You can thank Bernie Madoff for one thing: His widely publicized crimes demonstrated how important it is to choose your financial adviser carefully. Picking the right person takes research, and lots of questions and legwork, but consider the potential payoffs…
Hawaii presentation coach Pam Chambers offers five steps to successfully speaking to the media without feeling you’ll have to leave town the next day. 1. Take charge of the interview Don’t give all the control to the reporter, or you…
The Web site Play@SavvyCircle helps local restaurants and other businesses attract new customers in a fresh way. What customers get: The site offers people exclusive deals and discounts from businesses, which have included Hy’s Steak House, Tango Contemporary Café, Heaven on Earth…
More than 50 percent of marriages in the United States end in divorce and Hawaii accounts for about 5,000 of those breakups every year. Of those who remain married, true love is not always the reason. That’s why relationship experts…
Q. How do public relations and advertising fit together? A. A wise king once said, “There is nothing new under the sun.” That is certainly true when it comes to product launches, public relations and advertising. One time-tested formula goes…
Land-use planning, more than any other public policy, shapes the way you live. It’s responsible for your 60-to-90-minute commute from Kapolei or Hawaii Kai. It’s why you live in a three-bedroom, two-bath home with a two-car garage. It’s what influences…
There’s a reason some people are wealthy: they learn to manage their time, resources and passions. Leading financial adviser Diane Kimura of Merrill Lynch shows how you can get your life in order, financially and emotionally, so you can make…
BY LEN FUKUSHIMA FINANCIAL ADVISER, UBS FINANCIAL SERVICES I own a successful architectural firm in Honolulu. I’d like to expand my business but am having difficulty finding a lender. I have capital assets, including real estate and a portfolio of…
Three Ways To Make Your Office Truly Digital A great stack of banker’s boxes dominates the scanning room of Sterling & Tucker, a law firm that specializes in estate and financial planning. The neatly labeled boxes are packed with hundreds…
Q. We are growing our business and want to make sure that we are able to perpetuate it long after we are no longer active in the company. We have no children, so what are our options to ensure the…
Q: I’m a small business owner and I’ve heard about the new ARC loans. How do I get approved for these loans? A: For small-business owners, the American Recovery Capital loan seems like a silver bullet, the solution to many…
Jon Jepson knows the Hawaiian seas like the back of his hand, but when he began marketing for Makani, the $1.8 million catamaran he helped hand-build, Jepson found himself testing new waters. Now in its third year, Makani Catamaran takes…
You finally caught on and created a company Web site. The problem is, nobody knows about it. Mary Fastenau, president of StarrTech Interactive, explains how to drive more eyeballs to your Web site for little or no cost. OvercommunIcate your…
In good times or bad, motivating employees is an important, but often overlooked, aspect of running a business. Nicholas Mitsakos, chairman of Arcadia Holdings Inc., explains how to keep workers excited for the workweek, or “how to help your team…
Credit-card processing is a ubiquitous and major expense for businesses. Most of the cost is upfront, according to Matt Sakauye, senior consultant at credit-card processing firm Gravity Payments. Once things are running, he says, “credit-card processors are pretty automated. But…
In this job market, competition is fierce. That's why it's important for candidates to make a favorable impression in the first interview. Your skills are crucial, but don't expect to be offered a job unless you also look the part,…
It’s a workday morning late in the week and attorney Ellen Carson is at her home computer, in her pajamas, working on affidavits. She’s been at it for three hours — since 6 a.m. — but by 9 she’s able…
Something major is happening. Women everywhere are mobilizing — themselves and each other — to get into the community, grow their contact lists and build meaningful relationships to advance their careers. This new age of wahine networking is a far…
BY Piia M. Aarma, President, Pineapple Tweed, LLC Q. How do you build a personal brand? A. This above all: to thine own self be true.” Those words by William Shakespeare sum up how you need to look at branding.…
By Brian Ishikawa, Senior Vice President of Corporate Security, Bank of Hawaii During this challenging economic time, it’s more important than ever for businesses to protect their money. No one is immune from fraud, but there are ways to reduce…
Some say real estate professionals might be more important than ever Less than 20 years ago, prospective homebuyers could look at newspapers and drive around to find yard signs. However, most would call a Realtor because they alone had access…
A little book has important advice for some of the Islands' big-business leaders Growing up, Wesley Park aspired to be ordinary. He ended up being extraordinary. When he was 4 years old, Park was stricken with polio. The debilitating disease…