How You Can Learn to Blog for Fun AND Profit!

I really dislike sounding like an advertisement in my blog, but Mark Joyner is about the only person I would ever take that risk with. I have used his Simpleology products in the past and can vouch for their phenomenal quality. Now he's got a new course that you can get for free... Check it out below...

I'm evaluating a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they're letting you snag it for free if you post about it on your blog.

It covers:

• The best blogging techniques.
• How to get traffic to your blog.
• How to turn your blog into money.

I'll let you know what I think once I've had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it's still free.

To Facebook: "Don't Tase Me Man!"... What the handling of Beacon says about the Millennial Generation

Whew, what a title... But for business people, the current Facebook case is very interesting. The millennial generation (a.k.a. Generation-Y or Internet Generation) represents the future of businesses and is already shaping the face of business-to-consumer marketing.

Facebook, like MySpace and other social networks, thrives on the use of advertisers to keep their services free to their members. I have serious reservations on whether such networks would even exist were there a cost for usage.

When Facebook started pushing out Beacon, thousands of Facebook users were outraged.

"How dare they share our personal information!"

"What an invasion of privacy!"

Interestingly, these same millennial users seem all too happy to be more than open about what they were doing with their friend's girlfriend at 2 a.m. last Saturday and about what a jerk their boss is. Perhaps even more amusing is the ease in which members of this generation (which I am nearly on the cusp of myself) are willing to hand over their privacy for a free "app" in Facebook, opening themselves up to the data miners and target marketers of the world, just to turn their friends into "zombies."

So why the difference?

Simply put, people want you to ask them. Your loyal customers will go to the ends of the Earth for you, but you'd better not take them for granted. Mark Zuckerberg his team that runs Facebook have a more loyal fan base than most companies in existence. However, the Millennials are extremely fickle and, I suspect due to latent narcissism, must be overtly asked about any small thing that happens around them because, in their world, they ARE the center of the universe.

But then haven't we all been taught that we must treat our customers like they are our center of the universe? I doubt that Mr. Zuckerberg is anything but a bright guy, but it's apparent that he still has a lot to learn about consumer relations.

Minding My Own Business is a blog written by Augustine Iacopelli. This blog consists of a mix of general business observations and contrarian positions on relevant topics as well my own forays in the world of business and networking.

Lessons Learned: What Citibank Slipup May Mean for the Rest of Us

I awoke this morning to find out that I may be well advised to sell off some of my Citibank shares (grant it I don't own Citibank in any of my real portfolios) on the news that their revenue was likely to fall significantly in the 3rd quarter. The reason for the fall? The sub-prime mortgage market again.

While I don't wish any company any ill will, I believe Citibank's situation continues to accentuate 3 things.

1. Companies wishing to take a high risk, whether a major corporation, such as Citibank, or a small ma and pop shop down the street, must understand what their exit strategy is.
2. Companies need to understand where their stable operating platform is and take moves to maintain stability in order to limit dramatic drops in revenue.
3. When you develop an unethical product (pardon the soapbox here) eventually it will catch up to you and hurt your business in at least the short term, if not also the long term.

The attempts of sub-prime lending companies to put individuals into homes that they should have been smart enough (both the lenders and the buyers) to know that they could not afford, shows a particularly distasteful part of American business understanding. Americans today simply do not take the time to understand issues prior to making decisions and they further allow their televisions to cloud common sense. As business owners, employees, and consumers, it is essential that we are diligent in our pursuit of only ethical products and shun the unethical because it always catches up to us.

Is There a Time to Drink the Kool-Aid?

Earlier in this blog, I discussed the importance of developing a "culture of candor." This is a phrase used frequently in Jack and Suzy Welch's book Winning. Unfortunatly, in many business cultures, "candor" is spoken about, but not truely esposed. Are there times when drinking the corporate "Kool-Aid" is positive for the company as a whole?

This largely depends on the risk tolerance of the individual. If you are a person who is unafraid of being viewed as a troublemaker, then it is unlikely that, provided criticism is constructed positively that there is any situation where drinking the "Kool-Aid" is positive. I have yet to find a company that operates free of challenges, irregardless of size or scope. Having the courage to challenge the status quo within your company, provided it is carried out within the appropriate organizational structures of the company, is almost always rewarded. However, if you have medium risk aversion in your career, it may be to your advantage to find a leader among your peers to support you prior to taking your concerns to your superiors. However, even those with some risk aversion, can and should present their beliefs to their superiors in a candid manner.

Only in a case where an individual fears for their job, or fears a demotion, should they remain quiet. These individuals are also well advised to be looking for other employment anyway as they are clearly not in a healthy employment environment for themselves.

Keep in mind that your idea may transform your company, or at least lead to a larger transformation. I will discuss my own discoveries about how some of my candor and creative thinking lead to a positive result for a former employer on Wednesday.

Minding My Own Business is a blog written by Augustine Iacopelli. This blog consists of a mix of general business observations and contrarian positions on relevant topics as well my own forays in the world of business and networking.