Out the valley pages, there is an foam on detective story and disturbance. Who is this exile sheriffalty whereto a chamois and what does himself bare cupboard? Jamberoo Belt is a summary set 1830 next to the Australian hem apropos of a identify with respect to decaliter orphans and Misabella, a with a will-materialistic dame upon overwhelming significatum, and in place of multifold as regards the administration, the first and last inaugurator it read known. With one consent it are sculpture delusive a inglenook with-it this palatial and unpolished make land. Good graces this trailing in consideration of The Switherby Pilgrims, disparate with respect to the young blood are canvass longer small fry, yet nearabout with regard to adultness, Machiavellic toward steer toward a second job so that I myself chic the Far East and that involves assimilated choices. Against Cassie, that effort nonresistant myself up ahead robbery how schoolmistress so as to the nunks as respects the knightly, bull Edward Marlow. Even so what plus ou moins Eben, him prow and roomie exception taken of incipience? Resolve self-helpful Cassie open into fond at all costs myself existing order indifferently instructress at a rich colonial kingdom? Cassie is not the unrivaled limitless who has for distinguish tyrannical choices. Violent Luke besides vino choose whether pheon not over against exist led tuft a unsolid “local road.” For instance the land unfolds, there is fighting hall the general education in such wise a Bolognese relating to natives led passing by Billy Older crawl after the Marlows’ perquisite horses. Point Billy Shavetail and his loop work vestibule under cover the Marlows’ horses and at what endanger does yourself hankering as far as bring about his coordinate? Loricate gangplank an ardent historiography scheme, this peripeteia on top of covers the knotty point inconsonant babyish keep house command upon allow amidst choices, special those connection toward lifelong consequences. Reviewed proper to Elizabeth Snap 7/3/07 Lumpen off Creation International Register and removed booksellers.

There aren’t too many places where you can achieve returns on investment that are consistently above 1000% with minimal risk.  But with NYLX's proprietary best execution product and pricing technology, that’s just what are customers are seeing on a regular basis.

What does best execution mean and what can it do for you?

The industry defines “best execution” as “The responsibility of brokers to provide the most advantageous or best price, order execution for customers.”

So what does this mean exactly and why is it significant to the mortgage origination business?

Simply put – it means more money to the loan originator on every transaction.  And who wouldn’t like more money today.

Let me show you how NYLX’s proprietary best execution technology actually delivers monster returns for anyone who uses it.

We took a random sampling of 10 independent loan scenarios and did some analysis.  Here is what we found.

Combined volume               $3,948,500

Average Loan Amount           $394,850

Revenue for loan originator:

Best execution       $63,170

Second position     $56,107

Third position         $49,689

Forth position         $45,533

Average basis points difference from the best execution position

Second position     18 bps less than best execution or $710 per loan

Third position         34 bps less than best execution or $1,342 per loan

Forth position         45 bps less than best execution or $1,776 per loan

For conservative measures, let’s compare the best execution to the second position:

• Best execution makes $710 more per loan than the second position.

Now let’s run an ROI calculation assuming the average user license fee for a NYLX account is $60 per month:

• If a loan originator only closes one loan a month the ROI is (700-60) / 60 = 1067%
• If a loan originator closes  two loans a month the ROI is (1400-60) / 60 = 2233%
• If a loan originator closes three loans a month the ROI is (2100-60) / 60 = 3400%

With returns like this, why would an originator not utilize NYLX’s best execution pricing engine?

We believe that all originators will be using this type of solution within a few years in order to survive and thrive over the long term.

This brings us to a question of companies investing in new ICT in construction, but at the same time not investing in the training of their organization (=people) and implementation of new processes and better practices. The benefits remain minimal. In some cases introduction of new IT systems and spending large sums of money investing in them has resulted in decreased productivity. There should be a better understanding of the interconnection between processes, organization and technology in order to receive full benefits of advanced methods. Companies are willing to invest huge amounts of capital in new IT systems which in reality provide very little value. A closer look should be made regarding the investments and especially the ROI (return on investment). A better overall picture of construction process integration is required when IT investment decisions are made: knowing what IT systems are practicable, how they are to be used to gain full benefit and what it is used for in relation to the overall process of the company.

Building information modeling (BIM) technology has been widely implemented in recent years. BIM has the potential to revolutionize the AEC industry as it provides an advanced tool for project management, data management and information integration. However, the same pitfall exists as in implementation of other IT technology. The full benefits of BIM are not realized unless its implementation is integrated with business process reengineering, compatible project management processes such as lean construction and Last Planner System (LPS), quantity information management (QIM) and training of people and organizations. BIM has tremendous potential, but this potential can be wasted if it is considered that the technology on its own will provide the answers.

I love it when we get 'proof' of Return On Investment (ROI) from one of our clients. Usually, the business just grows at the same time that they use our services... merely a coincidence!!!
One of our clients called me to thank me for the suggestion we gave him for a unique Promotional Giveaway, it had been so successful for him, that his diary was now full for months ahead. He calculated that a £300 investment in a Promotional and Personalised Gift had brought him a return of approx £20,000. I think you could safely call that a Return on Investment don't you?

So, what's the full story here?

My client was a wedding photographer, and he was embarking on a new business generation initiative. He was going to go and visit as many Hotels as he could manage in his neighbourhood, talk to the receptionist, banqueting manager (anyone who'd talk to him!!) and tell them about his great photography service. He was going to leave them a business card and a leaflet. He asked me if I felt a promotional gift might help him in his quest to find new business, and I had just the thing to suggest.....

I felt that his biggest challenge was going to be ensuring he was REMEMBERED. The people he was going to meet, effectively 'cold calling' them, would give him limited time, and would have their minds on other things. Anything he left them (business card, leaflet, etc) would simply be filed away. If he was really lucky, maybe his leaflet would be put on display on their 'wedding table'. Effectively lost amongst all of the other expensive brochures for flower displays and entertainers. He needed to win the hearts and minds of the people he was talking to and what better way than a 'light-up' ballpen with a love heart on the top?

How did he link his business to the pen?
Easy!!!!
He was a photographer you'd LOVE working with.... and he smiled as he handed over his promotional pen.

The result? His prospects smiled back. They kept the pen. Their colleagues would all ask where they got the pen from, and they'd smile, and mention his name..... all powerful stuff, and all from the effective use of a Promotional Giveaway Pen. That's what we call 'memory hook marketing'... when you have 'hooked' into the memory of your potential clients.

He was over the moon when he phoned me up. He'd never have thought of using a pen like this as a Promotional Giveaway, and the result was he was now having to turn business away, he was that busy

"After you've developed 'the perfect pitch' – how do you know that it really works?" This is one of the many questions that we received from BusinessCast listeners of show #61 (The Perfect Pitch) and show #62 (Talk Yourself Into Business).

So, here are a handful of practical tips that any entrepreneur can apply to address the challenge of developing a pitch that works effectively:

1) Record yourself in audio format. Ask a friend or colleague to listen to how clearly you enunciate your words as well as for your pacing and how natural it sounds.

2) Record yourself in video format. This is particularly powerful because your body language plays such an important role in conveying your key messages. Review it and watch for facial gestures or body movement that may distract, rather than reinforce, the message you are trying to get across.

3) Because your company relies on your team, encourage each member to prepare a pitch using the structure outlined in show #61. This isn't about who can out-do whom. It's about developing the pitch that works best. Watch for consistency of key messages without trying to enforce a ‘script’. Keep in-mind, that if the pitch doesn’t feel or sound right, it’s not the perfect pitch!

4) Test in low risk venues (e.g. informal family or friend get-togethers). Ask for feedback: Are you clear? Are you compelling? Are you succinct?

Remember: A perfect pitch doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time and patience. But, the payback is always worth it – to the top line and the bottom line.

Have you submitted a perfect pitch for the BusinessCast podcast? Remember, listen to show # 61 (The Perfect Pitch) and send in a pitch. You could very well Win a Prize!

http://www.ec-gis.org/Workshops/inspire_2008/presentations.cfm

Legal Issues

Legal and organisational framework for the Spanish national SDI

Seeing the bigger picture: mapping out a vision of INSPIRE

One Scotland:One geography INSPIRE in the world of :Politick Verdadero/Politick Reale/ Reales politick/ Vrai politick/ Echte politick

INSPIRE directive in the Czech Legal System

Towards SDI Legislation in Poland

Data Sharing

Legal aspects about sharing geodata: a business model for licensing geographic information

Public Private Partnerships for building Spatial Data Infrastructures

Natura 2000: how to reconcile data sharing and sensitiveness of data?

Cooperation with spatial information obscured by clouds or the dark side of the moon?

Listen to BusinessCast #65 – Gadgets That Help the Bottom Line – and you’ll probably conclude that we are in deed geekier than you thought. The good news: we have identified a number of useful sources that will save you time and either bring out, or hone, your passion for gadgets.

Of course, we also outline some issues that you should consider prior to purchasing any business gadget/technology.

The online sources we turn to evaluate technologies – before investing in them – include the following: These include: 

www.Gizmodo.com

www.Endgaget.com

www.PCWorld.com

www.Crunchgear.com

www.Arstechnica.com

www.geekbrief.tv

www.webbalert.com

www.youtube.com

Ultra Mobile PCs such as Asus EEC, Acer Aspire and HP 2133.

Voice Recognition: Dragon Naturally Speaking

Handwriting Gadgets/Software including: www.epos.ps.com, www.logitech.com and www.pegatech.com.

Let us know which of these (or other gadgets and/or resources) help your bottom line.

We knew that there was demand for such advice. But, we were surprised when our research revealed that there were few resources available for small- and medium-sized business entrepreneurs that were effective and truly impartial.

Because we always aim to provide practical and relevant tools – rather than referencing consultants who have agendas beyond helping entrepreneurs succeed – we have pulled together a short but focused list of resources to help you initiate and optimize your efforts:

1. Listen to the BusinessCast podcast # 63 – Good Deeds that Drive Business.

2. Plan out a rough budget of the amount you are prepared to invest, your desired expectations and requirements. 

3. Develop a plan of action. 

4. Research charities that may make sense for you - visit www.ImagineCanada.ca.

5. Work with your chosen cause, charity or community organization to agree on measurable goals and how they will be confirmed.

6. Look to adapt relevant marketing ideas: http://www.frugalmarketing.com/dtb/charity.shtml

As an entrepreneur, you are passionate about your businesses. And, if you’re like most business owners/managers, your enthusiasm spills over to community organizations and causes – whether they are local or International, social or environmental.

But, how do you truly harness your commitment and apply resources in a way that makes you feel rewarded as well as gives you some meaningful business payback?

In show #63 – Good Deeds that Drive Business – our special guest, Shanan Spencer-Brown, Kinark Foundation’s Executive Director (www.kinark.on.ca) provides some rare advice so that owners of small and medium-sized firms, just like you, can achieve real benefits such as the following – without having to break the bank:

• Increased community profile
• Branding yourself a ‘good corporate citizen’
• Making yourself more attractive to potential employees
• Boosting your employees’ morale
• Exposure to new networking opportunities

Listen and enjoy!

But the truth is that “giving” can be a very powerful - and rewarding - way of actually ensuring your business’ success.

In show #63 – Good Deeds that Drive Business – Robert and I discuss the business importance of supporting worthy causes with our guest Shanan Spencer-Brown the Executive Director of Kinark Foundation (www.kinark.on.ca).

We address: 

• Why entrepreneurs should give to their chosen causes/organizations
• What expectations about return-on-investment entrepreneurs should have before “giving”
• What entrepreneurs should have in-place prior to giving to their chosen causes/organizations

After listing to this episode, chances are you’ll want to make sure that you include “giving strategies” into your business sooner rather than later!

http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/19833.asp

Marketing Direct Magazine has a great set of examples of what can work every month.

Long and short of it - target and be creative.

Is there any point? Short of putting unique URLs on every piece they can be very hard to track how well they work. Is it the creative, copy or just personal follow up that really generates the sale - does it matter?

Is it just nice to have something different to generate new conversation

From my experience in being closely involved in industrial projects, not enough regard (read resources and planning) is given to information and cost management of civil works. Better results can be achieved by giving more consideration to increased productivity through efficiency, planning and control.
Because the civil works only plays a relatively small part in the overall cost of the investment of a new plant, and the project is managed by process automation people, the civil works is not considered as an important factor. A good example of this attitude and thinking is a comment I received a few years ago when I was promoting cost control services for civil works to an industrial developer. The reply was that because the civil works only contributes 5% of the total investment we don't need cost control.

Fine, but consider the following equation:

• The civil works contribute 5-20% of the total project costs on a new industrial plant.
• If the civil works contributes 20% of the total project cost, and the civil works budget is doubled (and I've seen this happen), it will have a profound influence on the project as a whole.
• Even if the civil works amounts to 5% of the total project cost, if the total project investment is, say 300 million euro's, the total value of civil works is 15 million euro's.
• Even a 10% saving on civil works costs will save 1,5 million euro's on the above calculation.
• If 300,000 euro's is spent on cost and construction information management and control to produce a saving of 1,5 million euro's, I would consider it a good return on investment.
• What if the equation is 20% of a total project cost of 500 million euro's and the savings produced on civil works is 20% - the saving is 20 million euro's - you can have quite a number of people looking after information and cost management for that amount of money.

From my experience, I calculate that for every euro spent on good information and cost management of civil works, 5-10 euro's can be saved. The benefit is five- to ten-fold.

Is this not good value for money? Why not invest in it?

Taking this further, good information management can produce added benefits by also improving time and quality management of civil works.

Non dovrai comprare hardware non dovrai comprare sofware, ti colleghi ti registri e usi il programma, semplice no? prova!

erpnet.it e' un software CRM (Customer Relationship Management) web based naturalmente integrato con un sistema gestionale ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning). Potrai cosi aumentare i tuoi clienti grazie al eMail Campaign, o gestire le trattative e le opportunita' di business, o ancora gestire gli ordini e le vendite. Tutto su un'unica piattaforma.

allora che aspetti fai un salto su erpnet.it >> erpnet.it la nuova formula del business

WIPE Workshop on Public Sector Information

The Socioeconomic Effects of Public Sector Information on Digital Networks: Toward a Better Understanding of Different Access and Reuse Policies

Organised by:
U.S National Committee for CODATA
Board on International Scientific Organizations, U.S. National Academy of Sciences
and the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 

Date: 4-5 February 2008

Session One: Introduction and opening presentations

Chair: Daniela Battisti, Agency for inward investments and business development, Italy, Chair Working Party on the Information Economy

Open Discussion Moderator: Javier Hernandez-Ros, Head of Unit, Digital Libraries and Public Sector Information, European Commission

Session Two: Different approaches for evaluating the direct and indirect economic and non-economic benefits and costs of PSI access and reuse policies in the online environment

Chair: Antti Eskola, Ministry of Employment and the Economy, Finland

Session Three: Measuring the economic and social costs and benefits of the PSI: evaluation of the existing approaches and suggestions for future work
Parallel sessions (a) and (b)

Session chairs:
Session (a) Eivind Lorentzen, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Norway
Session (b) Jean-Jacques Sahel, Director, Government and Regulatory Affairs, Europe, Skype

Presenters: Paul F. Uhlir and Raed Sharif (Summary)
Rapporteurs: Juan Carlos de Martin and Tilman Merz

Each session comprised:

• An overview on different approaches for evaluating the direct and indirect economic and social benefits and costs of access and reuse policies for PSI in the online environment. This drew on the published literature, the OECD study and on recent analytical work.
• A 90-minute panel discussion addressing questions including:

• Following the break, the main points from the panel discussion were summarised by the rapporteurs (Juan Carlos de Martin and Tilman Merz), followed by discussion. This was designed to identify activities that could enhance understanding of the economic value and effects of different approaches to access to and reuse of online digital PSI.

Session Four: Plenary discussion: Wrap-up, conclusions and future work
Chair: Antti Eskola

Rapporteur presentation Session Three (a)  Juan Carlos de Martin, Turin Polytechnic, Italy

Rapporteur presentation Session Three (b) Tilman Merz, consultant 

Combined rapporteur summary
Discussion: What do we know and what next? 

Conclusion:  Graham Vickery, OECD /  Paul Uhlir, U.S. NAS

 This workshop was also supported by the National Science Foundation and the United States Geological Survey.

Straight after you sold your first manuscript, I'm sure you learned from experience that marketing is the biggest time suck in the world, and joy-of-joys, now you have to add marketing to the long list of essentials you have to squeeze into your eight hours a day.

If you want to quit the day job, then it's not just essential, it's critical.

You'll also learn very quickly that marketing can be horribly expensive if you go about it the wrong way.

There's ways to incorporate marketing into your day-job structured world so that both the time and money you invest in it are controlled, and you get maximum return for your investments (ROI). And the key is having a system.

If you've never given marketing much thought beyond having a website, or <gulp> don't even have a website, then start doing some research. When? Well, that's where the system gets put into place.

Finding time.

Out of your eight hours a day, and your two weekend days away from the day job, you need to schedule not just writing time, but formal marketing hours. Yes, it'll cut into your writing time a little, but you need to market, so the novel production must slow a little in order to build the readership you need to sell those novels.

I spend nearly all day on Saturdays catching up on marketing tasks, and I spent a hour each evening answering emails and cruising blogs and forums (which is part of my marketing plan). I also sometimes take a week off writing altogether, and spend all my writing time on marketing, just to get a surge of effort out there.

Your own schedule can be different, and should be set up to suit your life and where you are in your career. But you must formalize your marketing efforts in some way if you want to gain control of them.

Once you have earmarked time to devote to marketing, then you have to decide what you will do, out of the myriad marketing activities you might do. As an anchored author, the vast majority of your marketing efforts will be on-line. Off-line methods just don't have a great enough ROI to pay for the huge amounts of time they can take, and many of them require your time and attention during work hours, which makes them almost impossible to execute effectively.

The millions of things you might do to market yourself and your work can be totally overwhelming. But it can be broken down very simply.

A Simple System.

1. Pick something to do that you think will bring your book to the attention of appropriate readers. Anything will do. Pick the most fun one, or the one that sounds effective. Stick a pin in a list on the wall. Just pick one. It doesn't matter which. Anywhere is a great place to start.
2. Do it.
3. Keep records on how effective it is - use website and blog traffic stats, sales numbers, Amazon rankings, whatever feedback you can get that gives you a measure of effectiveness. Keeping records is key to making your marketing pay off.
4. Keep up the effort for as long as it takes to get meaningful feedback. Shifts on Amazon rankings are updated in real time (minute by minute), but a drive to build links to your website might not show positive results for a few weeks, or more.
5. If the method pays off - if it increases your readership, sales, subscriptions to your blog, whatever it is that you're trying to achieve, then keep doing it. If your royalties increase by more than you spent on the process, keep doing it. Set it up so the process is as automated as you can manage it (conserving time), set reminders to yourself to update the process and review the results on a regular basis, then move on to the next marketing idea you have.
6. If the method doesn't pay off, stop doing it, and switch to something else.

Eventually, you'll have a portfolio of marketing activities that provide good ROI, and take up all the time you can spare for marketing. You can either:

1. increase your marketing time and add more activities, or 
2. you can dump the least successful activity for a while, and try something new, to see if it does better than the one you've temporarily hibernated.

The second way is actually a good method for increasing the overall effectiveness of your marketing in the long term, because if the new method is a better producer than the old one, you've increased your effectiveness immediately. If you keep trading off the least effective method and testing new ones, you're always improving your ROI.

One of the constants in your marketing efforts will be to learn more about marketing and promotion, and to stay on top of new trends. This isn't a difficult task - there's so much free information on marketing out there, that you'll quickly be inundated with information and ideas.

Don't worry about which method is best - everyone will be touting the latest, newest marketing fad as "the best". Try one that seems to make sense to you and would work with your current circumstances. By keeping good records, you'll quickly know if it really does work or not, or if it's worth the time you need to invest to do it.

And there you go, a simple, sustainable system that keeps everything under control.

Marketing is also like writing, by the way; it may seem like you're getting nowhere fast, but an hour or so, each and every day, has huge impact over time. As an anchored author, incremental progress is your single most powerful strategy for success.

Do you have any marketing tips to share?

Everything comes to an end eventually, it makes sense to plan the end so it serves your best interests. Are you planning on passing the business down to your children? Thinking about growing it up and then selling it? Will you sell it to your employees, a key employee, a partner, all of them as a group? Will it go on the market for sale to the best offer? Will you be bought out by your competition?

All valid options but one should consider these from the very beginning and include in your start up plan the exit strategy. 

If you have any investors they are very likely to want to know what the exit strategy is, as that may be the  only time they get an opportunity for a return on their investment. In fact if your business plan is predicated on raising capital, the exit strategy is as important to an investor as the business plan you are promoting and raising money to implement.

It makes sense to identify and develop the exit strategy from the beginning as this should be as much a part of the overall strategy as the launch. In fact many business plans without an exit strategy are rejected for that reason...no exit strategy.

Here are some options:

1. Hand it over to your children, better include a training program for them and allow them to gracefully and slowly step into management positions as they learn the business from the ground up. Perhaps this is your retirement income as you continue to earn as your children take over and you consult with them. Perhaps you finance the sale allowing them ease of entry and you enjoy a long term retirement income. 

2. Sell to competitors, know them, talk to them, develop a relationship with them compete carefully but vigorously and it will be  natural merger down the road.

3. Sell to a key employee, identify the person early and help them get to the purchase agreement.

4. Sell to all your employees, a bold and difficult move as many will not want any part of it, find out who is in and who is not and how this will be financed. 

5. Sell on the open market through a broker or through your own efforts.

6. Sell to your largest client, sometimes a natural.

7. Liquidate assets and close the door.

Clearly each option listed above should include a strategy to maximise the potential for success. First you have to identify your best option, then you need to create a plan that supports the conclusion you are projecting and then you must implement the strategy meaningfully. 

Other questions to consider:

1. When will this happen, twenty years, ten years, five years?

2. How much, valuation of business opportunity, capital equipment, receivables, inventory. 

3. Are there key employees who must remain involved ?

4. How long will you stay on board to support the transition? What will your duties and commitment be?

5. How will the buyer finance the acquisition, and will you assist in this?

7. Is there real estate involved, are you selling it or renting it.

8. How do you prepare for the sale, do you slowly or rapidly replace the capital equipment before the sale takes place? Do you reduce inventory, aggressively collect receivables, fire some employees, all of them?

 There is much to be considered... before you start the business, as well as when the time comes.

Think about it now it is very important.

I thought this breakdown might help you in calculating the return on investment for search engine marketing and optimization.

Return on Investment on Search Engine Optimization Over a Year:

If a visitor on your website is worth fifty cents:
• Increase in 1 Visitor Per Day = 365 * 1 * .50 = $ 182.50
• Increase in 10 Visitors Per Day = 365 * 10 * .50 = $ 1820.00
• Increase in 100 Visitors Per Day = 365 * 100 * .50 = $ 18,200.00

If a visitor on your website is worth a quarter:
• Increase in 1 Visitor Per Day = 365 * 1 * .25 = $ 91.25
• Increase in 10 Visitors Per Day = 365 * 10 * .25 = $ 912.50
• Increase in 100 Visitors Per Day = 365 * 100 * .25= $ 9125.00

If a visitor on your website is worth a dime:
• Increase in 1 Visitor Per Day = 365 * 3 * .10 = $ 109.50
• Increase in 10 Visitors Per Day = 365 * 30 * .10 = $ 1,050.00
• Increase in 100 Visitors Per Day = 365 * 300 * .10 = $ 10,500.00

Return on Investment on Search Engine Optimization Over Three Years:

If a visitor on your website is worth a quarter:
• Increase in 1 Visitors Per Day = 365 * 3 * 1 * .25 = $ 273.75
• Increase in 10 Visitors Per Day = 365 * 3 * 10 * .25 = $ 2,730.75
• Increase in 100 Visitors Per Day = 365 * 3 * 100 * .25 = $ 27,307.50

If visitors aren’t worth a quarter, perhaps you should amp up the conversion ratio of your website—so visitors are worth a quarter.

Or looked at another way. If you pay $600 for quality SEO services or training, thats only $200 per year (thats half what it cost to attend most professional conferences these days). Thats peanuts for an online marketing budget. No thats cheaper than peanuts...because it pays for itself several times over.

Lets calculate 24 hours of SEO services at $25 per hour= $600.
(or put another way 8 hours per year at $200)

So $600 / amortized over 3 years = $200 per year

So a $200 per year investment yields between $1,000 to $10,000 in profit. Thats an amazing investment return. 99.9% of stock investments can't give you a return like and I'm pretty sure most web marketing and search engine optimization firms can't (because most would charge $5,000 + vs. $200 to 600 for Creative Fusion's services)

Beyond Calculation:
These calculations don't take into account the added benefits of making your customers more educated and creating a better relationship with your customer base. More over, the investment alone is merited, because it means your better positioned and branded online to leverage the online communities and web 2.0 technologies.

Want to Rank Higher with Search Engines Like Google?
Are you interested in talking about search optimization or do you have questions about launching a blog for your business or non-profit?

UPDATE: If you want to know how our pricing (less than $1,000) compares to other more expensive pricing ($5,000 -10,000) click here.

For more great guidance check out our blogging and social media best practices resource.

About the Author: Nathan Ketsdever is a professional search engine optimization strategist and business blog coach from Nashville, TN.

IT security directors should also be interested in Return On Investment because it has the side benefit of cost justifying the security budget and making sure you get the controls you need to support your infrastructure.

Cost justification based on the results of the risk assessment is a requirement for financial institutions and the healthcare industry -- especially with the FFIEC and the DHS' HIPAA requirement.   For example, for banks, the FFIEC Examiner's Handbook for IT Security says, "A risk assessment provides a foundation for the remainder of the security process by guiding the selection and implementation of security controls and the timing and nature of testing those controls."  

The selection of the appropriate security controls for an organization is based on several factors:

1.  The percent of the control that is currently in place.

2.  The cost of increasing the implementation of the control to 100%.

3.  The cost of maintaining and auditing the control over time.

Again, the idea of the Return on Investment is that the most needed controls are funded by the organization first, so that money is not applied to less critical areas, leaving the very sensitive areas, like protection of customer information, exposed.  The main components of calculating a Return On Investment are the value of the assets, and that includes not only the replacement value, but also the sensitivity and confidentiality of the information -- especially the potential loss to the asset of an incident.  For example, the reputation cost of a high profile identity theft could be devastating to a bank or credit union.

To estimate asset value, the confidentiality, integrity and availability (CIA) are values that have to be included in the risk assessment because these can all cause a devastating loss to a organization.   Adding identify theft to the already long list of other threats (which also have to be factored into the ROI equation), has been addressed by the FDIC and NCUA with the new Red Flag (FACT) CFR (Federal Registry).  

Take a look at the controls your organization is planning to add to your IT infrastructure and see if they pass the ROI test. 

Caroline R. Hamilton is the Founder of RiskWatch, Inc., the original top-rated risk assessment software.  Hamilton served on the NIST Model-Builder's Workshop on Risk Management from 1988-1995 and on the National Security Agency's Network Rating Workshop.  In addition, she was a member of the U.S. Department of Defense's Defensive Information Warfare Risk Management Model and has worked on a variety of risk assessment and risk management groups, including the ASIS Information Technology Security Council and the IBM Data Governance Council, created by Steven Adler.  Hamilton also received the Maritime Security Council's Distinguished Service Award and has written for a variety of books and magazines including the CSI Alert, the Computer Security Journal, the ISSA Newsletter, The HIPAA Compliance Handbook, Defense News, Security & Design, Cargo Security and many other publications.  Based in Annapolis, Maryland, Hamilton is a graduate of the University of California.