Weekend Digest: The Photo Economy Edition

For our weekend business and political readers:

TV PREVIEW: NEW TB&P-HENDRIX COLLEGE POLLING BEGINS
On this week’s edition of Talk Business & Politics, we begin our last round of polling before the November 4th general election. We’ll dive deep into the Senate, Congressional and Governor races, plus examine three of the ballot issues tied to ethics and term limits, the minimum wage and expanding alcohol.

Our political roundtable with KATV’s Scott Inman, Janelle Lilley and Elicia Dover make observations from the U.S. Senate debate in Fayetteville last Tuesday. We’ll also recap a series of AETN debates that took place last week.

And a look back in Arkansas history to 1984. A groundbreaking national female politician was in state for a major political rally. Who was it and why was she here 30 years ago?

Tune in Sunday morning at 9 a.m. on KATV Ch. 7 for Talk Business & Politics.

HOT STARTUPS HAVE THIS IN COMMON
Fast Company says, “Of the approximately 50 tech startups of the past decade to be valued at more than $1 billion, at least nine – Facebook, Twitter, Whats­App, Dropbox, Pinterest, Airbnb, Snapchat, Instagram, and Tumblr – have photos at the core of their businesses.”

We are in a photo economy. How does this impact your business?

Photography is now a crowded market, with entrepreneurs trying everything from niche social networks to printing your face on a pillow. But if current trends are any indication, the big money will shift to three categories of S’s (and “Selfie” isn’t one)–storytelling, shopping, and storage.

Read more on this “natural progression” at this link.

GOOD ADVICE FOR ‘GRADUALLY’ BECOMING A BETTER COMPANY
“You must allow time to persevere,” as part of a successful transformation in core shift says Harvard Business Review.

A number of recent headline-grabbing announcements of divestments and split-ups by companies such as HP (spinning off its PC and printer businesses), GE (the sale of its appliances business to Electrolux), Bayer (the flotation of its MaterialScience chemicals business), and Royal Philips (its separation into two autonomous companies, Lighting and HealthTech) are putting the spotlight again on the phenomenon of “core shifting”: how a company, through a sustained process of acquiring and divesting assets, changes the mix of its business portfolio and thus purposefully shifts the core of its activities.

From our analysis of a number of core shifts and conversations with the CEOs who have undertaken them, we have drawn five keys to success.

What are they? Go to this link to find out.

NUCLEAR FUSION BREAKTHROUGH
Forbes reports, Lockheed Martin, the aerospace and defense conglomerate, is claiming to have made a major breakthrough in nuclear fusion, which could lead to the development of reactors small enough to fit on the back of a truck within a decade.

In the simplest terms, nuclear fission breaks a single atom into two whereas nuclear fusion combines two atoms into one.

Fusion, the holy grail of nuclear power, creates three to four times as much energy as fission. More importantly, fusion’s key advantage over fission is that it does not produce cancer-causing radioactive waste.

So why has Lockheed decided to go public with this information now? What is the key component of this breakthrough? And how could this new energy force be used?

For the complete story, follow this link.

EXTRAORDINARY SALES PEOPLE
Inc. asks, “What does it really take to win more sales?”

Developing good questions is vital to professional selling. But great salespeople know that good questions aren’t enough to separate themselves from their competitors.

So how do they separate?

It starts with asking buyers the right questions, but within the right framework.

For a “five-question framework” that sales superstars use to outsell their competition, click on this link.

BIG SPENDING IN ARKANSAS
The Washington Post reports, “Arkansas is spending 40 times as much as California on campaign ads.”

When you consider how much has been spent on state and Senate advertising so far this cycle and compare it to the number of people that live in each state, the most expensive campaigns per-person are being run in Arkansas and Iowa.

A hotly contested U.S. Senate race in Arkansas could change the balance of power in the Senate, and couple that with an all-out war in the gubernatorial race, means millions of ad dollars pouring in to the state.

So how much does that break down to per-person spent in Arkansas and how much overall has been spent on TV campaign ads?

Take a look at the charts by clicking this link.

‘FIRST DRAFT’ GOOD READ
The New York Times’ political writer, Steve Kenny’s, web-column “First Draft” is all things politics. His latest addition ran the gamut from live coverage of the Iowa Senate debate to a feature on Democrat Jason Carter, who is in a “toss-up race” for governor in Georgia.

Carter is a member of the Georgia Senate and the grandson of former President Jimmy Carter. Looking for any advantage in a toss-up race for governor, Jason Carter, the Democratic nominee, has taken to Twitter to make common cause with University of Georgia Bulldog fans.

Georgia has indefinitely suspended Todd Gurley, its star running back and Heisman Trophy hopeful, over accusations that he took money for signing autographs or for the use of his image in memorabilia. Gurley was sidelined last week and is not likely to play Saturday for the No. 10-ranked Bulldogs (5-1) against Arkansas (3-3).

Hence #freegurley.

But there is a lot more insightful political fare inside “First Draft” that makes for a good read. Read it all at this link.

WHERE IS THE REAL TERRORIST THREAT?
POLITICO Magazine says it’s right next door, but not in Mexico.

While politicians almost always complain about terrorism in the same breath that they call for more fences and Border Patrol agents along the Mexican border, it’s easy to tell that they’re not really concerned about terrorism. If terrorism — and not illegal immigration — were really their top concern, they wouldn’t be mentioning Mexico.

After all, there’s only one U.S. land border where federal agents have ever stopped jihadist terrorists.

Hint: It’s not the Mexican one.

So if we are concentrating on the wrong border, where do we turn? Go to this link for the answer.

U.S. SENATE RACE IN GEORGIA HEATS UP
In what was once projected as a cake-walk for businessman and Georgia Republican Senate candidate David Perdue has now turned into a “dead heat” against Democratic candidate Michelle Nunn in the state race.

What happened?

After attacking President Obama over his handling of the Ebola crisis and the Islamic State terrorist group, businessman and Republican Georgia Senate candidate David Perdue turned defensive this week when asked about his record on outsourcing jobs.

“The criticism I’ve gotten over the last few weeks is coming from people who really have no business background and really don’t understand, you know, what it takes to create jobs and create economic value — which is really what this free enterprise system is based on,” Perdue told reporters at a Veterans of Foreign Wars social-hall event.

“The recent focus on outsourcing, and Perdue’s decision to vocally defend the practice, appears to mark a turning point in the race, with Nunn gaining ground and even leading the contest in some polls,” reports The Washington Post.

The criticism developed as part of a Democratic strategy that is working very well. For details on this strategy and how it’s affecting other Georgia races, click on this link.

AMERICA’S FAVORITE TEAM?
It’s an old and worn out moniker, but true right? The Dallas Cowboys are America’s favorite team. Wrong!

Well, holy Jerry Jones! Say it ain’t so, but sorry, it’s really true. A Harris Poll has picked a new NFL club as America’s favorite team.

Despite their best start since 2007, the Cowboys dropped out of the top spot for the first time since 2006. They were ranked fourth. It is only the second time in 14 polls that Dallas has not finished either first or second.

So who is now in first place and what other NFL teams round out the top five? Punt over to this link for the score.

WHAT MEN SEE IN THE MIRROR MAY AFFECT HOW MUCH MONEY THEY MAKE
Hey guys, that face you see in the mirror every morning? You know, yours. Well Huffington Post Business says, “The shape of your face may affect how much money you make.”

While most people are aware of the correlation between good looks and success in life, new research has found that men’s face shape may play a part in their business success.

A new study from researchers at the University of California, Riverside, London Business School and Columbia University found that men with wider faces – those that have a higher ratio of face width to face height – negotiated signing bonuses that were approximately $2,200 larger than their narrow-faced peers. The researchers also found that wide-faced men were much better at negotiating business deals for themselves.

Go figure.

For a summary of this astonishing fact and a look at some of those type faces that are very successful, go to this link.