Pakistan stocks fall on economic worries - Forbes
Pakistan’s stock market plunged to an eight-month low Friday after the central bank hiked interest rates and fueled investor anxiety over the country’s mounting economic and financial problems. The benchmark KSE 100 Index tumbled 647.11 points, or 4

Refresh Your Retirement Plans Now - Wall Street Journal
For investors nearing retirement, the continuing stock-market turmoil should sound an alarm: Give your retirement accounts a thorough checkup sooner rather than later. Most investors have a tendency toward inertia with their savings; they make an

European stocks slip on oil worries - News.com.au
EUROPEAN stock markets closed sharply lower overnight, hit by weak US housing data and persistent concerns over the inflation risk of soaring oil prices, dealers said. They stated sentiment had improved Thursday as oil came off record highs above

Stocks open lower ahead of home sales figures - Chicago Tribune
NEW YORK - Stocks fell in early trading Friday as investors awaited a report on existing home sales and adjusted their portfolios ahead of the three-day holiday weekend. The National Association of Realtors is expected to report that existing home

Bond prices slide on inflation fears - International Herald Tribune
HONG KONG : Japanese government bond prices dropped on Friday, pushing yields to their highest in nine months, after fears of rising inflation pummeled U.S. Treasuries despite a slight dip in oil prices from record highs. Stocks in Japan rose

U.K. Stocks Drop, Led by Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton; Diageo Falls - Bloomberg
Might 23 (Bloomberg) — U.K. stocks dropped, led by Rio Tinto Group, BHP Billiton Ltd., and Xstrata Plc. Diageo Plc, the maker of Crown Royal liquor, fell after Cazenove lowered its recommendation to “underperform” from “in-line.” The FTSE 100

How Thinking Costs You - Washington Post
Princeton psychologist Daniel Kahneman won a Nobel Prize for integrating his field of study into economics. (By Jon Roemer — Associated Press) Four months ago, judging myself to be the next Warren Buffett , I logged on to my Charles Schwab account

Stocks make modest gains as oil retreats - Minneapolis Star Tribune
NEW YORK - Wall Street steadied itself Thursday after two sessions of steep declines, rebounding moderately as oil prices stepped back from their frenetic upward run. Oil set another trading record overnight — moving above $135 per barrel — then

Stocks fall as oil prices stir economic worries - Seattle Times
Stocks have resumed their steep decline after rising oil prices raised worries that strained consumers will pare their spending and injured the overall economy. Soaring crude prices also gave stocks a huge loss for the week, with the Dow Jones

Nikkei Rises on Weaker Yen, Wall St. Gains - JCN Newswire
Tokyo, May 23, 2008 (Jiji Press) - The key Nikkei average extended gains on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Friday as a pause in crude oil prices’ record-setting run overnight boosted U.S. stocks and the dollar against the yen. The 225-issue Nikkei average

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Filed under: MasterCard Inc’A’ (MA), FedEx Corp (FDX), Intuit Inc (INTU), Small business

I recently attended the Warrillow Conference, which focuses on how to sell to the small business market. And, yes, it’s a massive opportunity — with more than 27 million small businesses in the U.S. Some of the big players in the space include MasterCard (NYSE: MA), FedEx (NYSE: FDX), Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU) and so on.

Well, one of the panels at Warrillow had a group of small business owners — and they talked about what works when trying to sell to them.

Let’s take a look:

Wearing many hats: The small business owner does just about everything. In other words, time is a precious commodity. So, when pitching, make sure things are clear and concise. What are the main benefits? The costs?

More importantly, small business owners want something that’s plug-and-play and doesn’t require a massive learning curve.

The assistant: Many small business owners have one. And, an assistant is often a gatekeeper.

In other words, it’s actually a good idea to make your pitch to the assistant — since he or she’ll likely relay the information to the owner.

Also, small business owners are relying much more on the Net. Thus, an email pitch is OK so long as it isn’t wordy. Plus, you should have a website that is easy to navigate and has a demo.

Long Sales Cycle: Because a small business owner is time-constrained, it can take a while to make a sale. But it can be worth it because he or she’s apt to be a loyal customer.

Members of the panel concurred that they don’t switch vendors lightly — and usually not just based on cost. After all, it’s not easy finding a good vendor.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

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Filed under: Estates

The popular resort destination of Antigua also has a smattering of real estate. This home has views of Dickenson Bay and is surrounded by tropical landscaping. The Date Palm Villa has three bedrooms and open spaces that create an easy flow between indoor and outdoor living areas. The home has a 31 foot x 15 foot swimming pool and separate Jacuzzi completed with Bisazza tiles. Other details include a shower room for pool area, a large sun terrace and a kitchen with a separate utility room. This home is listed at $1.4 million.

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PimpYourWork.com

I declared my undying love for Mindjet MindManager before, and for those of you who are new to the program or just as in love with it as I am, you might find some pre-made templates useful.

First off, you should check out the offical MindManager template gallery. Here are some of the more notable templates:

• Project Management Jetpack Very intense and detailed, ideal for crazy organized project managers
• Meeting Management Map For taking meeting minutes via mindmapping
• Statement of Work Great for outlining your scope of work when communicating with clients. I think I’ll use this for my freelancing gigs.
• Business Plan Template One of my favorites, shown above. If you’re having a hard time typing a formal business plan or you don’t know how to start, you can use this template.
• Personal and Professional Planning If you implement The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, you’ll find this useful.

Biggerplate also has several user-made MindManager templates, but you need to register to download them. Membership is free, don’t worry. (But if you’re an email control freak like me, uncheck the box that asks you if you want to receive their email newsletter.)

• Personal Organizer Template A tiny too detailed for my taste, but it has some great features that are useful, such as goal and project listing, and a personal information manager.
• Customer Service Training and Development If you’re including customer service training in your business, this template is a neat way of outlining the process.
• A GTD Map For the GTD fans out there.

From random places on the web:

• GTD Incompletion Trigger Lists
• Creative Brief for Designers from DesignToSell. I think I’m gonna use this.

Know of other MindManager templates I left out? Did you make your own MindManager template? Chime in and share the link.
Photo Credit: Screencapture by Celine Roque from Blue Rabbit Media

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