Posted by admin on December 25th, 2011
How To Promote Your YouTube Channel
Many local businesses struggle with their marketing efforts because they don’t understand how it works and they would rather focus on what they do best, which is running their businesses. Since the Yellow Pages just doesn’t cut it anymore more business owners are looking for ways to expand their online presence and “get found” online. After all, if you can’t be found on Google, Yahoo, or Bing, then you might as well not exist to some people who only use the internet to find places of business. So where do you begin to try to grow the online visibility of your local business? Here are a few tips to get any business owner headed in the right direction with online marketing.
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Posted by admin on December 24th, 2011
You’re so busy right now, dealing with the divorce, the kids, the holidays — you’ve barely had time to catch the news. And, you’ve had enough bad news in your personal life lately, thank you very much, so the last thing you want to hear about is more bad financial news. The announcement of American Airlines’ filing for bankruptcy protection But all retirees, workers, and people going through a divorce should pay attention to that bit of news, because it could affect your divorce and your retirement. How? When a company declares bankruptcy, its pension plan is often terminated and taken over by a government entity called the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (“PBGC”). The PBGC is a federal corporation created to insure qualified pension plan benefits (learn more at www.pbgc.gov When pension plans are terminated, the PBGC takes over as Plan Administrator and handles things like calculating and paying benefits and reviewing and administering QDROs (which are court orders providing retirement payments The economic downturn has caused so many retirement plan terminations that PBGC says it already has a $26 billion deficit. Right now, the PBGC is worried about whether it will have to take over American Airlines’ massive pension plans. It does not have enough money to cover all of American Airlines’ retirement obligations to current and former employees. PBGC released a statement If the PBGC is forced to take over American Airlines’ retirement plans, a huge number of people — not just employees and retirees of American Airlines (and their families and former spouses) — could be affected. According to PBGC, 44 million Americans participate in qualified pension plans protected by PBGC. This does not include the number of former spouses and dependents of those workers and retirees, all of whom would stand to lose benefits if PBGC becomes unable to make its payments. If you are going through a divorce and either you or your spouse has a qualified pension plan, whether you are still working or retired, you need to address the retirement benefits in your divorce document. Make sure that you understand the specifics of the retirement plan, and be careful to include language that will protect your share of the benefit in the event that the plan is terminated or benefits are reduced. A divorce agreement or QDRO can include a provision that says the benefits will be reduced proportionally between you and your ex if there is ever a reduction or termination in the future. One bit of good news is that bankruptcy generally does not affect 401(k) plans in the same way as traditional pension plans, so the PBGC is not involved. When an employer files for bankruptcy, 401(k) funds are usually just distributed to employees from their individual accounts, and these funds can be rolled into other retirement accounts such as IRAs. There is one important point too often missed in divorce cases, with disastrous consequences. Non
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Posted by admin on December 23rd, 2011
This year 91.9 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home during the holidays, a 1.4 percent increase over holiday travel last year, according to AAA Southern New England.
Per AAA, this year”s Christmas-New Year?s travel volume will be the second highest during the past decade and represents about 30 percent of the country”s total population.
Locally, during the holidays this year more than 27 percent of the New England population is expected to travel, said AAA.
“It”s a positive sign for the travel industry that so many Americans are planning to travel this holiday season, collectively contributing to the second highest year-end holiday travel volume in the past ten years,? said Lloyd Albert, AAA Southern New England Senior Vice President of Public and Government Affairs, in a news release.
Posted by admin on December 22nd, 2011
The Role of PR in Your Start Up
Something every entrepreneur or small business owner has in common is that they have a story. Whether you quit your job in the middle of the recession (like me!) or you went from garage to glory in three years, we all have a startup story that is unique and inspiring to others. And now we all have the chance to win $10,000 simply for telling it.
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Posted by admin on December 20th, 2011
Leg-warmer enthusiasts and fans of 1980s movies and styles, not to mention gym prices: Rejoice! RetroFitness plans to open 10 gyms in New York City in the next 18 months. RetroFitness, a New Jersey-based fitness franchise, charges its members just $19.99 per month. Featuring brightly hued equipment and checkered floors, the gyms also come with RetroTheaters where members can exercise while watching such 1980s movies as Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.The gyms—including three in Manhattan, three in Brooklyn, two in Staten Island and two in Queens—will be run under five recently signed, multi-unit franchise agreements. An additional facility opened on Staten Island in Nov. 2010. “The unfortunate recession has been a blessing in disguise,” said Eric Casaburi, CEO and founder of RetroFitness. “Before this market we wouldn’t have touched New York City [and its rents] with a 10-foot pole. We can now get our hands around it.”RetroFitness investors are hoping to take advantage of the lower real estate costs and broad appeal of the cheap membership. In Astoria, Queens, franchisees Al Goncalves and business partner Ahmer Kazmi will open their 15,000-square-foot franchise on Jan. 2. The asking rent for the space was $26 per square foot. Mr. Goncalves owns other franchises, including two Burger Kings in Philadelphia. Each will create between 25 and 50 jobs, depending on the size of the space. Already the company finalized three leases with the spaces ranging from 10,000 to 25,000 square feet.“The rents are obviously more expensive than when you’re looking at New Jersey and suburbia, but it’s the most dynamic market in the country,” said Rich Roser, director of real estate for RetroFitness. “We feel like there’s a competitive play for us to do very well.”Mr. Casaburi founded RetroFitness in 2004. The franchise has more than 70 s on the East Coast, mostly in New Jersey, and plans to add 300 s in the next three years.These ‘80s-themed gyms appeal to more than just the Flashdance generation. Mr. Casaburi’s original intention was to focus on Generation X, but he widened his net after noticing that they were also drawing Generation Y and Baby Boomers. RetroFitness centers now include juice bars and tanning beds.
Posted by admin on December 19th, 2011
The fastest-growing private companies in Silicon Valley proved Thursday night that they can be fast with their message, too.
Officials of the companies who accepted awards at the Business Journal?s Fast Private 2011 event were given 10 words or less to answer the question: What advice can you offer anyone looking to start a company.
All of them had grown by at least 25 percent between 2008 and 2010, with consulting company Marketo Inc. getting top prize with 1,486 percent growth ( to see all the winners)…
Posted by admin on December 17th, 2011
Betty Winberg was never an architect or building contractor, but she knows better than most the vast difference between a house and a home.
It was the better part of 40 years ago that Winberg, now in her mid-80s, learned from an unlikely source ? her college-age son ? just how different the seemingly interchangeable terms can be.
Determined to prove the difference, she set out with a posse of like-minded parents who shared a common motivation: advocating for their children or other loved ones dealing with mental illness, homelessness or a combination thereof.
Today, the name Betty J. Winberg is almost as synonymous with mental health advocacy and ending homelessness as is Harbor Homes and its Partnership for Successful Living, the multifaceted agency she helped found 31 years ago.
So, it”s more than fitting that a residence in Harbor Homes? network of residential group homes carry forth the name, the spirit and one day, the memory, of an early mover and shaker ?unafraid to speak her mind to political and business leaders on behalf of people who are destitute, sick or have nowhere else to turn,” former Harbor Homes board Chairman Ted Hall wrote in nominating Winberg for one of her many awards.
At 5 p.m. Oct.
Posted by admin on December 16th, 2011
ResearchVOICE: Collective Agreements – The Pitfalls of Poor Mandates
New research from business software and services provider Sage UK suggests that cash-strapped consumers are demanding more for their money from companies in terms customer experience, with nearly one in three Brits saying they would bin a brand for good if it failed to deliver the “wow” factor first time around.
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Posted by admin on December 14th, 2011
Healthy Body = Functional Body. Hollywood Look Side Effect: Healthy Function
17Mar11 – Arnold E. Finaldi, age 78, of Vero Beach, FL, formerly of Danbury, died on Saturday, March 12 at the Chat-field Assisted Living Center in West Hartford. He was the beloved husband of the late Joan (Klotzberger) Finaldi. Arnold was born December 31, 1932 in Danbury, the son of the late Richard and Jennie (Caprio) Finaldi, and was a Danbury resident for most of his life. He attended the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD, and later received his Bachelors degree from Danbury State Teachers College (now Western Connecticut State University), his Masters Degree from the University of Connecticut and his Doctorate Degree from the University of Bridgeport. He served first as a teacher in Danbury, and later as a school principal in the New Milford school system. Prior to his retirement he served as the principal of Veteran’s Park Elementary School in Ridgefield for 17 years. After his retire-ment he worked for the University of Bridgeport as a supervisor of education interns. Arnold was an active, longtime member of the Danbury YMCA and later a parishioner at St. Helen’s Church in Vero Beach, FL. Arnold is survived by his son, Arnold E. Finaldi, Jr., and his wife, Teresa, of Danbury, and by two daughters: Jeanne Aldrich and her husband, James, of Bolton, CT, and Ann Jones of Allentown, PA. He was the proud grandfather of seven grandchildren: Kathryn Aldrich, Laura Finaldi, Daniel Finaldi, Sarah Aldrich, Benjamin Jones, Julia Finaldi, and Christopher Jones, and also leaves behind several nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by two brothers, Richard F. Finaldi and Edmond T. Finaldi. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Joseph Church, Danbury on Friday, March 18 at 10 a.m. Burial will be in Saint Peter Cemetery, Danbury. The family will receive friends at the Green Funeral Home, 57 Main Street, Danbury on Thursday, March 17 from 5-8 p.m. Memorial contributions may be made to the Danbury Hospital Development Fund, 24 Hospital Avenue, Danbury, CT 06810.
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Posted by admin on October 18th, 2011
A day before 9/11- $2.3 trillions lost by the Pentagon
The Federal Reserve might move toward publicly announcing what economic conditions would lead it to change policies, according to minutes At its Sept. 20-21 meeting, the Fed unveiled a new strategy
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