How Often Should You 'Re-Skin' Your Company's Website?

An infusion of new material and occasional website re-skin, you can build an ongoing relationship with customers and leads.

How Often Should You 'Re-Skin' Your Company's Website?

An infusion of new material and occasional website re-skin, you can build an ongoing relationship with customers and leads.

Franchise of the Day: This Franchise Idea Came About While Reading Sugar Packs

While waiting for her food and reading sugar packets, Jean Daum came up with the idea that restaurants should give patrons something to read while they wait.

Franchise of the Day: This Franchise Idea Came About While Reading Sugar Packs

While waiting for her food and reading sugar packets, Jean Daum came up with the idea that restaurants should give patrons something to read while they wait.

Argentine Senate debates deal that would end debt standoff

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) - Argentine senators debated late into Wednesday night over a deal with creditors in the U.S. that would put an end to a years-long dispute that has kept the South American nation on the margins of international credit markets.

The deal, reached in late February, must be approved by Congress. The House of Deputies passed it earlier this month. The Senate began debating Wednesday morning and was expected to vote by early Thursday.

Passage would put an end to a bitter chapter that made Argentina a financial pariah and was often a point of sharp political clashes. It would also be a boost for President Mauricio Macri, who campaigned on promises to restart the continent's second largest economy, in large part by solving a dispute so thorny it led to changes in how debt contracts are restructured worldwide.

While Macri's PRO party doesn't control either chamber in Congress, most analysts believed the measure would pass because the nation is strapped for cash and needs foreign investment to begin growing after four years of economic stagnation. Still, it was clear as the debate stretched past 12 hours that few were in a mood to celebrate.

"I will vote for this because we are complying with a sentence," said Sen. Norma Durango from the Peronist Party. "But I'm not happy or at ease" about it.

Detractors argued that the deal was a bad one and wouldn't lead to the investment sought by Macri.

"They want to sell us a crisis so we buy an expensive debt on bad terms," said Sen. Anabel Fernandez, a member of a youth movement called La Campora, headed by Maximo Kirchner, the son of former left-leaning President Cristina Fernandez. "This is taking us straight to hell."

Fernandez refused to negotiate with the creditors she called "vultures," arguing they were trying to bully Argentina. The issue was a central part of last year's presidential campaign. Macri and opponent Daniel Scioli, Fernandez's chosen successor, clashed over whether a deal was necessary and who would be the tougher negotiator.

The seeds of the dispute go back to 2001-2002, when Argentina defaulted on $100 billion in debt. Most holders of the original debt, along with those who bought up bonds in the aftermath, agreed to swaps in 2005 and 2010 for bonds worth far less. But a group of creditors led by billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Singer refused. They took Argentina to court in New York, where the debt was issued, and won.

U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Griesa in New York repeatedly ruled against Argentina, saying the country had to pay the holdouts before it could pay other creditors holding renegotiated debt. Those rulings kept Argentina from accessing international credit markets, forcing it to issue domestic bonds and search for backdoor financing from countries like China.

The long, costly fight led to changes in how debt is issued worldwide. Many countries have restructured contracts in attempts to avoid getting into similar situation.

Under the deal being debated by the Senate, Argentina would pay $4.653 billion to resolve all related claims. The agreement would pay the funds managed by Elliot, Aurelius Capital, Davidson Kempner and Bracebridge Capital about 75 percent of their full judgments, according to details released in late February.

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How to Tell Your Most Intimate Secrets to Your Competitors

You just opened your computer on a flight to a convention, with your competitor's rep seated right behind you. Are you crazy?

Argentine Senate debates deal that would end debt standoff

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) - Argentine senators debated late into Wednesday night over a deal with creditors in the U.S. that would put an end to a years-long dispute that has kept the South American nation on the margins of international credit markets.

The deal, reached in late February, must be approved by Congress. The House of Deputies passed it earlier this month. The Senate began debating Wednesday morning and was expected to vote by early Thursday.

Passage would put an end to a bitter chapter that made Argentina a financial pariah and was often a point of sharp political clashes. It would also be a boost for President Mauricio Macri, who campaigned on promises to restart the continent's second largest economy, in large part by solving a dispute so thorny it led to changes in how debt contracts are restructured worldwide.

While Macri's PRO party doesn't control either chamber in Congress, most analysts believed the measure would pass because the nation is strapped for cash and needs foreign investment to begin growing after four years of economic stagnation. Still, it was clear as the debate stretched past 12 hours that few were in a mood to celebrate.

"I will vote for this because we are complying with a sentence," said Sen. Norma Durango from the Peronist Party. "But I'm not happy or at ease" about it.

Detractors argued that the deal was a bad one and wouldn't lead to the investment sought by Macri.

"They want to sell us a crisis so we buy an expensive debt on bad terms," said Sen. Anabel Fernandez, a member of a youth movement called La Campora, headed by Maximo Kirchner, the son of former left-leaning President Cristina Fernandez. "This is taking us straight to hell."

Fernandez refused to negotiate with the creditors she called "vultures," arguing they were trying to bully Argentina. The issue was a central part of last year's presidential campaign. Macri and opponent Daniel Scioli, Fernandez's chosen successor, clashed over whether a deal was necessary and who would be the tougher negotiator.

The seeds of the dispute go back to 2001-2002, when Argentina defaulted on $100 billion in debt. Most holders of the original debt, along with those who bought up bonds in the aftermath, agreed to swaps in 2005 and 2010 for bonds worth far less. But a group of creditors led by billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Singer refused. They took Argentina to court in New York, where the debt was issued, and won.

U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Griesa in New York repeatedly ruled against Argentina, saying the country had to pay the holdouts before it could pay other creditors holding renegotiated debt. Those rulings kept Argentina from accessing international credit markets, forcing it to issue domestic bonds and search for backdoor financing from countries like China.

The long, costly fight led to changes in how debt is issued worldwide. Many countries have restructured contracts in attempts to avoid getting into similar situation.

Under the deal being debated by the Senate, Argentina would pay $4.653 billion to resolve all related claims. The agreement would pay the funds managed by Elliot, Aurelius Capital, Davidson Kempner and Bracebridge Capital about 75 percent of their full judgments, according to details released in late February.

Join the conversation about this story »

How to Tell Your Most Intimate Secrets to Your Competitors

You just opened your computer on a flight to a convention, with your competitor's rep seated right behind you. Are you crazy?

3 Resources to Help You Create, Organize, and Manage Your Content

Miriam Lafayette really knows what she’s doing. She absolutely has it together.

Who’s Miriam Lafayette? I made her up while washing dishes, but let’s have her represent a person whose work you love.

You look forward to her new content every time she publishes. You’d be so excited if you could have brunch with her in a fancy cafe. She’d radiate luminous energy as you both sipped tiny cups of espresso and nibbled on delectable cuisine.

But if you did meet Miriam, you’d discover that she’s not always pleased with her creations. Her run-of-the-mill aura is nothing to write home about, and she regards a lot of her content as boring and cliché. Don’t get her started on her mispronunciation of “Lactobacillus acidophilus” in her latest YouTube video — it was so embarrassing.

Miriam’s power simply stems from her unrelenting motivation to help her audience.

This is great news for you, because you can adopt Miriam’s work ethic to develop your authority and build your own audience. You just need to commit to a content production process that works for you.

This week’s Copyblogger Collection is a series of three handpicked articles that will show you:

• How to use the law of (content) attraction


• How to create a valuable membership site your audience will love


• How to tame content creation chaos with rock-solid workflows

And if you’re still skeptical that well-known authorities criticize themselves, check out this video of Adele — yes, the master vocalist, Adele — disparaging her voice.

No one is free from self-doubt, but you can choose to overcome it, like Adele and all the people you personally admire. Now here’s your mini content production course …

The Law of (Content) Attraction

On the surface, content is a vehicle for attracting prospects and leads who will eventually become customers or clients.

Sonia Simone adds:

“We want to pull the right people in.

And if we’re smart, we want to chase the wrong people away.

But well-designed content marketing has a funny way of opening all kinds of doors you never realized were there.”

Discover how you can use content to open these unexpected doors in Sonia’s article, The Law of (Content) Attraction.

4 Ways to Turn a Mature Membership Site into a Treasured Resource Your Members Will Love

Debbie Hodge’s membership site was loaded with tons of value — ebooks, worksheets, audio, video, etc. It was a result of hard work, focus, and dedication. So, what could possibly be problematic?

Her members were intimidated by all the content. They either didn’t know where to start or couldn’t find time to study all of her materials. Debbie knew she had to transform her content library into an accessible resource that members would love and use regularly.

In 4 Ways to Turn a Mature Membership Site into a Treasured Resource Your Members Will Love, she explains the important changes she made. The best part is Debbie’s organizational tips are also helpful if you’re still in the early stages of building a membership site or you plan to build one in the future.

How to Tame Content Creation Chaos with Rock-Solid Workflows

If you perform the same types of tasks over and over again, you could benefit from simplifying your processes into workflows. Charlie Gilkey defines a workflow as “simply the regular sequence of tasks through which any activity is completed.”

Once you establish a workflow, you’ll notice ways you can be more efficient.

Charlie says:

“Even if you’re not at the point where you can or want to start delegating, using well-defined content marketing workflows makes you a more creative and productive content marketer because the structure they provide helps reduce cognitive load, prevent errors, save time, and maximize the results of the content you work so hard to create.”

He reveals a simple way to set up content marketing workflows in How to Tame Content Creation Chaos with Rock-Solid Workflows.

What do you have to offer?

Don’t let any self-doubt you may have hold you back from sharing your unique skills and areas of expertise. The benefits of helping others outweigh the drawbacks of embarrassing mistakes you may make along the way.

When your content attracts the right people, those individuals will stick around on your good days and bad days because they realize you’re human — just like them.

The post 3 Resources to Help You Create, Organize, and Manage Your Content appeared first on Copyblogger.

Artisanal Craftspeople Are Making Healthy Cheeses With Compelling Histories

Consumers are craving the backstory behind the products they buy, and Artisanal Cheese is trying to capitalize on that.

US economy likely struggled last quarter; mild rebound seen

WASHINGTON (AP) — After struggling in the final three months of 2015, the U.S. economy is thought to be rebounding in the current quarter, though not as strongly as most analysts had once expected.

On Friday, when the Commerce Department issues its third and final estimate of growth for the October-December quarter, it's expected to say the economy expanded at a 1 percent annual rate. That would be the same estimate it made a month ago and would amount to just half the 2 percent annual growth in the July-September period.

For the current January-March quarter, many economists foresee growth as measured by the gross domestic product — the total U.S. output of goods and services — accelerating to a 2 percent rate. But some analysts have been downgrading their estimates of late, reflecting some weaker-than-expected economic data.

Analysts at forecasting firm Macroeconomic Advisers, for example, on Thursday reduced their forecast of first-quarter GDP growth to a 1.5 percent annual rate after the release of a weak report on new orders for long-lasting manufactured goods. Those orders dropped 2.8 percent in February.

That decline was seen as a sign that the nation's manufacturing sector is still struggling with weakness overseas and a strong dollar, which has made American-made products more expensive in foreign markets.

This year, continued strong gains in hiring could boost household incomes and support solid increases in consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of economic activity.

This month, the Federal Reserve left its key policy rate unchanged after having raised it from a record low in December. Fed officials also scaled back their expectations for the number of rate hikes this year from four to two.

The officials said they thought the global economy and financial markets still pose risks even though financial markets have stabilized since the year began. Stocks had nosedived after investors worried about how steep the slowdown would be in China, the world's second-largest economy.

Analysts have forecast that for 2016 as a whole, the economy will grow around 2 percent. That would be down from last year's 2.4 percent growth.

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Want to Keep Your Brain 10 Years Younger? Regular Exercise May Help.

Reason number 921 to get off your duff: New research indicates that routinely breaking a sweat can lead to sharper thinking.