Why The Back Story Matters

It’s no secret that companies spend millions on branding and advertising, but having an actual story of the entrepreneur’s ‘climb to success’ may boost sales even when people don’t initially like the product.  According to Charles Duhigg for the New York Times, Yoplait Learns to Manufacture Authenticity to Go With Its Yogurt. Yoplait yogurt, a subsidiary of General Mills, continues their journey in an effort to produce a sense of authenticity for their new product Oui.  Single-serve yogurt, created in the French style served in a glass jar.

Will these changes finally give the company the historical connection they’ve been seeking?

Have you tried Oui?  Leave your impressions in the comments section.

Money Managers In Your Best Interest

Are you in the market for a financial planner?  Turns out that there are numerous kinds to choose from and even with current laws stating that they must do what is in your best interest, that’s not always what happens.  Before you sign on the line, read this detailed article from the New York Times.  Before You Pay for Financial Advice, Read This Guide. It offers links to further information and even a fiduciary pledge.

Networking How-To

Want to make the most out of your next networking event?  From researching your targets ahead of time to the three point stance, Bill Rader for Forbes offers a succinct list of tips and tricks that will help you gain new connections and see them through to your benefit.   Effective Networking Requires Work. How To Make The Most Of Every Event

Short-Term Rentals

Ever thought about renting your home for holiday travelers or summer vacationers?  Or maybe during a music festival or race?  There are tax implications that come with this type of real estate.  Before you take the plunge, read this informative article by Mike D’Avolio, CPA, J.D. for the Journal of Accountancy.

Short-term rentals, the sharing economy, and tax

How To Become Rich

Here in Austin especially, there are plenty of wealthy people who don’t wear the latest fashions or drive the best cars, an indication that they may already know the ten “secrets,” Jocelyn Black Hodes offers in her article for MarketWatch.com, 10 things rich people know that you don’t.

Taxes?

What do you think about taxes?  Are they a good way to support public services? How do you vote when raising or lowering taxes is on the ballot?  What would you do without, say, your public library?

In the current anti-tax climate, some towns are finding it hard to produce enough money to keep even basic city services afloat.

Where Anti-Tax Fervor Means ‘All Services Will Cease’

Try It Then Buy It

Try it before you buy it at Sephora!  The nations number one speciality beauty retailer has added all kinds of new touches to their in-store shopping experience.  For example, see yourself in all kinds of lashes, experiment with a range of perfumes, or let a stylist apply foundation from their large collection.  In a selfie obsessed and friend critiquing world, this allows the customer to get a feel for the cosmetics before they make a purchase. It also inspires shoppers to spend lots more time in the store. Sephora is finding that the longer they stay, the more they buy.

How Sephora Is Thriving Amid a Retail Crisis

Instagram For The Win

As social media use continues to escalate around the world, you might be surprised to learn who is leading the pack.  Even with over two billion users, Facebook isn’t growing at the rapid rate of Instagram, who last year gained 100 million users in six-months.   Farhad Manjoo for the New York Times dives deeper into the intricacies of our love for (and frustrations with) social media in his article, Why Instagram Is Becoming Facebook’s Next Facebook. 

Last Minute Tax Prep?

Did you wait until the last minute to prepare your taxes this year?  You do have an extra three days, the deadline is April 18th.  Have questions?  Need to know about forms and deductions?  Try this article from the New York Times and if that doesn’t get you where you need to be,
give me a call!

Our Best Guidance for Filing Your Tax Return

Employee Manipulation?

After a string of issues involving both customer and driver dissatisfaction, Uber has vowed to make new investments into the driver experience.  But even as they talk about changes, the company is still engaged in a massive behavioral experiment in order to entice drivers to work more and longer hours, at times in less lucrative areas.

Noam Schreiber for the New York Times thinks that, “By mastering their workers’ mental circuitry, Uber and the like may be taking the economy back toward a pre-New Deal era when businesses had enormous power over workers and few checks on their ability to exploit it.”   Read more here: How Uber Uses Psychological Tricks to Push Its Drivers’ Buttons