Billionaire Buffet Offers Plain Talk Tax Solution

Online viewers watch more long form videos thanks to tablets

Consumers who stream TV shows, movies and sporting events are increasingly tapping their tablets when they tune in, with tablet video viewers watching 54 percent more long-form videos than they did at the start of the year, according to video technology and streaming provider Ooyala in a new report analyzing video habits of nearly 200 million unique viewers across devices for Q3.

Researchers said tablet owners spent 71 percent of their total tablet video viewing time watching videos 10 minutes or longer. What’s more, the report said the overall share of tablet video viewing grew 90 percent in the past two quarters, an increase from 46 percent in the first quarter. That’s a significant rise in a short period of time, and suggests that tablets are becoming akin to second TVs for many who have them.

I’m in B2B, so why do I care? You care because your target customers (and their families) are also savvy, device-equipped consumers. Whenever you direct them to one of your webinars, podcasts, thought leadership videos or whitepapers, they’re more likely than not watching them on a tablet or smart phone. And they expect a professional quality experience from you.

Your customers, clients and prospects are watching “TV” more than they’re reading at work at home and on the go. But, that doesn’t mean you can be cheap or careless about what you put into your videos. Do it right, or don’t do it at all. 
Your customers will thank you and be more likely to refer you.

Buffet Straight Talk on Taxes



In a New York Times editorial today, Warren E. Buffett, billionaire head of Berkshire Hathaway, threw out some pragmatic ideas about taxing the ultra-wealthy and a smarter definition of the minimum threshold for “wealthy” in this country (hint it’s not $250K a year). Regardless of the motive for Buffet’s altruistic intentions, we agree with buffet that $250K annual adjusted gross income does not make one ultra-wealthy in many of the places you readers hail from: the Bay Area, Southern California, the Northeast, South Florida……His suggestion for $500,000 is a start.

What we liked more about Buffet’s op-ed is that he argues for Congress to get started on a few pieces of must-have tax reform, rather than straightening out the whole labyrinth IRC which could take years—and give opponents plenty of time to stall and continue reaping aggregious gains.

For instance, Buffet argues for a minimum tax on truly high incomes ASAP—at say 30 percent of taxable income between $1 million and $10 million, and 35 percent on amounts above that. “A plain and simple rule like that will block the efforts of lobbyists, lawyers and contribution-hungry legislators to keep the ultra-rich paying rates well below those incurred by people with income just a tiny fraction of ours. Only a minimum tax on very high incomes will prevent the stated tax rate from being eviscerated by these warriors for the wealthy.”

Again, we’re advocating the removal of uncertainty—we’re not advocating removal of incentives to get rich and be successful. That’s the American way and it’s in our DNA….just like Black Friday shopping.

Buffet says our government’s goal should be to bring in revenues of 18.5 percent of G.D.P. and spend about 21 percent of G.D.P. — “levels that have been attained over extended periods in the past and can clearly be reached again.” According to Buffet it was about 15 percent in and 22 percent out last year.

“All of America is waiting for Congress to offer a realistic and concrete plan for getting back to this fiscally sound path. Nothing less is acceptable.”

Amen to that.

TAGS: Warren Buffet, $250,000, taxes on wealthy, online video habits, tablets, Berkshire Hathaway, Ooyala

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Fiscal Cliff Notes
Don’t get sucked into the pessimism. Why are investors and big business leaders so surprised?
U.S. stocks hit a three-month low yesterday as big business leaders and institutional investors continue to be spooked by the looming fiscal cliff, continued worries about Europe and finally admitting to themselves that they’re facing four more years of a President who may not necessarily be anti-business/anti-wealthy people, but is certainly hell-bent on spreading the nation’s wealth (and financial pain) around.

This didn’t exactly come out of left field like Hurricane Sandy. Duh.

The threat of spending cuts, an end to coveted tax breaks and a financially weak Europe have been issues for a long time. Iranian hostilities didn’t just bubble up yesterday. And the prospect of Mr. Obama winning a second term shouldn’t strike any rational person as a huge upset. Most reliable polls had him as a slight favorite for several months, even before challenger Romney’s ill-fated “47-percent” remark. The only thing that surprises us is the level of surprise. You’d think there might have been a contingency plan or two put in place? They’re not small-mid business owners and B2B marketers like us.

Sure the Dow is off about six percent since the President won re-election, but isn’t this the same administration that held the White House during an 85 percent gain in the Dow during its first four-year term?

If you’re a business owner or B2B marketer, don’t get sucked into the recent wave of pessimism. The macro-problems we’re dealing with have been with us a long-time and we’re still seeing slow but steady gains in hiring, job creation, home prices, consumer confidence, business confidence and more.

Great companies will continue to do well. Great products will continue to sell. And great marketing will continue to create demand for great products made by great companies. It’s those on the margins who might get whacked if they don’t get it together ASAP.

Are things great? Not by a long shot.

The Institute of Supply Management’s business confidence index is at 51.7, just slightly below its historical average of 52.8, but a significant drop from the low-60s it reached mid-year. About three-fourths (73%) of the corporate elite who attended this week’s Wall Street Journal CEO Council conference in Washington said their primary concern was the "fiscal cliff," the federal spending cuts and tax increases that begin in January unless policy makers intervene. Only one in eight (12%) said their top fear was Europe's financial crisis.

The President and Congress are trying to put together a long-term deficit-reduction package that could replace the fiscal cliff, but they have made little progress and have just seven weeks to cut a deal. Experts say the fiscal cliff would raise taxes roughly by $400 billion and cut spending by roughly $100 billion in 2013. Several economists say the measures would cause another recession.  The President and House Speaker John Boehner claim they’re open to compromise and don't want to replay the BS that occurred last year during a fight over raising the government's borrowing limit. But you know negotiations will go slowly, most likely into 2013—i.e. over the perceived cliff.

The Wall Street Journal report that several CEOs at its conference claimed this uncertainty has prompted them to make contingency plans for layoffs and prepare for a sharp economic contraction, which is holding back investment. You know that’s an excuse.

Business leaders and policy makers have known of the fiscal cliff since it was created last year as part of the deal to raise the debt ceiling. But few paid much attention to it because they were focused on the presidential race. "The narrative of the country was completely dominated by the election, and that's changing currently," said Stephen Schwarzman, chief executive of the Blackstone Group., a private-equity firm.

Our take: Congress will likely extend all expiring tax cuts for at least another year and make gradual plans to shore up the deficit and even out the tax pain faced by businesses and individuals of all income levels.

The long-term U.S. deficit must be addressed, Seifi Ghasemi, CEO of Rockwood Holdings told the Journal, but, "I wouldn't lose a lot of sleep if we have negative growth for one quarter in order to solve the longer-term problem."

Conclusion

We’re sleeping OK as well. Maybe not all the way through the night, but at least we’re getting some rest. We’re hitting it hard right now—not waiting till 2013 to find out what may or may not happen. We suggest you do the same.

TAGS: Hurricane Sandy, fiscal cliff, Institute of Supply Management, business confidence index, Stephen Schwarzman, Blackstone Group, Seifi Ghasemi, Rockwood Holdings

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Wait-Till-After-the-Election Excuse No Longer Valid

Wait-Till-After-the-Election Excuse No Longer Valid
Time to start making (and sticking with) decisions

The elections are over….thank God. Within the next 24 hours we’ll finally get a break from those inane political ads and we’ll most likely found out who the new President is. And now what excuse will you use for procrastinating about your next big hire or capital expenditure? C’mon already.

As we’ve said many times before, campaign promises aren’t legally binding and Congress isn’t on commission and doesn’t have specific deliverables to hit like the rest of us. The election process shouldn’t be taken lightly, but you’re mostly voting on faith…not on hard facts.

Sure, there are significant differences between the two main political parties in this country. But either way, you can be sure we’ll remain a democracy. Either way, you can be sure we’ll be in a slow growth economy for the foreseeable future (emphasis on growth, rather than on slow). Either way your corporate and personal taxes are likely to go up. Either way, major cities in the Northeast will be untangling a hornet’s nest of legal, ethical and financial issues from last week’s storms for months to come.

As for the “fiscal cliff” looming on January 1, don’t expect a series of all-nighters from Congress to solve it in late December. Expect a series of strategic delays and stalling tactics. Again, not much will change for your business and your portfolio exactly on New Year’s Day 2013.

If that’s what’s really keeping you up at night then things won’t really get scary until Fed chairman, Ben Bernanke likely steps down from his term in 2014 regardless of who wins today’s election.

So here’s the deal. We have 55 days left in 2012—about 40 quality work days left. That’s practically half of a fiscal quarter. Be bold and be smart, but by god make some decisions or get the heck out of the way for those who can make decisions.

The on-ramp’s going to be a lot more crowded than the off-ramp in 2013. You better start making some media buys while you can still get quality audiences at a fair price. You better start hiring good people while you still can and you better start filling up that product pipeline fast.

The only certainty for next year is that the pace of business will never be faster and the competition for market share will never be more cut-throat.

Are you ready to get back in the game?
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Mobile Video Viewers Watch 7 Minutes Daily; 3.5 Hours a  Month 

But B2B marketers who take the cheap route to meeting demand will ultimately get burned

If you think mobile video and advertising is growing fast, you’re not alone. The Interactive Advertising Bureau said last week that mobile advertising had nearly doubled in the first half of the year to $1.2 billion, while eMarketer has said that half of smartphone users watch video at least once a month on their phones. Plus, research from Cisco, the networking giant, said that two-thirds of the world's mobile data traffic will be video by 2016. In other words, the average device owner is watching about seven minutes per day according to NPD Group  or about 10 minutes per watching videos on their phone, according to Nielsen’s findings.

Quality vs. Quantity

Unfortunately for most B2B marketers, you can’t get by with the cheap, homemade variety of video that still dominates YouTube and America’s Funniest Home Videos.

Online video has become critical to corporate Web pages, helping with search indexing and giving you type of visual impact that customers and prospects demand. Beyond having a respectable corporate web presence, virtually every brand needs a Facebook page--and video helps with page ranking there as well. You also need an official presence on YouTube.

Broadcast-quality video used to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce. Now thanks to technological advances in capturing, editing and streaming video, you can produce ALMOST the same quality for a lot less. But it’s still not dirt cheap. See our web site home page if you’d like high quality without high prices. Do we offer it dirt cheap? No. But, you’ll be surprised what you can get if you can commit some time and resources to our vision of B2B video.

As Neil Perry noted last week in Online Video Insider, “Marketers are simply not interested or able to spend $300,000+ on a single commercial spot and still meet their video needs when considering the required quantity and quality. Whatever the case, marketers who can find or devise the most creative solutions will be the ones who will win for their brands in the coming years.”


Macro View

The median price for a home resale rose 11.3 percent from a year earlier. Experts say the rise in prices appears to be a result of tight inventories and a downward trend in foreclosure sales. More importantly, the nation’s stock of existing homes sale fell 3.3 percent last month to 2.3 million units. At this rate, housing experts say inventories would be exhausted in 5.9 months, the lowest rates since March 2006 accord to National Association of Realtors.

You might also be surprised to learn that U.S. Stocks are outperforming all other major asset classes. According to Bloomberg data, for the first time since 1995 U.S. equities are a better investment than Treasuries, corporate bonds, commodities, the dollar and equities in Asia and Europe.

“For all the concern about unemployment and manufacturing growth, the best assets this year remain American companies after unprecedented steps by the Federal Reserve to support growth. Forecasts for a rebound in the U.S. economy and the central bank’s pledge to keep interest rates near zero for years convinced bulls the S&P 500 will extend gains. Bears say political gridlock will drag down prices after monetary stimulus wears off.”  

Conclusion

Whether your producing high quality video for your organization, entering the online advertising fray or deciding which asset class to invest in for your company or your personal retirement account, be smart,  but don’t be cheap. In the long-term, you always get what you pay for.

TAGS: Online and mobile video advertising growing, Bloomberg data, US stocks outpaces other asset classes, housing prices gain, Neil Perry, Online Video Advertiser, NPD Group, Cicso, Interactive Advertising Bureau, National Association of Realtors


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At Tonight’s Debate, Will Anyone Get Gas?

Stocks closed in on their biggest one-day gain since the Fed announced new stimulus measures in mid-September. Experts said the rally was driven by better-than-expected earnings from blue chip stocks and very optimistic numbers from the retail and housing sectors. That said, we’ll have to see what happens in the financial sector after the surprise resignation of CitiGroup head Vikram Pandit. His departure came one day after the bank reported an 88 drop in third-quarter profits. Also keep your eye on the tech sector—another big area for our clients and both IBM and Intel reported disappointing Q3 earnings. Intel blamed a decline in demand for PCs and IBM blamed lackluster tech spending globally and currency fluctuations. What you need to ask yourself as both an investor and as a B2B marketer, is this: In the case of all three of these aforementioned Blue Chips, are we looking a lackluster global demand, unpopular products, ineffective marketing or inability to innovate fast enough. We think it’s the last two.

The Debate, Round 2

So we’re going to try the town-hall thing again tonight. Remember 2008, when Mr. Obama squared went at it against John McCain in a town hall brawl. Gasoline prices were about $3.80 a gallon; Wall Street was in the middle of its worst week ever; President Bush had just created TARP and the economy—rather how the heck to fix it—dominate the verbal sparring.

In some circles, cynics would say not much has changed. Gasoline prices average $3.78 today—much higher in California and the northeast; unemployment remains historically very high; and each side will blame the other for not being specific enough about who has the better plan to jumpstart the economy.

REMEMBER: CAMPAIGN PROMISES AREN’T LEAGALLY BINDING! Both sides will be trying to sell you on their vision, but that’s all it is—a vision of the future. By a healthy skeptic about anything you hear tonight.As was the case four years ago, energy independence is likely to come up as gas prices are up 16 percent in the past two months alone. Four years ago, Mr. Obama said prices at the pump were high enough to make energy policy “priority number one” for his administration; health care was explicitly meant to be “priority number two.” Gas prices are about the same, but priorities sound a little different. Hmm.

Conclusion

As a wise man once said, it’s a recession when your neighbor loses their job; it’s a depression when you lose your own job. Are we better off than we were four years ago? Most Americans would say yes—but how much better after four years of anguish and a whole lot of effort?

As was the case in 2008, both parties will probably trumpet energy as the magic cure for the slow growth economy—even if their prescriptions have very different side effects and very mixed results. If people don’t have jobs to drive to or need more fuel to keep their fleets running, then it doesn’t matter how low gas prices go when there’s no demand for the stuff.

We’re not going to tell you how to vote in November. But, we’re urging you to take the process seriously and remember this: the Election is just the first step…you need to stay on your elected officials throughout their terms to honor their promises and be accountable to their constituents. Otherwise it’s just a lot of hot air.


TAGS: Obama, Romney, gas prices, presidential debates, CitiGroup, IBM, Intel, economy, Vikram Pandit


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Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Not Federal Spending, Will Get Us Out of First Gear
Startups are what create net new jobs

Friday’s jobs report – most likely the last one we’ll see before the November elections – showed employers added only 114,000 jobs last month. Not a great result in an economy of our size, but better than many economists expected. Somehow the mediocre gain dropped the official unemployment rate to 7.8 percent from 8.1 percent. We’re not going to waste your valuable time questioning the veracity of the numbers, but politicians who try to take advantage of this perceived job surge in their campaigns should be honest about the rest of the report—the share of jobless workers who’ve been out of work for at least six months is still extremely high at about 4.8 million. That’s about 4 in 10 total unemployed workers. Very depressing when we’re supposedly three years into the “recovery.” 

Long term joblessness, which tends to be a more accurate picture of what’s going on with mid-level and senior level job-seekers, has a debilitating effect on the economy. While some say it justifies the need for more federal spending to maintain and create jobs, we say long term joblessness highlights the need for more pure entrepreneurship and innovation. If there aren’t enough higher level jobs in the corporate and government sector for these talented folks, then make it easier for them to start their own companies, hire/mentor others and built productive assets.

As Thomas Friedman noted in his op-ed piece in yesterday’s New York Times, “If there has been one consistent weakness to this president’s public messaging, it is that it is often lacking in any excitement about innovation and entrepreneurship—the real drivers of our economy. In recent years, all the net new jobs in America have come from startups.”

Free agent economy

In many “idea” businesses, including software, media and marketing that are heavily dependent on out of the box thinking, you can get most of your work done by tapping into the “free agent economy” and using outsourced expertise. Here’s a great example of how companies are growing and moving the economy along by doing everything except hiring permanent full-time W-2 workers with benefits.

It’s like we’ve been saying throughout the economic downturn, there’s lots of work to be done, just not a lot of jobs in the traditional sense of the word “job.” Whether you’re a job seeker, an employer, a recruiter or an investor in companies, get used to the free agent economy. It’s here to stay.

Macro view

Despite the plague of high gas prices, long-term joblessness and a depressed housing market, Americans are still going to drive. And when they can’t squeeze another couple months out of their worn out vehicles they’re going to bite the bullet and get a new one. Driving (i.e. independent transportation) is part of our DNA and always will be. Case in point: Auto sales hit their highest level in four years in September, as nearly 1.2 million vehicles left the showroom—a 13 percent increase from a year ago. The cheap financing isn’t hurting either.

OUT TAKE: As auto makers and suppliers start to feel more flush, expect a significant surge in Super Bowl advertising this winter and stronger than expected ad spending across the board for a post-election year. Whether you’re in consumer or B2B, we advise getting your 2013 media buys in early this year as they’ll be more competition for desirable inventory than you’ve been used to fighting for since the recession began a half decade ago.

While the looming fiscal cliff on January 1 has been grabbing all the headlines, another large, but generally ignored cliff is about to wreak havoc with both individual and institutional investors—the amount of time that swollen private equity funds have to start making some deals or else return money to their investors. As this report related, “The private equity world is sitting on that 13-figure sum. It’s what the industry calls dry powder. If they don’t spend their cash pile snapping up acquisitions soon, they may have to return it to their investors.”

To make sure, we checked in with our friend Paul Brian Gibson, Portfolio Manager for Norwalk, CT-based Harborview Capital Management and he agreed.  “I’d say that’s just about right, and it’s been going on for quite some time, to the point where these private equity funds will have to start returning money to investors. Post-crash buyers finally came bidding, but sellers did not want to sell in the "hole", so like our residential real estate there was a strike.  Since then the amount of money private equity managers have had has grown, but the good deals have been done. You’ve seen M&A volumes down sharply as well (my investment banking friends are trying to hang on, but we should see more cuts into year-end by the JP Morgans and Bank of Americas of the world.


Conclusion

Let’s get these elections over with so we can start making long-term decisions, investing in great businesses, producing great products, services and marketing campaigns and keeping our customers and clients thrilled with what we do.


TAGS: auto sales, Paul Brian Gibson, Harborview Capital Management, jobs report, November election, free agent economy Thomas Friedman, startup companies


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Research Shows Ad-Supported Web Businesses a Major Source of Job Creation
U.S. housing  firming up

By now it’s hard to find a lot of B2B marketers who are still skeptical about the power of web-based advertising and marketing. But, whether you’re all in or still sticking your toes in the water, it’s clear this business is growing robustly and will be here for a while.

Consider this. New data from Harvard Business School claims that employment in the ad-supported Web ecosystem doubled over the past four years to 5.1 million. What’s more, those jobs contributed $530 billion to the U.S. economy last year -- close to double the 2007 figures. The HBS research, commissioned by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, found that, “Jobs grew fastest in digital advertising agencies, ad networks, ad exchanges, customer analytics firms and listening platforms,” report authors said. “The engine of growth was not just consumer-facing companies like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, but also firms that used the data spun off by them.”

OUR TAKE: What encouraged us the most was the fact that overall job creation was highly dispersed. Instead of being dominated by Google, Microsoft and Yahoo, the majority of new jobs were being offered at smaller entrepreneurial ventures across every state and county. Sole proprietors and small firms were cited as the big winners, this year. They contributed 375,000 full-time equivalent jobs to the 2 million in the Internet ecosystem. App development alone accounted for 35,000 full-time equivalent jobs, and the number of moonlighters was an order of magnitude larger.

Click here to download the study

Macro view

According to the Case Schiller index, single family home prices went up for the third straight month in July in all 20 major cities measured. Meanwhile, consumer confidence rose to the highest level in seven month, the Conference Board said last week. Economists say consumer confidence accounts for as much as two-thirds of economic activity in the U.S., which analysts suggest is a sign that consumers and businesses are finally readers to spend more aggressively.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday that new home sales in August were up a whopping 27.7 percent from the pace a year ago. The median price of a new home jumped 11.2 percent in August to $256,900, the biggest one-month gain on record. The median sales price was up 17 percent compared with August 2011. According to housing experts the $256,900 median price in August was the highest sales price since new homes sold for $262,600 in March 2007, a period when prices were coming down from the peaks reached during the housing boom.

Conclusion

Fiscal cliff worries aside. Regardless of how you think next month’s election will turn out, the economy is slowly but surely on the upswing even if we it takes years more to get back to the level of PERCEIVED prosperity in the middle of the last decade. As the HBS research shows, it’s a new world out there and we’re likely never going back to a media environment or business climate that we had before. Move fast. Move smart. Do your best to stay on top of every new tool you can for doing your job better. They’re not all going to work, but you’ll forever rue the day that you didn’t make the effort to explore the one killer app that could have revolutionized your business—and instead revolutionized the competition’s.

TAGS: Harvard Business School. Web advertising ecosystem. Case Schiller index. Home prices. Job growth, Interactive Advertising Bureau

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For B2B, Numbers Point to Signs of Optimism
Don’t wait till after the elections to start making decisions. There ain’t gonna’ be an ‘all clear’ signal.

Several key numbers jumped out at us this week and we think they’re worth heeding for B2B marketers. Remember, your customers are not just executives and trade show attendees; they’re homeowners, consumers and individual investors as well.

Through the end of 2011, the tradeshow industry performed better than the U.S. economy in general, beating even an industry-affiliated organization’s forecast for the year and recorded its eighth consecutive quarter of growth according to Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) President Doug Ducate.

The CEIR index, which takes into account net square footage, attendance, number of exhibitors and revenue, found that the industry grew by 2.7 percent in 2011.Attendance was the indicator that saw the largest jump, from 2.4 percent in 2010 to 3.4 percent last year.

OUR TAKE: Considering the long lead time involved in the live events business, we’re probably just now seeing signs of optimism that first surfaced in 2010. Like CEIR, we predict event stronger numbers for the live events business as digital fatigue has worn on business professionals who now crave face-to-face interaction even more, albeit selectively, to close deals and consummate relationships.

Shows in some industry sector saw particularly strong growth in 2011. Among them were business-related exhibitions, including those involving machinery (11.2 percent overall); communication and information technology (8.1 percent); and transportation (5.7 percent).

Continuing to lag furthest behind other sectors was that with shows involving building, construction and real estate (which experienced a 5.3-percent decline in 2011).

Macro view

Let’s start with housing. Last week, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that sales of existing homes rose more than expected in August to a two-year high, an additional sign the U.S. housing market is firming up in the second half of the year. Purchases of previously owned houses increased 7.8 percent to an annual rate of almost 5 million, the most since May 2010, NAR said. Another report showed that construction began on more single-family homes last month than at any time in the past two years. The median price of an existing home climbed 9.5 percent to $187,400 from $171,200 in August 2011.

OUR TAKE: This confidence should lead to a rise in psychological feelings of wealth, which will lift consumer confidence and spending. We were also encouraged by a couple of things: the housing market should similar gains across ALL regions of the country. What’s more, first-time buyers made up 31 percent of the total compared with the average of 40 percent to 45 percent seen in normal years, which means, longstanding homeowners ARE feeling able to unload their homes and either trade up or scale down as their needs would dictate in a normal economy.

Construction companies too are noting better business conditions. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo index of builder confidence climbed in September to the highest level since June 2006. Work began on 5.5 percent more single-family houses in August, taking starts to a 535,000 annual rate, the fastest since April 2010, figures from the Commerce Department also showed today.

Investor confidence in U.S. capital markets rises, doubts remain about overseas markets

The number of investors with at least some confidence in U.S. capital markets has increased slightly since the end of last year, according to the Center for Audit Quality, a public policy organization. Almost two thirds (65 percent) of investors with at least $10,000 in investments have at least some confidence in the market, an increase of 4 percent since 2011, says the Sixth Annual Main Street Investor Survey taken of 1,003 investors. By contrast, their confidence in capital markets outside the United States fell by 8 percent to 35 percent. For U.S. investors, the CAQ survey found 64 percent feel their personal financial situation will stay the same, while 25 percent feel it will improve over the next year. The four top economic concerns investors have are not having enough money for retirement, not being able to afford health care, not being able to maintain their standard of living and losing their jobs. Conclusion As American humorist, Evan Esnar once quipped, “Statistics is the only science that enables different experts using the same figures to draw different conclusions.” We like to think of stats as another way of quantifying what’s in your gut. Too much business activity is hung up in wait-and-see mode until the November elections conclude. We strongly urge you to make important decisions NOW for 2013 and beyond. By the time the dust clears, your competitors and best prospects will be far down the road ahead of you. And you’ll be nursing your sorrows at some dingy dive in the town of ShouldaWouldaCoulda. VCRGD6XDXT3T

TAGS: Center for Exhibition Industry Research, CEIR, Doug Ducate, National Association of Realtors, CAQ, Center for Audit Quality, housing prices, B2B marketing, National Association of Homebuilders Wells Fargo Index, Evan Esnar

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New Year’s Resolutions in September?
iPad 5. No surprises, but still takes consumers and marketers by storm

As many of you know, last night marked the start of Rosh Hashana, the important Jewish Holiday signifying the start of a new year on the Hebrew calendar and a time of self-reflection and fresh starts. But some things never change (see early mobile/social media device at left introduced about 5,000 years ago).

Regardless of your faith, September tends to be a time of renewal for many of us in the B2B world. Kids are back to school; a new football season is under way; the leaves start turning in many parts of the country and everyone in the business world has shaken off the post Labor Day rust to start making real decisions about Q4/2012 and 2013 (aka Hebrew year 5773).

According to the findings of the "2012 Meetings Industry Pulse Indicator" from Successful Meetings, nearly two-thirds (63.9%) of C-suite executives, presidents, and vice presidents predict that business conditions will be the same at the end of the year as they are now. Of the remainder, one in four (23%) predict better conditions and 13 percent predicting worse conditions. OK, so that’s not exactly a warm and fuzzy forecast, but it also means seven out of eight top level business leaders DO NOT think things will be worse next year, regardless of the election outcome.

PREDICTION: We have no idea which party is going to win the Presidential election. But, we can tell you that if you’re not planning to hit the ground running at 100 percent full speed in 2013, then you ABSOLUTELY will be left in the dust by your competitors and strategic partners. “Cautious optimism” is the new optimism in this hyper competitive global economy. You need to take advantage of any opening you can, just like a bruising running back who turns a tiny opening in the line into a 7 yard gain.

imPact of iPad 5

Consumers aren’t the only ones licking their chops over the arrival of the iPhone 5. As expected, Apple rolled out The 5 on Wednesday with a larger display, improved camera and 4G LTE networking all in a thinner body of aluminum and glass. A JP Morgan estimate projects Apple will sell some 45 million iPhones in the fourth quarter, with more than half being iPhone 5s. What’s more, the dang thing is sold out--Apple reported today that iPhone 5 pre-orders topped 2 million in the first 24 hours--more than double the record set by the iPhone 4S, last year. Retail analysts are reporting back orders of two to four weeks.

While there was nothing in iPad 5’s introduction that hadn’t already been predicted by industry analysts and bloggers, digital ad executives and analysts expect the iPhone to attract new customers and provide a richer platform for mobile campaigns and m-commerce. Forrester Research analyst Charles Golvin said in his blog post last week that competitors such as HTC and Nokia already offer some of the features Apple introduced Wednesday, like those for imaging. “But Apple still outpaces the competition when it comes to the entire package--the new iPhone unites significant improvements in industrial design, imaging, audio and connectivity, along with the wealth of new capabilities that iOS6 enables.”

Why ad execs are juiced about the 5

Ad executives see promise with the iPhone 5's larger, 4-inch screen with Retina display, boasting 18 percent more pixels for delivering interactive campaigns. Experts say Mis-clicks will be less likely and actions a little easier to execute. Extra screen size will also be a bonus for landing pages and sites that campaigns link to, encouraging interaction.

The faster delivery of mobile data via 4G could spur greater use of video in advertising with the knowledge that users are likely to have a better experience than with 3G networks. Combined with the better visual aspects of the iPhone 5, it could lead to increased use of apps, the mobile Web and other types of mobile media.

Our Take: If you’re trying to connect with your customers, clients and hot prospects in any
meaningful way, you better assume they’re mobile more often than desk-bound and when they’re mobile, they’re most likely on the Apple platform.

Conclusion

Be smart, be aggressive and be mobile in 2013 (or Hebrew Year 5773). L’Shana Tova. Basically that means have a healthy and sweet New Year. From where we sit, 2013 starts now.

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TAGS: Rosh Hashana, Charles Golvin, Forrester Research, Successful Meetings, Apple, iPhone 5

 

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Burnout Redux and the Brain Drain
9 key signs you (or a key employee) could be in the danger zone

Happy Monday. Our recent post about professional burnout obviously touched a nerve. Thanks again for your great comments, even those of you disagreed with us.

As New York Times columnist, Thomas Friedman opined yesterday: “The truth is, if you want a decent job that will lead to a decent life today you have to work harder, regularly reinvent yourself, obtain at least some form post-secondary education and make sure you’re engaged in lifelong learning.” In other words, you’re going to have to max out your career goals every day just to keep up with the pack.

Our friend Gavin Pommernelle, President of Darien, Conn.-based HR Talent Driven Value, said “The sad thing is that [burnout] is more and more common now and the loner in the office is getting more company--except that they are all just as stressed. This is partly due to much leaner organizations and people doing everything to protect their jobs.”

Blogger and futurist Seth Godin posted Saturday that it is “sad to think” that the only reason you work is because you get paid to do it. “Now that you've got a skillset and trust and leverage and a following and the tools to make something happen, are you going to invest your heart and soul into something that's important or waste it selling something you're not proud of?”

You also have to factor in the importance of interaction with others. As Pommernelle noted, “Not having time to interrelate with others outside of the day to day role, both socially and professionally, actually hurts your current and future career.”


9 Key Signs of Burnout

Suzanne Burger, Psy.D. points to 9 red flags that signal you or a key employee might be in the burnout danger zone:

1. A continual increase in job responsibilities, either without a raise, or beyond your ability to comfortably manage.
2. Having to put on too many faces for too many different people.
3. Working under a micromanaging boss
4. Chronic, repetitive, boring work- a job that requires little thought and creativity, one that rarely changes, and offers little challenge.
5. Required to work long hours to complete your tasks, frequently working more than 40 hour weeks.
6. Feeling "stuck" in a job or career that is not your ideal job or career.
7. Having a long history of loyalty to a company, but without receiving expected promotions or raises.
8. Being consumed by your job, so that your job goes home with you. You may even fall asleep thinking about work and have little or no outside life.
9. Being forced to work under an oppressive environment, either with difficult or harassing co-workers, or under strict company rules, or strict managers.

Conclusion

While Berger’s “red flags” are designed for the overwhelmed worker, take a moment to consider how many of your key staffers are treading dangerously close to the burnout zone. In this economy, it just takes one well-timed call from a recruiter when they’re having a bad day to convince them to jump ship….and all the smarts and know-how they’ve built up over the years often goes out the door with them.

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TAGS: Gavin Pommernelle, Talent Driven Value, Thomas Friedman, Seth Godin, Suzanne Berger

Yes, Smartphone Users Are Responding to Ads
Response rates higher for smartphone users who’ve paid for content

A new survey by Frank N. Magid Associates for the Online Publishers Association confirmed what many B2B marketers have long believed--people ARE seeing and responding to mobile advertising delivered to their devices. And, if they’re paying for that content, then their more likely to be paying attention to you.

The OPA-Magid online survey found that nearly half (44%) of the U.S. Internet population owns a smartphone and within that group:

·         93 percent said they regularly access content and information

·         59 percent access the Internet

·         58 percent check email

·         47 percent check weather information

·         31 percent watch video

·         29 percent access news

Among those who consume content on their smartphones, nearly 40 percent say they have responded to mobile advertising. What’s more, 15 percent of smartphone users who consume content on the phone have clicked on an ad, 12 percent have used a special offer or coupon, and the same number have made a purchase either on a PC or at a store after seeing a mobile ad.

Focus on those who pay for content

Interestingly, researchers say ad response rates seem to be higher among smartphone users who have paid for content. One out of four U.S. smartphone owners (24%) have paid for digital content, according to the OPA survey, with 22 percent paying for video, 21 percent for entertainment, 21 percent for books, and 19 percent for weather content. Of those respondents, nearly four in five (79%) have taken action after seeing an ad, with 31 percent clicking on an ad, 30 percent using a special offer or coupon, 27 percent making a purchase on a PC, and 24 percent making a store purchase thank to a mobile ad.

Conclusion

Again and again we see that free only takes you so far. As B2B marketers are learning, not all clicks are created equal. Throw the “braggable metrics” out the window and focus on engagement stats from those who are truly engaged with the content environment in which you’re reaching them. That’s where your real leads are. Everything else is just fishing for “tire kickers.”

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TAGS: Advertising, mobile, research, tablet, Frank N. Magid Associates, Online Publishers Association

TAGS: Burned out marketing and business development professionals, workplace burnout, Integrated Work; Leiter and Maslach

Busting Through Workplace Burnout

Marketing and biz-dev professionals. It’s late August. You’re working late again in a virtually empty office. Most of your colleagues are happily on vacation, by the pool or soaking up full-blast AC with friends or family at the local bistro, movie theatre or mall. If you think you’re the one burning the proverbial candle at both ends, you’re not alone.

The good news is that your work ethic, talent, reliability and perfectionist tendencies have enabled you to hold on to your job during the worst job market in a generation. The bad news is that your work ethic, talent, reliability and perfectionist tendencies have gotten you into a vicious cycle. Your superiors, peers and subordinates all feel they can count on 24/7 to get the job done, take on yet another task and deliver it on time, on budget and with flying colors.

Any of this sounding familiar? Read more from a recent column I did about strategies for fighting workplace burnout and ways to recognize signs of unmanageable stress before it’s too late. Life’s too short.

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TAGS: Burned out marketing and business development professionals, workplace burnout, Integrated Work; Leiter and Maslach

TAGS: Building permits, Commerce Department, Seth Godin, James Hackett, Steelcase, cutting corners

Now Is Not the Time to Be Cutting Corners

We know it’s late August. It’s hot, muggy and you’ve already used up your vacation. The business and political climate is still uncertain and you’ve got too many deadlines to possibly handle before the real post Labor Day sprint kicks in. At times like this, there’s always the temptation to “mail it in,” cut corners a little and maybe try to get by with 90 percent effort or even 80.

Don’t do it.

As Steelcase CEO, James Hackett revealed in yesterday’s New York Times, “you have to practice for moments when your integrity might be tested,” such as a bad earnings quarter or a tough issue at your company. “People tend to double down and do bad things under the most extreme pressure.”

In this hyper competitive age of outsourcing and technological one upsmanship, we’re pressured to squeeze every penny out of our production process and every hour of productivity out of our workforce. But cutting costs and cutting corners in order to pump up your bottom line won’t work in the long run, argues futurist and blogger, Seth Godin in his post today, “The Race to the Bottom.”

“There's always the opportunity to cut a corner, sacrifice lifestyle quality and suck it up as we race to grab a little more market share. But the problem with the race to the bottom is that you might win.” Instead, he argues, we should strive to win the race to the top which is focused on “design and respect and dignity and guts and innovation and sustainability and yes, generosity when it might be easier to be selfish.”

OUR TAKE: As we’ve opinioned again and again in this blog, you can’t replace the value of high quality products, high quality client service and going the extra mile for your employees, strategic partners and stakeholders.

The bulls eye prioritization system

As Hackett observed, one technique that’s helped him prioritize for short-term, medium term and long term goals is to think of your work life as a bulls eye. “You put now in the center,” and the outer ring is “near” and the furthest ring is “far.” If you analyze your work calendar, how much time do you spend in each of the three zones?  “You’ve got to train yourself to work in all three zones simultaneously.” Unfortunately, it’s human nature to get pulled into the “now,” Hackett argues, and unfortunately at most organizations, the reward systems are build that way. Great leaders, he says, can transcend the short term thinking.

Macro View

Building permits rise to a 4 year high

Last week the Commerce Department reported that new building permits surged 5.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 717,000 units last month, the highest since October 2008. The numbers are yet another signal that the housing market is improving and experts say it could be the first time that home building adds to U.S. economic growth since 2005.

OUR TAKE: What we like about this indicator is that it points to “new” building activity, not just “sales” which in recent years has mean clearing out old inventory of bargain basement homes, factories, office space and apartments. This is potentially real investment activity and shows signs of confidence on both the consumer and business fronts.

Conclusion

As preseason football gets underway, focus hard on your basic blocking and tackling. Nail down the basics before you get too visionary, but again, don’t ever try to cut corners. As a great leader and marketing organization, however, you have to spend a little time up in the film room and up in the coaches tower to get the overview of where you are now and where you are going. No one wants to get blindsided by the unexpected or caught offside for moving to soon and too carelessly.

There are too many competitors, referees and video reviewers watching your every move.


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TAGS: TAGS: Building permits, Commerce Department, Seth Godin, James Hackett, Steelcase, cutting corners

 

Researchers Find Email Open Rates Down, CTR Up
Here’s why that’s good, not bad, for B2B marketers

As expected, researchers continue to hammer on the fact that MEASURED email open rates are dropping again, even though click through rates and unsubscribe rates are improving. According to the latest findings from email service provider, Silverpop, email open rates trended downwards again from an average of 21.3 percent in 2009 to 19.9 percent through the first quarter of this year.

“The decrease can be tied to a number of industry developments, namely email service technology that blocks HTML imagery, and features such as Gmail’s Priority Inbox (or similar third-party add-ons,” according to Bryan Brown, Silverpop’s director of product strategy in a statement.

Researchers did find some encouraging signs however. For instance, click-through rates averaged 5.4 percent in 2011 and 2012 -- up from a 2009 average of 4.5 percent. “Click-through rates are a key measure for email efficacy -- more so than open rates -- and the notable increase in CTR can be attributed to a simultaneous increase in automated A/B testing,” Brown explained.

Our Take: Unless you’re selling mass audience brand d advertising or sponsorships, open rates on your email don’t matter if no one is taking action after they open. In fact, it could be a sign that you’re seductive subject lines (that got the reader to open) isn’t delivering on what you promise. We can’t say enough about the importance of engagement and if we take the liberty of extrapolating on Silverpop’s data, you’ll see a nice improvement in the CLICK-to-OPEN ratio over the measured period—27.1 percent up from 21.1 percent!

Conclusion

Engagement will trump “McMetrics” such as the open rate every time. Lots of factors affect your open rate that don’t necessarily have to do with the quality of your list and the relevance of your content. Remember to focus on what you NEED to measure, not on what’s EASY to measure.

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TAGS: Silverpop, Email open rates, click through rates, CTR, click to open, McMetrics