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Target recently launched a new digital coupon app called Cartwheel that is supposed to make shopping more social. It begins with a great idea; personalized digital coupons but from there, the wheel gets a little wobbly. Here’s how it works. First, you have to log on to the Cartwheel site and sign-up using your Facebook login.  You must have a Facebook account to use the program and that seems like an unnecessary hurdle. The point is to get more people to shop at Target, right? But if I don’t want to give you access to my Facebook account, then I’m out. Hmmm. . . Once you’re in, you’re presented with a grid of themed, coupon flipcards. If you don’t see what you want, you can use the search box to find coupons on a specific item or browse more than 20 coupon collections such as Baby Essentials, Pet Love, Men’s Must-haves, etc. It’s a lot to take in. Here’s a row dedicated to Memorial Day BBQ’s. When you click a card it flips over. Now you start choosing buttons. The “add” button puts the coupon into your Cartwheel. The “share” button posts the offer to Facebook (sorry Twitter, no go). The “details” button shows the expiration date, rules for redemption and how many others have redeemed this coupon. Right now, all of the offers I could see ranged from 5% to 10% off an item. Not bad, but not stellar, either. You can use each discount up to 4 times unless otherwise noted. What makes this a better deal is that you can combine Cartwheel deals with manufacturer coupons and Target’s Red Card discount as well. That’s what us couponers call double dipping. That’s also how you turn a good deal into a “I got this for free” deal. Target limits the number of coupons you can load per trip. They give you ten slots to start, six a day after that. To unlock more spaces you have to earn badges (*rolls eyes*) by shopping and sharing and following the red brick road. Now it’s time to go redeem your coupons and that’s where it gets a little tricky.  All of your current offers get combined into one bar code. The foolproof way to go is to print the bar code page while you’re still home and on the website. But printing just feels wrong – these are digital coupons after all. If you like to live on the edge, just go to Target and shop. When you hit the checkout, call up the app on your phone. Not the Target app, from what I can see, Cartwheel doesn’t show up on the store app. You have to log-in through Facebook and pull it up on your browser. (Not sure if you can get there from the Facebook mobile app. . . ) Do Target stores have free Wifi? Find Cartwheel, login, find your page, find your bar code, show the bar code to the cashier, wait for her to say, “huh, I’ve never seen this before, let me call my manager,” hand her more coupons wait for her to stop being confused by two sets of coupons, pay for your order and you’re done. Easy! Target could simplify the whole process if they just included the Cartwheel barcode in the Target app. (Feel free to correct me if I’m not getting this right.) As for the forced social sharing in order to get more coupons – that could work. Women have been known to dumpster dive for more inserts, so what’s a little sharing between friends if it means an extra 10% off hot dog buns. Target, I’m giving you a “A” for effort but a “C+” for execution.

RevenueShares, the ETF sponsor known for its six-ETF suite of revenue-weighted funds, landed a $7 million investment from a Chinese venture capital firm in exchange for a 22% stake in the issuer’s parent company. Suzhou Industrial Park Kaida Venture Capital specializes in funding high-tech and...

When it comes to promoting an online business, there are many methods that one can choose to use. However, of late, one method that has been considered to be very effective in this respect is the use of online press releases. It is due to this fact that press release services have become very popular and are now one of the main services offered by search engine optimization firms. Press releases are usually submitted and distributed through media channels so as to ensure maximized exposure for businesses and organizations and this could consequently lead to more traffic and higher conversion rates on business sites. Online press releases are also important since they have also become another avenue for people to optimize their sites for the search engines. These press releases usually contain back-links that help to improve the link popularity of websites and thus help to improve their SERP rankings. Therefore, you not only get exposure through the press releases themselves but also through the search engines, which are the best source of organic Internet, traffic. Given that there are numerous firms offering press release services, it can be quite difficult settling on one. However, in order to ensure that you get the most value when you enlist for these services, there are two main things that you should consider when looking for a firm to hire. These are: The quality of their writing – unlike ordinary articles used for Internet marketing which can be written in a free style and still end up being effective, press releases have to be written in a certain way and using a specific structure. You should look for a firm that is known to offer high quality writing that can influence your clients and potential clients to do business with your company. In addition, the press release should be well optimized for the search engines so that you can gain an added advantage over your competitors. Where they submit and distribute press releases – this is important because the effectiveness of a press release is in large determined by the number of people that see it. You should look for firms that have good media connections and that can distribute your press release in places where you can get targeted traffic from, such as in niche related media houses. In addition, press release services that also offer both online and offline submission and distribution are generally more effective than those that offer only online submissions since they will get your press release seen by a larger number of people.

Elevator pitches, 30-second spots, viral videos, strategic PR, the brand called "you."Today's conventional wisdom is that great brands are great at telling us their interesting stories.And that may be true.But it's a superficial view.In reality, we use our interaction with brands to construct our own stories.Ones that we want to tell about ourselves.To ourselves and to others.When you're being interesting, you're really doing it to enhance other's stories.Case in point.Each morning in the 1950s, noted advertising man David Ogilvy would stroll through Central Park.One beautiful day, he witnessed a man begging beside a sign.The sign read, "I am blind."By evidence of the man's near empty cup, he wasn't doing very well. So, Ogilvy removed a marker from his briefcase.And he changed the sign to read, "It is spring and I am blind."After that small change, the money poured in.Our simplistic way of viewing that story is that Ogilvy changed the message.Thus making it more persuasive.In fact, what Ogilvy did was much more subtle.And much more powerful.Ogilvy changed the prop.Which transformed the scene.By doing so, he enhanced the story creation of every passerby.Those three simple words—"It is spring"—encouraged empathy in the actors.And brought life to their stories.That's what strategically building a strong brand is all about.Sure it's about being unique, and creating value and preference.But it's also about evoking compassion, passion and self-worth in others.The American author and critic Mary McCarthy wrote, "We all live in suspense, from day to day, from hour to hour; in other words, we are the hero of our own story."Are you trying to build a world-class brand?Then ask yourself and your team, "Whose stories have we enhanced lately?

Apple confirmed Thursday that the keynote address for WWDC 2013 will take place on June 10th, as the conference begins that morning at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California. Tim Cook will commence WWDC 2013 by presenting the keynote address, sources confirm. In past years, Apple hasn’t been forthcoming about what announcements will be made at the annual developer’s conference. But this year, it’s a different story. Apple has already revealed that the company will debut and demo the next major releases of both iOS and OS X. As of this writing, other speakers and presenters haven’t been confirmed, but the biggest headlines out of WWDC 2013 will likely result from the June 10th keynote. MMW will provide complete coverage of WWDC 2013 beginning with the eagerly anticipated keynote.

For as good as U.S. equities have been this year, and they have been quite good broadly speaking, finding an abundance of ETFs that are up 30% or more year-to-date is difficult. The job is made even harder when excluding ETFs that track Japan, one developed market that has outperformed the U.S....

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL): Bondholders have reportedly lost roughly $280.6 million of market value since purchasing $17 billion worth of the company’s issued bonds, as it declines due to rising yields that are pulling themselves from record-setting lows. About $3 billion of 30-year, 3.85 percent bonds, issued at 99.418 cents on the dollar, dropped 4.3 cents through yesterday to 95.145 cents on the dollar since the offering made on April 30th, creating a loss of $128.2 million and pushing the yield on the bonds to 4.1 percent NEW! Discover a new stock idea each week for less than the cost of 1 trade. CLICK HERE for your Weekly Stock Cheat Sheets NOW! Google (NASDAQ:GOOG): During the earnings call on Wednesday, Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) CEO Meg Whitman attributed the company’s better than anticipated performance to strong tablet sales – tablets that run Google’s Android. The open-source system helped HP salvage its mobile platform offerings, after discontinuing its Palm and webOS TouchPad in 2011. ”If we have the right product and the right price, the channel still loves HP and they want to sell our products,” Whitman said. “Frankly, having Android products helps a lot.” NEW! Discover a new stock idea each week for less than the cost of 1 trade. CLICK HERE for your Weekly Stock Cheat Sheets NOW! Cicsco (NASDAQ:CSCO): Citigroup believes that Cisco shares have enough upside that it could drive them up to $30, and has accordingly kept its shares rated at Buy, with a $26 price target. Citi notes that Cisco’s economic leverage is under-appreciated, and an earnings surprise would bode well for shareholders. NEW! Discover a new stock idea each week for less than the cost of 1 trade. CLICK HERE for your Weekly Stock Cheat Sheets NOW! Don’t Miss: Are Apple Displays About to Get Even Better? Read the original article from Wall St. Cheat Sheet

Did you know that 73% of parents discuss family finances with their children? While that’s an impressive number, many children still aren’t on the same page when it comes to conversations about money. From how banks and credit cards work, to what the stock market is, see the hot money topics kids have on their minds. Then read on for stats on which parent does a better job at money management and which parent kids usually turn to when they are looking for a handout (the answer sure did surprise me!). Click on “Launch Infographic” for an expanded view.

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Need a car? For the weekend or just an hour or two? Borrow it from your neighbor! Do you own a car? Is it just sitting parked somewhere? Rent it when you're not using it. Buzzcar is car-sharing between individuals. Buzzcar connects drivers and car owners looking for a car.