Weekend Digest: Bob Dylan, Bartering And Understanding QE3

For our weekend business readers:

THE BOB DYLAN BRAND TURNS 50
Bob Dylan, entrepreneur.

That doesn’t sound right, does it? It is. The iconic folk singer/songwriter celebrates his 50th year in the music business. He got his first big break in New York in 1962 after dropping out of the University of Minnesota.

The Wall Street Journal outlines 5 entrepreneurial lessons from Dylan’s successes and failures. Here’s a teaser:

Know when to go back to basics

Sooner or later, even the most dedicated and energetic entrepreneur hits a wall. It’s inevitable. The question is: How can someone turn that kind of a defeat into a victory? The answer: by getting back to basics and remembering what set you on your way in the first place. Dylan’s 1990 album “Under the Red Sky” was a critical and commercial disappointment. After its release, Dylan repaired to his home studio in Malibu and recorded a pair of albums of acoustic songs, the kind he had performed as a teenager. That got him back on track and the next album of original songs, “Time Out of Mind,” ultimately won the 1998 Grammy for Album of the Year.

Read the full post at this link.

THE EXPLODING BUSINESS OF BARTERING
Harvard Business Review takes a look at the booming business of bartering.

Need a plumber or an attorney? Why not trade for some computer design or an auto repair?

The bartering business isn’t just for small business trading either. Multi-national companies are making investments in the effort, too.

The International Reciprocal Trade Association reports that in 2011 over 400,000 companies worldwide used bartering to earn an estimated $12 billion on unwanted or underused assets.

What are some tips to consider to determine if bartering is best for your business? Read more here to find out, including some examples of mid-size companies that have traded up to move up.

QE3 MADE EASY
The Federal Reserve’s move to provide a third round of Quantitative Easing (QE3) has drawn plenty of praise and criticism. In short, the latest moves by the Fed are an effort to keep interest rates low to stimulate business investment, improve the housing market, and lower unemployment.

Will it work? Time will tell.

Of interest, is how to explain exactly what QE3 is. Marketplace’s Paddy Hirsch uses a kiddie pool analogy to help explain the proposed economic effects. Of course, this viral video of Talking Bears is among our favorites.

TWO ALL-BEEF PATTIES…
A Big Mac or a Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese? Which is the highest calorie item on the McDonald’s menu? It turns out neither.

Next week, McDonald’s will join the trend embraced by other restaurant chains to post calories of its products on its drive-thru and in-store menus.

McDonald’s Corp. customers will have an easier time of it next week, when the burger giant’s restaurant and drive-thru menu boards across the country will show that the Big Mac, at 550 calories, is 200 calories leaner than the other burger.

Some regional studies suggest that having nutritional information available when ordering a meal prompts people to buy healthier items. Other studies have found no such change in consumer behavior. But considering how prominent restaurants have become in the American diet, any change could have an effect on obesity rates.

So which item has the highest calorie count on the McDonald’s menu? It has 1,150 calories and it may surprise. Click here to find out.

A TWITTER LESSON
An inadvertent tweet from a Kansas City Chiefs Twitter account manager resulted in an embarrassing and invaluable lesson for business owners.

Chiefs’ football fan Travis Wright voiced his displeasure with the team’s performance and management. A terse response to Wright’s tweet set him off on a tirade that went “thermonuclear viral.”

The resulting furor led to a Chiefs’ apology. It turns out that Wright — who manages social media remotely for a major Silicon Valley company — had a few more Twitter followers than the football team.

Read the ensuing lecture here.