ProfNet Experts Available on Like-Gating, W2 Forms, Growing a Business, More Also in This Edition: Jobs for Writers and Media Industry Blog Posts
NEW YORK, Aug. 25, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Below are experts from the ProfNet network that are available to discuss timely issues in your coverage area. If you are interested in interviewing any of the experts, please contact them via the contact information at the end of the listing. To receive these updates by email, send a note to [email protected] with the industries you cover, and we'll add you to the appropriate edition.
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EXPERT ALERTS
- Brands No Longer Able to 'Like-Gate' Their Content
- When to Cash Out Your Shares
- Business Challenges for Entrepreneurs
- Myths of Profitably Growing a Business
- Russian Sanctions Cut Both Ways
- Wise Would-Be Employers Won't Seek W2 Forms
- Offshore Operators Face Costly New Bond Rules
MEDIA JOBS
- Reporter - Debtwire (NY)
- Spot News Reporter - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (PA)
- Assistant News Director - The Associated Press (AZ)
OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES
- ProfNet Success Story: Dana Manciagli, Global Career Expert
- Spotlight: Rachel Weingarten, Lifestyle Writer, Columnist, Author
- Grammar Hammer: One Space, Two Spaces
EXPERT ALERTS:
Brands No Longer Able to 'Like-Gate' Their Content
Jim Belosic
CEO
ShortStack
As of Nov. 5, brands will no longer be able to like-gate their content in custom built apps. Like-gating has been a common practice for years as a way for brands to build their audience on Facebook. Says Belosic: "We saw that a lot of people were getting a lot of likes using like-gating, but then they realized that the likes didn't really have any kind of real value toward their business goals. Especially because in order to get in front of their audience, they'd have to boost their posts or put some money behind it with Facebook ads. Instead of like-gating, we started to see people doing what we're calling action-gating. 'Hey, if you want to enter my contest or promotion, sign up for our newsletter or give us your email address or give us some feedback on this new product.' They would actually still get likes, but the likes weren't forced. They were getting actionable and valuable feedback."
Belosic has contributed to Forbes, Mashable, Inc, Social Media Examiner, Venture Beat, and Entrepreneur.
ProfNet Profile: http://www.profnetconnect.com/shortstack
Website: http://www.shortstack.com
Media Contact: Sara Piccola, [email protected]
When to Cash Out Your Shares
Bijan Golkar, CFP(R)
Vice President/Senior Advisor
FPC Investment Advisory, Inc.
When do you cash your shares out? If you're like most RSU recipients, you plan to hold on to your shares for a year before selling. That way, you'll avoid the very high tax rate on short-term capital gains, and pay the lower, long-term capital gains rate, right? Actually that's not how RSUs work. Amazingly, their tax treatment is something that few people in the tech industry understand. Your taxes are calculated and withheld by your company as soon as your units vest. And that tax cut is painful, by the way: Depending on where you live, the IRS and your state of residence could end up taking nearly 50 percent of your stocks value. Says Golkar: "When your wealth is all in the form of your company's stock, you're not just putting all your eggs in one basket, you're living in that basket too."
Golkar has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, U.S. News & World Report, Yahoo Finance, The Fiscal Times, Bankrate and DepositAccounts.com. He is located in San Francisco.
ProfNet Profile: http://www.profnetconnect.com/bijangolkar
Website: http://www.FPCWealth.com
Media Contact: Steve Garmhausen, [email protected]
Business Challenges for Entrepreneurs
Thomas Dann
Managing Director
Maryland Venture Fund
"The biggest challenge for entrepreneurs -- those who have earned initial funding and developed a solid product -- is reaching a level of revenue by the time they have to raise a larger round. It's not just about money, but about market validation. A company needs to show that there is enough market pull to gain the confidence of investors who are mainly interested in whether a business can scale. So it is, and it is not, about revenue. It's really about the unit economics of getting customers to buy your product in a way that can gain significant scale. First, you need a great product that works. Second, you need to identify your customers and cost-effectively get them to part with their precious dollars to buy your product. During this process, you see many companies transition from a founder-led group of technologists, with a very specific skill set, to a more management oriented leadership team focused on efficiently taking the company's products to market."
Dann is available to discuss venture capital, investing, information technology, cyber technology, biotechnology, edtech, health IT, angel investing, early stage company formation, secondary investments, and fund management. A member of the Maryland Venture Fund Board beginning in 2004, he is an experienced venture investor and oversees Maryland's entire venture program, including not only MVF's direct investments but also the state's investments in private venture capital funds under the InvestMaryland program. He is a director of portfolio companies Maxtena, Inc., Bambeco Inc. and Mobile System 7 Inc. and serves on the board of the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association. Prior to joining MVF, he was a founder and managing director of Ecentury Capital Partners, where he also served as general counsel. More recently he served as managing director of CastleHaven Advisors LLC.
ProfNet Profile: http://www.profnetconnect.com/thomasdann
Website: http://business.maryland.gov/mvf
Media Contact: Karen Glenn Hood, [email protected]
Myths of Profitably Growing a Business
James Berkeley
Managing Director
Ellice Consulting Ltd.
"There are six myths of profitably growing and expanding a business, and no money is not one of them. Examples include: 1) You can profitably grow with the belief that all business is great business. Your methodology of 'culling' increasingly unattractive clients needs to be as robust as your process of welcoming attractive clients. 2) You can profitably grow without constant reinvention (products, services, relationships). You are not the same business as you were last year, and you will not be the same business in a year from now. 3) You can profitably grow without adapting the culture of the organisation (the beliefs that underlie leaders' and employees' attitudes and behaviours). The beliefs that underlie your success today are rarely the exact same beliefs that will determine your future success"
Berkele is available to discuss helping top management and mid to large organisations dramatically accelerate the profitable growth and expansion of the firm in high growth markets.
Website: http://www.elliceconsulting.com
Expert Contact: [email protected]
Russian Sanctions Cut Both Ways
Andrew Melsheimer
Attorney
Thompson & Knight in Dallas
"The successive rounds of sanctions affecting the Russian economy are beginning to show a trickle-down effect. Reports indicate that no Russian companies were extended loans from U.S. or European financial institutions in July, the first such credit drought in recent years. Meanwhile, U.S. companies are recognizing how the latest sanctions may affect their own economic future. The sanctions are making it increasingly harder for companies to do business in Russia, or for foreign companies operating in Russia to use U.S. sourced products and equipment in their operations. U.S. manufacturers and suppliers are at risk of losing an important consumer of products and services, such as the highly specialized equipment needed to develop Russia's emerging energy resources in the Arctic and West Siberia."
Media Contact: Barry Pound, [email protected]
Wise Would-Be Employers Won't Seek W2 Forms
Audrey Mross
Labor and Employment Attorney
Munck Wilson Mandala in Dallas
"While it is legal for companies to ask job candidates for a copy of their past W2 forms prior to making an employment offer, it may not be the best idea. One reason: W2 forms may not accurately reflect an applicant's previous salary since the document will include all forms of pay, not just weekly wages. More importantly, if a company uses past wage information to pay those in a protected class – such as women, minorities, or immigrants – less than others, it could face big trouble. The bottom line is just because you can ask the question doesn't mean you should ask the question. Most companies offer compensation based on the job a worker is seeking, not on what they were paid previously."
Media Contact: Mark Annick, [email protected]
Offshore Operators Face Costly New Bond Rules
Glenn Legge
Energy, Regulatory and Insurance Attorney
Legge, Farrow, Kimmitt, McGrath & Brown L.L.P., in Houston
"A major overhaul of decades-old federal rules governing bonds provided by offshore operators could be costly and complicated for the industry. Currently, the bonds required by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) are designed to make sure taxpayers aren't stuck with potential liabilities, mostly covering royalties, rental fees and the costs of shutting down old wells. But the proposed rules – open for industry input through Oct. 20 – are far more expansive. BOEM is transitioning from regulating bonding to cover rents, royalties and well decommissioning into comprehensive risk management analysis. This would involve a much more invasive inspection of a lessee's insurance and risk management program. It also dovetails with the huge damages that could result from a cyberattack on an offshore facility and the fact that most of those damages are often excluded by insurers."
Media Contact: Kit Frieden, [email protected]
MEDIA JOBS:
Following are links to job listings for staff and freelance writers, editors and producers. You can view these and more job listings on our Job Board: https://prnmedia.prnewswire.com/community/jobs/
- Reporter - Debtwire (NY)
- Spot News Reporter - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (PA)
- Assistant News Director - The Associated Press (AZ)
See more listings here.
OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES:
Following are links to other news and resources we think you might find useful. If you have an item you think other reporters would be interested in and would like us to include in a future alert, please drop us a line at [email protected]
- PROFNET SUCCESS STORY: DANA MANCIAGLI, GLOBAL CAREER EXPERT. Manciagli recently quit her 30-year career in sales/marketing to embark on solopreneur venture. Within the first months that she has been in business she has received hundreds of thousands of impressions in top-tier and trade publications such as The Fiscal Times and Forbes – all with the help of ProfNet. Read more about her successes here: http://prn.to/1roHrWR
- SPOTLIGHT: RACHEL WEINGARTEN, LIFESTYLE WRITER, COLUMNIST, AUTHOR. This spotlight belongs to Rachel Weingarten, an internationally recognized lifestyle writer, style columnist and award-winning author. She's a prolific freelance writer and weekly style columnist for Parade.com, and opinion columnist for NYC's most widely read daily newspaper amNewYork. Read more about a day in the life of Rachel Weingarten: http://prn.to/1ropDej
- GRAMMAR HAMMER: ONE SPACE, TWO SPACES. What's your preferred convention when putting space after a period or the end of a sentence? One space? Two spaces? Cathy Spicer explores this ongoing debate: http://prn.to/1tx2PaR
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