The Face Of Your Business

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a facial expression is priceless. According to this USA Today article, facial coding is finding its place in the business world. Dating back to the 1960s, facial coding was studied by psychologist Paul Ekman, who found that facial expressions are learned early and universal. To support this, a study published in the February issue of Psychological Science found that students could identify the most successful people when faced with 1,000 photographs of CEOs.

Dan Hill, an expert in facial coding, came to these conclusions after viewing YouTube videos of well-known CEOs:

•Donald Trump was 84% negative, second to Ellison. Hill says he smiles while making negative comments that show disgust, contempt and skepticism.
•Billionaires Bill Gates and Warren Buffett also have a high percentage of positive expressions. Bill Gates had a high percentage of positive expressions, though he displayed "small, weak social smiles and touches of contempt." •Apple CEO Steve Jobs scored 48% positive and topped all CEOs examined for making no attempt to hide his emotions. Apple employees don't have to guess what this CEO is thinking. "Lots of emoting, enjoyment mingled with frustration," Hill says.

HowCast Is The New Ish

Do you know how to write a thank you letter? Or fake being sick? A new startup called Howcast is combining filmmakers, experts and business for one purpose: to create entertaining, well thought out how-to videos. Anybody can get involved. For example, if you're dying to let your inner Spielberg out, you can get paid to make videos as a Howcast Director. Or if you own your own business, the Howcast Network provides a great opportunity for free promotion of your company. It's a simple idea with plenty of potential.

Techcrunch recently wrote about Howcast and its founders, Jason Liebman, Daniel Blackman and Sanjay Raman, all former Google employees who worked on Google Video and YouTube before they left the company eight months ago. According to Techcrunch, Howcast recently announced an $8 million series A financing led by Tudor Investment Corporation.

Not only are these videos entertaining, but they actually teach you a thing or two. Our favorite how-to's are "How To Fix a Wet Cell Phone"--which could come in handy-- and "How To Dance Without Embarrassing Yourself," purely for the comic value.