Ford Harding has an excellent post entitled "What Does It Mean to Prepare for a Sales Meeting?". In these trying economic times, his advice is akin to basic blocking and tackling. For professionals and PSF marketers (who often coach fee-earners), this post is a must-read. Better yet, send the URL to your professionals.
This photo, entitled "Stars Forming Region LH 95," is from NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day site. I post it to remind me that it is a big universe and that something like Memphis' loss to Kansas last night in the NCAA Basketball Championship isn't so terrible. Yet, it's pretty tough for folks like me who were born and raised here in Memphis. Congrats Jayhawks. Go Tigers.
Explanation from NASA's site: How do stars form? To better understand this complex and chaotic process, astronomers used the Hubble Space Telescope to image in unprecedented detail the star forming region LH 95 in the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy. Usually only the brightest, bluest, most massive stars in a star forming region are visible, but the above image was taken in such high resolution and in such specific colors that many recently formed stars that are more yellow, more dim, and less massive are also discernable. Also visible in the above scientifically colored image is a blue sheen of diffuse hydrogen gas heated by the young stars, and dark dust created by stars or during supernova explosions. Studying the locations and abundances of lower mass stars in star forming regions and around molecular clouds helps uncover what conditions were present when they formed. LH 95 spans about 150 light years and lies about 160,000 light years away toward the southern constellation of the Swordfish (Dorado).
Larry Bodine has a good article on his blog entitled "Social Networking: Crowded But Silent." He wrote it for the April 2008 edition of Law Technology News.
The article begins:
What if you gave a party, hundreds of people showed up, but almost nobody talked to each other? That describes the state of social networking for lawyers on sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace and the new Plaxo Pulse. The masses get the idea, but only the evangelists are using it.
Give it a read if you're interested in how people use (or don't use) social networking tools.
Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor is a neuroanatomist, or a scientist, researcher, and professor who studies the brain. At the age of 37, she suffered a stroke and remembers it vividly. She recently spoke at TED 08. Make time to watch this 18 minute video. She has no notes, no lecturn, minimal slides that serve a purpose, and an important visual aid.
Fascinating and inspiring.
From her website:
One morning in late 1996, Taylor, a research scientist who worked at the Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center (a.k.a., the Brain Bank), awoke with a sharp pain behind her left eye, and soon enough — as her speech and motor functions failed her, as she melted into what she called a euphoric stupor and lost all sense of where “Dr. Jill” ended and the rest of the universe began — she realized this was no ordinary headache. It was, she later learned, a blown AVM: the rupture of a congenitally deformed vein-artery connection deep inside her brain. She was in the first stage of a potentially killer stroke — and she was alone in her apartment and had lost the capacity to think or act rationally or even communicate with the outside world.
... Taylor’s story at its darkest courses with gratitude and humor and, most of all, amazement, as she recounts what happened to her with Ph.D.-level clarity and awareness of detail combined with childlike exuberance. The sudden loss of her left-brain organizational and self-defining capabilities was not, for instance, terrifying. Life-threatening though her predicament was, Taylor saw her stroke as a gift of unparalleled awareness: the shattering of the self-created box we live in that we call “life.” [by Robert C. Koehler, Tribune Media Services, 3/15/07 - a review of Dr. Taylor's book, My Stroke of Insight]
Hat tip: Presentation Zen
Over at the TaxProf blog, there is a great post on the effect of the estate tax "repeal" vs. the effect of the proposed Kyl Estate Tax Amendment. The post (quoting an abstract from Aviva Aron-Dine) begins:
"Permanent repeal of the estate tax would reduce revenues by almost $1 trillion between 2012 and 2021, the first ten-year period in which its costs would be fully felt. With the economy slowing and deficits returning — and with far larger deficits projected for future years — there is increasing recognition that estate tax repeal is unaffordable."
So, what of the proposal by Senator John Kyl?
"The estate tax “reform” proposal offered by Senator Jon Kyl, however, differs little from full repeal. Senator Kyl’s proposal, offered as an amendment to the Senate budget resolution, would increase the estate tax exemption to $10 million per couple and lower the top estate tax rate to 35%, with a lower rate applied to part of the value of an estate. Joint Tax Committee estimates suggest that this proposal would cost at least 77% as much as repeal."
The post goes on to say:
"Under current law, the estate tax rate has already fallen to 45%, and the exemption level is scheduled to rise in 2009 to $7 million per couple. Making the 2009 estate tax parameters permanent — as an amendment to the budget resolution offered by Senator Max Baucus would do — would itself be quite expensive, reducing revenues by about $500 billion over the 2012-2021 period or about half as much as repeal.
But going beyond 2009 law to the Kyl proposal would add about $250 billion to the ten-year cost, and more than $300 billion if interest costs are included. All of this additional cost would go toward tax cuts for the 3 in 1,000 estates large enough to owe any tax under 2009 law: those valued at more than $7 million per couple."
Other:
Senate Panel Weighs Estate Tax Overhaul (Forbes - March 12, 2008
Estate Tax Planning : Why do some Democrats object to taxing 3 of every 1,000? (WaPo editorial, March 13, 2008)
PS - In case you're wondering "what does the estate tax have to do with a PSF marketing blog?" I'm the marketing director of a business valuation firm and part of our business is related to gift and estate taxes. As such, to be successful, I have to stay on top of news that might impact our business and be aware of future opportunities (and threats). Also, other business valuation professionals have been known to read this blog (thanks!). Hope you find this of interest.
The headline of this post is part of a true story that happened to me several years ago. Back then, I wasn't fond of Mexican food, but I was very fond of my friends. So, while I was out with my friends at a Mexican restaurant, I ordered a hamburger. The server said (I swear) "I'm sorry. We don't have hamburgers. We only have cheeseburgers."
After a moment to consider what I just heard, I replied, "Every cheeseburger begins life as a hamburger."
After a moment to consider what I just said, he went away to the kitchen, and I got my hamburger.
The point is not to retell a ridiculous (and I think humorous) story but to think about the hamburgers and cheeseburgers in your business. Do your rules or policies (or menu) make you stupid? Are you so focused on what you currently offer and how you are organized to offer it, that you neglect the customer and his wants? It's worth taking a moment ...
Follow-Up: I have since learned to like Mexican food (at least some of it) yet I still reserve the right to order a cheeseburger - hold the cheese.
I have two daughters. The oldest is five and the youngest is about to turn three. They attend pre-school (even the two year old). Part of the drive to school is the daily ritual of going over the rules which go something like this:
No hitting
No scratching
No biting
No pushing
Share
Be a friend*** and the two most important rules ***
Have fun and be a leader
So, when I go off to work in the morning, the girls are very good at reminding me of the rules. They always end with "have fun and be a leader." From the mouths of babes ...
As the marketing director in a slowing economy, you've got to remember to have fun by finding purpose in the challenge of doing more with (often) less. (Hopefully your firm hasn't succumbed to the mentality of shrinking. If so, see here and here.)
And now is your time to shine. If you've not had a seat at the management table, now is your opportunity to prove your worth by thinking like an owner and coming to the table with a plan of action.
So, come Monday morning, remember ... HAVE FUN AND BE A LEADER.
Photo credit: Marta Barceló. www.marta.com (great photoblog site)
From a fun photo blog: nissou* blogphotography
Photo credit: Anissa of nissou*
Did you know that Tuesday is supposedly the most productive day of the week? So says survey results from Accountemps.
The second most productive day: Monday. Least productive: Friday.
How was your Tuesday? Mine? Pretty darn productive. Thanks for asking.
Hat Tip: HR World
Eva Lang points us to a recent article in the CPA Journal comparing the new AICPA Standards on Business Valuation to USPAP (Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice) and other business valuation standards. If you're in the business valuation profession, or support a firm with a business valuation practice, you should be aware of the discussion on professional standards. Thanks Eva!
Great article from the NY Times about Sandra Boynton entitled "The Power of Whimsy." If you have kids, you know Sandra Boynton's work. Wonderful lessons here. Money quote for me:
“I don’t do things differently to be different; I do what works for me,” she says. “To me, the commodity that we consistently overvalue is money, and what we undervalue is our precious and irreplaceable time. Though, of course, to the extent that money can save you time or make it easier to accomplish things, it’s a wonderful thing.”
New site. Note color scheme and logo. Looks like their former tag line "A passion for the business of accounting" is history as is the red rose in their ad campaigns. I like the feel of the new site. Lots of white space and whimsical graphics that feel light (they don't burden the page). For example, I like the interactive graphic on this page. Because it's not your standard "business-y" graph, it makes it seem more friendly and if you're a big firm like GT, friendly is good. I haven't spent much time clicking around yet overall, I like what I see. It's easier to find their content and I'm a big believer in content. I can also find actual people and their contact information - a huge plus. Take a look.
For comparison, the prior site (accessed through Alexa's Way Back Machine)
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