From Mercola.com
How healthy are your bowels?
Does that sound silly? It shouldn't. In fact, improving and maintaining the condition of your bowels is serious business.
Chances are you have digestive issues. And you're not alone. According to recent studies conducted by the Dannon Company in 2007, nearly 90 percent of Americans deal with occasional problems with digestion.1 Seventy percent of women say digestive concerns negatively impact their lives every single day.
Digestive concerns aren't a fun topic of conversation. In fact, many people have trouble talking to their own doctor about their concerns. Others suffer in silent embarrassment, worry and discomfort over the rumbling and gurgling -- the cramps, bloating and gas. The constipation. Or diarrhea.
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Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Why I'm Down More Than 80%, and How to Avoid My Mistakes
By Adam J. Wiederman
As any graduate of Alcoholics Anonymous knows, the first step to setting out on the proper path is admitting your weakness. In that spirit, I'm writing about my biggest mistake so far during this bear market. Here. Publicly. For the whole world to see.
If legendary investor Peter Lynch of Fidelity Magellan fame could educate investors by publicly admitting to holding AIG (NYSE: AIG) and Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) at the end of last year, what's an analyst like me got to lose?
I hope two things come of my story:
1. Someone, somewhere out there learns something from my mistakes. Feel free to consider me a sacrificial teacher.
2. Having studied psychological commitment and consistency in Robert Cialdini's classic work Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, I hope that my public commitment to avoid repeating these mistakes prevents me from falling victim to them again.
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As any graduate of Alcoholics Anonymous knows, the first step to setting out on the proper path is admitting your weakness. In that spirit, I'm writing about my biggest mistake so far during this bear market. Here. Publicly. For the whole world to see.
If legendary investor Peter Lynch of Fidelity Magellan fame could educate investors by publicly admitting to holding AIG (NYSE: AIG) and Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) at the end of last year, what's an analyst like me got to lose?
I hope two things come of my story:
1. Someone, somewhere out there learns something from my mistakes. Feel free to consider me a sacrificial teacher.
2. Having studied psychological commitment and consistency in Robert Cialdini's classic work Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, I hope that my public commitment to avoid repeating these mistakes prevents me from falling victim to them again.
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HOW TO LAND A BARTENDING JOB IN AN A-LIST VENUE
By Mark McKay
Skills, Looks & Personality
These are the three hiring criteria for an A-list bar. And guess which one is most important? It’s not looks. Although it is true that many barstaff you see in those venues look like they have walked off Armani catalogues.
And you’ll probably be surprised to find out that it’s not skills, either. There are exceptions to this, of course, as some venues expect an exceptional level of skill. But most will accept you on the provision that you learn fast if you have an abundance of that the last trait.
Personality. What kind of personality, exactly? Well, rather than throwing such an abstract concept at you, let me walk through the steps you’re likely to take on getting a job at an A-list bar, and how to present yourself in the best way possible at each one.
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Skills, Looks & Personality
These are the three hiring criteria for an A-list bar. And guess which one is most important? It’s not looks. Although it is true that many barstaff you see in those venues look like they have walked off Armani catalogues.
And you’ll probably be surprised to find out that it’s not skills, either. There are exceptions to this, of course, as some venues expect an exceptional level of skill. But most will accept you on the provision that you learn fast if you have an abundance of that the last trait.
Personality. What kind of personality, exactly? Well, rather than throwing such an abstract concept at you, let me walk through the steps you’re likely to take on getting a job at an A-list bar, and how to present yourself in the best way possible at each one.
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Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Warren Buffett: The Road To Riches
by Lisa Smith
Warren Edward Buffett, legendary value investor, turned an ailing textile mill into a financial engine that powered what would become the world's most successful holding company.
Known as the "Oracle of Omaha" for his investment prowess, Buffett has amassed a personal fortune in excess of $62 billion, making him top dog on Forbes' World's Billionaires list in 2008.
He inspires legions of loyal fans to make a yearly trek to Omaha for an opportunity to hear him speak at Berkshire's annual meeting, an event ironically dubbed the "Woodstock of Capitalism". (For more on Warren Buffett and his current holdings, check out Coattail Investor.)
The Early Years
Buffett was born to Howard and Leila Buffett on August 30, 1930, in Omaha, Nebraska. He was the second of three children, and the only boy. His father was a stockbroker and four-term United States congressman. Howard served non-consecutive terms on the Republican ticket, but espoused libertarian views.
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Warren Edward Buffett, legendary value investor, turned an ailing textile mill into a financial engine that powered what would become the world's most successful holding company.
Known as the "Oracle of Omaha" for his investment prowess, Buffett has amassed a personal fortune in excess of $62 billion, making him top dog on Forbes' World's Billionaires list in 2008.
He inspires legions of loyal fans to make a yearly trek to Omaha for an opportunity to hear him speak at Berkshire's annual meeting, an event ironically dubbed the "Woodstock of Capitalism". (For more on Warren Buffett and his current holdings, check out Coattail Investor.)
The Early Years
Buffett was born to Howard and Leila Buffett on August 30, 1930, in Omaha, Nebraska. He was the second of three children, and the only boy. His father was a stockbroker and four-term United States congressman. Howard served non-consecutive terms on the Republican ticket, but espoused libertarian views.
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A $6 Trillion Business in the Making?
By Tim Beyers
Who says that ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) is the greatest company in the history of the world? If Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) is the next Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), then it will one day be worth $20,000 a share, or more than $6 trillion in market value. So says MarketWatch technology columnist John Dvorak.
"[Google is] on the same carnival ride we witnessed with Microsoft. Even at today's closing price, Microsoft's stock value essentially has grown by around 200 times since its IPO," Dvorak wrote earlier this month.
Google closed at just more than $100 on Aug. 19, 2004, the stock's first trading day after its public offering. A 200-fold increase would, indeed, come to $20,000 per share. Multiplying that by 315 million shares outstanding equals $6.3 trillion in market value.
Can you imagine? According to the World Bank, only the U.S. and the European Union produce more in gross domestic product annually.
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Who says that ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) is the greatest company in the history of the world? If Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) is the next Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), then it will one day be worth $20,000 a share, or more than $6 trillion in market value. So says MarketWatch technology columnist John Dvorak.
"[Google is] on the same carnival ride we witnessed with Microsoft. Even at today's closing price, Microsoft's stock value essentially has grown by around 200 times since its IPO," Dvorak wrote earlier this month.
Google closed at just more than $100 on Aug. 19, 2004, the stock's first trading day after its public offering. A 200-fold increase would, indeed, come to $20,000 per share. Multiplying that by 315 million shares outstanding equals $6.3 trillion in market value.
Can you imagine? According to the World Bank, only the U.S. and the European Union produce more in gross domestic product annually.
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Sunday, April 26, 2009
What Makes a Great Bartender?
by Derek Brown
When I started behind the bar I was expected to know everything (OK, I lied about having bartending experience). The first minute I stood behind the stick, staring at the ice bins, rails, juices, and tools, I realized I was in over my head.
Fortunately, people ordered a lot of vodka sodas that first night, which have the ingredients in the title. Whew. As I grew as a bartender, so my customers grew in their own sophistication, or perhaps I simply noticed it for the first time and they, consequently, had noticed that I looked like I had no idea what I was doing before.
I suppose it's the same for home bartenders to some degree. You get a cocktail book with a cool recipe, or more likely, someone scribbles a recipe for you on a napkin (or for the tech-savvy, you are sent a recipe via twitter). Fine, you have the recipe, but it's so much more than just combining the ingredients.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
When I started behind the bar I was expected to know everything (OK, I lied about having bartending experience). The first minute I stood behind the stick, staring at the ice bins, rails, juices, and tools, I realized I was in over my head.
Fortunately, people ordered a lot of vodka sodas that first night, which have the ingredients in the title. Whew. As I grew as a bartender, so my customers grew in their own sophistication, or perhaps I simply noticed it for the first time and they, consequently, had noticed that I looked like I had no idea what I was doing before.
I suppose it's the same for home bartenders to some degree. You get a cocktail book with a cool recipe, or more likely, someone scribbles a recipe for you on a napkin (or for the tech-savvy, you are sent a recipe via twitter). Fine, you have the recipe, but it's so much more than just combining the ingredients.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Where You'll Find the Real Recovery
By Dan Caplinger
The nice move we've seen in stocks since early March has put a smile on the faces of many investors. But although U.S. stocks have put on quite a show in the past month, some international markets are bringing even greater returns.
Just look at how the overall markets of these countries have done recently:
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The nice move we've seen in stocks since early March has put a smile on the faces of many investors. But although U.S. stocks have put on quite a show in the past month, some international markets are bringing even greater returns.
Just look at how the overall markets of these countries have done recently:
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Boost Your Income Without Losing Your Shirt
By Dan Caplinger
In the past, retired investors had things easy. Since they could count on both Social Security and a healthy pension from their former employers, workers could rely on having a comfortable retirement where they wouldn't have to worry about investing in anything riskier than FDIC-insured CDs and other safe investments.
Fast-forward to today, though, and everything's changed for the worse for retirees. Health-care costs in retirement have skyrocketed, even with Medicare helping to cover some of the expense.
Retiree health coverage has virtually disappeared, with companies like General Motors (NYSE: GM) and Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) having made cuts to health benefits for some retirees in recent years.
And pensions could be the next to feel the brunt of the financial crisis. You now need your investments to produce a lot more income to make ends meet. Here's how you can get started.
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In the past, retired investors had things easy. Since they could count on both Social Security and a healthy pension from their former employers, workers could rely on having a comfortable retirement where they wouldn't have to worry about investing in anything riskier than FDIC-insured CDs and other safe investments.
Fast-forward to today, though, and everything's changed for the worse for retirees. Health-care costs in retirement have skyrocketed, even with Medicare helping to cover some of the expense.
Retiree health coverage has virtually disappeared, with companies like General Motors (NYSE: GM) and Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) having made cuts to health benefits for some retirees in recent years.
And pensions could be the next to feel the brunt of the financial crisis. You now need your investments to produce a lot more income to make ends meet. Here's how you can get started.
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What You Need To Know About Being A Bar Chef Part 2
From The American Mixologist
Jay Hernandez, executive chef at O’Rourke’s Steakhouse in Houston, admits to relying heavily on inspiration. “I may be making something in the kitchen and think, ‘hey, this would be great used in a Martini and married with that kind of cocktail. I then go out to the bar and start tinkering.”
One such occasion lead him to combine cold mango and cucumber soup with chilled vodka. The brilliantly flavored Martini soon became a successful specialty of the house.
Another time he took a bourbon sauce that he was working with and drizzled it along with some caramel sauce into cocktail glasses, which were then placed in the freezer.
They would later be used to present a signature vodka Martini. As the glasses gradually warm the thawing sauces bleed into the cocktail. Hernandez says the results were divine.
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Artistry Abounds
Jay Hernandez, executive chef at O’Rourke’s Steakhouse in Houston, admits to relying heavily on inspiration. “I may be making something in the kitchen and think, ‘hey, this would be great used in a Martini and married with that kind of cocktail. I then go out to the bar and start tinkering.”
One such occasion lead him to combine cold mango and cucumber soup with chilled vodka. The brilliantly flavored Martini soon became a successful specialty of the house.
Another time he took a bourbon sauce that he was working with and drizzled it along with some caramel sauce into cocktail glasses, which were then placed in the freezer.
They would later be used to present a signature vodka Martini. As the glasses gradually warm the thawing sauces bleed into the cocktail. Hernandez says the results were divine.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
Monday, April 20, 2009
Six Counterintuitive Ways for Smart Entrepreneurs to Handle the Recession
From Mercola.com
In contrast to the common perception that the Great Depression was a time of suffering for all Americans, in fact about a third of the population maintained their standard of living, and another third of the population did better in the course of the 1930s than they had done before.
Hard economic times can provide excellent strategic opportunities for entrepreneurs who are willing to buck conventional wisdom. With this in mind, here are six counterintuitive principle-based ways for wise entrepreneurs to thrive during recessions.
1. Raise Salaries
While most businesses use downturns as excuses to cut back on investments in employees, smart business owners will do the exact opposite and capitalize on the opportunity to build leaders.
The principle behind this is that people are the only true assets. Show strength, vision, and most importantly, gratitude to instill a culture of production and loyalty, rather than fear, and to get the best out of your people. It's common sense that people who feel valued perform better.
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In contrast to the common perception that the Great Depression was a time of suffering for all Americans, in fact about a third of the population maintained their standard of living, and another third of the population did better in the course of the 1930s than they had done before.
Hard economic times can provide excellent strategic opportunities for entrepreneurs who are willing to buck conventional wisdom. With this in mind, here are six counterintuitive principle-based ways for wise entrepreneurs to thrive during recessions.
1. Raise Salaries
While most businesses use downturns as excuses to cut back on investments in employees, smart business owners will do the exact opposite and capitalize on the opportunity to build leaders.
The principle behind this is that people are the only true assets. Show strength, vision, and most importantly, gratitude to instill a culture of production and loyalty, rather than fear, and to get the best out of your people. It's common sense that people who feel valued perform better.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
10 Mistakes First-Time Home Buyers Make
by Lisa Scherzer
Standard & Poor's latest Case-Shiller index, which tracks home prices across 20 major U.S. cities, reported that values dropped 19% in January from a year earlier.
Those depressed values, combined with near-record-low mortgage rates and government incentives (an $8,000 first-time home buyers' tax credit included in the stimulus bill), are luring more first-time home buyers into the market.
Indeed, a recent Century 21 Real Estate survey found that more than three-quarters (78%) of potential first-time home buyers say now is a good time to buy. If you agree, be aware that buying a home comes with plenty of potential missteps. Here are 10 all-too-common mistakes first-timers make.
1. Not knowing how much house you can afford.
Many novice home buyers spend a lot of time researching homes – comparing kitchen layouts and backyard square footage – but very little time researching their financing options.
One of the first things buyers should do is talk to a qualified lender and get preapproved for a mortgage, says Claire Clark, senior vice president of business development at Prudential California Realty. Without first figuring out how much house you can afford, you risk falling in love with one you can't.
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Standard & Poor's latest Case-Shiller index, which tracks home prices across 20 major U.S. cities, reported that values dropped 19% in January from a year earlier.
Those depressed values, combined with near-record-low mortgage rates and government incentives (an $8,000 first-time home buyers' tax credit included in the stimulus bill), are luring more first-time home buyers into the market.
Indeed, a recent Century 21 Real Estate survey found that more than three-quarters (78%) of potential first-time home buyers say now is a good time to buy. If you agree, be aware that buying a home comes with plenty of potential missteps. Here are 10 all-too-common mistakes first-timers make.
1. Not knowing how much house you can afford.
Many novice home buyers spend a lot of time researching homes – comparing kitchen layouts and backyard square footage – but very little time researching their financing options.
One of the first things buyers should do is talk to a qualified lender and get preapproved for a mortgage, says Claire Clark, senior vice president of business development at Prudential California Realty. Without first figuring out how much house you can afford, you risk falling in love with one you can't.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
Marketing to the Nth Degree
By: Michael Harrelson
By inviting patrons to take ownership in a club’s brand and sharing that brand with a pool of fans and followers numbering more than one hundred million worldwide, social networking makes it possible for operators to target and engage vast numbers of prime club goers, 24/7, practically free of charge.
Almost overnight, Web-2.0-enhanced sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter have become critical components of broad-based club marketing strategies designed to build brand awareness, generate excitement and drive traffic around a venue’s weekly promotional line-up.
Social networking forums constitute just one element of the marketing strategy for Crobar Chicago, a 2009 Top 100 venue. Marketing director Gustavo Espinosa continues to explore the ever-expanding Web-wired platforms, not only to identify new opportunities to reach regular and potential patrons, but also to remain relevant.
“It is so current and so active,” Espinosa says. “It’s not like you have a phone list or a database that is outdated. These people are present and at attention, and they are being updated constantly.”
To track the effectiveness of the marketing initiative, Crobar’s door personnel ask entering patrons how they heard about the event; notes on their answers go into a report Espinosa reviews each Monday.
Out of 1,200 to 1,500 visitors per night, Espinosa says that on average one to three percent of guests found out about a given event by being “fans” of Crobar on Facebook. While these numbers may not seem earth-shaking in the club promotion universe, the reach of those Facebook fans indeed is significant, especially in a large city such as Chicago, he says.
The value lies in those Facebook friends “telling” their friends about the event when the fact that each fan is attending appears on his or her “wall” on Facebook — a notification of which goes to each of his or her friends.
“We are able to touch people who go out every Saturday, and then the network builds on friends adding friends,” he says, “kind of like the six degrees of separation idea.” The primary cost of marketing via social networking sites is time and creativity. After all, someone has to maintain the site, keeping it fresh and constantly engaging new fans.
Service staff at LAX in Las Vegas each have a MySpace page where they keep friends up-to-date on events at the club, which is owned by Pure Management Group. General manager of the 2009 Top 100 club Jonathan Spadafora says the staff’s social networking efforts are the second most effective traffic driver, right behind the club’s host.
Mutant Marketing
In addition to being both viral and contagious, club marketing on any of these social networking constructs is also very mutant. Even in its still fledgling stage of development, the technology platform tempts more and more marketing minds to search for new ways to field test its applications to their own unique operational settings.
“It is highly innovative right now, and it is going to be in an innovative stage forever,” predicts Jeff Moisey, a principal in West Hazleton, Pa.-based JumpFrog Marketing, which helps numerous venues and clients negotiate the quickly evolving marketing terrain around social networking.
“If you look at the application today, as opposed to three years ago, the transformation is amazing.”
Basic tactics might include developing comment threads around a picture post of an attractive girl at an event, but Moisey says club marketing managers are mining promotional gold in posting video contests wherein patrons win VIP access or dinner and drinks for the best clips of themselves having a great time at a club event.
The benefits can go well beyond generating excitement among the club’s existing patrons.
“All it takes is one video that makes it to YouTube,” Moisey says. “The exposure can be measured in hundreds of thousands of impressions if a video post gets picked by CNN or MSNBC as the most viral video of the week.”
As magical as the free marketing ops that come with a fan page on Twitter or Facebook can be, Moisey says paid advertising and keyword bids on social networking sites allow the house to target would-be patrons as never before –– for pennies on the dollar compared to other marketing options such as e-mail, radio or television advertising.
“The search engine capability of MySpace and Facebook allows club owners to target 22-year-old females who are kayaking, dancing and making spaghetti,” he says.
Leveraging an existing database of customer e-mails can help an operator who perhaps previously hasn’t staked a claim on Facebook or another site yet to connect patrons to a venue’s online networking community.
Any number of bars and restaurants are making use of free gift certificate campaigns launched online via Facebook, MySpace or other web links. One of the most successful to date is the “Who Do You Love?” party promotion offered by Qdoba Mexican Grill, based in Wheat Ridge, Colo., with 481 restaurants in 40 states.
The promotion involved sending customers in Qdoba’s e-mail database a call to action to visit a promotional web site to nominate a friend or a family member to win “the party of a lifetime.” In a single day after launching the viral promotion, Qdoba added almost 10,000 email addresses to its database.
Flood Insurance
With more and more clubs, restaurants and businesses latching onto the technology as a means to reach the highly desirable demographic that signs on to the sites religiously, Crobar’s Espinosa says social media marketing, like e-mail and text messaging, runs the risk of becoming both redundant and irrelevant as a marketing tool.
“To me, it has a lifespan,” he says. “Customers may not mind receiving updates, but after a certain amount of time, they are overwhelmed.”
While many club marketing professionals tend to use their MySpace and Facebook pages to inundate potential guests with information about upcoming promotions, Espinosa takes a less-is-more approach while bringing customers close to the Crobar brand itself.
After all, if a user is annoyed by the high number of messages from a venue in his or her in-box, he or she can simply de-friend the venue with the click of a mouse, thus blocking any future marketing messages.
“We are never going to overwhelm our fan page members with a barrage of promotional messages that can become harassment,” Espinosa explains. “If we are reaching out to you, it is with something compelling.”
Club marketers must also take care not to open their fans up to unwanted communications from other sources. Espinosa no longer uses the popular MySpace social networking platform for Crobar Chicago because of concerns about hackers spamming his paying customers.
What often is overlooked by many of those who have embraced social media marketing, Espinosa says, is the branding potential of the social networking trend. The key to the success of such endeavors is involving the patrons in the brand, something not possible with other media.
“The thing that I like most to do with our fan page is to create a personality for the club on it,” he says, noting that it’s often accomplished by singling out a club patron, often a regular, with a photo and a caption on the page.
“I like to make up a nickname for someone I see every week and post it with their picture on the site. That rapport and borderline blogging gives us personality. We become much more than just whiskey and drink specials.”
Social networking does provide ample opportunity to call out drink specials and special events, however. Most recently, Espinosa created a Saturday Night Fan Page on Facebook that touts Crobar’s highly popular weekly DJ event.
“We are personalizing each night, beginning with Saturday, and reaching out to people who like to go to nightclubs on weekends, and to the music-driven community, as well.”
Employees Only
While club connectivity through sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter was an afterthought of the social networking phenomenon first developed by a Harvard student back in the 1990s, and many club operators are just now tapping into it, the club connection was built into the Biteclub social networking platform from the very beginning, says Biteclub creator Sonny Mayugba.
“The primary audience is service industry employees,” Mayugba says of the site founded in 2007. “Our membership is 6,500 registered members, and the site is growing by the day.
”More of a hybrid destination in cyberspace, Biteclub is both a social and a professional networking site that enables members to interact through the posting of comments and photos as well as resumes targeting prospective employers.
The starting point for Biteclub members is very similar to Facebook and MySpace: Clubs post profiles with photos and their addresses and create their own little web sites. Members take it from there.
“If you are William’s Sports Bar, you can connect with chefs, foodies and cocktail connoisseurs in your area,” Mayugba explains, “and as you connect with them, you are creating a walled garden that facilitates direct marketing to them inside the network.” From there, many operators are finding, anything can happen.
By inviting patrons to take ownership in a club’s brand and sharing that brand with a pool of fans and followers numbering more than one hundred million worldwide, social networking makes it possible for operators to target and engage vast numbers of prime club goers, 24/7, practically free of charge.
Almost overnight, Web-2.0-enhanced sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter have become critical components of broad-based club marketing strategies designed to build brand awareness, generate excitement and drive traffic around a venue’s weekly promotional line-up.
Social networking forums constitute just one element of the marketing strategy for Crobar Chicago, a 2009 Top 100 venue. Marketing director Gustavo Espinosa continues to explore the ever-expanding Web-wired platforms, not only to identify new opportunities to reach regular and potential patrons, but also to remain relevant.
“It is so current and so active,” Espinosa says. “It’s not like you have a phone list or a database that is outdated. These people are present and at attention, and they are being updated constantly.”
To track the effectiveness of the marketing initiative, Crobar’s door personnel ask entering patrons how they heard about the event; notes on their answers go into a report Espinosa reviews each Monday.
Out of 1,200 to 1,500 visitors per night, Espinosa says that on average one to three percent of guests found out about a given event by being “fans” of Crobar on Facebook. While these numbers may not seem earth-shaking in the club promotion universe, the reach of those Facebook fans indeed is significant, especially in a large city such as Chicago, he says.
The value lies in those Facebook friends “telling” their friends about the event when the fact that each fan is attending appears on his or her “wall” on Facebook — a notification of which goes to each of his or her friends.
“We are able to touch people who go out every Saturday, and then the network builds on friends adding friends,” he says, “kind of like the six degrees of separation idea.” The primary cost of marketing via social networking sites is time and creativity. After all, someone has to maintain the site, keeping it fresh and constantly engaging new fans.
Service staff at LAX in Las Vegas each have a MySpace page where they keep friends up-to-date on events at the club, which is owned by Pure Management Group. General manager of the 2009 Top 100 club Jonathan Spadafora says the staff’s social networking efforts are the second most effective traffic driver, right behind the club’s host.
Mutant Marketing
In addition to being both viral and contagious, club marketing on any of these social networking constructs is also very mutant. Even in its still fledgling stage of development, the technology platform tempts more and more marketing minds to search for new ways to field test its applications to their own unique operational settings.
“It is highly innovative right now, and it is going to be in an innovative stage forever,” predicts Jeff Moisey, a principal in West Hazleton, Pa.-based JumpFrog Marketing, which helps numerous venues and clients negotiate the quickly evolving marketing terrain around social networking.
“If you look at the application today, as opposed to three years ago, the transformation is amazing.”
Basic tactics might include developing comment threads around a picture post of an attractive girl at an event, but Moisey says club marketing managers are mining promotional gold in posting video contests wherein patrons win VIP access or dinner and drinks for the best clips of themselves having a great time at a club event.
The benefits can go well beyond generating excitement among the club’s existing patrons.
“All it takes is one video that makes it to YouTube,” Moisey says. “The exposure can be measured in hundreds of thousands of impressions if a video post gets picked by CNN or MSNBC as the most viral video of the week.”
As magical as the free marketing ops that come with a fan page on Twitter or Facebook can be, Moisey says paid advertising and keyword bids on social networking sites allow the house to target would-be patrons as never before –– for pennies on the dollar compared to other marketing options such as e-mail, radio or television advertising.
“The search engine capability of MySpace and Facebook allows club owners to target 22-year-old females who are kayaking, dancing and making spaghetti,” he says.
Leveraging an existing database of customer e-mails can help an operator who perhaps previously hasn’t staked a claim on Facebook or another site yet to connect patrons to a venue’s online networking community.
Any number of bars and restaurants are making use of free gift certificate campaigns launched online via Facebook, MySpace or other web links. One of the most successful to date is the “Who Do You Love?” party promotion offered by Qdoba Mexican Grill, based in Wheat Ridge, Colo., with 481 restaurants in 40 states.
The promotion involved sending customers in Qdoba’s e-mail database a call to action to visit a promotional web site to nominate a friend or a family member to win “the party of a lifetime.” In a single day after launching the viral promotion, Qdoba added almost 10,000 email addresses to its database.
Flood Insurance
With more and more clubs, restaurants and businesses latching onto the technology as a means to reach the highly desirable demographic that signs on to the sites religiously, Crobar’s Espinosa says social media marketing, like e-mail and text messaging, runs the risk of becoming both redundant and irrelevant as a marketing tool.
“To me, it has a lifespan,” he says. “Customers may not mind receiving updates, but after a certain amount of time, they are overwhelmed.”
While many club marketing professionals tend to use their MySpace and Facebook pages to inundate potential guests with information about upcoming promotions, Espinosa takes a less-is-more approach while bringing customers close to the Crobar brand itself.
After all, if a user is annoyed by the high number of messages from a venue in his or her in-box, he or she can simply de-friend the venue with the click of a mouse, thus blocking any future marketing messages.
“We are never going to overwhelm our fan page members with a barrage of promotional messages that can become harassment,” Espinosa explains. “If we are reaching out to you, it is with something compelling.”
Club marketers must also take care not to open their fans up to unwanted communications from other sources. Espinosa no longer uses the popular MySpace social networking platform for Crobar Chicago because of concerns about hackers spamming his paying customers.
What often is overlooked by many of those who have embraced social media marketing, Espinosa says, is the branding potential of the social networking trend. The key to the success of such endeavors is involving the patrons in the brand, something not possible with other media.
“The thing that I like most to do with our fan page is to create a personality for the club on it,” he says, noting that it’s often accomplished by singling out a club patron, often a regular, with a photo and a caption on the page.
“I like to make up a nickname for someone I see every week and post it with their picture on the site. That rapport and borderline blogging gives us personality. We become much more than just whiskey and drink specials.”
Social networking does provide ample opportunity to call out drink specials and special events, however. Most recently, Espinosa created a Saturday Night Fan Page on Facebook that touts Crobar’s highly popular weekly DJ event.
“We are personalizing each night, beginning with Saturday, and reaching out to people who like to go to nightclubs on weekends, and to the music-driven community, as well.”
Employees Only
While club connectivity through sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter was an afterthought of the social networking phenomenon first developed by a Harvard student back in the 1990s, and many club operators are just now tapping into it, the club connection was built into the Biteclub social networking platform from the very beginning, says Biteclub creator Sonny Mayugba.
“The primary audience is service industry employees,” Mayugba says of the site founded in 2007. “Our membership is 6,500 registered members, and the site is growing by the day.
”More of a hybrid destination in cyberspace, Biteclub is both a social and a professional networking site that enables members to interact through the posting of comments and photos as well as resumes targeting prospective employers.
The starting point for Biteclub members is very similar to Facebook and MySpace: Clubs post profiles with photos and their addresses and create their own little web sites. Members take it from there.
“If you are William’s Sports Bar, you can connect with chefs, foodies and cocktail connoisseurs in your area,” Mayugba explains, “and as you connect with them, you are creating a walled garden that facilitates direct marketing to them inside the network.” From there, many operators are finding, anything can happen.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Watch Out For the Second Leg of the Downturn
By Tom Au
Do you think that the crash is over, as certain former bears do? This question arises as we have breached the first downside target, of Dow 7000, based on my proprietary investment value model that was first published in thestreet.com October 24, 2007.
It was less a forecast than an evaluation. The Dow has now vindicated this model by reaching "fair value," as one would expect from a simple definition. Does that represent a base for a new bull market? Or is it just one more stop to the nether regions?
To understand my model, note that a stock can be analyzed as a combination of a bond plus a call option. My proprietary investment value metric for a stock is book value plus ten times dividends.
That is a Ben Graham like construct that treats stocks almost like bonds, and gives no effect to growth over and above the pro rata return from the reinvestment of retained earnings.
On the other hand, many investors prize stocks, particularly tech stocks, for their "optionality," the hypothetical ability to generate "positive surprises" over and above what economic theory would support.
At bottom, the belief in the new economy was a belief in "optionality," that random positive events that occur from time to time, and did so with particular frequency in the 1990s, will become a recurring fixture of the economic landscape.
But such a process can also work in reverse, as it has recently. We are now experiencing what my colleague Robert Marcin calls the Great Unwind. A turbocharged economy is most likely to become "unstuck" when the conditions that initially favored it no longer exist.
When this happens, an economy can grow as much below trend as it was formerly above trend, a fact that is likely to be reflected in the financial markets. History is not very encouraging on this score.
In past downturns, such as those of 1932 and 1974, the Dow troughed at one half of my investment value metric, reflecting then-prevailing investor beliefs for negative optionality; that the economy will be worse than normal economic forces would dictate.
With investment value at 7000 (actually a rounded version of 6600) on the Dow, half of that would be 3300. And during the 1930s, this metric actually fell, meaning that the "ultimate" low could be half of a number lower than 6600.
So having completed a first downleg, the market is now working on a second one. And this would be fully reflective of economic forces. For instance, financial earnings used to represent some 40% earnings (if you count the financing arms of some old line "industrial" companies such as General Electric and General Motors).
Thus, they made up $32 of what used to be normalized S& P earnings of $80. But most of those financial earnings have disappeared. That, by itself, would take the S&P earnings into the $50s.
But how many of those non-financial earnings (of $48) were tied to the finance bubbles such as the homebuilding and the "housing ATM?" At least 10%, or around $5, and that is being conservative. Thus, normalized S&P earnings are likely to be no more $50 a share, if that.
The problem comes at payback time. For instance, much of the borrowing was tied to the housing market, on the bogus theory that houses could be made twice as valuable (as a multiple of rent) as they were for all of American history if prices could be kept on steady incline.
The problem was that valuations collapsed when house prices fell, or even failed to rise, bringing down the market with it. To make up the shortfall, the U.S. economy now has to consume less than it produces, for a time.
But the formerly virtuous circle became a vicious circle when falling prices (and consumption) led to falling production in a self-reinforcing process of the kind best described by George Soros in the Alchemy of Finance.
This is a process called under absorption, which in its strongest form, is called disintermediation. When a major part of the economy becomes "unstuck, the rest of it doesn't merely go into retrograde. It has to fall apart also to keep pace.
But I can live with $50 trough earnings, say many.
And at historical multiple of 14-16 times trough earnings, the S&P should stop its downside in the 700-800 range. But the point is, they're not trough earnings, they are the "new normal." And in the current "slow" (zero or worse) growth environment, a trough P/E of 6-8 times earnings is more likely.
Put another way, we are about to get the worst of all worlds; below trend earnings, below trend growth from a depressed base, and below trend P/E, after having gotten the best of all worlds, astronomical P/Es on above-trend and rapidly growing earnings, about a decade ago.
Warren Buffett now agrees, saying that we will get "almost the worst of all possible worlds..." The bears-turned-bulls have taken the latter stance because the market now reflects at least a severe recession.
One such commentator likened the recent market to 1938-1939, and feels that the latter represents a bottom. But the 1930s bottom was 1932, not 1939, which is to say that the market probably has further to fall.
Having correctly dodged the "overvaluation" bullet earlier, the new bulls pin their hopes on the prospect that the current market represents everything bad short of the 1930s Depression. Unlike us, they aren't willing to grasp the nettle that the current crisis will likely be as bad as anything including the Great Depression.
Do you think that the crash is over, as certain former bears do? This question arises as we have breached the first downside target, of Dow 7000, based on my proprietary investment value model that was first published in thestreet.com October 24, 2007.
It was less a forecast than an evaluation. The Dow has now vindicated this model by reaching "fair value," as one would expect from a simple definition. Does that represent a base for a new bull market? Or is it just one more stop to the nether regions?
To understand my model, note that a stock can be analyzed as a combination of a bond plus a call option. My proprietary investment value metric for a stock is book value plus ten times dividends.
That is a Ben Graham like construct that treats stocks almost like bonds, and gives no effect to growth over and above the pro rata return from the reinvestment of retained earnings.
On the other hand, many investors prize stocks, particularly tech stocks, for their "optionality," the hypothetical ability to generate "positive surprises" over and above what economic theory would support.
At bottom, the belief in the new economy was a belief in "optionality," that random positive events that occur from time to time, and did so with particular frequency in the 1990s, will become a recurring fixture of the economic landscape.
But such a process can also work in reverse, as it has recently. We are now experiencing what my colleague Robert Marcin calls the Great Unwind. A turbocharged economy is most likely to become "unstuck" when the conditions that initially favored it no longer exist.
When this happens, an economy can grow as much below trend as it was formerly above trend, a fact that is likely to be reflected in the financial markets. History is not very encouraging on this score.
In past downturns, such as those of 1932 and 1974, the Dow troughed at one half of my investment value metric, reflecting then-prevailing investor beliefs for negative optionality; that the economy will be worse than normal economic forces would dictate.
With investment value at 7000 (actually a rounded version of 6600) on the Dow, half of that would be 3300. And during the 1930s, this metric actually fell, meaning that the "ultimate" low could be half of a number lower than 6600.
So having completed a first downleg, the market is now working on a second one. And this would be fully reflective of economic forces. For instance, financial earnings used to represent some 40% earnings (if you count the financing arms of some old line "industrial" companies such as General Electric and General Motors).
Thus, they made up $32 of what used to be normalized S& P earnings of $80. But most of those financial earnings have disappeared. That, by itself, would take the S&P earnings into the $50s.
But how many of those non-financial earnings (of $48) were tied to the finance bubbles such as the homebuilding and the "housing ATM?" At least 10%, or around $5, and that is being conservative. Thus, normalized S&P earnings are likely to be no more $50 a share, if that.
The problem comes at payback time. For instance, much of the borrowing was tied to the housing market, on the bogus theory that houses could be made twice as valuable (as a multiple of rent) as they were for all of American history if prices could be kept on steady incline.
The problem was that valuations collapsed when house prices fell, or even failed to rise, bringing down the market with it. To make up the shortfall, the U.S. economy now has to consume less than it produces, for a time.
But the formerly virtuous circle became a vicious circle when falling prices (and consumption) led to falling production in a self-reinforcing process of the kind best described by George Soros in the Alchemy of Finance.
This is a process called under absorption, which in its strongest form, is called disintermediation. When a major part of the economy becomes "unstuck, the rest of it doesn't merely go into retrograde. It has to fall apart also to keep pace.
But I can live with $50 trough earnings, say many.
And at historical multiple of 14-16 times trough earnings, the S&P should stop its downside in the 700-800 range. But the point is, they're not trough earnings, they are the "new normal." And in the current "slow" (zero or worse) growth environment, a trough P/E of 6-8 times earnings is more likely.
Put another way, we are about to get the worst of all worlds; below trend earnings, below trend growth from a depressed base, and below trend P/E, after having gotten the best of all worlds, astronomical P/Es on above-trend and rapidly growing earnings, about a decade ago.
Warren Buffett now agrees, saying that we will get "almost the worst of all possible worlds..." The bears-turned-bulls have taken the latter stance because the market now reflects at least a severe recession.
One such commentator likened the recent market to 1938-1939, and feels that the latter represents a bottom. But the 1930s bottom was 1932, not 1939, which is to say that the market probably has further to fall.
Having correctly dodged the "overvaluation" bullet earlier, the new bulls pin their hopes on the prospect that the current market represents everything bad short of the 1930s Depression. Unlike us, they aren't willing to grasp the nettle that the current crisis will likely be as bad as anything including the Great Depression.
The Most Dangerous Investment in Today's Market
By Dan Caplinger
While stock investors celebrate the latest jumps in the stock market, those seeking current income from their portfolios continue to struggle with a big problem: how to get payouts they can count on. Yet with risk-free alternatives starting to dry up, those taking on more risk to sustain their income may get burned sooner than later.
Income investors have seen attacks from all quarters. Short-term Treasury securities continue to yield less than 1% -- before tax. Bank CDs, which until recently paid a high premium to Treasury rates, have come down sharply in recent months; the average six-month CD pays just 1.76%, having gotten cut in half just since October.
While last week's announcement of record profits from Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) undoubtedly stems from the high interest rate margins produced by low rates, savers are paying the price.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
While stock investors celebrate the latest jumps in the stock market, those seeking current income from their portfolios continue to struggle with a big problem: how to get payouts they can count on. Yet with risk-free alternatives starting to dry up, those taking on more risk to sustain their income may get burned sooner than later.
Income investors have seen attacks from all quarters. Short-term Treasury securities continue to yield less than 1% -- before tax. Bank CDs, which until recently paid a high premium to Treasury rates, have come down sharply in recent months; the average six-month CD pays just 1.76%, having gotten cut in half just since October.
While last week's announcement of record profits from Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) undoubtedly stems from the high interest rate margins produced by low rates, savers are paying the price.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
NEW PRODUCTS: First Round April 2009
From Nightclub & Bar
ÍS VodkaÍS Vodka,
pronounced “ice,” is a new entry to the high-end vodka category. Imported to the United States by Viking Glacier Spirits (US) Inc., this ultra-premium blend of naturally pure Icelandic water and non-genetically modified wheat is distilled seven times. VGS is positioning the product to appeal to consumers of luxury products who are becoming ever more health-conscious. For more information, visit www.isvodka.com.
Jose Cuervo Especial Silver
Marketers of Jose Cuervo developed Especial Silver with a single goal in mind: to make the smoothest tequila possible. Bottled immediately following distillation, Jose Cuervo Especial Silver, or Cuervo Silver, features a balanced aroma that combines spicy black pepper and hints of agave for a mix of sweetness and acidity on the palate, complemented by black pepper notes. For more information, visit www.cuervo.com.
Brooklyn Local 2
Brooklyn Brewery in Brooklyn, N.Y. has rolled out its latest beer, Local 2, an extension of the brewery’s Brooklyn Local 750-mililiter series. This 100 percent bottle-conditioned, Belgian-inspired beer is darker than Brooklyn Local 1 and features fruit, caramel and chocolate flavors accented by wildflower honey.
Brooklyn Local 2 combines European malts and hops, Belgian dark sugar and raw wildflower honey from a farm in Upstate New York. Fore more information, visit www.brooklynbrewery.com.
The Sopranos Wines Enter New States
The Sopranos Wines, the line of fine Italian wines inspired by the landmark HBO series, continues its nationwide rollout and is now available in California, Arizona, Maryland and Pennsylvania.
Operating under a licensing agreement between HBO and New York-based Vesuvio Import Co. and distributed by Duggan’s Distillers Products Corp., The Sopranos Wines features a range of selections for every type of wine enthusiast. For more information, visit www.bevig.com.
ÍS VodkaÍS Vodka,
pronounced “ice,” is a new entry to the high-end vodka category. Imported to the United States by Viking Glacier Spirits (US) Inc., this ultra-premium blend of naturally pure Icelandic water and non-genetically modified wheat is distilled seven times. VGS is positioning the product to appeal to consumers of luxury products who are becoming ever more health-conscious. For more information, visit www.isvodka.com.
Jose Cuervo Especial Silver
Marketers of Jose Cuervo developed Especial Silver with a single goal in mind: to make the smoothest tequila possible. Bottled immediately following distillation, Jose Cuervo Especial Silver, or Cuervo Silver, features a balanced aroma that combines spicy black pepper and hints of agave for a mix of sweetness and acidity on the palate, complemented by black pepper notes. For more information, visit www.cuervo.com.
Brooklyn Local 2
Brooklyn Brewery in Brooklyn, N.Y. has rolled out its latest beer, Local 2, an extension of the brewery’s Brooklyn Local 750-mililiter series. This 100 percent bottle-conditioned, Belgian-inspired beer is darker than Brooklyn Local 1 and features fruit, caramel and chocolate flavors accented by wildflower honey.
Brooklyn Local 2 combines European malts and hops, Belgian dark sugar and raw wildflower honey from a farm in Upstate New York. Fore more information, visit www.brooklynbrewery.com.
The Sopranos Wines Enter New States
The Sopranos Wines, the line of fine Italian wines inspired by the landmark HBO series, continues its nationwide rollout and is now available in California, Arizona, Maryland and Pennsylvania.
Operating under a licensing agreement between HBO and New York-based Vesuvio Import Co. and distributed by Duggan’s Distillers Products Corp., The Sopranos Wines features a range of selections for every type of wine enthusiast. For more information, visit www.bevig.com.
Friday, April 17, 2009
How to hire the best and the brightest every time
BY Resource Associates www.resourceassociates.com
If your job is finding and keeping the best and the brightest employees you possibly can, the best and brightest advice is to hire slowly. Take your time, be careful. As Steven S. Little, the business growth expert, quips, you're getting married?
What is an owner or human resources manager to do?
Use assessments, according to some of the happiest HR managers. A state-of-the-art selection testing system is worth more than its weight—in golden employees.
Why? Assessments do the inside work for you. Without x-ray vision or the ability to read minds, you can go only by outward appearances: a firm handshake or pleasant smile, for instance. We can easily be fooled by appearances. A fast-talking, gregarious person may seem intelligent and energetic. On the other hand, he may be simply nervous.
Assessments look beyond the quick smile, the firm handshake, the punctuality to reveal what you need to know about a job candidate: skills, knowledge, aptitude, and personality.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
If your job is finding and keeping the best and the brightest employees you possibly can, the best and brightest advice is to hire slowly. Take your time, be careful. As Steven S. Little, the business growth expert, quips, you're getting married?
What is an owner or human resources manager to do?
Use assessments, according to some of the happiest HR managers. A state-of-the-art selection testing system is worth more than its weight—in golden employees.
Why? Assessments do the inside work for you. Without x-ray vision or the ability to read minds, you can go only by outward appearances: a firm handshake or pleasant smile, for instance. We can easily be fooled by appearances. A fast-talking, gregarious person may seem intelligent and energetic. On the other hand, he may be simply nervous.
Assessments look beyond the quick smile, the firm handshake, the punctuality to reveal what you need to know about a job candidate: skills, knowledge, aptitude, and personality.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
What Do I Do Now? Five Financial Moves You Should Definitely Make -- and Five You Shouldn't
By DAVE KANSAS
Despite recent gains in the stock market, portfolios remain badly damaged by the market performance of the past 18 months. With jobs still falling away at a rapid clip, the recession is still a serious concern and policymakers are scrambling to implement expensive and complex solutions.
As we wade through these difficult times, how should you think about your own financial situation? A good starting point is to remember what Kipling wrote: Keep your head about you as everyone is losing theirs.
It's a great temptation in times such as these to think things will never get better. But if history shows us anything, things do eventually improve. In fact, judging by the standards of past economic shocks, this recession is getting long in the tooth.
The average recession since World War II has lasted 11 months, and the longest was 16 months in 1981-82. Our current crisis is 15 months old.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
Despite recent gains in the stock market, portfolios remain badly damaged by the market performance of the past 18 months. With jobs still falling away at a rapid clip, the recession is still a serious concern and policymakers are scrambling to implement expensive and complex solutions.
As we wade through these difficult times, how should you think about your own financial situation? A good starting point is to remember what Kipling wrote: Keep your head about you as everyone is losing theirs.
It's a great temptation in times such as these to think things will never get better. But if history shows us anything, things do eventually improve. In fact, judging by the standards of past economic shocks, this recession is getting long in the tooth.
The average recession since World War II has lasted 11 months, and the longest was 16 months in 1981-82. Our current crisis is 15 months old.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
Financial Prescriptions -- Seven tips for cutting your medical costs
By JANE ZHANG
The recession and souring job market has deepened consumer worries about rising medical costs. But there are things patients can do -- before or after they get sick -- to gain more control of their health-care dollars.
Many unemployed workers are finding that individual health plans are not as generous as their work-based insurance. Even those still covered by group plans may face higher premiums and co-payments, and one costly treatment could push them into medical debt.
Baby boomers, in particular, are concerned about losing their jobs or being priced out of the individual insurance market, according to AARP, the advocacy group for older Americans.
One in five people between 45 and 64 years old were "not very or not at all confident" that they would be able to afford health costs in 2009, according to an AARP survey in December.
But some steps can make a difference. Here are seven tips to help you deal with prevention, treatment, medical bills, charity care and more.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
The recession and souring job market has deepened consumer worries about rising medical costs. But there are things patients can do -- before or after they get sick -- to gain more control of their health-care dollars.
Many unemployed workers are finding that individual health plans are not as generous as their work-based insurance. Even those still covered by group plans may face higher premiums and co-payments, and one costly treatment could push them into medical debt.
Baby boomers, in particular, are concerned about losing their jobs or being priced out of the individual insurance market, according to AARP, the advocacy group for older Americans.
One in five people between 45 and 64 years old were "not very or not at all confident" that they would be able to afford health costs in 2009, according to an AARP survey in December.
But some steps can make a difference. Here are seven tips to help you deal with prevention, treatment, medical bills, charity care and more.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
Style Vs. Substance Weighing In On Free-Pouring Shots
From The American Mixologist
In the movie Anna Christie, screen sensation Greta Garbo plays a hooker who strolls into a waterfront saloon and says, “Gimme a visky, ginger ale on the side, and don’t be stingy, baby.” If you haven’t seen the film, it won’t ruin the ending by adding that the bartender pours her a stiff drink, and then doesn’t charge her for it. I’m thinking, “Thanks pal, there goes our pour cost.” It’s a sentiment most bar operators can relate to.
Operating a bar requires maintaining a significant capital investment in liquor inventory, liquid assets that are especially vulnerable to internal theft and can siphoned off at an alarming rate. Regardless of whether bartenders over-pour liquor, give it away, sell it and pocket the cash, or drink it themselves, the negative impact is the same.
An essential means of safeguarding profitability is to implement portioning controls. Over- or under-pouring liquor wreaks havoc on a bar’s cost percentages. Because the sales price of a drink is hinged to a specified amount of alcohol, if that portion fluctuates, so does the drink’s profit margin. It’s challenging for a bar to remain in the black when the staff is playing fast and loose with the liquor.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
In the movie Anna Christie, screen sensation Greta Garbo plays a hooker who strolls into a waterfront saloon and says, “Gimme a visky, ginger ale on the side, and don’t be stingy, baby.” If you haven’t seen the film, it won’t ruin the ending by adding that the bartender pours her a stiff drink, and then doesn’t charge her for it. I’m thinking, “Thanks pal, there goes our pour cost.” It’s a sentiment most bar operators can relate to.
Operating a bar requires maintaining a significant capital investment in liquor inventory, liquid assets that are especially vulnerable to internal theft and can siphoned off at an alarming rate. Regardless of whether bartenders over-pour liquor, give it away, sell it and pocket the cash, or drink it themselves, the negative impact is the same.
An essential means of safeguarding profitability is to implement portioning controls. Over- or under-pouring liquor wreaks havoc on a bar’s cost percentages. Because the sales price of a drink is hinged to a specified amount of alcohol, if that portion fluctuates, so does the drink’s profit margin. It’s challenging for a bar to remain in the black when the staff is playing fast and loose with the liquor.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Tips on breaking bad habits
By Karen Ravn
Breaking a bad habit is a little like breaking up with a spouse with whom you have serious differences but also have a child: The old habit will always be part of your life. So you need to find ways to cope.
* Eliminate whatever reward or payoff the habit gives. This is easier to do with rats than with people: If you have a habit of buying your lunch at the vending machine at work, for example, there's really no way to arrange for the machine to be empty every time you automatically head over there at noon. But in other cases, you have more control.
If you have a habit of eating ice cream every night before you go to bed, you can get rid of all the ice cream in your freezer.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
Breaking a bad habit is a little like breaking up with a spouse with whom you have serious differences but also have a child: The old habit will always be part of your life. So you need to find ways to cope.
* Eliminate whatever reward or payoff the habit gives. This is easier to do with rats than with people: If you have a habit of buying your lunch at the vending machine at work, for example, there's really no way to arrange for the machine to be empty every time you automatically head over there at noon. But in other cases, you have more control.
If you have a habit of eating ice cream every night before you go to bed, you can get rid of all the ice cream in your freezer.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
Bartending As an Alternative Job
By Trent McMullin
Bartending is a job that is very appealing when looking from the other side of the bar. Many bartenders are able to drink on the job, make a sizable amount in tips, and in general get to feel like the center of attention.
For someone looking for a job that is easy to get into, pays well, and can be mastered without special training or schooling, being a bartender may be the perfect choice.
With the economy as it is now, not only in the United States, but globally, out-of-work people and those worried about losing their jobs are looking for a solution. While bartending may not be for everyone, it is a solid job that tends to hang on pretty well during economic downturns.
A bartender provides people with alcohol, whether it be for fun or to drown away sorrows. Either for fun or eradicating sorrows, people not only continue to drink during economic turmoil, many increase how much they drink.
While it may not be healthy, physically or mentally, it provides a stable job that anyone of legal age to bartend can get into, no matter what their schooling.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
Bartending is a job that is very appealing when looking from the other side of the bar. Many bartenders are able to drink on the job, make a sizable amount in tips, and in general get to feel like the center of attention.
For someone looking for a job that is easy to get into, pays well, and can be mastered without special training or schooling, being a bartender may be the perfect choice.
With the economy as it is now, not only in the United States, but globally, out-of-work people and those worried about losing their jobs are looking for a solution. While bartending may not be for everyone, it is a solid job that tends to hang on pretty well during economic downturns.
A bartender provides people with alcohol, whether it be for fun or to drown away sorrows. Either for fun or eradicating sorrows, people not only continue to drink during economic turmoil, many increase how much they drink.
While it may not be healthy, physically or mentally, it provides a stable job that anyone of legal age to bartend can get into, no matter what their schooling.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
Thinking of jumping back into the stock market?
By Gail MarksJarvis
Ready to give the stock market a try?
Rallies like the sharp upturn the market has had since March 9 tend to give reluctant people the urge to invest in stocks again. But if you are among them, remember there is no clarity yet that this rally is for keeps.
Often in bear markets, or long-term losing periods like the one stocks have been in since October 2007, there are rallies that look good for a while, only to be replaced by downturns.
So the safest approach is to add a little money to stock mutual funds with each paycheck through a 401(k)-type retirement plan. That way you don't bet a large sum at a single point. And mutual funds provide more safety than making a bet on individual stocks.
Three other approaches that could work, depending on your level of bravery:
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
Ready to give the stock market a try?
Rallies like the sharp upturn the market has had since March 9 tend to give reluctant people the urge to invest in stocks again. But if you are among them, remember there is no clarity yet that this rally is for keeps.
Often in bear markets, or long-term losing periods like the one stocks have been in since October 2007, there are rallies that look good for a while, only to be replaced by downturns.
So the safest approach is to add a little money to stock mutual funds with each paycheck through a 401(k)-type retirement plan. That way you don't bet a large sum at a single point. And mutual funds provide more safety than making a bet on individual stocks.
Three other approaches that could work, depending on your level of bravery:
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
Monday, April 13, 2009
Five Leading Retail Rip-Offs
Vera Gibbons Identifies Common Items With Tremendous Markups
People in penny-pinching mode have probably cut out a lot of obvious purchases and expenses, such as fancy dinners, premium cable, etc. But there are still items out there that even the most price-savvy consumer is probably over-paying for.
You may be surprised at the big markups Early Show financial contributor Vera Gibbons found on some very common products. Retailers, she explained Monday, put steeper markups on some items than others in hopes of turning a profit.
But, Gibbons says, while that's understandable, it doesn't mean you have to play into their game. She identified five common purchases in which most of us are simply paying too much -- and offered strategies to keep from being taken to the cleaners:
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
People in penny-pinching mode have probably cut out a lot of obvious purchases and expenses, such as fancy dinners, premium cable, etc. But there are still items out there that even the most price-savvy consumer is probably over-paying for.
You may be surprised at the big markups Early Show financial contributor Vera Gibbons found on some very common products. Retailers, she explained Monday, put steeper markups on some items than others in hopes of turning a profit.
But, Gibbons says, while that's understandable, it doesn't mean you have to play into their game. She identified five common purchases in which most of us are simply paying too much -- and offered strategies to keep from being taken to the cleaners:
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
7 Things You're Wasting Money On
by Kelli B. Grant
Before you blame your daily jaunt to Starbucks (SBUX: 12.00, +0.51, +4.43%) or weekly trip to the movies for breaking your budget, take a good hard look at how much you’re paying for less obvious but much more expensive money wasters like overdraft fees and auto insurance.
Cut back on these seven items and you could save roughly $1,000 a year.
1) Bottled Water
Getting your recommended eight glasses of water a day by bottle instead of tap is a huge waste of cash, says Phil Lempert, founder of Supermarket Guru. That buck-a-bottle water you down on a regular basis can really add up. (Even more so now that cities like Chicago collect an additional tax of five cents per bottle.)
Potential Savings: Spend $37 to buy a 40-ounce Brita pitcher and filter ($13 at Bed, Bath and Beyond (BBBY: 31.09, -0.61, -1.92%)), plus a four-pack of replacement filters ($24), and you'll be able to filter 200 gallons of water. Buy that much water in 24-packs of 16.9-ounce Aquafina bottles at Shop Rite instead, and you’d spend $283.50. Your total savings: $246.50.
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Before you blame your daily jaunt to Starbucks (SBUX: 12.00, +0.51, +4.43%) or weekly trip to the movies for breaking your budget, take a good hard look at how much you’re paying for less obvious but much more expensive money wasters like overdraft fees and auto insurance.
Cut back on these seven items and you could save roughly $1,000 a year.
1) Bottled Water
Getting your recommended eight glasses of water a day by bottle instead of tap is a huge waste of cash, says Phil Lempert, founder of Supermarket Guru. That buck-a-bottle water you down on a regular basis can really add up. (Even more so now that cities like Chicago collect an additional tax of five cents per bottle.)
Potential Savings: Spend $37 to buy a 40-ounce Brita pitcher and filter ($13 at Bed, Bath and Beyond (BBBY: 31.09, -0.61, -1.92%)), plus a four-pack of replacement filters ($24), and you'll be able to filter 200 gallons of water. Buy that much water in 24-packs of 16.9-ounce Aquafina bottles at Shop Rite instead, and you’d spend $283.50. Your total savings: $246.50.
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New liquors keep bartenders in good spirits
By Gary Regan
As I like to boast to some of today's younger bartenders, I'm from the generation that gave birth to cocktailian masterpieces such as the Harvey Wallbanger, a complex potion comprised of vodka, orange juice and a floater of Galliano. Most of them laugh at me. I can't say I blame them.
The Freddy Fudpucker - Harvey's Tequila-based younger brother - on the other hand, is actually a decent quaff. The spontaneous dance that erupts when spicy, peppery, vegetal Tequila meets the sweet vanilla and anise notes in the Galliano has always had far more in common with a tango than a waltz.
And the Freddie Fudpucker just got better. Galliano has been relaunched as Galliano L'Autentico - it's gotten drier, it's gotten more complex, and the alcohol content has been increased.
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As I like to boast to some of today's younger bartenders, I'm from the generation that gave birth to cocktailian masterpieces such as the Harvey Wallbanger, a complex potion comprised of vodka, orange juice and a floater of Galliano. Most of them laugh at me. I can't say I blame them.
The Freddy Fudpucker - Harvey's Tequila-based younger brother - on the other hand, is actually a decent quaff. The spontaneous dance that erupts when spicy, peppery, vegetal Tequila meets the sweet vanilla and anise notes in the Galliano has always had far more in common with a tango than a waltz.
And the Freddie Fudpucker just got better. Galliano has been relaunched as Galliano L'Autentico - it's gotten drier, it's gotten more complex, and the alcohol content has been increased.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Best-Kept-Secret Careers -- 5 Emerging Professions That Fly Under the Radar
by Patricia Cecil-Reed
The world around us is changing, and our economy along with it. A challenging economy may usher in change a bit more quickly than we might like, but out of the ashes, new fields arise. Green energy, better health care -- it seems there may be some silver linings around those dark clouds. Apply your interests to one of these rising fields, and you may be able to follow your career dreams to the top.
Here are some up-and-coming careers in today's hottest fields. They may fly under the radar for now, but that's likely to change in the future.
Digital Technology
There are plenty of career opportunities to explore in the field of digital technology, with the exponential growth of the Internet, computers at work and home, and gaming -- both online and with game systems like PS3 and X-Box.
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The world around us is changing, and our economy along with it. A challenging economy may usher in change a bit more quickly than we might like, but out of the ashes, new fields arise. Green energy, better health care -- it seems there may be some silver linings around those dark clouds. Apply your interests to one of these rising fields, and you may be able to follow your career dreams to the top.
Here are some up-and-coming careers in today's hottest fields. They may fly under the radar for now, but that's likely to change in the future.
Digital Technology
There are plenty of career opportunities to explore in the field of digital technology, with the exponential growth of the Internet, computers at work and home, and gaming -- both online and with game systems like PS3 and X-Box.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
When Home Prices Hit Bottom
by Amanda Gengler
Call it the Great Housing Paralysis of 2009. If you're hoping to buy your first home or invest in a second one, you're probably sidelined, unsure when to jump in. If you want to sell, you're thinking it may be better to wait.
And even if you don't plan to either buy or sell anytime soon, watching one of your biggest assets tank is about as much fun as being chased by hornets. When will the pain stop?
Nationwide, home prices will bottom out at the end of this year, according to the forecasters at Moody's Economy.com. Median prices will probably fall another 10% on top of the 27% they've plummeted since their 2006 peak.
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Call it the Great Housing Paralysis of 2009. If you're hoping to buy your first home or invest in a second one, you're probably sidelined, unsure when to jump in. If you want to sell, you're thinking it may be better to wait.
And even if you don't plan to either buy or sell anytime soon, watching one of your biggest assets tank is about as much fun as being chased by hornets. When will the pain stop?
Nationwide, home prices will bottom out at the end of this year, according to the forecasters at Moody's Economy.com. Median prices will probably fall another 10% on top of the 27% they've plummeted since their 2006 peak.
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Negroni history lesson ends in a glass
By Gary Regan
When I started researching the histories of cocktails back in the late 1980s I was told that the Negroni, one of my very favorite quaffs, was named for a certain Count Negroni, an Italian nobleman who demanded that his local bartender make him an Americano with no club soda, but "put some gin in there instead."
"Yeah, right," I'd say, "sure there was a Count Negroni." Turns out it was true.
"Sulle Tracce del Conte: La Vera Stroria del Cocktail Negroni," a book written by Luca Picchi, head bartender at Caffe Rivoire in Florence, verifies that the Count existed, and that he did, indeed, invent the Negroni.
And it gets even better: Count Negroni made a living as a rodeo cowboy in the United States for a time, so the guy was obviously a tough man. The thought that he replaced the soda with gin begins to make sense, right?
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
When I started researching the histories of cocktails back in the late 1980s I was told that the Negroni, one of my very favorite quaffs, was named for a certain Count Negroni, an Italian nobleman who demanded that his local bartender make him an Americano with no club soda, but "put some gin in there instead."
"Yeah, right," I'd say, "sure there was a Count Negroni." Turns out it was true.
"Sulle Tracce del Conte: La Vera Stroria del Cocktail Negroni," a book written by Luca Picchi, head bartender at Caffe Rivoire in Florence, verifies that the Count existed, and that he did, indeed, invent the Negroni.
And it gets even better: Count Negroni made a living as a rodeo cowboy in the United States for a time, so the guy was obviously a tough man. The thought that he replaced the soda with gin begins to make sense, right?
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Saturday, April 11, 2009
6 Things to Buy Before the Economy Improves
By Daniel Indiviglio
1. Women's Clothing
According to the Consumer Price Index, women's outerwear, shoes and accessories have all seen lower prices in February compared with a year ago. Recently, women have begun flocking to "value" retailers, according to Piper Jaffray retail clothing analyst Jeffrey Klinefelter.
That means less expensive clothing stores can lower their prices through lower production costs, and more expensive clothing stores will be forced to have more sales and clearance racks.
See More Things to Buy Before the Economy Improves
2. Laptops
Paul Ryder, vice president of consumer electronics for Amazon.com, says laptop prices have dropped thanks to the interest in netbooks. Although the Consumer Price Index does not break out laptop computers from others, it seems to broadly support this claim, with personal computer prices falling 13 percent in February from a year earlier.
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1. Women's Clothing
According to the Consumer Price Index, women's outerwear, shoes and accessories have all seen lower prices in February compared with a year ago. Recently, women have begun flocking to "value" retailers, according to Piper Jaffray retail clothing analyst Jeffrey Klinefelter.
That means less expensive clothing stores can lower their prices through lower production costs, and more expensive clothing stores will be forced to have more sales and clearance racks.
See More Things to Buy Before the Economy Improves
2. Laptops
Paul Ryder, vice president of consumer electronics for Amazon.com, says laptop prices have dropped thanks to the interest in netbooks. Although the Consumer Price Index does not break out laptop computers from others, it seems to broadly support this claim, with personal computer prices falling 13 percent in February from a year earlier.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
The Best Time to Get Back In
By Jim Mueller (TMFGebinr)
Can you smell it? The fear, I mean:
"CNN Poll: Americans Fear a New Great Depression" -- CNNMoney
"Forget Logic; Fear Appears to Have Edge" -- The New York Times
"Fear Trumps Greed As Market Woes Paralyze Economies" -- Bloomberg
Those are just three headlines from the past several months that show how fear is just oozing from this market. And with good reason. The S&P 500 fell as much as 50% from its October 2007 high.
It's the rare person who hasn't seen his or her portfolio pummeled from the mayhem that the fall has wreaked. It's downright scary out there.
But does this mean that we should just sell everything and go away until things improve? Not necessarily.
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Can you smell it? The fear, I mean:
"CNN Poll: Americans Fear a New Great Depression" -- CNNMoney
"Forget Logic; Fear Appears to Have Edge" -- The New York Times
"Fear Trumps Greed As Market Woes Paralyze Economies" -- Bloomberg
Those are just three headlines from the past several months that show how fear is just oozing from this market. And with good reason. The S&P 500 fell as much as 50% from its October 2007 high.
It's the rare person who hasn't seen his or her portfolio pummeled from the mayhem that the fall has wreaked. It's downright scary out there.
But does this mean that we should just sell everything and go away until things improve? Not necessarily.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
Private Party Bartending Set-Up Tips & More
From Bartender Confessions
Hey Guys! Great little video I did while “behind the bar” at my last bartending event. I share a few simple tips for pre-party set-up, but most importantly, I wanted to demonstrate just how EASY this gig is! Enjoy!
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Hey Guys! Great little video I did while “behind the bar” at my last bartending event. I share a few simple tips for pre-party set-up, but most importantly, I wanted to demonstrate just how EASY this gig is! Enjoy!
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Beware of Blind Optimism
By Alyce Lomax
We could all use a bit of optimism in these tough economic times. In the face of adversity, a positive outlook gives us the strength to fight the good fight. But it's one thing to face challenges with the right attitude and another to insist on optimism no matter what.
I believe that blind optimism, with no regard for actual facts, will only lead us even deeper into our current mess. We can't afford to take a page from Voltaire's Candide, blithely insisting that "all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds," despite the looming presence of harsh reality.
How'd that work out for you?
The belief that everything will work out for the best, without any change or effort on our part, won't serve us well anymore. Neither will short-sightedly ignoring the possibility of trouble on the horizon.
We're not being overly negative if we merely acknowledge that we might be facing the mother of all currency crises, or prepare for worst-case scenarios that might arise from economic mishaps or policy blunders.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
We could all use a bit of optimism in these tough economic times. In the face of adversity, a positive outlook gives us the strength to fight the good fight. But it's one thing to face challenges with the right attitude and another to insist on optimism no matter what.
I believe that blind optimism, with no regard for actual facts, will only lead us even deeper into our current mess. We can't afford to take a page from Voltaire's Candide, blithely insisting that "all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds," despite the looming presence of harsh reality.
How'd that work out for you?
The belief that everything will work out for the best, without any change or effort on our part, won't serve us well anymore. Neither will short-sightedly ignoring the possibility of trouble on the horizon.
We're not being overly negative if we merely acknowledge that we might be facing the mother of all currency crises, or prepare for worst-case scenarios that might arise from economic mishaps or policy blunders.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
The Best Way to Save for Nearly Anything
By Dan Caplinger
Don't let the name fool you. Even though a Roth IRA was designed as a way to help you save for retirement, you don't have to use it that way. In fact, when it comes to Roth IRAs, you have a lot of choices -- even ones that aren't available with traditional IRAs.
Great features for your savings
The design of the Roth IRA makes it an ideal place for investors to put their long-term savings. For as long as you hold the account, you'll never pay any taxes on the income you earn within the Roth.
And as long as you meet the requirements for distributions, you won't pay any taxes when you take withdrawals, either. That can give young adults 60 years or more of tax-free growth -- which even at modest returns of 8% is enough to multiply your investment a hundredfold.
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Don't let the name fool you. Even though a Roth IRA was designed as a way to help you save for retirement, you don't have to use it that way. In fact, when it comes to Roth IRAs, you have a lot of choices -- even ones that aren't available with traditional IRAs.
Great features for your savings
The design of the Roth IRA makes it an ideal place for investors to put their long-term savings. For as long as you hold the account, you'll never pay any taxes on the income you earn within the Roth.
And as long as you meet the requirements for distributions, you won't pay any taxes when you take withdrawals, either. That can give young adults 60 years or more of tax-free growth -- which even at modest returns of 8% is enough to multiply your investment a hundredfold.
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The Bartending School - Is It Right For You?
Bartending has been portrayed by the media as running the gamut from exciting, as in movies like Cocktail, to not so thrilling, as in the bartender Mo in the Simpsons. As with any other job, a bartending job has its ups and downs, but it really depends on the person who is pursuing the career.
A bartending school is a great idea for someone who is looking to make bartending into a full time occupation. Bartending services run the gamut from just pouring beers in a local tavern, all the way to working in posh restaurants and knowing how to mix drinks.
Finding the best school to attend to learn how to bartend is very important; you need to know what your options are.
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A bartending school is a great idea for someone who is looking to make bartending into a full time occupation. Bartending services run the gamut from just pouring beers in a local tavern, all the way to working in posh restaurants and knowing how to mix drinks.
Finding the best school to attend to learn how to bartend is very important; you need to know what your options are.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
The New World Order -- and How to Profit From It
By Matt Hoffman
International power broker Henry Kissinger -- who also happens to be Tim Geithner's first employer out of college -- said in a 2007 interview with Charlie Rose that "we're at a moment when the international system is in a period of change like we haven't seen for several hundred years."
And what's changing? Former President of the World Bank James Wolfensohn is more specific:
You will have a 22 times growth [in developing countries like Brazil, Russia, India, China, and Mexico] between now and the year 2050.
And the current rich countries will grow maybe two-and-a half times. This is not just ... a modest statistical change. This is a change in terms of quantum and in terms of importance.
A new world order is emerging. What will be changing?
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International power broker Henry Kissinger -- who also happens to be Tim Geithner's first employer out of college -- said in a 2007 interview with Charlie Rose that "we're at a moment when the international system is in a period of change like we haven't seen for several hundred years."
And what's changing? Former President of the World Bank James Wolfensohn is more specific:
You will have a 22 times growth [in developing countries like Brazil, Russia, India, China, and Mexico] between now and the year 2050.
And the current rich countries will grow maybe two-and-a half times. This is not just ... a modest statistical change. This is a change in terms of quantum and in terms of importance.
A new world order is emerging. What will be changing?
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Should You Quit Buying Stocks?
By Tim Beyers
More than 2 million people saw Jon Stewart clobber CNBC's Jim Cramer during a recent episode of The Daily Show.
Stewart the comedian became Stewart the commentator -- and he sounded a lot like former presidential candidate John Edwards talking about "two Americas," one for the rich and one for the poor. Stewart said:
One [market] has been sold to us as long-term. Put your money in 401(k)s. Put your money in pensions and just leave it there. Don't worry about it. It's all doing fine.
Then, there's this other market -- this real market that is occurring in the back room, where giant piles of money are going in and out and people are trading them, and it's transactional and it's fast.
But it's dangerous, it's ethically dubious, and it hurts that long-term market. Stewart and his righteous outrage were speaking for a lot of people that night.
Not only have most of us lost money in the market recently, but also nearly every day brings new tales of outright deception, monetary malfeasance, and just plain unethical behavior. It's enough to make you wonder whether you should just get out.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
More than 2 million people saw Jon Stewart clobber CNBC's Jim Cramer during a recent episode of The Daily Show.
Stewart the comedian became Stewart the commentator -- and he sounded a lot like former presidential candidate John Edwards talking about "two Americas," one for the rich and one for the poor. Stewart said:
One [market] has been sold to us as long-term. Put your money in 401(k)s. Put your money in pensions and just leave it there. Don't worry about it. It's all doing fine.
Then, there's this other market -- this real market that is occurring in the back room, where giant piles of money are going in and out and people are trading them, and it's transactional and it's fast.
But it's dangerous, it's ethically dubious, and it hurts that long-term market. Stewart and his righteous outrage were speaking for a lot of people that night.
Not only have most of us lost money in the market recently, but also nearly every day brings new tales of outright deception, monetary malfeasance, and just plain unethical behavior. It's enough to make you wonder whether you should just get out.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
The Return of the Cocktail Party and Charming Cocktail Party Invitations
By Amy Carter
A cocktail party is meant to be short and sweet. Inviting your friends over for cocktails should be a two hour chance to catch up and unwind. You and your guests can get together for just a short time; reconnect and then still have most of the evening to yourself.
And when you consider a shorter cocktail party to celebrate instead of a big party with drinks, dinner and dessert, you might be looking at saving a little money, too. Consider some of these cocktail party ideas for your next birthday, graduation or next big event.
Pick the perfect urbane cocktail party invitation and you're well on your way to a suave, grown up party.
The Classic Cocktail Party
When you think of cocktails, the Martini is generally the first libation that comes to mind. Celebrate the Martini and its sophistication with a charming Martini invitation. Your guests will be feeling debonair right from the start.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
A cocktail party is meant to be short and sweet. Inviting your friends over for cocktails should be a two hour chance to catch up and unwind. You and your guests can get together for just a short time; reconnect and then still have most of the evening to yourself.
And when you consider a shorter cocktail party to celebrate instead of a big party with drinks, dinner and dessert, you might be looking at saving a little money, too. Consider some of these cocktail party ideas for your next birthday, graduation or next big event.
Pick the perfect urbane cocktail party invitation and you're well on your way to a suave, grown up party.
The Classic Cocktail Party
When you think of cocktails, the Martini is generally the first libation that comes to mind. Celebrate the Martini and its sophistication with a charming Martini invitation. Your guests will be feeling debonair right from the start.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
Sunday, April 05, 2009
You Are About to Lose a Fortune
By Tim Beyers
I've noticed a disturbing trend. More executives are being forced to sell because of margin calls. Recent victims include insiders at Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) and Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK). Chesapeake CEO Aubrey McClendon forfeited virtually his entire stake in the company he co-founded 20 years ago.
A more than marginally bad idea
Margin is debt. When you buy on margin, you're borrowing from your broker to buy more shares than the cash in your account would normally allow. It's a secured loan, insured by the value of your portfolio's holdings.
As you might expect, margin is often popular during bull markets, because of how it can multiply returns. You pocket the difference between what you pay in interest and what you earn in gains, and it feels like free money.
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I've noticed a disturbing trend. More executives are being forced to sell because of margin calls. Recent victims include insiders at Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) and Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK). Chesapeake CEO Aubrey McClendon forfeited virtually his entire stake in the company he co-founded 20 years ago.
A more than marginally bad idea
Margin is debt. When you buy on margin, you're borrowing from your broker to buy more shares than the cash in your account would normally allow. It's a secured loan, insured by the value of your portfolio's holdings.
As you might expect, margin is often popular during bull markets, because of how it can multiply returns. You pocket the difference between what you pay in interest and what you earn in gains, and it feels like free money.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
Welcome to the Second Great Depression
By Richard Gibbons
Harvard economist Robert Barro recently estimated that there is a 20% chance that the U.S. will fall into a depression. He defines that as a 10% decline in GDP per capita or consumption.
It's a credible estimate -- the 6.2% annualized real GDP decline in the fourth quarter is already approaching the 6.4% annualized decline we saw in 1982 during the worst post-World War II recession, and we look nowhere near recovery. Our unemployment rate of 8.1% is close to the 8.6% our country experienced in 1930.
If you were a reckless bank executive who would get paid huge bonuses regardless of how many billions of dollars you destroyed, you'd be saying right now, "80% chance of no depression? Why not lend billions to people who have no hope of ever paying it back!"
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
Harvard economist Robert Barro recently estimated that there is a 20% chance that the U.S. will fall into a depression. He defines that as a 10% decline in GDP per capita or consumption.
It's a credible estimate -- the 6.2% annualized real GDP decline in the fourth quarter is already approaching the 6.4% annualized decline we saw in 1982 during the worst post-World War II recession, and we look nowhere near recovery. Our unemployment rate of 8.1% is close to the 8.6% our country experienced in 1930.
If you were a reckless bank executive who would get paid huge bonuses regardless of how many billions of dollars you destroyed, you'd be saying right now, "80% chance of no depression? Why not lend billions to people who have no hope of ever paying it back!"
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
Eight Ways To Jump-Start Bar Sales
From The American Mixologist
It used to be if you wanted to increase bar sales you simply poured more alcohol. Prying another sale from one out of every third customer would make revenue jump a cool 33%.
But times have changed. Society has changed. How you increase bar sales has also changed. One option is getting more warm bodies through the doors. That could result in higher sales. However, it’s as likely that it will essentially deteriorate into an uncontrollable situation.
Another means of increasing revenue is to raise drink prices. This too is a practice fraught with problems, chief among them is customer and server resistance. You may also find that raising prices effectively lowers sales volume, resulting in a decline in revenue.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
It used to be if you wanted to increase bar sales you simply poured more alcohol. Prying another sale from one out of every third customer would make revenue jump a cool 33%.
But times have changed. Society has changed. How you increase bar sales has also changed. One option is getting more warm bodies through the doors. That could result in higher sales. However, it’s as likely that it will essentially deteriorate into an uncontrollable situation.
Another means of increasing revenue is to raise drink prices. This too is a practice fraught with problems, chief among them is customer and server resistance. You may also find that raising prices effectively lowers sales volume, resulting in a decline in revenue.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Best Foods for a Flat Belly
By Lucy Danziger
What if someone told you that the way you eat could whittle your waistline? Sure, you'd think. Give up carbs and rely on rabbit food. Not true! I'm happy to tell you that there are other, yummier ways to go.
Certain foods and styles of eating can indeed help flatten your belly (and everywhere else, for that matter). Try these tips and you'll uncover an amazing middle in no time.
Gimme a C: I love pink grapefruit and that's a good thing, since research has found that foods that are naturally rich in vitamin C—think citrus fruit, cantaloupe and red peppers—can help reduce fat absorption.
In fact, skip it and you may see your middle expand, since diets low in vitamin C have been linked to bigger waistlines. Meet your daily goal of 75 milligrams by snacking on an orange or a cup of strawberries. See how these small changes can add up to big results.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
What if someone told you that the way you eat could whittle your waistline? Sure, you'd think. Give up carbs and rely on rabbit food. Not true! I'm happy to tell you that there are other, yummier ways to go.
Certain foods and styles of eating can indeed help flatten your belly (and everywhere else, for that matter). Try these tips and you'll uncover an amazing middle in no time.
Gimme a C: I love pink grapefruit and that's a good thing, since research has found that foods that are naturally rich in vitamin C—think citrus fruit, cantaloupe and red peppers—can help reduce fat absorption.
In fact, skip it and you may see your middle expand, since diets low in vitamin C have been linked to bigger waistlines. Meet your daily goal of 75 milligrams by snacking on an orange or a cup of strawberries. See how these small changes can add up to big results.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
How to Really Rock Your Roth
By Motley Fool Staff
One of the great joys of writing about personal finance is to read and write about the successes of common investors -- Fools like Rob Ketterer, a government consultant who began with $500 in a basket of stocks including ExxonMobil and Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO), which went on to post dynamic returns over long periods of time, and who today owns a house and three rental properties.
Rob's story is great, but it's not unique. One Foolish reader, Tim S., reported that his grandfather invested $350 in Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) in 1960. By 2006, thanks to the awesome power of dividend reinvesting, he owned 9,100 Pfizer shares paying $10,500 annually in dividends.
And even with Pfizer's recently announced dividend cut, he'll still be earning over $5,500 annually -- over a 1,500% yield on his original investment.
Really?
But you can one-up Tim's granddad. He began investing long before the Roth IRA was available. You, on the other hand, are young, good-looking, and in your prime earning years.
If you're married and your total adjusted gross income (AGI) is less than $159,000 you can contribute the full $5,000 to a Roth for the 2009 tax year, up until April 15, 2010.
So can your single friend Mike, who, at $72,000 in AGI, is well below the $105,000 income limit for a Roth contribution. Wonderful!
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
One of the great joys of writing about personal finance is to read and write about the successes of common investors -- Fools like Rob Ketterer, a government consultant who began with $500 in a basket of stocks including ExxonMobil and Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO), which went on to post dynamic returns over long periods of time, and who today owns a house and three rental properties.
Rob's story is great, but it's not unique. One Foolish reader, Tim S., reported that his grandfather invested $350 in Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) in 1960. By 2006, thanks to the awesome power of dividend reinvesting, he owned 9,100 Pfizer shares paying $10,500 annually in dividends.
And even with Pfizer's recently announced dividend cut, he'll still be earning over $5,500 annually -- over a 1,500% yield on his original investment.
Really?
But you can one-up Tim's granddad. He began investing long before the Roth IRA was available. You, on the other hand, are young, good-looking, and in your prime earning years.
If you're married and your total adjusted gross income (AGI) is less than $159,000 you can contribute the full $5,000 to a Roth for the 2009 tax year, up until April 15, 2010.
So can your single friend Mike, who, at $72,000 in AGI, is well below the $105,000 income limit for a Roth contribution. Wonderful!
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
Why Your Employees are Leaving & What It's Costing You
From ManageYourBar.com
The Saratoga Institute in the US conducted a survey and it revealed that 89% of managers believe employees leave for more money. But, in fact, the survey found that 88% of employees leave for reasons other than money. What a disconnect!
In reality, most employees are leaving because of poor induction, poor training, lack of development opportunities and bad management.
Experts have estimated the cost of replacing an employee to be between 29 and 45% of an employee’s annual salary when lost productivity, training and advertising costs are taken into account.
When your employees start working for you, how thorough is your training process?
The first impression your employee gets will either set them up for failure or success and you want to ensure it's the latter.
Orientation shouldn't end with details about where to hang your coat and how to sign in and out. In order to give your staff a proper start, you should provide them with a comprehensive training package.
A good orientation and training package contains:
• New employee form
• Company information
• Job description
• Employee Handbook
• Manuals & Menus
New Employee Form
The new employee form should contain their contact info, position, availability, payroll and tax information, workers compensation information. If you do direct deposit for payroll, you will need their banking information or a void check. It is important to get all of this information before they start their first shift, and to keep it all together in their personnel file. Nothing will annoy an employee more than not getting their hard earned wages on time so use this form to get it right.
Company Information
You should provide the company name, address, phone number, email address, and website contact information. Other items to include are business hours, a description of the bar or restaurant concept, and anything else that is important for a new employee to know. If it's a large establishment, it might be a good idea to provide a management chart (who is the boss, who are the supervisors, who reports to whom, etc.) so that the employee knows who to go to when they have a question.
Job Description
This is something that sometimes doesn't get passed along to a new employee, especially if they are an experienced bartender, and they are going to be bartending for you. However, it's important to list the details of their job, so that they are aware of your expectations. Keep the job description to a single page if possible, but list their regular duties and immediate supervisor on it.
Policies and Procedures
If you don't have a policy manual, you should put one in place. Basic policies about employee conduct on and off shift, details about scheduling, on-calls, shift covering, illness and so on can differ from bar to bar, so it's important to put your rules down on paper so everyone knows them. Writing things down also ensures that all employees get measured with the same stick. An Employee Handbook is the ideal way to document this information in one easy place and allows an employee to refer to it at anytime.
Manuals & Menus
Be sure your employees have copies of each menu you use - lunch, dinner, happy hour, cocktail, wine, specials, etc. Ensure that they have had adequate training on the items that you sell, and that they are comfortable with the menu options and pricing. This will ensure that their POS or order training goes smoothly.
Now that your new employee has their new training package, don't leave them on their own just yet. Proper training should contain shadow shifts in the various areas of the restaurant or bar so that the employee learns your way of doing things. Staff turnover can be decreased by ensuring that your training process is solid.
Taking the extra time from the start to train your new employees thoroughly is an invaluable step in the success of your employees and the success of your bar or restaurant.
The Saratoga Institute in the US conducted a survey and it revealed that 89% of managers believe employees leave for more money. But, in fact, the survey found that 88% of employees leave for reasons other than money. What a disconnect!
In reality, most employees are leaving because of poor induction, poor training, lack of development opportunities and bad management.
Experts have estimated the cost of replacing an employee to be between 29 and 45% of an employee’s annual salary when lost productivity, training and advertising costs are taken into account.
When your employees start working for you, how thorough is your training process?
The first impression your employee gets will either set them up for failure or success and you want to ensure it's the latter.
Orientation shouldn't end with details about where to hang your coat and how to sign in and out. In order to give your staff a proper start, you should provide them with a comprehensive training package.
A good orientation and training package contains:
• New employee form
• Company information
• Job description
• Employee Handbook
• Manuals & Menus
New Employee Form
The new employee form should contain their contact info, position, availability, payroll and tax information, workers compensation information. If you do direct deposit for payroll, you will need their banking information or a void check. It is important to get all of this information before they start their first shift, and to keep it all together in their personnel file. Nothing will annoy an employee more than not getting their hard earned wages on time so use this form to get it right.
Company Information
You should provide the company name, address, phone number, email address, and website contact information. Other items to include are business hours, a description of the bar or restaurant concept, and anything else that is important for a new employee to know. If it's a large establishment, it might be a good idea to provide a management chart (who is the boss, who are the supervisors, who reports to whom, etc.) so that the employee knows who to go to when they have a question.
Job Description
This is something that sometimes doesn't get passed along to a new employee, especially if they are an experienced bartender, and they are going to be bartending for you. However, it's important to list the details of their job, so that they are aware of your expectations. Keep the job description to a single page if possible, but list their regular duties and immediate supervisor on it.
Policies and Procedures
If you don't have a policy manual, you should put one in place. Basic policies about employee conduct on and off shift, details about scheduling, on-calls, shift covering, illness and so on can differ from bar to bar, so it's important to put your rules down on paper so everyone knows them. Writing things down also ensures that all employees get measured with the same stick. An Employee Handbook is the ideal way to document this information in one easy place and allows an employee to refer to it at anytime.
Manuals & Menus
Be sure your employees have copies of each menu you use - lunch, dinner, happy hour, cocktail, wine, specials, etc. Ensure that they have had adequate training on the items that you sell, and that they are comfortable with the menu options and pricing. This will ensure that their POS or order training goes smoothly.
Now that your new employee has their new training package, don't leave them on their own just yet. Proper training should contain shadow shifts in the various areas of the restaurant or bar so that the employee learns your way of doing things. Staff turnover can be decreased by ensuring that your training process is solid.
Taking the extra time from the start to train your new employees thoroughly is an invaluable step in the success of your employees and the success of your bar or restaurant.
Thursday, April 02, 2009
The Best Way to Fund Your Retirement
By Motley Fool Staff
We spend a lot of time talking (and writing) about the process of saving for retirement. It's a confusing, challenging endeavor for many -- if you're new to investing, or don't have a lot of exposure to the basic concepts, picking your way through a 401(k) plan's options or setting up an IRA can be daunting.
For some, it's so daunting that they don't do it, or put it off indefinitely, and they let years slip by before they start saving.
But happily, plenty of people do get it. They've put in the time to learn how to invest well, and they've found ways to save more of what they earn. Combined with their discipline to contribute to their retirement plans and IRAs year after year, they end up with a nice nest egg as they approach retirement. Great! Now what?
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
We spend a lot of time talking (and writing) about the process of saving for retirement. It's a confusing, challenging endeavor for many -- if you're new to investing, or don't have a lot of exposure to the basic concepts, picking your way through a 401(k) plan's options or setting up an IRA can be daunting.
For some, it's so daunting that they don't do it, or put it off indefinitely, and they let years slip by before they start saving.
But happily, plenty of people do get it. They've put in the time to learn how to invest well, and they've found ways to save more of what they earn. Combined with their discipline to contribute to their retirement plans and IRAs year after year, they end up with a nice nest egg as they approach retirement. Great! Now what?
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
If You Think the Dollar Is Doomed, Read This
By Tim Hanson and Brian Richards
Warren Buffett has been called a sage, an oracle, and a genius. So when he says something as startling as the following, your ears should perk up: "In the future, I would predict that the U.S. dollar will decline. ... Force-feeding the rest of the world $2 billion a day is inconsistent with a stable dollar."
This is scary stuff. Except one thing: Buffett made that statement at the beginning of 2008, before (1) the U.S. dollar went on to have a pretty good year versus most other currencies, (2) the U.S. government announced the $800 billion bailout and $789 billion stimulus that will force-feed the world billions of additional dollars of U.S. debt, and (3) China's central government proposed replacing the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency.
And yes, that last bit happened just on Monday ... and it's the most disturbing of all.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
Warren Buffett has been called a sage, an oracle, and a genius. So when he says something as startling as the following, your ears should perk up: "In the future, I would predict that the U.S. dollar will decline. ... Force-feeding the rest of the world $2 billion a day is inconsistent with a stable dollar."
This is scary stuff. Except one thing: Buffett made that statement at the beginning of 2008, before (1) the U.S. dollar went on to have a pretty good year versus most other currencies, (2) the U.S. government announced the $800 billion bailout and $789 billion stimulus that will force-feed the world billions of additional dollars of U.S. debt, and (3) China's central government proposed replacing the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency.
And yes, that last bit happened just on Monday ... and it's the most disturbing of all.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
Few Things Are Clearer Than the Bottled Water Trend
From The American Mixologist
I was having a late night dinner at the Hudson Hotel in Manhattan. After the server took the food order at the four-top next to me, he secured my unyielding admiration with his next question.
“And finally, would care for a bottle of sparkling water, still water, or would you prefer to drink New York tap water?” The host looked at his guests, the guests looked at the host, who in turn looked at the server and said, “How about a bottle of each.” The server nodded as if they had made a well-informed decision and left.
Over the course of their dinner they had a total of four bottles of water, which added $16 dollars to their bill. It’s an urban tale with a happy ending.
The server bumped up his ticket average and undoubtedly his tip, the host and assembled guests left well hydrated and the house raised their beverage sales without incurring additional liability. Welcome to life in a .09 universe.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
I was having a late night dinner at the Hudson Hotel in Manhattan. After the server took the food order at the four-top next to me, he secured my unyielding admiration with his next question.
“And finally, would care for a bottle of sparkling water, still water, or would you prefer to drink New York tap water?” The host looked at his guests, the guests looked at the host, who in turn looked at the server and said, “How about a bottle of each.” The server nodded as if they had made a well-informed decision and left.
Over the course of their dinner they had a total of four bottles of water, which added $16 dollars to their bill. It’s an urban tale with a happy ending.
The server bumped up his ticket average and undoubtedly his tip, the host and assembled guests left well hydrated and the house raised their beverage sales without incurring additional liability. Welcome to life in a .09 universe.
Click Here to Continue Reading This Post
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