Weekend Digest: The God Save The Queen Edition

TV PREVIEW: TWO CONGRESSMEN, TWO INTERVIEW

On this week’s TV edition of Talk Business & Politics:

Two Congressmen, two interviews. First District Cong. Rick Crawford updates on the status of highway funding, the presidential race, and is Crawford even running for re-election? We’ll find out.

Plus, Cong. Bruce Westerman. The Fourth District Cong. has just returned from the Middle East. What are his thoughts on upcoming votes tied to the U.S.-Iran deal and what’s his take on the Camden Lockheed Martin’s runner-up status for a $30 billion military superproject? We’ll explore.

And KATV’s Janelle Lilley runs through a variety of other political stories from Martha Shoffner to Ben Carson and beyond.

Tune in to Talk Business & Politics with Roby Brock on KATV Ch. 7 Sunday at 9 a.m.

DON’T WORRY ABOUT CHINA

At least where the U.S. economy is concerned, reports Bloomberg Business.  But doesn’t that contradict all the gloom-and-doom reports, and almost everything else you’ve heard from so-called experts regarding America’s debt to China?

For years, politicians, gloomy newsletter writers, and even some economists have been warning that the U.S. is at the mercy of China, because China owns so much Treasury debt. 

In 2010, a group called Citizens Against Government Waste made an infamous commercial called the Chinese Professor, in which a professor in Beijing in the year 2030 teaches his class about the demise of the U.S. because its government spent so much money and mortgaged the country’s future to the Chinese.

This fear continues to this day.  Anyway, there’s just one problem with all this, which is that the story isn’t playing out. 

So why not? Go to this link to find out.

A SEVEN-FIGURE BUSINESS WITHOUT EMPLOYEES

Ever thought about that yourself?  You know, a million dollar-plus business run out of your den? Allan Callinan did it and his compass was “there is a tremendous amount of flexibility that is lost, almost by default, once you pass a certain size.”

The good news is that my lack of interest in such pursuits hasn’t been a hindrance in building a seven figure-business, in a rather short period of time, with a single co-founder and no employees — which can be operated from anywhere in the world with an Internet connection. As a matter of fact, I’m typing this at a cafe in Copenhagen, Denmark, and will be meandering through Europe for at least the next five weeks — yet sales will continue to grow and the business won’t miss a step. I’m not bragging, just validating.

This model is replicable. Here’s how you can do it:

TEN REBRANDING DO’S AND DON’TS

Brand Quarterly says, “Building and maintaining a strong brand requires constant monitoring and nurturing, and on occasion, the need to rebrand. Regardless of how successful a brand strategy may have been in the past, businesses are dynamic in nature, and brand messaging may lose its relevance over time, especially if the company has evolved into new markets or demographic reach.”

Many different factors can influence the need for a rebrand – such as a new leader who brings new vision, a merger or acquisition, changes among the competitive landscape or changing customer behaviors.

Regardless of what drives the need, most corporate rebrands would benefit from adhering to ten foundational principles.

Thinking about rebranding?  Learn what those foundational principles are, here.

WANTED:  1,000 WOMEN TO BECOME ANGEL INVESTORS

It’s called Female Funders, and here’s how it works:

“Looking to build a bridge over the technology industry’s (and the technology investment industry more specifically) chasm-sized gender gap, a group of successful women entrepreneurs, investors, and corporate executives have launched Female Funders — a site dedicated to providing women with the tools they need to begin angel investing.”

The site’s launch comes with a challenge (and a hashtag — #FemaleFunder1000) that the group is issuing to women across the country to encourage them to start making angel investments.

They’ve set a goal of calling 1,000 new female angels to the negotiating table to make their initial angel investments. According to a report that the group cites from Forbes, only 20% of angel investors are women — and when the list of angel investors is narrowed to only technology angels, that number drops even further. AngelList reported recently that only 9% of their registered investors are women.

So who is the brainchild of this inspired effort, and how are the numbers as this venture continues to grow? Click on this link for the full story.

A SUPER TUESDAY FIREWALL

POLITICO reports, “As Biden looms and Sanders rises, Clinton is working on a plan to secure the nomination on March 1.”

Bernie Sanders is soaring in the polls. Joe Biden is making increasingly loud noises about joining the race. But Hillary Clinton’s campaign staffers are working methodically to build the fail-safe they think can secure the nomination, and it’s pegged to a single day on the calendar: March 1, 2016.

Super Tuesday.

What’s the plan?  Politico has the details here.

POLLSTERS DUMBFOUNDED BY TRUMP

The Hill reports, “Polling experts agree on one thing when it comes to Donald Trump’s presidential run: They’ve never seen anything like it.”

The billionaire businessman’s dominance of the Republican presidential race is forcing experienced political hands to question whether everything they know about winning the White House is wrong.

The shocks have come in quick succession, with Trump first rocketing to the top of national polls, and then taking double-digit leads in the early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

In another act of political magic, Trump managed to flip his favorability rating from negative to positive in one poll during the span of a month — a feat that Monmouth University’s Patrick Murray called “astounding.”

So why is it “astounding” and why is The Donald defying presidential politics rules? Connect to this link to get the complete story and analysis.

READY FOR JOE

The Washington Post says friends and supporters of the late Beau Biden are emerging as a key force behind efforts to help his father, Vice President Joe Biden, become president.

“We all want to give back to somebody like that,” said Jonathan Blue, a fraternity brother of Beau Biden’s who runs a private equity firm in Louisville. Blue estimated that 20 alums from Penn have remained part of the political network that would be ready to work for the vice president should he enter the race.

The new energy comes as Biden is giving his most serious consideration to another presidential campaign. He has met with leading party figures, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and President Obama’s former White House counsel, and has been sounding out a contingent of mega-donors to Obama’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns who have been hesitant to sign on with the Democratic front-runner, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Read more about this “new energy” for Biden here.

MAIN STAGE SNUB HAS FIORINA ANGRY

“Carly Fiorina is making no secret of her unhappiness with the selection process that threatens to keep her off the main stage of the upcoming Republican debate, airing on CNN Sept. 16. But she’s directing her anger at the Republican National Committee, which didn’t actually set the standards that could keep her out,” reports the Washington Examiner.

The former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, Fiorina was the first woman to lead a top 20 company, and she currently chairs the non-profit philanthropic organization Good360.

But now she wants to be president and the CNN debate format has her camp up-in-arms.

Why?  Go to this link for the inside story.

THE QUEEN YEAR-BY-YEAR

The Daily Mail reports, “On September 9, Elizabeth II will become the longest-reigning British monarch, surpassing Queen Victoria’s record.”

To learn how long, and enjoy an incredible year-by-year photo chronology of her reign, go to this link.

HOW A RADICAL NEW TEACHING METHOD COULD UNLEASH A ‘GENERATION OF GENIUSES’

He looked around the room. “And from now on,” he told them, “we’re going to use that potential to make you the best students in the world.”

Juárez Correa didn’t know it yet, but he had happened on an emerging educational philosophy, one that applies the logic of the digital age to the classroom.

What was it and how powerful can it be? Find out by connecting here.

OBI WORLDPHONE

Ok what is Obi Worldphone and what is its market?

These cheap phones for emerging markets are designed by an Apple veteran. And they’ll be marketed like a cola.

John Sculley’s new smartphones are not coming to a store near you anytime soon.

That’s by design. The 76-year-old former Apple CEO — who ran the company in the years after Steve Jobs’s ouster in 1985 — is cofounder of Obi Worldphone. A large chunk of its strategy for doing well in the remarkably daunting smartphone business involves avoiding the U.S. market altogether.

OK, once again..what is Obi Worldphone? “Dial” up this link for the reveal.