I just returned from China and have been adjusting to life back in the U.S. According to veteran travelers, it takes one day per time zone to catch up with jet lag. That translates into 13 days of “re-entry” -- and it’s been pretty much the case with me.

China is amazing. The contrast between ancient and high-tech is startling, especially in major cities like Shanghai and Beijing where massive video screens and huge high-def electronic billboards tower over tiny shops and winding alleys. In this nation of 1.2 billion residents, one in every two – more than 700,000 million people – have cell phones. I even saw farmers in some of the more remote regions talking away on their phones as they plowed their fields with their water buffalo. And we think that we’re dependent on mobile technology!

All this has made me think about our own fixation with keeping in touch. Although most of us aren’t Tweeting on the tundra, there are a few things to keep in mind when you’re using social media. As a small business person, you can’t afford to look clueless anywhere on the Internet, but this is especially true on Twitter. Read on if you want to avoid this fate.

Do marketers still think direct is best? According to a new report from the Direct Marketing Association it is, with over half of advertising expenditures in the direct realm. Researchers found that, in the US, 54% of advertising is direct to the consumer; this is the fifth year in which direct marketing efforts have seen an increase.

• I was reading an interesting article by Kelley Robertson, president of the Robertson Training Group, about how to negotiate a lower price. Since I am generally a wuss when it comes to negotiating charges, I was inspired by Kelley’s recommendations and am happy to pass them along.
  
  Let me know if you try them – and if you get what you want. Shoot me an email at iris@isalsmanpr.com.
  
  
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I was reading the Letters to the Editor in a local newspaper the other day, and one diatribe (impressed with the big word?) caught my attention. It was written by someone I know; a business owner whose clients tend to be on the liberal side. This individual was criticizing President Obama’s healthcare plan, making strong statements about how – if enacted – his agenda would ruin our country, and comparing universal healthcare to communism.