2010 Cyber Monday Sales up 20% over 2009

Early estimates of 20% from last year mean more jingle in online retailers’ pockets this year.  Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday also showed gains over last year.  Are we finally peeking out of the Great Recession?

Read more at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704584804575645031002341268.html?KEYWORDS=cyber+monday+sales+show+strength

No More Cash Allowed on Florida Turnpike

Cash collections on the southernmost extension of Florida’s Turnpike are set to end in February 2011 and later on the rest of the toll road. Tolls will be collected through overhead equipment that reads transponders on vehicles or cameras that read license plates on vehicles without transponders, with vehicle owners then being billed or having prepaid accounts debited.

Cardholders Get a Rude Surprise At the Register

August 12, 2009 – You may start seeing many more declines at the checkout window.

The Wall Street Journal reports that credit card issuers, who are reassessing customer risk, have begun quietly cancelling customer accounts – without prior notice – and it is perfectly legal.

An issuer can cancel an account without notice when:

- a customer hasn’t use the card in over a year

- a customer has defaulted or is delinquent on the account

- a reassessment deems the cardholder too risky (a letter will follow within 30 days when this one occurs)

Search at www.wsj.com for the full story.

Kindest Regards,
Robert Mohon

Can I Be A Leader? How?

U. S. Congressman Marsha Blackburn’s new book reveals the answers.  Here’s a taste:

Leadership is a way of life for some people.  However, it is possible to lead without fitting the profile of an NFL quarterback or a four-star general.

Why?  We’re entering the era in which the ability to deliver the results trumps everything else.

Leaders commit to team building

Leaders raise up other leaders

Leaders are lifelong learners

Leaders are not afraid to fail

Leaders consider the three R’s of every opportunity: Risk, Responsibility, and Reward

Leaders are vision oriented and principle driven

Leaders believe in the value of their own earned skills

Your small, private victories position you for bigger, more public ones. Those things you have learned doing the mundane can be deployed in the majestic.  Make the commitment to become a leader.

Visit www.yourlifeequity.com to learn more.   You’ll be glad you did.

What’s the Best Way to Do a Newsletter Today?

Use blog software like WordPress.org to create a free, easy-for-you-to-use blog.  You can include:

- happenings in your company, including photos
- your hours of operation
- directions to your office
- answers to commonly asked questions
- forms that customers need

What’s nice about doing your newsletter online?

- no expensive software to buy
- no expensive software to learn how to use
- if you make a mistake, you can correct it with a click of your mouse
- you can change it easily
- you save on printing and postage costs

Is there a downside?  Yes.  If your customer does not have access to a computer, they will never see your blog newsletter.  What’s the fix for this?  Take your best articles from your blog and print and mail them once a quarter or twice a year for those who don’t have computer access.

How Can I Make My Bill Payment / Donation Website Better?

Here’s a summary from one of today’s best web marketers that will help you get more use (and cash flow) from your bill payment or donation-capturing website:

- In the top right corner of your home page, put a button or link to the main thing you want the visitor to do…

“Pay Your Bill Now”, or simply “Pay Your Bill”

“Donate Now”, “Donate”, or “Join Us Now”

- Put your primary message on your home page so it appears on the first screen when your visitor arrives.  Don’t make visitor scroll down to see this main message, or you will likely lose their interest.

More people are using small, handheld devices (like iPhones and BlackBerries) to look at websites.  They won’t scroll through a bunch of pages.  Put it right out there on the first page.

Visitors who use laptops or regular computer screens are so busy and distracted today that they won’t take time to visit more than one or two of your website pages.  So, put what you want them to do right on the home page.

If they want more information about you, they will find your links to your other pages.  If they don’t, give them a quick way to pay their bill to you or donate to your cause.

10 Ways to Build Your Blog Community with Twitter

Interesting article with tips and tricks to help you use Twitter more effectively.

http://blog.shoutem.com/2009/03/25/build-your-blog-community-with-twitter/

What Do Daughters Really Want from Their Fathers?

8th through 12th grade daughters wrote about their dads during a recent Father of the Year Essay Contest. There were 5 consistent themes:

1. Daughters long to hear their fathers communicate love and encouragement. “The best thing my dad has ever done for me is let me know he loves me.” “I wish my father would say, ‘I love you.’” “When my dad encourages me I feel like I can do anything.”

2. Daughters want their fathers to take time to strengthen their relationship. “I wish my daddy wouldn’t work so much and spend more time with me.” “If I could add one thing to our relationship, I would add time.”

3. Daughters ask their dads to communicate with them more and give them guidance. “If we talked more truthfully we would have a better relationship.” “I wish my dad would talk to me more and give me advice.” “I need more input from my dad.”

4. Daughters want their fathers to seek to understand them. “Sometimes I feel like my father has no idea what I’m going through.” “I wish my father would try and understand me.”

5. Daughters want their fathers to trust them more.

Why Can’t All Cell Phones Use the Same Style of Charger?

The Associated Press reports 17 wireless phone makers will standardize chargers by 2012.

Every 20 months, some 48 million cell-phone chargers become obsolete…. ready for your local landfill.

Talk about a great ‘green’ solution.

A money-saving tip: unplug your chargers when they aren’t in use.  They use power even when they aren’t charging your phone.

When will the economy get better?

With all the news about the economy, I wonder what’s ahead – so I can be prepared. An article in The Wall Street Journal about past economic trends and what the near term may hold for us was most interesting.*  Here are the high points:

The good news: negative growth episodes typically subside in just under 2 years.

Housing prices: In the typical severe financial crisis, the real (inflation-adjusted) price of housing tends to decline 36%, with the duration of peak to trough lasting 5 to 6 years. Given that US housing prices peaked at the end of 2005, this means that the bottom won’t come before the end of 2010, with real housing prices falling perhaps another 8-10% from current levels

Unemployment: Pain seems likely to worsen for a minimum of 2 more years. Over past crises, the duration of the period of rising unemployment averaged nearly 5 years, with a mean increase in the unemployment rate of 7 percentage points, which would bring the US to double digits.

Bailouts: Perhaps the most stunning message from crisis history is the simply staggering rise in government debt most countries experience. Central government debt tends to rise over 85% in real terms during the first 3 years after a banking crisis. This would mean another $8 or $9 trillion in the case of the US. The main reason why debt explodes is NOT the cost of bailing out the financial system, painful as that may be. Instead, the real culprit is the inevitable collapse of tax revenues that comes as countries sink into deep and prolonged recession.