Social Media as Alternative or in Addition to BBB When Too Small to Sue

A post at MyShingle.com asks whether lawyers should suggest not only going to the Better Business Bureau with complaints that are too small monetarily to sue over, but also whether lawyers should now suggest using social media to start a viral campaign telling everyone the issue.  See the post here.   My initial thoughts: just be careful what you post is not libelous and complies with other laws.  Some people get so angry, they get carried away.  But if they can stay within the laws and are not breaching any contract by doing so (such as confidentiality provisions), and can take the risk that it might provoke other issues with that company if there is any ongoing relationship, then go for it.

Friends want to do business with friends

David Bowman has a great blog post on this.

“Noted sales author Jeffrey Gitomer stated the value of friends like this.  ”All things being equal, people want to do business with their friends.”  ”All things being not so equal, people STILL want to do business with their friends.”  ”Connecting is all about your friendliness, your ability to engage, and your willingness to give value first.”  Note that the book that this was taken from, The Little Black Book of Connections,  is not even about social media, yet it is directly applicable.”

See the rest of the post at: http://www.davidebowman.com/friends.htm

Free 2009 Community Business Law Forum

In this uncertain economy, it is more important than ever to know how to deal with the legal issues that surround you. Your clients or customers may be threatening or filing bankruptcy, you may be contemplating a new advertising campaign, or you may be contemplating a lay off. What do you need to know? Let us help.

Free registration online at: http://www.daybar.org/html/events/community_business_forum_registration.html

Itinerary below.  Have general questions you would like answered?  Leave comments on my blog here.

The brochure is available on the Dayton Bar Association’s site at: http://www.daybar.org/pdfs/DBA_BLD_Community_Business_Law_Forum.pdf

8:00-8:30 – Continental Breakfast
8:30-9:00 – Bankruptcy: Ira Thomsen, Esq.
• How can I collect my accounts receivables when my clients are going bankrupt?
• What does bankruptcy mean for my business?
• How will the bankruptcies around me change how I do business?
9:00-9:30 –Internet and Intellectual Property, Katherine L. Early, Esq.
• What are the hidden dangers of advertising on the internet that I should know so I do it right and effectively?
• What types of intellectual property does my business have?
• What do my employees need to know about intellectual property so my business doesn’t lose money?
• How can I protect what intellectual property I have, but do it economically?
9:30-9:45 -Break
9:45 -10:15 –Human Resources/Labor and Employment: C. Mark Kingseed, Esq. and David Pierce, Esq.
• How will the economy affect the types of employment claims I will see?
• Why is management of workers compensation cases so important?
• What types of federal and state laws are seeing increased use and how are they changing under the new administration?
• What can I do now to protect myself and my business?
10:15-10:45 –Insurance: John Ferneding, C.I.C.
• What types of insurance are out there? (You might be surprised!)
• How do I make a claim, and what is the process?
• What do reservations of rights letters mean?
• How are insurance products affected by this market?
10:45-11:15 –Corporate Forms: Richard Boucher, Esq.
• Are you protected by the right form?
• What do you have to do to stay in compliance?
• What are the tax implications of each form?
• What are potential issues that arise with each form?
11:15-12:00 – Q&A

Inside Facebook – a site that tracks Facebook’s changing statistics

Inside Facebook is a site that tracks Facebook’s changing statistics.   “[The majority of US Facebook users are now over 25. There are now 6 million users 13-17, 19.5 million 18-25, 13.4 million 26-34, 9.7 million 35-44, 4.6 million 45-54, and 2.8 million over 55. In other words, there are more Facebook users 26-44 than 18-25 today.”

Wow.  The older generation is seeing the benefit of SNS for communication.

Reminder – Non-competes are ENFORCEABLE

In this down economy, companies look to shore up what they have – including protecting their IP and going after what they see as unfair competition.  As a result, there is more litigation over non-compete clauses in employment contracts.  So, employees out there: Beware.  I hear a lot of you say to me at parties and other places – I have a non-compete, but it is not enforceable.  While that may be true in certain cases IN CALIFORNIA, we are in OHIO.  OHIO and virtually EVERY OTHER STATE enforce them.  It is also true that if it is written too broadly, say, perhaps saying that you can’t work in any state  in the union for 50 years, then the court won’t enforce it so broadly.  BUT it will generally enforce it TO SOME REASONABLE EXTENT.  That might mean, say 50 miles and 2 years – or something else entirely.  How far and for how long it is enforced will depend entirely on the industry.  Hairdressers might have a more limited enforceable radius than, say, computer sales folks. 

For all my friends out there, just be careful.  Please.

Listen to the Podcast of me on David’s site

http://www.davidebowman.com/voices-episode-5-kate-early.htm

I talk about the EFWO, and marketing, social networking and law…