Delivering bad news

Seen on a linkedin board by Jenny Feng. Absolutely true.


"Inevitably, at some point in our careers, we have to be the bearer of bad news to our customers (or even our manager). It happens to everyone, but the key here is how to deliver it without causing a permanent rupture. MarketeersClub.com offers these recommendations to handle it:
1. Lay it out quickly: Get the news out in a timely manner to the people who need to know it. Don’t hide the facts or exaggerate anything.
2. Have a plan of action: As soon as the bad news has been conveyed, disclose how you plan to address it. Show that you have a good grip on things and how you will rescue the situation.
3. Leverage the relationship: Talk about how your relationship with the person being given the bad news (or between your companies) has been strong and with their support you will resurrect it despite the current setback. Ask them for advice based on their experience in similar situations."

Product Management skills assessment

A pretty good list. 

Originally posted at http://bit.ly/coBdHm 

The future is not Unlimited?

Interesting - Comcast is now (maybe they have been for a while) tracking my usage, and has a 250GB limit. According to them, I used 8GB in feb, 15 GB in March, and 50GB in April. April was when my parents were visiting and took full advantage of Netflix streaming.

All this just makes me wonder -
- Why do I feel uncomfortable about having my usage limited - even if I am not close to reaching the limit?
    Probably because I fully expect internet usage to really take off as we have more and more devices that are connected and provide useful services over the net. At home, both our phones, our TV, blu-ray player, xbox and of course laptops are already connected to the net...
- How many personal users actually go past the 250GB limit???
     That would be an interesting piece of data. Are there enough of these already that Comcast is forced to do this? Or is this just the ISPs preparing for the future? Which leads me to..
- What on earth happened to "Unlimited"??
     Even the iPad is not coming out with an unlimited plan... I am guessing that people are learning (the wrong?) lessons from the at&t iPhone experience...

local seo - resources

From Tony Emerson (Apogee results) and Laura Alter (Austin Internet marketing meetup.)

--
PRESENTATION SLIDESHOW: http://www.slideshare.net/asemerson/local-seo-keep-austin-searchable

Yahoo patent reveals how they detect local intent in users' searches:
http://www2009.org/proceedings/pdf/p481.pdf


April 2010 Emarketer Articles regarding Local Search

http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007651
http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007566


Creating Geositemaps
http://code.google.com/apis/kml/documentation/kmlSearch.html


SEO by the Sea - Local Search Glossary
http://www.seobythesea.com/?p=510


10 Likely Elements of Google's Local Search Algorithm
http://www.smallbusinesssem.com/10-likely-elements-of-googles-local-search-algorithm/519/


How to Create Effective Local Business Landing Pages
http://devbasu.com/local-search-landing-page-design-guide/


David Mihm's Survey of Local Rankings Factors (May 26, 2009)
http://www.davidmihm.com/local-search-ranking-factors.shtml


SEOmoz - finding citations from competitors (how to)
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/one-dead-simple-tactic-for-better-rankings-in-google-local


SearchEngineLand.com - Usability and Local Factors (mainly postulation)
http://searchengineland.com/googles-usability-fixation-reveals-local-ranking-factors-40579


hCard micro formatting
http://microformats.org/wiki/hcard
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HCard
http://searchengineland.com/the-hcard-microformat-local-search-optimization-12424


Distribution List of Universal Business Listings (you can pay these guys $30 per submission or just go down the list and fill out everything that applies)
https://www.ubl.org/Distribution_List.aspx


Places to which you should definitely submit your listing, other than Google, Yahoo, and Bing
Citysearch.com
Superpages.com
Insiderpages.com
Merchantcircle.com
Yelp.com
Yellowpages.com
Brownpages.com
Localeze.com
infoUSA.com
TripAdvisor.com
JudysBook.com
Angieslist
Kudzu.com


Google Tools for Success for Small Businesses
http://www.google.com/help/places/partners/sba/index.html 

Chemicals in Food Can Make You Fat

Interesting article  http://bit.ly/99QUyw makes a major case for buying organic... especially fruits and canned stuff sounds like...

In your fridge: pesticides and PCBs
The Dirty Dozen: Non organic peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, kale, lettuce, imported grapes, carrots, pears
• Unsustainable fish: farm-raised salmon
• Corn/soy-fed beef and chicken

In your pantry: plastic compounds (in particular BPA)
• Lining of canned foods such as canned tuna, soup, beans and tomatoes
• Lining of canned beverages such as energy drinks, baby formula
• Sports drink bottles

4 Grammer pitfalls to avoid

Most of these should be obvious, but I see a surprising number of people make at least a few of these mistakes. I know I am guilty of the last one!

Original post -

http://saleshq.monster.com/training/articles/3629-4-grammarspelling-pitfalls-to-avoid?utm_source=nlet&utm_content=shq_c1_20100505_grammar

1. Multiple Versions of Words

Since these words sound exactly the same, everyone has made these mistakes while writing, and spell-check is no help since they are proper words. When you go back to edit, pay special attention to which version of the word you are using.

• There, Their and They’re: “There” refers to a place. “Their” is the possessive of “they.” “They’re” is a contraction of “they” and “are.”
• Then and Than: “Then” is used to show chronology. (We went to lunch, then to the movies.) “Than” is used to show comparison. (The rabbit is faster than the turtle.)
• Too, To and Two: “Too” means in addition or as well. (Jim is coming, too.) “To” is a preposition that indicates approach and arrival, motion made in the direction of a place or thing. “Two” is the written version of the number 2.
• Here and Hear: “Here” refers to a place. (I am here.) “Hear” refers to the act of listening. (I can hear the music.)
• Its and It’s: “Its” is used as the possessive of it. “It’s” is a contraction of it and is.
• Except and Accept: “Except” means to exclude. (Everyone except Terry can come.) “Accept” means to receive. (I accepted his invitation.)
• Affect and Effect: “Affect” means to influence. (The layoff affected his mood.) “Effect” refers to a result. (The effect of drinking on the liver is damaging.)

2. Bad Grammar

Regardless of what career path you’re on, basic grammar is expected of every job candidate. Don’t get caught in the trap of these simple grammar mistakes.

• Either/or and neither/nor: Remember to always use the parallel conjunction when using either or neither. (e.g. Neither Joe nor Paul are going. Either John or Michael can be a substitute.)
• Run-on sentences: Two independent thoughts should be separated by a period, semicolon or conjunction. No exceptions.
• Dangling participles: Make sure that it is clear which noun the phrase is supposed to modify. (Wrong: After crying for hours, the mechanical swing finally put the baby to sleep. Correct: The baby was crying for hours before the swing put her to sleep.)
• Would’ve, could’ve, should’ve: Don’t use “of” in place of the contraction ‘ve. (e.g. should of.) Just remember each of these is a contraction of the word have.
• Compound modifiers: Use a hyphen when compound modifiers proceed a noun. (e.g. fast-paced curriculum) Do not use a hyphen for compound modifiers after the noun or following an adverb.
• A lot: A lot is two words. Every time.
• Split infinitives: This is one of the most common grammatical mistakes. Do not insert adverbs in between “to” and the verb. (Wrong: to swiftly run. Correct: to run swiftly.)

3. Changing Tenses

Switching tenses in the middle of a resume or cover letter can be confusing to the reader. But it is one of the most confusing grammar situations when dealing with resumes and cover letters. Since you are (usually) still employed at your current job, you use the present tense to describe it, but switch to the past tense to describe former jobs. Here are a few common tips to help deal with tense-switching situations.

• Use the present tense when referring to accomplishments that are ongoing.
• Use the past tense (ending in –ed) when referring to accomplishments that you have completed.
• Never change tenses in the middle of a sentence. Break the idea into smaller sentences if needed.
• Avoid starting sentences with –ing verbs.
• Avoid perfect and progressive tenses when talking about accomplishments. Keep it simple.

4. Unnecessary Phrases

You only have so much room to sell yourself in a resume or cover letter, so why clutter it with unnecessary phrases. Many use these phrases to emphasize their point, but in the end, it just complicates the sentence. Avoid these commonly-used extraneous phrases.

• It goes without saying: If it goes without saying, there is no point in saying it.
• I will say this: You are already saying it, there is no need to announce that fact.
• Exactly the same: If two things are the same, they are already exactly the same.
• Each and every: Every doesn’t add anything to this phrase, just use each.
• As a matter of fact: If you are stating a fact, you don’t need this phrase.
• As far as I’m concerned: If you are stating your opinion, you don’t need to preface it with this phrase. It will speak for itself.
• For the most part: If you are making a generalized statement, most is already implied.
• In a manner of speaking: This phrase is useless since anything you write is a manner of speaking.
• What I mean to say is: If you have properly stated your case, there should be no reason to point out the meaning of your writing.