Let's Share the Wealth: January 2012

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Yao Ming eying film business - China Daily

SHANGHAI - The retired Chinese basketball superstar Yao Ming has been looking for business opportunities in the film industry, but has not entered it yet, Yao's agent said Tuesday, responding to media's reports claiming that Yao will set up a film finance fund.

Foreign media report that Jay Cohen, an American film producer, is setting up a film finance fund with Yao Ming, which has caught the attention of China's media and public.

"Yao Ming and our team has not joined or set up any such organizations as the film finance fund," Yao's agent Zhang Mingji told Xinhua, adding that they are open to such kind of business, and are looking for good investment opportunities.

Zhang said, Jay Cohen is a friend of Yao and Yao's team and they have made some discussions on investing in the film industry, but no action has been taken yet.

He went on saying that Yao is currently busy with his study and works in the Shanghai Sharks, a Chinese basketball team, and he has no plan to go to the United States to negotiate investing in the film industry.

Yao, 31, announced his retirement on July 20 last year from the National Basketball Association's Houston Rockets, the US team who made him a global star, and from the Chinese national team five days later.

Since his retirement, Yao has been back to school studying for a university degree in business management and helping manage the Shanghai Sharks.

In November, he set up a company to sell his own brand of wine, and he sold the first bottle for 150,000 yuan ($23,766) at a charity auction.

Yao is China's first global sports superstar with a personal brand valued at more than $1 billion.

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Snooki, 'Housewives' and the Reality of Celebrity Businesses - msnbc.com

For reality TV stars who hope to turn their fame into lucrative business opportunities, the drama often continues after the cameras stop rolling.

Such TV personalities as Kim Kardashian, Bethenny Frankel, Snooki and cast members of the Housewives reality series have either inked licensing deals or created startups. While some have used their high profiles to strike business gold, others are running into trouble as they try to exploit their 15 minutes of fame.

Albie Manzo publicly failed out of law school on Bravo's The Real Housewives of New Jersey, but the 25-year-old's legal headaches didn't end there. In March, Manzo, who is the son of Housewives co-star Caroline Manzo, launched BLK Brands, which makes a bottled water drink called blk. The beverage contains fulvic acid, which turns water black and, according to blk. and other marketers, provides health benefits. Manzo, who runs the business with his uncle and brother, enjoyed some early success, but the business suffered what he calls an "annoying" blow last month.

Related: Lessons Learned from Scary Business Mistakes

Manzo, his brother Chris Manzo and his uncle Chris Laurita learned they were being sued by Creative Thinkers, a Canadian marketing company whose owner also operates Blackwater Innovations Corp., the maker of a similar beverage called Blackwater. Among other things, the Vancouver, British Columbia, firm claims Manzo and his family used their fame to popularize what Creative Thinkers contends is a false story about the development of blk. water. Creative Thinkers claims to have entered into a deal to produce black water with Jacqueline and Louise Wilkie -- the reality stars' business partners in BLK Brands -- before the sisters met Manzo and his family at a food show. The suit seeks unspecified actual and punitive damages, and Creative Thinkers also wants an injunction to stop sales of blk., according to the company's attorney Mark Litvack, a partner at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman in Los Angeles.

"You never ever get used to or like seeing your name dragged through the mud in the press over something that isn't true," Manzo says. He also claims that people have written negative reviews about blk. simply because they don't like The Real Housewives of New Jersey. Still, Manzo acknowledges that his company has benefited from media attention. "The coverage we've gotten has been excellent," he says, adding that the company's launch party was featured on an October Housewives episode. Blk. water is now being carried by such grocery chains as Wegmans, Whole Foods and D'Agostino.

As Manzo's experience illustrates, fame is often a double-edged sword. Celebrities have long been offered lucrative licensing deals for everything from fashions to perfumes, and they often can launch a business more easily than the typical entrepreneur. But entrepreneurs who dream of a stint on, say, Bloomberg TV's TechStars or an Internet TV show should be mindful of the downside of instant celebrity. "Many overnight celebrities try to immediately capitalize on their star power by launching spinoff businesses and sometimes either go overboard or aren't savvy enough to sustain them," says Steven Le Vine, founder and president of Grapevine PR in Hollywood. "Other times, they are taken for a ride by opportunists and don't make any money or lose their own money."

Related: Are You Really in Charge of Your Business?

Like Manzo, Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi is facing business-related legal troubles. The Jersey Shore co-star and party girl filed suit in October to end her contract with New York licensing firm SRG Ventures, claiming the company failed to deliver on its promises. The firm had agreed to help her find marketers interested in creating such Snooki-branded merchandise as shoes and lingerie. SRG Ventures is countersuing Polizzi for $7 million, alleging that she sabotaged the agreement by negotiating other deals while still under contract with SRG. Snooki's publicist Stacey Wechsler says, "Polizzi disputes SRG's version of the facts and looks forward to her day in court." SRG founder Stephen Goodman referred questions to his attorney Robert Hantman who didn't respond to multiple queries.

How Polizzi's and Manzo's legal troubles shake out remains to be seen. But some celebrity entrepreneurs have managed to survive a courtroom brush or two. For example, Bethenny Frankel, the star of Bravo's Bethenny Ever After, dealt with a number of legal challenges, including one alleging that her company's Skinnygirl Cocktails didn't contain pure agave tequila as stated on the label. She also was sued by a former talent manager who claims Frankel owes him 10 percent of her proceeds from the sale of her company to spirits giant Beam Global last year. Frankel, who reportedly reaped $120 million from the sale, referred questions to her attorney Howard Weitzman, who would only say in an email response that Skinnygirl Cocktails "is one of the fastest growing spirit brands in the nation. It's clear these lawsuits are a result of her enormous success."

Then there's the case of the Kardashian Kard, a prepaid debit card, for which Kim, Khloé and Kourtney Kardashian served as spokesmodels. The stars of E!'s Keeping Up With the Kardashians withdrew their support for the debit card three weeks after the product's launch because of widespread criticism that the card's fees were "predatory." The Revenue Resource Group, which marketed the card, sued the reality TV stars for $75 million for alleged breach of contract, but the suit was dismissed last summer, according to Nathan Miller, the company's attorney. Michael Kump, the Kardashians' attorney, didn't respond to requests for comment.

Related: How to Protect Your Business from a Rogue Employee

So what's the secret to finding business success when you're in the public eye? Some reality TV stars "know how to work the media to their benefit and to exploit the attention to sell products," says Le Vine. "Because they started out in reality television -- rather than movies or scripted television -- people get the false sense that their lives are a bit more attainable and that they can be like them if they buy and use their products."

But being a celebrity can get you only so far because lasting success depends on business savvy and quality products or services, Le Vine says. "Just like regular entrepreneurs, many succeed and many do not."

This article originally posted on Entrepreneur.com

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LB Training Incorporated offers free business development training opportunities - Examiner

Richmond Natural Beauty Examiner

Richmond Natural Beauty Examiner

Kenyada Jones, a Virginia state licensed cosmetologist and instructor, is committed to creating awareness around maintaining beauty the natural way...

Are we looking at the next 'American Idol'?

Slideshow: See 25 photos from the 2012 SAG Awards.

The Simpsons are celebrating the 500th episode with a special guest.

The GOP candidates are ready to square off in Florida.

See where it is illegal for men to leave the toilet seat up.

Your votes have decided who shares $100,000 in prizes.

Ferris Bueller will be making a comeback during the Super Bowl.

Now is the time to plan a romantic getaway with your sweetie.

View the original article here

India offers opportunities, but there are pitfalls to avoid - Washington Post

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Text SizePrintE-mailReprints By Sheila H. Khatri,

As the second-fastest growing market in Asia, with more than one billion people, India is considered by many small business owners fertile ground offering a variety of opportunities.
Total bilateral trade between the United States and India rose 18.4 percent to nearly $50 billion in 2010, according to Export.gov, which helps prepare U.S. businesses to sell and buy products in the global market.
Still, despite the phenomenal opportunities, it is prudent to remember India poses a challenging business environment. Here are tips for avoiding some of the common pitfalls to doing business there:
?Do not create a generic national plan for India. The nation is similar to Europe in terms of cultural and linguistic diversity. Indians define themselves by their state of origin — for instance, I’d say I’m a Gujarati, versus saying I am Indian. The borders of Indian states are drawn on cultural and linguistic lines — the difference between a Kashmiri and a Keralite is not unlike the difference between a Swede and a Spaniard. The language, dress, tastes and influences are vastly different between various parts of India. Also, state governments have significant power over business regulations, so it’s imperative to know the rules of business under each state for a particular industry.
?Do not expect significant results in less than a year. India requires patience. Seventy percent of Indian companies are family businesses. So when you do business with them, you are essentially marrying into the business. Indians don’t jump into business relationships very fast. This is frustrating for the American, who might say, “I believed we were going to get this done in three weeks and it’s been four months!” The more an American businessperson tries to push, the slower the process gets. The Indian will say, “Why is he rushing, is he trying to pull something over me? He’s erratic — one day he’s nice and the next day he’s pushy.” Trust is a key element for a business transaction in India, and trying to rush a decision often erodes trust.
?Do not be overly reliant on Indian contracts. Enforcement of contracts is a cumbersome process in India. It takes a lot of steps and time to resolve disputes in the formal legal system — it can take decades to resolve a case. Build into your India business relationships alternative forms of checks and balances.
?Do not ignore Indian employment laws. It’s easy to create a presence in India by hiring a local Indian as an independent contractor — but don’t ignore India laws which might classify your relationship as an employer-employee arrangement, with all of the regulations regarding retirement funds, overtime and mandatory severance. Typically, laws of the country in which the employee resides will have jurisdiction over employment matters. Getting this issue wrong could cost you thousands of dollars in back payment of employment taxes, transfer-pricing issues and other regulations.
?Do not underestimate language differences. While English is the language of business in India, don’t be fooled into believing the words have the same meaning. Saying the word ‘no’ is considered disrespectful and impolite in India, so they have other ways of expressing disagreement. But often it’s in a way Americans don’t hear it.
Sheila H. Khatri is president of Moti International, a Bethesda-based company that incubates U.S. firms in India.

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