We've all been hit really hard by this winter weather, so what better way to relax than with a good book? We decided to take a break from our usual accounting basics and ERP software talk to compile a book list for you. Check out some of our favorites that made it to our 2010 Winter list
Make Today Count - John C. Maxwell (Center Street) This is the second time Maxwell has made it onto our reading list. (Check out the other time here). Maxwell's book discusses the importance of making the right decision in twelve critical areas of your life, or what he refers to as the "Daily Dozen." Maxwell suggests the path to being successful starts small with making the right choices on a daily basis.
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass -Frederick Douglass(Fall River Press) Considered a milestone in American history, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas chronicles the life of the famous abolitionist. Originally published only seven years after his escape from slavery, it became an instant success.
Common Sense -Thomas Paine (Penguin Classics) This is the pamphlet that started it all. First published in 1776, Common Sense challenged the authority of the British government and the royal monarchy. What made his writing so popular? He didn't try to wow the masses with philosophy, instead he wrote for his audience, not above them, impassioning them to want to make a change. It's still as inspiring today as it was nearly 250 years ago.
Embrace the Struggle- Zig Ziglar and Julie Ziglar Norman (Howard Books) Written after a traumatic fall that lead to a head injury Embrace the Struggle discusses the importance of optimism to get us through the hard times we all eventually face. Through his own stories and the stories of friends, Ziglar highlights "living life on life's terms."
Exploiting Chaos: 150 Ways to Spark Innovation During Times of Change- Jeremy Gutsche (Gotham Books) Hailed by many as one the best business books of 2009, Exploit Chaos takes readers on a visual journey to help ignite ideas for a successful business. Gutsche's writing style and graphics fit in perfectly with today's busy reader. Looking for inspiration to put these challenging times to good use? Check out this book.
The Findability Formula: The Easy, Non-Technical Approach to Serach Engine Marketing- Heather Lutze (John Wiley & Sons) Ever wonder how customers are thinking when they search for a product or service? Lutze's book helps marketers at all levels of experience re-energize their website to make them more profitable. Her step-by-step guide to Pay-Per-Click campaigns helps to make your company visible throughout the customers' buying cycle.
It's hard to believe that it's already been a year since we've launched our new website design and started blogging.
This past year we've been doing our best to keep you in the loop about the latest software and industry information through our blog, newsletter and news page. The next step in the process was to join the crazy, yet wonderfully informative world of Facebook and Twitter.
We're excited about sharing and gaining new information but more so about being able to take part in the online communities.
For all the latest information, check us out on Facebook and Twitter (@DataCraft_Inc).
We have a lot of stuff coming up but we would love to hear from you. If there's anything you'd especially like to see, please let us know.
By now, you've probably finished reading everything in our winter book list, and with summer in full swing, we thought we would give you some more titles worth checking out. So grab an iced cold beverage of your choice and one of these books to wrap up a warm summer day...
The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell (Thomas Nelson)
With over 30 years of leadership experience, Maxwell has learned a thing or two about what it takes to be a great leader. He's compiled the ups, downs, ins, and outs to create this revealing study in the culture of leadership.
The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive by Patrick Lencioni (Wiley, John & Sons, Incorporated)
This is the third book written by Lencioni to make it to our book list (the other two are listed here); needless to say we really like this guy's stuff. Lencioni's book follows two fictional technical consultants and their competing companies to show how less politics, lower turnover, more productivity, and higher morale can improve an organization's health.
Beneath the Armor by Ole Carlson (Influencemany)
If you've been watching Monica's videos , chances are you've heard of the book before. Considered a must-read for CEOs, Beneath the Armor identifies seven strategies defined by your most successful peers that will provide you a road map to position you at eye level with your worldwide, giant competitors.
The Mona Lisa Stratagem: The Art of Women, Age, and Power by Harriet Rubin (Grand Central Publishing)
Who said life ends at 40? Rubin finds inspiration in the Mona Lisa's timeless beauty and mystery to reveal an approach for finding fulfillment in midlife and after. Rubin uses 10 iconic women in history to help women find the true meaning of leadership and power.
You're Not the Person I Hired! A CEO's Survival Guide to Hiring Top Talent By Janet Boydell, Barry Deutsch, and Brad Remillard (Authorhouse)
Your company is only as strong as its weakest link. You're Not the Person I Hired! uncovers the most common causes for executive and managerial failure. The book helps you learn what to look for when hiring top talent and how to avoid hiring mistakes.
The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace by Surviving One That Isn't by Robert I. Sutton (Grand Central Publishing)
Jerks, nincompoops, idiots, nitwits, assholes; whatever you call them, we've all had to put up with them at one time or another another and no matter what your term is to describe them; they're never fun to deal with. Sutton's straight-to-the-point book identifies them as a leading cause in the drop of business morale and calls them poison to the work environment. More importantly, Sutton tells you how to deal with them to create a more positive and productive workforce. He even includes a test to determine if you are among the assholes and gives advice on how to change your ways.
We've been working like crazy putting together webcasts and now we'd like to turn it over to you. We currently have four in the works but we'd like to hear what subjects you would like us to feature in a webcast.
- What topics interest you (Business management, Customer Relationship Management, CRM inventory management, manufacturing and distribution software work flow, software tips and tricks, etc.)?
- Do you prefer live or OnDemand webcasts?
- What days (typically) work best for you? What time of day works best for you?
Help us help you!
We're excited to hear your feed back!
Guilty as charged. One of the cardinal rules of blogging is consistency and we broke it... but for a good reason! So what's our excuse? CRM.
These past couple of weeks we've been busy getting everything ready to put into CRM and customizing it to fit our needs. That's the great thing about Microsoft CRM, it has great out-of-the-box capabilities but you can customize it to fit your specific needs. It's been a big process and has taken a lot of time and thought but we're thrilled that we have it installed and can start putting it to good use.
We have a lot of great things coming down the line. We're getting ready to roll out our very own webcast series with the help of Blair Inc. The first webcast is a crash course in accounting basics and scheduled for release in March, we can't wait to get them launched. Stay tuned for more information about them. (We'll be releasing a lot of information about our webcasts in our e-newsletter; don't miss out- sign up to get on the mailing list!)
CRM and webcasts aren't all that is new around here. At the beginning of the year John Karvelis joined the DataCraft team as our new project manager. Before John joined us he had 15 years experience with project management, team development, and IT with Newell Rubbermaid in Freeport, Illinois. We've been keeping him busy with new projects and meeting clients. He was able to take a quick break from everything to tell us this about his experience here so far:
My first few weeks have been very exciting. I have already met a number of our clients and prospects. I have enjoyed learning about their businesses and the challenges that they face. I am planning on improving our performance in the delivery of our Business Clarity solutions®. Two areas that I am initially focusing on are our project management and communication processes. By improving our performance in these two areas, I believe that DataCraft can provide a better service and at lower cost to our clients.
We're excited to have him here and he adds a great dynamic to the DataCraft team.
See, we haven't forgotten about our readers! We just needed to take some time off to focus on a few projects and now that we got them out of the way, we're back and ready to blog.
"Oh the weather outside is frightful" seems like a bit of an understatement these past few weeks. With what seems like the entire country being blanketed in snow and ice, what better way to spend your evening than reading a good book?
Aren't sure what to read? Well you're in luck because here are just a few suggestions from DataCraft President, Monica Glenny:
The Power of Nice by Linda Kaplan Thaler & Robin Koval (The Doubleday Broadway Publishing Group)
Authors Linda Kaplan and Robin Koval have had enough of the dog eat dog mentality that plagues businesses. They set out to prove, through their own experiences and stories from others that being nice can get you a lot farther than you expect. Hurray for the good guys!
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill (updated editing by Dr. Arthur R. Pell, Penguin Books Ltd)
Written at the end of the Great Depression, Hill's book was inspired by suggestions from Andrew Carnegie. Hill studied the most successful people in the country at the time to create 13 principles on philosophy and personal achievement. It's a classic book that is worth reading once if not a couple times over.
The Art of War by Sun Zu
Don't let the fact that it is a book about Chinese military strategy written in the 6 B.C. make you think that it isn't relevant to today. Its no-nonsense attitude has had an enormous impact on military and business planning.
The Book of Great American Documents edited by Vincent Wilson Jr. (American Research Association)
Everyone should review the documents that helped shape our country. It includes The Declaration of Independence (1776), The Northwest Ordinance (1787), The Constitution of the United States of America (1787), The Emancipation Proclamation (1863), just to name a few. Each document has a well written introduction that explains the significance of each document.
The Five Temptations of a CEO by Patrick Lencioni (Jossey-Bass)
Follow the tale of Andrew O'Brien, a young CEO who is about to face his first annual review board and the behavioral pitfalls that many corporate leaders face. Lencioni's story telling capabilities make this easy and entertaining to read while still giving the reader a valuable message.
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni(Jossey-Bass)
Patrick Lencioni tells the story of Decision Tech's CEO, Kathryn Petersen. Throughout the story, Lencioni discusses five hurdles that even the most successful teams can face and how they can be overcome. Again his storytelling makes it an entertaining and worthwhile read.
1001 Things every Teen $hould Know Before They Leave Home (Or Else They'll Come Back) by Harry H. Harrison Jr. (Thomas Nelson Publishers, Inc.)
This book is full of quick, witty, and funny thoughts about a broad range of topics from avoiding bad relationships to home repair to using an adult vocabulary to financial responsibility.
Take advantage of the inclement weather and use the time to catch up on some great books!
For one day, approximately 4,800 bloggers from around the world will take a break from their usual topics to join together to discuss an issue that affects billions of people world-wide: poverty. Please join us on Wednesday, October 15 for Blog Action Day, as guest blogger Kim Adams-Bakke of the Rock River Valley Food Pantry discusses how poverty affects us and what we can do to help out on the DataCraft, Inc. blog. Join us and the millions of others who will be working together to change the conversation about poverty. For more information check out the Blog Action Day Website or watch the video below. Please check out the Rock River Valley Food Pantry to see how one small action can make a big difference. See you on October 15th!
It's no secret that it's not cheap to run a business and the cost of running one continues to rise, but what if you're in the business of running for president?
The Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that tracks how money is being spent by politicians and political parties, estimated that running a presidential campaign can cost as much as running a medium sized business for two years.
In the past eight years, the cost of running for president has skyrocketed. In the 1996 election, presidential candidates spent $239.9 million on their campaigns; so far the candidates have spent $833.8 million in the 2008 election and there is still a few months left. Michael Toner, Federal Elections Commission Chairman, estimates the cost to reach the $1 billion mark. A far cry from the supposed $100,000 Abraham Lincoln spent in the 1860 election (combined $150,000 with Douglas) and $9.7 million (out of $19.8) Kennedy spent in 1960.
The candidates have also received more contributions than ever before. For the 2008 election, candidates have raised a total $942.1 million compared to a total $880.5 million in 2004 and $528.9 million in 2000.
Where exactly does all this money go? Just like the business world, how the candidates spend their money tells the public a great deal about them.
The Center for Responsive politics calculated how the money is spent:
| Description |
Total |
| Administrative (salaries, benefits, utilities, taxes, etc) |
$434.47M |
| Media (cost of advertising and media production including tv, print, radio, and internet ads) |
$359.24 M |
| Campaign expenses (consultation, polling, promotional material, etc) |
$154.35 M |
| Fundraising (events, telemarketing, mailings, etc.) |
$92.84 M |
| Contributions (Contributions from the committee to federal and non-federal parties) |
$34.74 M |
| Other (Miscellaneous including donations and loan payments. |
$25.69 M |
Teachable Moment estimated that it cost presidential candidates $100,000 a day to campaign during the 2004 general election (The amount Lincoln spent on his entire campaign) and includes research, travel and hotel, preparing stages, renting halls, and all the costs that come with.
According to the Federal Elections Commissions , Senator John McCain's beginning cash (the balance at the start of the campaign in the cash accounts) equaled $472,454 and as of the end of August had $36,579,532 on hand and owes a little over $76,667 in debts. Senator Barack Obama started out with $0 beginning cash and had $77,404,118 on hand as of the end of August. FEC also reported that his debts equal $469,025.
The entry fee for the election was estimated around $100 million and will only continue to rise over the years, proving that running for any elected office, especially for president, isn't for the penny-pinchers.
