Author Archive
The Only Web 2.0 Bubble Is The Number Of Bubble Experts
AGORACOM Webinar – How To Conduct Great IR In A Web 2.0 World – June 27, 2007
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WARNING:Â Extreme Gloating AheadÂ
After publicly stating E-Mail Is Dead and the severe penalties, both regulatory and within the investment community, for small-cap companies that continue to engage in it 5 months prior to the unveiling of SEC Operation Spamalot, we’ve teamed up with the good folks at DealFlow Media to hold a webinar on How To Conduct Great IR In A Web 2.0 World .Â
In addition, Michael R. MacPhail, a former SEC enforcement lawyer, will be giving a presentation on How to Generate Publicity Without Being Sued.Â
DFM hosts the best conferences and publishes the best reports related to PIPEs Financing, Reverse Mergers and Secured Debt anywhere in North America, so you can bet the quality of this webinar will be well worth the price of admission. The best part is that you don’t have to leave the comfort of your computer to obtain some great information.
Regards,
George
Viruses Via Web Browsing Are A Rising Threat For Small-Cap Companies
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As an officer of a small-cap company, you have the major responsibility of making sure your data is secure. Unfortunately, I also know small-cap companies are less likely to implement surfing policies for employees – and that leaves you vulnerable to picking up malware from sites that shouldn’t be visited from the office. The results could be disastrous.
More than just lip service, consider this excerpt from a report released by ClickZ today:
Postini calculates spam and viruses to comprise over 93 percent of e-mails, up 135 percent from September 2006 rates, and a 36 percent increase over January 2007. Web-borne security threats from spyware and adware are also on the rise; the spread of online threats increased by 34.4 percent over the previous month.
…and this excerpt with respect to e-mail viruses:Â
Viruses were found in one in every 145.5 e-mails received in April….MessageLabs said the majority of attacks consisted of an e-mail sent to one individual to evade signature-based malware detection.Â
Lesson of the day? Make sure your virus protection is up to date and implement a surfing policy that prohibits employees from surfing sites other than those necessary to conduct their work. As a public company, you don’t want to risk losing critical data, company secrets or anything else that might compromise your business and market capitalization.
Regards,
George
CNQ Launches GoPublicInCanada.com
                  
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If you’re a private company thinking of going public in Canada, or already listed in the US/UK and thinking of going public in Canada, the CNQ has just launched a great new website called GoPublicInCanada.com
I applaud such efforts because they aim to educate without trying to sell you something. With respect to GPIC, they’ve also done a great job of laying out the site in a way that makes it easy to navigate – which makes the education process that much better.
Regards,
George
Million Dollar Club – H2O Innovation (HEO: TSX-V) Awarded a CAD$ 3.14 M Contract
In addition to providing small-cap and micro-cap execs with market intelligence, a big reason for starting this blog was to show-off the stars of our industry. It’s important because many still regard the space as a run ‘n gun for stock promoters – and nothing could be farther from the truth.
On our AOL Small-Cap Channel we run a segment called Million Dollar Club that runs press releases from companies that report more than $1,000,000 in revenues in a quarter or a year. It’s a great DD tool and a great segment. As such, I’m going to start posting MDC candidates here.
Today, I found a company that entered the Million Dollar Club with just one contract. H20 Innovation (HEO: TSX-V), through its US subsidiary, was awarded a contract for the supply of a drinking water production plant to the City of Cape Coral in Florida. Total value of this contract is 3,140,000 $CAD.
Congrats to the H20 team.
Regards,
George
Web 2.0 Means Massive Visibility For Small-Cap Companies
As little as 12 months ago, search engines were the most important (and only) source of online visibility for small-cap companies. Given the fact most small-cap companies don’t stand a chance of appearing on page 1 or 2 of search engine rankings, AGORACOM launched the first ever search engine IR programs last year.
However, the lightning fast advent of Web 2.0 means that search engine rankings no longer have a strangle hold on visibility and the ability to attract traffic.  Search engines are still the best way to attract potential investors, brokers and analysts but they are now part of an online ecosystem that is designed to give you visibility . Afterall, isn’t visibility the result we are all after? Do we care if it comes from search engines or smoke signals? No. We just want visibility.
With this fact in mind, you can’t afford to ignore powerful Web 2.0 tools now available to you.  Why? Because Web 2.0 is an information system based on keywords and tags that allows investors and public companies to connect at the most granular levels. (If you can’t recognize the logos at the top of this post, you are guilty of ignoring Web 2.0). Gone are the days of generic search terms locating generic items and websites. If you have something to say about Rare Metals or GPS Systems , you can say it and throw yourself right into the global information flow about those topics immediately.
Some of the most important Web 2.0 tools are as follows: Don’t be intimidated by any lack of knowledge or technology, AGORACOM is at your disposal for a reason – couldn’t avoid it 🙂
- Blogs – Small-cap analysts, investors and mouth pieces are now using blogs to express their opinions and analysis. Why? Because blogs give writers an instant way to throw themselves into the global information stream that was once reserved for journalists. Unfortunately, a small-group of journalists are no match for a global network of small-cap talent. The result? Blogs are becoming a preferred source of information by investors looking for great sources of information. Think blogs are for the fringe? Tell that to Donald Trump, Sun Microsystems and General Motors. You can’t ignore them.
- Webcasting – The ability to broadcast your message for the small-cap community to hear at any time is powerful. Unfortunately, most small and micro-cap companies have all but ignored this medium, with the exception of some generic “canned” messages or interviews.  Why is it so important? Webcasting gives you an ability to connect with your investors and potential investors that text can never accomplish.
- Podcasting – Podcasting is webcasting on steroids. It the Web 2.0 vehicle that allows your message to spread via keyword, phrases and tags to anyone around the world looking for a company like yours. You can broadcast your message on iTunes or any number of huge podcast sites around the world for investors to download your message. Think podcasting is for the fringe? Tell that to Jim Cramer. FYI, AGORACOM has launched SmallCapPodcast.com which is broadcast around the world via iTunes, Yahoo Podcast and other such sites.
I could go on to discuss social networks, online video and online photos but I can best summarize by quoting online marketing specialist Lee Odden who stated in an article about this very subject .. “If you consider all the traffic opportunities from news search, blog search, social media as well as stand alone image, video and audio search, there’s a lot of accountability left on the table when not considering all the possible sources of web site visitors”
The best part about using Web 2.0 for investor relations? Cost. Better yet, ROI. You can reach the entire small-cap community without impacting your cash position – and I’m not just talking about investors. I’m talking about brokers, analysts, fund managers, new customers, new suppliers and kick-ass hiring candidates. In short, everyone you need to make yourself a better company.
Have a great day.
Best,
George
Avalon Ventures Gets Blogged
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Avalon Ventures (AVL: TSX-V) has been blogged by the people over at Riding The Gravy Train. In addition to writing about the fact they like Avalon and have been accumulating it under $1.50, it is also important to note that the world of small-caps is already on its way towards being covered in the blogosphere. Here are 2 blog posts from RTGT regarding Avalon:
If you’re a small-cap company without a Web 2.0 IR strategy, it is time to get a move on!
Regards,
George
Big-Cap Insider Trading During Takeover Mania?
The takeover tidal wave that has hit the markets as of late has been nothing short of exciting for any market bull. If you had the guts to hang in there when the market drop in Q1 had CNBC running nightly hand-holding sessions and turned a handsome profit, then bravo to you.
Unfortunately, I’ve started noticing lately that some “investors” appear to be making gains of the “risk-free” variety. That is, stock activity prior to takeover announcements are clearly indicating insider trading in advance.
For example, on May 3rd, Swedish Steelmaker SSAB announced it would acquire Ipsco for $160/share. All other things being equal, Ipsco is just another boring steel maker – and its trading activity for most of the previous 6 months supports this:
From December to mid-Feb, Ipsco spent most of its’ time in the low $100 range, though it made a couple of unsuccessful attempts to break through $120. It did finally make one short-lived run into the $130 range but that didn’t last long either.
In mid-March, however, the boring steel-maker goes parabolic for no apparent reason. By the time management announced in early April it was in discussions that might lead to a sale, the stock had already hit nearly $160. Ironic that is stopped just short of the eventual acquisition price isn’t it? Was anybody curious as to why a boring steel-maker gained almost 60% from January to April?
EXAMPLE #2 – Dow Jones Takeover Bid
In the case of Dow Jones, Paul Kedrosky points out that there was some big buying pre-announcement of $45-ish calls that were trading below $1. Post-announcement, they soared to $12.
Big option volume on no news >>> takeover bid announced >>> 1,200% gain.
Anybody know a good rocket scientist that can help figure this out? If not, a decent street hustler will do. The big boys are in the know and they are cashing in.
Given the hard time small-cap companies get for minor transgressions, it would be nice to see the same magnifying glass turned on the big boys for some pretty obvious ones.
Best,
George
Jim O’Connell Passes Away
Bad news out of the Canadian business world today. Jim O’Conell passed away yesterday after a brief battle with a very aggressive form of colon cancer.
Though he had an incredibly successful career in journalism that went well beyond business journalism – he won 2 Gemini Awards – small-cap investors in Canada know him and respect him particularly well for hosting BNN’s small-cap show every Wednesday morning.
God bless Jim and his family
Regards,
George
Trading Shells Vs. Virgin Shells
If you want a great education in the benefits of trading shells vs. virgin shells, the reverse merger blog has a must read article.
On the topic of reverse mergers, DealFlow Media is holding their annual Reverse Merger Conference in San Fran, June 13 – 14. AGORACOM will be exhibiting as a sponsor and providing a keynote speech on “E-Mail Is Dead – How To Conduct Great Investor Relations In A Web 2.0 World”. This is a follow-up to my original speech at the PIPEs Conference In New York last November – which was timely given the SEC launch of Operation Spamalot a couple of months later.
Regards,
George
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During the dot-com boom, I couldn’t find any correlation between sky-rocketing market caps and online purchases by those around me. People were mostly browsing in every sense of the word.
Today, survivors of the bust are delivering real products that all of us are willing to pay for – and price isn’t always the deciding factor. We are now paying for convenience. Oddly enough, much of this has to do with the fact the web has made us busier (can you say e-mail backlog), thereby forcing us to turn to the web for goods and services. Hmmm.
Conclusion – it is far too early in the “real” cycle to predict its demise. True, I think we still tend to celebrate blue-sky “cool” ideas more than boring money markers – but if we took a moment to recognize the latter most would probably be shocked by the number of real dot-coms out there. I am proud to say AGORACOM is one of them and look forward to thousands more joining the club in the next few years.
Best,
George