Examples of a real-dollar Return on Investment (ROI) from social media marketing programs are rare.

Examples of a real-dollar Return on Investment (ROI) from social media marketing programs are rare.

Examples of a real-dollar Return on Investment (ROI) from social media marketing programs are rare.

Examples of a real-dollar Return on Investment (ROI) from social media marketing programs are rare.

Every year we suffer through the so-called "Black Friday", the day immediately after Thanksgiving that’s supposed to kick off the Christmas shopping season and is also traditionally the single biggest shopping day of the year. This means it’s a very important day for retailers, of course, but if you dig into the numbers, Black Friday is one of the worst days for retail establishments, not one of the best.

Let me explain…

A friend sent me this link comparing revenue, profit, and cash positions for Microsoft and Apple. I almost fell off my chair when reading this data from Microsoft’s and Apple’s most recent quarterly filing: