Microsoft bought LinkedIn... and it should not be underestimated, nor should it be dismissed by thinking it will work out “just as well” as the Nokia acquisition. LinkedIn is often believed to be just a web site where people look for jobs. It's not! Some of the more interesting resources are the investor conference call, the press release, and Powerpoint presentation. My favorite podcast, The Missing Link, had some very practical insights about what this means to LinkedIn's 400+ million users. Anyone in B2B sales needs to stay on top of this, especially when selling to enterprise-level businesses where LinkedIn functionality will be built into many corporate information technologies.

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Digital Signage Today had an article about why restaurant kiosks won't replace employees. The common wisdom is that kiosks are the answer to the increased costs of payroll, especially the minimum wage. But kiosks may not even make a dent compared to ordering by smartphone. The word “phone” is not even mentioned in the article. Starbucks already is getting about 25% of its sales, and payments, through its mobile app. Your phone is your kiosk!

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One of the reasons for Starbucks success has been its rewards programs. eMarketer reports that 57% of US marketers are planning to increase their investments in rewards programs, with 13% claiming the increase will be significant. Do your customers have rewards programs? These programs can be great opportunities for multichannel projects involving digital media and digital printing.

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The American Enterprise Institute published its map of the US states but labeled as countries of the world with equivalent GDPs. For example, Oklahoma is labeled as Portugal, because the GDP of Portugal is about the same size as the GDP of Oklahoma. If they were countries, California would be the sixth largest and Texas would be the tenth largest in the world. I wish I had this chart when I was teaching business! There is an assumption among the US general public (what used to be called “the man in the street”) that all countries are about the same size as the US. One of the reasons is that this aspect of economics is not as important day to day information like the prices of food or the nature of their wages are. The map is a great conversation starter about the nature and scope of international business and is worth reading and saving.