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☆ Commerce officials heading to China to lay groundwork for possible Raimondo trip later this year, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Kayla Tausche | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Gina Raimondo, US secretary of commerce, speaks during an interview in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, March 2, 2023. Senior officials from the Department of Commerce will be traveling to Beijing and Shanghai next week as part of an effort to lay groundwork for a potential trip by Secretary Gina Raimondo later this year, according to people familiar with the planning. Elizabeth Economy, a senior advisor to the secretary on China issues, and Scott Tatlock, the deputy assistant secretary for China and Mongolia, will assess whether such a meeting between Raimondo and her Chinese counterparts would produce results to justify the visit. A visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, set for early February, was postponed indefinitely as tensions escalated during a Chinese surveillance balloon's cross-country trip. Since then, Commerce has taken an ad hoc approach to sensitive trade issues.

☆ Why Instagram's 'Creator Marketplace' has left many influencers twiddling their thumbs instead of scoring brand deals
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Sydney Bradley | Marta Biino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

"I was so excited when the creator marketplace was rolled out," content creator Melanie Demi told Insider. "Over the last couple of months, I feel like the creator marketplace has died down a little bit," Demi said. "Even on the TikTok creator marketplace, it's the same," said Joseph Arujo, who has access to the feature on both platforms. On TikTok's marketplace, creators can add their starting rates for brand deals or negotiate terms. TikTok's creator marketplace, for example, brought on "alpha partners" in 2021 such as Influential, Whalar, and Captiv8.

☆ Teacher transitions from the classroom to a major accounting firm — and reminds others 'you haven't just taught'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Michael Sanders taught US history at two different charter schools around the start of the pandemic. He talked to Insider about how he transitioned out of teaching to working at a Big Four firm. In 2019, he started teaching tenth grade US history at a charter school in Barnstable, Mass., which he enjoyed. The next school year, he moved to a larger charter school network in Austin, Texas, and taught AP US history to eleventh-graders. He still talks to some of his former students and teacher colleagues too.

☆ A TikToker with 135K followers who posts about mental health has secured deals with brands like BetterHelp and Dove. Read his 2-page media kit.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Shriya Bhattacharya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Jorge Alvarez started posting on TikTok in April 2021 because he wanted more Latinx representation. He shares the 2-page media kit he uses to partner with brands like BetterHelp, Dove, and Taco Bell. Jorge Alvarez started posting mental-health content on TikTok in April 2021 because he didn't think there was enough Latinx representation on the social-media platform. Here is what a recent version of his media kit looks like. Page 1 of Jorge Alvarez's media kit.

☆ 4 small business owners say a low-cost advertising strategy called 'comarketing' has helped them save time and money, and build more authentic campaigns
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Erica Sweeney | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

This might include cobranded content marketing campaigns, collaborative social media posts, event or content sponsorships, or affiliate marketing. Comarketing offers many benefits to small businessesComarketing can help small businesses save money, stretch their marketing budgets, build a stronger brand identity, and grow customer awareness. Connect with like-minded small businessesAlignment is crucial when choosing other small businesses to partner with, Smith said. When working with other businesses on social media marketing, Boone said everyone agrees on a timeframe. She and Merrell do this by sharing similar topics across their brands' social media channels, but slightly tweaking the messaging to appeal to each audience.

☆ How we took our user-generated-content marketing agency from a side hustle to a business that regularly books 5 figures in monthly revenue
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Alexandra York | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Lauren Mabra and Lauren Ferry, both 25, are the cofounders of a social marketing agency. The business makes user-generated-content-style videos and books five figures in monthly revenue. The two friends discovered user-generated content, or UGC, a marketing tactic where brands hire unaffiliated creators to film and produce social-media content. Mabra said the business specializes in UGC-style videos that feel organic but are still created for marketing purposes. The two have hired more than 40 creators to make content and regularly book five figures in monthly revenue, documents viewed by Insider show.

☆ Amazon pledged to be Earth's Best Employer. Employees say it's just a 'marketing gimmick' as executives perpetuate the same toxic work culture.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

The company even added the slogan "Strive to be Earth's Best Employer" to its set of 16 leadership principles it religiously follows. But 18 months into the launch, employees say the Earth's Best Employer project is off to a bad start. He added that the Earth's Best Employer initiative should focus on creating a meritocracy and long-term goals for the company. For many Amazon employees, the lack of transparency during last month's layoffs seemed to contradict the company's best employer credo. As the economy worsens, some employees believe Amazon's Earth's Best Employer initiative was all just a "marketing gimmick."

☆ Guilt about leaving your job is natural. Here are 6 ways to set boundaries in your last weeks.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Melody Wilding | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Many people struggle with irrational feelings of guilt when leaving one job for another. Maintaining solid boundaries in your final days at work is important as you make your exit. When you move on to a new job, it's natural to worry about letting your team down. Here are six ways to set and keep boundaries in the last weeks of a job. And the position you're leaving could be an incredible opportunity for whoever replaces you.

With a shaky economy, some brands have reduced or cut sponsored content deals with creators. "That was definitely a bummer," Williams told Insider. "I think people are wanting to try things before they go all in with larger investments," Samuel told Insider. Taking on speaking engagementsThree creators told Insider that speaking engagements, in-person and virtual, have been a growing income stream for them. "You need to understand where you're spending money," Reed Duchscher, CEO of management company Night, previously told Insider.

☆ How Instagram nano influencers make money with under 10,000 followers
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Sydney Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

"Nano" influencers are generally defined as having fewer than 10,000 followers on Instagram. Here's how several creators earn money as nano influencers on Instagram and other platforms. Baiden, a skincare influencer who had 4,000 Instagram followers and 8,000 TikTok followers when Insider interviewed her in May, earns money as a full-time content creator. We spoke with half a dozen nano influencers about how they make money. Here's a comprehensive list of Insider's coverage of how nano influencers are building businesses:How much money 7 nano influencers charge for brand deals on Instagram:Examples of real media kits and DMs that 6 nano influencers use to pitch brands:

☆ How to set and achieve your career goals for the new year
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

It's a great time to set professional goals for the year ahead. Here are some expert tips to help you set career goals, including must-haves for a solid goal as well as common mistakes to avoid. "It's important to set goals because if you don't, it's like trying to get somewhere without putting directions into a GPS," says career coach Chelsea Stokes. As you consider your career goals for 2023, here are some expert tips to help you set and achieve them:Take stock of where you areTry to set personal and professional goals at the same time, as they often influence one another. Zero in"A lot of people set goals because they think they should, or they're comparing themselves to somebody else, but they're not actually thinking about their intention behind those goals," Stokes said.

☆ Trendy fashion retailer Revolve owes its success to creators, but some say its influencer-marketing strategy needs an overhaul
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Amanda Perelli | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

But some industry insiders say the company's influencer strategy feels out of touch. Trendy online retailer Revolve owes its success to influencers. Revolve, which launched in 2003, has a strategy centered around building awareness through sponsoring events and experiences such as Revolve Festival, Revolve Around The World, Revolve Gallery, as well as short-term retail experiences and influencer trips. But some influencer industry insiders said they feel the brand's influencer strategy has not matured as the market has. In May, Marketing Brew's Phoebe Bain wrote that sending an influencer products with no strings attached was a successful influencer marketing strategy for some DTC brands.

☆ I've made $974,000 in revenue in the last year as a freelance copywriter and only work 5 hours a day. Here's how I taught myself the skills needed to win clients.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Robin Madell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

In the past 12 months I've made $974,000 in top-line revenue — collected before expenses and taxes — from my copywriting business, and I have clients in more than 30 countries. I was crushed, but my copywriting business had started to take off. I'd work on my side gig on my lunch break and after I'd get home at 4 p.m. until about 9 or 10 p.m. On Saturdays and Sundays I'd log anywhere from four to eight hours of extra work. When I started copywriting full time, I tried everything to get clientsA lot of people recommended cold-emailing. I wound up giving the same slideshow presentation 24 times in two weeks to entrepreneurs who wanted to learn about email copywriting.

☆ How much a TikToker with 500K followers earns in a year and what she charges for a sponsored video
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Shriya Bhattacharya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Pivoting to TikTok helped her gain a larger audience and land five-figure deals with brands. For some creators, money doesn't roll in immediately — they have to spend years building their brands before landing lucrative paid partnerships. Still, it took Leanage years to gain enough followers to attract brands and earn a sizable income. Leanage now has 87,000 subscribers on YouTube, 10,000 followers on Instagram, and 506,000 followers on TikTok. She also regularly chats with other creators to make sure that her rates are up to industry standard.

☆ This TikToker went to the White House with Selena Gomez to talk about mental health. He shares the exact 2-page media kit he uses to pitch brands.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Shriya Bhattacharya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Jorge Alvarez started posting on TikTok in April 2021 because he wanted more Latinx representation. He shares the 2-page media kit he uses to partner with brands like BetterHelp, Dove, and Taco Bell. Jorge Alvarez started posting mental-health content on TikTok last April because he didn't think there was enough Latinx representation on the social-media platform. Since he started posting consistently, Alvarez has made $30,200 through brand collaborations and speaking engagements, according to documentation verified by Insider. Here is what the latest version of his media kit looks like.

☆ Elon Musk runs 3 companies — and his executive juggling act is the perfect example of how the modern CEO job is broken
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Ed Zitron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

Musk is currently the CEO of three different companies: SpaceX, Tesla, and, of course, Twitter. But like many CEOs, he's accumulated a huge fortune by juggling several companies and directorships at once. While Musk may be an extreme case, he's also the perfect example of the modern CEO: a chaotic blend of unproductive micromanagement and highly-paid absenteeism. In the extreme, some CEOs like Musk have taken on the management of multiple large companies. And Musk isn't the only executive who would be better served focusing on one task.

☆ The nefarious new way companies are discriminating against remote workers: time-zone prejudice
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Laura Wheatman Hill | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

In the age of remote work, many people have left coastal hubs for more affordable cities across America. But while the coronavirus pandemic created a surge in remote work, it isn't a pandemic novelty for companies to have a global reach. But the shift in which companies are now offering remote work options provides a clue to why time-zone bias is becoming worse. Jane took her job at the creative agency because she thought her local 9-to-5 working hours would be respected. It is important that companies be extra cognizant of what will happen if they continue to ignore and exploit remote workers.

☆ A psychotherapist shares 3 'surprising' signs that anxiety is holding you back at work
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Jenny Maenpaa | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Anxiety can make it difficult to sleep at night, especially if you spend late night hours reviewing everything you could've done wrong. Anxiety can distract you or cause you to procrastinate, making it harder to meet deadlines. Anxiety can cause you to be irritable, tense or fearful of how you are perceived, which may make it difficult to collaborate and create positive relationships. It can be difficult to make the connection between anxiety and work struggles. Here are three surprising signs anxiety might be holding you back at work:As a psychotherapist, I help patients tackle communication, performance issues and motivation issues that are often triggered by anxiety.

The White House said in a statement after the meeting that Biden raised concerns about human rights and China’s provocations around Taiwan. “President Biden and President Xi reiterated their agreement that a nuclear war should never be fought and can never be won,” a White House readout said, referring to the threat of nuclear weapons use in Ukraine. U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 leaders' summit in Bali, Indonesia, November 14, 2022. Planning for Monday’s meeting predated Pelosi’s trip, and discussions continued between US and Chinese officials despite Beijing’s furor. “Xi is not an enigma to President Biden,” a senior administration official told CNN.

☆ Republican incumbent Sen. Mike Crapo faces off against Democrat David Roth in Idaho's US Senate election
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Hanna Kang | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Sen. Mike Crapo is running against Democrat David Roth to represent Idaho in the US Senate. Idaho's Senate race candidatesFirst elected in 1998, Crapo has served in Congress for nearly a quarter of a century. Prior to entering Congress, the native Idahoan served for nearly a decade in the Idaho State Senate and for three terms in the US House. Roth unsuccessfully ran for the Idaho State Legislature in 2020. Idaho's voting historyThe state voted for then-President Donald Trump over Joe Biden by a margin of about 30 percentage points in the 2020 election.

☆ Tech CEO calls overemployment trend a 'new form of theft and deception' after firing two engineers secretly working multiple full-time jobs at once
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-15 | by ( Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

In a viral Linkedin post, a CEO explained why he fired two engineers for secretly working two full-time jobs. The post went viral on Friday after Bell divulged that Canopy, a mid-sized software company based in Utah, recently fired two engineers who were secretly working two full-time jobs simultaneously. Others speculated that the engineers may have be working two jobs in order to make ends meet. According to Bell, Canopy discovered the first engineer was secretly working a second full-time job after 2.5 months of poor performance that had been flagged by the engineer's teammates. You're also hurting the people who you're working with because they're responsible for deliverables and they end up working more."

"U.S. prosperity and security depend on the Pacific region remaining free and open," it said, noting that Pacific island countries faced urgent challenges, most notably from the climate crisis, but also heightened geopolitical tensions. Leaders and representatives from 14 Pacific island states are taking part in the summit. read moreThe official also said Biden would designate career diplomat Frankie Reed as the first U.S. envoy to the Pacific Islands Forum. The U.S. strategy document says the United States would partner with Pacific islands to help them adapt to and manage the climate crisis, an "existential threat" to their lives, health, and livelihoods. Strategic competition in the Pacific intensified dramatically this year after China signed a security agreement with the Solomons, prompting warnings of militarization of the region.

☆ The 2-week period when Mark Zuckerberg refused to take any meetings demonstrates his leadership and vision, Meta exec says
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

In a new podcast interview, a Meta exec talked about what CEO Mark Zuckerberg is like. She said Facebook's pivot from desktop to mobile was an early example of his leadership and vision. In 2012, Zuckerberg wanted to shift Facebook's users and the company's design priorities from desktop to mobile. During the same amount of time, Facebook's mobile daily active users increased 34% year over year, and its mobile monthly active users grew 26% year over year. Zuckerberg pivoted Facebook to become Meta last year, a huge bet on the company's aspirations in the metaverse.

☆ Swizz Beatz and Timbaland reach settlement with Triller in lawsuit over Verzuz payments
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Swizz Beatz and Timbaland have settled their lawsuit with Triller, after suing the service last month for $28 million, an amount they contended was owed after their sale of Verzuz to the service in March 2021. Specific terms of the settlement were not revealed in the late Thursday announcement, beyond a promise that “the settlement will increase the ownership stake given to the artists that Timbaland and Swizz Beatz brought to Triller as part of the original deal.”“Verzuz has always been a platform that is by the artists, for the artists and with the people,” Swizz Beatz and Timbaland said in a statement. This is a victorious moment in the Triller and Verzuz relationship as we march together toward the public markets. Swizz Beatz and Timbaland (legal names: Kasseem Daoud Dean and Timothy Mosley) both received equity in the sale, along with 43 artists who had participated in the program. The joint announcement Thursday said, “Swizz Beatz and Timbaland remain proud of the platform that they created with Verzuz and its acquisition by Triller due to the company’s willingness to celebrate and showcase artists.”Follow NBCBLK on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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