American Express today announced its $300 million purchase of Revolution Money, a PayPal competitor backed, among others, by former AOL CEO Steve Case. The Washington Post reports:

Revolution Money, founded in 2007, is designed to provide secure online person-to-person transactions by using a PIN number instead of credit cards or accounts.

Revolution Money will operate as a subsidiary of American Express.

Cisco will acquire networking products company Starent for $2.9 billion. Tech consolidation fever continues. The Wall Street Journal has more:

Cisco will pay $35 a share for Starent, a Tewksbury, Mass., maker of software and gear for wireless carriers. That represents about a 21% premium over Starent’s closing stock price of $29.03 Monday on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Cisco, based in San Jose, Calif., expects the deal to close during the first half of 2010.

Upon completion of the deal, Starent is to become the Mobile Internet Technology Group within Cisco’s service-provider business. The new group is to be managed by Starent Chief Executive Ashraf Dahod.

Last month, social media network Facebook hit 300 million users. If you think a few of those people could use your company’s widget, then it’s time to fire up your business’s presence.

When used correctly, Facebook drives traffic to your website, gains you valuable customer input, and lets you market and advertise for free (via your profile). If you use your account to its full potential, even more is possible. This step-by-step guide will show you how to create a business Facebook account that really works.

1. Create an interesting profile

Include lots of photos in your profile. Photos help fans make an emotional connection to your company. The bare minimum would be a logo and a couple of executive profile pictures. Depending on your situation, you can also add pictures of your bestselling products, company events, ads, employees, company events, and even company pets.

Make your business descriptions compelling. For example, let’s say I run a strawberry jam company called Strawmelade. A dull description would be “Strawmelade, makers of strawberry jam.” True, but rather dull. Instead, I might want to spice it up: “Squished strawberries never tasted so good.” “So yummy, you’ll lick the jar clean.”

Add links, events, video, and notes pages as appropriate. Make sure that you give each page high-quality content. It’s better to start with fewer pages and make them good, then add as you go.

Start posting Wall comments and links while you proceed to Step 2.

2. Grow your fan base

Note: This only applies if you use your personal account for business. Business accounts can’t friend people.

Start by friending people you know. Because this is your business’s site, keep your friends professional. If they are your personal friends, make sure they’re clear on the fact that you’ll be posting business updates on the site—and that they should react accordingly. You don’t want your best buddy to reminisce about your weekend bender on your business site.

Use Facebook’s search engine to find more friends. Facebook can help you search your existing contacts through email, AOL Instant Messenger, Windows Live Contact, and college alumni, to name a few. Hit up old acquaintances. Then make new friends. Searches by keyword (eg. “strawberries” might be a good keyword for my strawberry jam company) will also generate potential friends. Find people you’re interested in. Approach and friend them.

Join groups. Do a Facebook search by industry, location, or company name. Select “Groups” on the lefthand menu. For example, my strawberry company might want to conduct the following searches:

Industry: “fruit preserves,” “fruit spread,” “fruit jam,” “strawberries,” “food manufacturer”
Location: My hometown, my home state, my region (eg. Midwest)
Company name: “Smuckers,” “Knott’s,” any other competitors or people along my supply chain

If there’s no group in your industry, start one. Do this by selecting “Create a New Group,” a button located to the right of the Groups search field. Find people to invite.

3. Cultivate your presence

Join Wall or forum discussions. They can help you establish a Facebook identity and visibility. Comment on others’ Walls when you have something to say.

Make your own Wall interesting. Update frequently and regularly. Good things to post:

-Promotions. Eg. contests, gift cards, raffles, giveaways, season ticket raffles, etc.
-Events. Eg. weekly specials
-Polls and feedback. Link to online polls, or just ask people for feedback on a product, service, or idea.
-Customer service. Encourage people to contact you through Facebook. Resolve customer service issues through messages or on your Wall.

Arrange discussion themes on your Wall. For example, you (or your moderator) can ask a question relevant to your industry or product. For example, a Denver-based sports bar moderator might ask who fans think will win the next Broncos game. Get people to talk.

Set up fan photo participation campaigns. For example, have fans send in their favorite photos, then you put them in a special album. Or announce a themed photo contest, such as “best Halloween costumes.” Have fans post images of themselves wearing their Halloween costumes on your Wall.

Follow your competition through their status updates. Continue to friend people in your industry as you find them–then keep an eye on them.

4. Syndicate

Link to your website. Drive traffic back to your site wherever possible. Some companies find that their Facebook profiles receive more visitors than their websites. To avoid this trend, send fans back to where the action is–your website.

Link to Twitter. If you plan on sharing similar news through your Twitter account, then link your Facebook account to your Twitter account. You will see this option during the setup process.

Add a Facebook Fan Box to your website. When people click on the Fan Box, they’ll become your Facebook fans–without having to log into Facebook and find you.

Syndicate your Facebook feed with your blog–if appropriate.

5. Advertise

Run ads on Facebook. Many businesses have found this to be a successful way to drive traffic.

Open a “Shop” section in your profile. Populate it with company products. If you’re a service, sell branded T-shirts, caps, etc.

Allow fans to sign up for your online newsletter via Facebook. Open a signup page for online offers, your newsletter, or regular updates.

Photosketch, a new software program designed in China, allows users to turn simple sketches into customized photographs. Gizmodo has more:

According to authors, their software can take any rough sketch, with the shape of each element labeled with its name, find images corresponding to each drawn element, judge which are a better match to the shapes, and then seamlessly merge it all into one single image.

PhotoSketch’s blending algorithm analyzes each of these images, compares them with each other, and decides which are better for the blending process. It automatically traces and places them into a single photograph, matching the scene, and adding shadows. Of course, the results are less than perfect, but they are good enough.

The program heralds supreme possibilities for fun, like sticking celebrity heads where they don’t belong, and compiling photos from bits of copyrighted images. I can see a storm of copyright issues riding Photosketch’s tailcoats if the program gets widespread use.

You love to talk, and you’ve got stories to tell. But is work the place to bond over personal dramas?

This is the seventh in the series 8 Mistakes Men Don’t Make. Making things personal is different than taking things personally. (We’ll get to that in #8.) Making it personal refers to the over-sharing and personal story telling we sometimes do at work. This can go further than anything else to destroy professionalism and credibility.

Why? Because a juicy personal story lasts a lot longer than even the biggest win on the toughest client.

It’s All About Relationships

The relationships you create at work are naturally based on some sort of hierarchy. I don’t care how flat your organization is, whether it’s a role or a project or a key task – someone is in charge. When you share too many personal stories at work, you nurture different kinds of relationships, ones that don’t have clear lines of authority attached.

Can you really expect the co-worker who listens to you vent about your awful ex at lunch to be as respectful when it’s time to meet a crucial deadline?  Your deadline? Be personable without making everything about a close personal relationship.

Can You Trust a Drama Queen?

We all have personal issues that can occasionally preoccupy our every waking moment - if we let them. When you share your awful stories, you’re sending a couple of different messages. First off, you’re basically saying that whatever is going on with you is more important than your job. Why else would  you be taking the time to tell everyone about it? If your cat’s chronic diarrhea is imposing on work time, you’ve paved the way for someone else to feel free chatting up the cube farm about her next big break up.

Secondly, sharing details that are overly personal about yourself or someone else tells others that you lack discretion. They start to wonder what kind of information you can be trusted with. Even if the situation is completely out of your control, talking about it is your choice. If you do you may be perceived as lacking good judgment.

Forge Business-Based Connections

It’s not just talking about illness and romantic troubles that can ruin your credibility. When you focus on creating connection through shared personal values or interests, you miss opportunities to pursue relationships that serve purely business reasons.

Focus on your business success and learn how to tell those stories.

Image Credit: orinzebest, Flickr

Australian supermarket chain Woolworths has gone too far with its logo, according to Apple’s intellectual property lawyers. Concerned that “‘consumers may not be able to differentiate between the two brands,” Apple lawyers have told Australia’s intellectual property regulators to ban the logo. Mashable has more:

When it comes to defending their trademarks and logos, no company is more fervent than Apple. If they could challenge Victoria School of Business and Technology for having a logo too similar to theirs, then you can certainly expect them to sue Woolworths, especially if Woolworths’ trademark application is a blanket one, extending to electrical goods and technology.

Woolworths has tried to avoid using the word “apple”, and the designer of the logo, Hans Hulsbosch, claims Apple is taking things too far. ”Based on this logic, they would have to take action against every fruit-seller,” he said. However, one has to admit that the two logos have similarities, and that there’s actually a good chance (unlike the Victoria School of Business and Technology’s case) of Woolworths selling devices similar to those sold by Apple.

If Woolworths logo really looks like an apple, does that mean Apple owns the rights to all apple symbols? Apple’s legal chest-thumping seems like a stretch.

Tomorrow, Google will release the much-anticipated Google Wave, an innovative new communications platform. Mashable goes into depth about what Wave is, and also how it can change business. Ben Parr’s article on Wave’s game-changing features includes some benefits for business:

Drag-and-drop file uploads: (These) make Google Wave not only a communication platform, but a useful project management system. Companies could use Google Wave as their communication and file-sharing platform. Combined with Wave Extensions, you could build an entire project management platform and time management system better than anything on the market.

Playback: Playback clarifies any conversation and makes it simple to get anyone up-to-speed. Instead of “check your email,” it will become “just playback the wave” and you will have all the information that you need. You could get someone up-to-speed within minutes, rather than hours.

For more details on each feature, see Ben’s post.

Wave launches tomorrow for 100,000 invitees. Not having reviewed it myself, it sounds mainly like a major time and resource saver for businesses. I look forward to seeing if/how companies can use it to revolutionize processes, and whether it has potential to foster any new industry niches.

Last night, Microsoft revealed details of Courier, its new tablet prototype. The dual-screen device comes with a stylus and a hinge, making old-school day planners look primordial. PCWorld has more on this potentially revolutionary business tablet:

It’s not clear whether Courier will ever hit store shelves, as the device is just one of many tablet prototypes that Microsoft is developing, according to a CNET report. Nevertheless, with rumors swirling about an Apple tablet, and Courier’s similarity to Asus’ upcoming E-reader/netbook, it looks like the tablet concept could turn out be popular after all.

Courier is for those who want a smartly designed day planner that will probably be able to do other things like play videos and run other entertainment applications, just like a smartphone can.

Dell has announced it will buy technology services company Perot Systems for $3.9 billion, or $30 per share. The New York Times’ DealBook reports:

Dell and Perot Systems, which was founded in 1988 by H. Ross Perot, said that the terms of the deal had been approved by the boards of both companies. Perot Systems, which had revenue last year of $2.8 billion, will become Dell’s services unit and be led by Peter Altabef, the Perot Systems chief executive. Ross Perot Jr., the chairman, is expected to join the Dell board.

But the acquisition of Perot Systems now places Dell in much the same arena as its competitors.

The deal will close during or after the fourth quarter of this year, according to ZDNet.

Digital Daily comments on the purchase:

An interesting move. While there had been speculation that Dell was looking to acquire a handset company like Palm, it seems it was far more interested in boosting its enterprise business by acquiring an outsourcer like Perot.