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The United States military action in Iran is making some Americans concerned about what they’ll pay at the pump to fuel their vehicles. But that’s not the only price spike that could come from the conflict. The war in the Middle East has essentially halted global shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman. That disrupts not only the flow of oil, but also the movement of natural gas, fertilizer, aluminum, and more, which could impact the price of other goods—including food. “Those impacts will be significant and will have cascading global ramifications,” says Michael E. Webber, an energy expert from the University of Texas at Austin, via email. The conflict could also snare supply chains broadly as trade routes shift. And with fuel prices increasing broadly, your commute isn’t the only transportation affected. Prices to ship anything may rise, too, leading to higher retail costs. In these ways, surging energy prices often increase inflation. Oil affects tractors, semi-trucks, and cargo ships This week, oil prices spiked to more than $100 a barrel. Though they’ve since dropped below that threshold, the uncertainties around the war—including conflicting comments from the The President administration about how long it will continue—have exports worried about the market. That barrel price refers to crude oil, from which gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel is made. Diesel is often used for tractors on farms, meaning price hikes could affect a farmers’ operating costs. Semi-trucks and cargo ships also often rely on diesel, so rising fuel costs could affect all sorts of goods that need to be moved around the planet. That could make it more expensive to import things like fruits and vegetables. Fossil fuels like oil and natural gas are used to make everything from plastics to clothing fabrics. Already, apparel makers in China are bracing for price hikes amid the volatile oil market. Fertilizer moves through the Strait of Hormuz Though all sorts of industries are affected by rising energy costs, our food system is particularly vulnerable. For one, it relies on fertilizer, which moves through the Strait of Hormuz. Along with about 20% of the world’s oil, that passageway is responsible for roughly a third of the world’s fertilizers. It also moves ingredients used to make fertilizers, like global liquefied natural gas (which is also used for fuel and residential heating), as well as urea. Fertilizer prices were also impacted by Russia’s war with Ukraine, and though they’ve come down slightly since then, they remain high compared to before 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion. “As a consequence, a lot of farmers have been really concerned about the cost of fertilizer, because they see their margins being squeezed,” says Joseph Glauber, senior fellow emeritus at the International Food Policy Research Institute. “Now, of course, this is just an added burden.” Typically, there aren’t reserves or stockloads of fertilizer, in part because of high storage costs and a quick supply chain. That means when a major fertilizer producing region like the Persian Gulf is affected, prices will surge. How much that fertilizer production will move elsewhere around the world, or how long the Strait of Hormuz stays closed for ships, are all currently unknown factors that will affect just how high prices go. Food prices are affected in multiple ways Food production doesn’t only rely on fertilizer for crops. It requires electricity, fuel, and processing. “So much of the cost of retail food happens after the farm,” Glauber says. He estimates just 15% of the value of retail food is actually due to farm costs. Energy prices do affect those on-the-farm costs, but they factor in for “almost every step of the way” for food production at large, he adds. Webber lists out some of these other factors: “The global food system depends on electricity (for pumping water, processing, and refrigeration) . . . propane (for drying crops), oil (for diesel to operate tractors and other equipment), and other agrochemicals such as pesticides that depend on oil and gas as feedstocks.” “As a result of the strait’s closure and other impacts on global capacity for these energy products,” he adds, “I expect food prices to soar.” That will affect Americans, but also other people in countries like India and China, and throughout Latin America, and of course food supplies in the Persian Gulf itself, which relies heavily on agriculture imports. So much of these impacts depends on how long the conflict in Iran will continue. When it comes to fertilizers, in the short term there are “ample crop supplies in the world,” Glauber says—though growing shipping costs could still affect consumer prices. If the impacts are prolonged, that could worsen things for shoppers. However, markets tend to do well at finding alternative suppliers or new trade routes, he adds. Still, particularly in the U.S., consumers are already dealing with high grocery prices which haven’t dropped since the pandemic. As of October 2025, grocery costs were up 25% over the past five years. “We’ve just come through the highest food inflation in 30-odd years, in the last few years,” Glauber says. “No one has much stomach to see that again.” View the full article

Organizations that move quickly rarely rely on vague objectives. Many modern teams now use FAST goals, a goal-setting approach introduced by Donald Sull and Charles Sull in their book Simple Rules: How to Thrive in a Complex World. What Are FAST Goals? FAST goals are a goal-setting framework designed to help teams maintain focus, accountability and alignment while executing complex work. The acronym stands for Frequently discussed, Ambitious, Specific and Transparent, meaning goals should be reviewed regularly, stretch team performance, define clear outcomes and remain visible across the organization. The main purpose of a FAST goal is to keep priorities active in day-to-day operations so teams continuously track progress, coordinate work and adjust execution when project conditions change. Once goals are defined, teams need tools to plan the work and track progress. ProjectManager is an award-winning project management software that helps turn a big hairy audacious goal into an executable project plan by organizing tasks, building project timelines and monitoring progress in real time. Teams can track milestones, manage resources and visualize progress through dashboards and Gantt charts, ensuring their goals stay aligned with schedules, budgets and priorities. Get started for free today. /wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Light-mode-portfolio-dashboard-CTA-1600x851.pngLearn more Who Should Set FAST Goals? Modern organizations operate through teams, not isolated individuals. That’s why FAST goals are designed to guide groups that collaborate, track progress and deliver results together. Whether a team manages projects, develops products or executes strategic initiatives, this framework helps maintain alignment, visibility and measurable progress across shared objectives. Product development teams: Teams building software, hardware or digital products benefit from FAST goals because frequent progress discussions and transparent metrics help coordinate feature development, sprint planning and product release timelines. Project management teams: Groups responsible for planning and executing projects use FAST goals to maintain alignment around project objectives, track milestones and ensure progress stays visible across stakeholders. Executive leadership teams: Senior leaders can apply FAST goals to translate strategic priorities into visible, organization-wide objectives that remain ambitious while staying specific enough for teams to execute. Operations and process improvement teams: Continuous improvement initiatives rely on measurable performance targets, and FAST goals help operational teams monitor progress while keeping improvement efforts transparent across departments. Sales and revenue teams: Sales organizations benefit from ambitious but specific targets that are discussed frequently during pipeline reviews, helping managers track revenue progress and adjust strategy quickly. Cross-functional initiative teams: When multiple departments collaborate on large initiatives, FAST goals create shared visibility and accountability, ensuring every team understands the objectives and how their work contributes to overall outcomes. /wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Fast-Goals-Template-2.png Get your free Fast Goals Template Use this free Fast Goals Template for Word to manage your projects better. Download Word File What Are the Benefits of FAST Goals? When teams treat goals as living priorities instead of static statements, execution becomes far more coordinated. A fast goal helps organizations keep objectives visible, measurable and actively discussed throughout the project lifecycle. By tying goal-setting to regular conversations, clear outcomes and shared transparency, FAST goals strengthen alignment, improve accountability and help teams maintain steady progress toward meaningful results. Stronger team alignment: FAST goals create a shared understanding of what success looks like. Because goals are transparent and discussed frequently, every team member understands how their work connects to broader project objectives and organizational priorities. Better accountability across teams: Visibility is a core element of FAST goals. When objectives and progress metrics are openly shared, individuals and teams naturally take greater ownership of deliverables, deadlines and performance outcomes. Faster decision-making: Regular conversations around FAST goals allow teams to quickly identify obstacles and adjust priorities. Instead of waiting for quarterly reviews, leaders and project managers can make timely decisions that keep initiatives moving forward. Clearer performance tracking: Because FAST goals are specific, they define measurable outcomes that teams can monitor over time. This clarity makes it easier to track progress against milestones, project timelines and strategic targets. Greater transparency across the organization: A fast goal encourages open visibility of priorities, progress and results. Teams gain a clearer view of how different departments contribute to shared initiatives, reducing silos and improving collaboration. More ambitious organizational targets: This goal-setting strategy encourages teams to set ambitious goals that push performance beyond incremental improvements. Stretch objectives can inspire innovation while still remaining grounded in specific and measurable outcomes. Continuous progress through regular discussion: Frequent goal discussions keep priorities active in daily work rather than buried in planning documents. As teams revisit FAST goals during meetings and project reviews, they stay focused on execution and long-term strategic outcomes. How to Write FAST Goals Turning priorities into consistent action requires more than writing a goal statement. FAST goals work when teams actively manage them throughout the project lifecycle. By keeping project goals visible, measurable and discussed regularly, organizations ensure objectives guide daily work. The framework focuses on four characteristics—frequently discussed, ambitious, specific and transparent—that keep teams aligned and focused on execution. 1. Make Your Goal Frequently Discussed Within the FAST goals framework, goals should remain part of regular conversations rather than sitting in static planning documents. Teams review progress frequently in meetings, project updates and performance discussions. This consistent dialogue keeps priorities visible, allows managers to identify obstacles early and ensures that everyone remains focused on the outcomes that matter most. Consider a product development team responsible for launching a new feature. Instead of setting a goal and revisiting it months later, the team reviews the FAST goals during weekly sprint planning and project status meetings. By keeping the objective visible in dashboards and discussions, the team continuously tracks progress and adjusts tasks when development milestones start slipping. 2. Make Your Goal Ambitious A central idea behind FAST goals is that objectives should challenge teams to stretch their performance. Donald Sull and Charles Sull emphasize setting ambitious goals that push organizations beyond incremental improvement while still remaining achievable. Ambitious goals encourage innovation, motivate teams to pursue meaningful outcomes and help organizations focus effort on strategic initiatives that truly move the business forward. Imagine the same product development team deciding that releasing a minor update is not enough. Instead, their FAST goals aim to launch a feature capable of reducing customer onboarding time by 40 percent. Because the target is ambitious, engineers, designers and project managers must collaborate closely to redesign workflows and accelerate delivery. 3. Make Your Goal Specific FAST goals require clear and precise outcomes so teams understand exactly what success looks like. Specificity ensures goals are measurable and actionable rather than vague aspirations. When objectives define concrete metrics, milestones or deliverables, teams can track progress over time and evaluate whether project execution is moving in the right direction. Returning to the product development example, the team refines its FAST goals by defining a measurable result: reduce customer onboarding time from ten minutes to six minutes before the next product release. With a specific target and a defined timeline, the team can monitor user testing data, measure improvements and adjust development priorities until the outcome is achieved. 4. Make Your Goal Transparent Transparency is a defining characteristic of FAST goals in the framework introduced by Donald Sull and Charles Sull. Instead of hiding objectives inside department plans or leadership documents, a FAST goal is visible across the organization. When goals and progress metrics are shared openly, teams understand priorities, track results collectively and coordinate work more effectively across multiple projects. Continuing the earlier example, the product development team publishes its FAST goals and progress metrics in a shared dashboard visible to leadership, marketing, customer success and engineering teams. Everyone can see the target of reducing onboarding time from ten minutes to six minutes and monitor progress as updates are delivered throughout the product development cycle. FAST Goals Template This FAST goals template helps teams evaluate whether an objective follows the FAST framework by organizing goals according to four criteria: frequently discussed, ambitious, specific and transparent. It allows teams to clearly define objectives, explain their purpose and verify that progress can be tracked and shared across the organization. We’ve also created other goal-setting templates you can use to establish personal, project and organizational goals. /wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Fast-Goals-Template-2-600x503.png 3 FAST Goals Examples Understanding the FAST framework becomes easier when you see how organizations apply it in real scenarios. The following FAST goals examples illustrate how teams can define ambitious objectives, track progress through regular discussions and maintain transparency across departments while executing complex initiatives. 1. FAST Goal Example #1 A software product team is preparing a major platform update designed to improve user onboarding and reduce customer churn. Leadership wants a goal that pushes performance while remaining measurable and visible to every department involved in product development. Reduce customer onboarding time from ten minutes to six minutes before the next product release by redesigning the onboarding workflow, testing improvements weekly and publishing progress metrics on the company’s product dashboard. FAST Criteria Explanation Frequently Discussed Progress is reviewed during weekly sprint planning meetings and product development status updates. Ambitious Reducing onboarding time by 40 percent requires significant redesign of the product experience. Specific The goal defines a clear metric: reduce onboarding time from ten minutes to six minutes. Transparent Progress is shared through a company-wide dashboard visible to product, marketing and leadership teams. 2. FAST Goal Example #2 A manufacturing company is expanding production capacity to meet growing demand for its products. Operations leaders want a goal that encourages innovation while ensuring the entire organization understands how the production expansion will be tracked and measured. Increase monthly production output by 30 percent within twelve months by upgrading manufacturing equipment, optimizing production workflows and reviewing performance metrics during weekly operations planning meetings. FAST Criteria Explanation Frequently Discussed Production targets and progress metrics are reviewed during weekly operations management meetings. Ambitious Increasing production capacity by 30 percent requires operational improvements and capital investment. Specific The objective clearly defines the target output increase and a twelve-month timeline. Transparent Production metrics are published in internal dashboards accessible to leadership and plant managers. 3. FAST Goal Example #3 A marketing team is launching a new digital campaign to expand brand visibility and attract qualified leads. Leadership wants a clear performance target that keeps campaign progress visible while encouraging teams to experiment with new marketing strategies. Generate 50,000 qualified leads through digital marketing campaigns within nine months by optimizing advertising channels, tracking campaign performance weekly and sharing results across marketing and sales teams. FAST Criteria Explanation Frequently Discussed Campaign performance and lead generation metrics are reviewed during weekly marketing meetings. Ambitious Generating 50,000 qualified leads requires coordinated campaign strategy and optimization. Specific The goal defines a precise lead generation target and a nine-month timeframe. Transparent Campaign performance metrics are shared with both marketing and sales teams through reporting dashboards. ProjectManager Is an Award-Winning Project Management Software ProjectManager offers robust project management features that are ideal for planning, scheduling and tracking the work required to achieve the FAST goals defined by an organization, such as Gantt charts, task lists, workload management charts, timesheets and real-time dashboards and reports. In addition to that, it’s also equipped with AI project insights, online team collaboration features and unlimited file storage that further help project managers ensure nothing falls through the cracks. Watch the video to learn more! Related Content 15 Goal-Setting Strategies for Individuals and Teams 15 Free Goal-Setting and Tracking Templates for Excel and Word How to Write SMART Goals: SMART Goal Examples SMART Goals Template If you need a tool to help you manage projects from start to finish, then signup for our software now at ProjectManager. Our online software can help project managers plan, track and oversee projects as they unfold. Sign up for a free 30-day trial today! The post How to Set FAST Goals: FAST Goal Examples appeared first on ProjectManager. View the full article

A survey of B2B decision-makers found peer recommendations are trusted nearly twice as much as AI chatbots, and white papers rank last for perceived value. The post B2B Buyers Trust Peers Over AI Chatbots, Report Finds appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

Radio station is broadcasting apparent coded messages in Farsi, echoing the cold warView the full article

If you’re traveling soon, some grueling wait times at the airport may be in your future thanks to a partial government shutdown. But to make matters even more complicated, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is not currently updating its sites during the partial shutdown, meaning fliers can’t easily check TSA wait times before heading to the airport. “Due to the lapse in federal funding, this website will not be actively managed,” the Department of Homeland Security, which manages TSA, wrote in a Feb. 17 statement. “This website was last updated on February 17, 2026 and will not be updated until after funding is enacted. As such, information on this website may not be up to date.” Why is the TSA not updating its site? While TSA sites, which includes the MyTSA mobile app, can’t currently be relied upon, airports are facing another major issue due to the lapse in funding: staff shortages. Two weeks ago, TSA employees received only partial paychecks. And now, about 50,000 airport security employees are working for free. As many are choosing to stay home, a number of airports simply don’t have enough employees. That, coupled with a surge in jetsetting Spring Breakers, has made for some very long lines. Over the weekend ABC News reported, airports like Houston’s Hobby Airport, George Bush International Airport, New Orleans International Airport in Louisiana, Hartsfield-Jackson International in Atlanta, Georgia, and Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina, all were plagued by excessively long wait times. How can fliers check wait times without TSA sites? Even though wait times aren’t being updated on the TSA website, there are still some other ways to prepare to head to the airport. Checking the actual airport’s website can be a good place to start, as most U.S. airports frequently update their sites with travel advisories, wait time updates, and other pertinent information. TSAWaitTimes.com is another helpful resource, as it provides travelers with up-to-date information on TSA wait times. In addition, the site features a list of the airports with the current longest wait times, shows a map of current airport delays, and enables travelers to search for any airport. Currently, a message on the site reads: “Due to the ongoing government shutdown, travelers should anticipate longer security lines and potential flight delays. Please plan to arrive at the airport 30–60 minutes earlier than usual. Pack light if possible, download your airline’s app, and keep your phone charged to stay informed of real-time updates and communications.” Another popular site is FlightAware, a comprehensive real-time tracking tool, which gives travelers both arrival and departure times on all U.S. flights. The site also features a list of all current airport delays “within, into, or out of the United States” to help fliers get where they need to be on time. When will TSA sites be up and running? As the shutdown continues, no announcements have been made about when funding for TSA will return or when TSA will begin actively updating its sites. However, some airline executives are making pleas to Congress, pressing for lawmakers to reach a deal as soon as possible. “More than 2.7 million people cleared through TSA yesterday, but too many had to wait in extraordinarily long—and painfully slow—lines at checkpoints,” said Chris Sununu, president and CEO of the Airlines for America trade group, in a statement to AP News on Monday. Sununu continued, “It’s unacceptable to have wait times of 2 or 3 hours. And it’s unacceptable that TSA officers will have $0 in their paychecks this week.” View the full article

The U.S. Department of Transportation has approved eight pilot programs across 26 states that will allow eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft to begin real-world testing. The program will permit air taxi service in select cities, while data collected from participating companies will help the FAA develop regulations to scale the technology while keeping urban airspace safe. “This is a defining moment for American innovation,” said JoeBen Bevirt, founder and CEO of Joby Aviation in a statement. “Instead of just reading about the future of flight, communities across America are going to be able to see it in the skies above their own cities this year.” Pilot programs will take place in areas approved by the Departments of Transportation in Texas, Utah, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Florida, and North Carolina, several of which cover multiple states. Additional pilots will be run by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the City of Albuquerque. eVTOL craft (or flying cars, in plainspeak) have been the stuff of science fiction dreams for years. The aircraft can take off and land much like helicopters, meaning no runway is required. They offer the hope of avoiding gridlock and rush hour congestion as well as the dream of getting to and from places at a much quicker pace. From Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to Back to the Future, generations have grown up believing they were only a few years away. In recent years, major corporations have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the technology in hopes of finally turning that vision into reality. Toyota, for instance, spent $500 million to buy into Joby in October 2024. Delta Air Lines is also an investor, putting $80 million into Joby. United, meanwhile, invested $10 million in Archer Aviation and $15 million in Eve Air Mobility in 2022. Beyond the reduced stress they promise, flying cars are designed to be quieter than traditional aircraft, or even air-conditioning units. Because they are electric, they could also help reduce carbon emissions. In addition, they hold the potential to be valuable tools for emergency response providers. In its announcement, the DOT outlined several potential uses beyond passenger transport, including cargo and logistics networks, emergency medical response operations, and offshore transportation. “These partnerships will help us better understand how to safely and efficiently integrate these aircraft into the National Airspace System,” said FAA Deputy Administrator Chris Rocheleau. “The program will provide valuable operational experience that will inform the standards needed to enable safe Advanced Air Mobility operations. We appreciate the strong interest reflected in the many proposals we received.” Beyond Joby and Archer, companies including Beta, Electra, Elroy Air, Wisk, Ampaire, and Reliable Robotics will participate in the pilot program. With the prospect of wider operations on the horizon, competition among major players in the sector has intensified. Four months ago, Joby sued Archer for trade secret theft, alleging that a former Joby employee took proprietary information with him when he joined Archer. Archer, on Monday, filed a countersuit against Joby, claiming the company, which was founded in 2009 in California, defrauded the U.S. government by concealing its “deep ties” to China and relying on a Chinese manufacturing subsidiary for critical components. Alex Spiro, an attorney for Joby, tells Fast Company the company “doesn’t respond to nonsense.” “Archer’s ludicrous and defamatory claims are nothing more than an irresponsible attempt to distract from Joby’s trade secret theft lawsuit proceeding against Archer,” he says. “Joby is a U.S.-headquartered company that operates with strict compliance across its supply chain, and the company has been fully transparent with the U.S. Government about its operations. Joby has no ties to the Chinese Communist Party and has not received grants or subsidies from Chinese authorities.” View the full article

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes picked up in February from the previous month as home shoppers took advantage of easing mortgage rates and a modest increase in properties on the market heading into the spring homebuying season. Existing home sales rose 1.7% last month from January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.09 million units, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday. Sales fell 1.4% compared with February last year, with every region except the South posting lower sales versus a year earlier. The latest sales figure topped the 3.84 million pace economists were expecting, according to FactSet. “Good momentum, but nonetheless sales are still below one year ago,” Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said during a conference call. Home prices continued to rise last month, albeit more slowly. The national median sales price increased 0.3% in February from a year earlier to $398,000, an all-time high for any February on data going back to 1999, NAR said. Home prices have risen on an annual basis for 32 months in a row. The latest sales trends follow a dismal January, when existing home sales posted their biggest monthly decline in nearly four years and the slowest annualized sales pace in more than two years, although NAR has since revised January’s sales data modestly higher. The U.S. housing market has been in a slump dating back to 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemic-era lows. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes remained stuck last year at 30-year lows. Sales have been hovering close to a 4-million annual pace now going back to 2023. That’s well short of the 5.2-million annual pace that’s historically been the norm. A sharp run-up in home prices, especially in the early years of this decade, and a chronic shortage of homes nationally worsened by years of below-average home construction have left many aspiring homeowners priced out of the market. At the same time, mortgage rates have been trending lower, boosting the purchasing power for home shoppers who can afford to buy at current rates. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage dropped two weeks ago to just under 6% for the first time since late 2022, according to mortgage buyer Freddie Mac. First-time buyers were among those who took advantage last month of easing mortgage rates. They made up 34% of all home purchases in February, matching the highest level in the last five years, Yun said. However, the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use to price home loans, has climbed following the spike in oil prices since the Iran war started, which could lead to higher mortgage rates just as the spring homebuying season gets going. “Despite mortgage rates falling below 6% briefly, international conflict has sent them higher in recent days,” Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist at Bright MLS, said in an email. “If the conflict with Iran is limited, the housing market could rebound quickly. However, a prolonged conflict could stall home sales activity this spring.” Affordability remains a challenge for many aspiring homeowners, especially first-time buyers who don’t have equity from an existing home to put toward a new home purchase. Uncertainty over the economy and a job market increasingly showing signs of strain is also keeping many would-be buyers on the sidelines, economists say. Those who can afford to buy are benefiting from more properties on the market, although home inventory levels remain well below historical norms. There were 1.29 million unsold homes at the end of February, up 2.4% from January and up 4.9% from February last year, NAR said. That’s still well short of the roughly 2 million homes for sale that was typical before the COVID-19 pandemic. February’s month-end inventory translates to a 3.8-month supply at the current sales pace. Traditionally, a 5- to 6-month supply is considered a balanced market between buyers and sellers. “We really do need more inventory to show up,” Yun said, noting that if it doesn’t improve come spring, and more buyers jump into the market, it could push up home prices. —Alex Veiga, AP business writer View the full article

A federal judge granted Amazon a preliminary injunction barring Perplexity's Comet AI agent from accessing Amazon accounts and ordering data destroyed. The post Amazon Wins Preliminary Injunction Against Perplexity’s Comet appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

Budget airline’s CEO says crisis is ‘more manageable’ than others after forecasting €50mn hit to its bottom lineView the full article

Issuance of around $60bn expected on Tuesday as companies take advantage of calmer marketsView the full article

When seeking a commercial loan for your business, you’ll need to meet specific requirements that lenders typically expect. A solid business plan, detailed financial documents, and evidence of cash flow are essential. Furthermore, maintaining a strong credit history and possibly providing collateral can greatly influence your chances of approval. Comprehending these elements can help you navigate the lending process more effectively, but there are more nuances to reflect upon as you prepare your application. Key Takeaways A strong business plan detailing growth potential and clear fund usage is essential for loan qualification. Provide three years of financial statements, including balance sheets and income statements, to demonstrate business health. Maintain a strong credit history with a score of 700 or higher, ensuring timely debt payments and responsible credit utilization. Offer collateral to secure the loan, which can lead to more favorable terms and lower interest rates. Present detailed cash flow and revenue projections to showcase financial stability and future earning potential. Understanding Commercial Loans Grasping commercial loans is vital for any business looking to finance significant expenses, and they often involve larger sums than personal loans. So, what’s a commercial loan? It’s a financial product designed to support business needs, like expansion, equipment purchases, or covering operating costs. To qualify, you’ll need to meet commercial lending requirements, which include demonstrating financial health through a strong credit history and detailed financial statements. Additionally, having a clear business plan outlining your growth potential is fundamental. Interest rates are adjusted to your risk profile, and repayment periods can range from months to several years. Sometimes, lenders may require collateral to secure better terms. When applying, you’ll meet with loan officers and submit key documents like tax returns and your business plan for assessment. With the right preparation, you can navigate this process effectively and secure the funding needed for your business success. Importance of a Solid Business Plan A solid business plan is crucial for outlining clear growth objectives, which helps lenders understand your vision for the future. Accurate financial projections within the plan demonstrate your business’s potential to generate returns and repay the loan. Clear Growth Objectives Clear growth objectives are essential for any business seeking commercial lending, as they form the foundation of a solid business plan. When you outline clear goals, you help lenders evaluate the potential return on investment and overall viability of your business. A well-structured plan should highlight your unique value proposition, showing how you stand apart from competitors and positioning yourself in the market. Lenders want a detailed overview of how you’ll use the requested funds to support specific growth initiatives, like expansion or purchasing equipment. Not only does having clear objectives improve your chances of loan approval, but it furthermore serves as a strategic roadmap, guiding your decision-making and resource allocation for future success. Financial Projections Accuracy During the development of a solid business plan, ensuring the accuracy of your financial projections is vital for demonstrating your company’s potential to lenders. Your projections should clearly outline expected revenue, expenses, and cash flow, showcasing the likelihood of profitability and growth. Accurate financial forecasts enable lenders to assess your business’s repayment ability and overall financial health, which is important for securing favorable loan terms. Furthermore, including detailed assumptions and justifications can improve your credibility, giving lenders clear insights into your operating environment and market conditions. Regularly updating these projections reflects your adaptability to market changes, further strengthening your case for obtaining a commercial loan. Realistic, data-backed forecasts increase your chances of gaining lender confidence and loan approval. Required Financial Documentation When applying for a commercial loan, you’ll need to gather vital financial documentation to support your request. This typically includes three years of balance sheets and income statements, along with recent interim financial statements to showcase your business’s current health. Furthermore, business tax returns are critical for demonstrating profitability and compliance, providing lenders with a thorough view of your financial standing. Financial Statements Overview To secure a commercial loan, you’ll need to present a thorough overview of your financial statements, which serve as fundamental documentation for lenders evaluating your business’s financial health. Typically, lenders require three years of balance sheets and income statements to assess your operational performance. In addition, recent interim financials are critical, as they provide an up-to-date view of your company’s current status. While business tax returns will be covered in the next section, they too help illustrate your profitability. Moreover, lenders may ask for personal financial statements and tax returns from business owners to evaluate financial stability and risk. All-encompassing documentation is pivotal for loan approval, offering insights into your cash flow, revenue trends, and overall financial management. Business Tax Returns Business tax returns play a key role in the loan application process, providing lenders with important financial data that reflects your company’s profitability and overall health. Typically, lenders require the last three years of tax returns, which help them assess revenue trends and evaluate your cash flow for loan repayment potential. Accurate and timely submission is critical; discrepancies or missing information can delay your loan approval. Lenders often request tax returns for all types of business entities, including sole proprietorships, partnerships, and corporations, to gain a thorough view of your fiscal responsibilities. Consistent growth in reported income can improve your business’s credibility and enhance your chances of securing favorable loan terms, making it necessary to present strong tax documentation. The Role of Collateral Collateral plays a crucial role in commercial lending by providing security for lenders against potential borrower defaults. When you pledge an asset as collateral, lenders can seize it if you fail to repay the loan. Common types of collateral include real estate, equipment, inventory, and vehicles, all of which should hold enough value to cover the loan amount. Moreover, if your business lacks an established credit history, lenders might ask for personal guarantees, using your personal assets to further mitigate risk. Having collateral can likewise lead to more favorable loan terms, like lower interest rates and longer repayment periods, thanks to the reduced risk for lenders. Here’s a quick overview of collateral types: Type of Collateral Description Typical Value Requirement Real Estate Land and buildings High Equipment Machinery and tools Medium to high Inventory Goods for sale Variable Vehicles Cars or trucks Medium Personal Guarantee Owner’s personal assets Variable Maintaining a Strong Credit History Since lenders closely examine your credit history when considering loan applications, maintaining a strong credit profile is vital for securing favorable terms. A credit score of 700 or higher is typically viewed as favorable, increasing your chances of loan approval and lowering interest rates. To achieve this, it’s important to utilize credit responsibly; aim to keep your credit utilization below 30% and make timely payments on all debts. Regularly reviewing your credit reports can help you spot inaccuracies and address any errors without delay, which is fundamental for a healthy credit profile. Consistently repaying debts on time not just boosts your credit score but likewise builds trust with lenders, enhancing your prospects for future financing. Assessment of Cash Flow When evaluating cash flow, you need to understand its importance in determining your business’s ability to meet debt obligations. Lenders often look at historical, current, and projected cash flow statements to evaluate whether your business can sustain operations and service new debt. Importance of Cash Flow Comprehending cash flow is essential for any business seeking financing, as it directly reflects your ability to meet financial obligations and service debt. Lenders assess your cash flow through historical, current, and projected cash flow statements, looking for a positive trend over time. A healthy cash flow signals financial stability, making your business more attractive to lenders and increasing the likelihood of securing favorable loan terms. To calculate your cash flow, subtract cash outflows (expenses) from cash inflows (revenue). Regular fluctuations in cash flow may raise concerns about operational efficiency. Furthermore, maintaining a cash reserve acts as a buffer during unexpected expenses, enhancing your creditworthiness when approaching lenders for loans. Cash Flow Projections Comprehending cash flow projections is crucial for evaluating your business’s financial health and its ability to meet obligations, particularly when seeking loans. These projections require detailed analysis of expected cash inflows and outflows, usually on a monthly basis for the first year and quarterly thereafter. A robust cash flow projection accounts for seasonal revenue fluctuations, anticipated expenses, and planned investments, ensuring a realistic forecast. Lenders prefer to see a positive cash flow trend, where inflows consistently exceed outflows, demonstrating your ability to service debt. To strengthen your projections, back them up with historical financial data and a clear explanation of your assumptions. Regular updates to cash flow projections can help you identify potential shortfalls early, allowing for timely adjustments. Revenue Projections and Their Importance Grasping revenue projections is essential for both borrowers and lenders in the commercial lending process, as these estimates offer a glimpse into a business’s potential future earnings. Accurate revenue projections typically span three to five years and should be grounded in historical financial data and thorough market analysis. Lenders favor consistent growth rates in these projections, ideally mirroring industry trends and realistic sales forecasts, which indicate stability and potential for expansion. A well-structured revenue projection includes assumptions regarding market conditions, pricing strategies, and customer acquisition, providing an all-encompassing view of expected performance. Presenting detailed revenue projections alongside a solid business plan can greatly improve your chances of securing favorable loan terms. This approach demonstrates your preparedness and strategic planning, reassuring lenders of your ability to meet repayment obligations. In the end, sound revenue projections not just reflect your business’s potential but also play an important role in building lender confidence. Avoiding Simultaneous Loan Applications When you’re considering applying for a commercial loan, it’s crucial to avoid submitting multiple applications at the same time. Doing so can negatively impact your credit score, as lenders might interpret these simultaneous requests as a sign of financial distress. Each application triggers a hard inquiry on your credit report, which can reduce your score temporarily, making it tougher to secure favorable loan terms. Instead, take the time to thoroughly assess your funding needs and focus on one loan application at a time. This approach not only increases your chances of approval but additionally allows you to present a well-prepared application, showcasing your business strategy and financial stability. Engaging With a Loan Officer Engaging with a loan officer is a vital step in securing a commercial loan, as it allows you to clearly outline your business goals and financial needs. Typically, this starts with a meeting where you’ll discuss how a loan can address your specific requirements. Loan officers will ask for critical documents, such as your financial statements, tax returns, and a detailed business plan, to evaluate your eligibility and repayment capability. They’ll likewise assess your creditworthiness, which includes your credit history, to determine the interest rates and terms available. A personalized approach from loan officers, especially those familiar with the local market, can help customize the loan structure to fit your objectives. Throughout the application process, loan officers provide guidance and support, ensuring you understand all terms and conditions laid out in the loan agreement, finally helping you make informed decisions for your business. Tailoring Your Loan Application Tailoring your loan application is essential for clearly communicating your business’s objectives and how the funding will facilitate growth. Start by crafting a compelling business plan that outlines how the loan will support your goals and generate returns. Make sure you provide accurate financial documentation, including three years of balance sheets, income statements, and tax returns, to demonstrate your financial health and ability to repay. Highlight your unique value proposition and competitive advantages to show lenders what sets you apart in the industry. Furthermore, a thorough explanation of your cash flow management and revenue cycles can alleviate lenders’ concerns about your repayment capacity. It’s also wise to anticipate and address potential questions or concerns within your application, as this proactive approach strengthens your case for approval and can lead to more favorable loan terms. Building Long-Term Relationships With Lenders Building long-term relationships with lenders is essential for your business’s financial stability and growth. Consistent communication is key; regularly updating lenders on your financial performance and operational changes cultivates trust and transparency. Establishing a strong credit history by making timely repayments shows responsibility and improves your credibility, making it easier to secure favorable loan terms in the future. Engage with lenders during the planning stages of projects to develop customized financial solutions that align with both your needs and their risk criteria. Demonstrating stability through well-prepared financial statements and a clear business plan signals your diligence in managing financial health. Moreover, participating in lender-sponsored events or networking opportunities can help you build rapport, nurturing a sense of partnership that may benefit future financing endeavors. Frequently Asked Questions What Are the 4 Cs of Commercial Lending? The 4 Cs of commercial lending are Character, Capacity, Capital, and Collateral. Character evaluates your credit history and reliability in managing debt. Capacity measures your ability to repay the loan, often through financial statements and cash flow analysis. Capital reflects your equity in the business, showing your financial commitment. Finally, Collateral involves assets you can pledge to secure the loan, providing lenders protection if you default. Comprehending these elements is essential for securing funding. What Are the 5 Cs of Commercial Lending? The five Cs of commercial lending are character, capacity, capital, collateral, and conditions. Lenders assess your character through your credit history, which reflects your reliability. Capacity evaluates your ability to repay, often through financial statements and cash flow. Capital refers to your investment in the business, showing commitment. Collateral involves assets you can offer to secure the loan. Finally, conditions consider external factors that might impact your repayment ability, like market trends. What Are the Three Cs of Commercial Lending? The three Cs of commercial lending are Character, Capacity, and Capital. Character reflects your credit history and reliability, often assessed through credit scores. Capacity measures your ability to repay based on cash flow and financial statements, ensuring you can handle debt without strain. Capital represents your equity investment in the business, showcasing your financial commitment through personal assets or cash reserves. Lenders evaluate these factors to make informed loan decisions. What Are the Requirements for a Business Loan? To secure a business loan, you’ll need a solid credit history, as it indicates your reliability in repaying debts. You must furthermore provide detailed financial statements, including three years of balance sheets and income statements, to prove your financial health. A thorough business plan outlining the loan’s purpose and your growth strategy is crucial. In addition, accurate documentation like tax returns and collateral may be required to guarantee loan approval. Conclusion In summary, comprehending key commercial lending requirements is crucial for securing financing for your business. A solid business plan, accurate financial documentation, and a good credit history greatly improve your chances of approval. Be prepared with collateral and maintain open communication with lenders. Avoid applying for multiple loans simultaneously to keep your credit score intact. By tailoring your application and nurturing long-term relationships with lenders, you can enhance your potential for favorable loan terms and successful financing outcomes. Image via Google Gemini and ArtSmart This article, "Key Commercial Lending Requirements for Your Business" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Billionaire investor Bill Ackman is planning to take his Pershing Square management company (PS) public. But in doing so, Ackman is taking an unusual route: He is also starting a new fund, Pershing Square USA (PSUS), and if you want to get in on the Pershing Square management company’s initial public offering (IPO), the only way to do so is to buy shares in the new fund first. Here’s what you need to know about Pershing Square’s IPO: Pershing’s combined IPO When announcing its intention to go public, Pershing Square Inc. also announced that it will launch a new fund called Pershing Square USA (PSUS), and investors in the new fund will receive a set number of shares in Pershing Square Inc. (PS). As the company noted in its IPO announcement: “The PSUS Shares are being offered at a price of $50.00 per PSUS Share, and investors in the PSUS IPO will receive, for no additional consideration, 20 PSI Shares for every 100 PSUS Shares purchased.” This, of course, doesn’t mean that PS shares will be unavailable for purchase forever. Rather, if you want to get in on them for the IPO, your only way to do so is to buy shares in PSUS. But once both entities begin trading on the stock exchange, anyone will be able to buy shares in PS and PSUS directly. What are Pershing Square’s biggest holdings? Pershing Square, the management company run by Ackman, owns significant holdings in a number of major U.S. companies. Under Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd, the hedge fund owned shares in several companies between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2025, according to its S-1 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Those companies included: Alphabet Inc. Uber Technologies, Inc. Amazon.com, Inc. Meta Platforms, Inc. Nike, Inc. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. When is Pershing Square’s IPO? Pershing Square USA, Ltd.’s and Pershing Square Inc.’s initial public offering date has not been determined yet. It is likely that shares in both companies will go public on the same day. What is Pershing Square’s stock ticker? Pershing Square USA, Ltd. will trade under the stock ticker “PSUS.” Pershing Square Inc. will trade under the stock ticker “PS.” What market will Pershing Square’s shares trade on? Both PSUS and PS shares will trade on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). What is the IPO share price of PSUS and PS? The initial public offering price for PSUS shares will be $50. For every 100 PSUS shares investors buy during its IPO, they will get 20 shares in PS. How much will PSUS raise in the IPO? Pershing Square says it is aiming for PSUS to raise between $5 billion and $10 billion. View the full article

A reader writes: I was hired about six months ago at a prestigious organization in my field. My coworker, Fred, started at the same time in a similar position. We work closely and we get along well, for the most part. I consider him something of a friend — or, at least, I felt that way until recently. We have been working together on a big report that needs to get done in the next few months. Last week, I had been working on other projects and logged back our the shared file to begin work again. We were sitting together and as I was logging in, he said (unprompted) that he had been hard at work on the report and updated and added information to a key section. I noticed that very few things had been changed, so I checked the version history and found that he had worked on it for a total of two minutes in the 24 hours before I checked. So I asked him in the moment about what exactly he had done on the report, and this is where I caught him in the lie. He doubled down and said that he had changed four or five big things, and when I pushed and said those sections looked exactly the same, he said that he had been working on it offline. I asked him to always work on the shared document and moved on. I’m having a hard time letting the lie go. It was small and not very significant in the long run, and I don’t want to harm our working relationship. But I hate being lied to, especially because he doubled down when I wouldn’t have cared if he hadn’t done the work in the first place. I’ve also had issues with him in the past for being oddly obsessed with delineating the work that he did versus the work we did together, and for taking a lot of the credit. As a result, I’ve started being less collaborative with him and more clear about assigning credit to myself. How should I handle this? I’m paying a lot of attention to any potential future lies that he might make, but should I speak with him directly? I answer this question — and two others — over at Inc. today, where I’m revisiting letters that have been buried in the archives here from years ago (and sometimes updating/expanding my answers to them). You can read it here. Other questions I’m answering there today include: Can I apologize to a colleague for how my company treated her — when I was involved in what happened? Can I ask how my interviewer has changed since I worked for them 15 years ago? The post my coworker lied and said he’d done work he hadn’t done appeared first on Ask a Manager. View the full article

Starting July 1st, Meta will add “location fees” to ad buys targeting users in six countries — effectively offloading the cost of European digital services taxes onto the advertisers themselves. The numbers. Fees will match each country’s digital services tax rate: France, Italy, Spain: 3% Austria, Turkey: 5% UK: 2% How it works in practice. Per Meta’s email to advertisers — “$100 in ads delivered to Italy will cost $103, plus any applicable VAT on top of that.” The fine print. The fees apply to where the ad is delivered, not where the advertiser is based — meaning a US brand running campaigns targeting French users will pay the French rate regardless. Why we care. This is a direct, unavoidable cost increase hitting European campaigns on July 1 — with no opt-out. If you’re running ads targeting users in France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Turkey, or the UK, your effective CPM and CPA benchmarks are about to get more expensive, which means existing budgets will stretch less far and current ROAS targets may no longer be achievable without adjustment. And since the fee is based on where the ad is delivered rather than where you’re based, even non-European brands aren’t off the hook. The big picture for advertisers. This isn’t unique to Meta — Google and Amazon already charge similar pass-through fees. But it’s a meaningful shift in how European ad budgets need to be calculated, and campaign managers should revisit their cost models before July 1 to account for the added overhead across affected markets. The backdrop. Digital services taxes have been a flashpoint between Europe and Washington. The The President administration has threatened retaliation against European firms over the levies — adding geopolitical uncertainty to what is already a complex compliance landscape for global advertisers. Dig deeper. Meta Hikes Fees for Advertisers to Cover Europe’s Digital Taxes (subscription is needed) View the full article

The oil markets are rattled. Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz—through which a fifth of the world’s oil flows—have sent prices toward $90 a barrel, with Qatar’s energy minister warning they could hit $150 within weeks. Energy analysts are invoking “the mother of all disaster scenarios.” Commentators are drawing comparisons to the 1970s. The mood is grim. But here is an uncomfortable question worth contemplating: What if expensive oil is not a catastrophe, but an inflection point that finally aligns economic incentives to address critical issues that decision-makers in the global economy have been ignoring for decades? That is the argument that economic historian Carlota Perez has been making for years. And right now, with oil shocks back on the front page and the energy transition stalling under political headwinds, her framework urgently deserves renewed attention. Technology revolutions and their discontents Perez, whose landmark work Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital traces the long waves of capitalist development from the Industrial Revolution to the digital age, argues that we are living through a pivotal transition. Each great technological revolution—steam power, railways, steel, automobiles, information technology—follows a predictable arc: an installation period of financial speculation and infrastructure-building, followed by a deployment period in which society learns to use the new technology productively and broadly, with a dramatic reduction in income inequality and shared prosperity as a result. We are, she argues, at exactly that inflection point with digital and green technologies. The installation phase—the dot-com boom, the shale revolution, the explosion of platform companies—is behind us. What comes next, if societies make the right choices, is a potential “golden age” of broad-based prosperity, grounded not in the extraction of physical materials but in the creation of knowledge, services, and sustainable production. The catch? Getting from here to there requires making the old paradigm less attractive. And that is precisely where expensive oil comes in. When high prices are the point For Perez, the relative price of energy and materials is a steering mechanism for the entire economy. Cheap oil has historically facilitated mass production, long supply chains, suburban sprawl, disposable goods, planned obsolescence and carbon-intensive industry. It has made the incumbent model—stuff-intensive, energy-hungry, globally fragmented—far more economically competitive against alternatives. Expensive oil changes that calculus. It accelerates the relative attractiveness of dematerialized products and services: software over hardware, streaming over shipping, local services over global supply chains, energy efficiency over energy consumption. It makes renewable energy, which has near-zero marginal fuel costs, look dramatically better against fossil alternatives. It incentivizes the kind of circular economy thinking—repair, reuse, and redesign—that the green transition requires. Perez is explicit that she is not celebrating energy poverty or global supply disruptions. She is arguing that a world of persistently higher resource costs is more likely to generate the innovation incentives, the policy seriousness, and the investment reallocation needed to build a fundamentally different kind of economy—one that employs more people in high-value services, invests in intangible assets, and goes easier on the physical environment. The irony playing out right now The Atlantic’s Roge Karma has noted a bittersweet irony in the current moment: no president has done more to throttle clean energy development than Donald The President, yet the oil shock his Middle East policy may be triggering could inadvertently accelerate the energy transition more than any amount of climate regulation would have. Columbia’s Jason Bordoff agrees: prolonged oil crises have historically been the most reliable forcing functions for energy diversification. This is exactly what Perez would predict. Market signals, when they become undeniable, do what policy debates often cannot: they change behavior at scale. The 1973 oil shock sparked the first serious wave of energy efficiency innovation. The 1979 crisis accelerated it. Both produced more lasting change in energy consumption patterns than any amount of exhortation. The difference now is that the alternatives are genuinely ready. Solar, wind, and battery storage have achieved cost curves that were unimaginable even a decade ago. Digital tools enable service-based business models at scale. The knowledge economy infrastructure—broadband, cloud computing, remote work capability—exists. What has been missing is urgency. The dematerialization dividend Perez’s vision for a green golden age is not a story of austerity. It is a story of transformation—from an economy organized around the production and movement of physical things to one organized around knowledge, care, creativity, and sustainability. In this model, employment grows in services: healthcare, education, software, design, arts, and personal services that are inherently local, relatively low in energy intensity, and high in human value. Manufacturing does not disappear, but it becomes cleaner, more automated, more circular. Supply chains shorten. Urban environments become more livable. The pressure on ecosystems from extraction and waste declines. None of this is automatic. Perez is clear that the transition to a golden age has never happened without deliberate policy choices—about financial regulation, industrial strategy, and the distribution of productivity gains. The installation phase always ends in a speculative crash and a moment of reckoning. We have had ours, arguably more than once. The question is whether the crisis of the moment becomes the impetus for genuine transformation, or simply another disruption to be muddled through. What business leaders should take from this For executives and strategists, the Perez lens suggests a reframe. The instinct when oil prices spike is to treat it as a cost problem: hedge the exposure, cut the energy-intensive activities, lobby for relief. That is the wrong frame if the signal is structural rather than cyclical. The right question is: what business models become more viable in a world of persistently expensive physical inputs? Which of our activities depend on cheap energy in ways we have never fully noticed? Where are the opportunities in dematerialization—in selling outcomes rather than products, in building local rather than global, in investing in human capability rather than physical throughput? Companies that used the 1970s oil shock to rethink their operations—Japanese automakers being the canonical example—did not merely survive the crisis. They redefined their industries. The companies that treated it as a temporary inconvenience found themselves structurally disadvantaged for decades. The uncomfortable conclusion None of this is to minimize the real human costs of energy price spikes. Households and small businesses that cannot easily absorb higher energy costs need support. Transition assistance is a genuine policy imperative. And geopolitical instability in the Middle East carries risks that go well beyond energy markets. But for those thinking about the longer arc—about what kind of economy we are building and how we get there—the current moment may look, in retrospect, less like a disaster and more like an inflection point. A moment when the costs of the old model finally became undeniable, and the alternatives were finally ready. View the full article

PHH Mortgage's new name comes after a recent sale of reverse lending assets and also arrives less than two years after Onity Group itself rebranded. View the full article

We all want media coverage. Positive coverage creates exposure, authority, trust, and often valuable backlinks. But for many people, the path to getting it is a mystery. Others believe myths about how it works. Some believe you have to be at the very top of your industry before the media will care about your story. That’s simply false. Others believe you can simply buy your way into media coverage. There’s a small degree of truth to that. You can find contributors willing to feature you (or your client) for a fee, but this blatantly violates every outlet’s contributor guidelines. You may land the feature, but editors will eventually find out. What happens then? First, the article gets deleted or any mention of you and your links gets removed. Then, the contributor gets removed from the platform and blacklisted in the media industry. Finally, you get blacklisted too. Good luck getting featured again. It won’t happen. The reality is that you can get featured in the media. You just need to understand the process and execute it consistently. Develop your story You probably have a great story — you just may not realize it yet. The media has to produce a constant stream of content. If you have a strong story, you’re already one-third of the way to getting featured. Let’s start with what doesn’t make a great story. You’re the first. You think you’re the best (everyone thinks that, and no one cares except your mother). You’re the biggest. You want to change the world. So what does make a great story? Like the answer to most SEO questions: it depends. A great story starts with an actual story. You have to explain, in an engaging way, why anyone should care about what you have to say. For example, I often tell the story of how I used PR to rebuild my success after being on my deathbed. I explain that my agency’s specific PR approach comes from the exact process I used to rebuild my own business — and that I want to give others the same advantage. And my story is easily verifiable. But you don’t need a life-or-death struggle to have a compelling story. You just need a story that shows a deeper purpose. A mission. Something people can get excited about and care about. Craft your pitch Even with the best story in the world, you still need an effective pitch. Your pitch has to cut through the noise and grab attention. Journalists, producers, and others in the media are inundated with pitches — many receive hundreds every day. Your pitch has to tell your story clearly and quickly, and motivate them to respond. Easier said than done. Most pitches are sent by email, so most people start with the subject line. That’s the exact opposite of what you should do. Start with the body of the email. There’s a reason for this, which we’ll get to shortly. Find a way to connect your story to current events. If a topic is already popular in the media, other outlets are more likely to cover it. But remember: while the story involves you, it isn’t about you. You have to pitch from the perspective of what the audience wants. The journalist’s, editor’s, or producer’s needs come second, and yours come in a distant last place. Sorry, that’s just the way it is. You need to distill your story and why the audience should care into a few sentences. You can add a little more detail after that, but keep it short. If they see a wall of text, they’ll likely delete your email. Once your pitch is solid, write your subject line. It should be short, punchy, and aligned with your pitch. Short and punchy matters because the subject line determines whether they open your email. If the pitch doesn’t align with the subject line, they’ll likely delete the email without reading it. Getting attention means nothing if they don’t read the message. I once saw a publicist use a subject line that certainly grabbed attention, but it had zero positive impact and damaged his reputation. What was it? “Fuck You!” Bottom line: your pitch must quickly and clearly show the value the audience will get, and your subject line must grab attention in a positive way while aligning with the pitch. Build your media list PR isn’t a numbers game. Yet people treat it like one. They buy or compile lists of media contacts and blast their pitch to anyone they can find. That’s no different from spam emails selling generic Viagra. Success comes from sending the right pitch to the right people at the right time. Finding the right people means identifying journalists, producers, and other media contacts who cover the types of stories you’re telling. Several expensive tools can help you find these contacts and their information. But you can often find the same information with a search engine and social media. In fact, that’s how I built most of my media relationships. As for the right time, that’s largely a matter of chance. Send your pitch There’s no magic formula. The time of day you send your pitch doesn’t matter much unless it’s extremely time-sensitive, which most business topics aren’t. Producers often check email at certain times, but they won’t touch it while preparing for or running their show. Now here’s something you need to avoid: Don’t bombard them with follow-up emails! For truly time-sensitive stories, it may be acceptable to follow up within the same week. In most cases, though, wait about a week. Frequent follow-ups will annoy journalists, producers, and other media contacts. Stop after two or three follow-ups. If you haven’t received a response by then, they likely aren’t interested in the story. Try not to take it personally. They probably won’t tell you it’s not a fit. Given the sheer volume of pitches they receive, responding to every one would be a full-time job. Nurture your relationships Most of your pitches won’t result in media coverage. The problem is that most people stop after a rejection or no response. That’s crazy to me. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard “no” or received no reply before finally landing a feature. It happened because I didn’t pitch once and move on. These contacts all started as strangers, but I invested time and energy in building real relationships. As a result, when I reach out, they open and read my emails because I’m not a stranger. Those relationships make it far easier to turn a pitch into media coverage. Most initial outreach won’t lead to coverage. But if you nurture the right relationships, you’ll eventually build a network of responsive press contacts. View the full article

What makes LinkedIn content appear in AI answers? Our analysis of 89K cited URLs reveals what AI models trust—and how brands can win visibility. View the full article

Fresh off a historic 40-point performance in the finals of the Unrivaled season, WNBA player Kelsey Plum is taking a different shot: an AI twin. Fans can now voice call with a digital version of the Los Angeles Sparks star. Plum announced the twin on her personal Instagram account on March 6, asking her AI self for advice on her ponytail and coffee versus energy drink. Plum is the first professional female athlete to launch a verified AI digital twin. It’s a move that’s earning plaudits as a way for women in sports to take control of their image and expand their reach. “The opportunity to have a twin that can connect with fans, with young people, people that love basketball, people that are just interested in sports. The range is endless,” Plum says. “It’s where we are in society, and I think you are either gonna get with it or get lost.” Collaboration With Talk2Me Plum created the twin in partnership with Talk2Me, an AI communications company that creates verified digital humans. CEO Randy Adams considers himself to be on the leading (or bleeding) edge of innovation like this often. He’s a self-described serial entrepreneur—coinventor of Adobe PDF, cofounder of digital comedy brand Funny or Die, and now working on digital AI twins. “[Kelsey has] moved things from a business standpoint. She’s moved things first from a cultural standpoint,” he says. “We need to find people who are willing to take the risk to go out there and do this. And she’s been willing to do it. And we’re very honored that she is.” From a technical standpoint, the goal is to get the personality right based on what the celebrity wants. For Plum, that means interacting with fans when she can’t. “In the arena, I can only talk to so many people, so many fans at one time, and so I think the next best thing would then be to log on and have a one-on-one conversation,” Plum says. “I think it’s just a great opportunity to reach more people and obviously, too, we’re gonna be able to see what people are asking and wanna see, and we’ll be able to grow from there.” Maximizing reach Athletes finding ways to connect with fans off the court isn’t new. OK Tomorrow founder and CEO Nilesh Ashra is an expert on the intersection of AI and creativity. He says a move like this is helpful for celebrities like Plum because they’re looking for ways to maximize their reach. “Old world was they write a book. Recently, new world was create a coaching program,” he says. “Brand-new world is a digital twin.” And it is a bit of a brand-new world. Because Plum is one of the first to step into this kind of AI digitization, she admits there might be learning curves with some of the twin’s responses. Those potential distortions are where Ashra hesitates. “I think there is a benefit to interactivity. I think the risks are on unexpected behavior,” he says. “All AI models are nondeterministic. You actually don’t know how they’re going to respond until they’re in that context.” He’s not the only skeptic. Since Plum’s Instagram launch, commenters haven’t been shy about voicing their concerns about this use of AI. Some words of caution “Big fan here in cybersecurity . . . please, you’re teaching it, it’s learning every second and personal interactions add specifity to you besides what it’s gathered about you from the cloud, the IoT, etc.,” one Instagram user wrote. Many of the comments are from users expressing their support for Plum as an individual and player but opposing the use of AI due to environmental and cybersecurity concerns. Others are supportive. “I’ll just do your post exit interview with your AI twin, I’ll let you know what the feedback is,” Unrivaled CEO Alex Bazzell joked. Plum knows the twin isn’t a replacement for her. She’s passionate about mental health and connecting young people with community. But while she’s taking care of business on the court, she wants her AI version to connect with fans in the meantime. “I just think it gives a way . . . to connect, and that’s a cool thing,” Plum says. “Obviously, we use basketball . . . but I think using a twin in and outside of a basketball lane is something that will be special for people.” View the full article

Perplexity AI must stop using its Comet browser agent to make purchases on Amazon. A federal judge sided with Amazon in an early ruling over AI shopping bots. Why we care. The case targets a core promise of AI agents: completing tasks like shopping on a user’s behalf. If courts restrict how agents access sites, AI agents could face strict limits when interacting with logged-in accounts on major websites. What happened. U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney granted Amazon a preliminary injunction Monday in San Francisco federal court. The order blocks Perplexity from using its Comet browser agent to access password-protected parts of Amazon, including Prime subscriber accounts. Chesney wrote that Amazon presented “strong evidence” that Comet accessed accounts “with the Amazon user’s permission but without authorization by Amazon.” The ruling also requires Perplexity to destroy any Amazon data it previously collected. Catch-up quick. Amazon sued Perplexity in November, accusing the startup of computer fraud and unauthorized access. The company said Comet made purchases from Amazon on behalf of users without properly identifying itself as a bot. What’s next. The order is paused for one week to allow Perplexity to appeal. What they’re saying. Amazon spokesperson Lara Hendrickson told Bloomberg (subscription required) the injunction “will prevent Perplexity’s unauthorized access to the Amazon store and is an important step in maintaining a trusted shopping experience for Amazon customers.” View the full article

Don’t let deal fatigue lead you to shortcuts. By R. Peter Fontaine NewGate Law Go PRO for members-only access to more Peter Fontaine. View the full article

Don’t let deal fatigue lead you to shortcuts. By R. Peter Fontaine NewGate Law Go PRO for members-only access to more Peter Fontaine. View the full article

Self-perception is reality. By Martin Bissett Business Development on a Budget Go PRO for members-only access to more Martin Bissett. View the full article

Self-perception is reality. By Martin Bissett Business Development on a Budget Go PRO for members-only access to more Martin Bissett. View the full article

Ministers try to win over sceptical public by potentially excluding children and some personal dataView the full article