Recent Articles From EvanCarmichael.com http://www.evancarmichael.com/ http://www.evancarmichael.com/Small-Business-Consulting/2289/Can-Social-Networks-provide-Emotional-Wealth.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Small-Business-Consulting/2289/Can-Social-Networks-provide-Emotional-Wealth.html The following is a copy of my response to a blog post by Ecademy’s Thomas Power which asked the question, “Can Social Networks provide Emotional Wealth?" http://www.evancarmichael.com/Small-Business-Consulting/2289/FTC-Ruling-RE-Bloggers-A-Long-Time-Coming.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Small-Business-Consulting/2289/FTC-Ruling-RE-Bloggers-A-Long-Time-Coming.html In the June 11th PI Window on Business broadcast I asked a guest panel the question “Has Blogging Crossed The Threshold of Legitimacy?" As the segment description will tell you, the basis for asking the question in the first place was an AdAge.com article from April 13, 2009 titled “Bloggers Be Warned: FTC May Monitor What You Say, ” in which writer Michael Bush reported that “As part of its review of its advertising guidelines, the FTC is proposing that word-of-mouth marketers and bloggers, as well as people on social-media sites such as Facebook, be held liable for any false statements they make about a product they are promoting.” http://www.evancarmichael.com/Small-Business-Consulting/2289/The-Power-of-the-Blog.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Small-Business-Consulting/2289/The-Power-of-the-Blog.html My entry into social media was through the creation of the Procurement Insights Blog in May 2007. As of today it reaches more than 300,000 syndicated subscribers each month worldwide, and with more than 40 sponsors and growing it is the number one sponsored blog in its sector. Of course, none of this was planned as the reasons for creating the blog in the first place was to consolidate my various deadlines for the increasing number of publications for which I wrote either a column or articles on a regular basis. In short, I was able to create a single location from which the magazines could access the articles for distribution through their publication. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Small-Business-Consulting/2289/Socially-Branded-Journalism-Crossing-the-Generational-Divide.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Small-Business-Consulting/2289/Socially-Branded-Journalism-Crossing-the-Generational-Divide.html On February 27th, 1968 Walter Cronkite closed his broadcast by introducing “an analysis that must be speculative, personal, [and] subjective.” He was of course talking about the Vietnam War, and in particular the Tet offensive. While those of us who have not yet cracked the half century mark in terms of years on this planet may have only a general awareness of what history has told us was a “police action” that could not be won, Cronkite’s words created a ripple effect that unknowingly and ironically has come to symbolize our fast paced, 7/24 instant access social media world. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Small-Business-Consulting/2289/Is-There-a-Vaccine-for-Social-Media.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Small-Business-Consulting/2289/Is-There-a-Vaccine-for-Social-Media.html With the upcoming segment "Socially Branded Journalism: Crossing the Generational Divide," in which I talk with Dr. John Tantillo regarding social media and the "personal branding" phenomenon's impact on the difference between opinion and research-based news, one cannot help but consider the ongoing debate regarding vaccination. It is an area in which after considerable personal research I believe remains a complex matter of competing truths and partial-truths where both sides of the issue are to a certain degree obfuscated by self-interest. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Small-Business-Consulting/2289/Taxing-Social-Media-and-Why-Pay-Toilets-No-Longer-Exist-Part-2.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Small-Business-Consulting/2289/Taxing-Social-Media-and-Why-Pay-Toilets-No-Longer-Exist-Part-2.html In Part 1 of this post titled "WHO IS TO PAY FOR BROADCASTING AND HOW? A Contest Opened by RADIO BROADCAST in which a prize of $500 is offered," I had cited an article from 1924 requesting ideas on how the new medium of radio could be monetized. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Small-Business-Consulting/2289/Is-Canada-really-rich-in-natural-resources-Calculating-the-effects-of-Foreign-Ownership.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Small-Business-Consulting/2289/Is-Canada-really-rich-in-natural-resources-Calculating-the-effects-of-Foreign-Ownership.html In Toronto, CBC business reporter Jeannie Lee said there is a great deal at stake for Canada — and especially for southern Ontario, where Canada's steel industry is concentrated and where the global slump has already gutted the auto industry. Canadian steel plants produced almost 16 million tonnes of steel in 2007, employing about 32,000 people and, by one estimate, supporting 140,000 indirect jobs, she said. from "Buy American" rule in U.S. stimulus bill could cost Canada jobs, CBC News (January 29th, 2009) http://www.evancarmichael.com/Small-Business-Consulting/2289/Kraft-Buys-Into-the-Mirage-of-Vendor-Rationalization.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Small-Business-Consulting/2289/Kraft-Buys-Into-the-Mirage-of-Vendor-Rationalization.html In yet another example of the "when will they ever learn" category, About.com's Martin Murray's article "Kraft To Rationalize Vendors" reported that the company "announced that it is planning to cut its supplier base in half, affecting more than 30,000 businesses, but possibly saving Kraft more than $300 million a year." Putting aside for a moment that enterprise-wide rationalization strategies rarely deliver the sustainable savings that are expected - it would be interesting to see how the $300 million per year number was actually calculated - history has shown that the "sifting" process usually results in a supply base composed of the least desirable vendors. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Small-Business-Consulting/2289/Buy-American-Establishing-Artificial-Boundaries-or-Removing-Unwanted-Barriers.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Small-Business-Consulting/2289/Buy-American-Establishing-Artificial-Boundaries-or-Removing-Unwanted-Barriers.html "This idea of international free trade is a fallacy. We don't need free trade. We need smart trade . . . Even Canada is not truly a free trade partner. Their regulations require broadcasters use a specified percentage of Canadian-produced programming. That's protectionism, and to deny it is to be the patsy to foreign governments who think they can take advantage of the naivete of the American voter." Stephen Cottle, Hatford, CT (LinkedIn Q&A Response) http://www.evancarmichael.com/Small-Business-Consulting/2289/The-Buy-American-Policy-A-Clear-and-Present-Danger.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Small-Business-Consulting/2289/The-Buy-American-Policy-A-Clear-and-Present-Danger.html In April 2009, Trade Minister Stockwell Day expressed concern that what at the time was the proposed "Buy American" bill was representative of the same kind of U.S. protectionism "that fueled the Great Depression in the 1930's. Citing the "Smoot-Hawley Act of 1930" (Smoot-Stonehouse Tariff Act), Canadian Chamber of Commerce President Perrin Beatty suggested that the "danger with something like this is that its a spark in the forest."