Business Tips

Calif. renewable energy goals come at a price

November 20th, 2011

California’s increasing use of renewable power will come at a price, pushing up electricity bills across the state.

And while it’s impossible to tell how big the cost to consumers will be, some experts fear the total cost of renewable energy in California will be in the billions of dollars.

In the next three years, many long-planned solar plants and wind farms will come online, bringing California closer to its goal of getting one-third of the state’s electricity from renewable sources by 2020. As soon as they start delivering power to utility companies, the utilities’ customers will start paying for that electricity.

But the public doesn’t get to see the prices the utilities are paying. And without that information, assessing the impact on consumers is difficult at best.

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Tags: Price

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Phil Fernandez of Marketo: Conducting The Orchestra

November 16th, 2011

Breaking through the noise requires coordinated communication to attract prospects, turn them into leads and ultimately convert them into buyers. Phil Fernandez, CEO and co-founder of Marketo, likes to think of marketing automation as the orchestra conductor and he firmly believes in that old saying, “It’s cheaper to keep a customer than to acquire a customer.”

In this interview, Phil spoke with Brent Leary about how the sweet music of marketing automation can simplify the process for even the smallest businesses.

Small Business Trends: Can you tell us about your background and Marketo?

Phil Fernandez: For the last 20 years I have been working on the intersection of technology and marketing. I hav

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Tags: Marketo, Phil Fernandez

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Wall Street Slides on Week as Euro Debt Fears Strike

November 15th, 2011

Despite posting a subdued performance on Friday, the markets were pummeled this week as anxiety has ballooned that Europe’s debt crisis is rapidly sweeping through global economies.

Today’s Markets

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 25.4 points, or 0.22%, to 11,796, the SP 500 fell 0.48 point, or 0.04%, to 1,216 and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 15.5 points, or 0.6%, to 2,572.

After sustaining powerful selloffs in the past two sessions, trading was relatively calm on Friday. Still, the broad SP 500 slid 3.8%, the Nasdaq tumbled 4% and the Dow shed 2.9% for the week. The Nasdaq and SP are also now down for the year, while the blue chips are still in positive territory.

On the day, Hewlett-Packard and Boeing jumped more than 2%, while sliding Chevron and Microsoft proved to be a counterbalance.

On a broader level, utilities, consumer-driven stocks and basic materials shares also performed well.

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Tags: Week, Week Euro

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What is “rest” in a home loan?

November 14th, 2011

To understand how a home loan works one needs to understand what a rest means. A rest is the interval at which the remainder of the loan amount is recalculated as you repay the loan. This is relevant only in the case of a reducing balance loan as opposed to a flat rate interest loan. These regular intervals or Rests can be yearly, monthly or even daily.

Financial institutions have various parameters surrounding the loan amount detailing the manner in which the loan is repaid. A Rest is nothing but the regular interval at which the loan amount balance is recalculated and also refers to the periodicity of compounding. This can be possible only in the case of reducing balance loan amounts.

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Tags: Home Loan, Loan

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Bamboo bike maker stakes a place at Venturefest Yorkshire 2012

November 12th, 2011

A MANUFACTURER of bamboo-framed bicycles is the first company to secure a place at Venturefest Yorkshire 2012.

Bamboo Bikes, which manufactures its bamboo mountain-bike frames in Scarborough, will showcase its products to potential investors at the annual science and technology exhibition on February 8.

Bamboo Bikes, which was launched last month by 30-year-old cyclist, Rachel Hammond, is currently completing its first orders for the Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative, which has six stores in Scotland and the north of England.

She first saw the bamboo bike concept, which had launched in the United States, at an exhibition and knew it would be a great product to make available in the UK.

Rachel said: “Bamboo is lighter than traditional steel frames, yet has a higher tensile strength. I

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Tags: 2012, Venturefest Yorkshire, Venturefest Yorkshire 2012, Yorkshire 2012

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Workshops at York St John University during York Business Week

November 8th, 2011

GAINING a business advantage through psychology will be the subject of a series of workshops launched by York St John University during York Business Week.

The Psychological Advantage workshops, run by Frances Dodd, senior lecturer and chartered psychologist in business psychology, will provide practical and professional development in recruitment and selection, stress management, coaching and mentoring, building your team, time management, and presentation skills.

The workshops, aimed at small-to-medium-sized businesses, start in January 2012, but Frances will launch the concept at York Business Week’s Creating Opportunities event, being held at the Hospitium, in the Museum Gardens, York, on Monday, from 4.30pm to 7.30pm.

Tags: Business Week, Week, York Business, York Business Week

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