If you want your business to be truly cutting edge, with stunning logos and print media that really catch people’s attention, then you need to trust your graphic designer to make those things look as good as they possibly can.  Here is a comical video called “The Graphic Avenger” that will make you laugh, cry, and reevaluate how graphic design is handled in your company.

You might be wondering what I mean when I say to create a story, but think about how often you listen to or watch a story in your daily life.  Television shows, commercials, and even the internet all seem to have stories that we get hooked on and keep us wanting more.  You can use this to your benefit by creating a story that is exciting, captivating, and gives people a reason to feel connected to your brand.  If you need help in creating your story or need more reasons why you should get started on your brand’s story today, look at the infographic below.  You can never have to much revenue.

In the following video, you will hear a prediction for 2012′s business finance, by Robert J. Morgan of Austin Associates, LLC.  Thankfully, there does seem to be good reason to expect things to improve in 2012 including a growth in GDP, although jobs growth is predicted to lag behind for another three to four years.  No one wants to hear that jobs will continue to be scarce, but that does seem to be a consistent trend.  We’ll have to consider the reality as to why businesses are not hiring, and why companies are continuing to downsize or to offer incentives for eary retirement of its aging workforce, most of which is not replaced after the retirements.

According to this infographic released by Bolt Insurance, small business owners stand to lose out in major ways when unexpected disasters strike.  Thankfully, there are some things you do in advance to lessen the impact of natural disasters on your small business.  Click on the image below to read the data and learn how you can weather the storm.

After the arrest of their employees, the News of the World vowed to conduct and internal investigation to determine just how far reaching the hacking was. Scotland Yard was also supposed to conduct extensive research to determine whether there were more hacking incidents and if further charges should be filed. But both of these “investigations” proved to be pointless, as the News of the World stated that the practice of hacking was contained to Goodman and Mulcaire, while Scotland Yard rising star John Yates concluded in a single day formally reviewing the police investigation before determining that there was nothing there. Apparently, there was.

Today, not only is the News of the World in trouble, but also the more prominent Sunday Times and other Murdoch tabloids like The Sun. The current Scotland Yard investigation has a list of 3,870 names, 5,000 land lines and 4,000 cell phone numbers that have been hacked. But as we have seen Scotland Yard officials corruption in not investigating deeply into the matter into the past, we still see signs of corruption and cooperation with the accused, as only 170 of these thousands of people have been notified that they were potentially (and most likely, really) to have been victims of hacking. And now, former Prime Minister Gordon Brown is accusing The Sunday Times of hiring known criminals to hack into his private life and gather data from his bank account, legal files, tax affairs and his family’s medical records, which led to unveiling of his son’s cystic fibrosis. Gordon contends that a child’s medical records are in no way connected to any sort of public record, and therefore someone must have hacked this information, as well as other sources, in order to break the stories they did.

Now, Rupert Murdoch himself, along with his son James and News International executive Rebekah Brooks, are being called to testify next week as to how widespread and high up the chain of command this hacking actually had spread. From the stink of the situation, it is pretty obvious that there is a serious government-media conspiracy taking place in Great Britain’s capital. As Gordon Brown said, “I just can’t understand this — if I, with all the protection and all the defenses and all the security that a chancellor of the Exchequer or a prime minister has, am so vulnerable to unscrupulous tactics, unlawful tactics, methods that have been used in the way we have found, what about the ordinary citizen?”

Another reason certain lawmakers thought these austerity measures were so necessary (the bill was barely passed) was because Greece’s economy is primarily centered around tourism and the service industry, which is currently faltering due to a struggling international economy. Without running a trade surplus, increasing taxes, cutting spending, and selling national assets like the Ports of Thessaloniki and Athens, the national postal service, the national telephone company, and even certain holiday property. Spending cuts will freeze the salaries of certain government employees as of July 1st, cut jobs for even more civil servants, reduce pensions and increase taxes on motor vehicle licenses, soft drinks, natural gas and more.

This new law may be the biggest step Greece has taken towards privatization in years, but it was for mainly by the ruling Socialist party. Most of the conservative party opposed the bill on the grounds that it would not help Greece return to growth; however, it looks as if this was the only way Greece could secure the bailout funds from other euro zone nations to pay a portion of its debts by their August due dates.

Tuesday and Wednesday in Central Athens was characterized by shopkeeper protests and riots, where citizens were throwing fire bombs and rocks through shop windows and police had to use tear gas. Thank to some great home security NJ, many of the homes were protected. The new bill is clearly not popular with Greek citizens, as is will drastically reduce common standard of living for most. With a large portion of the (previously) population employed by the government, the salary cuts really mean a lot, in addition to the sale of Greek assets, which leave the jobs of those currently employed by those national entities uncertain. The climate in Greece is anxious and volatile, but at the same time there is a certain sense of “the calm after the storm”. As Greece moves forward with no plan or idea on how to grow their economy, and only using austerity measures to avoid a default due to uncertainty surrounding the status of credit swaps holdings, we are left to wonder what will be left of this famous culture in a few years.

Over the past two hundred years, the ways people keep track of time have evolved greatly.  Ancient Egyptians developed a device shaped like a bent T-square to measure the passage of time from a shadow cast by its crossbar on a non-linear rule. The T was positioned to face eastward in the mornings. At midday, the T was turned around so that it would cast its shadow in the direction of evening.

The water clock was by far the most accurate timekeeping device of the ancient world.  It could be used to measure the hours even at night, without the aid of the sun, but required daily attention to regulate the flow of water that kept it in sync. The Greeks and Chaldeans, who recorded extensive astronomical observations, regularly maintained timekeeping records.   The Chinese were first to invent the mechanical clocks, driven by an escapement mechanism, that are the forerunners of modern time keeping devices.

Today, the GPS and Network Time Protocol keep electronic time devices in sync and accurate. It used to be that people wore wrist watches that needed to be wound in order to keep time properly.  Some people carried pocket watches or wore small clocks on chains around their necks as medallions, but these early ones also needed winding.  Later, batteries took the place of mechanical winding.  The drawbacks of these types of time keepers were obvious, however;  if left unwound, the time would begin to slow down, become less accurate, and even stop tracking altogether.  As the modern world progressed and became even more time sensitive, this was less and less acceptable for conducting business.  One man’s watch might display the time as 8:15 a.m., while another man’s displayed 8:10 a.m.  That’s a significant gap in an industrialized economy.

The electronic clocks of today, found in smart phones with GPS, and computers that synchronize to network time protocol, are far more accurate and reliable.  Many people now only wear watches are jewelry, and consult their cell phones, tablets, or computers for the accurate time.

• Take time into consideration.  Timing can influence a number of factors, and you want to be sure that it is the best time for  your company to provide you with an increase in pay.  A company that is in the middle of preparing for bankruptcy will not be able to provide you with a raise.  However, if the company you are working for is not tight in the wallet, then it may be the perfect time.  If you have just accomplished a major task or have just received a pat of the back for completing a major project, that is a great time to ask your boss about bumping up your salary.
• Go into the meeting to ask for a raise knowing exactly what your want.  You know what you are worth, so do not ask for a raise without a specific number in mind.  You need to have confidence and a reasonable mind-set when you are approaching the subject of a raise.
• Keep up with your own accomplishments.  When you are expecting your pay to be increases, there must be good reason.  Every time you accomplish something, keep track of it. We recommend using a form maker to collect and manage your data.  Also, you can let your superiors be aware of your accomplishments as well.  When it comes time for you to ask for a raise, then there will be no question as to what you have done for the company.  Some people often keep reports and other materials that show all of the hard work they put it, so it can all be presented once again to their boss as proof for the need of a raise.

Use these three tips to make sure that you are getting what it is that you deserve from your company when it comes to pay.  If you feel like you are not getting what you deserve, and they feel a raise is out of the question, then it may be time to move on.

American Airways saved an estimated $40,000 in 1987 by reducing the number of olives on the salad served to first class passengers by one. American Airlines are still in business so it would appear that the cost cutting strategy was a successful one. On a more serious note this action by AA heralded a major change in airline philosophy. The carriers realized that they didn’t have to provide anything beyond the seat itself if they were competing at the cheap end of the market and this freed up money that could be spent luring the first and business class passengers.

In 2009 OfficeMax, the office suppliers, came up with a novel twist on the cost cutting front. They decided to cut down on the number of deliveries made by its fleet trucks. The Monday to Friday schedule became a Tuesday to Friday one. Nothing particularly novel about this but the reasoning provided by the company was a little different. Rather than being upfront about their motives they tried to pass the economic measure off as a green initiative intended to improve the city environment. It was a pity that no one told them that people are much more likely to put up with economic cutbacks than are likely to put up with being treated as naive at best and stupid at worst.

Other cost cutting measures target employees rather than customers and done well, a tiny cutback on the level of an individual employee can earn a company thousands of dollars of more. Done badly though, these cuts can sap moral causing productivity to plummet. Not a great trade off for what may only be an initial saving of pennies a day. Paperclips and Post-it notes are examples of cost cutting measures that may look great in the accountants office but that translate very badly in the work area.

Bear Stearns, one of the biggest names on Wall Street used to give its new employees a bag of paper clips on their first day with the message that the firm will never buy the aforementioned items. This measure was instituted by then CEO Ace Greenberg. Bear Stearns, of course, was the bank at the center of the 2008 government bailout controversy after losing $195 billion. It would take a lot of paper clips to make a dent in that number. Many companies are also looking to cableinternetbundles.com to help reduce their internet costs, also.