Saturday, February 28, 2015
Paying For College: How To Position Assets To Qualify For More College Financial Aid
The high price of college has forced parents to look for savvy ways to reduce the cost of college and preserve their hard-earned assets. In some cases, strategically positioning those assets can make a big difference in the amount of financial aid colleges give based on the three different aid formulas colleges use. Here is how I determine if a family should consider strategic positioning.
Home Office Hot Spots
These are the cities with the highest proportion of workers who work from home.
'Sorry To Intrude, But Can I Get Some Customer Service Over Here?'
I know that you, as a forward-thinking business leader, aren't intentionally treating your customers like they’re an interruption of your business (rather than as the point of your business), but are you unintentionally giving customers that nasty feeling that they don’t belong in your workspace?
Weighting Down UK-Listed Oil and Gas Shares
Using Brent as a global proxy benchmark, we find that the oil price continues to skate around $60 per barrel. That’s a far cry from $115 we saw last summer. So after two months into the not so New Year, and having received the latest financial data from many UK-listed oil and gas companies, it is worth revisiting or rather re-weighting their share target price.
Helping Small Business Lenders Up Their Game
The Small Business Finance Collaborative aims to help Community Development Financial Institutions supply more credit to small companies in low-wealth areas.
Making non-profits more tech-savvy: GoodWeave serves as an example
How (and why) should non-profits become more tech-savvy? GoodWeave offers an example of how a robust tech-based system can help an organization operate at scale.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi founded GoodWeave, a non-profit which inspects rug weavers in Afghanistan, India, and Nepal to ensure that factories are not employing child labor. The organization works with 165 exporters, monitors nearly 3,500 factories and village "loom sheds" which adds up to almost 40,000 workers throughout South Asia.
So, how does a non-profit handle all that data? The social sector has traditionally been slow adopters of technology; managing a regional supply chain so diverse and massive is a challenge, especially with just pen and paper -- the most popular method.
Nina Smith, Executive Director of the US GoodWeave office in Washington, DC, agrees. "We've been slow to use technology in the field for a variety of reasons ranging from the fact that we work in places where internet access and technological expertise are lacking -- to financial constraints."
Internet.org just released a study this week that says only 40% of the world is connected to the Internet. The vast majority are still largely offline. Working in rural areas with such limited access to the Internet means that local staff and workers are also new to the technology.
GoodWeave, adopted Filemaker, a subsidy of Apple, to manage its massive supply chain. When a factory is identified as free of child-labor, each rug is given a unique number-- a code that is entered in its database and will help GoodWeave trace the rug back to that production facility.
The inspections include 65 data points: i.e. who constitutes the workforce at that factory, the exporter's name running the factory, the working conditions, etc. All of this data, of course, needs to be kept private. This year, GoodWeave plans on equipping their field staff with tablets to record this information, a big step up from the paper/pencil model.
The GoodWeave rugs each receive a label with the unique code for the non-profit’s tracking system and for customers to see, ensuring its origins.
Coffee Power: London Entrepreneur Uses the Cities' Coffee Waste for Fuel
Bio-bean, a London-based enterprise, takes coffee grinds and turns them into fuel.
A Glimpse Inside The World Of Blogging
I began writing my blog, Haggerston Times over a year ago, and my stats tell me that I have around 120 visitors each day, am on just over 21,000 views in total and that I have made 246 posts to date. Jeez, how did that happen? Given that I always aim to write around 1,000 words per post I work that out to be more than three novels worth of content!
Free Flights On Southwest Airlines Are About To Get A Lot More Complicated
Et Tu, Southwest? Travelers probably won't ?LUV? the increased costs to redeem points for flights using the airline's Rapid Rewards frequent flier program.
Joye To The World: Charm Bracelets For A Cause
There is a new fashion accessory that aims to make the world a better place to live in. Launched this February 2015, Joye is a fashion start-up based in Hong Kong founded by Dr. Joerg Zobel that creates customized-charms charity bracelets. Zobel, former general manager of Puma for Asia Pacific and consultant at The Boston Consulting Group, was inspired with the belief that "fashion has the power to make this world a happier place." For the price of USD$33, customers can order a bracelet-- made from real lamb leather-- which comes with 1 Smile charm and 1 Charity charm.
Friday, February 27, 2015
CEOs' Top 5 Tips For The Second Job Search
Founders of 4 web start ups dedicated to connecting individuals to jobs provide tips for the online job hunt.
Will Christian Soldiers Be On The Streets Of Pensacola As Kent Hovind Goes To Trial?
Kent Hovind goes on trial Monday in the United States Courthouse in Pensacloa Fl. Kent Hovind is an Independent Baptist minister whose main focus has been on Young Earth Creationism - the notion that there is scientific, not just scriptural, evidence that the physical universe is roughly 6,000 years old. Kent is nearing the end of a long prison sentence for tax related crimes arising out of the manner in which his ministry, Creation Science Evangelism, operated. CSE distributed Kent's videos and ran a theme park called Dinosaur Adventureland (One of the implications of YEC is that people and dinosaurs must have existed contemporaneously)
Mexican Cartel Leader 'La Tuta' Captured
Early in the morning on Friday February 27, 2015 Mexican Federal Police captured cartel leader Servando Gómez Martínez, aka "La Tuta," in the city of Morelia, the capital of Michoacan, a state in southwestern Mexico. Gomez was one of the main leaders of the cultish drug trafficking group known as the Caballeros Templarios, a brutal organization that engaged in meth production as well as kidnapping and extortion. The group has been decimated though targeted arrests and attacks by citizen defense groups, federal police, and army patrols over the course of 2014. Unlike other Templario leaders such as Nazario Moreno, a man who went by the alias El Chayo, who was killed in early 2014, Gomez remained on the run for over a year, and had been rumored to be hiding in caves in isolated parts of the state. In a radio interview, Alberto Gutiérrez, a man who goes by the alias Comandante Cinco, who first fought alongside the vigilante citizen "autodefensa" forces in 2014 and later joined the uniformed Fuerza Rural police force, explained "with his arrest this criminal organization has been broken apart." Last year, I rode along with 150 gunmen from Michoacan's autodefensa militia as they took over the town of Santa Clara. Estanislao Beltran, a short man with a giant white beard, who is affectionately called "Papa Smurf" by his brothers-in-arms told me, "We have a cause. We fight with courage. We all have experience hunting. We’ve got practice shooting. fight like cowards, they shout and run." He also promised not to cut his beard until Gomez was captured and led patrols up into the mountains to look for the Templario leader in isolated caverns. Comandante Cinco, said that he's not surprised that Gomez was captured in a city rather than hiding in the sierra. "We looked for him in the mountains, in the hills, in the gullies, and the whole time I said, if he knows theres an operation after him, he's going to go to a city, a big city," he explained.
The Emergence Of Small Town Angel Investing
Many have the impression that most angel investing happens in Silicon Valley, Boston and New York. I’m here to tell you that angel investing is thriving in many other places across the country. Case in point: angels in so called “flyover states” without a tradition of venture capital or cities with populations of 100,000. These locations are creative angel epicenters that are doing special things to be successful.
The Suicide Card
It was not exactly what I expected when I gave my first appraisal to a member of staff. As a customer-facing receptionist she was turning business away with her utterly miserable facial expressions. No matter what I did to cheer her up, she could never raise even a glimmer of a smile. There was only one thing for it - we needed to have an official chat.
To Fix U.S. Schools, Consider Camfed's Work In Sub-Saharan Africa
Camfed is an international non-profit that addresses global poverty and inequality by investing in girls’ education. More than 3 million children from some of the poorest rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa—Zimbabwe, Zambia, Ghana, Tanzania, and Malawi—have benefited from Camfed’s work.
New IRS Scandal Hearings Reveal 32,000 More Emails, Possible Criminal Activity
IRS Inspector General says IRS never asked for back-up tapes, as 32,000 more 'lost emails' emerge. Now, investigation probes possible criminal activity at IRS.
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Health Care Spending Slows, but No Relief
In every state during the past decade, the cost of employer-provided health care outpaced incomes.
Pebble Time Vs. Flow Hive: Kickstarter, Indiegogo Projects Break Records
Crowdfunding has long been touted as "the next big thing" and this week we have more evidence of that trend.
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Nutshell Brings A Twist To Photo Sharing Apps
Everyday, more than a billion photos being shared on mobile social media apps around the world. New apps launch with the promise to add something a little different to the visual communication experience. The challenge for any is building a captive audience, sticky enough to eventually monetize. Instagram does filters, SnapChat does ephemeral messages and Vine does hyper-looped videos. That’s what the cool kids are using.
Now Nutshell, a new app has joined the throng of players. The mobile app is a new visual storytelling app that combines photos, video and animation to create short, shareable life snippets. But it’s not just about funky filters or disappearing images.
To create a Nutshell, you snap three photos in succession, and then the app will automatically animate a unique video that cleverly records the frames between each shot in slow motion. Now you can add text and overlay moving animation to spice it up. The result is an unconventional video that can be shared by email, text message or on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. After playing with Nutshell myself, the coolest part of the animation is seeing how the images slow down and speed up.
Avoid Pain, Plan Ahead For The Break-Up Of Your Business
A destructive marital dissolution can burn through mountains of money, take an immeasurable toll on both spouses, and harm innocent children. A poorly planned, hot-headed business breakup can cost the owners every dollar they have saved and kill the business that is the subject of their dispute.
Should Businesses Accept Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is a better way to do transactions. Forget about Bitcoin as an investment vehicle, or Bitcoin as a way to end the Federal Reserve. Its benefit to business comes from payments.
8 Weird & Unique Products From Startups And Small Business
Some businesses address unique pain points, or provide strange and sometimes downright weird products--the kind that seem impractical, may only appeal to a very few, or that a consumer would find merely a novelty.
Legal Briefings: Firing After FMLA Opens Legal Floodgates
Lori Flood was placed on administrative leave pending a fitness for duty evaluation. On Jan. 10, 2011, Flood submitted an FMLA medical certification and was terminated two days later.
Estate Intended For Charity Depleted By Litigation And Income Tax
The Tax Court decision in the Estate of Eileen S. Belmont is probably one of good intentions gone awry. Ms. Belmont wanted to provide something for her brother, who had issues, and have the bulk of her estate go to the Columbus Jewish Foundation. Unfortunately, a lack of clarity caused a good chunk of her estate to be spent on litigation and a substantial income tax hit that might have been avoided. The tax court decision is of course about the income taxes. The litigation that created the income tax problem was in California state courts.
Social Security Q&A: Can We Manipulate What We Pay Ourselves to Maximize Benefits?
Today?s question asks if it's possible to manipulate the salaries business owners pay themselves to try to maximize benefits and minimize taxes. The explores the likelihood of the fear of overpaying payroll taxes and discusses the illegality of such manipulation of salaries and potential negative consequence of attempting to do so.
Monday, February 23, 2015
Training at the Frontlines
Training frontline employees has never been easy. These are the employees who are on the sales floor or in clients' offices, away from instructor-led classroom opportunities. Advancements in social and mobile learning, however, have made reaching frontline employees easier than ever
What Being a Navy SEAL Sniper Taught Me About Good Business
I spent over a decade as a Navy SEAL. I was deployed five times to not very pleasant countries, I was in Afghanistan in 2001 when my first child was born, and finished up my last tour as the head instructor for the U.S. Navy SEAL sniper program, one of the best sniper courses in the world. I gave up my career early to spend more time with my kids and to pursue entrepreneurship.
Friendly Advice: How Work Friendships Can Create Positive Cultures
Though some may be wary about employee fraternization, studies have shown that when companies encourage friendships among co-workers, the benefits outweigh any potential costs.
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