eBay Main Street is a grassroots network that allows eBay to keep you informed of legislative matters that may affect your ability to buy and sell on eBay. The organization helps keep you informed and helps you take action on government regulations affecting your ability to trade on eBay.

As effective as we are, our voices with policymakers pale in comparison to yours. Simply put, government officials listen best when they talk to you – their constituents – real eBay users. We may ask you to write letters, send emails or call your elected officials on crucial issues. At other times, we may ask you to join us in your state capital or Washington DC to educate your lawmakers in person.

eBay Inc.’s Government Relations team invites you to join the eBay Main Street Member program. eBay Main Street is a grassroots action network that keeps you informed of public policy matters that may affect the eBay, PayPal , StubHub and other eBay Inc. communities, as well as the e-commerce industry as a whole. We’ll keep you informed and help you take action on government regulations affecting your ability to participate in today’s e-commerce world.

John Donahoe | Welcome to Main Street from eBay Main Street on Vimeo.

What I found however, after doing a quick view of Google Trends tonight is the odd relational nature the game has to food. Americans will probably consume more junk food like pizza, beer and chicken wings tomorrow than any other single day of the year. But when it comes to search there are 2 things people want to find along with thier Superbowl searches…7 Layer Dip and Chili Recipes! Yeah, tonight the number 11 and 12 most searched for terms on Google are for 7 layer dip and chili. 

This goes to show the odd relative nature of food and the Superbowl game. So how much 7 layer dips are going to be made today? Which 7 layer dip is the MOST popular? And what part of the country is seaching for it the most? Those were the next questions I just had to know after seeing it ranking so high on Google. So I did a little deeper research, cause honestly I am just that psycotic to do it.

Here is the low-down on 7 Layer Dip:

Number of Google Results: 1.7 million
Searches peak time: 3:00 pm est
Most searched by State: Texas
Most searched by City: Salt Lake City, Utah 

Ok, so I know you are asking yourself…well what is the top 7-Layer Dip recipe? I can’t leave you guys hanging, so here is the top viewed recipe for it.

“When we released Shipwire in 2006, our emphasis was on servicing entrepreneurs that were taking new brands to market,” states Damon Schechter, Shipwire Founder and CEO. “Our customers and our platform have since evolved. We’ve learned that the mid-market multi-channel seller has been poorly served. We’re seeing more and more of these sellers migrate over to Shipwire to automate their sales, via the Shipwire cloud-based logistics platform, as they expand their global brands overseas. Our previous website spoke to younger brands, and didn’t highlight our value proposition to these mid-market merchants, as they sought to expand globally and into more channels. Today that changes.”

Enterprise Logistics For Everyone™. More than a tag line, the company mission statement is backed by a Leadership Manifesto to all Shipwire clients. The Shipwire website has been redesigned from the ground up to better highlight the world-class cloud-logistics capabilities for both new entrepreneurs and established mid-market brands seeking to go global. The new featured content includes:

• Why Shipwire fulfillment video explains how enterprise shipping outsourcing can benefit today’s global brands.
• Expand Overseas – Reach markets in North America, Europe and Asia like a local seller.
• Reduce Time and Costs – Ensure every shipment sent to buyers is optimized for the lowest shipping costs and delivery times.
• Instant Sales Channels – Easily connect your sales channels and expand into emerging ones like Social Commerce.
• Expand Distribution Partnerships – Sell to retailers, drop ship and sell through flash sales sites and social networks.
• Customize Your Delivery Experience – Look good to your buyers using intelligent routing, professional packaging, and delightful extras for your customers and retailers.

In 2012, growing global brands can look to Shipwire to push the barriers of shipping software and outsource product fulfillment services. The Shipwire Hong Kong warehouse, currently in beta with select merchants, effectively opens the Asia-Pacific market to global brands. Shipwire Anywhere is free order management software for businesses. A free account on Shipwire comes with over 50 e-commerce services integrations and enterprise support. Shipwire is the only enterprise fufillment provider designed from the ground-up with a SaaS (Software as a Service) model – no contracts, no commitments and volume-based pricing.

You can point to Google as an example of making investors rich. The IPO set the share price at $85 a share, with the price now around the $580 mark. However, just consider some other recent IPOs.

LinkedIn saw its share price climb as high as $122 on its first day and then settled at $94.25 on that day, jumping up from its $45 initial price.

Facebook is not without a few challenges in its near term. The company’s biggest threat comes from Google, which has made no secret of its desire to go after the same users with its own Google+ network. It’s increasingly shaping up to be a two-horse race, with Google making quick strides against Facebook. Despite Facebook’s larger user base–845 million monthly active users–the company is mindful of Google’s resources. Today Google boasted that is now has over 100 million active users. The social landscape is heating up and a good day for Facebook may be a good day for the stock market. When will you and I get a chance to buy Facebook stock? That could be months from now, today was just the filing. Common stock for us common folk could take awhile.
See a copy of the public Facebook IPO filing

See a copy of the public Facebook IPO filing

Is Social Media Taking the Place of a Resume?

Many recent graduates are starting to dabble in what is known as a social media resume. A social media resume is not yet an alternative to the traditional paper resume, but it does work to highlight past work experience and accomplishments for interested employers. Hopeful job seekers are beginning to create their social media accounts in a way that employers will be able to utilize—making it similar to a resume. This can be done in several ways:

•       Sharing content relevant to the industry
•      Forming connections with authoritative figures in the industry
•      Filling in profile information that is appropriate for potential employers
•     Uploading a traditional resume to these social accounts whenever possible
•     Creating a LinkedIn profile and filling in all the necessary information (this is the professional social network)

The question, however, is not whether or not hopeful employees should be conscious of their social media actions. Paying close attention to social media is a great idea when it comes to professional development. It is becoming crucial that employees are social media fluent so that they can help promote their company via one of the most popular mediums for finding and sharing news.

But the real question is this: Should an employer, particularly an employer looking for a PR or marketing candidate, consider social media a type of resume?

Social Media vs. Traditional Resume

Whether an employer is starting a small business or trying to grow an existing business, hiring is important. According to a recent study by OfficeTeam, more than one-third of companies feel that resumes will be replaced by profiles on social networks. Consider some of the reasons this is moving in the right direction, and then some of the reasons this could backfire for everyone involved:

Why Traditional Resumes Should Come to an End:

1.      It’s quick and easy to create a professional social media account and people feel comfortable using them.
2.      In many cases these accounts have been utilized far before someone was looking for a job. This makes social media resumes more real and less calculated.
3.      People want to create social media accounts. According to Comscore, “usage of web-based email has fallen 8%, with the biggest decline amongst 12 to 17 year-olds with an almost 60% drop.” On that same note, 90% of U.S. Internet users visit a social networking site each month. Soon resumes will be a drag to create.
4.      Employers are also just as likely to feel comfortable working with social media. Instead of creating a file of resumes that all look the same, employers can pop over to a social media site quickly and get more customized information.
5.      Social media gives users the ability to connect with others in their industry and learn from articles they share. This not only helps employers see the types of things a candidate has been exposed to, but it gives job-seekers a real reason to interact with those in the field. A resume simply cannot offer that same dynamic energy.

Why Traditional Resumes Should Never Die:

1.      Social media accounts are meant as a place to connect, not get a job. People won’t always want to be professional on their social accounts, and if they were used as a resume then they would have no outlet to joke around with their friends. Keeping the two separate will be easier for everyone involved. 
2.      Social media isn’t always in the control of the owner. Social media accounts get hacked into all the time and people can sometimes post something on an account without the owner’s permission. This is an unfair representation of a candidate and could be a huge point of stress for someone dealing with a hacked account.
3.      Just because someone doesn’t have too many followers or too many connections does not mean they are not a competent employee. It takes a long time to develop relationships via social media, and in many cases it takes a job to help get there. This is similar to a resume—just because someone doesn’t have a lot of experience doesn’t mean they won’t be a great asset to the company.
4.      If social media was the new resume, all social media accounts would need to be set to public. This would make any account difficult to manage. Even if the system called for simply “adding” a potential employer to an account, both parties would have an incredible number of connections (and not very authentic ones at that)

Although it may seem like a lot of speculation right now, this is surely going to be a big issue in the future. Already CareerBuilder reported that 45% of employers reported surveying potential employees via social networking—and this was in 2009.

What do you think works better for employers? What do you think works better for hopeful employees?

Photo Credit: mashable.com

Amanda DiSilvestro is a writer on topics ranging from social media to small business loans. She writes for an online resource that gives advice on topics including document software to small businesses and entrepreneurs for the leading business information directory, Business.com.

MasterCard today introduced a comprehensive roadmap focused on advancing the U.S. electronic payments system.

The roadmap, which includes the path for migration from magnetic stripe to EMV technology currently available on “chip” cards, will serve as the foundation for the next generation of products and services developed to enhance the way consumers pay.

As payments continue to evolve to include new devices and new channels, such as mobile and eCommerce, the roadmap takes steps to address how consumers really shop, providing them greater security and control in their payment choices and the potential to seamlessly integrate loyalty programs and offers into the purchasing experience.

“We’re moving toward a world beyond plastic, where consumers will shop and pay in a way that best fits their needs and lifestyles with a simple tap, click or touch in-store, online or on a mobile device,” said Chris McWilton, President, U.S. Markets, MasterCard. “Our roadmap represents a transformational shift in the approach to payments and is not simply about EMV, chip and PIN. We’re focused on readying the ecosystem to drive future innovation and provide new consumer experiences to enhance the value of electronic payments. ”

Defining the Framework

Elements of the MasterCard roadmap include:

• EMV – Solidifying EMV as the foundation of the next generation of payments
• Immediate focus on acquirer infrastructure – Working with acquirers to ensure infrastructure readiness by April 2013
• Encouraging greater security and cardholder verification – Providing consumers with greater control and to reduce fraudulent transactions
• Provide benefits for merchant terminalization – Providing true financial benefits for merchants as they implement EMV-compatible terminalsCover all channels – Addressing all touch points where consumers will interact with MasterCard, including ATMs, the physical point-of-sale, online and mobile commerce
• Commitment to leadership and collaboration – Fostering industry collaboration to deliver the next generation of payments into the U.S. marketplace
• In implementing the roadmap, MasterCard will maximize the technology advancements and investments the company has made over 45 years to benefit the payments ecosystem.

“Customers from across the payments ecosystem have been asking for a roadmap,” said McWilton. “We believe we’ve provided issuers and merchants with a vision to ‘future proof’ their businesses and the flexibility to manage their technology decisions to best meet their goals and priorities.”

Foundation for Growth and Enhanced Security

In the increasingly digital world, transactions will get smarter. At the heart of this is dynamic authentication, where each transaction incorporates unique information, making it virtually impossible to replicate and reducing the risk of fraudulent transactions.

As issuers evolve their offering and merchants upgrade their terminals, the payments system will become more secure as this dynamic data is introduced into the payment transaction. MasterCard’s roadmap strongly encourages the adoption of the most secure technologies available.

“Consumers deserve a great experience any time they use MasterCard products,” said Ed McLaughlin, Chief Emerging Payments Officer, MasterCard. “As the industry invests in the upgrade to EMV in the U.S., we now have the ability to enhance the consumer experience and the security of a payment, regardless of the device – contactless card, mobile, eCommerce and technologies still to come.”

Alignment, Collaboration and Leadership for the Road Forward

In its roadmap, MasterCard supports the need for the payments ecosystem to be aligned regarding the implementation of EMV standards in the U.S. The company has indicated it will support current industry timelines in an effort to minimize disruption and to maximize investments across the payments ecosystem.

MasterCard was part of the original group that created the EMV standard and has supported the successful migration to EMV-based payments in nearly every major market globally. The company’s continued investment in advancing these infrastructure standards has provided insights and expertise to guide the industry in advancing payments security and convenience.

“The shift to dynamic data in the transaction process will help ensure greater consistency, security and functionality between the U.S. region and the rest of the globe,” said George Peabody, director, Emerging Technologies Advisory Service, Mercator Advisory Group. “Merchants and issuers need a clear and consistent roadmap for payment card security and innovation. MasterCard’s approach, starting with EMV, will benefit consumers and the industry.”

Additional detail on the roadmap and implementation activities will be provided to MasterCard customers in the coming weeks and months. In the meantime, initial resources can be obtained at www.mastercard.us/mchip-emv.html.

Our next meeting for the Think and Grow Rich ColderICE Book Club is scheduled for February 9th at 8:00 pm est. Mark your calendar and please join us. Its not at all too late! The next call will cover chapters 2, 3, and 4 on Desire, Faith and Auto-Suggestion. There are “13 steps towards riches” outlined by the great work by Napoleon Hill and we are going to cover the first 3 of them. We did our assesment in the first week and covered the introduction last week. This call we will get into the meat on February 9th.

These lessons cover pages 22-63 (using the PDF book as the reference) for reading. So that give you a whole 13 days to read 41 pages or approximately 3.1 pages a day! I can do 3 pages a day to change my business and financial outlook, can’t you? Of course you can. And even if you missed last week, you can catch up with the Book Club by reading just 5 pages a day…come on, get in the grove dude! Guranteed on of the most rewarding times your mind will have.

So for now, I have the next set of lessons and materials for you. We have the FULL book in PDF and the lessons. Plus for those of you who are like me and like to listen to books, we have provided the MP3 as well. So there is no excuse not to do this, its FREE, fun and live altering all in one.

FREE Downloads for The ColderICE Book Club

Think and Grow Rich – The Book (pdf)

Think and Grow Rich – The Audio Book (below)

• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4 

The Workbook - Lessons for Call #2 (right click – save as)

Next LIVE book club call is Feb. 9th at 8:00 pm est.