I don’t know what it is about Marketing, but everyone on earth seems to think they can do it. And yet I see so many people NOT doing it or wasting thousands of dollars and not getting results.  I see business owners try the same things over and over,  wasting more money, more time, and more energy. If I had 1/10^th of what business owners waste on stuff that doesnt work, I’d be the most successful marketing consultant on the planet.  And yet, so many business owners would rather go it alone and try and fail and try again and fail again rather than reach out and get professional help. I don’t

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A screen inside a New Town Builders net-zero home displays energy use and costs. Homeowners can expect to pay nothing in electric and natural gas bills when averaged over a year because their houses’ rooftop solar panels will generate enough extra power to offset utility costs. Get full info…

Linfield Adult Degree Program, announces that it will be making its Path to Scholarships® workshops available as a service to students who apply for admission to either Linfield Colleges accredited bachelors degree or professional certificate programs. The workshops are being held twice in the coming weeks for those students who plan to enroll at Linfield in the 2012 spring or summer semesters.

The Path to Scholarships® workshops are led by Gerardo Ochoa, Associate Director of Financial Aid at Linfield College, Portland Campus and Co-author of Path to Scholarships® College Edition. Mr. Oc

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As membership numbers approach the 100,000 mark, Bplans.com has launched a poll and Twitter contest to celebrate!

Bplans is inviting participants to take a brief, five-question poll, then head over to Twitter.com to  for a chance to win a free subscription to business-planning product, LivePlan.

Results of the poll, and winners will be announced early next week.

QBE Insurance Group has been placed in a trading halt with reports suggesting the halt is due to an investigation by US authorities into one of the company’s subsidiaries, Balboa.

The halt will remain in place until either an announcement from the company is made, or trading resumes on January 16.

Reports indicate that the investigation will focus on excessive fees for policies that include some of the largest banks in the United States.

QBE has said it will make an announcement today “regarding topics such as preliminary 2011 results and 2012 worldwide reinsurance protections”.

Shares open flat after weak overseas leads

The Australian sharemarket has opened flat this morning after weak results from international markets, which have been subdued over renewed fears over the European debt crisis.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 3.3 points or 0.1% to 4190.8 at 12.00 AEST, while the Australian dollar rose slightly to $US1.02c.

ANZ shares rose 0.33% to $21.15 as Commonwealth Bank shares rose 0.24% to $50.06. Westp

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