After over two weeks off, the 20th-ranked Auburn Montgomery women's basketball team returns to action on December 30 against Madonna University. The game will be a part of the four-day Ave Maria University Holiday Classic in Ave Maria, Fla.
The Warhawks are looking to get back on track after dropping their last two games prior to the holidays. AUM is 10-2 thus far in 2012-13, including a 4-0 record in conference play.
"We're looking forward to getting back to playing," Head Coach Dan Davis said. "The players all seem refreshed after the break. We're ready to get a couple games under our belt as we prepare for the 14 games that we have left in the conference."
After returning to practice on the day after Christmas, AUM made the long journey to southern Florida yesterday, with a brief stop for practice at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
Their opponents on Saturday, Madonna, hail from Livonia, Mich. and are currently 6-5. The Crusaders' matchup against AUM will be their third game in three days at the tournament, which begins today and concludes on New Year's Eve. The two schools have never faced each other.
A total of six teams are participating in the tournament. AUM concludes the event on Dec. 31 against host school Ave Maria (5-4) before returning home next Friday to face Emmanuel. Ave Maria will be playing its fourth game in four days on New Year's Eve.
"We've got two quality opponents with winning records," Davis said. "Both are receiving votes in the NAIA Division II poll. We know that we've got some good tests down here, playing some teams we haven't played before and seeing some different brands of basketball."
The Warhawks are 4-0 in tournaments this year, sweeping both of their games at the Jimmy Faulkner Classic and Jack Souther Classic earlier in November. After this weekend, 14 of their last 15 regular season games will be Southern States Athletic Conference matchups.
Both games this weekend begin at 1 p.m. Ave Maria is planning to produce a free online video broadcast of the games at the following link: http://www.livestream.com/avemariaathletics.
On a dank day at Saracens' training ground, Mark McCall is throwing light on his team's try-scoring record, or should that be a lack of one. Saracens stand second in the Premiership table and are heading powerfully towards a fourth successive finish in the play-off places. Yet they have managed just 10 tries in 11 league matches, four fewer than the second and third bottom clubs, London Irish and London Welsh. It is an amazing statistic that has drawn accusations that Saracens, the 2011 Premiership champions, are boring.
That denunciation from, among others, two former England internationals turned BBC TV pundits, Jerry Guscott and Brian Moore, draws a passionate denial. "You could only say that's a factor if you've got an unhappy playing group," says McCall. "We've got a very happy, ambitious and motivated group. They know we don't set out to play in a boring way.
"They will tell you they don't feel shackled in any way. We have scored far too few tries in the Premiership. We'd love to score more. At the same time we have played some outstanding rugby."
Some context is called for. Saracens in the mid-Noughties were a mid-table team defined by a wretched tendency to lose matches from winning positions. They needed to change ? and keep changing. "We had a sobering experience about two-and-a-half years ago," says McCall. "There were consecutive games against Leinster [a 43-20 loss away] and Clermont [24-14 winners at Watford] that exposed a few things that had been disguised in the Premiership: our physicality and set-piece issues. It was a bit of a water-shed. Since then we have had 56 Premiership/Heineken Cup matches and we've won 43. That means we're doing something right."
And here's some more figures: today's meeting of Saracens and Northampton at Vicarage Road will be the seventh in the Premiership this season among last season's four play-off clubs. The previous six have produced just four tries. So the business end is being tightly fought.
Saracens, while hampered by back-row injuries, have built victories on a committed kick-chase and dynamic attack in the breakdown and set-piece. McCall's point is that they are not the only ones. "Harlequins understand that as well as having the ball-in-hand stuff, other things needed to be put in place. Their set-piece now is outstanding and their defence is very good.
"You can throw the try-scoring stat at us, I can throw a stat at you. We've kicked 54 penalties this season, which means the opposition have given away 54 penalties in their half. In the same number of games, Northampton have had [only] 25 penalties they've kicked. That is not the same as saying we have a win-at-all costs mentality. We're building pressure and the only way for the opposition to stop us is illegally. And when you have Charlie Hodgson and Owen Farrell, you kick your goals."
McCall says winning with one try or no tries away to Harlequins and Northampton, and against Gloucester at home, and 22-0 at Bath last weekend, was just fine. "At Sale and London Welsh we could have scored five tries, then we wouldn't be having this conversation," he says.
Conceivably, a shortage of tries may hurt Saracens if they finish level on points and wins with a rival. But Alex Goode's counterattack try at Franklin's Gardens and the one from a line-out by Richard Wigglesworth at The Rec proved they can be exciting and incisive. They are top of their Heineken Cup pool. And England have picked their backs liberally: Goode, Chris Ashton, Brad Barritt and Farrell started in the win over New Zealand.
And McCall promises Saracens will not stand still. "Kevin Sorrell [Andy Farrell's successor as backs coach] is making changes," he says. "Our first-phase moves have become more important. We tried before to pass around teams, using a pod system. Kev has made us a lot more confrontational with our attack, more tidy."
Trying times for top four
Results between last year's top four this season, with tries in brackets:
Italian Rita Levi Montalcini, who won the Nobel Prize in 1986 with American Stanely Cohen for their discovery of nerve growth factor, died Sunday. Montalcini was a well-known figure in Italy, known for encouraging young women to study science.
By Catherine Hornby,?Reuters / December 30, 2012
Italian neurologist and senator for life Rita Levi Montalcini, Nobel Prize winner for Medicine in 1986, is seen at a press conference for her one hundredth birthday, in Rome in 2009.
Riccardo De Luca/AP/File
Enlarge
Rita Levi Montalcini, joint winner of the Nobel Prize for Medicine and an Italian Senator for Life, died on Sunday at the age of 103, her family said.
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The first Nobel laureate to reach 100 years of age, she won the prize in 1986 with American?Stanley Cohen?for their discovery of nerve growth factor (NGF), a protein that makes developing cells grow by stimulating surrounding nerve tissue.
Her research helped in the treatment of spinal cord injuries and has increased understanding of cardiovascular diseases, Alzheimer's and conditions such as dementia and autism.
One of twins born to a Jewish family in?Turin?in 1909, Montalcini was the oldest living recipient of the prize.
During World War Two, the Allies' bombing of?Turin?forced her to flee to the countryside where she established a mini-laboratory. She fled to?Florence?after the German invasion of?Italy?and lived in hiding there for a while, later working as a doctor in a refugee camp.
After the war she moved to?St. Louis?in the?United States?to work at?Washington University, where she went on to make her groundbreaking NGF discoveries.
Posted on December 29, 2012 by dufttuey508 in Internet
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If you use the Apple wireless keyboard with your iPad, you’ve probably run into the problem of not being able to easily use the combo on your lap. I have a solution for you… it’s the GroovBoard Lap Desk and Stand. It’s made of solid wood and can be used several ways. Let me show [...]
Email, not social media, still reigns supreme as the top marketing tool for business owners.
Even retailers as different as?Williams-Sonoma?and?Home Depot?have taken on the task of sending out customer specific emails, rather than the one-size-fits-all blasts that once dominated this type of marketing.
If sales are measured by per dollar spent, email outperforms social-media advertising 3-to-1, says the?Direct Marketing Association, a trade group founded to provide accurate marketing data. That explains why retailers will send 19 percent more emails this year.
Compared with social-media, email marketing will never be sexy, said Ted Wham, a vice president of?Responsys, a San Bruno, Calif., firm that helps companies build digital relationships with customers.
?But it depends on what?s sexy to you,? he said. ?In my opinion, making a high profit rate and bringing in a lot of incremental dollars is very sexy.?
Competition was fierce this holiday shopping season as the?National Retail Federation?predicted sales would rise 4.1 percent to about $586.1 billion in the period, compared with a 5.6 percent increase in 2011. Online sales may grow to a record $43.4 billion in the last two months of the year, a 17 percent increase from last year, ComScore says.
The number of Black Friday and Cyber Monday shoppers making purchases after clicking through from social networks such as?Facebook,?Twitter,?LinkedIn?and?YouTube?declined by at least 26 to 10 percent this year from 2011, even as online sales soared, IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark said last month. So-called social sales contributed less than 0.5 percent of online revenue both days.
Major retailers are on track to send subscribers an average of 211 promotional emails in 2012 compared with 177 last year, Responsys says.
Email provided $39.40 in sales per dollar of advertising this year, followed by $22.38 through Web search, $19.71 from Internet display ads and $12.90 from social networks, the Direct Marketing Association said.
Many business owners started out as beginner computer users. The following few paragraphs will impart some interesting Internet marketing information.
Encourage your customers to participate on your site in a way that makes them thing they are calling the shots. Customers feel this is important because of all the spam out there. Make sure you give your consumers the choice to participate.
Try to make your website memorable. With so many websites on the Internet, you need to stand out to succeed. A great way to achieve this is to highlight all the special services offered by your business.
TIP! If your internet marketing plan is strong, you already have a good grasp on which products will bring you the most profit. Expand on the popularity of those products by bundling them with complementary products.
In order to improve the PageRank of your eCommerce site, offer a short-term promotion. Should news and bargain sites link back to your page, if the arrangement is good, you can ?purchase? page ranking. This is the same thing as selling something as a loss and making money off of it later.
One unique approach to internet marketing is through image searches. When a browser online searches some type of keyword, you will have a better chance of being found if you actually tag your images with the proper keywords. Even though it?s an image, it will still be indexed along with your site. Your site could inadvertently attract visitors who have stumbled across it while looking for others. Your brand will become more well known and they may become repeat visitors.
Your banner ads should stand out from the crowd as much as possible. Make your banner stand out from the crowd, and potential buyers will be more likely to click it.
TIP! You may want a flashy site but, do not make it too much for your customers to process. You only have a few seconds to engage your potential customer and give them a reason to stay on your site.
Advertise special deals on your check-out page. For example, a customer may want to add just one of three specific products at half-price to show gratitude for their business. It is a great way to clear out surplus inventory and increase sales, while letting the customer feel that he is getting a bonus.
You should find out about advertising if you want to create business online. The money is worth it over time as advertising the business will represent a large part of the quantity of business you attain. This can help you generate more traffic than any other tactic you might employ.
It will take a while to master a niche, but you need to start in order to reach that phase. This information will help you to get on the right path to success.
TIP! Have some promotions or events and see people flock to your site. You may offer a day or more sale on a $1 e-book.
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Daimler Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche hopes to return the automaker to the top spot in the premium car market ahead of Audi and BMW by 2020, he said in an interview with a German paper.
"I am confident that we will be ahead of our rivals by 2020 at the latest," he told Boersen-Zeitung in an interview published on Saturday.
He said he hoped to reach that target during his time in office. Zetsche's contract currently runs until December 2013 but is expected to be extended by three years in February.
Daimler has already promised 2 billion euros ($2.6 billion)in cost cuts at the Mercedes-Benz division by the end of 2014 after warning in October that it would miss its operating profit target this year by 1 billion euros.
Zetsche told the paper Mercedes had failed to keep up with its rivals in the compact car market and in China.
(Reporting by Victoria Bryan; editing by Jane Baird)
In this image taken from video obtained from the Shaam News Network, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, smoke rises from buildings from heavy shelling in Homs, Syria, on Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video)
In this image taken from video obtained from the Shaam News Network, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, smoke rises from buildings from heavy shelling in Homs, Syria, on Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video)
In this image taken from video obtained from the Shaam News Network, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, smoke rises from buildings from heavy shelling in Homs, Syria, on Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video)
BEIRUT (AP) ? Anti-regime activists say a government airstrike on a town in north Syria has killed 14 people, including two women and eight children.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the 14 were killed in a strike Friday on the town of al-Safira, south of the northern city of Aleppo.
An activist who spoke anonymously because of security reasons gave the names of the dead and said the government often strikes the town because rebels are attacking a large military complex on its outskirts.
Rebels clashed with soldiers there on Friday, he said.
Activists say the regime often takes revenge for rebel advances by bombing residential areas. They say more than 40,000 have been killed in Syria since the start of the uprising against President Bashar Assad in March 2011.
NEW YORK?? A Florida fossil dealer pleaded guilty to smuggling charges Thursday and agreed to give up a celebrated $1 million dinosaur skeleton that was seized by the U.S. government earlier this year for eventual return to Mongolia.
Eric Prokopi, 38, said he would surrender the 70 million-year-old Tarbosaurus bataar skeleton, known as "Ty," and give up any claims to six other dinosaurs and various other bones in a cooperation deal that might win him leniency from charges that carry a potential prison sentence of up to 17 years.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Martin S. Bell read a list of the dinosaurs to Magistrate Judge Ronald L. Ellis, saying a second substantially complete tyrannosaur skeleton was found at Prokopi's Gainesville, Fla., home, while a third was believed to be in Britain.
Bell said the government will also get to keep a Chinese flying dinosaur that Prokopi illegally imported; a skeleton of a Saurolophus, a duckbilled, plant-eating dinosaur from the late Cretaceous period; and two oviraptor skeletons, one found at Prokopi's home and the other at another residential dwelling in Florida. The oviraptors have parrotlike skulls.
"It's among the larger dinosaur shopping lists you'll see today," Bell told the magistrate judge.
Cosmic Log: The year's top ancient mysteries (and missteps)
In a release, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: "Fossils and ancient skeletal remains are part of the fabric of a country's natural history and cultural heritage, and black marketers like Prokopi who illegally export and sell these wonders, steal a slice of that history. We are pleased that we can now begin the process of returning these prehistoric fossils to their countries of origin."
The government accused Prokopi of smuggling bones into the country illegally from Mongolia before assembling them into a skeleton that was sold by Dallas-based Heritage Auctions for $1.05 million, a deal that was suspended pending the outcome of litigation. The government said the dinosaur skeleton was mislabeled as reptile bones from Britain.
Free on bail
Prokopi remains free on bail pending a sentencing scheduled for April 25. After his plea Thursday, he immediately went with prosecutors to their offices without commenting.
In a statement last spring, Prokopi defended his handling of the dinosaur, saying the value of the bones was labeled much lower than the eventual auction price because "it was loose, mostly broken bones and rocks with embedded bones. It was not what you see today, a virtually complete, mounted skeleton."
Science news from NBCNews.com
Year in Science: Higgs boson takes the prize
Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: As 2012 draws to a close, physicists are celebrating ? and being celebrated for ? the end of a quest to find a subatomic particle known as the Higgs boson.
How climate shifts sparked human evolution
Injured coral have less 'sex'
23 scientists and innovators win medals
Prokopi pleaded guilty to conspiracy for importing the Chinese flying dinosaur, entry by goods by means of false statements for importing Mongolian dinosaurs and one count of interstate and foreign transportation of goods converted and taken by fraud.
In describing his crimes, Prokopi said he wrote an email to a fossil dealer in China in 2010, instructing him to mislabel customs documents to make it appear that the bones of a Chinese flying dinosaur were worth less than they were.
He said that from 2010 to 2012, he arranged for shipments of fossils from Mongolia to be described in customs documents as if their country of origin were Great Britain.
'Vague and misleading' statements
The magistrate judge asked Prokopi if the country of origin on the documents was an important fact.
"Well, apparently," Prokopi said, prompting a brief discussion between the prosecutor and Prokopi's defense lawyer.
Afterward, Prokopi said the labeling of the relics was purposefully "vague and misleading so that they didn't bring attention to the shipment."
The magistrate judge asked him what would have happened if he had labeled them accurately.
"Probably nothing," Prokopi said, pausing and then adding, "or it may not have been allowed to be imported."
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Dec. 28, 2012 ? South West China, Myanmar and Northern Vietnam contain one of the oldest exposed outcrops of limestone in the world. Within this area are thousands of caves and gorges. It is only recently that botanists have sought to explore the caves for plants. This exploration is yielding many new species new to science, that are known only from these habitats.
The current study was published in the open access journal PhytoKeys.
Kew botanist and nettle expert Alex Monro says, "When my Chinese colleague Wei Yi-Gang from the Guangxi Institute of Botany first mentioned cave-dwelling plants to me, I thought that he was mis-translating a Chinese word into English. When we stepped into our first cave, Yangzi cave, I was spell-bound. It had an eerie moonscape look to it and all I could see were clumps of plants in the nettle family growing in very dark condition."
The plants do not grow in complete darkness but do grow in extremely low light levels, deep within the entrance caverns of the caves (sometimes, in as little as 0.04% full sunlight). The British and Chinese authors have been collecting plants from the Nettle family in this limestone landscape for several years and have just published a paper describing three new species, one from a cave and another two from deep gorges.
The cave-dwelling nettle species in question, was found growing in two caves in the Guangxi province of China. Of the species discovered in gorges, one is known from an unusual and striking rock mineral formation called petaloid travertine. Petaloid travertine is a form of limestone deposited by mineral springs that over time forms large petals of rock, in this case clinging to the vertical walls of a gorge.
These plants are members of a genus of Nettles known as Pilea, that is believed to have over 700 species Worldwide, up to one third of which may remain undescribed.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Pensoft Publishers, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Alex Monro, Y.G. Wei, C.J. Chen. Three new species of Pilea (Urticaceae) from?limestone?karst in China. PhytoKeys, 2012; 19 (0): 51 DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.19.3968
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Highly successful sales managers lead their teams to close more deals.? Among the key traits of successful sales managers is the desire to manage their business by the numbers, and as a result they make better decisions. Therefore, they regularly view sales reports for clear visibility into the key metrics that will help them close more.
Here are 4 reports that great sales managers get from their analysts to win big each quarter:
Bookings Trend
How are sales doing thus far this month and this quarter? Successful sales managers need to know this to identify where they stand vs. goals and whether they are falling behind. If so, they can move quickly to fix it. Success in sales management is a function of being proactive and getting ahead of any issues ? this report helps the manager see when they can coach the sales team to get over any hurdles.
Opportunity Pipeline
What opportunities need my attention right now? This is a key area that successful sales managers want to understand. Therefore they constantly look at a report by pipeline by sales reps. They also drill down by how much level of effort is spent on the opportunity ? this is measured by number of activities weighted by how much time is consumed for these activities.? This helps get a leg up on competition because the report shows which opportunities are closing soon and thus need immediate attention. Additionally, this report clarifies which opportunities could be pulled forward and closed earlier. Lastly, this report can help figure out if the team is focused on the right size of opportunities at a critical time (near the end of the month or quarter).
Activities
Sales management is about coaching the sales team, and sales success is a function of sales effort. Successful managers want to measure and improve sales efforts by tracking activities of each direct report over time. They want to be able to quickly spot who needs assistance.
Successful sales managers ask their analysts to provide a report which not only shows activities but also shows who is executing these activities by account, by employee and by opportunity. Monitoring activities by opportunity is particularly useful to see how many activities are done for early stage opportunities and how many activities for late stage opportunities.
They also their sales analysts to report key activities vs. goals ? this shows sales reps who may need real-time coaching to improve their execution.
Lead Aging
Do we have any leads that have been ignored? Successful sales managers know that 40% ? 50% of new leads are not worked for the first few days, which means that their probability of converting falls dramatically. Hence this is an area of potential upside and a report that shows lead aging for each sales rep allows successful sales managers to spot which rep should improve his or her follow-up process quickly, which will ultimately increase the conversion rate to opportunities.
If you are regularly looking at these 4 sales reports and especially now in the last stretch of Q4 then you are already making better decisions heading into 2013.
The Internet became the most important place for every business these days because it is the best tool to reach more customers not only in country but also abroad. That is why almost every business is present on the Internet and promoting business through website. E-commerce website can help you reach more customers and gain more profit and that is why you should hire professional to develop an attractive E-commerce website that will attract new visitors and make them come back.
Suhanasoftech is a top level web development company from India that is a leader in E-commerce development. We can proudly say that we are also one of world top web development companies with brilliant repuation and huge number of successfully delivered projects. Our main goal is satisfied client and project delivered within the time frame and on budget. Suhanasoftech offering services around the globe and now in Vancouver too. If your business is based in Vancouver and you need to develop an E-commerce website and hire E-commerce developer, then we are the best option for you.
We offer you to hire E-commerce developer from our E-commerce website development Vancouver team that is made of skilled professionals and experts in E-commerce. Our developers are also experts in PHP, Magento, Drupal, WordPress, Joomla, Ajax, XML, Java, Flash and so much more. Hiring such experts you can be sure that E-commerce solution provided by them will be exactly what you need.
When you hire E-commerce developer from our E-commerce website development Vancouver team you will get dedicated developers that will get to know all about your business, products and requirements you have. That way they will make sure to understand your business needs perfectly and to deliver exact match for your needs. After they deliver E-commerce solution to you they will offer you E-commerce website maintenance with quick response which can assure you that your website will be quickly up after you call them.
Developers from Suhanasoftech can be hired per hour or full time depending on your project size, budget and time frame. If your project is bigger you can hire more than one developer and finish your project within the time frame. Developers are trained to work as a team and solution delivered must be the best possible, safe and search engine optimized E-commerce solution for your business. They will stay available online during project keeping you updated about their work.E-Commerce Website Development Vancouver
Hi, I am Zeba Akhter. I have been working as content writer for last 4 years. Ihave written content on different subjects. And among my lasted articles areregarding this types of subject.
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LOS ANGELES ? Ryan Reynolds is the latest superhero to rule the weekend box office. Reynolds? ?Green Lantern? debuted at No. 1 with $52.7 million, a fair but unremarkable opening stacked up against other comic-book adaptations. Released by Warner Bros., ?Green Lantern? brought up the rear among superhero movies to open so far this summer, [...]
? About 3 weeks ago, a box from Sprint arrived. Inside the box was a kitten. No, sorry?actually it was this nifty 7? Android tablet from HTC, the EVO View 4G. After using it almost daily, and discussing it with everybody I could corner, I?m still somewhat conflicted about whether or not I?d buy one. [...]
Hong Kong bills itself as one of Asia?s most diverse cities and is home to a sizable population of non-ethnic Chinese minorities, but many of them educated at local public schools are unable to read and speak Chinese. In the 15 years since reverting to Chinese sovereignty, South Asian students here have been given the [...]
At first, you?ll be mystified by the 20 most-liked Facebook photos posted by advertisers during 2012. The giants of Facebook advertising ? Walmart, Amazon, Target, Samsung, etc. ? are completely absent. In their place are some tiny businesses and niche companies you?ve never heard of. Sure, a couple of major brands like Bed Bath & [...]
Dan Stevens (as Matthew Crawley) and Michelle Dockery (as Lady Mary Crawley) in "Downton Abbey."
By Randee Dawn, TODAY contributor
Looks like "Downton Abbey" may have to hunt down a new heir: A?spokesperson for the hugely popular PBS series has confirmed to Deadline that star Dan Stevens (who plays Matthew Crawley) has not re-signed for the series' fourth season.
Note: Potential spoilers ahead.
Season three of the series ended its run in the UK with a Christmas special that aired there Tuesday and, according to Deadline, "explains Matthew's exit." Season three of the series begins airing in the U.S. on Jan. 6, which means that American fans will have to wait some months before learning how he'll depart.
The exit isn't entirely unexpected; back in October Stevens hedged about whether he'd re-up: "I think we'll have to wait and see really," he told the Wall Street Journal about that fourth season. "You do feel a certain obligation to shows that raise your profile like 'Downton' has. But there are definitely other exciting opportunities out there."
"Downton's" fourth season is set to begin shooting in winter 2013. Meanwhile, Stevens has already been expanding his resume, appearing on Broadway with Jessica Chastain in "The Heiress," and starring in and executive producing the upcoming independent film "Summer in February."
Will you miss Dan Stevens? Let us know on Facebook!
The best reputation management you have as a small business is customer service. One bad customer service experience can have huge repercussions in the age of social media. UPS discovered this the hard way.
A few years ago an incident like this could have gone months before the company saw any negative publicity ? if at all. But with social media, and everyone you know having accounts at all the major social media websites, you can bet that your customers will use it if they have to.
All you have to do to stop the social media negative PR campaigns before they start is provide good customer service. That doesn?t mean flawless execution of your service or flawless products. It means addressing concerns when they arise.
Once you sully your reputation it?s hard to get it back. That?s why you need to train all your employees on how to handle customer complaints when they happen. And be sure that no one drops the ball on any customer complaint. If you fail to do this one time, you could end up like UPS and have a video go viral, making your company look like it doesn?t care about its customers.
Social media is the great equalizer between customers and large businesses. What do you think it could do to a small business in a small town if this kind of thing happens to one of your customers?
Tags: customer service, Reputation Management, small business, Social Media
This entry was posted on Monday, December 24th, 2012 at 8:11 am and is filed under Reputation Management. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Often when you least expect it you run across an answer to a question that you didn?t know that you had.? This is the cast with NYA Communications ? company that translates English into German and serves in other capacities in multilingual communications.? The following is an interview that I had with Nicole Adams.? If you?re serious about serving the European market?then the services that Nicole offers is worth serious consideration.? Here?s a link to her website.? NYA Communications
1.?? ?Having just got back from a trip to Geneva, I find it interesting that I now have the opportunity to interview a company that specializes in translations.? From an introductory perspective, share what got you into this fascinating business.
After completing a Masters Degree in Contemporary English Language and Linguistics I initially worked in-house as multilingual account manager, German and English quality manager, and translation project manager in the UK. By chance I came across an ad from a translation agency looking for a freelance translator to translate a letter into German. I though ? hey, I can do that! ? and the rest is history. Later on I also became formally certified as a German/English translator.
I?ve been self-employed for almost 10 years now and wouldn?t change a thing. It?s very rewarding to help companies tap into new markets and grow their business through multilingual communication.
2.?? ?What is your background that makes you the expert in German to English or English to German translations?
Having been raised bilingually in German and English, I have always had a passion for languages and writing. I grew up speaking both English and German and have lived, worked, and/or studied in the US, Germany, the UK, and now Australia. What?s unique about me is that I have a perfect grasp of both German and English. This enables me to understand every nuance of the original document so that no piece of information gets lost or misinterpreted.
3.?? ?You offer several services ? give us a brief explanation of those services.
My services range from translations between English and German to editing, proofreading, and localization for companies and agencies. NYA Communications? services also include business mentoring, public speaking and workshops and helps organizations with business development, social media and computer-assisted translation (CAT) software training.
I specialize in documents from the domains of marketing, public relations, advertising, and business. The types of document I handle on a daily basis are press releases, sales presentations, websites, brochures, company magazines, corporate communications, newsletters, etc.
4.?? ?I notice that one service you offer is ?Localization? ? tell us how that might apply ? for example if I hired you to ?Localize? a news release.
When requesting a translation from,say, German to English, the client always needs to specify whether the target audience is the US or the UK (or another) market. An English text written for a UK audience might not work in the US, for example, because of the distinct cultural and linguistic differences between the two markets.
5.?? ?Also, with respect to Localization ? you reference that this service is tailored for the UK or Australian market.? But I thought you did German to English or the reverse?I?m confused.? Help.
Although I mainly translate between German and English, I also offer monolingual English language services. Localization goes beyond mere translation but is rather transcreation, i.e. rewriting the text from scratch in the target language to convey the idea of the source text in terms the target reader understands. It also involves adapting things like the date format, currencies, units of measurement, etc. to the customary local forms in the country where the localized text is to be used (e.g. ?25 December 2012? into ?December 25, 2012? or ?metres? to ?feet?).
6.?? ?Since so many on the European continent are proficient in English ? share three reasons that one would need the use of a translation service
Any company serious about expanding into foreign markets and growing their business must have their marketing collateral, website, and other documentation professionally translated. Customers only buy what they understand, and studies have shown that sales figures sky-rocket almost instantly once companies launch foreign-language versions of their websites.
A common misconception is that any bilingual intern can just compose press releases or in a foreign language, and that money can be saved when an in-house employee handles translations. This, however, is a false economy because poorly translated texts often end up costing businesses more than they would have paid for a professional translator the first time round. It is usually more costly to have a ?bad? translation revised than to hire an expert in the first place. It?s crucial for any business wanting to operate internationally to allocate an appropriate budget for translation and language services.
It?s undoubtedly true that many Europeans speak excellent English. But as Nelson Mandela once famously said: ?If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.?
7.?? ?I recently released a ?Press Release? about my role in a meeting in Geneva.? Would there be any value in releasing that in another language?? If so, share where you see the value and in what format.
It depends who it is you?re targeting with the release and whose attention you want to attract. If you have clients in Switzerland, it would no doubt be beneficial to issue a media release in their local language(s). A release in the local language is also more likely to be picked up and published by sources your clients and/or your target group know and trust. This will in turn boost their trust in you and consolidate your position as a trusted partner.
Secondly, publishing a foreign-language press release will of course give you access to entire target markets who don?t speak English or don?t speak it sufficiently for business purposes. Having a translated media release will allow you to reach all those people in your target market that would have otherwise disregarded your English press release because they don?t understand it sufficiently well.
8.?? ?As an author there are many books that have been translated into another language. Would an author come to you for that service?
Authors seeking to translate their work would usually go through their publisher, who arranges for a translator. Having said that, it is not unheard of for authors to search for and approach translators directly. This is especially the case for small? business owners publishing non-fiction books or e-books. Here, it can be very benefitial to have that direct contact between the translator and the author.
9.?? ?Share with my readers what are the top services that American?s seek from your company and why.
I work with clients all over the world, primarily in Europe. but I did notice a trend towards localization in the US market in 2012. Many requests by American companies this year were for localization services from US English into either UK or Australian English, i.e. adapting their website copy and collateral to these markets. Being based in Australia, the time zone is also a major plus because I can deliver urgent projects ?over night?.
10.?? ?A number of my readers are in the media, so as we conclude this interview ? what two things would you want them to know about the uniqueness of your service?
There are many language service providers out there, and many who work with German, but what makes me unique is that I?m a long-term partner to my clients and understand their business needs. I am a strong believer in CPD and regularly attend online and offline courses to keep my skills up to date, which naturally also benefits my clients. My business has recently won Gold in the 2012 Australian Business Quality Awards and achieved 19th place in the 2012 Top 100 Language Twitterers Competition. I?m also currently working on a book, Translation Means Business (to be published in early 2013), aimed at newly established solopreneurs in the language industry. This unique mix of services for clients and fellow translators, rooted in my passion for communication and business, is what makes my unique in this market segment.
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This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 25th, 2012 at 10:43 am and is filed under Interviews, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Private security officers and a mall official stand adjacent to the Munchbar Monday, Dec. 24, 2012, in Bellevue, Wash. A 30-year-old Seattle man was killed and another man wounded in a shooting at the crowded bar earlier in the morning, police said. AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
Private security officers and a mall official stand adjacent to the Munchbar Monday, Dec. 24, 2012, in Bellevue, Wash. A 30-year-old Seattle man was killed and another man wounded in a shooting at the crowded bar earlier in the morning, police said. AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
The interior of the Munchbar, where tables are seen overturned and debris strewn about, is photographed Monday, Dec. 24, 2012, in Bellevue, Wash. A 30-year-old Seattle man was killed and another man wounded in a shooting at the crowded bar earlier in the morning about 10 miles east of Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
The interior of the Munchbar, where tables are seen overturned and debris strewn about, is photographed Monday, Dec. 24, 2012, in Bellevue, Wash. A 30-year-old Seattle man was killed and another man wounded in a shooting at the crowded bar earlier in the morning about 10 miles east of Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
The exterior of the Munchbar, where tables are seen overturned and debris strewn about, is photographed Monday, Dec. 24, 2012, in Bellevue, Wash.. A 30-year-old Seattle man was killed and another man wounded in a shooting at the crowded bar earlier in the morning about 10 miles east of Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
The exterior of the Munchbar, where tables are seen overturned and debris strewn about, is photographed Monday, Dec. 24, 2012, in Bellevue, Wash.. A 30-year-old Seattle man was killed and another man wounded in a shooting at the crowded bar earlier in the morning about 10 miles east of Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
BELLEVUE, Wash. (AP) ? A 30-year-old Seattle man was killed and another man wounded in a shooting at a crowded suburban bar early Monday, police said.
Police issued an arrest warrant Monday evening for a 19-year-old man in connection with the shooting.
The shooting broke out just after 1 a.m. at Munchbar at Bellevue Square, an upscale shopping center about 10 miles east of Seattle, said Carla Iafrate, a spokeswoman for the Bellevue Police Department.
Police officers were outside the bar when gunfire erupted because a large crowd had gathered there, she said.
More than 600 people were inside the venue at the time of the shooting. "It was a very complicated scene," Iafrate said.
The wounded man was taken to Overlake Medical Center in Bellevue. Iafrate did not immediately know his age, hometown or condition.
The shooting appears to be an isolated incident. "There was some type of altercation," before it, she said.
Iafrate said the suspect police are seeking, Ja'mari Alexander Alan Jones, was convicted as a juvenile in the high-profile 2008 beating death of a Seattle street performer. Jones was sentenced to less than a year in juvenile detention on a first-degree manslaughter charge in that case.
No officers were involved in the shooting.
Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said several players were at Munchbar following the team's Sunday night victory over the San Francisco 49ers, but none were injured.
"From what we know our guys were in a separate area and nobody was involved at all," Carroll said during a Monday news conference. "It was an awful thing that happened."
Witnesses described a chaotic scene, telling local media they dove for cover or hit the floor when they heard gunshots.
The shopping center opened Monday morning as normal, Iafrate said, adding that the shooting had minimal impact on overall operations.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? New satellite images indicate that snow may have slowed North Korea's rocket launch preparations, but that Pyongyang could still be ready for liftoff starting Monday.
South Korean media reports this week quoted unnamed officials in Seoul as saying North Korea had mounted all three stages of the Unha rocket on the launch pad by Wednesday. But snow may have prevented Pyongyang from finishing its work by then, according to GeoEye satellite images from Tuesday that were scrutinized by analysts for the websites 38 North and North Korea Tech and shared Friday with The Associated Press.
The analysis and images provide an unusually detailed public look at North Korea's cloaked preparations for a launch that the United Nations, Washington, Seoul and others say is a cover for a test of technology for a missile that could be used to target the United States.
The launch preparations have been magnified as an issue because of their timing: Both Japan and South Korea hold elections this month, and President Barack Obama will be inaugurated for his second term in office in January.
North Korea, for its part, says it has a right to pursue a peaceful space program and will launch a satellite into orbit sometime between Monday and Dec. 22. That launch window comes as North Korea marks the Dec. 17 death of leader Kim Jong Un's father, Kim Jong Il. North Korea is also celebrating the centennial of the birth of Kim Jong Un's grandfather, national founder Kim Il Sung.
Images from Dec. 1 showed no rocket at the launch pad, but by Tuesday North Koreans were seen working under a dark canvas, according to the analysis by 38 North, the website for the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and the North Korea Tech website, which collaborated with 38 North on the report.
The analysis contradicts South Korean media reports that the rocket stages were set up by Wednesday. Since the launch pad was empty Dec. 1, and it had taken North Korea four days to erect a similar rocket before a failed launch attempt in April, it should have taken longer for North Korea to prepare the rocket, the websites said.
Snowfall earlier this week also may have temporarily stopped work at the site, according to the analysis written by Nick Hansen, a retired expert in imagery technology with more than 40 years of national intelligence experience.
North Korea has a long history of developing ballistic missiles, but in four attempts since 1998 it has not successfully completed the launch of a three-stage rocket. It has also conducted two nuclear tests, intensifying worry over how its rocket technology could be used in the future, particularly if it masters attaching a nuclear warhead to a missile.
A senior South Korean government official told foreign reporters in Seoul on Friday that North Korea has been making technical preparations for a nuclear test and could theoretically conduct one in a short period of time, but that it isn't clear when or if they will test. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, citing government rules.
Friday's analysis of the satellite images said North Korea can still be ready for liftoff Monday.
Based on its preparations for the April launch, which broke apart shortly after the rocket was fired, Pyongyang has to finish stacking its rocket stages only two to three days ahead of time ? meaning workers could finish by Saturday and still be ready for a launch on Monday, the analysis said.
North Korea may have chosen a 12-day launch period, which is more than twice as long as the April period, because it was worried about possible weather complications, the analysis said.
"Pyongyang's rocket scientists can't be happy about the increased technical risks of a wintertime test, but certainly appear to have taken every precaution necessary in order to launch the rocket on time," said Joel Wit, a former U.S. State Department official and editor of 38 North.
A rocket can be launched during snowfall, but lightning, strong wind and freezing temperatures could stall a liftoff, said Lee Chang-jin, an aerospace professor at Seoul's Konkuk University.
North Korea's launch plan is meant to show the world its capability to build missiles, U.S. Pacific forces commander Adm. Samuel Locklear said Thursday. The United States has moved extra ships with ballistic missile defense capabilities toward the region, officials said.
The launch, if successful, could prove that North Korea is capable of targeting the mainland United States with a missile. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Friday in a briefing that the planned launch is a threat that Washington takes "very seriously."
Choson Sinbo, a North Korean mouthpiece published in Japan, said that the Unha-3 rocket is only the first part of a five-year development space program that began this year and will lead to the production of "bigger rockets."
Two South Korean destroyers will be deployed in the Yellow Sea in the coming days to track the North Korean rocket, defense officials in Seoul said Friday. They spoke on condition of anonymity because ministry rules bar them from releasing information about defense movements over the phone.
The U.S., Japan and South Korea say they'll seek U.N. Security Council action if the launch goes ahead in defiance of existing resolutions. The council condemned April's launch and ordered seizure of assets of three North Korean state companies linked to financing, exporting and procuring weapons and missile technology.
On Friday, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda visited a Tokyo military facility to inspect Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missile interceptors being readied to intercept a North Korean rocket if it falls on Japanese territory.
___
Associated Press writers Matthew Pennington in Washington and Sam Kim in Seoul contributed to this report.
Email, not social media, still reigns supreme as the top marketing tool for business owners.
1.?? ?Having just got back from a trip to Geneva, I find it interesting that I now have the opportunity to interview a company that specializes in translations.? From an introductory perspective, share what got you into this fascinating business.
10.?? ?A number of my readers are in the media, so as we conclude this interview ? what two things would you want them to know about the uniqueness of your service?
