Author Archive
The Flipboard App
For some, Flipboard is an easy way to stay on pace with friends’ and colleagues’ tweets and facebook updates. According to Walter S. Mossberg (”Your Own Digital Magazine,” The Wall Street Journal), the app needs tweaking, but “one of the more outstanding things about Flipboard is its ability to take plain-text tweets or Facebook updates and turn them into visuals of a shared photo or Web link in a status message.”
Basically, it’s a visual gateway of news that’s important to you. Flipboard is currently downloadable at The App Store.
Where are Americans going?
Click on any county in the U.S. to see actual inbound and outbound movement. If your neck of the woods is getting more or less populated, check your feelings against the hard numbers.
To view the map, click on http://www.forbes.com/2010/06/04/migration-moving-wealthy-interactive-counties-map.html?preload=41047.
Mastering the Master Bedroom
Kristen Ueckert, a North Texas realtor, suggests helpful tips to mastering the master bedroom (”Easy Ways to Spruce Up Your Master Bedroom”). Here are a few notable ones:
1. Create a focal accent by painting the bed-frame wall an accent color.
2. Declutter. Store items in bins or baskets under the bed.
3. Mix and match linens and layer bed with pillows.
Invest in the master bedroom, for yourself and for the potential buyer, if your house is on the market for sale.
How to create raving fans
Blo
Truant’s main point is that if we blog, the post should be readable for a general audience. Gaining followers, however, requires one more step. Truant suggests the “Easter egg,” the inside idea or comment that only 1% of general readers will get and love.
“If you place your Easter eggs well, you’ll get a cloud of people who read your stuff the way they would read anything else they were interested in. But at the center of that cloud will be your core fans. Your insiders. Your ‘club of you.’”
And to start creating that club of core fans, we need to be true to ourselves, our interests, and our own sense of humor. We can be many things to many people, but we can be truly spectacular to the few who share our passions.
How to create raving fans
Blo
Truant’s main point is that if we blog, the post should be readable for a general audience. Gaining followers, however, requires one more step. Truant suggests the “Easter egg,” the inside idea or comment that only 1% of general readers will get and love.
“If you place your Easter eggs well, you’ll get a cloud of people who read your stuff the way they would read anything else they were interested in. But at the center of that cloud will be your core fans. Your insiders. Your ‘club of you.’”
And to start creating that club of core fans, we need to be true to ourselves, our interests, and our own sense of humor. We can be many things to many people, but we can be truly spectacular to the few who share our passions.
Gross National Happiness
In his TED talk, “Measuring what makes life worthwhile,” Conley argues that many of us are walking or running the modern treadmill, pursuing happiness with our sweat, blood, and tears. Getting what we want is the constant chase.
Mainstream economists measure success in tangible units of production and consumption. Conley says that it’s time to count the intangibles. Community and business leaders need to focus on creating happiness for customers, which is directly converted into tangible success. Today, Joie de Vivre Hospitality operates more than 40 hotels throughout California, including the famous Phoenix Hotel.
Outsourcing in America
CNNMoney.com (”Forget India, outsource to Arkansas”) reports that skilled, lower-cost labor can be had in rural areas of the U.S. “Ruralsourcing” or “onshoring” is a viable strategy that more companies are choosing as a means to stretch their budgets.
CrossUSA, based in Burnsville, Minnesota, is using an unlikely recruiting strategy. They hire older IT workers who want to further build their nest egg prior to upcoming retirement. The company’s 100 employees come from small nearby towns; for CrossUSA, that means low turnover since most of the employees have little desire to head out of their ruralscapes.
In these economic times, ruralsourcing is a great option for companies looking to expand on a budget and for the under-employed.
1.7 million iPhone 4’s sold!
What is remarkable about Apple’s new product launch is the people behind the phone. The winning formula of any successful company is the quality and commitment of its workforce. According to business management consultant Tom Peters, there are no “bit players.”
“Totally Committed People Surging Toward Unimaginable Personal Enterprise Growth Opportunities Win” (#96 of The Little BIG Things)! In the business world, successful product launches are made possible by a team of outstanding men and women, not robots.
Would you like to sit in this chair?
The researches divided people into two groups. One group was asked to sit in soft chairs, and the second was asked to sit in hard chairs. While sitting, the individuals were given two chances to bid on an automobile with a $16,500 sticker price. Those who sat on soft chairs changed their bids by an average of $1243.60, while the group that sat in rigid chairs changed offers by an average of $896.50. That’s a huge difference.
Now that we’ve seen one demonstration of how touch influences decisions, the practical implications are endless. Before we go out to buy a car, for example, we’ll forego sitting in the easy recliner and opt for the hardest chair we can find. On the flip side, if we’re overly stressed and edgy, an hour in the soft chair may help ease our perspective.
A very cool barn-house
How the Burnetts handled the rebuilding is pretty inspiring. They reused salvaged wood from the original barn, used locally or regionally procured building materials, and many local people found employment working on the reconstruction, including Mr. Burnett’s two brothers.
The rebuilding of the barn was a “stimulus project” of sorts for the family and people of Hamilton in Loudoun County, about 125 miles from Richmond, VA. Today, the barn’s 8,300 square feet include a volleyball court, a resistance swimming pool, and most impressive of all, a geothermal heating and cooling system that cost $110,000 to install but saves the Burnetts $6k per year in utility costs! Nancy McKeon reports, “This is more than a barn-house; it’s more than a super-efficient, state-of-the-art barn-house; this is one very cool barn-house.” (The Washington Post)
