Out of 49 entries for this edition, these 26 were chosen according to the rules of the CotC and my own editorial discretion about what constituted quality. And now, on with the carnival:

Marketing and PR

From Trader’s Narrative, we get Google Trends: Hunting For Sentiment Data, an unorthodox way of looking at market sentiment. This was actually pretty interesting because it uses techniques to gage human feelings and predict behavior in ways I had never thought of before. I found the whole concept really creative and enlightening. For a primer in the subject, you can start with the Wikipedia definition of market sentiment and an article on Sentiment Measures at the same blog.

Jon Greer at Catching Flack brings us 2008 PR and Marketing Trends to Watch, some pretty accurate predictions (in my opinion) of things we will be seeing in the coming year.

Paul McCord warns us all about The False Promise of Word of Mouth Marketing. I had often thought about how false large viral marketing campaigns are, so I am glad that someone finally put it into such clear terms. I also have to to thank Paul for defining the differences between "word of mouth marketing" and "referral selling", because I often tell people that all of my business comes from womm but in reality it comes from both of these sources.

I’m not sure why you’d use letters for your bullet points in an article titled "Re-evaluate and measure your marketing strategy in 10 steps", but regardless this advice from 4entrepreneur is solid (and timely for anyone currently setting their business goals for 2008).

Catalyst Exhibits gives us Impact – 2008 Tradeshows, a mnemonic to assist your marketing plan in 2008.

Liz Fuller at More Than We Know kicks us into gear for the 2008 holidays by starting the planning now with 5 Questions You Need to Ask Yourself Before It’s Too Late.

Financial Hack shares some great ideas for business cards in Cool Business Cards That People Will Never Throw Away. He seems to downplay the phonecard thing, but I think it’s actually quite brilliant. For more information on business cards, check out this article on business cards on this site or check out some of the cards we’ve made.

Jim Logan at blog tells us how to test online campaigns in The power of multivariant testing.

I have a confession to make: I read the article A subtle conversion rate & response booster from 3 masters about 10 times, going back and forth on whether or not to include it. In the end, James does have a point about consumer psychology and the use of colors. I also have to thank him for making me rethink my opinions on internet marketers, but that tangent is for another day.

Economics/The Market

From Ian Welsh at the Agonist, we have Has the Dollar Hegemony’s Tipping Point Been Passed?, a stirring conversation on the future of the dollar.

From Jessica Hupp at CurrencyTrading.net, we get 20 Reasons Why a Falling Dollar Isn’t Necessarily a Bad Thing, which has a pretty darn self-explanatory title.

Alan K. Rudi of Successful Business Leadership offers us a really nice overview of economics in Understand the Economic System.

Mike Buckley at Mine Your Own Business gives us a bit of economic optimism in Is the Sky Falling? (He thinks not.)

Of course, it’s a lot easier to be optimistic when you know what you’re doing, so check out Leon Gettler’s Bear market danger signals at SoxFirst.

This week, Phillip Lyon of Intelligent Speculator asks (without bias), Is There Any Money in Internet Search Stocks?

HR

InsureBlog submitted Hey, some GOOD news for a change!, an update on litigation regarding employers coordinating retiree health care with Medicare.

I’ve included Queercents’ Back to Work: Queers and Family/Work Balance not because it’s terribly business-related, but because it’s important to understand the family responsibilities of those who work for you in order to provide them with the support they need to do their job well. This goes for all families regardless of what they look like, what religion they practice, their genders, or how many members they contain.

Entrepreneurship

THE source in business opportunities, Business Opportunities and Ideas, gives us Evaluating A Business Opportunity. This extensive list of questions to ask when evaluating a new business opportunity is a must read if you are looking for a new business but trying to protect yourself from potential scams.

Five Things Racquetball Taught Me About Succeeding in Business … well, it’s not reality TV and business but I’ll give Change Your Tree credit for being creative!

While you’re in the process of setting your business goals for 2008, you should give David Bohl’s Entrepreneurs: 5 Sure-Fire Business Resolutions for 2008 a read to help you run more efficiently and profitably in this new year.

Scott Allen at About.com ponders Does Bad Personal Credit = Bad Business Money Management? I have to say that I agree with him, but the reality is that many people check your personal credit when you are starting a new business, so you may find this to be one of the biggest hurdles in entrepreneurship. The Catch-22 in the business lending world is that if you have excellent credit, you probably wouldn’t need to apply to these programs that check your credit!

Operations

Only Wally Bock could weave a tale that starts with an opportunity in stinky cheese, swings past "It’s a Wonderful Life", and ends up in the mortgage industry. Read about it in Requiem for a Cheese and Simple Trust at the Three Star Leadership Blog.

Wayne Hurlbert at Blog Business World tells us to quit pushing and start listening to sales prospects in Boosting sales: Become a problem solver.

Laura at Business and Blogging shows us the ropes of business blogging in Blogging and PR: Six Principles to Live By.

Now I don’t normally include two entries from one site, but I made an exception for Leadership Secrets of New England Patriots because it features a picture of my long lost love, Tom Brady. The one thing I think Jay missed though, is that for the Patriots, there is no "I" in "team". It is a team without stars—even when they name Brady an MVP and praise him in a press conference, he immediately thanks his lineman and his receivers for making it look easy. In my opinion, that is the most important part of their success: mutual respect to utilize every talent in the organization, a tight lip that prevents them from airing dirty laundry or fueling press speculation, and very strong teamwork that binds them together for a successful season.

Dorian Wales asks us Uncertainty and Risk differentiated – Is a Tactical Surprise Preferable to a Strategic Surprise? at the The Personal Financier.

I am glad that I was able to get this out on time, as we lost power for a while thanks to the storms and high winds for the past few days here in California. That is all for this edition. If you would like to submit something for a future edition, please send your URL and info to thecotc@gmail.com. I hope all of you have a wonderful and successful year in 2008!