Chief Prognosticator » 2008 » May
OK, so Britney Spears already stole that phrase when she wore it on a t-shirt, but “being the American Dream” is more than just being a celebrity. The American Dream is, at its heart, about the promise of America and the ability for anyone in the society to pull themselves up and become a success with hard work and luck. As opposed to “old money” wealth — that is, wealthy families and individuals derived from inherited wealth — the American Dream means people from low socioeconomic classes to become successful and wealthy in their own lifetime. This success makes them part of what is called the Nouveau Riche. A French term meaning literally “New Rich”, the Nouveau Riche represent success in its truest form — self made success. From real estate moguls to Silicon Valley types, dry cleaner chain owners to President Bill Clinton, these people used their talents and hard work to come from nothing and create wealth and success made to last. There is even a “Nouveau Riche University” teaching people like you and me how to manage their money and build real wealth from real estate and investments. You’ve heard of the “Millionaire Next Door” right? Well its the same principle — take the right steps, act widely, work hard and you are almost guaranteed to become rich and successful. Its no secret — just things that we usually overlook or are not aware of in the first place. You TOO can be the American Dream.
I wrote previously about Chrysler’s offer to subsidize the price of gas for one year on all new vehicles it sells. The price you’d pay would be fixed at $2.99 a gallon. Over a year, that could mean costs of up to $2000 for Chysler. But just yesterday I saw an advertisment on TV stating the $2.99 gas was for THREE WHOLE YEARS! Wow! That is even bigger! I wonder if it was always that long (and I just misunderstood) or if they extended it. Three years is a long time — gas could be $8 by then. That could add up to over $10000 in savings over the period! Who wants a Chrysler? I do!
Here’s something near and dear to my heart — the scalability of business operations. I see it every day at my company. Right now we are undergoing a huge market upswing in our products and our sales and marketing organization is being flooded with RFPs and RFQs. How can an organization provide quick turn around to proposal requests and scale their business to meet market demands? This is where a solution like Configure One’s Concept™ Product Configurator Software comes in. The Concept™ Product Configurator (Sales Configurator) is a program application which can scale and customize product and service offerings with little setup time. A web-based, platform independent IT solution, the system allows you to create highly customized product offerings quickly and accurately. In my business that would mean being able to reduce our proposal and tender cycle time from 2 weeks to half that or less.
Having a product configurator working for your S&M team means they can quickly create customize offers. This not only pleases the customer (who doesn’t like a quick turn around time?!), but it also improves the quality and reproducibility of your proposals.
According to a study done by Merck Medco, about 50% of all adults in the U.S. who have insurance are on long term prescription medicine. This means they take a medicine on an ongoing basis like that for high blood pressure or high cholesterol. What do these study findings mean and is it necessarily a good thing or a bad thing? Or mixed?
Unhealthy Population
Does this figure of 50% mean that the population is more unhealthy than ever? Looking at the obesity rate for adults (and children) we see that America has never been fatter, so this data support that?
Better Medicine
Maybe this data shows that science and medicine has done a great job of developing medicines which treat chronic conditions (which always existed) and therefore extend life and quality of life. That’s a good thing, if you can afford it.
Sales and Marketing Pressured
This data could just be evidence that the sales and marketing divisions of Pharma companies are getting too good. With a plethora of television, radio and magaine advertisements. Try to think about how many ads you’ve seen this week for ED, Depression, Cholesteral, and Birth Control!
Any business owner knows and understand the value of customer feedback, but how can you get useful feedback on a regular basis? This is where a company like Service Intelligence can help your business growth and improve. Since 1992 they have supported small to medium sized businesses get the honest feedback they need. From customer experience evaluations to mystery-shopper services, they can give you insight into what your customer experiences. Their offering includes other valuable services like employee awareness campaigns and advanced business analytics — real business intelligence you can use.
And if you’ve ever wanted to be a Mystery Shopper, check out their site and see if you qualify! Good luck.
Leave it up to those great folks at the X Prize Foundation to do it again.
First it was their $10 million competition to promote private Suborbital Spaceflight. That contest was of course won by Burt Rutan with his spacecraft SpaceShipOne on Oct.4, 2004.
There has been others in medicine and moon landings (see The Google Lunar X PRIZE), but now there is a really timely one:
The main objective is to create a production-commercial viable car that gets 100 MPG (2.35 liter/100 kilometer). Judging the winner isn’t straight forward — it will be a combination of an endurance race, the viability of the business plan, and the emissions of the vehicle. What a great idea!
When you think of medivac airlifts, what do you think of? Mountain climbing accidents? Interstate pileups? Sure these situations definitely call for emergency airlift services, but actually the service is more common than that. Just take a look at what AeroCare Air Ambulance Service has to offer. A 24 hour emergency and non-emergency ambulance service, available to anyone anywhere in the world, this professional team can get you the help you need in a hurry. Whether you need to be brought to the hospital from the rural countryside or across country to an emergency specialist, AeroCare can help. Their Flight Coordinators even work with your insurance company to pre-authorize expenses! Nice!
I don’t know about you but by the time I was in my mid-20s, I pretty much figured out how mortgages work and the different kinds of them out there. This was also about the time that I took out a 3-year adjustable rate mortgage on my house! But there was a method to my madness — I knew we were moving in before that three years were up.
But with the current mortgage crisis in the U.S, it looks like many people are confused. With so many different types of Mortgages out there for the average consumer to select from, there are many ways to get confused. What is a good rate? Should I go fixed or variable rate? How much cash should I put down? All these questions can be met with just as confusing answers depending on where you look. If you feel you are one of these folks who are not exactly sure which mortgage is right, make sure you do your research well before you are forced to make a decision. Making decisions under pressure gets a lot worse when you aren’t comfortable with the subject matter.
When I think about my home, I think about durability and sturdiness. This is why I try to use top quality materials for not only the construction and finish but also the accessories. For one, I love slate and marble tile. Check out these great marble products from Marble Unique. They are a a direct importer of marble and natural stone from the best places on Earth. From a new stone fireplace to a unique marble statue for the backyard, they have amazing products which will last a lifetime. Now that’s a great investment! Check out their marble columns — a perfect way to show off a piece of sculpture or just for decoration.
How will developed countries deal with limits to CO2 emissions? The Cap and Trade method seems like a good, capitalism-based method to create an incentive to reduce emissions. In a Cap and Trade system, the amount of CO2 emissions would be “Capped” (limited) to a certain annual amount. Companies which emit less than the cap would be able to sell their excess “polluting capacity” to companies which are over the cap (this is the “trade” part). Sounds bad? Well sure, selling pollution rights is bad, but think about the outcomes. There would then be an economic incentive NOT to pollute, namely the ability to make more money. If the total sum of the caps were kept constant (or decrease annually), pollution levels would drop while companies would be able to make money. It’s really the best hope I see for us.
Can you believe that Reality TV has been around for almost 2 decades? No seriously - you remember The Real World back in the 1990s? The more amazing part is that the genre is as hot as ever. If you love reality TV, then check out this site which has all the Reality TV Updates you need, when you want them. Reality Bug has all the scoop on the Reality Shows you love. Show synopsis, show news, and even (my favorite) info about Casting Calls for existing and upcoming shows! Wow!
Chrysler’s latest offer, valid until June 2, 2008, is a new gimick that just might hep increase their sales. Buy a new car, truck or SUV and get a debit card to buy gas. Via the card you only pay $2.99 a gallon for the next year! That’s quite a hedge — imagine if gas went up to $5 or $6 a gallon! For a 15,000 miles per year use on a 13 MPG Chrysler Aspen, you’re talking about over 1150 gallons of fuel. If the price rose $2 over the $2.99 level (it’s already almost $1 over), Chrysler would be on the hook for $2300 in losses! I suppose that’s not too much more than current rebates, so really it makes business sense.I don’t know the details, but I’d guess the card would be like a credit card where you’d get a rebate on the price of gas (100% above $2.99). If that were the case, Chrysler might make some money on the interest for unpaid monthly balances, so it could end up costing them a lot less!
“Web design, money and life!” — that’s why I am writing about a cool design blog named Stylish Web Design. Let’s start with the Web Design aspect. I love web design and am always looking for new ideas and tricks to use on my websites. The Stylish Web Design blog has great articles on everything from Blog Syndication to user accounts administration. Fresh ideas, new methods, and the latest programs are what you will learn about on this great site. For example, do you understand how Windows Defender works or that there are different levels of usage depending on setting? If not, read this article on spyware community and get the straight info you need to make the right computer settings and optimize your experience.
Next comes the money! As you’ve read here, I love to write about money and investing. The Stylish Weblog has a growing number of articles on finace and entrepreneurship. Read about the ways to start your own business and get inspired. All these things have to do with Life, of course, and on the site you’ll read random observations and ideas about the world around us. Check it out and leave a comment on what you think.
Have you seen one of these kiosks in your local mall? Its a kiosk where you can shop for and download music. It can be put on a memory stick or even burned on a CD. I think its a great idea but I didn’t see any chatter on the Internet yet about it. Has anyone else seen one of these machines? The next time I go to the mall, I will take a photo or write down the company’s name that owns it. What a fresh idea!
Your home’s value is important. With all the news reports about sinking home values, it is in your best interest to shore up your home’s worth and fight the market trend. Whether you need new Cabinets, solid surface Countertops, energy efficient Windows, or new Vinyl Siding, American Home Craft Inc. is the company that can deliver. Energy efficiency — that’s a double benefit — American Home Craft can not only increase the value of your home but save you money. Now that’s a great one-two combination. Energy efficient windows, new home insulation, and improved vinyl siding can all cut your electricity bills. Now is the time and American Home Craft is your partner.
Did you notice or did it sneak under your radar? I’m talking about the new way Music is being sold in stores. Sure it’s old fashioned CDs but now they are being sold with the digital copy (MP3) included in the purchase price. Of course you can easily convert a CD to MP3 once you get it home, but these new packages include the digital download with the CD Price. Another trend is to sell a “cheap” ($9.99) CD only price (that’s significantly less expensive than CDs were a decade ago) and an “enhanced” release ($14.99 or more) with included music videos, exclusive content, or concert footage. Will these new techniques be enough to keep the music CD alive? Nah, but it has at least slowed down the decline.
Business Coaching, also called executive coaching or business mentoring, is about helping busy professionals find the techniques to grow and improve while keeping up with their busy lives. That’s the trick — helping professionals excel. ActionCOACH is a well trusted executive coach and mentoring company committed to helping you grow and improve. Their “14 Points of Culture” is a cornerstone of their technique — a true way to help executives make a difference with everyone they come in contact with. Check out their free YouTube videos to learn more about this innovative company and see the real results they can bring to your business. I live the Billionaire in Training video!
Do you know who Virginia Dare was? She was the first English baby born in the New World. She signified a new generation of immigrants who would eventually colonize an entire continent. So my question is, who will be the Virginia Dare of the 21st century. I’m talking about the moon or Mars! Eventually (maybe not in the 21st century, but then for sure in the 22nd century) a baby will be born outside of Earth. That will be itself a new era in human civilization. Who will it be and where will he/she come from?
Repeat after me — “Consolidation is Good”. No seriously, consolidating your debts can be a great way to get a handle on your debts and feel like you have a fresh start, but it only makes sense if you’ve learned from your past and don’t use it as a time to rack up MORE debt! If you are serious about never getting in debt again, check out TheCreditExchange.com to learn about genuine forms of debt consolidation and debt management. Their debt referral services will connect you with the financial companies who are waiting to help you. They also have a wide variety of financial services like credit analysis, credit counseling and financial planning available for you through their affiliate network.
Seriously — what’s going to happen if and when coastal waters continue to rise and start to reclaim inhabited land? I mean, what happened to New Orleans could only be the start. What if Manhattan, Miami, Galveston, and other major coastal cities start to be encroached by rising cost lines. Sure the rise would be gradual but there would come a point where the effect would be noticed. What could be done then?
With the current credit crunch in the U.S., now is the time to rebuild your credit and get your financial house in order. Countrywide Home Loans, Experian® and First USA have created a website to give you the free tools to accomplish that. From Home Loans to personal credit, CountrywideCredit.com is a great Internet resource. From the articles to the online calculators this website can be an important step on the path to rebuilding your financial house. Get your Experian Credit Report and find out what the creditors see and how they use that information to judge you. You can also find out your credit score to set a benchmark from which you can improve upon.
Microsoft Vista operating system has not lived up to expectations when it comes to ease of use, compatibility and reliability. Now theres even a petition going around to “Save Windows XP” since it really is a more friendly operating system.
What has Vista made you do? Tell me. Here are some examples:
- It has made me switch to Apple
- It has made me throw a coffe cup at my monitor
- It has made me download a bootleg copy of Windows XP and install it over Vista
- It has made me cry
No seriously — here’s why. When I am stuck with a specific video or music editing dilemma, like converting vro to avi, what do I do? Go to the store and buy a program? No way! I go to the Internet and find a convert vro to avi program available as a free trial. This way I get the immediate benefit without any of the costs. And if the program doesn’t work, I have lost any money. I can just look for another free trial program out there. Best case is that the free trial program is really useful and I end up wanting to buy it, adding it to my collection of powerful AV editing tools.
Here’s a great free vro to avi converter you can try out. VRO is the standard DVD format and you’ll most likely see it when you record digital video onto one of those mini-DVDs. This software will let you convert those files directly from the DVD to one of many editable formats that you can use in your favorite video editing programs.
Want to unlock the secret to driving innovation? It’s easy — make a contest. No seriously, when you leave innovation up to businesses (especially publicly traded ones), you end up with slow innovation. Profits are more important than taking risks, so what you’re left with is just enough innovation to stay competitive.
No the real way to drive innovation is to make it into a competition. Think about probably the greatest contest of all time — the race to the moon. Who was competing? The U.s and the Soviet Union! Two superpower governments with billions and trillions of dollars behind them. Now that was a contest which pushed the limits of innovation. Now, on a smaller scale, there are contests like the Lunar X-Prize and the 100-MPG Car contest which push small, private teams to do really big things. Sure there can be corporate sponsors to these activities, but the real name of the game is competition. This is how we will take the next giant leaps for humanity.
What is rumor and what is truth? It’s often hard to tell on the Internet especially when it comes to Online casinos. Are us Americans allowed to play? Yes, you are! Unless you live in Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington or Wisconsin (don’t worry — that still leaves 39 eligible states!), you can visit online casinos when you play through USPlayersWelcome.net. Their USA online casinos have no restrictions for U.S. players and they also don’t shy away from perks. You get access to big bonus casinos, free casinos, no deposit casinos, and even flash casinos. All of their Online casinos are available for you to play from. Find all the free games you want with their easy to use guide. And if you are into big stakes gaming, you can push your money further through their high perks and high bonus casinos too. Game on!
