Employee retention and how we approach the concept of keeping employees over many years is an area where certain assumptions must be challenged if we are going to stay competitive. Some assumptions concerning employee retention that are rapidly becoming obsolete include…

§ That there is an unlimited resource of eager employees out there to fill my staffing needs.

§ That it’s a good idea to cycle employees in and out of the company because that keeps benefits costs down.

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CreateSpace was originally founded as CustomFlix Labs, Inc. in 2002 and acquired by Amazon.com Inc. in 2005. Prior to launching the Books on Demand service, CreateSpace was already providing inventory-free, physical distribution of CDs and DVDs on Demand, and video downloads via Amazon Unbox.

In addition, the company is no longer charging setup fees for books, audio CDs and DVDs. Authors, filmmakers and musicians can now offer their works on Amazon.com, CreateSpace.com and via their own free customizable eStore without any inventory, setup fees or minimum orders.

“The new CreateSpace Books on Demand service removes substantial economic barriers and makes it really easy for authors who want to self-publish their books and distribute them on Amazon.com,” said Jeff Wilke, senior vice president, North American Retail, Amazon.com. “The service will also give millions of Amazon customers access to an even greater selection of books, just as CreateSpace’s DVD and CD on Demand services are adding significant selection to our movie and music catalogs.”

Books on Demand works the same way as CreateSpace’s DVD and CD on Demand offerings. CreateSpace books sold on Amazon.com are printed on demand, display “in stock” availability on Amazon.com and can be shipped within 24 hours from when they are ordered. The books are automatically eligible for Amazon programmes such as “Search Inside!”, “Amazon Prime”, “Super Saver Shipping” and so on.

There are no setup fees or minimum orders for the CreateSpace on-demand service. Members are required to purchase and approve a proof copy of their book, CD, and/or DVD before titles can be produced on demand. Books published via the CreateSpace Books on Demand service are printed with high-quality, full-colour paperback covers. Black-and-white or color interiors in multiple trim sizes can be selected as options. Members can also order high-quality copies of their book, DVD or CD at competitive wholesale prices.

An important aspect of the CreateSpace service is that the creator of the work retains the rights to the work. There is no attempt to ‘muscle in’ on the future earning potential of the work, should it become successful.

The scope of the CreateSpace service certainly provides plenty of options for content creators, especially in video. They can sell in DVD, HD-DVD or video download. Blue-Ray is due to be added to the roster in the near future. Additional services include assistance with cover artwork, conversion of videos to DVD’s, high definition capture and authoring to HD-DVD, and high volume disk replication.

Steffen Hoellinger, writing on the Openeur website, compares the retailer’s share of a commercial DVD sold on Amazon.com will with that for a DVD sold on CreateSpace. The content creator retains a much higher percentage of the selling price when the product is sold through CreateSpace. For example, a 100 page black and white book with a list price of $25.00 sold through a CreateSpace E-Store would earn the author a royalty of $14.85 per sale. This raises the possibility that CreateSpace might become a distribution channel of choice for authors, film makers and musicians. If a writer or artist already has a public profile, is it necessary for them to contract with a publishing company to publish their work, if they can sell directly to end users and keep a much higher portion of the retail price for themselves?

The CreateSpace on-demand publishing service is not the only one of its kind - Lulu.com also offers self publishing services for books, digital downloads, CD and DVD. If CreateSpace provides publishers with an effective level of access to Amazon.com users (in other words, items available on CreateSpace show up in the search results on Amazon), then Lulu.com may find itself being squeezed out unless it can form an alliance with another heavyweight such as a mainstream search engine or social network.

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More than 6000 filled in the survey

So the average UK salary came in at £35k which is a fair bit up on the quotes figure of £24907 a separate nationwide survey concluded. This survey of The Register readers would target more of specific niche though which would account for the difference.

One of the more interesting questions was who would you prefer to work for:

More than twice as many people would prefer to work for Google as be self employed and work for themselves, there is no question Google promote a friendly and happy work environment but in saying all that Microsoft still manage to be the second most popular employer of choice.

Another interesting economic phenomenon was the effect that the release of BC had on one small sub-section of the old world crafting mats. The high level old world (HLOW) dungeons and zones exist in what I call the BC Trench. Places like Scholo, Strat, BRS, Silithus and EPL are pretty barren these days; very few people run these dungeons or quest in these zones because they can go ahead to the Outlands and get far better gear with less effort.

The interesting thing is that these zones and dungeons are the sole producers of the HLOW crafting mats, which are still needed by people skilling up their crafting professions. Thorium Ore, Rugged Leather, and Mountain Silversage are just some of the many items needed by crafters that can be found almost exclusively in the HLOW zones.

So think way back to your high school economics class (I would say college economics class, but let’s be honest… if you remember much of college, then you didn’t do it right) and let’s see if we can figure out what effect the BC Trench has on the economy. Very few people questing in the zones = Low Supply. A good amount of people skilling up professions, and needing the mats = Medium to High Demand. Low Supply + Medium/High Demand = High Prices!

If I were to take a guess at the historical price trend of Thorium Ore since original WoW was released, I expect things would look something like this:

Upon WoW’s release, Thorium, as a high level crafting item, wasn’t used at all. The price probably rose gradually as more and more people began to reach the appropriate character levels to need it. Shortly thereafter, as the majority of players who started playing WoW on Day One hit level 60, the price began to rise more dramatically, as demand increased substantially. After BC was announced, prices probably began to drop as demand for Thorium (and its related craftable items) waned a bit. Then BC came out and bam! the demand for Thorium shot through the roof! People were coming back to WoW, powerleveling JC, trying to get their BS and Engineer alts to 300 so they could learn the Outlands recipes… just about everyone needed some Thorium.

After the initial BC frenzy wore off, and the demand for Thorium slowly decreased to match the supply, prices started to level off, with perhaps a slight upward trend due to inflation. The price jump in the “BC Released” to “BC Frenzy Ends” segment is due entirely to the BC Trench effect. I’m willing to bet that other HLOW crafting mats had similar jumps in price, and that non-high level mats (such as Mithril Ore and Heavy Leather) decreased in the weeks after BC’s release, or at least held steady.

So what’s all this mean? Well, I figure that any time you can identify a trend in economics, there’s usually a way to exploit it (heh heh heh *rubs hands together evilly*). The most obvious way to make money from this is to farm HLOW crafting mats and sell them for exorbitant prices on the AH. Head out to Silithus or EPL, mine Thorium, pick flowers, and skin beasties till your bags are full. The problem with this is that it’s kinda boring, and to be totally honest, if you’re 70, then you could probably be making more money doing dailies.

So here’s a better idea. If you have an alt with a gathering profession, instead of heading straight to HFP when you hit 58, keep questing in Azeroth. If you did all of the quests available in WPL, EPL, Silithus, and Winterspring, not only would you have made a good deal of money, but you would also have ding’d 60 (at least) before you even stepped foot in the Outlands.

And lastly, but certainly not leastly, here is a fun little trick for enchanters. Of all the HLOW enchanting mats, Greater Eternal Essences have been most strongly affected by the BC Trench. Pre-BC I think they sold for about 5 to 10G on my old server, and now they go for 25 to 30G or more on Shandris.

The GEEs come from disenchanting pre-BC level 51 to 60 items, which now sell for peanuts in the AH. So you can pick up some old world Greens that no one else wants, and DE them for a very nice profit. It’s quick, easy and everyone wins!

A couple of things to note if you’re going to do this: 1) GEEs only come from old world items. If you pick up a level 50-something Green that came with BC, then you won’t ever get a GEE. If in doubt, check Wowhead to see what your item DEs into. 2) Weapons have a much better chance of DE’ing into GEEs than armor does. Armor will usually give you Illusion Dust. And lastly, 3) if you’re going to supply any of the BC Trench mats for people on your server, be careful not to oversupply things and break the market. Check and make sure there is enough demand on your server for what you’re supplying.

US service sector weakens in May: ISM
AFP via Yahoo! News - 1 hour, 56 minutes ago
The US economy’s all-important services sector weakened in May, the Institute for Supply Management said.Save to My Web

Up north, the worry on border is economic
USATODAY.com via Yahoo! News - Jun 05 4:40 AM
Some people along the U.S.-Canadian border believe security is already too tight and that a law requiring U.S. citizens to show passports or new ID cards containing computer chips - instead of driver’s licenses - to cross the border is another threat to the local economy.Save to My Web

Stocks fall on economic, oil price worries
Reuters via Yahoo! News - 7 minutes ago
U.S. stocks fell on Monday as higher oil prices and concerns about a slowing economy pulled down shares of large manufacturers and home builders, companies especially vulnerable to swings in the business cycle.Save to My Web

Dell Job Additions To Boost Economy
WKRN Nashville - 2 hours, 9 minutes ago
The number one computer maker is expanding its operations in Middle Tennessee, opening doors for many new jobs. On Friday, Dell announced it will add up to 1,000 jobs in Tennessee as it expands customer service operations. The addition of jobs will mean a big boost to Nashvilles economy. On Monday, Richard Lawson of … Save to My Web

Non-Manufacturing Sector Slows In May
Industry Week - 1 hour, 49 minutes ago
June 5, 2006 — As in the manufacturing sector, the growth rate of the non-manufacturing sector of the U.S. economy slowed in May, according to data released June 5 by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), Tempe, Ariz. Its business activity index for non-manufacturing, which includes mining, construction, business services, and finance and banking, slipped to 60.1% last month from 63% in Save to My Web

Economy May Be Heading for Less Sunny Days
ABC News - Jun 04 10:04 AM
Economy May Be Heading for Less Sunny Days After Growing at Strong Pace at Beginning of YearSave to My Web

Service portion of economy slowed in May, survey says
Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune - 2 hours, 9 minutes ago
NEW YORK The service sector of the U.S. economy expanded in May, but at a slower pace than in April, a private survey of supply managers said on Monday. The report is a possible indication that fuel prices are starting to crimp growth in the service sector, which accounts for two-thirds of the U.S. economy. The survey by the Institute for Supply Management indicated concern about the prices of Save to My Web

World Bank not yet ready to play a role in North Korea’s economy: Wolfowitz
Canadian Business - Jun 03 10:43 AM
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - The World Bank could potentially play a role in North Korea’s economy though is not yet ready to do so, Paul Wolfowitz, the institution’s president, said this week.Save to My Web

Festival ‘worth 18m to economy’
BBC News - Jun 04 5:31 PM
Organisers say public agencies should become involved so T in the Park can reach its full potential.Save to My Web

Costa Rica’s Central Bank has a webportal serving all the main economic indicators for the country. Exchange rates, interest rates, and balance of trade figures. A comprehensive source for anyone building a market driven application.

You can view a full selection of diamond earrings online at the store. There you can browse through the wide selection of diamond eternity bands and rings. The rings and bands set in ornate artistry and precious diamonds are available on wholesale and the online store offers the lowest possible price on women and men’s diamond jewelry collections. These collections include a great selection of unique diamond necklaces and chains too.

How does an economist define a recession? This is associated with a decline in the country’s GDP (gross domestic product) or negative real economic growth for two or more consecutive quarters.

Buffett says “people are already feeling the effect” of recession, and how true he is! If you do regular chores, like buying grocery or gas for your car, you know this is mighty tough time we are going through. But well, if there is one thing we learned from economic history, tough times never last.