CFO asks his CEO:
“What happens if we invest in developing our people and then they leave the company?”
CEO answers:
“What happens if we don’t, and they stay?”
Category: Business
Wall Street Bonuses Generate Tax Revenue for New York
Here is another angle on Wall Street bonuses, and how they affect Medicaid and teacher pay in New York State.
Wall Street bonues generate a significant slice of the entire tax revenue of the State of New York. Usually Wall Street bonuses, which are of course taxed at a very high rate, generate about 20% of the state budget of New York.
This is now down to only 13%. It is causing huge deficits in the state.
Cell Phone Shop
If you need a car charger for your cell phone, the instinct is to go to the phone company, walk into their lobby, and buy one for $29.95. Now how did I know that was the price? They all seem to be, because that’s what we’re willing to pay. Instead, you can go to the Cell Phone Shop and order one for $2.99. I recently bought two new ones for two different phones, the total bill including shipping was less than $10. A few days later a package arrived from China, and there were the perfectly good working chargers, albeit knock-offs.
I have a problem with buying staple products from overseas, but I have a bigger problem with paying a price in retail that is more than 10 times the value of the thing, particularly something as dumb as a cell phone charger.
There ought to be a rule or law or something that dictates that all cell phone charter plugs be the same. I swear, there must be 20 chargers in my house, all obsolete, most of which I paid $29.95 for. There is something very wrong about that, something as bad as using plastic utensils for a single piece of pastry.
Once you buy from the Cell Phone Shop, however, you receive these emails with “specials” like the one I am showing here:
Two things about this email are silly:
1. The Design – by using images rather than text, the snazziness they were trying to achieve is completely taken away and the email is almost unreadable. Don’t they realize that 90% of browsers have images disabled? Can’t they design an email that is text-based that makes their point better and more effective than this?
2. The Special – they have an Easter Sale. I have also seen a Valentines Special and a Mother’s Day Sale. What the heck? Go to the Cell Phone Shop and check it out. You can buy cables, phones, batteries, chargers, covers, cases, holsters SIM cards, you name it. I buy those things when the old ones go. The old battery dies, I get a new one for a few bucks rather than $40 at Verizon. But I do NOT go to the Cell Phone Shop looking for a present for my mother.
Perhaps I am missing something. Perhaps these Easter Sales are working for them and the spam emails generate business. I’d be curious.
But I am befuddled. I suspect my “marketing email daughter” will have an appropriate comment here enlightening us all.
Miracle Product WD-40
Everyone knows and has used WD-40. It’s a miracle product, and most people buy it to lubricate things, like door hinges, stuck locks, swivel chairs. It quiets down anything that moves.
WD-40 was invented in San Diego in 1953. WD stands for Water Displacement on the 40th try. You can read more about the product here. People have found literally thousands of uses for WD-40. Google it and be amazed.
I have always wondered about the stupid little red straw that comes with every can. You can see one clipped to the top of the mini-can shown in the picture above. The large cans have it clipped to the side.
Those little straws get forever lost after using WD-40 just once or twice, rendering the entire can pretty useless. Try spraying the stuff on a hinge without the straw and you can see what I mean. You had better have a rag there to clean up the entire work area.
I could have silenced all the squeaky hinges of my entire lifetime with one can of WD-40, yet over the years, I must have bought dozens of new ones because I lost the straws, and I could not find replacements.
Then it occurred to me that maybe it’s by brilliant design. If the straws get lost endemically, people all over the country will keep buying new product just to get straws, cranking up the demand. Note also that the cap of the can in the picture above is cracked. Is this another built-in obsolescence feature to make me buy again?
Counter to my theory, in 2005, the company website reports, they introduced the WD-40 Smart Straw, a can with a permanently attached straw – yeah.
Regardless of motives, WD-40 is a brilliant and inspiring success story.
National vs. Hertz vs. Avis
Today I arrived at the Milwaukee airport at 7:00pm. When I went to pick up my car at Avis (Preferred walk right to the garage), there was no car and no reservation.
I book my own travel all the time, and I could have sworn that I reserved a car, but when I now checked my records I realized that I had simply forgotten. This is probably a result of the excessive weekly travel I have been doing, too many places, too many rental cars.
So I walked back to the counter and I was going to go to Avis, but then the National advertisements rung in my head. “Choose any car in the isle.” I thought what they heck, if I am going to just pick any car company, why not try National for a change, see what they are like and enjoy choosing any car in the idle.
The lady behind the counter was very nice. She noticed we share a birthday. She assigned me a car in a few minutes. I didn’t get to choose. When I signed the papers, I realized that it seemed expensive: $110 for a day. I didn’t want to back out or make a scene. I didn’t know what Avis cars would cost, either, so I let it go.
When I got to the hotel, I went online and checked.
For 24 hours, 9am to 9am the next day, for an identical full-sized car:
- Avis: $54 a day
- National: $110 a day
- Hertz: $141 a day
What the heck?
Sorry, Avis, for cheating on you. It was only once. It meant nothing to me. Please forgive me. I am coming back.
Avis Customer Support
After my post below about a disappointing experience with a “luxury car” by Avis, I must be fair and tell the rest of the story here. As I stated, I had given up on my attempt to exchange the car. However, today I had to drive back to Albany from Saratoga Springs on business, and when I got to the airport exit, on a whim, I pulled off and drove back to Avis.
This time the gentleman at the counter was eager to help, and it didn’t take more than 5 minutes for me to walk away with the keys to a Toyota Matrix. He even offered to take care of the gas. However, in anticipation of success, I had actually filled up the car before I took it back.
Here is my replacement car. I am no longer annoyed and embarrassed.
Some of you might be curious about how a person can be happy to have traded in a “luxury class” vehicle for this one and be happy. If you are wondering, drive a Lincoln Town Car, and then we’ll talk.
When I got back to the hotel a few hours later, there was an email from Avis in response to my customer service email on Sunday, apologizing, recognizing that I got my trade, and providing contact information in case I needed more help.
Avis came through.
A (Sideways) Look at a Lincoln Town Car
Yesterday afternoon I walked into the Avis car rental facility at JFK Airport in New York. The Preferred Customer board showed “N HAUPT – B5”. I walked out to the lot, found space B5 and my heart sank with every step I got closer to the car. I always rent intermediate-sized cars. Avis apparently had treated me to an upgrade. In space B5 there was a shiny silver Lincoln Town Car, a huge boat of a car.
I took one look at this monster and knew that I wanted nothing to do with it. I would be embarrassed to be seen in such a car. I would hate the gas mileage. And I would probably hate driving it. I didn’t even get close enough to take a better look at it, but headed straight for the office to trade it for a car more compatible with my tastes and needs. But then I looked at the line at the counter, nervously stepped from one foot to the other, two large suitcases in tow, the heat 94 degrees and muggy, starting to sweat. Waiting in the line could take half an hour. How bad could the car be, right?
I went out, stowed my luggage in the huge trunk and got in the car. The air conditioner worked well. Off on my way on I-678 through Queens and the Bronx I was getting comfortable with my luxury ride.
I was not yet out of Westchester County heading north on I-87, about an hour in the car, when I concluded I couldn’t stand it. There were so many things about it that were wrong. I could not imagine driving this monster for a whole week.
The ignition lock is on the steering column. When the steering wheel is at a comfortable position and the seat is where it needs to be for my size, the key chain (with the tag, the other key and the remote) hangs over my knee and tickles it. No matter what I try, I can’t get away from the key. It’s summer, and with shorts this is particularly annoying.
The picture above shows this situation. Forgive my hairy leg. The only thing I could think of is to get a rubber band and tie the keys up to the shifter.
This solution works. If I owned a Lincoln Town Car, the rubber band would be a permanent fixture.
Another problem is the cruise control. The car is brand-new. It had 685 miles on it when I picked it up. But the cruise control, right on the steering wheel, does not work. The On button has no effect. If there is some other trick, I can’t figure it out. The problem with a bulky and heavy car like this is that you can’t gauge your speed very accurately. I find myself driving 90 miles per hour, then 60 miles per hour. It all feels the same. Cruise control is crucial in a car like that. But – there isn’t any that works.
The cruise control buttons are on the left side of the steering wheel. On the right side, there is a volume button for the radio, which works, and a temperature button for the heater/cooler, which works too. However, who changes the temperature once it’s set? Why is valuable steering wheel button space wasted on the temperature control? Instead, the scan button for the radio stations is on the dashboard, far enough away that you have to bend forward to reach it from a normal driving position. Even my long arms are not long enough. I don’t know about most people, but the scan button on the radio is probably the one button in a car that gets more exercise than any other. Now that would be a good thing to have on the steering column. Alas, Lincoln engineers apparently didn’t think so.
One of my most serious gripes is the floating sponginess of the ride. Hitting a slight bump in the road, or a small pothole, sends the entire car into a gentle wobble. I have learned to ignore it and not try to compensate, and for the most part the car stabilizes itself again, but I must say that the experience is unnerving. Who likes to undulate down the road at 75 miles per hour?
It got so bad, I decided to stop at the Albany airport and get Avis to trade in the car. Unfortunately, Avis didn’t have any cars at 8:00pm on a Saturday night. I tried all other car rental companies and all of them were out. I was willing to just hand back the car, eat the drop-off charge and mileage, just to drive a “normal” car again. No such luck.
The next day I called Avis customer support, and tried to talk them into letting me trade it in Albany. I was willing to drive 50 miles one way back just for the privilege of getting rid of the car. But the customer support agent said I’d have to call the desk at JFK, where I picked up the car in the first place. I called the desk, no answer.
I have had the car now for just 24 hours, and I have already taken pictures of what’s wrong, written this entry, and wasted an hour at least trying to get rid of it, unsuccessfully. I am resigned now. I have to drive this until Friday. Argh.
Avis: Please, don’t treat me to any more upgrades, or I’ll have to find another car rental company.
Lincoln: I think you need to try harder with your “luxury” cars.
Note to Self: Never, never drive off with a car unless you are sure you’re going to be okay with it. Stand in line as long as it takes, but give it back if you don’t like it.
California Bans Plastic Bags
In light of California banning plastic shopping bags I did some research and found that we in the US use 12,000 plastic bags a SECOND. Every second. Every day. 12,000 bags.
After we use as single bag to carry one peanutbutter jar and a bundle of celery from the trunk of the car to the house, we discard it, mostly into the trash, where they clog up landfills.
Another thought. Somebody makes that 12,000 bags a second. Those companies are probably suffering now, knowing that about 1/8 of their market is evaporating due to the California decision.
Oil is a major ingredient to making plastic bags.
Clean Energy / Dirty Energy
It is striking how energy is either really clean, or really dirty.
Solar power – nobody gets harmed. Takes up huge acreage in the desert, where there is nobody to be bothered by it anyway. If it breaks down, it stops producing energy and costs money to get fixed. Potential is infinite.
Wind power – huge turbines can be an eyesore and earsore. If it breaks down, it stops producing. Nobody is harmed. Potential is infinite.
Hydroelectric power – dams are green and healthy, as long as you don’t have to flood towns to build them. There is danger downstream, however. If a dam breaks, due to terror attacks, earthquakes or bad design, it can be disastrous. However, beyond that, potential is infinite.
Nuclear power – small footprint, high output. If it breaks down, however, vast implications for anything alive within a radius and downwind, and poisoning of entire county-sized stretches of land for thousands of years. Disastrous implication on the food chain for hundreds of years.
Oil drilling in sea – small footprint, reasonable output. If it breaks down, ecological disaster for decades. Fishing and tourist industry devastated for years, possibly decades. Pollution on the maritime food chain for decades.
Where should we be putting our research dollars?
Director of Subsidized Preschool Makes $300k per Year
This article in the New Jersey Real-Time News shows that a director of a preschool that serves 350 children and has $4.3 million in annual revenues makes $300,000 in annual salary. Something is not right here. You can get very qualified people for a third of that or less to be a director of a preschool. I wonder if this director ever plays with the children? Wearing a 3-piece suit to work in that environment makes me doubt that.
The State of the Publishing Business
One of the best summaries I have ever seen – enlightening, challenging.
Texting is Not an Option
I plagiarized the headline of this post, but I am giving credit to Gitomer.
Those of you — including me — that resist texting, or are skeptical, this article is enlightening.
Beware of StoresOnline.com
Today I did exactly the right thing, I learned a lot and the tuition was free. I went to a StoresOnline seminar and I walked out without buying anything.
The company markets online and with direct mail tools to opportunity seekers that want to make money on the Internet by selling “something” online. In today’s economy, and with success stories of vast fortunes made in months online abounding, every unemployed, underemployed, employed but frustrated or retired person in the world wants to make money online.
The hotel ballroom was filled with about 250 middle-aged to retirement age people. The speakers were excellent and polished, the presentation materials refined, and the promise was that for $6000 one-time, you could have an unlimited number of e-commerce websites, all integrated with search engine optimization technology so they come up at the top of the web search results, products for sale which are drop-shipped from companies just waiting for your orders. Just follow the instructions and the money will roll in fast. If you don’t have $6000, they will finance for you, no problem. So there is no excuse. You came, you saw, you should buy before you leave. If you don’t buy at the seminar, it will be much more expensive later.
The sales tactics are high pressure. I felt like I was at a time-share presentation. It’s difficult not to pull out the credit card, since they make you feel like a loser if you actually come there, sit through a seven-hour seminar and then walk away like all the other losers the world over, dreaming, wanting, but not acting. What are you waiting for? Do you want to be successful selling on the Internet? Then buy this product right now. Or do you just want to go back home and continue being a loser?
While the message was compelling, I followed my instincts and the three rules of buying big things:
1. Never purchase from the Infomercial. No matter how good the deal seems, no matter how urgent the opportunity is, no matter that the price will never be this good – there is always another angle. If the product is legitimate, and if you really want, and need, the product, it will be there tomorrow and the day after. What’s the difference between yesterday and today? Another day does not matter. Never buy from the Infomercial.
2. Never buy if something can’t be had the next day. There is something fundamentally wrong. If a product is worthwhile and valuable, why would it only be so at this one event? If the company has a worthwhile product, they should not care about when you buy it. They should be glad to sell it to you anytime you are ready. Never buy anything under time pressure.
3. Never buy anything without checking the reviews first. You consider a car, check the consumer reports and read the repair report of the unit you are considering buying. The dealer will hold the car for you overnight. If you buy something as complex as an e-commerce software product, check the testimonials from real users and customers. Are they mostly good or mostly bad?
The high-pressure tactics will try to get you to bypass all three of those rules.
When I went home and started typing into the Google screen the word “StoresOnline” this is what the type-ahead lists showed up with:
Oooh, that does not look comforting. The words ‘scam’ and ‘fraud’ and ‘rip-off’ come up way to many times to be comfortable doing business with that company.
As I proceeded to read people’s blogs, comments and articles, and even some websites specifically created to warn consumers about StoresOnline, I found an overwhelming amount of absolutely horrifying information. There were, in a half hour of reading, perhaps two comments that were neutral, stating that the company is not an e-Business company but a software company selling tools, that’s all.
However, everyone else was telling horror stories about their experiences with StoresOnline. Most ended up never getting any websites even running, others had sites that didn’t sell any product, many wanted their money back and didn’t succeed. Those that had financed their purchases and stopped making the payments were chased by collection agencies. Some had hired lawyers to get their money back.
Many people spent their savings, or went into debt, to make money online, only to find out that all they got was more debt and no way out. The product they thought they were buying didn’t deliver.
I am a computer programmer and I run an Internet software business. I know what it takes to do business and make money online. It’s hard, difficult work and it takes time, creativity, innovation, persistence, money and luck to succeed. There is no shortcut. Many of the folks buying this product surely didn’t realize the severity of that, and as a result they bought something that simply was over their head. StoresOnline didn’t seem to care. Their business is selling packages.
The speaker was excellent. To show what the tool set did (or should do) he certainly illustrated the problems of e-commerce and some of the solutions and issues to worry about. So I learned a lot and I walked away motivated to take action. I suspected one of many outcomes once I got home and started my research:
1. The product was good and it delivered, with many positive testimonials. In that case I might have gone back and bought the package, at the best price I could get.
2. The product was good, but there were several other firms that competed with them that I should first check out and do some comparison shopping.
3. The product was good, but overpriced, and I could easily buy some of the tools one by one for a fraction of what they charge for their package, and I could write some of the stuff myself.
4. The reviews were bad and there were many unsatisfied customers.
What I found was much, much worse than my worst expectations. Just read this one example and the comments.
I did exactly the right thing, followed my own rules, and on top of it I learned a LOT about business online. I have no regrets and I consider myself fortunate.
Murdoch and Microsoft to Strip Power of Google
According to a column in the December 7 issue of Business Week’s Executive Summary, Murdoch’s News Corp has held early stage talks with Microsoft to forge a deal that would strip Wall Street Journal Content from Google’s search engine. Microsoft would pay since it would get a bump from traffic to Bing.
W.H.A.T?
The Wall Street Journal’s site is getting 26% of its readers sent from Google.
When is the last time censorship or restriction of content has actually been successful and helped anyone, anywhere?
If they actually succeed in this deal, closing off content from Google, it’s another big step in the decline of the Wall Street Journal.
Murdoch must have a death wish.
Last Stacey’s Bookstore Closed
I am staying in Fremont, California and I was looking forward to a trip across the bay to San Francisco to visit Stacey’s Bookstore, the most exciting independent book store I had ever been in. Unfortunately, the last time I positively remember being there was 1993, so I could not remember the address. I googled it, and promptly found this article of January 9, 2009 announcing closure of the store in March 2009.
I am saddened and disappointed. I had talked about Stacey’s to many people over the years and tooted its horn. It had an amazing array of technical and medical books that you could find nowhere else, along with all the other standard fare of any chain bookstore. There are many computer graphics, robotics and programming books in boxes in my garage that I carried home from Stacey’s during frequent visits there in the early 1990-ies.
Evolution has struck again.