Philippe Matthews Show Guru Advice, Author Reviews, Tech Reviews, Entertainment News

They reinforce positive behaviors, boost motivation, and build employees' self-esteem. Bonus: They won't cost you anything. Formal employee recognition programs can be effective, but many formal programs only pay lip service to recognizing employee performance

Here are five reasons that VCs don't trust anyone over 30 and why all of them are wrong. Sometimes it seems like there's a sign hanging over the doors of some top venture capital firms reading, "No Old People Need Apply." It's not hard to understand why. Investors are looking for the next big thing, and the truth is that Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Larry Ellison, Michael Dell, Sergey Brin, Larry Page, and Mark Zuckerberg all were in their late teens or 20s when they launched their companies

They seem like friendly, harmless queries, but they can land you in a serious legal tar pit. Here's how to learn safely what you need to know.

Coinstar, the company behind DVD-kiosk service Redbox, today announced it had would acquire NCR's entertainment business for as much as $100 million. NCR, once the central rival to Redbox through its Blockbuster Express brand, operates thousands of kiosks which will now come under Redbox and Coinstar's control

There is an old truism in the sales profession--people buy from people they like. The same goes for brands. Being “liked” is certainly not the only reason people buy your product or service, but it’s the foundation of a strong and lasting relationship and something that needs to be nurtured and developed

Don't waste a minute tracking your employees' hours. They'll get more done.

There’s a delectable irony in the fact that Facebook’s IPO was announced the same week as the Super Bowl. While they are both the subject of obsessive media attention, they actually represent two radically different versions of the future of branding and advertising.

Meanwhile, TV viewership of the New York Giants' 21-17 defeat over the New England Patriots remained flat, if not a bit down, from last year. Twitter connected last night on its hashtag Hail Mary . The social service set a new record for gameday activity during Super Bowl XLVI -- 12,233 tweets per second at the end of the game

Tips to fuel creativity and invention--geared to your brain type. One afternoon in Oregon, apparently in 2006, artist Eric Singer contemplated a piece of orange Madrone wood from his neighbor's yard and had an "Aha!" moment. Why not combine wood and sunglasses

Use these 9 free tools to measure 'social media sentiment' around your company, your brand, or even your own name. Welcome to Metrics Monday, a recurring series where I'll cover a particular digital marketing metric each time. I'm kicking things off today with Social Media Sentiment

There's one simple way to make your customers trust you: be open and honest with them from the start. My co-founder Bill Haney said recently, "In an age where you can look up the top nearby Indian restaurant on your phone, order at a fixed price, and have your food delivered within a half hour to your doorstep all without even talking to a live person, it's insane that for the largest expenditure most Americans make, our homes, we have so little ability to make the building process transparent." He means transparent in terms of cost (building on a fixed price), customization options, and building schedule.

Moves that every entrepreneur should steal from the Tom Coughlin playbook. Following one of the most thrilling Super Bowl games in history, the New York Giants are champions of the world

The same maps that can help you find your way to the mall can help the police predict where meth labs will pop up next. Here's a look inside the strange, fascinating world of geospatial predictive analysis. Google Maps is a lifesaver

A rather nerdy analysis of the typical iPhone and Android home screen setup, and how each could be made more efficient. The folks who designed your life-capturing, brain-augmenting smartphone did the best with what they had, which was a phone meant to appeal to everyone.

Take the time to discover which customers add the most value to your business. The CEO of one of our clients , a public company that provides credit card processing services to merchants, had a problem: The company had consistently delivered revenue growth rates better than most of its competitors, but its price-earnings multiple was lower than those companies.