US Finance World

An insiders guide to small-business marketing.

I recently saw a list of cheesy local TV commercials that got me laughing and thinking. Why exactly do these spots have such a time-honored place in our culture?

In Corpus Christi, Tex., where I grew up, the high priest of the daytime local genre was Mr. Louie of Mr. Louie’s Wig City. Day after day, he took to the airwaves, entering our living rooms while standing in front of hundreds of Styrofoam heads, each with a thousand-mile stare and some kind of Eva Gabor number on top. He’d shout their names as if they were horses coming down the home stretch: the Aspire! The Invitation! The Lite and Airy and Cheer! The Perk!

The grand finale of the spots was Mr. L, in solidarity with his target audience, wearing something that looked like coal on his head, and in full-on monotone, delivering the line that somehow seemed to make female follicles sit up: “Ladies, if your hair is not becoming to you, you should be coming to us!” The camera holds for three full seconds and then pulls back to show the support group of big-haired but vacant faces. Fade to

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The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has scheduled hearings on September 13, 2011, on two cosmetics bills. H1513: An Act Relative To Healthy Cosmetics, introduced by Rep. Kathi-Anne Reinstein (D) will be heard along with H2361: An Act Relative to Safe Cosmetics in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, introduced by Rep. Bradley H. Jones, Jr. (R) The purpose of this post is to share basic information about the bills. Note that both bills are scheduled for joint hearing before the Massachusetts Joint Committee On Public Health on September 13, 2011. (More about that below.)

HR 1513: An Act Relative To Healthy Cosmetics is shorter of the two bills. Supported by the Personal Care Products Council, the bill essentially requires cosmetics manufacturers to report to the State of Massachusetts Department of Public Health their use in a cosmetic of any ingredient that the Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) has reported to the FDA as unsafe at any level for use in a cosmetic product.

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They performed poorly in the 2008 meltdown, but some key “target date” funds held up better during the market’s recent plunge.

In recent years, the fundswhich now hold some $250 billion in assetshave become core offerings in 401(k) and other workplace retirement plans, in part because of their simple sales pitch: Pick a fund with a target date that matches your projected retirement year, and, over time, the portfolio will grow more conservative as the manager reduces its stock holdings and increases its bond and cash positions.

Among the retirement plans Vanguard Group Inc. provides with record-keeping services, 79% had a target-date option last year, up from 43% in 2006. Half of all participants within Vanguard-administered plans who are offered target-date funds use them, in part because the funds are the most popular default choice for retirement plans that automatically enroll employees.

After the 2008 financial crisis, target-date funds came under scrutiny from regulators and lawmakers, in part due to heavy losses sustained by investors in or near retirement.

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For 20 minutes of effort you could earn 100 from your savings.

Nowhere do we throw away more free money than when banking.

Ask someone to fill in a 20-minute questionnaire in return for £100 and they will jump at the chance. But suggest they spend the same time completing an online application for a savings account and they’ll constantly put the task off.

Yet for every £3,000 you save, you could earn around £100. And even if you have no savings yet, there are ways to start benefiting immediately. I’m going to write about the top accounts around for emergencies, holidays, regular savings and longer-term saving.

There are two forms of basic savings account: easy-access savings accounts and easy-access cash ISAs. Everyone should have one or the other for emergency savings as well as for savings you will need inside 12 months, e.g. for Christmas or holidays.

These accounts let you transfer money to your current account in three days, or even instantly sometimes. Yo

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Even though my credit score has recovered from its pretty hidious 500s phase, up to over 680 now, I dont see my wife and I looking to purchase a home anytime soon.

At least in our market (portland), it continues to make much more sense for us to rent. We also dont know where we may end up location wise in a few years, and so we will continue to rent.

Its funny how the perception of renting has changed in the last few years since the housing meltdown. I have a half-dozen friends who just a few years ago couldnt stop talking about their new condo/townhouse/home purchase.

Now?

Not so much.

Most seem envious that we rent. We have flexibility. Wed never think about purchasing the unit we rent (it would be too much $$), but for a few years of cheapish rentits wonderful.

I dont think we will always rent however.

Even after my disastrous first home ownership experience, there was something neat about owning a piece of land and the home on top of it.

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In a global, web-based world, your online properties have become a replacement for business cards. These properties also serve as new channels for finding and managing new sales leads. When these potential customers visit your online properties, are you being proactive in moving them from visitors to clients? Here are some questions you need to ask yourself about your existing online assets, to better transform them into real business tools:

This can be achieved by simply providing your contact information front-and-center on your site. Visitors want to feel as if theres a personal connection when they visit your site. Make sure your online contact forms provide users with more than the standard email or phone contact information. What if they want to connect over Linkedin?

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The New York Gift Fair is wrapping up today, and guess what? Handmade is hot! Of course as IBNs president, I knew that, and I know you knew it too. But did you know that the New York Gift Fair has an entire section just for handmade and artisan products? Theyre renovating an entirely new space just for handmade! Watch this video where Carol Ross, Director of Craft Marketing, shares some of the details.

How cool is that? I love what Carol said about how people want to buy products with meaning. Its not about commodities. Its about beauty and quality and using products that are made by real people who offer you more than just a consumer product. They are offering a bit of themselves, and that makes every item so special. Next years show is January 28 to Febraury 2. Keep up with the latest by following New York Gift Fair on .

And if youre a handmade junkie like me, be sure to join us Thursday, August 18 at 8pm EST for the first #HandmadeChat!

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In the last few years, there has been a multitude of references to the Big Five Canadian banks as model of a stable banking industry (by market cap, the Big Five are: RBC, TD, BNS,  BMO and CIBC). There has also been multiple recommendations to invest in Canadian banks. While in years past, it may have been easy to describe all members of the Big Five Canadian banks as one monolithic entity (and previous studies have shown the return of investment in the Big Five banks were more or less the same), something interesting has happened.

Aided by the relatively unimpaired flow of capital and boxed in by the more or less tapped out Canadian market, each of the Big Five banks are pursuing diverging corporate strategies, eschewing the traditional strategy of staying local (as an editorial note, the Competition Bureaus refusal to approve bank mergers in 1998 was, in hindsight, a smart move; rather than allow the banks do the easy thing, they forced them to be competitive globally).

For example, TD has become Well Fargo east: a bank with a large retail focus.

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