All Blog Posts (435)

Signs of life in our economy

Consider these improvements: -- The Baltic Dry Index is up -- Multinationals and related companies are improving fast -- The U.S. share of world GDP is staying about constant -- With exceptions, the world economy is improving well -- UPS (UPS) and FedEx (FDX) are seeing and expecting increased traffic -- The rate of new jobless claims is dropping steadily -- The housing market is tending to bottom -- New housing starts are up in many areas -- The U.S. private sector is slowly getting deleveraged… Continue

Added by Suzette Sommer on November 22, 2009 at 10:36am — No Comments

Reports Forecast A Jobs Rebound

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2009 Monday, UPS announced that it will hire up to 50,000 temporary workers this season to handle increased holiday shipping activity. Shipments are up this year over next and temporary hiring levels are back to those of the 2007 holiday needs. On Thursday the Philadelphia Federal reserve released its business outlook survey. It's report proclaimed that: "the overall level of employment was mostly steady this month, and the average work hours index was positive for the f… Continue

Added by Suzette Sommer on November 20, 2009 at 2:38pm — No Comments

1+1=5

In business (or in organizations), sometimes magic happens. It’s called synergy, the definition being “the cooperative interaction among groups that creates an enhanced combined effect.” The magic isn’t the result of luck or karma or good intentions. It’s the result of business best practices which involve business strategic planning. It doesn’t happen overnight. It’s the result of systematic, focused, intentional leadership and management that drives and manages an organization to excellence. I… Continue

Added by Pete McDowell on November 11, 2009 at 3:37pm — No Comments

Housing Outlook Improves around the US

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2009 Sales of previously owned homes rose across the country during the third quarter, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Association of Realtors. Nationally, sales were up 5.9 percent from the third quarter of last year. Previously owned homes changed hands at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.3 million, according to the report. NAR attributed much of the jump to continued affordable prices and a federal income tax credit. Congress and Presiden… Continue

Added by Suzette Sommer on November 11, 2009 at 9:56am — No Comments

Recovery Is Gaining Momentum

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2009 John Chambers ignited markets on Thursday. The Cisco CEO joined other leading firms like Apple, Amazon, Alcoa, Intel, and others by stating that, "the quarter was very strong. The recovery is gaining momentum." Earlier in the week, the institute for supply management speculated that the US GDP is likely now growing at an annualized rate of 4.5%. Chambers continued, "what we saw is a clear tipping point as our business continued to reflect strong sequential growth tr… Continue

Added by Suzette Sommer on November 6, 2009 at 2:04pm — No Comments

Announced Job Cuts Are Now At Below Average Levels

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2009 Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. announced on Wednesday that planned layoffs at U.S. firms fell for a third straight month in October to a 19-month low. As we've noted the labor market is continuing to improve as US economic activity rebounds. Planned job cuts announced by U.S. employers fell to 55,679 in October, down 16 percent from 66,404 in September. The October job cuts represent the lowest level since March 2008, and are now at or below levels that wer… Continue

Added by Suzette Sommer on November 5, 2009 at 2:44pm — No Comments

A Heartfelt Thank You to Thach Nguyen for Opening My Eyes to Greater Possibilities - and an Invitation for 11-06

Hi Everyone, A couple of years ago, Thach Nguyen hired me to do the PR for the Mental Journey to Millions event he and Matthew Ferry were bringing to Seattle for the first time. The goal was to attract 1000 perfect guests to benefit from their empowering message about contribution. While I was very daunted by the challenge, Thach saw something in me and encouraged me to bid on the project. I thought about the door to opportunity he was opening for me, and I stepped through it. Together with his… Continue

Added by Nancy S. Juetten on November 3, 2009 at 2:09pm — No Comments

Q4 Growth Likely to be Stronger than Q3

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2009 Thursday we got another indication that the U.S. economy is returning to strong growth. The government's first estimate for the third quarter came in at a 3.5 percent annual pace. Again most economists were wrong. The consensus was for only a 3.2% jump. In fact several analysts had actually lowered their estimates yesterday in advance of the report. The quarter was the first to experience the positive effects of emergency government stimulus programs put in place ea… Continue

Added by Suzette Sommer on October 30, 2009 at 9:05pm — No Comments

is sales training really that important?

Businesses typically spend 80% of their time & $ for sales training on product and industry training and 20%, or less, on developing sales competency or mastery. Basic industry and product knowledge can be picked up in relatively short time. Obviously, deeply knowing the ins and outs of an industry and your company’s products takes time. But, basic knowledge is often very sufficient to get out into the market place and sell. That’s why new and inexperienced sales people can achieve at least… Continue

Added by Pete McDowell on October 30, 2009 at 2:03pm — No Comments

12 Low-Cost Business Growth Strategies Available At Your Library!

Ya, the library. You know, the poster-festooned encyclopedia vault from school days past? You probably spent a lot of time there, researching for science projects and book reports. Remember reaching up on tiptoes to hand your library card to the librarian at the check-out desk? This should bring you back – Encyclopedia Britannica! It’s never too late to join the "look it up club" whose motto was "we never guess, we look it up." Use the library’s valuable resources-even when you can see over the… Continue

Added by Maria Marsala, Business Coach on October 28, 2009 at 10:03pm — No Comments

LinkedIn Answers: Proven Tactics To Get The Biggest Bang For Your Time

If your ideal clients are on LinkedIn, then you want to be there, too. So create a keyword driven profile on LinkedIn for yourself. Complete every area possible, take a look at the apps (applications/programs) you might want to add, and you’re done… right? Wrong. One of the best ways to dip your feet into a community of new business owners and executives, like LinkedIn, is to ask or answer questions. ANSWERS is a community where other members ask or answer questions to learn and connect with o… Continue

Added by Maria Marsala, Business Coach on October 28, 2009 at 9:33pm — No Comments

A Solid Recovery Under Way Now.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2009 Early this week a survey release by the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) provided new evidence that the U.S. recovery is solidly under way and will be sustained well into 2010. The best news of the survey is that now a majority of companies surveyed are planning to boost their payrolls this year and next. For the first time in over a year, the percentage of businesses expecting to hire workers over the next half year exceeds the share that project mo… Continue

Added by Suzette Sommer on October 28, 2009 at 5:30pm — No Comments

Look outside

Is there anyone standing outside of your door, just dying to do business with you? I doubt it. When I started in sales long ago I was called me into the company owner’s office on the first day I reported for work. Here’s the brief conversation: Owner: “Pete…welcome. We’re glad to have you on board. Do you see anyone standing outside of our door, just dying to come in and do business with us? Me, glancing at the front door to the offices: “Ummm, no sir.” Owner: You have to go out and bring in the… Continue

Added by Pete McDowell on October 28, 2009 at 3:43pm — No Comments

Why your business needs the essence of a distinctive corporate identity?

Did you ever think why the company media representatives and the brand equity managers keep staking and lay emphasis about the essentiality of owning a professional logo design to march on? Is the build up of hype about having custom design logo warranted? It sounds pretty much explainable, doesn’t it? A logo of a company is the character of the organization which marks its unique identity. There are many competitors of your business around you very near but what really signifies you is your ou… Continue

Added by Kathy Maxwelll on October 26, 2009 at 8:01pm — No Comments

A change of scenery

I met a few friends or business connections today in two locations here in the Seattle-Bellevue area. I met one person at the Bellevue Hyatt Hotel and another at the University Village Starbucks (near UW). The Hyatt had a huge addition put on over the past two years and has been open for a few months. The connecting area between the original hotel lobby and the new one is a gorgeous atrium- a very attractive and comfortable place to sit and converse. The new tower has new ballrooms and meeting r… Continue

Added by Pete McDowell on October 26, 2009 at 4:12pm — No Comments

Positive predictions for Seattle real estate values

Seattle has become a world-class city with a diverse, vibrant economy. As a home to manufacturers such as Boeing and software providers such as Microsoft, the job market has held up better than average, with a current unemployment rate of 8.8%. Home prices had a softer landing as well, dropping just 15.2% over the past three years, about half the national average. After another modest price decline of 2.3% in the next eight months, the market should begin to turn up. Between June 2010 and Jun… Continue

Added by Suzette Sommer on October 24, 2009 at 10:30am — No Comments

Why our economy IS looking up...

Here's what Barton Briggs (Managing Partner of Traxis Partners Investment Fund) writes in Newsweek: "First and foremost... America (is) the greatest entrepreneurial engine ever created. History says buy America when it's down. In addition, emerging economies may well be the new dynamo of growth. They now account for 35 percent of world GDP and are growing two to three times faster than the developed world. S&P 500 companies now collect almost 50 percent of their revenues from overseas, a… Continue

Added by Suzette Sommer on October 21, 2009 at 10:23pm — No Comments

How to take your social networking to the next level

One of the issues I run into with social networking is that most of the businesses who have heard about social networking are focused on it primarily as a way of getting business. And when they don't get business right away they get disheartened and feel that social networking isn't working for them. Or they decide right away to use social networking as a way to advertise their business, but don't really engage the audience. Social media consultants, in the meantime, stress authenticity and gen… Continue

Added by Taylor Ellwood on October 20, 2009 at 2:30pm — No Comments

Today, "Who You Know, Not What You Know" is Key to Business Success

ad_seattlemag_fall2009.pdf - OPEN NOW! IMMEDIATE PRESS RELEASE CONTACT: 206-349-4297 OPEN MESSAGE FROM BETTINA: Seattle, WA - These days, today more than ever, "who you know, not what you know," is key to business success. Neve… Continue

Added by Bettina Carey on October 16, 2009 at 7:53am — No Comments

Financing for Small Business During the Credit Crunch Responsible for Companies Thriving in a Down Economy

ad_seattlemag_fall2009.pdf - OPEN NOW! IMMEDIATE PRESS RELEASE: CONTACT: BETTINA CAREY PHONE: 206-349-4297 Financing for Small Business During the Credit Crunch Responsible for Companies Thriving in a Down Economy Seattle - Is your small business experiencing a credit crunch causing difficu… Continue

Added by Bettina Carey on October 16, 2009 at 7:30am — No Comments