The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee has released a report slamming the online business practices of three direct marketing companies -- Affinion, Vertrue and Webloyalty -- along with hundreds of online Web sites and retailers that participate in these practices. Many of the participating retailers are well-known brand names, such as Classmates.com, Hotwire and 1-800-Flowers.com.

Many years ago, when the idea of women in professional roles in business was much more novel that it is today, magazines were eager to profile female pioneers. As a very young managing director in one of the then-prominent management consulting companies, I received lots of requests for interviews.

One of the first was from a major, serious business magazine. The writer conducted a lengthy interview on topics ranging from the nature of the work I was doing with my clients, my observations on key trends and evolving issues, the challenges of diversity in the workforce, and yes . . . a then-hot button of topic of women traveling. (For those of you too young to remember, this was an often-stated objection to women entering the business world: who knew what might happen if women were allowed to travel around the country with male colleagues!)

I waited eagerly for this very important profile to be published. When it ran, the sub-head was: "Business Woman Enjoys Clean Sheets." The gist of the story left the impression that busy female executives have no time for housework and escape to hotels for a respite of cleanliness (presumably leaving their poor families in squalor).

I admit I had casually mentioned, as the interview was winding up and my hair was down, that there were some plusses to traveling — for example, I enjoyed the occasional opportunity to visit new places and stay in nice hotels with starchy linen sheets. The sheet part turned out to be the only point from our lengthy interview that made the cut.

I learned a critical lesson about the media — one that Sarah Palin really should have learned long ago. Good stories have a point of view. They are not rambling accumulations of every possible fact and detail. Information that is not relevant to the particular story is not used. Context is not necessarily provided. This is the hallmark of good journalism, not bad.

In my case, the journalist was writing a story about the difficulties women in business experience while traveling. That was the point he set out to explore. He didn't include our lengthy discussion that might have positioned me as bright or thoughtful — that was not the topic of that particular story.

I understand and respect this. My kids sometimes complain that I leave out a lot of context when I write posts here (primarily the explanations behind the stories I tell you about them). I agree that I do — if it's not relevant to the point I'm making. I don't intentionally distort the facts, but I don't necessarily surround them with extensive explanatory context regarding why they got into the predicament they did. It is not relevant.

The blogosphere has been filled with people from every political persuasion, including many liberal democrats (even the ladies on The View) arguing that it was inappropriate for Newsweek to use a photo of Palin that had been taken for a runners magazine on its cover. By doing so, they argue, Newsweek demonstrated bias.

In my view, Newsweek published a story expressing a provocative point of view — one you may or may not agree with — that raises interesting issues in a compelling way. The photo they chose is an apt illustration for this particular story.

Choosing information or photos to support a particular story is not (certainly not automatically) a demonstration of bias. ABC's Evening News has a "Person of the Week" feature in which they only discuss the individual's positive characteristics. No one worries that they don't also say, "of course, this person has also done a few bad things in their life." Are they biased? No — they are focusing on the facts that are relevant to the point they're making.

The bottom line is that the control we have over the way we are portrayed is limited to our choice over what to express or make public in the first place. Once we have said something or posed for photos in a particular outfit, the information is fair game. To think that writers will not use any available information to support the point of view expressed in a particular story fails to grasp the fundamental nature of good journalism.

As individuals, we need to recognize that there are some aspects of our life that we just shouldn't make public, if they conflict with the image we want to have portrayed. You may view it as unfair; I view it pragmatically as the reality of an effective fourth estate.

Sarah Palin should not pose in any outfit she feels fails to present her as a serious political thinker, if that's indeed the image she wants to portray. I don't care if the photo is for her child's nursery school bulletin — once it's out there, its public and fair game for re-use in a context for which it was not intended.

And believe me, I've never spoken of my love for hotel sheets again. Uh, until now.

If Activision is to be believed, then its new "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" video game has blown away all competition with the lethality of a Javelin missile plowing through Russian terrorists. Included in the smoking wreckage: not just previous gaming bestsellers like "Grand Theft Auto IV" and "Halo 3," but also the mangled corpses of Batman and Harry Potter.

As a proposed health care reform bill sits in the Senate, many small businesses are wondering how they would be impacted if it were passed. According to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the increasing cost of health care is the No. 1 problem for businesses. But would this bill provide a solution to the problem? Not every American thinks it would, including some small business groups.

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David Spinks is the Community Manager for Scribnia, where the world’s bloggers and columnists are reviewed by their readers. He also blogs at The Spinks Blog about business, careers and professional communities. There is an almost overwhelming number of options on the social web for businesses to create and participate in communities. You hear a [...]

When we meet people in person, there are often clues as to the person’s identity, and sometimes there are real life tokens of identification. But when we connect online, those clues often don’t exist, leading us to wonder if the person is really who they say they are? What makes a merchant or a connection online real? There are some basic steps, like having your Facebook or Twitter pages link back to a page on your official company site that, in turn, notes your official presence on those social sites. But for some people, that’s not enough. This is one of the problems that PeoplePond.com is trying to solve. When someone from a social network connects with you, how do you know that this particular “John Smith” is the John Smith who you met at the chamber of commerce meeting, or at college? PeoplePond http://peoplepond.com president Theron McCollough told me they have 2 products. “PeoplePond is a Brand and Identity management tool. There’s lots of noise on the net, this is a place where people can have their own jump-off point. It’s all the information that you want others to see, and a very robust living document for you. Since People are acting like corporations, and corporations are trying to be like people (making one-to-one connections), CompanyPond http://www.companypond.com/ creates a profile for all company online presences, with links to all the people who are legitimately part of your company.” Follow the links and you can verify that this is Theron, who works for PeoplePond, and it’s confirmed on the company page. Tools are also available to show this information on Facebook and blogging platforms. Here’s an example of Roderick Peterson, who has a verified profile. And, Fort Wayne Web Design lists Chad Pollitt on it’s company page as one of its’ employees, via his PeoplePond profile. McCullough told me the sites help startups and small businesses because “Having all your web presences listed in one place helps you manage them more effectively and helps you market and promote more effectively. If we look at building trust online – this helps show that you are who you say you are, everywhere you are online.” If you want people to have a higher level of confidence that you are who you say you are, for a fee your information is run through a 3rd party verification process improving the odds that it’s you – though this verification is not as extensive as a credit check. PeoplePond provides a badge that shows you’ve been verified, and you can put it on your website. In the future, McCollough said, they’ll be “Pushing identity account ownership beyond the PeoplePond site." Additionally, having this profile may help your search engine rankings as it aggregates information about you, and points to all the places you ‘exist’ online. This could be helpful for a new company starting out and trying to build their name and search rank, as well as for a professional trying to improve where their own name shows up on search results. What things do you do to show your customers you are really behind your own Facebook, Twitter, or Blog page? Share in the comments below.

Hiring and retaining great employees is a key factor in the success of your business. Without the right people with the right skills, your business can’t consistently fulfill your customer’s needs. Great employees support your business success and also allow you, the business owner, to fulfill your role as the entrepreneurial leader. Without effective managers to lead and organize the work of the business, and technicians to do the work, you wouldn’t have the time to focus on the critical strategy that drives your business.

Imagine what kind of workplace your business would be if you successfully implemented a positive, defined system, so that your employees could think to themselves:

• "I’m excited about my work.”
• “This is a place where I can achieve my goals.”
• “I feel safe. It’s okay to make a mistake, and I will learn from it.”
• “I have some great ideas on how to improve things. I can’t wait to share them with my manager.”

To make that happen, you have to create a work environment where your people can evolve with you as they help your business grow. “People development” has everything to do with creating a workplace where people motivate themselves to do better, feel valued for doing well, and are constantly looking for ways to move beyond their limitations and do better.

The Employee Development Meeting

The Employee Development Meeting is the best system for creating true growth for each and every employee, as well as better results for the business. It is a regularly-scheduled meeting between an employee and their direct supervisor that creates true growth for each and every employee, as well as better results for the business.

The Employee Development Meeting is:

• A forum for discussion, problem-solving, conflict resolution, and planning that leaves your employees feeling listened to and empowered to take action

• A time to discuss current work in order to: make agreements for work to be accomplished, prioritize and discuss any exceptions, exchange substantive information, clarify procedures and results, and conduct other follow-up related to current work
• A coaching session that helps people stay on a productive track and focused on their Primary Aims and their personal and professional objectives, so their experience in your business becomes more positive and meaningful

Managers are likely the busiest people within an organization. When you take into account their performance objectives, meetings, project work and employee management responsibilities, it’s quite understandable why they are always the ones rushing about the office. At a typical 10-50 person company, the CEO and the staff employees are actually able to focus on one or two top priorities, while the managers are constantly balancing their responsibilities to both the CEO and their reporting employees, while still trying to get their work done.

Using the Employee Development Meeting (EDM) allows managers to keep in touch with their employees and stay on top of their accountabilities. While you might be thinking that the last thing you need is to add another meeting to your schedule, the EDM system is designed to condense many meetings into one highly focused session, reducing the need for random drop ins, frequent email exchanges, and other interruptions that burden managers.

Setting the Stage For Successful Employee Retention

If the EDM system makes sense for your organization, set up a meeting with all your managers to go over the EDM rules, and have them do the same with their reporting employees. Managers should set up EDMs for at least three months. Once these meetings are on the schedule, look for opportunities to eliminate other non-essential meetings—after all, this is also about saving time and increasing efficiency.

The Managers Role:

1. Be consistent: Set the frequency, regular time, and basic agenda for EDM’s and stick to it.  Promptly reschedule any missed meeting.
2. Be present: Conduct EDM’s in a quite place free of interruptions and distractions to allow a real dialogue to occur.
3. Be Committed: Inquire, listen, and secure commitments.  Find out what is going on with the employee (good and bad), address key work related issues, announce new projects and tasks, answer or clarify any questions and set and secure agreement regarding responsibilities.

The Employees Role:

1. Provide updates, not excuses: Be prepared to report on project status, and inform managers in advance when projects are not going to be delivered on time.
2. Ask questions, ask for help when needed: EDM’s are open two-way exchanges, both parties share responsibility in bringing up topics, communicating their needs, and discussing issues. 
3. Show your commitment: Employees are assigned projects and must make commitments to deliver, additionally they must commit to improving their skills and performance when problems arise.

The Result

The EDM is a straight forward communication opportunity that is consistent, focused, and highly accountable. When both parties are on the same page in regards to projects, responsibilities, work related and interpersonal issues, there is less need for email and hallway meetings that rarely resolve issues and often lead to more frustration and confusion. By creating a safe place for direct communication to occur, employees and managers can connect with a high degree of confidence that they are working on the right work and will have it completed without last minute surprises and potential melt downs.

Whatever result you’re pursuing, the Employee Development Meeting moves you and your employees one step closer to the satisfying, motivating work environment that most people dream of, but few ever experience.

Need Help?

If you’re serious about implementing systems like the Employee Development Meeting, we invite you to explore E-Myth’s Coaching Programs. There’s no better way to create a world-class organization than with the help and guidance of an expert E-Myth Business Coach.

Further Reading

The E-Myth Revisited in particular, Chapter 16 “Your People Strategy”
Creating Your Training System
Ensuring Employee Effectiveness
Delegation vs. Abdication

After more than two years of crowing about "software plus service" rather than Software as a Service for its cloud computing strategy, the finish line is finally in sight for Microsoft's Azure. The company announced Tuesday at its Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles that Azure will officially be available for all customers on Jan. 1, 2010.

Ideas outlined in the Queen's Speech have, at least in a tentative fashion, been fairly well received by a group representing small business interests.  The Federation of Small Businesses is just wary that a political tug-of-war will take precedent over actually helping out.

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I’m still long-term frustrated with how many people lose the potential steering and management benefits of business planning because they focus on the plan as document instead of the planning as management. With that in mind, I’m doing a webinar tomorrow, Thursday Nov. 19, at 11. am PST on the theme in the title of [...]