The Business and Venture Capital Web Log

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

- - - Business: Negotiation Articles from EzineArticles.com http://EzineArticles.com/ Free Content For Your Ezine or Website http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/ - - Everything is NegotiableâIncluding SexâLearn to Do it Well - Negotiation is an integral part of our lives. It occurs between neighbors, associates, friends, in laws, and lovers. You probably have negotiated for such items as an increase in salary, more office space, time off work, transfer, time alone, or the price of your home and car. You negotiate nearly everything you do in lifeâlearn to do it well. Learn to be an effective negotiator and enhance the quality of your life and relationshipsâon and off the job. - http://EzineArticles.com/?Everything-is-NegotiableâIncluding-SexâLearn-to-Do-it-Well&id=112610 - Valuing Yourself - The ability to value yourself, coupled with strong negotiation skills, are critical in terms of determining your own worth and value, and the value which others place upon you. - http://EzineArticles.com/?Valuing-Yourself&id=112290 - - No One Ever Wants to Give Cash Back: You Can Profit! - People know how hard it is to find someone who wants to buy what they have, and once they have cash in hand, they just can't turn it away . . . even if it means making a little less. - http://EzineArticles.com/?No-One-Ever-Wants-to-Give-Cash-Back:-You-Can-Profit!&id=110777 - Data Collection and Negotiations - What is data? How does it impact a negotiation. How do you gather it? Data is the meat of preparation. Negotiators should take the time to fully prepare. If they do this, often as not they will be better prepared than the other person. As a result, they will likely control the conversation and its outcome. - http://EzineArticles.com/?Data-Collection-and-Negotiations&id=109850 - Wholesale Negotiating Tips Tips for negotiating with wholesalers. - http://EzineArticles.com/?Wholesale-Negotiating-Tips&id=109921 - 5 Tips for Getting Paid What You're Worth - This article offers tips for getting paid what you're worth. - http://EzineArticles.com/?5-Tips-for-Getting-Paid-What-Youre-Worth&id=106168 - - How to Stop People from Grinding on You in Negotiations - Let me tell you how to conclude negotiations very effectively. You don't have to use it when the other person is negotiating in good faith with you. You use it only when you feel that the other side is simply grinding away to get the last penny off your price. Or when you know that the other person wants to do business with you, but she's thinking, "How much would I be making per hour, if I spent a little more time negotiating with this person?" - http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Stop-People-from-Grinding-on-You-in-Negotiations&id=105985 - - Unethical Negotiating Gambits and How to Protect Yourself Against Them - Let me teach you the unethical gambits that people can use to get you to sweeten the deal. Unless you're so familiar with them that you spot them right away, you'll find that you will make unnecessary concessions just to get the other side to agree with your proposal. Many a salesperson has had to endure an embarrassing interview with a sales manager who can't understand why he made a concession. The salesperson tries to maintain that the only way to get the order was to make the concession. The truth was that the buyer out maneuvered the salesperson with one of these unethical gambits. - http://EzineArticles.com/?Unethical-Negotiating-Gambits-and-How-to-Protect-Yourself-Against-Them&id=105984 - - Never Make a Concession When You're Negotiating Unless You Ask for Something in Return - Power Negotiators know that anytime the other side asks you for a concession in the negotiations, you should automatically ask for something in return. Let's look at a couple of ways of using the Trade Off Gambit: - http://EzineArticles.com/?Never-Make-a-Concession-When-Youre-Negotiating-Unless-You-Ask-for-Something-in-Return&id=105983 - - How Time Pressure Affects the Outcome of a Negotiation - In Puerto Prince, Haiti, former President Jimmy Carter, Colin Powell, and Senator Sam Nunn were in intense negotiations with Haiti's military commander, General Cedras. The phone rang and it was President Clinton calling to tell them that he had already started the invasion and they had 30 minutes to get out of there. - http://EzineArticles.com/?How-Time-Pressure-Affects-the-Outcome-of-a-Negotiation&id=105982 - - To Get a Better Deal, Learn How to Use the Vise Gambit - The Vise is a very effective negotiating Gambit and what it will do for you will amaze you. The Vise Gambit is the simple little expression: "You'll have to do better than that." Here's how Power Negotiators use it: Let's say that you own a small steel company that sells steel products in bulk. You are calling on a fabricating plant where the buyer has listened to your proposal and your pricing structure. You ignored his insistence that he's happy with his present supplier and did a good job of building desire for your product. Finally, the other person says to you, "I'm really happy with our present vendor, but I guess it wouldn't do any harm to have a backup supplier to keep them on their toes. I'll take one carload if you can get the price down to $1.22 per pound." - http://EzineArticles.com/?To-Get-a-Better-Deal,-Learn-How-to-Use-the-Vise-Gambit&id=105981 - - To Win in Negotiations, Learn How to Taper Concessions - In extended negotiations over price, be careful that you don't set up a pattern in the way that you make concessions. Let's say that you're selling a used car and you've gone into the negotiation with a price of $15,000, but you would go as low as $14,000. So, you have a negotiating range of $1,000. The way in which you give away that $1,000 is very critical. There are several mistakes that you should avoid: - http://EzineArticles.com/?To-Win-in-Negotiations,-Learn-How-to-Taper-Concessions&id=105979 - - Why It's a Mistake to Offer to Split the Difference - In this country, we have a tremendous sense of fair play. Our sense of fair play dictates to us that if both sides give equally, then that's fair. If Fred puts his home up for sale at $200,000, Susan makes an offer at $190,000, and both Fred and Susan are eager to compromise, both of them tend to be thinking, "If we settled at $195,000 that would be fair, because we both gave equally." Maybe it's fair and maybe it isn't. It depends on the opening negotiating positions that Fred and Susan took. If the house is really worth $190,000 and Fred was holding to his over inflated price only to take advantage of Susan having falling in love with his house, then it's not fair. If the house is worth $200,000 and Susan is willing to pay that, but is taking advantage of Fred's financial problems, then it isn't fair. So, don't fall into the trap of thinking that splitting the difference is the fair thing to do when you can't resolve a difference in price with the other side. - http://EzineArticles.com/?Why-Its-a-Mistake-to-Offer-to-Split-the-Difference&id=105977 - - Learn to Play the Reluctant Seller When You're Negotiating - Imagine for a moment that you own a sailboat, and you're desperate to sell it. It was fun when you first got it, but now you hardly ever use it, and the maintenance and slip fees are eating you alive. It's early Sunday morning, and you've given up a chance to play golf with your friends because you need to be down at the marina cleaning your boat. You're scrubbing away and cursing your stupidity for ever having bought the boat. Just as you're thinking, "I'm going to give this turkey away to the next person who comes along," you look up and see an expensively dressed man with a young girl on his arm coming down the dock. He's wearing Gucci loafers, white slacks, and a blue Burberry's blazer topped off with a silk cravat. His young girlfriend is wearing high heels, a silk sheath dress, big sunglasses, and huge diamond earrings. - http://EzineArticles.com/?Learn-to-Play-the-Reluctant-Seller-When-Youre-Negotiating&id=105975 - - Learn to Play the Reluctant Buyer When You're Purchasing - Let's say that you're in charge of buying new computer equipment for your company. How would you get a salesperson to give you the lowest possible price? I would let the other person come in and have her go through her entire presentation. I would ask all the questions I could possibly think of and when I finally couldn't think of another thing to ask, I would say, "I really appreciate all the time you've taken. You've obviously put a lot of work into this presentation, but unfortunately it's just not the way we want to go; however I sure wish you the best of luck." I would pause to examine the crestfallen expression on the salesperson's face. I would watch her slowly package her presentation materials. Then at the very last moment, just as her hand hit the doorknob on the way out, I would come back with this magic expression. - http://EzineArticles.com/?Learn-to-Play-the-Reluctant-Buyer-When-Youre-Purchasing&id=105974 - - When Negotiations Stall, Position the Other Side for Easy Acceptance - When you're negotiating with people who have studied negotiating, and are proud of their ability to negotiate, you can get ridiculously close to agreement, and the entire negotiation will still fall apart on you. When it does, it's probably not the price or terms of the agreement that caused the problem, it's the ego of the other person as a negotiator. When that happens, Power Negotiators use a simple technique that positions the other person for easy acceptance. - http://EzineArticles.com/?When-Negotiations-Stall,-Position-the-Other-Side-for-Easy-Acceptance&id=105973 - - Setting the Climate for a Non Confrontational Negotiation - What you say in the first few moments of a negotiation often sets the climate of the negotiation. The other person quickly gets a feel for whether you are working for a win win solution, or whether you're a tough negotiator who's out for everything they can get. - http://EzineArticles.com/?Setting-the-Climate-for-a-Non-Confrontational-Negotiation&id=104909 - - If You Don't Feel You're Getting Enough Out of a Negotiation, Nibble for More at the End - Power Negotiators know that by using the Nibbling Gambit, you can get a little bit more even after you have agreed on everything. You can also get the other person to do things that she had refused to do earlier. Car salespeople understand this, don't they? They know that when they get you on the lot, a kind of psychological resistance has built up to the purchase. They know to first get you to the point where you're thinking, "Yes, I'm going to buy a car. Yes, I'm going to buy it here." Even if it means closing you on any make and model of car, even a stripped down model that carries little profit for them. Then they can get you into the closing room and start adding all the other little extras that really build the profit into the car. - http://EzineArticles.com/?If-You-Dont-Feel-Youre-Getting-Enough-Out-of-a-Negotiation,-Nibble-for-More-at-the-End&id=104907 - - To Be a More Powerful Negotiator Never Say Yes to the First Offer - Power Negotiators know that you should never say Yes to the first offer (or counter offer) because it automatically triggers two thoughts in the other person's mind. - http://EzineArticles.com/?To-Be-a-More-Powerful-Negotiator-Never-Say-Yes-to-the-First-Offer&id=104904 - Basic Principles Make You A Smarter Negotiator - The way that you conduct yourself in a negotiation can dramatically the outcome. I've been teaching negotiating to business leaders throughout North America since 1982 and I've distilled this down to five essential principles. These principles are always at work for you and will help you smoothly get what you want: - http://EzineArticles.com/?Basic-Principles-Make-You-A-Smarter-Negotiator&id=104901 - - When You're Negotiating, Money isn't as Important as You Think - Let me tell you about my pet subject: When you're selling your product or service, money is way down the list of things that are important to the other side. First, we'll talk about something that you may find hard to believe but it's something of which I've become convinced that people want to spend more, not less, and that the price concerns salespeople more than the people to whom they sell. - http://EzineArticles.com/?When-Youre-Negotiating,-Money-isnt-as-Important-as-You-Think&id=104897 - - Power Negotiators Understand the Importance of Gathering Information - Henry Kissinger was once asked if he already knew what the Soviets would propose at an upcoming summit meeting. He said, "Oh, absolutely no question about it. It would be absolutely disastrous for us to go into a negotiation not knowing in advance what the other side was going to propose." - http://EzineArticles.com/?Power-Negotiators-Understand-the-Importance-of-Gathering-Information&id=104892 - - How to Negotiate When the Other Person Tells You that They Don't Have the Authority to Decide - One of the most frustrating situations you can run into is trying to negotiate with the person who claims that he or she doesn't have the authority to make a final decision. Unless you realize that this is simply a negotiating tactic that's being used on you, you have the feeling that you'll never get to talk to the real decision maker. - http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Negotiate-When-the-Other-Person-Tells-You-that-They-Dont-Have-the-Authority-to-Decide&id=104890 - - If You Need to Put Negotiating Pressure on the Other Side, Try Good Guy / Bad Guy - Good Guy/Bad Guy is one of the best known negotiating gambits. Charles Dickens first wrote about it in his book Great Expectations. In the opening scene of the story, the young hero Pip is in the graveyard when out of the sinister mist comes a large, very frightening man. This man is a convict, and he has chains around his legs. He asks Pip to go into the village and bring back food and a file, so he can remove the chains. The convict has a dilemma, however. He wants to scare the child into doing as he's asked, yet he mustn't put so much pressure on Pip that he'll be frozen in place or bolt into town to tell the policeman. - http://EzineArticles.com/?If-You-Need-to-Put-Negotiating-Pressure-on-the-Other-Side,-Try-Good-Guy-/-Bad-Guy&id=104886 - - What to Watch for When the Talking is Over and It's Time to Get the Deal in Writing - Most people think of negotiating as the verbal give and take that takes people from their different wants and needs to a point of agreement. That, of course, is the heart of negotiating but just as important is the transition to the written contract that formalizes the verbal agreement. Here are the things that Power Negotiators look for as they move toward the written contract: - http://EzineArticles.com/?What-to-Watch-for-When-the-Talking-is-Over-and-Its-Time-to-Get-the-Deal-in-Writing&id=104884 - - Want to Get More at the Bargaining Table? Learn to Flinch at Proposals - Power Negotiators know that you should always flinch react with shock and surprise at the other side's proposals. Let's say that you are in a resort area and stop to watch one of those charcoal sketch artists. He doesn't have the price posted, and he has the shill sitting on the stool. You ask him how much he charges, and he tells you $15. If that doesn't appear to shock you, his next words will be, "And $5 extra for color." If you still don't appear shocked, he will say, "And we have these shipping cartons here, you'll need one of these too." - http://EzineArticles.com/?Want-to-Get-More-at-the-Bargaining-Table?-Learn-to-Flinch-at-Proposals&id=104881 - Copyright 2005 EzineArticles.com - All Rights Reserved.

Music Industry News

the Motorola Corporation has bought the relatively high profile digital music company known as Soundbuzz, which provides the systems and content behind a lot of the mobile music stores offered by telco carriers. And yet while the Motorola corporations’ musical plans are largely built on tracks being distributed through carriers, the Finnish firm the Nokia Corp. has gone a step even further than that by committing to launching their own music store in

Australia sometime during the first six months of this year. Meanwhile, the JBL Corporation has unveiled the On Stage Micro. An AC adapter powers the On Stage Micro or it also has the capability to be powered by four AAA batteries, making it easy to take anyplace. When running on battery power it has up to twenty-four hours of playing time. These docks are also manufactured in colors that vivid and enhance any surroundings.

This is an iPod dock that has a mini jack connection that enables it to connect to other devices such as MP3 and CD players, along with desktop and laptop computers or satellite radio.

Inside of the JBL On Stage Micro there are two Odyssey transducers and an IR remote, which emits clean and crisp sound and the bass could not be better.

The best part of the JBL On Stage Micro is the size, with two types of power, terrific bass and sound as clear and crisp as this offers, the size makes it even better. This iPod dock is so compact that it can fit in one hand, and close to the palm in size, which will make it one of the most popular docking stations with high quality audio sound.

Labels: On Stage Micro

Thursday, September 06, 2007

More Bad Mortgage News

Wow this one really hurts...According to a news story reported by the Associated Press,
The number of house owners receiving foreclosure notices reached an all-time high this spring,
being particularly propelled by issues regarding the now infamous subprime loans.
All in all, The Mortgage Bankers Association or MBA stated today that mortgage-holders beginning the
foreclosure process in the spring quarter this year reached 0.65 percent, which is, shockingly,
the 3rd straight quarter that this quantity has set an all-time high.
Unfortunately, the delinquency rate was likewise up substantially during this same period,
rising to some 5.12 percent of all the loans, up nearly 3/4 of a percentage point from the same period last year.
Obviously, that could mean yet another record setting foreclosure rate for the next quarter.
This poor performance has been apparently driven by 2 major factors — major job losses in the states of Ohio, Michigan & Indiana
as well as the collapse of the formerly booming real estate markets in such states as California and Arizona.
Sadly enouph, The Midwest in particular has been severely affected by a loss of jobs in manufacturing, such as in automobiles.

Labels: Mortgage News

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Home Market crises deepening

According to an August story in the Reuters News network, the sinking (too strong a word?) United States housing market has caused an major surge in job losses at the country's financial services firms,
and the end is nowhere to be seen, sadly enouph.
Of 2007's cuts, a whopping 41% were connected to housing market woes, particularly the risky (and now extinct) subprime mortgage market. Employment cuts by real estate and construction firms were in excess of twenty thousand.
This figure is more than double that for the entire previous year.
Just in the past week alone, for instance, investment bank Bear Stearns Co's, credit card issuer Capital One Financial Corporation
as well as mortgage lenders Countrywide Financial Corporation and First Magnus Financial Corporation have announced well over eight thousand mortgage-related employment cuts.
There seems to be a certain pattern in effect here: employment cuts are increasing as credit losses deepen.
And while all of this is going on, home foreclosure filings surged ahead over ninety percent last month from a year earlier and rose nine percent from June, to 179,599, according to the Reuters news network and their sources.
It should be noted that it is only natural for mortgage workers to feel whipsawed. Nationwide, for instance, cut some five hundred positions just last week after having added nearly seven thousand positions from January to July, with increases in every single month.
Let's hope we finally get some good news after all of these soemwhat sad statistics.

Labels: housing market

Thursday, August 09, 2007

Real Estate Investor News out of Hawaii

According to a report in the 'Star Bulletin' newspaper,
a sort of high-level real estate market is flourishing in the Pacific State of Hawaii.
Luxury homes attract investors
A high-end real estate market is thriving in Hawaii
Even though this state has been popular for a very long time as a place to purchase a luxury second home as well as a resort market, various upgrades in transportation including the upcoming light rail system as well as technological advancements have combined to make it more viable for high-level buyers, who basically see it it as good price compared to certain other destinations, according to the newspaper story.
Other luxury real estate industry professionals in this tate have stated that they are also bullish on this market which is booming despite of various reports of declining inventory and ever higher interest rates on the larger loans. The luxury real estate professionals here report that showing activity and sales are actually ahead of the previous year. Continued renovation and reinvestment in the market will probably continue push the market higher according to many experts.

Labels: Hawaii real estate market

Monday, July 02, 2007

Quartery Forecasts for investors

These are some primary United States economic statistics and indicators that are scheduled to be released within a few days, as the week is shortened by the July 4 National holiday. Thomson IFR Markets has generously and capably provided the median forecasts.
Their work is appreciated, and they are excellent as usual. According to AFX News and also Forbes magazine, and based on reports from the capital,
there has been a mild trend towards higher weekly jobless claims. They are predicted to rise about two thousand to 315,000 for the week ending on the 29th of June.
Apparently, this ‘is a sign that the so far firm US labor market may be softening a bit,’ states Roger Kubarych at HVB.
Mike Moran of Daiwa Securities relates that the increase in economic activity in the second quarter appears to be focused on manufacturing.
This particular uptick should become apparent in the June ISM manufacturing index. The median forecast is 55.4, marginally up from 55.0 in May. Global Insight economists Bryan Bethune and Nigel Gault state that particularly strong showings in the regional Fed manufacturing indexes ’suggest that manufacturing
continued to surf the inventory replenishment wave a little higher’ in month 6 of this year.
In other statistics, June’s non-farm payroll report is the big number for the markets this week. The higher weekly unemployment claims numbers are ‘why we do not expect the June number to be quite as strong as May’s 157,000 result,’ states Jacqui Douglas at TD Bank. The median forecast is for some 130,000 new jobs to be created and a substantial 4.5 pct unemployment rate.
Stay tune for more information and forecasts from the folks over at Thomson IFR Markets.

Labels: investors

Sunday, June 17, 2007

The latest employment data

According to statistics made available by the OECD,
the number of unfilled job vacancies percentage in the United States for quarter one of 2007 was 37.2.
The leading & short term indicators, numbers and projections found here are compiled for several reasons, including data to help investors make
accurate predictions about the overall state of the national economy.
Additional investing, venture capital and general finance news at
The Finance and investment blog

This was the result of a statistical survey of the Dataset of Registered Unempemployment & general Job Vacancies.
Ipenet reports that varying sets of employment numbers paint the same picture: Slow job growth
There are 2 surveys used to measure employment numbers: the payroll survey and the household survey. The payroll survey is perhaps more ideal when it comes to tracking the varying levels & categories of employment as whole, and the household survey measures unemployment and employment-to-population ratios.
According to information from the US Fed News Service,
the number of job gains from opening & expanding private sector establishments was just over eight million, while the number of job losses from closing & contracting establishments. Additional labor dat may be obtained over at The Labor Statistics blog

Business Employment Dynamics (BED) data series include gross job gains and gross job losses at the establishment level by primary industry sector, plus gross job gains and gross job losses at the company echelon by employer size class

Labels: employment statistics

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Mixed Economic Signals

Mixed Real Estate Market Signals?

According to a recent article by renowned Associated Press writer Martin Crutsinger, the real estate market in general and the house market in particular
has been giving off a lot of confusing mixed signals as of late.......

For example, sales of new house increased last month (o4) by the largest amount in some fourteen odd years, and yet the median price of a new house actually dropped by the most sizeable amount on record. These rather odd indicators
have seemingly left no clear picture as to whether or not the the country's housing slump is finished. Real estae sellers and buyers a like are still quite wary
in this unpredictable atmosphere....
This is due to the fact that while sales of new one-family houses increased by some 16.2 percent in April,
the actual average price of a new house sold last month fell to $229,100, a record 11.1 percent decrease from the prior month!
Sales fell particularly in the Midwest, which saw a substantial four percent drop-off rate.
The country's economy as whole cooled down in the first quarter of 2007 to an annual adjusted growth rate of merely 1.3%, which is the weakest rate in 4 years, while the big slump in housing continued to weigh on the economy's overall performance.

Labels: Mixed Market Signals