The ABCs of Activity-Based Costing

One of my favourite MBA classes has been managerial accounting. It's like solving little math puzzles and using them to make managerial decisions.  We've learned a lot this semester but one thing that is very useful is activity-based costing. I would like to take today's article space to explain the gist of this concept. I warn you in advance: For the first time since the Time Value of Money we may need to use... math.

Midweek Update: How to repair a laptop, how to remember names, how to

Happy Thursday!

Some of you have seen this already, but this week I replaced my laptop screen.  Not to let the experience be wasted, I made a video tutorial on how to do it.  Like a boss.

6 keys to promoting a YouTube channel

Hello loyal readers,

Today I present part two in the series on how to increase viewership on your YouTube channel.  Last time we talked about content, and how to make it engaging.  This time we will focus on promotion: how can you get your channel seen?

How to become a YouTube celebrity

Someone I know named Bobby gave me a bottle of wine in exchange for a future consulting job a while back, and this week he called in the favour. He wanted me to take a look at his YouTube channel and give him advice on how to improve it so that he could start to generate a following.  Yay! I'm helpful! Also this, like many things, is a marketing problem.

Midweek Update: Guest blogging, Starting a business, thoughts on SOPA, etc.

Greetings everyone.  It's been a busy week this week, and I have a lot of news to share.  Also some valuable insights if you are thinking about starting your own business in downtown Montreal.  Things to consider if you want to rent commercial space or form a corporation.  I also have a thought to share about the controversial SOPA bill that's in all the news, as well as some interesting tidbits from home.  But before all that, I have guest blogging news!

The Personal Selling Process

...and how it applies to Jooble

Mid December I got an email from a man named Serge Lavange who works for a company called Jooble. He asked if I would link to Jooble on my blog in exchange for him promoting my blog with a banner ad for a month on Jooble. I agreed, technically making this my second Consulting For Swag article that I'm posting, the first being FaceGuard. I know, I know, this is not exactly a consulting job, but it's close enough because I'm using the opportunity to discuss the Personal Selling Process. Similar to the 4 Ps of Marketing, this is an academic marketing model that is very practical when it comes to real-world application.

Pardon me, do you have any Grey Groupon?

Have you ever heard of Posie's Cafe?  Their story is like a mini-case study in retail marketing.  How not to use Groupon.

Monday Update, random thoughts

I'm in the middle of the most hectic week left in my school year.  Just finished one presentation, have another one Wednesday, and a paper due over the weekend.  Nevertheless I'm writing.  Why?  I found some really interesting things that I wanted to share with everyone!

It's a marketing problem

I've noticed since I've started the MBA that everything seems to boil down to one of two problems.  marketing and finance.  But finance problems can be solved with money and that can be done by having good reasons for people to give it to you and convincing them, and those are marketing issues.  So really it's all marketing.  Some problems are more obviously marketing than others:

Green and Pink

The other day Sherri and I stopped into a food court to pick up a quick dinner as we were in a rush.  She commented to me that the new colour scheme that everyone seems to be using for their logos is green and pink.  Have you noticed this too?

Pho Nguyen

So today class ended early and I went with some of my compatriots to a local Pho restaurant for a late lunch.