TheStreet:10 Secrets to Kickstarter Success (It's Not About Facebook)

By SIMON CONSTABLE

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Crowdfunding website Kickstarter and similar ventures have opened up a world of possibilities to struggling creative types in need of cash. That said, the odds are still against you when you launch a campaign.  

Here are 10 things you should know that may help tilt the odds in your favor: 

1. -- Facebook won't save your project. Don't rely on the fact that you have gazillions of Facebook  (FB) friends.

Read more here.

TheStreet: 'Twilight' Was Right: Vampire Trading Can Make You Rich

By SIMON CONSTABLE

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- If the daily grind of Wall Street is getting you down, maybe it's time to trade like a vampire. 

How so? As any trick-or-treater knows, vampires sleep all day and work all night. To embrace that on Wall Street, you'll need to wait for the closing bell before entering the markets. It could be a most profitable way to play stocks that get a lot of attention like Apple (AAPL), Tesla (TSLA), Facebook (FB), and Twitter (TWTR).

Read more here.

Forbes: What HR Really Means

By SIMON CONSTABLE

I haven’t always been a journalist. For years I cut my business teeth in strategic Human Resources. It’s still surprising how many people hold major misconceptions about the field. Those misunderstandings are just as likely in giant corporations (such as Microsoft, Apple, or Google) or a smaller one.

Let me help set you straight.

1. “WE HAVE GREAT HEALTH INSURANCE”

When HR says: we have a great healthcare insurance. That may be true, at least on paper. Read more here.

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

OZY: How EL Nino Will Cause a Financial Storm

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Kid weather is back and acting up with a force unlike what many investors are seeing out of Puerto Rico, Greece or even China. The “little kid” or “Christ child” — aka El Niño — could cool economic growth and stoke inflation around the globe in the months to come.

Yes, El Niño comes around every three to five years and lasts only about a year as ocean temperatures off the equatorial west coast of South America rise. But temperature increases of 4 to 6 degrees above normal can, and do, whip up potentially dangerous weather patterns, such as droughts and killer floods, which then hit homes, businesses and industries. The latest El Niño is slated by some observers to rival the one in 1997–98 as the biggest ever — one that killed an estimated 2,100 globally with a force roughly equivalent to 1 million Hiroshima bombs. It left $33 billion in property damages in its wake. “This could be a big one,” warns a recent report from Brown Brothers Harriman, a financial firm.

Read more here.

Forbes: 'Money Is Like Sex,' And 24 Other Thought-Provoking Money Quotes

By SIMON CONSTABLE

On this scorching New York summer morning it’s worth remembering that not all words of money wisdom come from today’s  business heros, like Yahoo!’s Marissa Mayer, or Microsoft's Bill Gates or even Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg. Some come from writers, comedians, or ancient philosophers. With that in mind, I have compiled a list of 25 thought provoking quotes on money that I found intriguing. For your convenience I included where I got the information (indirect sources in parentheses.) I hope you find these quotes as stimulating as I do. Enjoy: 

“Money is like sex. It seems much more important if you don’t have any.” – Charles Bukowski (The Hip Pocket Guide to Offbeat Wisdom.)

“It’s like muck, not good except to be spread.” — Francis Bacon (It’s Only Money by Peter Pugh)

Read more here. 

Photo by Birmingham Museums Trust on Unsplash

TheStreet: Higher Taxes Aren't Stubbing Out Teen Smoking Anymore

By SIMON CONSTABLE

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Apparently it takes a lot to keep Altria's Marlboro Man down or even Reynolds American's  Joe Camel.

Higher taxes on cigarettes aren't helping stub out teen smoking like they once used to. Once again it's the so-called millennials, born between 1980 and 2000, who are bucking demographic trends and changing the way the world works.

Read more here.

Forbes: Top Signs Your Coworker Is An Empty Suit

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Is your coworker an empty suit? And how would you know if they were?

There is nothing wrong with dressing well for the office, but the problem comes when it’s all style and no substance. Expensive suits from Hugo Boss or Armani are no substitute for business acumen. Women and men are each just as guilty in this. Such people could be found in any company from the largest like Apple and Microsoft to small entrepreneurial offices. Nowhere is immune from this scourge, unless you work alone.

Here are some tell tale signs you are working with an empty suit.

Read more here.