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BNET Insights Most Recent
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Sales Machine
Why Did You Lose that Big Account?
The post "How to Cope With Losing a Big Account" generated a reader comment so brilliant that I'm raising it to the level of a full post. In that comment, frequent Sales Machine contributor IanP provides some true business wisdom about why companies lose big accounts -- and what...
Jul 3, 2009 11:30 AM
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BNET Intercom
No Taxation without Representation: the Move to Audit the Fed
Independence Day. Despite tough times that may damper the celebration in a few cities, Americans are ready for barbecues and fireworks this weekend. Some will celebrate the entrepreneurs that keep the US humming. Others will look back and commemorate the Patriots who kicked off the great American experiment. So it's...
Jul 3, 2009 11:07 AM
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Sterling Performance
Tesco, Home Retail Facing Shareholder Ire
Retail executives will be dismayed at shareholder militancy at the moment. Tesco just managed to push through a change to share options rules, against strong opposition at its AGM. Argos owner Home Retail Group had a similar groundswell against bonus payments to directors at its AGM too. Both of these...
Jul 3, 2009 7:59 AM
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Sales Machine
Can You Close a Deal in Japan?
For sales professionals accustomed the casual business culture of the United States, Japan presents unusual problems. While it's easy to memorize a list of "DOs and DON'Ts" the subtleties of business interactions are more difficult. Here's a quick way to test whether you "get" the difference between selling in the...
Jul 3, 2009 5:30 AM
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Aussie Rules
How Do You Recognise a Bernie Madoff?
Bernie Madoff has just been sentenced for 150 years, the maximum allowed. I have just spent a morning to reading about Madoff, and in particular his personality, in various articles. Perhaps the most poignant comment was by a woman whose husband invested and lost money with Madoff: "…My father said,...
Jul 2, 2009 8:04 PM
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The Corner Office
Retirement's For Old People
In 2003 I retired from the corporate world. Everybody was happy except for my wife since I was about to invade her space at home like a horde of marauding Huns. But my retirement wasn't to be like my father's. I consult, write, work as hard as I did before....
Jul 2, 2009 3:03 PM
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Aussie Rules
Who is Thomas Dux? | BTalk Australia
(Episode 278; 13min 23) The ACCC has just given Woolworths the approval to acquire the specialist grocery chain Macro Wholefoods. Woolworths will rebrand the stores as Thomas Dux Grocer, which already exists in a few locations. So what are Woolworths trying to do here? In this edition of BTalk Australia...
Jul 2, 2009 2:02 PM
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BNET Intercom
Small Businesses Might Not Be the Key to Economic Recovery
The small start-ups that tend to actually create lasting, well-paying jobs and economic growth are the few hundred each year which receive substantial venture capital.
Jul 2, 2009 1:05 PM
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Sterling Performance
Bob Pearson: Social Media Not Just For Geeks
Bob Pearson, has just been appointed President of the newly rebranded Social Media Business Council (SMBC, of which I am also a member) after a successful stint as Vice President, Communities and Conversations at Dell. I met with him to ask few questions on how he will use the experience he...
Jul 2, 2009 11:48 AM
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Sales Machine
Will B2B Sales Move Mostly Online?
Here are two people I respect -- sales guru Keith Rosen and Genius.com CEO David Thompson -- in apparent agreement that "Sales 2.0" (where the entire B2B sales cycle is pursued online) will largely replace "Sales 1.0" (where B2B sales cycle is pursued in person). I've been writing a lot...
Jul 2, 2009 11:30 AM
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The Corner Office
7 Signs You're Creating Your Own Workplace Stress
Quick, by a show of hands, how many of you have workplace stress? Almost everybody, great. Now, how much of that stress do you think is self-imposed? What, no hands? Well, I'm not surprised, but you may be in for one. You see, most people make their own stress. Not...
Jul 2, 2009 10:31 AM
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Sterling Performance
Graduates: No Job? Then Create One Yourself
NEETs are back in the news. What's a NEET? Not in Employment, Education or Training. It's our modern euphemism for unemployed school-leavers. As a group, they're about to top one million strong, which is clearly bad news. The government's solution is to offer them jobs or apprenticeships - then stop...
Jul 2, 2009 9:49 AM
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Business Hacks
Zoho Projects 2.0 Adds Wikis, Chat, and Microsoft Project Integration
Back when I worked for Faceless Giant Corporation, LLC, I was part of a team that desperately needed a project-management tool. We were all over the place -- Excel, Lotus Notes, countless PDFs and Word documents -- to the point where the project simply couldn't be managed efficiently. Oh, how...
Jul 2, 2009 9:30 AM
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Sterling Performance
How's Your Personal Elevator Pitch
People subconsciously form an impression of you within 10 seconds of meeting. So when they ask you what you do, can you add to that first impression by succinctly, accurately and interestingly describing what you do in an elevator pitch lasting no more than 15 seconds? Your elevator pitch...
Jul 2, 2009 9:24 AM
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Sterling Performance
Why State Ownership is Bad for Business
The state sector is growing at private companies' expense. The Post Office is to remain state-controlled and the East Coast rail line has been nationalised. They sit in a UK government portfolio already boosted by the addition of Northern Rock, Royal Bank of Scotland, Bradford & Bingley, almost half...
Jul 2, 2009 8:40 AM
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Business Hacks
Learn Twitter-Speak for All Your Twitter-Based Marketing Initiatives
If you believe Rick, Twitter is an awesome and powerful marketing tool. I think it's a pointless waste of time. If you are more Rick than Dave, then you might be interested in this Twitter-to-English dictionary. I was actually kind of jazzed to run across this, because while some of...
Jul 2, 2009 7:00 AM
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Team Taskmaster
Celebrate Independence: Dare to Slack
It's the day before a three-day holiday weekend, and if you're like me, you're ready for a break from work. Which explains why I'm leaving you with a couple of grins instead of a long and thoughtful post. I'm taking tomorrow off but will catch up with you again on...
Jul 2, 2009 6:51 AM
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The View from Harvard Business
Artists Keep on Creating Despite Digital Pirates
Earlier this decade, production studios and music labels didn't much want to hear what Harvard Business School professor Felix Oberholzer-Gee had to tell them. While the entertainment companies claimed that unauthorized file-sharing was robbing them and their clients of income, Oberholzer-Gee's research showed little relationship between piracy and CD sales....
Jul 2, 2009 6:30 AM
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Business Hacks
Run Your Classic Palm OS Apps on the Palm Pre
If you've had your eye on the Palm Pre, you probably know that the awkwardly named handset has access to the whole library of classic Palm OS apps thanks to Classic, a Palm OS emulator from Motion Apps. One concern a lot of people have had, though, is whether their...
Jul 2, 2009 6:08 AM
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Back to B-School
Three Places to Focus Market Research During a Recession
In the current economy, market research presents many companies with a catch-22: you need market research to attract new customers, but you need customers to pay for market research. In a recent post on his Harvard Business blog Marketing Knowhow, Harvard Business School professor John Quelch writes that many businesses...
Jul 2, 2009 6:00 AM
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Sales Machine
15 Rules for Giving Good Demo
Product demos are the hardest thing that most sales reps ever do. A demo has all the elements of a sales presentation -- with the additional burden of having to show off the product. There's lots to think about, and a lot can go wrong. With that in mind, here...
Jul 2, 2009 5:30 AM
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BNET1
Social Media: Too Important for Interns?
The Find: It's summer and companies everywhere are awash in interns, but one blog warns against reflexively giving these eager, young workers the keys to your company's social media presence. The Source: Church of the Customer Blog. The Takeaway: When my colleague Stefan Deeran recently suggested putting your summer...
Jul 2, 2009 4:10 AM
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Aussie Rules
Top 5 AU Management Books for June 2009
According to sales data from Dymocks Australia, the cheese has moved again --- right to the top of the June charts. And I think the cheese has set off a definite aroma of self-improvement in this month's top books. Here are the Top 5 selling books for June, 2009: Who...
Jul 1, 2009 7:38 PM
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BNET Intercom
Managing Your Career When a Layoff Looms
It's stressful enough to work for a company that's going through tough times, let alone to look for a new job after a layoff. So how about searching for a job when your current company has told you your tenure is ending? TheLadders recently talked to a couple of senior...
Jul 1, 2009 3:30 PM
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Aussie Rules
A New Year, New Workplace Regulations - Part 2 | BTalk Australia
(Episode 277: 12minutes 32) In this second part of our look at the Fair Work Act, with Adrienne Unkovich from Workforce Guardian, we investigate further the process for dismissing an employee. What role does the new Fair Work Australia body have in this process? What other impacts will the changes...
Jul 1, 2009 1:33 PM
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BNET Intercom
Is Mandated Health Coverage a Secret "Weapon" for the Biggest Businesses?
It's not everyday that Wal-Mart and SEIU join forces. As President Obama takes to the road to pitch his health care reforms in a "town-hall" format, one of America's biggest companies and one of its largest unions have released a joint statement in favor of employer-mandated health coverage. There are...
Jul 1, 2009 12:36 PM
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Sales Machine
How To Cope With Losing a Big Account
There are few career events more devastating than losing a big account. This short video (featuring Dr. Kerry Sulkowicz of the Boswell group) describes exactly how the sales team can recover more quickly and hopefully learn something from the experience. Here's a summary: Loss of the account can feel devastating....
Jul 1, 2009 11:30 AM
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Team Taskmaster
The Problem with Mercenary Executives
Like many people, I've worked as an office temp. But the new trend is to bring in mercenary managers who, like temps, ply their trade and then vanish. I'm sorry, but this just can't be good for business.
Jul 1, 2009 11:07 AM
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Back to B-School
Business Ethics Integral to Corporate Strategy, says Stanford's Malhotra
Professor Neil Malhotra of the Stanford GSB focuses on business ethics and non-market strategy. Last week, we discussed the increased emphasis on ethics training within Stanford's curriculum. Today, we'll talk about what kind of approaches will be most effective in driving home the importance of ethics to future business...
Jul 1, 2009 10:45 AM
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The View from Harvard Business
Niall Ferguson's Worst and Best Scenarios for America's Future
Is America headed for a great depression similar to what began in 1929? Or has it already begun to put the recession in its rear view mirror and is to soon resume its roll as global policeman? For Niall Ferguson, one is the worst-case scenario, the other the best case. ...
Jul 1, 2009 10:27 AM
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Business Hacks
Compare Shipping Rates with ShipGooder
If you ship a lot of packages, you probably use the same courier for expediency's sake. But if you ship infrequently, it makes sense to shop around for the best rates. ShipGooder makes it a snap to compare shipping costs between various couriers. All you do is plug in the...
Jul 1, 2009 10:00 AM
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Business Hacks
$1.99 App Turns Your iPhone Into an Air Mouse
Anyone who gives presentations on a regular basis recognizes the value of a good "air mouse," which lets you control your slideshows wirelessly as you move around the room. Instead of buying and bringing extra gear, why not go the app route? Mobile Air Mouse turns your iPhone into an...
Jul 1, 2009 9:00 AM
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Business Hacks
Delegate and Manage Projects with Colabolo
I have a lot of balls in the air all the time -- a ton of projects I'm working on myself, but I also assign stuff to other writers and rely on an ad hoc collection of handwritten notes, stuff in OneNote, and e-mail to keep track of it all....
Jul 1, 2009 7:00 AM
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The View from Harvard Business
Managing Your Professional Image
Harvard Business School professor Laura Morgan Roberts' article Creating a Positive Professional Image is one of the most popular ever run on HBS Working Knowledge. Her theme: If you don't actively manage your professional image, others will do it for you. Create your own identity. Take a strategic, proactive approach to...
Jul 1, 2009 6:30 AM
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BNET1
Is Free the Future? Business Bigwigs Debate
The Find: Chris Anderson's new book Free is raising a firestorm of commentary from the likes of Malcolm Gladwell and Seth Godin, and today Mark Cuban weighs in, arguing that accepting free content is different from accepting freely distributed content. The Source: Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban's response to the...
Jul 1, 2009 6:12 AM
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What Would Bing Do?
Can I Force My Boss to Stop Smoking at Work?
Dear Stanley, I work in a small office with three other people. Despite the anti-smoking laws, the owner continues to smoke a pipe in the office. We got together and bought a huge air filter. It helps, but our eyes water and my dry-cleaning bill is through the roof because...
Jul 1, 2009 6:00 AM
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Sales Machine
Don't Let Your Brain Screw Up the Sale
When it comes to success in selling, your brain can be your own worst enemy. If you're like most sales pros, your brain has a tendency to chatter away about the future, when having a conversation with a customer. Even though you're trying to listen, your brain is sending out...
Jul 1, 2009 5:30 AM
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Business Hacks
Free Templates for Your Next Resume
We've made much ado here in recent months about the cataclysmic financial conditions, and we're always on the lookout for stuff to help you get your next job. I was thus quite happy to see that MakeUseOf recently rounded up a slew of Web sites with free resume templates you...
Jul 1, 2009 5:00 AM
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The Corner Office
The 2009 Halftime Report
The good news is I'm still alive and well and finally going Mac after 20 years of Wintel oppression. Aside from that, the only positive thing I can think of to say is the second half has got to be better. Here's my 2009 Halftime Report: 10 Random Impressions ...
Jun 30, 2009 6:51 PM
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Team Taskmaster
Keep Your Hands Off Me in the Office
Is too much touching in the workplace a bad thing? The question's on my mind because of a Wall Street Journal article by Elizabeth Bernstein about people who persist in touching colleagues at work. In it, she describes herself as a "touchee" -- someone who, through no action of their...
Jun 30, 2009 4:22 PM
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Aussie Rules
A New Year, New Workplace Regulations - Part 1 | BTalk Australia
(Episode 276; 10minutes 21) It's a new financial year in Australia and, as of July 1st, a raft of new Fair Work legislation comes into place, replacing the contentious Work Choice laws that almost certainly contributed to the downfall of the Howard government. For small businesses the new legislation takes...
Jun 30, 2009 1:50 PM
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BNET Intercom
Don't Get Binged by a Potential Boss
CareerBuilder.com is launching a new tool that helps HR reps pull relevant data points about a job candidate using Bing's API.
Jun 30, 2009 1:25 PM
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The Corner Office
Real Managers Don't Make Excuses
When dogs screw up, they hang their head and tuck their tail between their legs in admission of guilt. When wild animals screw up, it can be fatal. No excuses. It's human to make excuses, but nothing is more success and career limiting. Great managers and successful business people don't...
Jun 30, 2009 11:42 AM
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Sales Machine
7 Strategies to Build "Negotiating Power"
When negotiating the final terms of complex deals, many sales pros find themselves in a situation where the customer holds all the cards. Because you've invested time in the opportunity, and may have made quota commitments to your manager, your customers feel they can simply dictate terms. That's a recipe...
Jun 30, 2009 11:30 AM
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The View from Harvard Business
Three Keys to High Performance Managers
Harvard Business School professor emeritus Michael Beer identifies three characteristics of high performance managers in a short video on BigThink.com. Effective leaders: Engage their organizations in a learning process and connect authentically with people. Have the will to change and transform the organization with a clear vision of what must...
Jun 30, 2009 10:53 AM
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Business Hacks
Send 25MB Attachments with Gmail
Having trouble sending a large attachment through your company's size-stingy mail server? Try switching over to your Gmail account. The maximum Gmail attachment size is now an impressive 25MB. Of course, that's only half the equation: The recipient's mail server must support attachments of that size as well (not...
Jun 30, 2009 10:01 AM
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Business Hacks
Firefox 3.5 Available Now
If your appetite was sufficiently whetted by last week's video peek at Firefox 3.5, get ready to feast: Firefox 3.5 is now available for download. In case you missed the video, here's a quick overview of what's new in this fairly major update: Available in more than 70 languages. (Get...
Jun 30, 2009 9:02 AM
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The View from Harvard Business
Why You Need to Become a Great Explainer
A speech is only so many pretty words until you drive home the message in a way that connects with the audience. That's why you need to pay more attention to how you use explanation to describe benefits, challenges, and to set expectations. Communications expert John Baldoni hits on the power...
Jun 30, 2009 8:00 AM
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Sterling Performance
Five Questions to Identify the Secret of Your Success
Understanding, developing and exploiting your company's strengths and competitive advantages is at the heart of any strategy for business growth. Yet many business leaders do not fully understand how and why their company wins. Executive teams often draw up a list of strengths and competitive advantages based on gut feel but have...
Jun 30, 2009 7:43 AM
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Business Hacks
Business Hacks Poll: Do You Prefer Google, Bing, or Yahoo in a Blind Taste Test?
Remember the Pepsi Challenge? You'd sip soda out of unmarked containers, only to discover that Pepsi tasted better despite your longtime preference for Coke. Blind Search is a mash-up that is doing for search engines what the Pepsi Challenge did for cola. Enter a search term at Blind Search, and...
Jun 30, 2009 7:00 AM
InsightTop Rated
- Five Ways Managers Breed Incompetence+90 votes
- Fixing the Language of “Pass the Buck”+69 votes
- The Two Most Important Lists You'll Ever Keep+69 votes
- Focus on Individualism Creates MBA "Monsters"?+59 votes
- Tips for Writing Powerful Emails+57 votes
- AIG: How Would You Grade the Fed's Governance?+54 votes
- Find 'Hidden' Job Postings at LinkUp+54 votes
- Write More Efficient E-mails to Save Time and Frustration+53 votes
