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Ray Clemens bought a Green Acres franchise 18 months ago as part of his retirement plan. He’d had a lawn mowing business with the organisation before, and saw the opportunity to earn a bit of money doing something he enjoyed.
But he said it had not gone to plan. While he was paying $135 a week for a guarantee of $1000 a week income, he said had earned $401 a week between December 2018 and the end of March 2019, $459 a week from the start of April 2019 until the end of March 2020 and $261 a week through April and May this year.
Those figures were gross income and he had to pay tax and other business running costs from that amount.
“Now I’d be lucky to make the dole.”
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Green Acres said Clemens had earned $38,000 over that period. It said the $1000 a week guarantee was GST inclusive.
He had also turned down $380 a week in long-term recurring government contracts and $405 a week in work that Clemens had refused or not submitted quotes for, it said.
“So in summary, Green Acres’ responsibility is to provide him with work opportunities. We’re doing that: to date we have supplied him work opportunities in excess of an average $1345 per week. His responsibility is to be available to carry out that work.”
Clemens said some of the work he was offered was too far from his Island Bay home in Wellington to make it worth his while. Some lawns were in the Wairarapa, he said.
He said he was let with a business he could not sell and a 20-year contract to fulfil.
Green Acres said Clemens had paid $18,460 for the franchise plus an equipment pack of $5000. There would have been the cost of a suitable vehicle on top of that.
But Clemens said his experience should prove that it’s not always straightforward.
While franchises give you visibility and access to nationwide marketing and advertising clout, investing in one also locks you into fixed costs.
There have been high-profile cases of franchises gone wrong. Former Hell Pizza franchisee Matthew Blomfield served papers on the company over unpaid bills. Mad Butcher has had a string of closures and a court battle with its Whangarei franchisee over his attempt to open his own butchery on the same premises.
Interest in franchise opportunities tends to increase in a recession, when higher numbers of people are made redundant and want to pursue an opportunity to be self-employed.
New Zealand is the most franchised country in the word, with about 37,000 franchise units and franchise sector turnover of $27.6 billion, or 11 per cent of gross domestic product.
About three-quarters of franchise brands are homegrown. Franchise businesses range from cleaning an ironing businesses through to McDonalds, Pak ’n Save and Lotto outlets.
Simon Lord, publisher of Franchise.co.nz, has been involved in franchising since the 1980s. He said success often came down to how much care was taken when a franchisee went into a deal.
“It’s important to go into it with your eyes open and understand what the nature of the franchise is, and what is required of franchisees … the important thing is to understand the nature of the relationship.
“The biggest problem is when people don’t hear what they are told or read what they are given, or don’t take professional advice. It causes a disconnect at the beginning.”
Franchisees will usually be required to pay regular fees and royalties, in return for things such as advertising and business support.
Lord said a lot of information about what it would really be like could be gleaned from existing franchisees. People should also seek legal and accounting advice from someone who was experienced with franchises.
Lord said the franchise agreements would normally be a bit one-sided, with more power on the franchisor than the franchisee so that it could protect the franchise brand and other franchises.
“If you’re not paying the minimum wage the franchisor has to be able to jump on that immediately and get you out of the system.”
People might be required to carry out refurbishment at set times, he said, and there would usually be a restraint of trade, so they could not simply carry on a business without the franchise once their term ran out. In all cases the franchise would have a finite term.
“That’s important to know – you need to be able to make money on it when you have it.”
He said interest in franchise opportunities on his website had increased by a “massive” amount in recent months. “Recession is traditionally a time when franchises do well because people are shaken out of sunset industries into new growing ones.”
The current environment had strong potential for franchises, he said, because many redundancies were in the tourism and hospitality sectors, where people had strong communication, relationship and language skills.
Those people could comfortably fit into a franchise running a childcare centre, teaching kids sport or operating a mobile coffee van. “These are people with exactly the skills more franchisors are looking for.”
He said about three-quarters of franchises were advertised as not requiring previous experience. “That might sound horrendous but it’s a measure of how well-developed the systems and training at these franchises are.”
Lord said only about 2 per cent of all franchisors had been involved in a dispute in the past 12 months and only 10 per cent of those required litigation.
Daniel Cloete, Westpac national manager of franchise and strategic partnerships, said the recent level 4 lockdown was a good example of the lease liability that many retailers may have faced.
“You should understand the financial numbers and risks yourself. Talking to other franchisees in the group is an excellent way to learn more about the business model, culture, any issues and the profitability in the group.”
He said the bank would consider things like the brand value, industry risk, competition, other franchisee performance, regular cashflow and the documentation (including franchise agreements) when considering whether to lend.
“As the bank would be lending against going concern value, it would look at the business profitability, affordability, proven sale multiples, brand value (saleable), the term of the franchise agreement and the system action in event of default.
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“A few things that could have an impact on business value and the funding viability of the business include: franchise transfer clause restrictions, the quality of the general security agreement availability, and any goodwill payable to the franchisor on sale, brand damage or preferential payments.”
Logan Sears, Green Acres chief executive, said interest in franchises was increasing but he did not expect a big influx until there was more certainty about what the future would look like. Many people made redundant initially hoped to go back to their former industries, he said.
He said successful franchisees tended to have a good attitude and customer focus. “A good franchise support framework is important but you can’t teach attitude.”
He said people who went into business through a franchise had a much higher chance of success than those who went alone. Much of that was because of their lack of knowledge of basic business infrastructure, he said.
Would-be franchisees should check a business’s ability to deliver a regular stream of customers. “You need to know that whatever franchise you’re buying it has enough recurring revenue and the advertising budget to deliver customers.”
They should also find out what process there was to help people exit franchises, he said. “An unsatisfactory exit means people are left without a good result at the end of the term.”
He said people could buy a Green Acres franchise for about $20,000 and then would have to spend another $20,000 or so on the equipment. Green Acres requires people to sell their franchise for at least what they paid for it but offers a team of salespeople to help.
LOOKING FOR A FRANCHISE?
Westpac’s Daniel Cloete suggests looking for:
* A proven product or service
* A strong brand or accepted trade name
* A tried, tested and documented way of doing business
* Good management information systems and benchmark information
* Ongoing development of the product or concept, which is very important in mature systems to stay competitive
* Initial and ongoing training and support
* Increased purchasing power
* Coordinated marketing and advertising


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Nintendo Switch Has Sold 18 Million Units In Japan, On Pace To Surpass Nintendo 3DS
Nintendo Switch is seeing an unprecedented level of success in not just Japan but the whole world. It is on pace to surpass the sales of the Nintendo 3DS.
Famitsu has released its latest sales result for the Nintendo Switch. In the last week, the hybrid console moved 110K more units bumping its life-to-date sales to 18.1 million in Japan. This is a massive number considering Switch launched back in March 2017 and has been in the market for just under four years.
2021 is also a year where the Nintendo Switch has opened to higher sales than any of its preceding years with a cumulative year-to-date sales of 760K compared to 565K for 2019. It is currently on pace to outsell the Nintendo 3DS launch aligned. If we compare the sales of both hardware, Switch is at 18.1 million in its 204 weeks while the Nintendo 3DS had sold 18.16 million during that time.
The life-to-date sales of the Nintendo 3DS are 24.65 million in Japan. Nintendo Switch sold a little under 6 million last year, and if it continues the current pace, there is a good chance the console can end up selling over 6 million due to games like Monster Hunter Rise, and a rumored new Pokémon Remake.
Nintendo has yet to reveal their big games for later this year so there is a probable chance that they might have some big plans this year with an upcoming Breath of the Wild sequel, and additional high-profile projects. Mario is also making a return this year with the launch of Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury in February. All of these should contribute to the sales of the Switch and help it achieve a new record-breaking year in Japan.
Based on the sales trajectory, it is reasonable to assume that the Switch should be able to surpass the lifetime sales of the Nintendo 3DS. However, it might have a hard time reaching sales of the most successful Nintendo handheld, Nintendo DS, which sold more than 32 million units in Japan.

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MTN Ghana has held entrepreneurship training for youth-led and women-led businesses in the digital space and the beauty sector to help improve their operations as well as market their products.
Participants, who included hairdressers, smock weavers and players in the shea butter space, were taken through social media marketing, using smart phones, bookkeeping, customer service as well as sharing knowledge with volunteer entrepreneurs to deliver enterprise business solutions and visit to entrepreneur business sites for exchange of ideas.
The youth entrepreneurship training event formed part of the MTN Yellow Care initiative, an annual event undertaken across the country from June 01 to June 21, every year, where MTN Ghana employees give back to their communities by engaging in various community service activities to make positive impact in communities.
Mr Collins Agyei, Area Sales Manager of the Five Regions of the North, MTN Ghana, during the training in Tamale, expressed MTN Ghana’s commitment as part of the Yellow Care to empower entrepreneurs, particularly in underprivileged communities to stimulate economic growth and create jobs.
“We are doing this by engaging youth in entrepreneurship training on one theme: ‘Women in Action’. Under the youth entrepreneurship, we are looking at youth-led businesses in the digital space and also in the beauty industry, where we are teaching them on customer service training, social media training, and also sharing knowledge with volunteer entrepreneurs to deliver enterprise business solutions.
“So, with the women in action, we are looking at women-led businesses like hairdressing and beauticians’ associations in the country, where the campaign is focusing on indigenous businesses in the shea butter space, smock weaving, beauty and cosmetic industry. We are training women in simple bookkeeping, social media marketing using smart phones and paying familiarisation visit to entrepreneur business sites for ideas exchange.”Mr Collins Agyei
Empowering the Youth
Mr Collins Agyei explained that the company is doing all these to ensure that it empowers the youth to ensure that they develop their talents and also have tools to help them to market the products that they are churning out. He added that it will in a way enable them to enhance the value that they are bringing onto the businesses that they are doing.
Mr Collins Agyei advised participants to take the lessons seriously and stick to the advise and guidelines given them, saying “We believe that engaging in entrepreneurship is one thing, and making sure your businesses are sustained is another thing”.
Madam Josephine Agyapong, Northern Regional Organiser of Ghana Progressive Hairdressers and Beauticians Association lauded the training and said it had enlightened them on how to take advantage of social media platforms to sell their products such as hair styles.
Madam Agyapong noted that most of them sell their products at the salons and kiosks and they do not even know that there is social media there to help them. “We are happy that today they have come to our aid to know the relevance of social media platforms and how they can impact our businesses,” she said.
Madam Agyapong urged participants to make use of the knowledge gained to sell their products.
READ ALSO: Italy Holds State Funeral For Berlusconi


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Facebook started testing Promoted Posts to non-fans back in August and now looks to offer a new feature to Page owners called Suggested Posts. This new feature is part of the Sponsored Stories product and will be integrated within.
With the new posts, Pages will be able to target users outside of their fan base similar to Promoted Posts. However, instead of just having a Promoted Post that appears as “Sponsored”, Pages can also choose to have them appear as a “Suggested Post” in user’s news feeds.
While a controversial move, Facebook is still only in the testing phase with a select few marketers and hasn’t started a full roll out. Seeing a post as “Suggested” is more appealing than just seeing that it’s sponsored.
The idea is this will increase engagement with Promoted Posts in the news feed. So far, the social network has managed to not overwhelm news feeds with Promoted Posts and Sponsored Stories which is a good sign.
Many users are still not a fan of the advertising and testing will show if Suggested Posts are worth being introduced to all Pages. In the meantime, Facebook is set to release their third quarter earnings which will reveal how well their advertising business is doing.


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Devolver Digital and Megacat Studios are teaming up to create a brand-new SNES game which aims to raise awareness of mental health issues within the game development industry.
Fork Parker’s Crunch Out was announced at the Game Developer Conference today, and is available to preorder at megacatstudios.com for $49.99 right now.
The entirety of Devolver Digital’s profits from the game will go to the Take This organisation, a nonprofit outfit dedicated to "informing the games community about mental health issues, providing education and services within the industry and tackling mental illness prevention."
Descrbed as a "classic arcade-style game" with Devolver Digital's CFO as the maniacal studio head, the game puts a satirical spin on the process of game development, but carries an important message - as Kate Edwards, board member at Take This, explains:
As demonstrated in our 2016 white paper "Crunch Hurts", crunch is an unsustainable practice that exploits game creators' passion at the expense of their physical and mental wellness. We applaud and appreciate Devolver Digital's and Megacat Studios' creative approach to exposing the reality of crunch while generously supporting our mission.
The game will be distributed on cartridge and will come boxed with a printed manual "that will be inevitably lost by a younger sibling", according to the amusingly-written PR. The game is limited to 1,000 physical copies and, as well as being available direct from Megacat Studios, will also be sold at select independent game retailers around the United States.


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European Union (EU) firms will face tariff costs of almost £13 billion a year on exports to the UK while British companies will face a £5.2bn bill for sales to the other 27 states if Brexit means leaving the customs union without an alternative free trade deal, according to new analysis.
A report by the Civitas think tank indicated the importance of a deal to both sides in the Brexit negotiations and suggested Theresa May could use the balance of trade to her advantage in talks with the remaining 27 EU leaders.
On a country-by-country basis, 22 of the 27 remaining EU members would face more tariffs on exports to the UK than UK firms would be hit by on sales to those individual nations.
German firms alone would face £3.4bn in tariff costs if the relationship between the EU and UK fell back on World Trade Organisation (WTO) most-favoured nation rules. UK exporters, in return, would face £0.9bn of tariffs on goods going to Germany.
French exporters could face £1.4bn in tariffs on their products compared to UK exporters facing £0.7bn, according to the study.
Supporters of Brexit have argued that German car manufacturers and French winemakers would put pressure on their governments for the EU to strike a deal with the UK to protect the valuable British export market.
The analysis suggests the European motor industry would face tariffs of £3.9bn in car-related exports to the UK, including £1.8bn for the German automotive sector, while British exports to the remaining 27 states would face £1.3bn in costs.


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Chipotle is abandoning its Thai restaurant chain and betting on burgers and pizza instead
The company said Tuesday that it will not invest further in growing and developing ShopHouse, and will pursue "strategic alternatives" for the chain.That means Chipotle will likely shut down or try to sell the ShopHouse chain, which has 15 locations in Washington, D.C., Maryland, Illinois, and California.
Pizzeria Locale is a build-your-own pizza concept with a very similar setup to Chipotle. There are currently seven locations in four states: Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, and Ohio.The first Tasty Made location will open this fall in Lancaster, Ohio. The menu will include burgers, fries, and shakes.
The company said the new restaurant chain will use "high-quality ingredients that are grown and raised with respect for the animals, the land, and the farmers who produce them."Tasty Made will use beef raised without the use of antibiotics or added hormones and the shakes will be made with "real ingredients" including milk, cream, sugar, and eggs, and the buns for the burgers will be free of preservatives, dough conditioners, and other artificial ingredients."Early fast food burger restaurants generally had focused menus," Chipotle founder Steve Ells said in July. "We think there's great strength in that original fast food model and wanted to create a restaurant built around that. Making only burgers, fries and shakes with really great ingredients, we think we can appeal to peoples' timeless love of burgers, but in a way that is consistent with our long-term vision."
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Stage Two – Cushioning the economic impact of COVID-19
On 22 March 2020, the Federal Government announced the second stage of its economic plan to support Australian businesses and their workers through the unchartered waters created by the spread of the Coronavirus. The stimulus package extends a number of the key measures announced in the first package on 12 March 2020 (see our recent publication on stage one of the package here).
Both stage one and stage two of the stimulus package were passed by Parliament on 23 March 2020, and received Royal Assent on 24 March 2020. The Federal Government has also now announced that a third stage to the stimulus package will follow shortly.
From a tax perspective, stage two of the stimulus package contains key measures aimed at providing:
- assistance to businesses to keep their workers employed; and
- support for workers and their households.
In addition to the Federal Government measures, the States and Territories have each announced stimulus packages to assist both businesses and individuals.
The table below provides a summary of the measures now available to businesses under the first and second stimulus packages. The new stimulus package announced by the Federal Government comprises one key taxation component aimed at providing relief to businesses. These packages are also complemented by various administrative concessions announced by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).
Boosting Cash Flow for Employers
Both small to medium businesses (SME’s) and not for profit entities, with aggregated (group) annual turnover under $50 million, will be eligible to receive a cash flow boost aimed at keeping their employees engaged.
In effect, the cash flow boost introduced under stage one of the stimulus package has now been enhanced under stage two such that eligible businesses can receive a total credit equal to either 100% of their liability for PAYG-withholding in relation to salaries and wages paid to their employees (increased from 50%). The Government also announced that a second round of credits will be introduced for tax periods from July to September 2020.
As a result of these measures:
- the minimum credit for PAYG-withholding has been increased from $2,000 to $10,000; and
- the maximum credit for PAYG-withholding has increased from $25,000 to $50,000 for the 2020 financial year.
This means that eligible employers will receive payments of at least $20,000 and up to a total of $100,000. However, to qualify for the additional payments, businesses must continue to be active into the 2020-21 financial year.
Practically, for those businesses lodging quarterly business activity statements:
- 100% of the March quarter payment, and 100% of June quarter payment is credited upon lodgment (up to $50,000); and
- an additional 50% of the total credit for the 2020 financial year will be credited in June 2020, and 50% credited in September (again, up to $50,000).
For those businesses lodging monthly business activity statements:
- 300% of the March monthly payment is credited, and 100% of the April, May and June monthly statements will be automatically credited, up to the limit of $50,000; and
- 25% of the total amount due for the 2020 financial year will be automatically credited in June, July, August and September upon lodgment (again, up to the $50,000 limit).
Administrative relief measures
To date, the ATO has also announced that they are willing to work with taxpayers affected by the pandemic. The ATO website details a number of measures that a taxpayer can seek to access. Importantly, these include:
- an ability to defer income tax, FBT and excise payments due in the period leading up to 12 September 2020. Businesses should contact the ATO directly when experiencing difficulty meeting these obligations;
- an option to change over GST reporting from quarterly to monthly reporting from the start of a new quarter (for example, 1 April 2020) in order to obtain faster access to GST refunds;
- an option to vary PAYG-Instalments, and the ATO have stated that they will not apply interest or penalties for varied instalments for the 2020 financial year;
- the ATO will also consider remitting interest and penalties from 23 January 2020 for those affected by COVID-19. Low interest payment plans will also be available; and
- the ATO have stated that the residency status of temporary or non-residents visiting Australia should not be affected if they are required to remain in Australia due to COVID-19.
States and Territories
Payroll Tax relief
To date, every state and territory (except South Australia) has announced payroll tax relief packages for eligible businesses. Each state has offered a slightly different form of payroll tax relief – with a focus largely on refunds, referrals and even the waiver of payroll tax liabilities for a certain period.
In Queensland, the State Government has already expanded the relief we outlined on 19 March 2020, such that employers that pay less than $6.5 million in Australian taxable wages can now apply:
- for a refund of two months’ of recently paid payroll tax;
- for a three month ‘holiday’ from paying any payroll tax; and
- to defer all payroll tax liability for the 2020 calendar year, with payment not due until 14 January 2021.
Employers that pay more than $6.5 million in Australian taxable wages can also access the two month refund and payroll tax deferral, but will not be eligible for the three month payroll tax ‘holiday’.
Applications for the deferral and ‘holiday’ must be lodged by 31 May 2020.
A table outlining the payroll tax relief offered by each State and the Australian Capital Territory can be found here. In addition, the Northern Territory has extended its ongoing payroll tax exemption for those who employ Northern Territory residents to 30 June 2021.
In addition to the payroll tax measures, the States and Territories have each announced other relief measures for businesses. In Queensland, these measures include:
- rent relief for commercial tenants in government buildings;
- offering a $500 rebate on electricity bills for small and medium sized businesses that consume less than 100,000 kilowatt hours (automatically applied to eligible electricity bills); and
- waiving liquor licensing fees for businesses impacted by the enforced shutdowns.
Future Federal, State and Territory Incentives
The federal, state and territory governments continue to announce additional stimulus packages aimed at providing tax relief and other incentives for businesses. For up to date information on incentives that might be available to you and your business, please contact us.
This publication covers legal and technical issues in a general way. It is not designed to express opinions on specific cases. It is intended for information purposes only and should not be regarded as legal advice. Further advice should be obtained before taking action on any issue dealt with in this publication.


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By Sara Merken
(Reuters) - PricewaterhouseCoopers said Wednesday that it will give 4,000 of its legal professionals access to an artificial intelligence platform, becoming the latest firm to introduce generative AI technology for legal work.
PwC said it partnered with AI startup Harvey for an initial 12-month contract, which the accounting and consulting firm said will help lawyers with contract analysis, regulatory compliance work, due diligence and other legal advisory and consulting services.
PwC said it will also determine ways for tax professionals to use the technology.
It said its access to Harvey's technology is exclusive among the Big Four professional services firms.
Harvey is built on technology from OpenAI, the Microsoft Corp-backed startup that on Tuesday released an upgraded version of its AI sensation ChatGPT. Harvey received a $5 million investment last year in a funding round led by the OpenAI Startup Fund.
PwC said AI will not provide legal advice to its clients and "will not replace lawyers."
A PwC spokesperson said the company will use its own internal data and over time may use anonymized data from clients that want PwC to use their information for certain uses. It will also work to make its own AI models with Harvey's platform to create custom products and services, it said.
Other companies, law firms and professional services firms have also started to experiment with generative AI technology.
Global law firm Allen & Overy last month became the first major legal business to publicly partner with Harvey. The large London-founded firm said more than 3,500 of its lawyers will use the service to automate some legal document drafting and research.
Other legal technology companies are rushing to incorporate generative AI capabilities into products. Robin AI, a London-founded company that focuses on contracts, last month said it integrated technology into its platform from OpenAI competitor Anthropic.
Casetext, a legal research company, said Tuesday its recently-released AI legal assistant product is also built on OpenAI's latest model, GPT-4.
OpenAI-backed startup brings chatbot technology to first major law firm


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Three-wheel car boasts up to 84mpg for $6,800
Up to 84 miles to the gallon on the highway, and 60 mpg on average, for only $6,800?
That's the promise of a first-of-its-kind, three-wheel car called "Elio." The Elio is named after Paul Elio, founder of Elio Motors.
The company is on a nationwide tour to show off its creation, get feedback and, of course, drum up investors and buyers.
For now, they're traveling with a prototype, which is the only version of the Elio that exists. It has two tires in front and one tire in the back. Retail Sales VP Jerome Vassallo says all the power is in the front.
"All our power comes from the front wheels, so we're a front-engine, front wheel drive vehicle," he said.
The regular passenger car tires and bumpers in front are positioned away from the vehicle's narrow body. There's only one door -- on the driver's side. And there's no rear-view mirror. Vassallo points out the narrow body construction allows a full rear view through the two side view mirrors. The two seats in the vehicle are tandem, so the passenger sits directly behind the driver. The transmission is manual. So is the steering.
Under the hood, almost everything you'd find in a standard automobile: battery, radiator, anti-freeze, reservoir, oil and filter. But by design, there is no windshield wiper container. According to Vassallo, the engine compartment is designed to hold store-bought bottled water which the consumer can swap out as needed. The company says the older model Geo Metro engine in the prototype is strictly for demonstration purposes on the tour. The actual engine is still in the works-
"It's a modern masterpiece, I mean it is fully electronic. Electronic timing, variable valve timing, full fuel injection- it does a great job," Vassallo said.
Plans are for the retail sales price of $6,800 to include multiple air bags, AM/FM radio, air-conditioning, anti-lock brakes, a full roll cage, power door locks and power windows. The company says tests so far point to a very high safety rating. But the Elio is "technically" not a car. It's a motorcycle.
"The federal government calls this a motorcycle, because they define anything less than 4 wheels as a motorcycle," Vassallo explained
Which means owners will pay less for insurance and licensing and will have the HOV advantage.
"That allows you, by yourself, to ride in this vehicle without having a passenger," Vassallo added.
Elio Motors is banking on the affordability factor. Between high gas prices, high car prices, and many people still struggling financially, the company especially sees a potential market in consumers who need reliable transportation they can afford. To that end, the company is also working on a unique credit card financing model where buyers agree to use a special Elio credit card for all Elio fuel purchases.
Each use of the credit card would charge triple the amount of the purchase. One third of the sum would pay for the fuel (or other merchandise) and the remaining two thirds on the credit card statement would be automatically applied toward payment on the loan. Vassallo says the credit card financing idea is still under consideration by lenders. But with promises of affordability and high fuel efficiency, Elio says more people are making reservations to buy a 3-wheeler - once production gets underway sometime next year.
As you can imagine, the forward-thinking concept is attracting skeptics as well as fans and investors- so the proof, as they say, will be in the pudding. The company acknowledges that start-up auto companies are a huge financial risk, but says it's approach of using existing technology and existing, easy to acquire parts will help Elio overcome that challenge. The company says is working now to certify technicians across the country who will be able to service the Elio easily and conveniently, because the Elio is built from existing, standard car parts sold everywhere.
Question is- would you buy one? You can check out the Elio prototype for yourself Friday Sept 6th and Saturday Sept 7 from 1-7 p.m. at Westlake Park in Seattle, and on Sunday during mall hours at Northgate Mall.


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How many of these do you get wrong?
Using the right word can matter. Using the wrong word can matter even more. I once lost a potential writing gig because I used “who” instead of “whom” in a proposal letter.
(And I still have trouble getting “who” and “whom” right.)
Even just one incorrectly used word–especially when you’re trying to make a great impression–can ruin everything. Is that unfair? Yes… but it does happen.
To make sure that doesn’t happen to you, I’ve collected some of the most common incorrectly used words from other posts into one epic post. (Thanks to all the readers along the way who offered their own examples, many of which are included here.)
Here we go.
With the holiday season quickly approaching, electronics retailers couldn’t be in a better position to make record breaking sales, exceeding the $1 trillion earned in 2014. Electronics make ideal gifts, and electronic stores are one of the largest revenue generating distributors, accounting for 13.6% of all holiday sales. However, OEMs won’t cash in unless they have the right omnichannel infrastructure in place.
Electronics constitute one of the leading purchases made for dads, and accounted for 20% of Father’s Day sales this past June. With the rise of tablets, mobile phones and wearables, retailers can expect this category to grow. While 2015 looks at sustained growth with these product lines, Steve Koenig, senior director at the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), advises not to overlook other electronics that are also predicted to be big for business. Koenig explained, “Consumer decisions to replace their TVs at home with Ultra HD 4K units should provide a much-needed boost to the TV industry, while new smartwatches and other high-tech wearables will also expand that growing category this year.”
In the news, Apple has already created fierce demand with the launch of its latest rendition of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. To address this frenzy, Apple executives released a statement that online orders have been “exceptionally strong and exceeded our own forecasts for the preorder period. We are working to catch up as quickly as we can, and we will have iPhone 6s Plus as well as iPhone 6s units available at Apple retail stores when they open next Friday.”
It’s not only smart phone and tablet producers that will go through this inventory and production pressure. The CEA advises that while total shopping category continues to grow, the channels that consumers shop across have changed drastically, leading to the introduction of omnichannel shopping.


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As 2019 comes to a close, it’s a good time to sit back and take note of what topped the charts on Instagram this year.
Soccer sensation Cristiano Ronaldo held on to the top spot as the most followed personal account, and the National Geographic remained the most followed brand on Instagram (aside from Instagram itself) with a cool 126M followers!
Not forgetting the viral trends, most popular hashtags, and filters that filled our feeds:
So what does this tell us? Well, aside from a potential shift in popular culture, it shows that Instagram, and what people want from the platform, is changing.
2019 has seen a shift towards authentic and mindful content, with a whole slew of new features to make Instagram Stories more instantaneous and engaging.
And it’s the celebrities who embrace these changes, like Ariana who posts to her feed multiple times every day, who are seeing the biggest growth in their follow count as a result.
As a brand, there’s a lot to learn from the high-flying celebrities on Instagram and how their social strategy is paying off.
So, now that we’ve covered the top line stats, let’s go back to the beginning — from January 2019 to present day, and relive the Instagram trends that took over our feeds:
When it comes to starting the year with a bang (or should that be crack?) the World Record Egg took us all by surprise in early January 2019.
This simple stock photo of a hen’s egg gained a whopping 28.3 million likes in just 10 days, knocking Kylie Jenner’s baby announcement post off the top spot and gaining international news coverage.
Perhaps most interestingly, the account remained anonymous for almost a month — with the countdown to a grand reveal starting as the egg began to crack in Instagram posts throughout the end of January.
So who was behind the mysterious egg?
Well on February 4th, during the Superbowl ad break, it was revealed that the egg was a promotion for TalkingEgg.info — a website highlighting a list of mental health support organizations by Mental Health America.
The video, which has been watched over 38 million times, showed the egg cracking due to “the pressure of social media,” and encouraged viewers to talk to someone if they were struggling too.
And as 2019 comes to a close, the World Record Egg still holds the title for the most-liked post on Instagram — making it one little egg that’s seriously hard to beat.
Instagram challenges pop up all the time, but very few reach the same fever pitch as the #10YearChallenge did in early 2019.
Influencers, celebrities, and everyday Instagrammers alike jumped on this flashback trend, sharing their 10-year-old pics alongside a more recent one.
Reese Witherspoon, Ellen Degeneres, Janet Jackson, Jessica Biel, Tyra Banks, Chance the Rapper, Jennifer Lopez, Nicki Minaj, and Caitlin Jenner were amongst the hundreds of celebs who weighed in on this trend — which generated over 4 million posts in total.
When Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper took to the stage at the 91st Annual Academy Awards to perform “Shallow,” they likely didn’t know they were about to spark a viral meme trend.
But this is 2019, and their intense and emotional performance had just the right ingredients to land them straight into the meme hall of fame.
Within just hours of the ceremony, hundreds of meme posts were popping up all over the internet.
From funny text overlays to shocked reaction posts, Gaga and Cooper’s intimate performance was one of the hottest meme moments of 2019!
From homemade memes to the no-edit edit, discover where the Instagram Aesthetic is Heading in 2020 in this recent blog post!
In 2019, Instagram became a fully-fledged e-commerce platform — rolling out a new “checkout” feature to allow people to buy products without ever leaving the Instagram app!
While the checkout feature is still being rolled out, it’s a big indicator of what’s to come in 2020 – with Instagram’s shift to e-commerce likely to continue.
Check out How to Make Money with Instagram Shoppable Posts for everything you need to know about creating a shoppable feed.
With over 135 million loyal followers, Beyoncé is no stranger to sparking viral crazes on Instagram.
Following on from the “Single Ladies” dance phenomenon of the aughts, Beyoncé launched a dance challenge under the hashtag #BeforeILetGoChallenge this year on Instagram.
The challenge marked the release of her cover of “Before I Let Go” by Frankie Beverly & Maze.
Beyoncé announced the challenge in her first ever Instagram story (alongside bee and heart-eyes emojis) and encouraged fans to submit their dance videos using the hashtag.
— BEYONCÉ LEGION (@BEYLEGION) APRIL 23, 2019
She then shared dozens of clips of fans replicating the routine on her account, proving just how powerful user-generated content can be for building a sense of community on Instagram.
In fact, UGC is so important when it comes to successfully marketing your business online, that Later has created some great tools and features to help you find, organize, and schedule user-generated content in minutes.
From easily finding content you’ve been tagged or mentioned in, to reposting content from your brand’s fans and loyal followers, Later has you covered!
In April this year, Instagram caught everyone off-guard when they unveiled a whole new profile at their annual F8 conference — complete with a fresh new set of features!
According to Instagram, the new creator account was specifically created to help content creators take more control of their accounts through custom features, such as flexible profile controls, simplified messaging, and more growth tools.
In 2019, Instagram brought more features to market than ever before to enable the creator community. And as influencer partnerships continue to replace traditional ad spend on the platform, it’s likely this trend will only continue to grow in 2020.
Find out more about the Creator account (and whether you should make the switch) by reading this blog post!
When it comes to causing a stir on social, no one does it quite like Taylor Swift.
This time however, it was her cryptic countdown to “4.26” — the release date for her single “ME!” — that got everyone talking online.
In the lead up to the big date, the singer shared a series of dreamy, ethereal posts on her Instagram feed.
Each post contained the same short and mysterious caption, “4.26,” sparking a tidal wave of intrigue from fans and followers alike.
And proving just how far ahead of the Instagram trends she is, Swift even released her own Instagram Stories AR filter “4.26” — complete with daily new effects for her fans to try out and share.
Needless to say, she had followers on the edge of their seats as they guessed what big reveal could be coming their way.
All in all, Swift’s cryptic countdown included a site rebrand, Instagram overhaul, custom Instagram Stories AR filter, and even an Instagram-ready wall mural in Nashville, Tennessee!
2019 has been a huge year for new engagement-boosting features on Instagram, including Quiz, Chat, and Question stickers!
These new interactive stickers are super effective tools for gaining more interactions from your audience on stories — which can also be a great way to boost your ranking with the Instagram algorithm.
The Quiz sticker was first to launch in April, providing a new way to share fun multiple choice quizzes on stories.
In July, Instagram released the Chat sticker, which is a great tool for encouraging real, human chats.
With the Chat sticker, you can cherry-pick who joins your chat (up to 32 people), and lead a conversation on a topic that matters to you or your business goals.
While the Question sticker is a brilliant way to find out exactly what your audience wants to know — which can really help build a stronger connection between you and your audience online.
Plus, you can easily answer questions and share them on your stories — closing the loop and providing a great interactive experience for your followers.
All of these stickers have their own unique values for building community and encouraging audience participation — and we can’t wait to see what new stickers are in store for 2020!
Find out how to drive even more engagement from your Instagram Stories! Sign up below to get access to our FREE Instagram Stories for Business Course today:
Alongside making strides in e-commerce and audience engagement, Instagram also took some huge steps to safeguard the wellbeing of their users in 2019.
The most groundbreaking of these steps was the decision to hide likes on the platform in a bid to “depressurize Instagram” and make it a space that’s more focused on connections, conversations, and community, especially for young people.
This is easily Instagram’s biggest news of 2019, and it’s being met mostly with positive reactions, especially from celebrities.
Cardi B took to Instagram when the news broke to share her thoughts on the announcement:
Likes have already been hidden for Instagram users in Canada, Australia, Brazil, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, and more recently the United States — and is likely to rollout further in the coming months.
Perhaps the most bizarre viral challenge of 2019 was the bottle cap challenge, in which participants would attempt to knock the cap off a bottle with a single kick.
It all started when Taekwondo fighter Farabi Davletchin posted his kick trick back in June, nominating action movie star Jason Statham to take the challenge and flex his martial arts skills.
With over 23 million views and counting, Statham kicked the trend into viral status — inspiring a whole host of celebrities to get in on the action.
But it was Mariah Carey who arguably won the challenge in July — taking on the bottle cap with her fierce diva vocals alone.
In August this year, Instagram finally opened it up so that anyone can create and upload augmented reality (AR) filters that can be used with the Instagram Stories camera!
This was a bold move by Instagram, as it essentially opened the floodgates for designers, creatives, and brands to share their AR filters.
In fact, Instagram had to create a whole new “Effects Gallery” just to manage the huge influx of filters available on the app.
And for good reason. Having a successful filter can be a super accelerant for growth on the platform, with creators like Holy Mariia gaining over a million followers in a matter of months thanks to their viral AR effects.
To share a filter, users must create it in Spark AR Studio (a Facebook-owned AR tool) and get final approval from Instagram.
But just because a filter is approved at first doesn’t mean that it can’t be removed. Instagram recently banned a range of AR filters from the app that imitate cosmetic surgery — in light of concerns that they could harm a user’s mental health.
Curious about how AR can work for your business? Discover 8 Brands Creating Custom Instagram Stories AR Filters!
When a 15-year-old Greta Thunberg first decided to go on a school strike to fight against climate change, little did she know that she was starting an international movement that would come to amass over 4 million participants.
Now 16, Thunberg has been on strike for over 65 weeks. She has been heralded as “the voice of a generation” by ID magazine, rallying young people all over the world to take a stand for climate action:
And we’re seeing the impact of Thunberg’s mission filtering all across Instagram — with brands being more vocal about their political stance on the platform than ever before.
Mission-focused brands such as Patagonia and Lush Cosmetics have pioneered the way for brands in 2019, proving that having a strong agenda can be one of the most powerful assets in today’s increasingly conscious world.
With over 500 million people using Instagram Stories every single day in 2019, it’s no surprise that Instagram continues to unveil new and exciting features.
In October, Instagram launched an updated Instagram Stories camera, which included a brand new “Create” mode for users to explore.
Packed full of engagement-boosting tools and a cool new GIF layout, Instagram’s Create mode has been a game-changer for creating quick and interactive content — without having to source new content.
From pre-populated questions and templates to sharing an Instagram throwback, you can now post and engage with your audience with just a few taps.
Looking to learn more about Create mode? Find out How to Use the New Instagram Stories Camera now!
And finally, no 2019 top moments list would be complete without Jennifer Aniston’s spectacular entry to Instagram.
Aniston announced her Instagram debut by posting a photo with former Friends co-stars Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry, and Matt LeBlanc:
Giving a whole new meaning to the phrase “we were on a break,” the post generated so much activity that it caused an Instagram glitch — with some fans temporarily unable to follow Aniston’s account.
But even despite the issue, Aniston broke the world record for the fastest growing Instagram account, reaching 1 million followers in just 5 hours and 16 minutes.
“I swear I didn’t mean to break it…” Aniston wrote in her second post. “Thank you guys for the kind, glitchy welcome.”
And that’s it! From viral challenges and social movements to groundbreaking new features, 2019 has been a huge year on Instagram.
Ready to get ahead of all the social media trends in 2020? Sign up to the Later email newsletter now:
Source: later.com, originally published on 2021-09-01 16:53:33


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How addicted are you to your smartphone? Here is a round up of some stories about the effects of smartphones and some ideas on how to create a healthier life balance.
Our attention spans and mindfulness are being affected as a result of overusing smartphones, according to this story by the Huffington Post. With our constant fear of being alone growing, as well as our ever growing need for stimulation becoming more and more apparent, the overuse of smartphones are having serious effects on our brain.
Do you remember what a smartphone free world used to look like? If you are having problems even imagining this concept, it may be because smartphones are seriously damaging our imaginations, according to Sydney Morning Herald. The study features a developer Keith Holesh, who built an app allowing people to track their phone usage, as well as allowing them to set daily limits for their phone usage.
If you are thinking that you may just be in need of one of these apps but you’re not too sure what to do with all this new free time you’ll have on your hands, Vogue have created a list of real life alternatives for smartphone apps. These include:
1: Replacing your Snapchat for a Polaroid camera (the photos are bound to last more than ten seconds!)
2: Swapping your iTunes or Spotify for a retro vinyl player, a trend that is actually on the rise again
3: Making your own real life mood board, as opposed to apps such as Pinterest.
For more ideas, read the full list here.


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Turkcell is a Turkbuy
Nick is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network -- entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.
“Turkcell 3G is faster than 4G in the US.” -- Steve Wozniak, Apple co-founder
Turkcell Superonline infrastructure puts Turkey in the top five fastest residential broadband territories (along with Hong Kong, Japan, Portugal, and Slovenia).
As Time magazine learned when Turkey’s founder Ataturk was voted the most important figure of last century in an online poll, and as Facebook knows from Turkish being its members’ second language, the young republic is going global. Visa (NYSE: V) even reports that in Europe Turkey is second to the UK in card usage, and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) has made it a priority market.
Leading the digital Ottoman revival is Istanbul-based telecom Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S. (NYSE: TKC)(ISE: TCELL), which has spent a decade showing it can successfully operate in highly-competitive Germany to highly-corrupt Ukraine (or as Turkcell representatives describe it, “a highly competitive market, recently facing macroeconomic volatility”). As the only Turkish company listed on the NYSE, Turkcell has aggressively tried to meet global standards and is one of Turkey’s most coveted multinationals (just ask the Arabs, Scandinavians, and Slavs currently embroiled in ownership disputes). Turkcell’s operations in nine countries represent less of a turkey, and more of a salmon indicating the health and viability of business in new markets.
The loss of a third of the share price this year reflects the founder’s role at the center of international disputes among its major shareholders that have recently resulted in a suspension of its most recent dividend. Observers like the Wall Street Journal and Forbes speculate that these ongoing problems should be resolved early next year, and remove the burden placed on the share price. Regardless, as its profits and margins indicate, six years of disputes have not seriously hampered the core business of the company, and certainly not its expansion and penetration of new markets. Unlike the clueless board at Hewlett-Packard, all parties vying for control of Turkcell have proven themselves capable, and all want Turkcell to continue doing what it has been doing all along.
In most of the countries in which it operates, Turkcell is either the provider of choice or the fastest growing alternative. The mobility of their consumers (be they Turkish guest workers or Slavic tourists) has made them highly active in transnational aspects of the mobile industry – Turkcell currently maintains the most roaming agreements in the world. Their related work in establishing Internet services in developing regions and providing award-winning call center support also bodes well for future revenue streams diversified through clients worldwide. The recent partnership with SoundHound, a top-ranked music application with Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Android, and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), also shows that despite fights at the top, the business continues unabated.
In the US, long-term indentured servitude to a particular carrier is the norm, but most consumers in developing markets are pay-as-they-go and readily switch numbers or carry multiple devices to take advantage of fractional price differences. Moreover, an incredible amount of life and business are centered on people’s mobile devices in these markets (as they often lack or shun more involved home or office set ups). As emerging market consumers are young, fickle, and demanding about the services mobile carriers provide, Turkcell’s success is all the more impressive.
Nick Slepko has no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication.
Motley Fool newsletter services recommend Apple, Amazon.com and Google. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple, Amazon.com and Google. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.


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WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is doing his part to support small businesses.
Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha dropped in Saturday at Washington’s Politics and Prose bookstore and purchased what he said was a “long list” of books that included “The Kite Runner,” “Harold and the Purple Crayon,” and “The Sports Gene.”
The president bought 21 books in about 30 minutes, most of which was dedicated to chatting with other customers.
Obama didn’t say which of the books he intended to read and which were gifts. He said he bought a reader for every age, from 5 to 52 – his age.
The president sent a tweet earlier Saturday about the importance of supporting small businesses: “When our small businesses do well, our communities do well. Join me and visit a small business near you today to celebrate.”
The Saturday after Thanksgiving has become known as “Small Business Saturday.” It’s designed to drive business to mom-and-pop shops between the whirlwind of Black Friday sales offered by large retailers and Cyber Monday deals from online sellers.


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Local cigarette manufacturer Nyasa Manufacturing Company has confirmed that it is in discussion with government for a possible Public Private Partnership (PPP) in the manufacturing of cigarettes.
During the state of the nation address in May, President Joyce Banda announced that government will soon enter into partnership with Nyasa Manufacturing.
In an interview last week, Nyasa Manufacturing Managing Director Konrad Buckle said several meetings have already taken place with government officials, especially the Malawi Investment Trade Centre, on the proposed venture.
‚ÄúWe have very big plans with this partnership as we are looking at value addition. We would like to open a plant that will be able to blend and make cigarettes and a filter manufacturing plant.
‚ÄúThe good thing is that our raw material will be the locally produced tobacco,‚ÄĚ said Buckle.
He said within the region, there is potential business to export filters.
Buckle said that the company is ready to open up markets in 10 countries within the region for cigarette and filter exports.
He expects working capital for the venture to come from the Export Development Fund and that government is facilitating a grant for machinery from the Indian government.
MITC Interim Chief Executive Officer, Clement Kumbemba, also confirmed that the issue is indeed under discussion and that all stakeholders involved are doing their part.
He could, however, not be drawn into mentioning specifics before the partnership is established.
‚ÄúThese kind of partnerships go through a lot of procedures and departments. But what I can say is that all the departments are doing their job,‚ÄĚ said Kumbemba.
Minister of Trade Sosten Gwengwe also said it is too early at the moment to point at anything.
‚ÄúThere is nothing concrete yet. However, value addition remains the government‚Äôs priority. Apart from Nyasa, we are looking for more players to venture into value addition‚ÄĚ said Gwengwe. ‚Äď By Caroline Kandiero
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Airlines Reporting Corp.-accredited travel agency air ticket sales for May 2022 totaled $8.4 billion, an 8.2 percent month-over-month increase, ARC reported Thursday. That total represents the first time monthly sales have topped $8 billion since January 2020.
Leisure agencies are currently leading sales into the summer months, but international sales also showed strength in May, even prior to the US eliminating the need for Covid-19 testing prior to arrival. Month-over-month May results showed international trips increased 6 percent, total passenger trips decreased 1 percent, and US domestic trips decreased 1 percent.
“Demand remains strong for air travel heading into the summer travel season,” ARC VP of global customers and data products Steve Solomon said in a statement. “Now that the US inbound international testing requirement has been dropped, we anticipate international passenger trips to continue their upward trajectory.”
International trips settled by ARC in May increased 82 percent year over year to 8.4 million, while US domestic trips increased 28 percent to 14.3 million. Total passenger trips settled in May increased 43 percent year over year to 22.8 million.
US round-trip air ticket costs continued to increase in May and averaged $628, up from $585 in April, which had been the highest average ticket price recorded in the past seven years, according to ARC. Electronic miscellaneous document sales, which include fees for such ancillary products as upgraded seats and checked bags, increased 145 percent year over year in May to $17.1 million. The number of EMD transactions increased 64 percent to just over 244,700 over the same period.
ARC: April Average US Airfare Highest in Seven Years


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According to the website, both teams are said to have worked independently until 2015, when Apple wanted to launch a speaker without voice assistants until the Amazon Echo – but the echo changed this.
At the same time, Siri is said to have owned a hard-to-scale infrastructure that caused years of trouble. For example, the publication far exceeded expectations. The large rush of users worsened the functionality in addition, since the system was not designed for the large amounts of data. As a result, the Siri code was drastically changed so that you could lower the required servers for a component from 500 to 5. Even at Steve Jobs’ lifetime, Siri was to be released to developers, but the plans were postponed because the code was not ready yet. Therefore, the release took place much later.
While Apple took over the companies Topsy (2013) and VocalIQ (2015) in the following years to improve Siri and to solve the previous problems, the team learned behind the language assistant in 2015 from Apple’s HomePod. Together with employees of the Beats division, they are now also working on the speech recognition and the arrangement of the microphones.
Incidentally, Apple’s SVP Craig Federighi took over the Siri team last September. Under his leadership, the language assistant is now overcome the last technical hurdles and show his full potential. Maybe already at this year’s WWDC a first look into the future can be given.


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Click below to see a chart showing Jan 2023 Marketing Mail rates compared to the upcoming July 9 rate change.
Below to review a chart of First-Class mail rates from Jan 2023 compared to the July 9th rate request.
The USPS has recently filed for a second postal rate increase to take place on July 9th. Click below to see a proposed rate chart.
TransUnion forecasts serious credit card delinquencies to rise to 2.60% at the end of 2023 from 2.10% at the conclusion of 2022. Unsecured personal loan delinquency rates are expected to increase from 4.10% to 4.30% in the same timeframe. Serious auto loan delinquency rates are expected to modestly decline to 1.90% in 2023 from 1.95% in 2022.
TransUnion’s forecasts are based on various economic assumptions, such as expected consumer spending, disposable personal income, home prices, inflation, interest rates, real GDP growth rates and unemployment rates, among other metrics. The forecasts could change if there are unanticipated shocks to the economy, such as if COVID-19 disrupts recovery efforts, home prices unexpectedly fall or inflation continues to remain elevated through the next year. Better-than-expected improvements in the economy, such as potential increases in GDP and disposable income, could also impact these forecasts.
After two years of credit card and personal loan growth, despite serious delinquency rates that remained near pre-COVID levels, TransUnion predicts the consumer credit market will experience pronounced changes in 2023. TransUnion’s 2023 Consumer Credit Forecast projects delinquency rates for credit card and personal loans to rise to levels not seen since 2010. At the same time, demand for most lending products will remain high relative to pre-pandemic levels with the number of consumers securing auto and home equity loans increasing on an annual basis.
Despite a challenging macroeconomic environment, TransUnion’s new Consumer Pulse study found that more than half (52%) of Americans are optimistic about their financial future during the next 12 months. The youngest generations – Millennials (64%) and Gen Z (61%) – are most optimistic. The optimism levels are occurring against a backdrop wherein 82% of consumers believe the U.S. is currently in or will be in a recession before the end of 2023.
Rapidly increasing interest rates and stubbornly high inflation combined with recession fears represent the latest in a series of significant challenges consumers have faced in recent years. It’s not surprising then to see pronounced increases in delinquency rates for credit card and personal loans, two of the more popular credit products. Yet, many consumers – from a credit perspective – are in a better position than they were just a few years ago, equipped with credit they can use in case of more macroeconomic challenges. We expect demand for credit to continue to be high with lenders positioned well to meet it. While unemployment is likely to rise next year, it should remain relatively low, a key element for a healthy consumer credit market.
The first of two 2023 postal rate increases take effect on Sunday, January 22nd. Price adjustments vary depending on the product, and a few rates remain unchanged. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said that increases would be necessary to keep up with rising costs.
Click below to download a Marketing Mail Postal Rate Comparison chart.
Our Bankruptcy Leads help them sell an average of 15 additional cars a month.
They spent less than $60K (including postage) and generated over $360,000 in profit last year using our Bankruptcy Program.
We just completed a test program with another local dealership. We mailed 1,526 letters to people recently discharged out of bankruptcy. That generated 11 calls from 8 prospect which resulted in 3 cars purchased. That’s a 37.5% close rate! Cost per closed deal, including postage was only $522.
Our Special Finance Lead Program Works!
That’s because third-party cookies (small pieces of text sent to your browser that remembers information about websites you visit on the internet) are becoming extinct. Privacy regulations and laws are driving digital giants to stop the use of them. Apple’s latest update allows users to opt out of ad tracking, Firefox and Safari have already stopped storing cookies, and Google will phase them out of Chrome by 2023.
The loss of cookies will make it more difficult to target people who previously visited dealership’s websites making digital ads less personalized.
The good news is that dealerships have a treasure of data of their own. Customers’ emails, addresses, phone numbers, details of their automobiles and more. This data is collected through CRM systems and dealership websites. It’s known as first-party data.
Social media companies can continue to track their user activity within their own platforms which helps to build an audience and allow for retargeting through advertising directly through the platform such as Facebook or Instagram. Social media is facing extreme challenges with the newly introduced privacy options as Apple user opt out of ad tracking, social platforms lose their ability to identify their user locations.
With the recent change in size regulation for First-Class postcards (from 6 X 4.25 to 6 X 9), dealers are beginning to revisit direct mail.
Data compilers can help to “fill in” missing data from dealers first-party data through a reverse append. You provide us with your data, name/address/city/state/zip and we can append phone numbers, email addresses, and run the data through cleansing software that will update records based on the National Change of Address Database, standardize the address information, and check the addresses for accuracy.
On July 19th the PRC (The Postal Rate Commission) ruled that the Postal Service’s unprecedented price adjustment request for Market Dominant products was consistent with applicable laws and approved the increase to take effect August 29, 2021.
Click on the items below to see rate comparison charts or download a handy BEBdata Postal Rate Guide:
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is able to measure tone, tempo and other voice characteristics. Some systems compare those sounds to stored speech pattern libraries that define a plethora of human emotions to determine an individual’s emotional, mental or even physical health.
When this sound technology is used in conjunction with computer vision, the science that allows computers to gain a high-level understanding from digital images or videos, the applications become even more powerful. For example, imagine a vehicle that is able to hear a driver yawning and see the driving dozing off.
Research firm Gartner Inc predicts that within three years, 10% of personal devices will have emotion AI capabilities that include wearables (similar to a Fit Bit) that is able to monitor an individual’s mental health or video games that adapt to the players mood.


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During the spring, FSIS published a notice, along with a request for comments in the Federal Register, saying it would not determine whether meat and poultry products are adulterated and are able to be shipped in commerce until all test results have been received.
The government inspection agency says it is accepting comments on this notice setting this major change of policy for 90 days, until July 11. With possible changes to be made to the notice due to comments submitted by industry, consumer groups and other interested parties, it is highly unlikely mandatory “test-and-hold” will go into effect until late in 2011 or early in 2012. But there is no doubt plants will have to control their products while being sampled by FSIS or state inspection agencies, or even when their own testing takes place. According to an FSIS spokesman, after receiving and analyzing the comments, the agency will respond, make any appropriate changes to the policy and procedures, and announce the effective date of the new policy in a subsequent Federal Register notice.
The required test-and-hold procedure comes about as a result of a petition submitted in 2008 by the American Meat Institute to Richard Raymond, undersecretary for food safety at the time. The trade association asked Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack again a year later.
Three years before the petition was first submitted, AMI, the American Association of Meat Processors, which represents mostly small and very small meat and poultry processors, and six other national trade groups published Industry Best Practices for Holding Tested Products, which provided guidance for plants to hold raw and ready-to-eat products until test results about the safety of the products are received. Copies of ‘Best Practices’, printed by AMI, were sent to every federally inspected plant in the US. AAMP announced its availability to its members, including federally and state-inspected plants, custom and retail-exempt establishments, and distributed it at affiliate meetings. Other participating trade associations distributed it to their own members.
Mandatory test and hold
Although FSIS has recommended all plants hold products while they are being tested, it never mandated it until now. That is because for years, it strongly urged plants to take this action, and because national and state trade associations have urged their members to do this.
But once it became apparent that meat and poultry product recalls were taking place due to processing establishments shipping products to customers while samples of those lots were being tested for pathogens and adulterants, there was no doubt what FSIS would do. The agency decided to make the policy mandatory in order to eliminate recalls that wouldn’t have taken place if product had been held. Undersecretary for Food Safety Dr. Elisabeth Hagen noted, “We have had the recommendation out there for industry for some time, and industry has established this as a best practice shared among many members. I think we’ve looked at the data, and we’ve looked at how many recalls could have been prevented, and at this point, we thought this was the right thing to do.”
She says 44 recalls occurring between 2007 and 2009 could have been prevented if product had been held until test results came back. The recommendation also came as part of recommendations by President Obama’s Food Safety Working Group, which is making efforts to modernize America’s food-safety system.
But “test-and-hold” has posed great challenges to some plants, especially small and very small operations. They include small plant owners who sell products on the same day for immediate use; establishments making products with a short shelf-life; plants with little or no space to store product while waiting for test results.
Mark Dopp, AMI senior vice president for regulatory affairs and the agency’s legal counsel, says AMI prefers to call the practice “controlling” the product, rather than “holding” it until it comes back negative from testing. He says there are numerous ways for meat and poultry plants to control tested product until results are known.
“The simplest example would be sending beef trimmings being shipped somewhere else for grinding,” he says. “The product could be put into a truck onto the road, kept in the first company’s control until the results of the test being done on the lot come back negative. The central issue here is, whether the company producing the product has control of it until the results come back. The product could also be sealed, with the key being not put into commerce.”
The AMI petition was precipitated by increasing numbers of recalls. “If you go back and look at the recalls taking place because of product being turned over to customers before test results, you’ll see it wasn’t so muchE. coliO157:H7, but ready-to-eat [RTE] product calls, including Listeria,” he says. Dopp adds the increasing numbers of recalls were starting to draw more attention on Capitol Hill in Washington. Members of Congress were wondering if more attention needed to be paid to food safety, including possibly tougher inspection laws and regulations. This concern on “The Hill” was leading meat and poultry trade associations to the conclusion something needed to be done beyond “encouraging” meat and poultry plants to hold products being tested by USDA. “There was a feeling out there that industry was not really acting in a responsible way, especially if product wasn’t being controlled until testing came back negative,” Dopp says. That feeling resulted in the AMI petition for mandatory “test and hold.”
But that doesn’t make “test-and-hold” easy for everyone, especially small and very small establishments. Jay Wenther, executive director of AAMP, which has supported “test-and-hold” for a long time, says some processors struggle with the process if they make short shelf-life products because the product can’t be held long enough to await test results. “I don’t believe FSIS has really addressed this issue, or in some cases may believe the overall benefit to the industry outweighs the hardship these processors will have to deal with.”
Another issue could be failing to satisfy customer orders because of holding the product. Wenther isn’t sure if filling customer orders when product is being sampled by FSIS will be an issue or not.
“When an inspector gets the request to take the sample, they are typically given 30 days to get the sample,” he says. “Over the years, it has been well-established the inspection personnel are supposed to work with the establishment management so that production is not interrupted significantly, but FSIS gets the sample they are wanting. It’s easier when there is no regulation to deal with, or when a plant and inspector can decide on their own about the timing of the testing or sampling of products, worked out with the plant’s schedule or production requirements.
“But I think this regulation will make establishments take a closer look at their production practices, develop a system that works for them, and communicate with their customers about just-in-time orders,” he adds. “When there is a regulation, the complexity goes up, because FSIS could say, ‘This is the way everyone should do it.’ ”
He notes inspection personnel already work with establishment management to get the samples. There were some initial problems regarding FSIS sampling methods, he says, but over the years that has been greatly improved. “Rarely do I hear of problems regarding this issue,” he says.
Wenther raises one method to avoid problems when a product is being held due to testing. “It depends on the product being tested. If FSIS is taking a ground beef sample forE. coliO157:H7 testing, the establishment could grind a smaller batch of ground beef, stop, clean up, document the sample information and the sanitation procedures, switch source material and produce another lot of product. This would mean less product would be held and production wasn’t hindered by taking the sample,” he says.
While he agrees recalls have spurred the move to mandatory “test-and-hold” practices in the meat and poultry industry, he asserts some recalls that have taken place could not have been avoided simply by retaining control of product.
Wenther criticizes one idea advanced a few years ago to make it easier for very small establishments to carry out “test and hold” successfully. That would involve one company asking another company – a competitor – to make the product for distribution while the first company’s product is undergoing FSIS sampling. “That’s kind of ridiculous,” he says. Another problem, he says, is withholding the mark of inspection and not having pre-shipment review until test results are returned could result in a company manager forgetting to sign off on pre-shipment after the test results come back.
But there are some practices that would make testing and holding product easier and more successful for plants of all sizes, including very small and small ones. AMI’s Dopp says FSIS will permit product to move before test results come back from the agency, as long as product is being controlled by the first establishment, and not yet turned over to a customer. This would include product being shipped in trucks on the road, moving from one location to another.
“The product has to still be under the control of the original establishment, and not yet sold to another customer for further processing or utilization,” he says. “We wanted to eliminate the circumstance where a plant knows it’s been sampled, but hasn’t gotten the result yet, which would result in a recall if the test was positive.”
Dopp notes once or twice in past years, a product was being controlled by the establishment, but got shipped to the customer inadvertently. “That’s just a mistake and people will make mistakes,” he says. “But if you look at the USDA press releases describing recalls, you’ll see many of them indicating the company didn’t hold the product.”
AAMP’s Wenther points to freezing tested, finished products, resulting in a longer shelf-life, or coming up with new systems to identify and track materials based on their supplier or lot – these are some adjustments that could be made to help establishments control tested product. Plants could also take other steps to control tested product, including keeping tested product separated from other products, and working with FSIS inspectors to arrange advance notification (up to 30 days) when samples are taken. “We’ve found is when our members make changes, such as issuing specific guidelines for their operation or using tags to identify lots and shippers, they realize holding the product is a good business practice that can be accomplished,” Wenther says.
An FSIS spokesman says the agency appreciates the concern some very small establishments might lose products or experience disruption in business activities. FSIS inspector notification to the plant of sampling activities ahead of time would help plants deal with this concern. The agency is also seeking additional suggestions in comments to the “test-and-hold” notice.
The better alternative
Dopp says the mandatory test-and-hold regulation is the best way for industry to handle this situation, protecting both itself and consumers. “This rule avoids really bad legislation, which would be a much worse problem to deal with,” he says.
Wenther hopes most of his members have “test and hold” plans in place. But he believes the rigidity of the regulation will be a factor when it is implemented, making it harder for inspectors to avoid hurting a company schedule when they sample.
“I’m sure there will be complications, but if the industry and the agency can work together, we will get through the complications,” he says.
Bernard Shire is a contributing editor based in Lancaster, Pa. Shire also works as a food safety consultant and writer for Shire & Associates LLC.


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Take-Two has reported in a recent report that Rockstar’s open world has already sold more than 45 million copies, while the sum of total sales of the saga amounts to 68 million.
Total sales for Red Dead Redemption 2 were recently updated by Take-Two Interactive in a Q1 2023 financials report and the numbers couldn’t be more positive for this Wild West-set adventure. Currently, the open world title developed by Rockstar Games has already managed to sell a whopping 45 million units worldwide – 44 million were reported in May – if we add the copies sold in all available versions: PC, Xbox One and Playstation 4.
As if that were not enough, the same report highlights that the saga as a whole has already sold more than 68 million units worldwide and that Red Dead Redemption 2 remains the second best-selling title in the United States in the last five years based on sales in dollars. Additionally, it should be noted that in the same Take-Two report it has been reported that Grand Theft Auto V is very close to reaching 170 million units sold worldwide. On the other hand, it is believed that the RDR 2 update for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S would have been postponed in favor of the development of Grand Theft Auto VI.


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Car buyers would probably pay the cost of those tariffs.
“We believe the tariffs on vehicles would undoubtedly be passed on to consumers,” wrote Emmanuel Rosner, auto analyst for Deutsche Bank. If the Trump administration enforces the full 25% tariff, it would increase the price of vehicles sold in the United States by an average of about $1,300, Rosner said.
That price increase would hurt demand for cars, perhaps cutting US auto production by as much as 3 million vehicles a year, an 18% drop from current levels, Rosner estimates.
If that happened, it would be the greatest blow to the US auto industry since the Great Recession sent the industry hurling toward near collapse 10 years ago.
Mexico is by far the largest foreign source of parts used by the industry. About 16% of all auto parts used by US assembly plants come from Mexico, according to an estimate from the Center for Automotive Research, a leading industry think tank.
Automakers can’t easily shift to other suppliers to avoid using parts from Mexico. Mexican parts suppliers specialize in providing low-cost, labor-intensive components, which don’t make economic sense to build elsewhere, said Kristin Dziczek, vice president of industry, labor and economics at the center.
For example, 70% of wire harnesses, the collection of wires that carry power throughout a vehicle, come from Mexico. Few if any wire harnesses are made in the United States. Much of the rest of the harnesses arrive at the US-Mexican border from countries south of Mexico.
“You can’t build the whole car and slap the wire harness in later. This is a big critical part that shuts down the assembly line if you don’t have it.”
A 25% tariff on all imports from Mexico would add about $28 billion a year to the cost of completed vehicles and parts.
Automakers are strong supporters of the new trade deal that the Trump administration negotiated with Mexico and Canada designed to replace NAFTA. That trade agreement, the US Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA), would continue to allow most auto parts and vehicles to cross the border in both directions without tariffs. But it needs Congressional ratification before it takes effect.
The USMCA “relies on duty-free access to be successful. The imposition of tariffs against Mexico will undermine its positive impact and would impose significant cost on the US auto industry,” said Matt Blunt, president of the American Automotive Policy Council, an industry group representing GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler.
Costs would rise even further if Mexico responds by imposing tariffs of its own on American goods. That would be a double blow to the US auto industry, because Mexico is a major market for both its cars and its parts.
More importantly, US parts makers shipped another $32.5 billion worth of parts to Mexico, mostly to use in Mexican auto plants.


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In three months’ time, Goodwill Industries has opened three stores, in Placerville, South Lake Tahoe and on Sacramento’s Alta Arden Expressway, but regional CEO Joseph Mendez told me that the store debuts aren’t over yet.
Goodwill soon will open its first store in Elk Grove and a second in Sparks, Nev. When Mendez and his team launched the 23,000-square-foot Sacramento store, at 2040 Alta Arden Expressway, about a month ago, they closed a 12,500-square-foot site on Fulton Avenue and now will convert their 20,000-square-foot Arden store into a furniture-only outlet.
The big expansion results from Goodwill finding spaces that fit into its board’s vision for growth, Mendez said.
“We’ve had these stores on the books as communities we’ve wanted to enter for the last several years, and the opportunities presented themselves,” he said. “The board decided to move forward to take advantage of the market. They just all fell together at the same time. It’s intentional, though. They were targeted communities where we could offer new service or consolidate.”
In Placerville, for instance, Goodwill has worked for years with the El Dorado Food Bank to offer services, but it wanted a physical presence in the county where it could provide on-the-job training. It opened Thursday at 3868 Forni Road.
“We’re working with the Health and Human Services Department to place unemployed and underemployed individuals into jobs, both in retail and also with our career path programs in custodial and security fields,” he said. “We’re exploring the expansion of out-of-school youth programs, and we’re also working with the indigenous tribe up there.”
Mendez estimated that the new stores will increase overall revenue by 16 percent. The nonprofit Goodwill Industries of the Sacramento Valley and Northern Nevada expects revenue to hit $75 million this year. Roughly 93 percent of those funds go toward offering mission-related services and care to unemployed, homeless, hungry and disabled people in the region. …
Cooking up a startup: Siblings Greg and Liz Connolly, reared in Granite Bay, have spent time apart building startup businesses, but a little more than a year ago they decided to team up on Trifecta Nutrition.
The Connollys deliver cooked, 100 percent organic meals to their customers’ doorsteps. They launched in August 2015, and without any advertising, shipped 2,360 meals. By May of this year, their company was delivering 310,000 meals per month.
“The idea behind the company is to completely reimagine how people eat,” Greg said. “All of us … struggle with eating healthy every day.”
He and Liz recently moved their fast-growing business’ headquarters to Davis and have also opened offices in West Sacramento for marketing, customer service and sales employees.
Partnerships with existing businesses have allowed Trifecta Nutrition to expand quickly, Greg explained. The company has gotten referrals from Paleo Diet, PaleoHacks, Vegetarian Resource Group, Six Pack Meals and celebrity athletes.
“We have all these people who are already talking to everybody about what they should be eating and how they should be exercising,” Greg said. “Rather than us trying to reinvent the wheel, they refer those people to us, and we use sophisticated software to track who they’ve sent us, and we pay them a small fee when those people actually buy meal plans from us.”
The biggest challenge for Americans, Greg said, is that they don’t have enough time to cook three meals a day. Americans work 137 more hours per year than the Japanese, 260 hours more than the Brits and 499 more hours than the French, he said.
“We are still to this day one of the most productive people on the planet,” he said. “We still have a higher per-capita productivity than China.”


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Most traditional financial firms to be irrelevant by 2030
Tue 30 Oct 2018
Digitalization will make 80 percent of traditional banks and financial services firms irrelevant by 2030, according to a new Gartner report
Digital transformation is well underway and is being heralded as an opportunity and necessity for firms in all industries to maintain a competitive edge. But Gartner says heritage firms in the financial sector are struggling to cope with disruptive fintechs like P2P lenders, and are underestimating the impact of new technologies like blockchain.
The findings come on the back of Gartner’s 2018 CEO survey, which canvassed CEO opinion across all industries. Gartner says the survey found traditional financial firms’ have worrying attitudes towards new technologies.
A chief concern is that traditional financial CEOs are electing to optimise existing business efficiency and productivity instead of fully embracing transformation and modernising their business models.
According to Gartner, only 20 percent of traditional firms will remain as “winners”.
David Furlonger, vice president at Gartner, said time is of the essence if these firms are to avoid fading into irrelevance.
“Digital transformation is largely a myth as institutional mindsets, processes and structures stand firm,” he said.
“Established financial services providers will have to move faster on digital business by building digital platforms or finding niche products and services to sell on others’ platforms.”
Perhaps the biggest disruptor to traditional models is blockchain technology. Much has been made of how the interparty trust blockchain cultivates eschews the relevance of intermediaries that bloat incumbent financial firms.
In addition, peer-to-peer consensus algorithms can directly match borrowers to those with money, without requiring a bank to mediate.
By focusing on optimisation, Gartner’s findings reveal that trad-firms simply haven’t acknowledged the logical and transformative implications of the technology.
However, Gartner vice president Pete Redshaw said CIOs are guilty of putting ‘too much focus on technology’.
“They should push their organisations for a more coherent response to digital business — it’s important to set the digital vision and destination first, then think about how to lead an organisation there.”
Of the 20 percent of firms that will remain relevant, Gartner says three types — power-law firms (those that own a digital platform), fintechs, and long-tail firms (service brokers) — will flourish.
Senthil Ravindran, EVP and global head of xLabs at Virtusa, leads a team that helps financial firms adapt to the changes digitalization brings. He says banks and financial institutions need to act fast and do more.
“Emerging disruptive tech – such as AI/machine learning, robotics, AR/VR and blockchain – are building on the foundations laid by technologies like mobile and cloud, and beginning to change legacy banking models,” he said.
“We are seeing early adopters even amongst the large, established banks build new business models around these technologies. Banks should also be looking to form collaborations with fintechs and banking startups that have the expertise in technology, but less experience of financial services.”


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The price of a play is going up from £2 to £2.50. And the chance of scooping the jackpot is increasing from one in 117million to one in 140m as the number of “lucky stars” to pick from is increased from 11 to 12.
That means the odds of winning the jackpot are worse than:
● Being struck by lightning twice (1 in 25m).
● FIFA hosting the 2026 World Cup in space (1 in 50m.)
● Having three sets of identical twins (1 in 12m)
“We are hoping to make 250 UK millionaires in the next year.”Camelot retail director Sally Cowdry
● Wayne Rooney becoming the next Prime Minister (1 in 1m)
● Team GB winning every gold medal at Rio 2016 1( in 100m) And in a further slap in the face to UK players of the Europe-wide game, gamblers on the continent paying in euros will cough up less for a line – around £2.10.
Exciting The shock moves come just nine months after Camelot brought in hated changes to the UK Lotto by increasing the price to £2 and adding 10 more numbers.
Bosses said the EuroMillions changes would create bigger jackpots and would help out more good causes.
And they said two UK millionaires would be guaranteed in every draw.
Camelot retail director Sally Cowdry said she hoped people would accept the price hike because of the big money nature of the game.
She added: “EuroMillions has always been a big-value game and the exciting changes we are bringing in can only be enabled by the change in price and extra lucky star.
“What is important to remember is that there will be two guaranteed UK millionaires winners every draw.
“We are hoping to make 250 UK millionaires in the next year.”
But angry EuroMillions players flocked to social media saying they would never buy another ticket.
Kris Kro said: “This is absolute madness. I will not be playing again”.


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TTM Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTMI), a maker of electrical components, has issued its second-quarter report. TTMI rose $22.35 percent to $16.53 on August 4 due to increased sales, stronger profitability, and promising prospects.
TTM Technologies’ sales last quarter were $625.6 million, up from $567.4 million the previous year. Earnings per share under GAAP were $27.8 million, or $0.27 per share. Operating cash flow increased by almost $20 million to $79.3 million. The corporation concluded a $100 million share repurchase program.
In the North American market, TTMI reported robust commercial demand and better profits. By completing the acquisition of Telephonics Corporation, the corporation also diversified its operations.
TTM Technologies, Inc. (TTMI) now offers a diverse variety of solutions to the aerospace and military industries. This segment is expected to produce around 40% of revenue while providing sustainable long-term growth and less cyclicality than the commercial segment.
TTMI also wants to increase manufacturing levels and has begun building on a new factory in Malaysia. This factory will manufacture a huge quantity of multilayer printed circuit boards for regional clients.
TTM Technologies, Inc. (TTMI) now manufactures printed circuit boards, radio frequency (RF) modules, and other components for automotive, aerospace, defense, and space applications.
TTMI anticipates sales of $655- $695 million and net income of $0.41- $0.47 per share in the current third quarter. The firm continues to benefit from the global economy’s digital revolution and the rising need for tiny high-performance devices.
TTMI stock has traded in a 5-day range of $13.34 to $17.48, with a total performance of +24.02 percent. Meanwhile, during the last month, this stock has moved in a range of $11.55 to $17.48, representing a +41.01 percent change. This stock’s price has moved by +16.53 percent in the last three months, moving in the range of $11.53 to $17.48.


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Microsoft is now permitting Groups customers to create a 3D avatar to make use of in conferences as a substitute of being on digicam and even needing a webcam. Initially announced in 2021, Microsoft has been testing these 3D avatars over the previous yr and is now prepared to permit Microsoft Groups customers to strive them out in public preview in the present day.
“Avatars for Microsoft Groups affords a substitute for the present binary possibility of video or no video,” says Avery Salumbides, a product advertising and marketing supervisor at Microsoft, in a weblog submit in the present day. “Avatars for Groups provides you that much-needed digicam break, whereas nonetheless permitting you to collaborate successfully.”
These new avatars in Microsoft Groups will animate based mostly in your vocal cues alone, so if you happen to occur to be utilizing a PC that doesn’t have a webcam, these will nonetheless operate simply superb. Microsoft is kicking off the general public preview in the present day and goals to roll these avatars out broadly in May.
Microsoft has been testing these avatars, powered by the corporate’s Microsoft Mesh platform, in non-public preview over the previous six months and is now including a brand new lighting system to enhance avatar pores and skin and hair look. New customization choices additionally embrace bindis and listening to aids so you may customise your avatar extra precisely.
Microsoft’s avatars will even animate if you use Groups emoji reactions. When you use the increase a hand function in a gathering, then your Groups avatar will increase their hand, and it’ll even deal with a thumbs-up response, too.
Microsoft is especially planning to make use of these avatars in its Microsoft Mesh integration in Groups for 3D conferences. Mesh is a collaborative platform that features digital avatars tailored from Microsoft’s acquisition of AltspaceVR — a social VR platform it shut down earlier this month. Microsoft has additionally partnered with Meta to roll out a VR experience for Teams with appropriate headsets to permit folks to carry conferences in VR with 3D avatars.


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Turns out Instagram isn’t just for posting pictures of cats or your lunch; the art world is increasingly using it for buying and selling pricey pieces.
Christie’s top deal maker (who resigned from the auction house this month), Brett Gorvy, has found particular success using Instagram. After posting a Jean-Michel Basquiat painting of boxing champion Sugar Ray Robinson, he got multiple legit queries and the piece sold two day later for $24 million — significantly more than it did by traditional means in 2007 when it was auctioned for $7.3 million.
“In this marketplace everyone is looking for an edge,” Gorvy told Bloomberg recently. “It just shows you the power of social media and the transformation of how people are buying.”
Gorvy further explained most of his clients are on Instagram, adding, “That’s where the future is. It’s now, it’s happening.”
Indeed monied art collectors Andy Hall, Dan Sundheim and Yusaku Maezawa are among the site’s users. They are in good company: according to a survey by London-based Hiscox Ltd., online sales of art reached $3.27 billion last year with half of buyers surveyed using Instagram. [Bloomberg]