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Times Apps Pay Model to Change

June 20, 2013 by NewsMaker Leave a Comment

On June 27, the company will start charging nonsubscribers who want to read more than three articles a day on The New York Times apps for mobile devices. Until now, readers using the apps were able to have access to 10 to 15 articles a day exclusively from its Top News section without paying for content.

After clicking through three articles, nonsubscribers will be able to browse section fronts and get article summaries. But they will have to become subscribers to view more than three articles. Subscribers are also able to read more than just the Top News section, with access to articles, blog posts, videos and slide shows from all sections of The Times.

Web subscriptions that include mobile apps range from $15 to $35 every four weeks.

To encourage more readers to pay for the app, the company said it is introducing a seven-day free trial.

Denise F. Warren, an executive vice president of the company, said that The Times had been planning for a long time to charge for content on its apps because readers had access to many more free articles there than they did on the Web site.

“We always knew there was an imbalance,” Ms. Warren said in an interview. “We wanted to restore that balance between the Web site and the apps.”

Since April 2011, when the company introduced a metered pay model on its Web site, The Times and The International Herald Tribune have attracted 676,000 paid digital subscribers. On the Web site, nonsubscribers can have access to 10 free articles a month.

Charging for content has become an important source of revenue for The Times. Last year was the first time that circulation revenue surpassed advertising revenue. Company officials have said the growth in circulation revenue was helped greatly by the demand for digital subscriptions and the rise in print prices. The increasing use of apps and tablets are part of that growth strategy.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: June 20, 2013

An earlier version of this article gave an incorrect price range for Web subscriptions to The New York Times. The range is $15 to $35 every four weeks, not $15 to $20.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/21/business/media/new-pay-model-for-times-apps.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Filed Under: Media Business Tagged With: article summaries, circulation, vice president

Mortgages: Sellers Seek Offers Without Mortgage Contingencies

May 9, 2013 by NewsMaker Leave a Comment

Usually included in a sales contract, a mortgage contingency gives buyers the option of backing out if they can’t obtain financing within a specified period. And if they do back out, they can take their down payment with them.

But the combination of a competitive market and a difficult lending climate has made sellers in New York less amenable to such conditions. They want noncontingent or all-cash offers.

“When you have a market that’s heating up,” said Marc Israel, the executive vice president of Kensington Vanguard National Land Services, a title insurer, “sellers feel emboldened to say to buyers, ‘I’m not going to give you this clause because I don’t want to take the risk that you can’t get your mortgage.’ ”

The stance makes perfect sense from a seller’s viewpoint. When the market is hot, added Mr. Israel, a continuing education instructor for real estate lawyers, “the last thing sellers want to do is tie themselves up with a buyer for some extended period of time just to have the buyer cancel the contract.”

For buyers, however, signing a contract without a mortgage contingency is risky. If their financing was delayed or denied, they could forfeit their down payment.

Given the typical 10 percent down payment in New York, “you’re talking about a very significant amount of money at risk,” Mr. Israel noted.

In such a competitive market, buyers who need financing may find themselves up against those able to pay in cash or put at least 50 percent down, said Peggy Aguayo, an executive vice president of Halstead Property. It is not uncommon for high bids to be passed up for slightly lower bids that are noncontingent or all cash.

“A typical buyer with 25 or 30 percent to put down” Ms. Aguayo said, “if they don’t waive that contingency, the seller will go with someone else.”

The problem can be discouraging. Some of her buyers have decided to pull out of the market altogether until inventory loosens up.

Gea Elika, the founder and a principal broker at Elika Associates, an exclusive buyers’ brokerage, says that “almost every transaction that we’ve encountered recently has become a bidding war.” Properties that have struggled to sell may offer buyers more flexible terms, he said, but “the ones that have the momentum are the ones that just say, sorry.”

His agency never advises clients to go ahead without a mortgage contingency. For the few who decide that the property is worth taking the chance, the agency tries to minimize it by first ensuring that the building involved is warrantable — that is, that banks are willing to lend there.

“We’ll try to go to a major lender that’s preapproved the building in the last three months,” Mr. Elika said, noting that Wells Fargo and Chase have the largest preapproval lists in the city. “Then we may try to find a portfolio lender as a backup.”

Is going ahead without a contingency ever a good idea? Only if the buyer can afford it, Mr. Israel said. “The advice that I would give is, so long as you’re comfortable knowing that, if worse comes to worst, you may have to buy this property all cash, then it’s up to you whether you want to go forward,” he said. “The truth is, when you have bidding wars and people feel they’re going to miss out on an opportunity, it’s not the worst thing to go ahead without a clause — if you have the cash.”

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/12/realestate/sellers-seek-offers-without-mortgage-contingencies.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Filed Under: Economy News Tagged With: continuing education, kensington, vice president

Bucks Blog: Options if You Can’t Pay Your Income Taxes

April 11, 2013 by NewsMaker Leave a Comment

Monday is the deadline for filing your federal income tax return. What if you owe taxes, but don’t have enough money to pay them?

For starters, even if you can’t pay, you should go ahead and file your return, says Bob Meighan, an accountant and vice president of TurboTax. “The most important thing is for you to file your taxes,” he said. That way, even if you can’t pay, you’ll minimize penalties by avoiding the one for not filing, or for filing late.

If you can pay something, go ahead and pay as much as you can — again, to minimize penalties and interest that will apply for paying late.

Then, he said, contact the Internal Revenue Service. It may go against conventional wisdom, he said, but “if you are struggling financially to pay your taxes, the I.R.S. is there to help.”

You can go online at IRS.gov and quickly apply for an installment plan that will let you pay the balance monthly over as long as six years.

You’ll pay a fee of $52 if the payment is deducted directly from your bank account (or less, if you meet certain requirements), as well as interest and penalties, but the cost is less severe than the penalty for not paying, he said.

Plus, if you don’t pay, the I.R.S. has the authority to garnish your wages, which may cause problems with your employer and damage your credit.

The installment option is available for those who owe $50,000 or less. If you owe more than that, you’ll need to contact the I.R.S. and fill out Form 433-F.

The minimum monthly payment for installment agreements is $25.

One other option is a negotiated settlement called an “offer in compromise,” in which the I.R.S. may accept less than owed, if you meet certain financial criteria. To see if you are eligible, you can fill out a prequalifying work sheet.

Have you ever been unable to pay all the taxes you owed at tax time? What did you do? Have you used an installment agreement to pay your taxes?

Article source: http://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/11/options-if-you-cant-pay-your-income-taxes/?partner=rss&emc=rss

Filed Under: Your Money Tagged With: financial criteria, irs gov, vice president

You’re the Boss Blog: What One Company Is Doing to Generate Sales Leads

April 11, 2013 by NewsMaker Leave a Comment

Building the Team

Hiring, firing, and training in a new era.

Last week, I wrote a post about the analysis that we did of our sales funnel and the conclusion that we reached to open a lead-generation center in Pittsburgh. On Twitter, the post elicited a particularly important question: “How are you managing CPA with the addtl overhead?”

The Twitter post came from Mike DeLuca, a friend of mine who is vice president for sales and business development at Groupon and has had a phenomenal sales career at EMC, Yahoo, Yodle and Savored (before it was acquired by Groupon). He was asking a basic question: how can we afford to spend money on a lead-generation center? Had we calculated the impact of this additional expense? And how will it affect our average cost to acquire a customer (a k a cost per acquisition, or C.P.A.)?

Our interest in opening a lead-generation center was based on our strong close rate after in-person meetings, 52 percent, and the opportunity to increase sales by increasing activities at the top of the funnel. Ultimately, the decision hinged on this question: While we would have to increase our absolute sales cost, could we generate enough sales that we would nevertheless be able to decrease the cost per sale?

Here’s what our math looked like:

In our current sales regimen, we know the cost of our account executives — we define the fully loaded sales cost as base salary plus benefits plus incentive compensation. We also know the number of activities that those account executives produce every month, the number of meetings that are scheduled as a result of those activities and the number of deals that are closed because of those meetings. In addition, we track our conversion rates: 52 percent after an in-person meeting and 1.2 percent from the initial lead to the closed deal. Finally, for individual account executives, we divide their total monthly compensation by the number of deals that they close in a month to arrive at the average cost of sale.

When we add this new lead generation center, with one account development representative assigned to each of our five markets, we know that the total we spend on sales will increase. However, because these account development representatives will be focused exclusively on generating leads for our four or so account executives per local market, we expect the number of leads they produce to nearly double the leads assigned to each account executive. Assuming our conversion rate stays the same, however, this will have the effect of nearly doubling the number of deals they close each month, which ultimately would reduce the average cost per sale by 41 percent.

We believe the financial logic for the lead-generation center is sound. Now we just need to interview enough qualified candidates to staff it.

Last week, our head of talent, Rebekah Rombom, went to work. To fill the recruiting funnel in Pittsburgh, she started a variety of recruiting tactics to identify good candidates. First, she worked with Tom MacLeod, our head of sales, to write the copy to advertise this new position:

H.Bloom is the fastest growing flower delivery service in the world. It offers weekly flower delivery, plant installation and maintenance, corporate gifts and events to corporate customers: hotels, restaurants, retailers, offices and buildings. Current customers include the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, The W Hotel, Hugo Boss, Lululemon, Tesla Motors and Omega. …

Started just three years ago, H.Bloom is headquartered in New York City and operates in five cities around the country: New York; Washington, D.C.; Chicago; San Francisco; and Dallas. It is opening an office in downtown Pittsburgh to focus on lead generation and account development for these local markets.

As an inside sales specialist, you will work in a fast-paced, competitive, sales-oriented environment. You will call on potential corporate customers in each of our cities via e-mail and phone, identifying whether they are a good fit for our services and setting up in-person meetings for our account executives in those markets.

Responsibilities include:

Lead generation: Identifying corporate customers for subscription service, events and gifts

Building lists of potential customers

E-mailing and cold-calling leads

Entering data into Salesforce

Coordinating with account executives in local territories

Achieving quotas for daily activities

Key attributes include:

4-year degree

Cold-calling and cold-e-mailing experience

Lead generation or client research experience

Self-motivated and competitive

We tested two titles for this position: account development representative and inside sales specialist. We saw, through the response rate of our different recruiting channels, that inside sales specialist performed better.

Using an application called the Resumator, Rebekah kept track of all recruiting advertisements, responses, résumés and interviews. Just as Salesforce allows us to analyze the statistics in our sales funnel, Resumator affords the same opportunity with our recruiting funnel. This campaign yielded the following results through Friday based on a variety of recruiting channels: InMails through LinkedIn; advertisements on LinkedIn; job boards like Indeed and Craigslist; our own careers page; specialty sites like Levo League; and, of course, employee referrals:

Campaign Source Applicants Interviews Response Rate

InMails sent 130 6 4.62%

Indeed 23 4 17.39%

Craigslist 13 4 30.77%

LinkedIn Ad 2 1 50%

H.Bloom Jobs 2 1 50%

Levo League 1 0 none

Employee referral 1 1 100%

Total applicants 172 17 10%

We want to hire five inside sales representatives, and our goal is to interview five times that number of candidates. Rebekah worked through the weekend to fill the remaining eight interview slots.

Next week, I’ll report on the final recruiting statistics. I’ll also provide insight into the interviews we conducted in Pittsburgh and the outcome of our efforts.

Bryan Burkhart is a founder of H.Bloom. You can follow him on Twitter.

Article source: http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/11/doing-the-math-from-sales-funnel-to-cost-of-sales-to-generating-leads/?partner=rss&emc=rss

Filed Under: Small Business Tagged With: incentive compensation, regimen, vice president

Economix: Nearly 5 Workers for Every Available Job

July 13, 2011 by NewsMaker Leave a Comment

CATHERINE RAMPELL

Dollars to doughnuts.

More bad news on the job market front: the number of jobless workers per job opening stayed flat at 4.7 in May, according to a new report from the Labor Department. That is more than twice the average ratio seen during the boom years that preceded the Great Recession.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, via Haver Analytics

As Henry Mo, vice president for economics at Credit Suisse, observed in a note to clients on Tuesday, “Even if all job vacancies were filled overnight, almost 11 million workers would still be left unemployed.”

The quantity of actual hiring stayed flat, too, and the number of separations, both voluntary and involuntary, rose slightly.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, via Haver Analytics Levels shown refer to the total number of workers quitting, or laid off or discharged, each month.

These trends in separations may not sound like something to celebrate, but one silver lining may be that they eventually could lead to more job openings.

Part of the problem with the labor market is that there is so little churn; that is, companies aren’t hiring partly because no one is leaving. Hopefully having more separations will give companies reason to ramp up hiring, and hopefully that will lead to having more jobs on net. I realize, though, that that’s a lot of hopefullys.

Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=3bbbe563904164bb5ea53fd630e84e9c

Filed Under: Economy News Tagged With: henry mo, job openings, vice president

Bucks: Investigating the Dreaded ‘Check Engine’ Alert

July 7, 2011 by NewsMaker Leave a Comment

Few automobile problems are more vexing than the “check engine” light. When the light comes on, it may mean you simply didn’t tighten your gas cap enough after filling up — or it could mean there’s major trouble brewing in your catalytic converter.

George Ruhe for The New York Times

CarMD.com, a seller of do-it-yourself tools to help you diagnose problems with your car, has compiled a list of the most common reasons the “check engine” light comes on, based on its database of engine repair information, which is compiled by automotive technicians. (They receive a fee in exchange for contributing data.) Art Jacobsen, the company’s vice president, said it is important to find out why the light is on because “small problems can lead to big price tags” if necessary repairs aren’t completed.

Here’s the list:

1. Replace the oxygen sensor. The sensor is a device that measures oxygen in the car’s exhaust and helps regulate how much fuel the engine needs to operate. If it’s faulty, it will make the car use more fuel than needed — and end up raising your fuel costs as much as 40 percent, Mr. Jacobsen said. “The vehicle will run fine, but it will inject more fuel and you’ll buy it more often,” he says. Replacing the sensor usually costs less than $200.

2. Inspect for a loose or cracked gas cap. If you don’t tighten the gas cap enough, or if it’s broken, gas can evaporate into the air, wasting fuel. A new gas cap typically costs less than $3.

3. Replace the catalytic converter. The catalytic converter reduces toxic emissions and can be an expensive (as much as $2,000) repair. Typically, this part won’t fail unless you repeatedly ignore problems with faulty oxygen sensors or spark plugs. So its ranking suggests a lot of routine repairs aren’t getting done.

4. Replace the mass air flow sensor. This device measures air coming into the engine. Problems here can be prevented by changing the air filter when you have your oil changed — for a cost of about $20. If you don’t, and dust builds up on the sensor, you could be in for a $400 repair.

5. Replace the spark plugs. Changing spark plugs typically costs a few dollars a plug if you do it yourself. Again, if not replaced, damaged spark plugs can cause the engine to misfire and lead to expensive catalytic converter problems.

Generally, if the “check engine” light comes on you can safely drive the car until you are able to stop and check the gas cap or take it in for servicing. If the light is flashing, however, the problem is probably serious and you may do mechanical damage by continuing to drive, Mr. Jacobsen said.

If you’re a do-it-yourself type, CarMD sells handheld diagnostic devices ($119 plus shipping, online) that plug into a standard data port, found in all cars 1996 and newer. (Our Automobiles section tried the device a few years ago.) After you tap the car for its data, you download it to your computer, and access online information to help you figure out what may be wrong with your car as well as estimate the cost of repairs. CarMD’s Web site has a tool that lets you search by make and year to find where the port is located in your car. It’s often behind the steering wheel.

Have you ever had a “check engine light” repair? How much did it cost you?

Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=decbcc48aa15a223de192a02890d4667

Filed Under: Your Money Tagged With: air flow sensor, mass air flow, vice president

Media Decoder: Publisher Brings Digital Shopping to Its Magazines

June 13, 2011 by NewsMaker Leave a Comment

Hearst will make it easier to buy the products on its publications’ Web sites.

The photos and quizzes in Hearst’s online magazines are about to get a digital upgrade.

On Monday, Hearst Magazines Digital Media will announce two new features for its online publications that will make it easier for readers to buy the products they see on the page. Kristine Welker, chief revenue officer for Hearst Digital, said the publication wants its magazines to be a “shoppable experience” for users.

One partnership with Pixazza, a Mountain View, Calif., company that makes images interactive, will allow readers to click on photos and get more information about the products featured in the image. The first brand to use the technology will be Glidden Paint, an Akzo Nobel Paints brand.

Users who visit the Web site for House Beautiful will be able to scroll over the images in photo galleries on the site and see a selection of paint colors similar to the ones in the photo, the name of the paint color they saw in the photo and the paint’s price. From there, users will be able to go the brand’s Web site and, perhaps, make a purchase.

“We look for those marketing opportunities that are disruptive, unexpected and true to the brand voice,” said Rob Horton, vice president for marketing for Akzo Nobel Paints in an e-mail. “At the same time, though, any advertising medium must work toward getting do-it-yourselfers going by moving them from inspiration to action.”

Hearst began testing the technology with Redbook on redbookmag.com, where users could click on photos of models wearing various outfits to learn more about the items the model was wearing. “Why drive them somewhere else to make a purchase?” Ms. Welker said.

Hearst will also announce the next phase of their partnership with Buddy Media, a company that helps brands build and manage their Facebook applications. The new digital applications, called “sapplets” or social media applications, will let consumers engage with multiple publications and brands in three new ways.

Users will be able to vote on multimedia content like videos, take personality quizzes that will recommend products to them based on the quiz results, and earn badges for doing things like posting a comment on an advertiser’s page. Hearst expects the feature to be introduced to all of its digital magazine properties over the next few months, including Marie Claire, Good Housekeeping and Seventeen.

Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=2278e679bc07e62592ad4291ed0d7756

Filed Under: Business News Tagged With: e mail, hearst magazines, vice president