Since social business involves the creation of shared value for all the members in a business value chain, it has gradually come together from multiple sources and is now taking business in a direction its never been heading toward before.  The following infographic attempts to illustrate the relationship between shared social value components.

Why is it that people unfriend others?  It isn’t just you who is unfriending people, and it’s not just you being unfriended either.  This fairly common occurrence, while never happy, does happen on a regular basis.  Don’t worry, people won’t be able to tell if you unfriend them, and you can’t tell who has unfriended you.  There’s no notification system for that.  Thankfully, the following infographic shows us some data gathered from surveys of Facebook users who listed reasons that they unfriend people, and some of the reasons might shock you.

In this infographic we can examine some of the trends revealed by the survey. Incredibly, 56% of the women report that they have given their children smart phones as well.  They use these to keep in contact with their children, and even to track their whereabouts.  In a world where you can scarcely let kids out of your sight, this provides a lot more freedom to children of a certain age, since their moms know that they can always check where they are and what they are up to and feel less insecure about the location of their kids at any given moment.  They can also rest assured that home security has been enabled once the kids get home safely from school or other activities.

If you feel the need to be even more excited about updating to iOS 5 than you already are, here is a great video introducing some of the most popular new features of Apple’s mobile operating system.  The download should be available in software updates at around 10 am PDT (1 pm EDT.)

Here is a look at the iPhone’s popularity, by the numbers, on a colorful infographic that I think you should find entertaining, whether you’re a Mac fanboy or not.  The information is a little dated, though:  at the time of the infographic, Nokia had a much larger market share than it now does, so 40% is more than a bit of a stretch.  Anyway, enjoy it.

Now, it’s the same with social media.  I tend to favor companies that use their Facebook profiles to give special discounts to people who “like” them.  I respond to things I’ve seen on Twitter.  Today, being a member at Google+ is a definite bonus too.  So, how important do small business owners believe social media is for the success of their business?  The following infographic has some information you might be surprised by, or perhaps agree with.  Either way, be sure to let us know by leaving your comments.

While you’re thinking about locking down what you know about social media and small business, don’t forget your home security system.

Elsbeth Blake thought she was living the life of her dreams, working in for a large corporation in a 21st storey office with a view overlooking the Hudson River. In 2008, she had just completed an internship with one of the country’s most prestigious investment banking firms and had been promoted. She was earning an appreciable income and had just bought a home when her secure floor collapsed underneath her.

“Basically, I was downsized,” Blake explained. “It wasn’t anything personal, and the company was very sorry to see me go. A lot of us lost our jobs, really our careers, during that summer in 2008. And nobody was hiring anymore. I really had no choice to but start my own business.”

Blake’s story is similar to that of thousands of Americans who have been victimized by downsizing in recent years under the strain of a national and worldwide economic recession. With the new responsibility of home ownership, she couldn’t afford to sit idly by and collect unemployment for long. Like many others, she used her down time wisely, researching a dream from her younger years and conducting a feasibility study.

“I had always dreamed of becoming a florist,” she said. “I never pursued that dream. When I went to college, it just seemed more professional to major in economics. I let my dream get away from me. But when the bottom fell out, it was still there, and I decided to go for it.”

Now, Blake earns a decent living doing what she loves and working out of a special shop she set up in her home’s spacious garage area. She doesn’t earn quite as much as she did in corporate banking, but she says she would go into business for herself first if she had it to do over again. She is happier than she has ever been. Use our web form generator to submit you comments!

The iPhone has a lithium ion battery that can have up to around 400 cycles:  that means, you can operate the iPhone at fully charged capacity through 400 recharges without beginning to lose battery capacity.  Batteries don’t last forever, so it’s important to maximize their days of usefulness by taking care of them properly from day one.  If you plug your iPhone into your computer using the provided white cable and a USB port, make sure that your computer is powered on.  Your iPhone cannot recharge from a computer without active power.  If you plug it into your computer when the power is off, you will only return hours later to find your iPhone has not charged at all, and this is likely to upset you.

Another way to recharge your iPhone battery is to plug the white cable into the outlet adapter provided with your iPhone, and simply plug it into a wall outlet.  When recharging this way, it does not matter whether your computer is powered on or not (or indeed, if you even own a computer at all.)  This way of wall charging completely bypasses the computer, drawing power directly from your home’s electricity supply.

Lately, a number of docks have been invented that allow you to plug in several different rechargeable devices at once, to charge them.  These docks or charging stations, as they are also sometimes called, let you put your iPhone, iPod, iPod Touch, digital camera, and other personal electronics that need to be charged up from time to time into respective compartments for recharging.  This is excellent in that it eliminates the need for five or six charging cords.  If you have puppies in your home, you will appreciate that.  Or cats.

Yet another cool and wonderful way to charge your iPhone is to invest in a Duracell MyGrid or a Powermat that works by simply setting your devices down on it.  These systems can recharge a number of various items wirelessly, which is highly convenient and looks better than having a mass of tangled wires jutting out from each device.  It is better than having to find places to plug them all in, too.  So, by using the MyGrid or a Powermat you save not only time and effort, but help also to make the world a more beautiful place.  That is always very much appreciated by the people of the planet Earth.

Once a month, it is a good idea to calibrate your iPhone battery by letting it totally drain down to nothing before recharging it.  This means you must let the phone completely run out of juice, until it powers itself off due to a lack of energy.  After it has done that, you can fully recharge the battery.  It will take approximately two hours to regain an 80% charge, but your battery meter will be more accurate after this and your recharging will also be more spot on.

So that is basically how to care for, and recharge, your iPhone.  Just keep up these tips regularly for maintenance, and you can avoid all manner of tremendous issues with your batteries.  You can thank me later with comments below.

On the other hand, if you really meant it at all when you originally went into business, there’s never been a time in history more conducive to long term success than the time we are now living in.  As a strategy for surviving the downturn, a business with its feet firmly planted in the groundwork it laid as a start up will be able to weather the storms of lean times until a new springtime emerges from the broken economy.  Think of this:  many companies will fold or go under in these trying times, but if you can manage to keep your business afloat, at the end of it all yours will be among a very select few surviving companies, and the competition will have thinned out substantially.  As soon as an economic upturn begins to take place, your business will experience an increase in demand (and therefore, greater profits than ever) and may actually need to expand in order to keep up with the rapid fire upswing.

It can be terrifying, facing the looming threat of having to file for bankruptcy during a financial crisis, and having all your dreams crushed.  But people with enough patience and perseverance can withstand the rising tides of gloom and go on to bigger and better things after the water recedes.   Provided that your company had enough capital socked away in a secure account, and hopefully some investments as well, it is not unheard of for a business to operate in the red for several months to even a few years.  The money in reserve can be used as a kind of backing to keep operations going and salaries paid until profits return to a normal range.

In the case of a sole proprietorship, the cable bundles of the business can make a lot of critical decisions without having to go through a board meeting approval process.  His best bet might be to forgo or drastically reduce his own salary for a time, at least until things improve.  Getting the business bills paid is a matter of highest priority to avoid putting up the dreaded “going out of business” sign.  It may also be necessary to cut back on employee hours, or the number of employees, to help reduce the expenses during a time of low demand for your products and services.  It need not be a permanent solution, and you can let your employees know that a job will be waiting for them as soon as the economic conditions are right for rehiring.  Even many governmental institutions are having to reduce staff, either temporarily or permanently, due to the disaster that is our current national economy.

So, don’t give up if things look drastic right now, but try to stick with your business and it might just pay off.

Current Markets (Wednesday, May 25, 2011)

From 8:51 a.m. ET,  the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures plummeted 25 points to 12,302, while S&P 500 futures dove 3.8 points to 1,310. The Nasdaq 100 futures were down 3.3 points to 2,298.

in April, orders for long-lasting products fell 3.6%, quite a lot more than the 2.2%  leading economists predicted. This drop was the most severe since October of 2010.

Orders were down 1.5%, not including transportation.  This was also far short of the 0.5% decrease Wall Street had anticipated. Orders for non-military aircraft and related parts declined 30%, and transportation equipment orders dropped by a whopping 9.5%.

Since orders for goods are a significant indicator of domestic manufacturing activity,  this can be interpreted as a downturn for manufacturing, and the predictions should be scaled back.  This means there should be an expectation that manufacturing will not strengthen in the upcoming quarter, and exports will likely take a hit.

Additionally, OECD announced Wednesday that the global economic recovery is still on track, with worldwide economic growth getting upwards of 4.2% this year and 4.6% is predicted for next year.  But high energy prices combined with exceptionally weak housing markets and “financial vulnerabilities” in the euro area may prove to be problematic.

“This is a delicate moment for the global economy, and the crisis is not over until our economies are creating enough jobs again,” said OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria.

American International Group (AIG: 29.46, -0.52, -1.73%) garnered some $8.7 billion in a public share offering. The U.S. Treasury, aiming to forgo its stake in the bailed-out insurer, profited slightly on the offering.  The government bought out the company in 2008 when it was beneath the looming shadow of bankruptcy in an attempt to avoid a broader financial collapse.

Here’s the news on earnings:  Costco Wholesale (COST: 81.35, -1.29, -1.56%) reported third-quarter fiscal earnings of $324 million — or 73 cents a share — compared with $306 million, or 68 cents, this time last year.  The wholesale buying club also noted a net sales jump of 16%, with same store sales soaring by 12%.

Energy markets were comparatively still following a strong rally in the prior session. But, at 10:00 a.m. ET, a report on crude oil and gasoline inventories can be expected to have a significant impact on the market.

Light, sweet crude lately went lower by 41 cents, or 0.41%, to $99.20 a barrel.  Wholesale RBOB gasoline was off mark about 2 cents, or 0.74%, $2.97 a gallon.

In good news, consumer gasoline prices continue to fall.  A gallon of regular gas is now coming in at $3.81 on average nationwide, which is down from $3.86 this time last month, but still incredibly higher than $2.78 one year ago.

Gasoline demand decreased 1.4% last week, according to a report released by MasterCard.

In the metals market, gold was up by $2.80, or 0.18%, to $1,526 a troy ounce.  Silver rose $1.03, or 2.9%, to $37.16 a troy ounce.

The euro was down 0.11% against the dollar, and the greenback index gained 0.07% against a basket of global currencies.