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Home » Business And Finance Articles » Business Cartoons Mean Business

Business Cartoons Mean Business

Let's face it, unless you're Donald Trump, business can be pretty dull most of the time. Maybe that's why so many people decorate their cubicles and offices with cartoons. A good laugh can really perk up your day! So why don't more businesses use business cartoons?

It's interesting that so few companies make the connection between cartoons and business. Are they afraid of not being taken seriously? Are cartoons just funny little drawings that no one really pays attention to? Publications like the Wall Street Journal, Barron's, Forbes and Harvard Business Review all publish business cartoons regularly. What's going on here?!

Maybe we're so buried in spreadsheets, reports and memos that it's hard to see where business cartoons might be able to help out. Here are some examples of how business cartoons used correctly can be a boon to both your morale and your bottom line:

Company Newsletters

Newsletters are a great place to use business cartoons! Corporate newsletters are usually filled with all sorts of company information, important information to be sure, but pretty dry reading nonetheless.

If you want your employees to really read your newsletters, give them something fun! Good business cartoons get discussed at the coffee machine, hung up in cubicles and faxed to business contacts. They're a great way to not only get your people to actually open the company newsletter, but explore and discuss it!

Business Presentations

You're sitting there in the conference room wishing you had a cappuccino IV to keep your eyes open while some guy drones on and on and on. Graphs, pie charts, more graphs, some bullet points, etc... Let's face it, it's hard to keep a dark room of sleep deprived people engaged.

Why not pep up your presentations with some good business cartoons! Not only are they a good way to get a presentation going (similar to starting a speech with a joke), but they're a great way to make your point throughout in a memorable way.

Websites & Intranets

Business cartoons are a wonderful way to get business prospects and customers visiting you online day after day. Years in sales taught me that people buy from people they like, and what better way to foster a good business relationship than by offering not only your products and/or services, but also a good laugh!

Of course you want your staff visiting your website and intranet often as well. Adding business cartoons will give your employees a great reason to check in on all your company information too!

Advertising & Email Campaigns

Looking for more customers? Nothing succeeds like business cartoons!

Many Fortune 1000 companies use business cartoons in their email campaigns. Some report astronomical email open rates, and click-thru rates in double digits! According to MarketingSherpa.com, companies are usually opposed to using business cartoons initially because they don't see the value in a 'cute' little cartoon. The website also notes, however, that when the business cartoons become the most clicked on portion of the email, companies quickly change their minds.

Business cartoons are a great way to advertise as well! They're quick, fun, and they grab your attention - wonderful attributes for potential customers to associate with your business!

Training Manuals & Fax Cover Sheets

Want to keep your trainees engaged in their training? Business cartoons are a fun way to break up the often lengthy training sessions and help your new employees relax.

And fax cover sheets just about beg for good business cartoons! Make sure your fax is well received not only by the person you intend to read it, but by the couple of other people who'll get a good laugh as they pass it along.

Business Cartoons are Good Business

As you can see, business cartoons simply make good business sense. Whether you use them in newsletters, powerpoints, websites, advertising, or manuals, business cartoons enliven your projects and promote interaction with both customers and employees.

And here is another random article you might be interested in...

Constructing an All-Weather Mutual Fund Portfolio

Equity mutual funds perform differently in different time periods as investment styles and sectors come in and go out of favor. While screening tools readily provide performance data and make the task of identifying top mutual funds relatively easy, there is more to constructing an all-weather portfolio than screening for the top funds.

This article describes methods of constructing an all-weather portfolio. Before getting into the nitty-gritty of constructing an all-weather portfolio, it helps to know how equity mutual funds are classified and how their performance is impacted by market conditions.

Classification by Market Capitalization & Style

Equity funds are commonly classified based on market capitalization of the companies in which they invest their assets and investment style.

Market capitalization is divided into three categories: large, medium, and small. Investment style likewise is divided into three categories: value, growth, and blend.

Combining both types of classifications, equity mutual funds typically fall into one of nine boxes on a 3 x 3 matrix. This classification system works well in analyzing diversified funds.

Classification by Sector & Industry Group

Instead of dividing the equity market by market capitalization and investment characteristics such as value or growth, an alternative way is to slice it by sectors. The Global Industry Classification System jointly developed by Standard & Poor's and Morgan Stanley Capital International, for example, classifies the equity market into ten sectors, such as financials and information technology. Each sector in turn is divided into several industry groups. This classification system is particularly useful for analyzing sector funds that invest their assets in a given sector like information technology or industry group like computer hardware.

Impact of Business Cycle

The net asset value per share of a fund changes in response to the prices of stocks held in its portfolio. Generally speaking, stock prices are impacted by business conditions. The business cycle has various phases to it: Recovery, Boom, Slowdown, and Recession. Different parts of the stock market as seen from market capitalization, style, or sector perspectives perform differently in different phases of the business cycle.

Impact on Diversified Funds

Growth style funds, in general, fare well during expansion phases such as recovery and boom, and value style funds during contraction phases such as slowdown and recession. Likewise, from a capitalization perspective, small cap funds tend to perform better during expansion and large cap funds during contraction.

Looking at the most recent boom-bust cycle, Spectra Fund, a large cap-growth fund, was among the star performers during the 1997-1999 boom. Spectra gained 141% during the three-year period ending October 31, 1999. However, Spectra fared poorly during the 2000-2002 slowdown and lost 52% during the two-year period ending October 31, 2002.

In complete contrast, Hotchkis & Wiley Small Cap Value Fund, which failed to participate in the 1997-1999 boom, was among the top funds during the 2000-2002 slowdown. Following the 30% loss for the two-year period ending June 30, 2000, Hotchkis gained 88% during the two-year period ending June 30, 2002.

Impact on Sector Funds

Like diversified funds, certain sector funds tend to perform better during some phases of the business cycle. Sector funds that invest in economically sensitive sectors such as technology typically tend to perform better during expansion phases. Sector funds that invest in economically less sensitive sectors like consumer staples typically tend to perform better during contraction phases. As a result, a sector fund that performs best in one time-period may not perform as well in another time-period.

Among the 41 Fidelity sector funds, Fidelity Select Energy Services was the top fund in 2005 with a 54% gain. However in 2003, the same fund gained just 8% to be the worst performer.

Constructing an All-Weather Portfolio

Can one select the top fund by knowing what stage the business cycle is in? Unfortunately, things do not get that easy.

Getting the turning points of the business cycle right is less than a science. Although certain styles and sectors are expected to do better during particular stages of the business cycle, there is no certainty they will do so each time. Additionally, stock prices tend to anticipate and lead the business cycle. The performance of a fund therefore usually varies from one economic cycle to another.

So, rather than chase the top funds, a prudent course is to construct a robust, all-weather portfolio.

A) Constructing with Diversified Funds

One way to construct an all-weather portfolio is to use diversified funds that emphasize different types of market capitalizations and investment styles. To simplify the task, one may construct a portfolio using a large cap-growth fund, a large cap-value fund, a small cap-growth fund, and a small cap-value fund.

In evaluating funds in each category, focus on the long-term track record and see how the funds have fared in different market environments. Complement this by evaluating each fund on non-performance-based metrics such as manager tenure, price volatility or risk, mutual fund fees, and mutual fund fiduciary grade. Choose the best available fund in each category and build your portfolio with managers of a 'dream team' caliber.

Alternatively, if you want to restrict yourself to only one fund to start with, you may consider a total market index fund which spans all capitalizations and styles.

B) Constructing with Sector Funds

Sector funds can also be used to construct an all-weather portfolio. This approach offers the advantage of creating customized diversified portfolios by including sectors and industry groups which are likely to outperform the market indexes and excluding those which are likely to under-perform.

The reward potential can be enhanced by concentrating in a few sectors or industry groups. Diversification across several sectors and industry groups serves to mitigate risk. By optimizing the balance between concentration and diversification, one can achieve superior nominal and risk-adjusted returns.

The AlphaProfit Core model portfolio, http://www.alphaprofit.com/fidelity-select-model-portfolio-description.html exemplifies this approach. Over the 33 month period from September 30, 2003 to June 30, 2006, the AlphaProfit Core model portfolio gained 57% compared to 39% for Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Total Market Index.

Key Points

1. There are no top mutual funds for all times and climes.
2. A prudent course is to build a robust, all-weather portfolio.
3. Diversified funds as well as sector funds can be used to construct an all-weather portfolio.

Notes: This report is for information purposes only. Nothing herein should be construed as an offer to buy or sell securities or to give individual investment advice. This report does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation, and particular needs of any specific person who may receive this report. The information contained in this report is obtained from various sources believed to be accurate and is provided without warranties of any kind. AlphaProfit Investments, LLC does not represent that this information, including any third party information, is accurate or complete and it should not be relied upon as such. AlphaProfit Investments, LLC is not responsible for any errors or omissions herein. Opinions expressed herein reflect the opinion of AlphaProfit Investments, LLC and are subject to change without notice. AlphaProfit Investments, LLC disclaims any liability for any direct or incidental loss incurred by applying any of the information in this report. The third-party trademarks or service marks appearing within this report are the property of their respective owners. All other trademarks appearing herein are the property of AlphaProfit Investments, LLC. Owners and employees of AlphaProfit Investments, LLC for their own accounts invest in the Fidelity Funds included in the AlphaProfit Core and Focus model portfolios. AlphaProfit Investments, LLC neither is associated with nor receives any compensation from Fidelity Investments. Past performance is neither an indication of nor a guarantee for future results. No part of this document may be reproduced in any manner without written permission of AlphaProfit Investments, LLC. Copyright © 2006 AlphaProfit Investments, LLC. All rights reserved.