Glorified Monkey

Not to mention, how many trees we’ll save by using simplified legal forms. Wonder how many proposals we must submit in order to get the governments to take this approach.

Reblog of FastCompany’s Most Innovative Companies in Financial:

1. FiLife

The No. 4 personal-finance site on the Web, the IAC-Dow Jones joint venture relies on a Q&A format with a host of social and game-like features to get Americans talking about money, still a taboo. Since the site relaunched in February 2009, traffic has exploded from 140,000 visitors to 3.5 million. Top 50: No. 27

2. Intuit

The folks at Quicken bought Mint.com, the new leader in online money management, and put the startup’s founder, Aaron Patzer, in charge of other products in the personal-finance division. Intuit is also expanding into a full-service tech provider for small businesses.

3. Yodlee

Its platform is the back end for 85% of all online personal financial management, including online services for 6 of the top 10 U.S. banks, including Bank of America, and many leading portal sites, such as Mint.com. At the 2009 Finovate conference, Yodlee launched the FinApp Store, modeled after Apple App Store, with an Open API so developers can build apps for the company’s various program suites.

4. Triodos

The global financial crisis brought attention to Triodos, a Dutch bank that backs only organizations that create social, environmental, or cultural “added value.” The bank operates in the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Germany, and the U.K., where its lending grew by almost a third in the first half of 2009.

5. Enterprise Community Partners

In 25 years, Enterprise has invested more than $10 billion in public-private partnerships to fund affordable housing — currently at the rate of $1 billion a year. The for-profit/not-for-profit hybrid announced a new commitment this past October: $4 billion over the next five years for housing that’s both affordable and green.

6. Itaú Unibancoe

After a merger earlier this year, this private bank became the largest financial conglomerate in the southern hemisphere and one of the top 20 worldwide. Its funding for education benefits 40,000 students in central Brazil and promotes sustainability.

7. Credit.com

Winner of Finovate’s 2009 Best of Show, this free service makes credit scores easier to understand: Credit.com does a “soft inquiry” on your credit report, then gives you a letter grade that’s an estimate of the range of scores you’d get for $15 a throw from the credit bureaus. A grade of B correlates to a FICO score of 700-749, a TransUnion score of 765-844, or a PLUS score of 695-739.

8. Vancity

Canada’s largest credit union has carved out a niche for itself as a social responsibility/sustainability leader, a vision that helped drive profits up more than 50% in the thick of the financial crisis. In 2009, its slate of eclectic for-profit and community-benefit initiatives included a $400,000 enviroFund grant program for local projects.

9. SimpliFi

This new personal-finance Web site goes beyond the tracking features of a Mint.com to tell you what to do with your money. Named Best Of Show at FinovateStartup 2009, it uses the same financial modeling engine used by 95% of certified financial advisers and is itself a registered investment adviser with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

10. Vittana

The pioneering education microfinance outfit, which is financed through a Kiva-like lending model from small donors in the U.S., Germany, and Sweden, has made the first-ever student loans in Peru, Paraguay, Nicaragua, Mongolia, and Vietnam. Although it’s less than a year old and still very small — a few hundred students — the startup has drawn accolades.

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• Mint Is Yodlee’s YouTube (techcrunch.com)
• Intuit Profit Tops Estimates as Taxpayers Begin Filing Returns (businessweek.com)
• Is the Internet Finally Robbing the Greedy Financier’s Gravy Train? (techcrunch.com)
• Finance startup Yodlee: We weren’t screwed by Mint’s acquisition (deals.venturebeat.com)
• Finance start-up Kublax saved? Won’t close after all (thenextweb.com)

After reading this post – Why I Hate E-readers, and Doubt They’ll Ever Hit the Mainstream – from Fast Company, I odd to agree with the writer’s thought on ebook readers.  I think that at this point in time, any mobile consumer technology with a single function will not survive the growing marketing.  In the last few years, mobile devices and their capabilities have converged.

Although Amazon‘s Kindle reader benefits the needs of book readers in terms of removing the amount of books they carry, how many people really have the time and the ability to read multiple novels within let say a week?

From the technology and design perspectives, why would people spend $300+ on a devices which only good for ebook reading?  When for about the same amount of money one can get a 10.1 inch netbook and is able to do all the other stuff like IM and web surfing.  I’m sure there are people who like to use their Kindles to read, but that seems to be a niche market.

With Safari books online and other e-book services available on iPhone, I think ebook device is already a thing in the past.

In response to this article from MediaPost – Razorfish Study: Special Offers Drive Engagement In Social Media - one thing to note is that Dell (@DellOutlet) has been doing really well in using Twitter to offer special sales deals in the last two years.  They have earned additional revenue with the low-cost Twitter marketing.  So both Dell and Whole Foods are strong examples.

Though, some of the interesting stats from the FEED report that I want to highlight:

• 40% have friended a brand on Facebook or Twitter
• 77% have watched a commercial or video ad on YouTube with some frequency
• 73% have posted a product or brand review on sites such as Amazon, Yelp, Facebook or Twitter
• 70% have participated in brand-sponsored contests or sweepstakes

It is inevitable that sales and marketing will become real-time.  With Twitter lists, techniques to market new products and offers in social media can become more focus to meet customers’ needs.

Here is the original article:

Much has been made of the ability of social media to help brands connect with consumers in new and deeper ways — to establish a “dialogue” with users through various interactive tools that blend seamlessly into their online activities.But a new study suggests the key to engagement on social properties comes down to old-fashioned direct marketing techniques like offering discounts and special promotions. “Based on our research, it’s not so much about some type of ‘shared passion’ for a brand’s values. Largely, it’s about deals — pure and simple,” states the 2009 FEED report from Razorfish examining consumers’ digital habits and attitudes.

The findings were based on a survey of 1,000 “connected consumers,” or people that roughly mirror the 63% of the U.S. population with broadband access. It also encompasses Internet users who have spent $150 online in the last six months, visited a community site, and consumed or created some type of digital media.

So social media marketing isn’t so much about boosting brand awareness as enticing users with concrete offers. “That to me is a big ‘Aha!, said Garrick Schmitt, Razorfish group vice president of experience planning and editor of the study, in an interview. “What we’re finding is that with Facebook and Twitter, marketers are assuming some deeper dialogue, but what’s really going on is — people want deals.”

Of those who follow a brand on Twitter, for example, 44% said access to exclusive deals is the main reason. And on Facebook and MySpace, 37% cited special deals as the main reason they have “friended” a brand. The report points to companies such as Starbucks, which has amassed nearly 5 million fans and soared to the top of Facebook brand pages by offering coupons for free pastries and ice cream.

Whole Foods, meanwhile, leads brands on Twitter with more than 1.5 million followers by promoting weekly specials and shopping tips. Razorfish identified customer service as the other key driver of consumer interaction in social media, with 33% friending a brand on Facebook and MySpace for that purpose, and 24% on Twitter. Companies such as Comcast, Zappos and Virgin have all gotten high marks for using the latter as a customer relations management (CRM) tool.

The report also draws a direct link between brand engagement online and sales. Of those surveyed, 64% had made their first purchase from a company as a result of a digital interaction — such as through a Web site, microsite, mobile coupon or email. Nearly all (97%) said a digital brand experience had influenced whether they went on to buy a product or service from that marketer.

“Consumers are not only want to engage with brands, but engaging with brands is having an inordinate effect on affinity for brands and the likelihood to purchase,” said Schmitt. Among the factoids on online interaction in the report:

- 40% have friended a brand on Facebook or Twitter
- 77% have watched a commercial or video ad on YouTube with some frequency
- 73% have posted a product or brand review on sites such as Amazon, Yelp, Facebook or Twitter
- 70% have participated in brand-sponsored contests or sweepstakes
To retain and add customers, Schmitt stressed that marketers need to shift focus from brand awareness and impressions to creating campaigns that drive people to make purchases and spread the word about products and services they use to friends.

That can cut both ways, of course. Sixty-five percent of survey participants said they had been influenced by a digital interaction with a brand, both positively and negatively. “A premium brand may not come out with a premium digital experience, and that could change someone’s perception,” said Schmitt.

Nonetheless, companies neglecting or underestimating digital marketing risk at this stage risk looking “as if they’ve shown up to a cocktail party in sweatpants,” according to the Razorfish report. “Invariably, consumers will choose to converse with a savvier — and hopefully more stylish — partner.” Or one simply willing to offer them a better deal.

slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations by Nancy Duarte

This is a great book with a lot of useful information on how to create powerful presentations for different situations and audiences.  I like the fact that it show examples from simple presentations and illustrations to those for complex stories.  Some of the case studies are particular useful for me because they remind me of some presentations I have created over the years, and now I have realized how wrong they were.  There are also details in the book about color matching, 3D object creations, visual effects, and diagram creations.  I read the book twice and still getting new ideas from the book.  This book is certainly a must for professionals.

The only thing missing, I think, is a quick presentation slide in the book to show people that PowerPoint is not meant for documents.

With or without the current recession, recruiters in general, especially those involves in recruiting talents in IT, Laws, Accounting, etc., needs to start improving their recruiting skills.  Based on my experience in the last few years, below is the list of top 5 reasons.  I guess I will try to be as unbiased as possible.

1. Recruiters need to understand more about each job types in different professions.  For example, job titles with “Analyst” is not the same as “Architect”.  In fact, the job functions and pay grades are not even close.  i.e. Technical Analyst is not the same as Technical Architect; in accounting, CA – Chartered Accountant is not the same as CPA – Certified Public Accountant (many have suggested that CA > CPA, in many countries); Assistant Director is not the same as Director Assistant.  With websites like Wikipedia, there is no excuse in mixing up the job functions and titles.
2. Recruiters work for both the client company and the list of candidates to fill that job opening.  i.e. if you are planning to charge $5/hr in the next 6 months to fill a contract position, be smart and start acting like you care.
3. As a recruiter, if you had asked potential candidates to remove their resumes from online job sites when they said no to what you proposed as ideal jobs to them because they liked their current job better.  You should consider changing career.  However, hope you didn’t take your own advice since your resume wouldn’t be on any online job site if you did.
4. Understand the needs from the candidates.  Although you would like to fill the job opening for a client, you need to put the potential candidates’ career plans into consideration.  This is related to point #1.  By knowing a little bit more about each job titles and knowing what the career needs from the person you are trying to recruit, you will be able to find what he/she is looking for, even if it is not right at the moment.  The best talents to fill the job opening, are probably on track in their career the way they have planned it.
5. I am not suggesting recruiters to lie, however, recruiters need to start thinking about selling.  If real estate agencies are staging houses before putting them on the market, recruiters need to start selling job opportunities better with creative ways.  Job interviews is bi-directional, especially when it’s a top job and there are multiple agencies trying to fill the job opening for the same client.  Start approaching the top talents like a salesman and stop approaching them like a telemarketer and spam phone calls or e-mails.