"Just a Few Facts"

Off-line business affects online business – I remember being so naïve as to believe I/we could affect online business for the better. Nope. Best we can do is display the seal of a company that promotes integrity – thereby standing up for what's right and honest. Sad.

I have just a few facts to present for your consideration ...

Apple earns about $600,000 per year per employee. It can well afford to share a little more of that with its workers – on all continents.

It is now the richest company in the world, sitting on a pile of nearly a hundred billion dollars in cash. This is expected to double in 2012.

The top eight companies that spent the most on lobbying over the past few years are Exxon Mobil, Verizon Communications, General Electric, AT&T, Altria, Amgen, Northrop Grumman and Boeing.

Exxon Mobil spent the most, some $138 million over the last 10 years. Their corporate income tax liabilities for 2009? Zero! Not only did they pay nothing, but they also received a tax rebate the same year of $156 million.

AT&T recorded the largest tax reduction, with its tax rate falling from 34.0 percent to negative 6.4 percent from 2007 to 2010, or an estimated reduction of more than $7.3 billion.

Altria, the parent company of Philip Morris, had the smallest decline from 2007 to 2010, with its rate declining from 28.9 percent to 27.4 percent.

Six of the top eight companies saw declines of at least 7 percentage points! And, you wonder why this country is broke?

Last year there were 7,000 millionaires who didn't pay a single penny in federal income taxes.

In 2011, individuals represented 73 percent of total giving to help those less fortunate:

* Foundation support was up, but represents only 14 percent of the total
* Bequests were 8 percent of giving
* Corporate giving (corporations and corporate foundations) was just 5 percent of the total (Remember, these are the people not even paying taxes)

The USA spends more than twice the amount on health care as other developed nations, yet we rank 49th in life expectancy worldwide!

Pregnant women are told not to drink alcohol or smoke. Yet, now it has been decided by the pharmaceutical companies that it's okay to take chemotherapy during pregnancy. These poisons will kill the cancer (and often the patient) but not hurt the baby.

REALLY?

"Where Did All the Ezines Go?"

I'm really worried about all the online business owners who have stopped sending newsletters, then complain about their business going to pot. They can't sell anything if they don't have contact with potential customers.

I've made a concerted attempt to subscribe to all Chamber of Commerce - on the Web™ members' publications. I may have missed a few, but I've been surprised at the outcome.

Too many don't publish at all. Others only send out ads, without even a greeting from the sender - much less an article! WOW– I wonder who is reading those?

With all the fast-paced selling over the past years online, I came to a point of feeling like we all needed a break. During 2011, I called a moratorium on selling products – except for Chamber memberships.

No – I lied. I did ask for contributions to help me get “Just Sayin' ...” launched. But, that was it. And, yes, my bottom line suffered. Yet, with the economy so unstable, it saved me a lot of worry about what was happening.

What I did not do was lose contact with my lists. Our lists are our potential buyers. I only stopped hitting them over the head to buy stuff for a year.

But, I digress. The point is, online businesses can not survive without direct contact with potential customers. So, if you have an online business, it would be to your benefit to start communicating – or, go back to communicating, as the case may be.

No, I'm sorry - social networking doesn't cut it!