Tag Archives: business

Interrogative, politics

(tan)001 – 100 days, protocol, half-sick

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(tan)001 – 100 days, protocol, half-sick

Tangents: My favorite part of the day, as I gotta speak on all the cognitions running amuck in my head …

Half-Sick
Being half-sick is never fun; it is not the sickness that takes over your whole body, and causes you great discomfort or pain, but it still is a pain in the *ss. Been running around with some allergy-like symptoms: runny nose, scratchy throat – which all cause you to feel tired and drained of energy. And this can not come at a worst time when one is trying to meet so many deadlines. I got to rate my immune system somewhat – I never really get sick in the winter, but as soon as we start transitioning to spring, the pollen, the bees, the spring-like conditions, always get to me and I come down with something. Only in the recent years have I begun to even take allergy pills to combat it; but, rarely helps.

Protocol, protocol, protocol
Just found out that I owe a lot of money in overdue fees – $36 worth. That is not the shocking part (even though it is still shocking), but over a period of a month, I have been borrowing a book from my school’s library, and allegedly I have returned the book late, and every time it is late a $3.00/hour charge has been levied upon me – this must have happened over 5 times. My beef is, after the first offence, wouldn’t it make logical sense to say, “Hey, you have some outstanding fees on your card”, rather than let it get to $36? Well, safe to say, I will be fighting this, as the library staff should make people aware that they are racking up fines.

100 days
I guess these are some very important times, because every major newscast is planning a ‘special’ on the President’s first 100 days – CNN has stepped up to the plate with acquiring a lot of black journalists, Fox News is … well … is Fox News – they do what they do. Overall, he has hit the ground running hard, and has done the best he has with the cards dealt to him. Obama has had some faux pas: the joke about the special Olympics on Leno, flip-flopping on going after the Bush Administration on torture policies, and of course the ‘bow’ to a Saudi Prince, but in all, it is way too early to assess the effectiveness of his policy, let’s wait a year or so. I mean, based on how the nation feels about the last 8 years, anything Obama done will be praised as ‘much better’, that is why his approval rating is still so high, the honeymoon isn’t over.

No time handling hands for you – you are not equipped for time handling duties
Yes again, I am writing about time, not in trying to ‘find more time’, but to ‘manage time’. When people say, ‘Oh, I don’t have time’, that literally means they don’t want to do it – and I myself, was almost saying to a fellow peer of mines when he was trying to get me to do some Producer-esque tasks (when I wanted to do more technical ish), and I realized that it was a cop out. For instance, if he had said to me, “Ok, do these tasks, and I will pay you $10,000”, you best believe my tune would have jumped a few octaves and would not illicit a reluctant response. But I guess we all need to find our motivation, because it is the motivation that turns ‘time’ into a friend from a foe.

 

.:: LiBM ::.

Work

Presenteeism pt. 2

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Presenteeism pt. 2

The Lawyers, Retail, and Chicken-esque ticket writers

This is part 2, check out the first installment below in ‘related posts’, I will be brief, there are a lot of jobs, positions, where people are present, but not really their, and I thought of some more …

Retail Sales
I am sure that any retail associate can vouch for this, but you all don’t really do much work. For the most part, you stand around while potential customers come into your store, and if you are able to muster the energy, you will ask them for help, but usually you won’t. I can’t tell you the countless times that I have walked into a store and have not been acknowledged or greeted – I don’t necessarily think it’s a racial thing, I think on general, most people are just a-holes and view the customer generally as an inconvenience that they gotta help. However, I am hearing with the recession, every retail store from the little guy to the nationwide chains are being more friendlier and improving on their customer service skills because they know that their job/store may get the axe.

Lawyers
Ok, lawyers do work when they gotta read over case studies, and files, and stuff. However, where it is very sweet for a lawyer, is that in some instances they get paid for just being present and not really saying much; divorce hearings, corporate signings, et cetera. Lawyers are paid a ridiculous amount of money just for their ‘perceived retention of knowledge’ when it comes to the law – nice gig.

Parking Enforcement Officers
These are the guys that were not quite good enough to make it as a real police officer, so these guys spend their days messing up your day. They sit, talk on cell phones while driving, text, and wait 3 hours – just so they can give you that $40 ticket. Because of these guys, I always have to look at the clock, because if your even

.:: LiBM ::.

Technology

Alternate iPhone App Stores

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Touch My Apps

For all those that have jailbreaked iPhones and want to explore the further capabilities of their device, check out:

http://www.touchmyapps.com/

More and more of these stores are appearing to loosen Apple’s monopoly on the control of applications, and to increase the amount of applications that are available, but have been refused entry into Apple’s iTunes store. Apparently, Apple rejects many apps on a daily basis for a multitude of reasons, and if you are a software developer, it can be frustrating to be always getting rejected.

Economics

Direct to the point

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Direct Sales

Respect the Customer

Sales is one of the world’s oldest traditions. Salesman are persuasive individuals that attempt to get you to buy a product or service. Sales can be split into sub-categories ranging from buying a product/service to buying into an idea. When buying into an idea, it is best for the salesman to get straight to the point; don’t sell dreams and hopes or the American Dream. Especially now with this broken economy, salesman will use all sorts of tactics to prey on susceptible individuals.  So my advice, especially when dealing with intelligent people, get straight to the point – we want the bread and butter, cut the filler.  If an idea is solid, we will see it, if it’s loose, then we will tell you where to go.

So for you people involved in MLM’s, retail, insurance sales, here are some tips for you all to incorporate into your sales schema’s and pitch’s so that you won’t waste people’s time:

  1. “WHAT HAVE I DONE TODAY TO GENERATE BUSINESS FOR TOMORROW”Before the highly successful saleperson leaves their office for the day, they will repeat this quote to themselves. Whatever type of daily organizer or appointment schedule you use, you need to look at it prior to leaving your office and make sure that you have activities on the books for tomorrow. For example, you will have scheduled confirmed appointments on the books, or you will have sales contracts to write, or you will have prepared a list of clients to call on your call back list, etc… This will double or even triple your personal production.
  2. “MY INCOME IS IN DIRECT PROPORTION TO THE SERVICES I RENDER TO OTHERS”Highly successful salespeople delivers exceptional customer service before, during, and after the sale. By giving your clients exceptional customer service, they will be more willing to refer you and your company to their friends, family, and co-workers. Thus dramatically increasing your referral business. We all know that referrals are the #1 internal marketing vehicle. So, by memorizing this quote, you will have more satisfied customers and also dramatically increase your income due to the increased referral business.
  3. “THE MOST POWERFUL INGREDIENT IN BUSINESS IS POSITIVE MOMENTUM, GET IT AND KEEP IT”The “big MO” is something that all successful salespeople find, build and maintain at ALL times. In order to get and keep positive momentum, there are some areas that you need to avoid. Some of these areas are negative people, bad business decisions, costly advertising mistakes, poor time accountability, and blaming others for your failures. Positive momentum is developed first and foremost by your ATTITUDE. Conceive your business strategies, believe in your business strategies, and then go out and achieve your business goals.
  4. “IN ORDER TO WIN A MAN/WOMAN TO YOUR CAUSE, YOU MUST FIRST MAKE A FRIEND”This is just plain old sales 101. Before anyone buys anything from you, they must first like you and trust you. Before they like you or trust you, you must be a friend to them in their eyes. Always remember that the client is buying you, not your product. So once they are your friend, they will buy anything from you. Also, this quote will greatly help you in your personal life as well.
  5. “THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A WISE PERSON AND A FOOL IS THAT THEY BOTH FACE THE SAME CHALLENGES, THEY BOTH MAKE THE SAME MISTAKES: THE WISE PERSON LEARNS FROM THEIR MISTAKES”We will all make mistakes in business and that’s alright. Just don’t continue to make the same mistake over and over again. For example, a fool is a person that constantly arrives to work late everyday, or constantly misses their weekly/monthly sales quota, or is constantly running the same advertisement every month but the telephone never rings from that particular advertisement. In order to become a wise person, it takes constant focus on all of your decisions regarding any business or sales issue.
  6. “YOU CAN’T DO THE SAME THING EVERYDAY AND EXPECT A DIFFERENT RESULT”As professionals, we are either moving forwards or backwards in life, we are NEVER standing still. Highly successful salespeople constantly strive to move their careers forward, thus producing more appointments, sales, income, and professional career advancements. If for whatever reason you find yourself moving backwards, you need to refer to Quotes #1, #2,#3,#5, and #7.
  7. NO SALES, NO MONEY —
    KNOW SALES, KNOW MONEYSales is a learned respones. The more knowledge and information you can obtain pertaining to sales, the higher your income will be! Individuals that state that they are a born salesperson, is nonsense. To become highly successful in sales, it takes a tremendous amount of time to read as many sales books as you possibly can, or attending as many sales seminars that you can, or listening to tapes or CD’s in your car on the way to work so you can constantly continue to educate yourself on sales. I can assure you that your competitors top salesperson is constantly building his/her library of knowledge of sales material, are you? Once you “know” sales, you will “know” money because your knowlegde is greater, your attitude is stronger, and your self-confidence is bullet proof!

Source: http://top7business.com/?id=590

I am sure, hopefully, that most of you all are doing this, but when your customer is directly asking you the ‘straight goods’, act like UPS and deliver.

.:: LiBM ::.

Technology, Work

Workplace Etiquette for the Yuppy

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Workplace Etiquette for the Yuppy
Some tips for getting through the day

The Yuppy (Young Urban Professional) is constantly on the go; most times though, the Yuppy needs to resort to a full-time job in order to fund their projects. However, the Yuppy has to be careful and walk that fine line of being productive at work, and being productive for their business. Thus, I thought I would share a few tips with my fellow Yuppielites.

Cycler
alt+tab (windows) OR apple+tab (mac)

You have more important things to do than prepare the 3rd-quarter report, you need to check your gmail and facebook. Instead of making it look bait by using your mouse to click back to the work your supposed to do, using alt+tab on the keyboard quickly changes your active window in a smooth manner.

IT Connect

Your IT Department is one of your greatest resources at work, befriend one of them as they can give you valuable Intel and help. The IT department can grant you special privileges, advise you what sites not to visit, and give you a heads-up on ‘crackdowns’.

Avoiding the IDC Symptom

The IDC symptom can be defined as “I Don’t Care”, and is developed when your co-workers start talking to you about trite details: ‘My kids hockey games’, ‘this boss is incompetent because …’, ‘did you watch that show last night’, and so on. My initial, instinctual response is ‘I really don’t care’, and ‘why are you talking to me’, but since we need this job to generate income and living, we need to avoid the IDC’s. Some common ways to avoid the IDC is:- Smile and nod: very effective, but can be deadly because it implies that you are actually intrigued in the conversation, and it shows that you are engaged.- Hmm, ok, wow: also very effective, alludes to you being not only responsive, but implies that you are listening to their every note and syllable

Outlook
Outlook is the enterprise e-mail application that most businesses use because of its powerful Exchange Server (even though Mozilla Thunderbird is better). I know you may have some documents to work on, and opening up MS Word may seem very suspicious as you may have to do a lot of ‘cycling’, however, Outlook can be used as a word processor and has some useful features such as ‘tasks’ and ‘notes’. Better yet, if you are working on a document, compose it in an e-mail, so that even if someone walks by, it looks like you are composing a work-related email.

Punctuality
This really shouldn’t be a point, but its important that you start on time, and leave on time. Because as with all work environments, there are snitches and informers – don’t give them anything to use against you.

With that said, you are the future of tomorrow, get ahead today … at work.

.:: d.b ::.

Relationships, Social

The Simplicity in the ‘Difficult’

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The Simplicity in the ‘Difficult’

Virtues: stubborness, respect, communications, selfish behavior

The ‘Difficult’ can be described as those people that are problematic & troublesome to deal with; they put up a hassle, they b*tch, complain, argumentative, slightly to severely irrational, and have an insurmountable level of the quality of stubbornness. The stubbornness is the inability or unwillingness to change and/or embrace a new idea or concept; and stubbornness relates to inability to understand where another person is coming from and not listening to what they are saying. The ‘Difficult’ are all around us – at the office, school, family, friends; they all at some point will find a situation where they will only care about their self-serving interests and will ignore/disregard what you are trying to say.

Varying Degrees of the Difficult
The difficult have to be one of two people; either they are very cunning and crafty OR they are very ignorant and lack comprehension skills. Either degree of the two can create headaches and problems for the individual that is dealing with this difficult specimen of human; I mean, after dealing with difficult people, many experience nausea, high blood pressure, bewilderment, and even rage. Going back to the degrees of the difficult that I outlined, the cunning & crafty difficult person is difficult because usually it ties into some logical plan that they have outlined – and they wish not to deviate from their plan. However, the ignorant and lacking comprehension skills of the difficult is usually tied not to logical thinking, but to selfish motives; the “I want to do it my way” school of thought. This group of the difficult usually can not provide logical reasons for their actions, and the only reasons they can provide are self-serving and selfish.

Dealing with the Difficult
I used to think that I am a difficult person to deal with (keyword for you mofo’s is ‘used’), but I had to privilege to listen in on a conversation with two people that were having a logistical/business discussion. To surmise promptly, the difficult person had gotten himself into some trouble with what he had promised without consulting his business partner; the business partner explained to the Difficult as to why what he had promised could not materialize – there must have been 10 explanations with different visual examples, but the Difficult did not get it or choose to ignore. The Difficult continued to ask the same question(s) over & over again. The business partner had to eventually come off the phone as it was raising her blood pressure and she was becoming increasingly enraged.

The whole time I was observing, I was like ‘wow’, dude is very difficult – he is not or is unwilling to understand simple things. Furthermore, these simple things that he was not understanding was because if he chose to understand, it would make him look very asinine … his behavior appeared to be very difficult, but the reasons for him behaving as such were simple – he was in a jam/mess, and was trying to get out of it the best way he can.

So in the dealing with the difficult, it can be a simple process, and its not anything really profound or deep, you just got to tell the difficult how simple it is to resolve your problem, and it starts with accountability, then grows to compromise.

Explain it once, maybe twice, after the third time, let ‘Mr. Tone’ do the talking, first name ‘dial’.

.:: d.b ::.

Economics, Popular Culture, Social

You’re a Yuppie when …

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You’re a Yuppie when …
Virtues: business, entrepreneurs, revolt against the system, technology

The term yuppie (short for “young urban professional” or “young upwardly-mobile professional”) refers to a market segment whose consumers are characterized as self-reliant, financially secure individualists. So this is an interesting list of some signs of a yuppie.

You know when you’re a yuppie when …

– you go to the club to do more networking than ‘picking up’

– you save gas & meal receipts so that you can file them for your income tax ‘business expenses’

– you have a smartphone w/ an accompanying over-priced data plan

– you switch from hotmail to gmail

– sleep starts to become a luxury

– T.V viewing is a luxury

– Starbucks becomes a place for business

– you’re at work, and all you can think about is the amount of work you have to do after work

– economics and financial markets are suddenly more interesting

– Social networking sites are more for networking and promoting your business than hooking up w/ old friends & finding new ones

– you stopped putting songs as your voice mail message

– you do your work @ work, while still doing your employers work

– you use a sick day not because your sick or to hook up with your partner, but to do work

– you feel guilty when you are doing nothing

– your only ‘downtime’ is during your commute

– your mind is always racing with new ideas and business ventures

– you consult your blackberry/PDA before you make time with your significant other, friends, and family

 

If you have one or multiple attributes from this list, then you may be a Young Urban Professional that is taking a detour on the trail of life that the system provides and creating your own path.

 

Go on young trailblazer, blackberry in hand.
.:: d.b
Logic, Work

Silly Monkeys! Part 2: Its ‘Jart’ Bitch, the ‘fly designer’

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Silly Monkeys! Part 2: Its Jart Bitch, the ‘fly designer’
Virtues: respect, responsibility, ethics, ‘cant tell me nothing’ syndrome
Read Part 0, the Abstract & Part 1, Strong-Arm Mike the Banker

Jart is a graphic designer. He thinks that he is very trendy and hip. Jart has a funky style; his clothes are a bit different in the cut, design, and the colors. Jart’s musical tastes are very trendy as he stays away from ‘mainstream’ music; Jart’s not into the current hip-hop/rock, but more into classic/underground hip-hop, trance, house, and other rare music. Jart’s differences makes him unique; and Jart uses such differences to set him a part from others, because not only dp his differences in his personality deviate him from the norm, but his skills/abilities are also in a ‘class of their own’ – or so that is what Jart believes. You see, the combination of good skills/abilities with his unique distinction from the norm makes Jart a ‘gassed’ individual, Jart thinks he knows much more than you, Jart believes that he is superior to you – and most times, hey, Jart could be right (that’s sarcasm for you). You see, over the years Jart has been told how much his work is ‘hot’ and ‘nice’ and other accolades; thus Jart does not know how to handle adversity well; you see, Jart believes that any static with a client is not because Jart is doing something wrong, but because the client does not understand Jart’s greatness.

I knew a Jart, he was definitely a Jart; to the ‘T’, from the tight pants, neon pink shoes w/ matching hat, MacBook Pro, and backpack. This Jart was commissioned to design an interface for my company, he was going to be well compensated for his work (he was), but this Jart was a Bitch – couldn’t handle criticism, when we pointed out flaws in his work, he couldn’t accept that he did anything wrong, but blamed the problem on us. Jart ducked meetings, lied about things, didn’t write down our notes (even though we asked him too), and Jart avoided certain members of my group (including me) because we were too critical of his work. What killed me is that this Jart Bitch was being paid handsomely for work (Jart got paid consistently and on time), and yet he treated us like … well, you know (Check the title of this piece). One of my associated blasted Jart in an introspective essay, a blast so hard that I felt sorry for Jart, and Jart is a bitch; in the fact that he treated us with dis-respect, and took us for fools.

In retrospect, I’ve learned some things about Jart; his behavior, movements, and other nuances. Jart’s experience with us was not pleasant, but I don’t know if Jart realized the error in his ways in his tight-ass pants and pink attire, but I do know that Jart will think twice again before he treats people like silly monkeys.

Peace Jart, Bitch.

.:: d.b
Read more Silly Monkeys! sagas:
Part 0, the Abstract & Part 1, Strong-Arm Mike the Banker

Economics, Hip-Hop

Hip-Hop Cash Kings

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Hip-Hop Cash Kings
From: www.forbes.com

While most of us look forward to retirement, Shawn Carter, better known to the planet as master rapper Jay-Z, couldn’t stand the view from the sidelines following his 2003 farewell The Black Album. Despite a frenetic schedule as president of Def Jam Recordings and co-founder of its ultra-successful Roc-A-Fella Records imprint, Jay-Z managed to squeeze in a comeback last year with Kingdom Come, his 11th studio album, which debuted at the top of the pop and rap music charts, selling some 2 million copies.

But those weren’t the only paycheques coming in. Jay-Z also owns the 40/40 Club sports bar franchise, with locations in New York and Atlanta, and a small stake in the NBA’s New Jersey Nets. (He’s often photographed in courtside seats alongside his girlfriend, pop superstar Beyoncé.) Plus the native New Yorker (from Brooklyn’s hardscrabble Marcy Projects) collects income from blue-chip endorsement deals with Budweiser, Hewlett-Packard (nyse: HPQ), and General Motors (nyse: GM). All told, Jay-Z banked an estimated US$34 million in 2006, earning him the top spot on Forbes’ first-ever list of hip-hop Cash Kings.

Unlike traditional music genres like pop, rock and country, whose artists generally make the bulk of their money selling albums and touring, hip-hop has spawned an impressive cadre of musicians-cum-entrepreneurs who have parlayed their fame into lucrative entertainment empires. Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, who nabbed the No. 2 spot on the list, presides over G-Unit, a diverse portfolio of businesses that includes apparel, ringtones, video games and even a line of fiction. All told, “Fiddy” as he is known to fans, made an estimated US$32 million last year. “I’m creating a foundation that will be around for a long time, because fame can come and go or get lost in the lifestyle and the splurging,” he told Forbes last year. “I never got into it for the music. I got into it for the business.”

At No. 3 is impresario Sean “Diddy” Combs, formerly known as “Puff Daddy,” who lords over Bad Boy Worldwide Entertainment Group. That enterprise is responsible for TV series like MTV’s Making the Band franchise, the Sean John clothing line, the bestselling Unforgivable cologne and a pair of restaurants called Justin’s, named after one of his sons. The Bad Boy Records label, backed by Warner Music Group (nyse: WMG), released albums last year by Danity Kane, Cassie and Yung Joc. Last year, Diddy himself released his first album in four years; Press Play debuted at the top of the U.S. pop and rap charts. All told, Combs made an estimated US$28 million last year. (Representatives for Diddy, ever the showman, insist that figure is much higher.)

Generally, the most successful “hip-hopreneurs” run their own labels, taking a cut from the artists they sign. Both Eminem (US$18 million) and Dr. Dre (US$20 million) boast Interscope-backed imprints; both helped produce and release 50 Cent’s last two albums, which have sold over 20 million copies worldwide. Fifty owns his own G-Unit label which produces artists like Young Buck and Lloyd Banks, among others.

Other lucrative businesses: producing tracks and beats for other artists. Listers like Timbaland (US$21 million), Scott Storch (US$17 million) and Pharrell Williams (US$17 million) are among the most sought after–and pricey– producers on the planet. Rappers like Snoop Dogg (US$17 million) collect massive fees for cameos on other artists’ tracks. Last year, in addition to releasing Tha Blue Carpet Treatment, his eighth studio album, Snoop Dogg (US$17 million) made guest appearances on hit singles by Akon, Mariah Carey and the Pussycat Dolls.

While endorsement deals with top-shelf brands used to be the exclusive domain of pop’s biggest acts–Michael Jackson and Madonna, among them–hip-hop artists now routinely land such gigs. This year Chamillionaire (US$11 million) inked a deal with Energizer; The Game (US$11 million) peddles Skechers sneakers. And in an irrefutable sign of just how corporate hip-hop has become: Last October Anheuser Busch named Jay-Z “co-brand director” for Budweiser Select.

Our estimates are based solely on 2006 income. In March, Jay-Z sold his Rocawear apparel label to Iconix (nasdaq: ICON) for US$204 million. Forbes estimates he pocketed about a quarter of that, after taxes and other payable commitments. And in May, Coca Cola (nyse: KO) announced it would buy Glaceau, maker of VitaminWater, for US$4.2 billion in cash. Once the deal is consummated, 50 Cent, who agreed to endorse the brand in 2004 in exchange for a small stake, should walk away with some US$100 million. Best efforts were made to contact every member of the list for comment.

.::

Life in B Major
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Entertainment, videos

Manoj: India’s Elite Telemarketer (mockumentary)

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India’s ‘The Office’

A very funny spoof of outsourcing in India as ‘Manoj’ takes the viewer on a mockumentary on his business and lifestyle in India. This video takes some cues from the popular TV show ‘the Office (U.S. & U.K. version), and adds an Indian flavor to it – while also touching on the outsourcing issue as many American corporations put their call centers in India.
I put this video up (besides the fact that is funny & intriguing) is that I had an idea which was similar to this a couple of years ago, and I still think, if written and presented properly, this idea would be a hit. Something for you striking Hollywood writers to think about on your laptops in Starbucks.

.:: d.b
http://desieb.blogspot.com