just who are these people writing oline?

The Pew Internet & American Life Project takes a good look at online users, writers of blogs, webcam operators, and the demographics of content creators.

Pinging services for your blog

A nice list of Pinging services. Should you be pinging these sites?

Giving out your business card

You're at a convention, or a trade show, or a business mixer at the local Chamber of Commerce, and you've started talking with someone. You think they might be an excellent client for your services. It's tempting to offer your business card, but you don't want to appear too pushy. What to do?

Well..

Ask for their card. People will often ask for yours in return.

Hostility and Takeovers

If you can't beat them, join buy them. That's the underlying philosophy behind a hostile takeover. Often, the strategy works, too. This allows folks to step into their competitor's contracts, and to sell off unused assets.

There are often personnel that can be let go, where duplication of job functions comes into play. How many Presidents do you need anyway?

Sometimes though, just as you think that you have your competitor where you want it, the Justice Department attempts to intervene. As in this Oracle Corp. attempt at rival Peoplesoft.

Adhesion Contracts

More nasty business. Take it or leave it. Those are the words that would accompany the phrase "Adhesion Contract" if the world had its own set of subtitles to describe legal terms. (Maybe it should.)

I like Wikipedia, and am tempted to expand their definition of Adhesion contracts. Seems like a good idea. It's the closest we may have to that set of subtitles.

What is the harm in an adhesion contract? Well, one party has all of the power and decision-making authority, and the other has nothing. There's no give-and-take exchange of responsibilities or obligations.

No negotiation, or alternatives. Terms that only benefit the company in a position of power. Often leading to a large profit. This type of contract is most frequently seen in a deal between a corporation and a consumer, and rarely does anything to make businesses look good.

Small businesses often use customer service as their unique selling proposition to attract customers. It's something that large businesses can do also. But, many of them seem to grow too large, and reduce the value of customer service in their business models. It's an oversight that has cost many companies their customers. It's also within that context that we see adhesion contracts arise.

Another phrase that you might see when the words "adhesion contract" come up is the term "dealing at arm's length." That means that both parties have a say. It's often much better to be able to deal at arm's length. If a company doesn't offer you the opportunity to deal at arm's length, but would rather feed you an adhesion contract to sign, consider working with someone else, if it is an option.

Tortious interference with Business Relations

A quick series this week on dirty tricks in the business world. (OK, that's an ongoing theme of these pages, but sometimes less so than others.)

Sometimes businesses use their relationships with vendors as a weapon against other businesses. For instance, the machine shop that might make parts for your equipment may possibly work with your competitor too.

But, what if your competitor threatens to take their business elsewhere if that machine shop continues to provide you with services? Is this something that could happen? Is there a remedy short of physical violence?

Some jurisdictions have recognized a civil wrong of this nature and given it a name. It's often called something along the lines of "tortious interference with business relations."


Just what does that encompass? A Dallas law firm has a nice description on their page about Business Relationships. Unfortuantely, you'll note afterreading their description, that there is a gray area where the court won't take action. You'll find similar ambiguity in most places. It's not always easy to tell when a business has crossed a line.

Best way to respond if you think that this has happened to you? Talk to an attorney.

Corporations and Integrity

I'm a firm believer in business organizations as social entities, with responsibilities to their customers, and to their neighbors. It makes sense on so many levels to deal fairly with others. Yet, there are so many businesses that aren't. Most of them want to treat us badly and yet still want us to give them our money.

Frank Perdue tells us:

If you believe in unlimited quality and act in all your business dealings with total integrity, the rest will take care of itself.

Heroes and Villains

Verisign won a UK award as the Internet Villain of the Year for their sitefinder "search engine" tied to "page not found" results. Congratulations, guys.

Spam no more

Be careful that your web site doesn't look too much like someone elses. That is what happened when a site took on the appearance of the national no-call registry.

Customer Service Shenanigans

Is the Recording Industry (RIAA) filled with gangstas? That's what some law suits are claiming. I'm firmly convinced that calling 70 million people thieves has never been a wise business practice.

Maybe they should be exploring alternative distribution methods for their music.

Search me is just a figure of speech

The Transportation Security Agency is doing a wonderful job of making the average American want nothing at all to do with air travel. There was a recent news story indicating a trend towards avoiding air travel for business trips of less than 300 miles. Now, we also have to be careful about what we carry in our luggage, because it might just bring TSA fines.

I think our government might be broken.

Race to the Bottom?

Are American magazine covers doing a quick spin dive towards mediocrity? That's what the Design Observer is stating.

I'm not so sure. I like visiting my local News and Magazine shop and looking through the periodicals for the unusual and the obscure. I really haven't noted a decline.

The smell of spam in the morning

Is it quite ready for prime time - a device that allows people to add smells to emails? The BBC reorts on E-mail tries out a sense of smell.

I'm not sure that I want to explore the possible spam implications of this device. But, yes. You could get spam that smells like spam.

Was safety really ever a consideration?

The New Yorker takes an upclose and personal look at the SUV. Are they really safer, as they might appear to be? Big and Bad: How the S.U.V. ran over automotive safety

In the summer of 1996, the Ford Motor Company began building the Expedition, its new, full-sized S.U.V., at the Michigan Truck Plant, in the Detroit suburb of Wayne. The Expedition was essentially the F-150 pickup truck with an extra set of doors and two more rows of --and the fact that it was a truck was critical. Cars have to meet stringent fuel-efficiency regulations. Trucks don't.

What's the Frequency, Kenneth?

When the cost of chips become affordable, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is poised to take off like a rocket. Inventory control and product tracking will become infinitely more easy with this technology. But what steps should you take beforehand if you are considering harnessing this technology. This article might point you towards a helpful direction: Approaching RFID with your business head on

Gone Fishing

Best title of the year for a business related topic in the media: The Business of Ethics Immanuel Kant and the Namibian Fishing Industry

Set small goals and the large ones take care of themselves

Just as success often happens step-by-step in small increments, the same is often true of happiness, of obtaining goals. As Benjamin Franklin said:

Human felicity is produced not as much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen as by little advantages that occur every day.

If you need a little light-hearted amusement to start off the day, get yourself a cup of hot steaming coffee and give a visit to Pathetic Geek Stories.

Compassion has a Place in Business

For President's Day, a quote from Theodore Roosevelt:

There is only one quality worse than hardness of heart and that is softness of head.

Troublesome Occupations

During times when fishermen can't afford to perform needed repairs, Shrimping Is A Nasty Bit of Business

Makes you wonder how many other people in other industries are taking similar risks.