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5 Reasons Why You Have To Hang Up The Phone For Good and Connect With Investors Online

Posted by AGORACOM at 12:40 AM on Wednesday, May 5th, 2010

Courtesy Of Blog.USA.Gov

If you are a small-cap company and still have doubts about the power of online investor relations, then you need to know that a survey of American adults conducted in late 2009 found that 82 percent of Internet users — or 61 percent of American adults — had looked up information or completed a transaction on a government Web site over the previous year.

5 REASONS WHY YOU HAVE TO HANG UP THE PHONE FOR GOOD AND CONNECT WITH INVESTORS ONLINE

If people have become so comfortable with the web that they are overwhelmingly connecting with important government services online, you have to assume they’re ready to connect online with your small-cap company for something as important as their investment portfolio. Why? Here are some good reasons:

  1. People are too busy during business hours to call you.  Thanks to e-mail, the average worker never completes their work anymore. They have a backlog of to do items, so they don’t have time to call you.
  2. Timezones.  Most of the world lives outside of your timezone.  Some live on the other end of the planet.  They simply can’t call you unless your IR people are working at midnight.
  3. Workplace technology makes it very easy for employers to track long-distance phone calls.  If Joe’s Plumbing in California doesn’t do business in Calgary, you can bet his employees aren’t going to make 15 minute phone calls to you.
  4. Investors want to feel you out.  No group of people has experienced more spam and unwanted phone solicitations than small-cap investors.  Now, they’re on to you and have no desire to call in, display their phone number, get into a long-winded conversation and get pressured into joining an e-mail list.  If you don’t offer the ability to connect online, then you better be a damn great small-cap or investors will go to companies that do.

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST ….

The web accounted for 78.3% of all research into new small-cap investments in 2009.

I’ve got a bunch of other reasons that I will write about in the coming days but this post should suffice to get my point across.  Get connected or you are doing your company a great disservice.  If you are looking for more reasons, have a look at my 51 Small-Cap CEO Lessons before this one.

Regards,
George

Posted in All Recent Posts, Small-Cap CEO Lessons | Comments Off on 5 Reasons Why You Have To Hang Up The Phone For Good and Connect With Investors Online

Stock Forum Poster Tagged $425,000 For Defamation

Posted by AGORACOM at 10:51 PM on Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

Next time you want to bash a small-cap public company, make sure you stick to the facts.  As Robert Butler just discovered, the penalty for posting defamatory / libellous statements could run you as high as $425,000 and a whole pile of legal costs.

GREAT NEWS FOR SMALL-CAP STOCKS

This is great news for small-cap companies.  For too long, they have been the victim of unrelenting stock bashing via libellous statements.  Shareholders of these companies also suffer from market cap erosion brought on by such attacks over a long period of time.  I can’t tell you how many CEO’s of legitimate small-cap companies have been driven to distress over false and misleading internet board statements about themselves or their companies.

Unfortunately, most small-cap companies don’t have the financial or human resources to go after such people.  It’s a long, expensive and distracting process that doesn’t assure any satisfaction even if successful because you may win against someone with little or no means to satisfy judgement.  How many small-caps have the resources necessary to take on this kind of fight?

Hunter Dickinson does.  As you can see, Farallon is a Hunter Dickinson company – and they have all the resources necessary for just such transgressions.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR SMALL-CAP STOCKS

The Farallon press release sums it up best:

“This is amongst the highest awards of its kind in Canada and will hopefully restrain others from issuing unfounded defamatory statements against companies that are trying to legitimately create value for shareholders, stakeholders and mining communities around the world.”

Thanks HD.  Small-cap investors and pubco’s owe you a world of thanks for injecting a big pause into unscrupulous message board posters that will think twice about attacking small-cap companies and their shareholders.

Regards,
George

Posted in All Recent Posts | Comments Off on Stock Forum Poster Tagged $425,000 For Defamation

Congratulations To Timmins Gold (TMM:TSXV)

Posted by AGORACOM at 1:17 PM on Wednesday, April 21st, 2010

Congratulations to my friends Bruce, Arturo and Alex over at Timmins Gold.  The company recently announced that commercial production was achieved at its San Francisco open pit mine in Mexico (I know I’m a little late on this but I’ve been a little distracted lately)

They are one of the most underrated junior gold producers out there in my opinion, which is why I bought shares in the company at $.80 back when Sprott financed the company, including warrants at the same price.  I sold 1/2 in the $1.35 – 1.40 range a couple of months ago but intend to hold the rest for now.

TIMMINS – SAN FRANCISCO – MEXICO .. HA!

What I find particularly amazing and funny is the company is named Timmins Gold, its main project is called the San Francisco Gold Mine and it is actually located in Mexico.  Throw the 22 immutable laws of branding out the window, TMM has broken them all en route to its success 🙂

ONLINE PRESENTATION

Timmins Gold participated in the AGORACOM Online Gold & Commodities Conference back in December 2009.  Here is a link to the presentation if you want to get a great overview of the company – but keep in mind it is 4 months old so you should check the company’s press releases for further updates since then.

We’ve actually covered the company via AGORACOM Small Cap TV since late 2007.

CANACCORD MORNING COFFEE

Peter Grandich posted an update on Timmins that appears to be from the Canaccord Capital, Morning Coffee e-mail message back on April 9th.  Not sure if Canaccord allows it to be posted but since it’s now out in the open, I’ve pasted it below for your convenience.  As a shareholder of the company, assume I am horribly conflicted and make sure to do your own DD.

===============

“Time for you to tag along? Shares of Timmins Gold were not taking a siesta Thursday, rallying on news that commercial production was achieved at its San Francisco open pit mine in Mexico. . .Timmins continues to project production of 80,000 ounces of gold in 2010 with average life-of-mine cash costs of US$412/oz of gold. Canaccord Adams Mining Analyst Nicholas Campbell is looking for production of 74,000 ounces of gold in 2010 at a cash cost of US$468/oz.

With the project successfully achieving commercial production, the company intends to shift its focus from development to exploration. In particular, Timmins plans to complete an exploration program to test for the potential to push back the pit wall to the south, southwest and southeast as well as potentially develop the Chicharra pit to the west.

Based on the current estimated reserve base, at the expanded throughput rate the San Francisco project has a mine life of roughly 4.5 years. However, in addition to reserves, there are 170,000 ounces of measured, indicated and inferred resources that have not been incorporated into the mine plan.

Campbell believes shares could trade significantly higher based on the following: 1) A revaluation as the company moves from development to production: Timmins is trading at 3.2x 2011E CFPS vs. a junior producer average of 11.9x 2011E CFPS. As Timmins ramps up and achieves commercial production at San Francisco, he believes the valuation gap should start to narrow; 2) potential to expand the mine life of San Francisco; and 3) an acquisition target.

Shares trade at a significant discount on P/NAV and Campbell views Timmins as a tag-on acquisition target for a junior producer with operation in Mexico. The next catalyst for Timmins should be the release of an updated resource estimate, expected this quarter. Campbell is also looking for a new resource approaching 1.0 million ounces of gold, which should allow the company to expand the mine life by 3–4 years.”

– Canaccord Capital, Morning Coffee, Canaccord Capital (04/09/10)

===============

Regards,
George

Posted in 43-101's, All Recent Posts | Comments Off on Congratulations To Timmins Gold (TMM:TSXV)

AGORACOM Traffic Sees Increased Visitors and Visits In Q1 2010

Posted by AGORACOM at 1:50 PM on Tuesday, April 20th, 2010

Good afternoon to you all.  As most of you know, I like to share AGORACOM traffic data on a regular basis and today is no exception.  Please find enclosed a Google Analytics shot of our traffic in Q1 2010, compared to Q1 2009 (Click on the image for a larger version):

I’m pleased to report that the number of unique visitors and visits are up 9.12% and 13.13% respectively.  The increases are a result of our ongoing marketing efforts:

1.  Social Media  (Twitter, Facebook and YouTube where we have 3 channels going)

2.  New Online Products (1st ever AGORACOM Online Conference in December)

3.  Traditional Marketing Via Our BNN TV Ads.

On the flip side, we did see an 8.13% decrease in page views that can probably be attributed to two items.  First, March 2009 marked great financial panic as a result of dropping markets, which lead to increased page views from investors looking for answers.  Second, one of our busier HUBS was Freewest Resources which was acquired by Cliff’s Natural Resources in Q4 2009, so we haven’t had the benefit of page views for one of the prominent players within the Ring Of Fire.

CONCLUSION

Overall, the increases in visitors and visits are more important to both our clients and ecosystem as they will drive page views as more news develops within the small-cap industry.  Going forward, we’ll be adding further fuel to the fire via the following exciting initiatives:

  • Our upcoming mobile push in Q2 (iPhone, Viigo and of course our Blackberry partnership)
  • A greater social media push (Look for Facebook and Twitter announcements in Q2)
  • More traditional TV Ads south of the border

Thanks to our great clients and members for continuing to make AGORACOM a great platform for the small-cap industry.

Regards,
George

Posted in AGORACOM News And Events, AGORACOM Traffic, All Recent Posts | Comments Off on AGORACOM Traffic Sees Increased Visitors and Visits In Q1 2010

Important Update On Display Of IP Addresses In Posts

Posted by AGORACOM at 11:34 AM on Tuesday, April 20th, 2010

Dear Members,

On April 16, we announced a plan to display partial IP addresses of all posts made on or after Monday April 26, 2010.  The measure was introduced in order to provide our community with greater transparency with respect to posts on AGORACOM.  As a result of this new measure, members would be able to view other members who may be using the same IP address with just one click – and report any suspicious activity via the AGORACOM violations system.

MEMBER FEEDBACK – WE’RE LISTENING

Though the announcement received a lot of praise from members, we also received feedback in the form of concerns that a display of even a partial IP addresses may lead to privacy issues pertaining to location and or geography. Though we were confident that any such issues were remote, we remain true to our philosophy of building and upgrading AGORACOM on the feedback of our members.

As such, we came up with a solution that maintains the privacy AGORACOM members have come to enjoy, while still achieving the goal of easily viewing members that may share the same IP address.

CHANGES TO IP ADDRESS TRACKING

Given the fact that the primary purpose of the measure is to provide members with an ability to view other members who may be using the same IP address, we have revised the measure as follows:

  1. We will not display any part of the IP address within posts. No partial IP. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.
  2. We will still provide one-click access to view members that share the same IP address
  3. The upgrade will be implemented for all posts made on or after Wednesday, April 28, 2010.  It will not apply to posts made prior to April 28, 2010.

As a result of this new measure, members will still be able to view other members who may be using the exact same IP address with just one click – and report any suspicious activity via the AGORACOM violations system.  At the same time, members do not have to worry about any part of their specific IP address being displayed to the public.

HOW IT WORKS – PRIVACY INTACT

We want to repeat that no part of a member’s IP addresses will be displayed, so there will be no change to the privacy of our members.  Rather, within each post, all members will be able to read a button that says “IP Check”.  The IP address of that post is tracked within the AGORACOM back-end, as it has been over the last couple of years, and will simply match members that are sharing the same IP address.

HOW IT WORKS – TRANSPARENCY

Members that are suspicious of a particular member’s posting will be able to click on “IP Check”.  The AGORACOM system, which keeps track of the IP address in our back end, will automatically display any other members that share the same IP address.  A match does not necessarily mean a violation has occurred but it will allow members to quickly and easily compare the posts of members sharing an IP address for potential multiple alias violations.  If a member suspects a multiple alias violation, they can then easily report it via our “Report Violation” system.

We want to thank all of you for your great feedback and for continuing to make AGORACOM the best small-cap community on the web.  We look forward to any questions and comments you may have pertaining to our new IP address upgrade.

Regards,
George, Paul et al

Posted in AGORACOM News And Events, All Recent Posts | 5 Comments »

New GAO Report on “Rare Earth Metals In Defense Supply Chain” Illustrates Concern With China’s Supply Control

Posted by AGORACOM at 10:45 AM on Tuesday, April 20th, 2010

On April 14, 2010, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) submitted a Report On Rare Earth Materials In The Defense Supply Chain to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives.  It is a 38-page report that is well worth the read for anybody invested or interested in Rare Earth Metals companies.  I read it and came away with a clear impression of concern over China’s supply of Rare Earth Metals.  Here are some highlights:

I found it interesting that the DOD has not yet identified national security risks as a result of REM dependency, yet a few pages later states that China produced 97% of rare earth oxides in 2009.  Furthermore, the report goes on to say that refined rare earth metals are almost exclusively available from China.

Now, logically speaking, that isn’t necessarily a concern if rare earth metal supplies could be readily developed and produced elsewhere.  Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case according to this:

The report goes on to add that other obstacles stand in the way of rebuilding a US supply chain including:

  • Environmental Standards & Compliance – Significantly higher in the US than China
  • Patents – Foreign companies own patents on manufacturing key rare earth metals
  • Time – Alternatives to rare earth metals could take 10-15 years and still not meet spec requirements

Overall, this is a great report and a must read for anyone that is investing in the future of this space.

Regards,
George

Posted in All Recent Posts, Rare Metals | 2 Comments »

AGORACOM to Display Partial IP Addresses Of All Posts As Of April 26, 2010

Posted by AGORACOM at 12:45 PM on Friday, April 16th, 2010

Dear Members,

We are pleased to announce that AGORACOM will begin displaying a partial IP address of all posts made on and after Monday, April 26, 2010. The measure has been introduced in order to provide our community with greater transparency with respect to posts on AGORACOM.  As a result of this new measure, members will be able to view other members who may be using the same IP address with just one click – and report any suspicious activity via the AGORACOM violations system.

HOW IT WORKS – PRIVACY INTACT

We want to emphasize that only partial IP addresses will be displayed in order to maintain the privacy of our members.  Much like receipts printed out after making a purchase at a restaurant, only part of the IP address will be visible to the public in order to maintain the privacy of all members.

For example, an IP address is comprised of four sets of numbers and looks like this: 252.234.99.23. When displayed on AGORACOM, the first two sets of numbers will be concealed in order to keep your location/geographic information private.  As such, the IP address 252.234.99.23 will be publicly displayed as XXX.XXX.99.23 to insure your privacy.

HOW IT WORKS – TRANSPARENCY

Using the above IP as an example, members that are suspicious of a particular member’s posting will be able to click on the displayed IP address XXX.XXX.99.23.  The AGORACOM system, which keeps track of the full IP address in our back end, will automatically display any other members that share the full IP address.  A match does not necessarily mean a violation has occurred but it will allow members to quickly and easily compare the posts of members sharing an IP address for potential multiple alias violations.  If a member suspects a multiple alias violation, they can then easily report it via our “Report Violation” system.

We want to thank-you for continuing to make AGORACOM the best small-cap community on the web and look forward to any questions and comments you may have pertaining to our new IP address initiative.

Regards,
George, Paul et al

Posted in AGORACOM News And Events, All Recent Posts | 10 Comments »

Great Support From AGORACOM Members and The Industry

Posted by AGORACOM at 1:38 PM on Tuesday, April 6th, 2010

Image Courtesy Of http://school.discoveryeducation.com/

I want to take this opportunity to thank our members for the great support they have shown over the past few days.  We’ve been keeping track of many comments via our del.icio.us account and invite you to see the testimonials here.   for the lazy linkers out there, here are just a few:

MEMBERS

“Agoracom has provided a much needed service. It has allowed knowledgeable responders/investors the forum to share fact based additional information. It all helps us retailers to better understand what the companies press releases mean. best wishes to continued success at Agoracom.”

“The truth is that power serves it own ends and businesses are not democracies. But they benefit from opening ownership up to a public that thinks shareholding is a form of business democracy. You and your members actually demonstrated that principle a couple of times and clearly those in power didn’t like it. To them it is supposed to be a democracy in name only.”

“I believe Agoracom is the best investing tool i’ve ever come across .  The voice of such a large number of retail investor from all walks of life from around the world makes this place the most open voice to engage in reflection on my placement and gives me a better view of the value of the stocks i invest in.”

=============

In addition, we’ve received great support from clients, CEO’s of other companies and consultants who have called, texted and e-mailed us over the past few days.   Here are just a couple of great comments:

PUBLIC COMPANIES

“Hey, bro. I have no doubt you’ll come out the other end OK. You’re one of the good guys.”

“George you keep up the good work. you are not doing anything wrong by helping investors sift thru all the noise out there, you are the Canadian online version of CNBC. we need you to help us determine which companies are using online tools to speak with shareholder and or media. Keep providing us with a great forum to speak with the companies we are investing in.  Thank-you – we support you.“

==============

From Vancouver and as far away as Mexico, CEO’s have called in to voice their support and remind us how important AGORACOM is to the small-cap industry.

Despite being restricted as to how much we could say (and we want to say a lot), investors and industry participants understand what we have built together and have chosen to stand behind us until we’ve had our day in court.  That’s all we’re asking for, so we thank you for that.

As always, if you want to track posts about this specific matter, we’ve created a specific category that you can bookmark and follow http://blog.agoracom/category/osc

Regards,
George

Posted in All Recent Posts, OSC | 1 Comment »

Top Online IR Consultant “OSC Has No Case For Fraud”

Posted by AGORACOM at 8:26 AM on Friday, April 2nd, 2010

As most readers of this blog know, I often read and quote the opinions and findings of Dominic Jones.  He publishes the best research and information about online investor relations practices through IR Web Report.  He has counseled some of the world’s biggest and best-known corporations across every sector and in more than a dozen different countries. As such, when he writes, I’ve always listened.

When we posted the AGORACOM Response To OSC Allegations, I purposely did not contact him directly so as to give him an opportunity to read both the allegations and our response. I wanted to.  I badly wanted to.  But Dominic Jones is a former investigative reporter from South Africa that broke some big stories during its most volatile and dangerous times. He doesn’t need to be handled.  He can figure things out for himself.  I anxiously awaited his response.

It turns out he had a couple of responses. I won’t dilute them.  Here they are.

——-

——

I would say thank-you for the responses – but Dominic isn’t doing me a favour.  He is telling it like it is and opening my eyes a little further in the process.  For that I will say thank-you. Now, I will call him.

Regards,
George

Posted in All Recent Posts, OSC | 1 Comment »

Blackballed By The Big Boys On Bay Street

Posted by AGORACOM at 10:08 PM on Thursday, April 1st, 2010

It’s Holy Thursday and I should be heading for my annual midnight appearance at church, so I will keep this short and continue over the next couple of days.  Specifically, one good thing about today is that I can finally open up to a reality that we’ve been living with ever since the following:

AGORACOM Noront Community Serves Notice That Main Street Now Has Muscle. Staves Off Hedge Fund In Board Battle

Aurelian Shareholder Revolt HUB Hits 816,000 Page Views (Past 30 Days)

Most on AGORACOM know these stories very well.  For those of you who don’t, have a quick read as I’m just too tired.  The fact of the matter is that, despite doing our job and teaming up with members to launch two of the greatest online retail investor revolts in recent memory, AGORACOM was blackballed immediately after both events and the repercussions haven’t stopped hitting us ever since.

We did our job.  We even created some history – and we got blackballed.

Why? As one prominent executive in the small-cap mining space told us “You cost a lot of these big guys a lot of money….and they’re not happy”

The old guard simply doesn’t want retail investors to have a say. Buy stock or don’t buy stock, we don’t care. Just shut up and take a seat at the back.

Believe it.

More later.

Happy Easter.

George

Posted in All Recent Posts, OSC | 5 Comments »

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