most importantly, that has many inbound links. Start a blog at your regular site and your ranking will boost.

Source: CorporateBlogging.Info