When we moved into our latest home, we needed a good size shelving system for the home office. We evaluated a few options, some pre-built, some custom installed, and others requiring part selection and assembly.
In order to save time and money, we chose to pick out the specific parts and assemble it ourselves.
With all the measurements taken, we purchased the parts and brought it home to install. We were full of excitement for the adventure as the heap of wood and metal pieces left much to the imagination.
We quickly found that the dimensions of each piece were close but not exact. The metal-ish connectors for the shelving, drawers, and cupboards were a little more brittle than desired.
After a few 20 mile trips on the roads of LA back to the store to swap some parts for shorter versions, we had a nice looking shelving system.
On reflection, the cost was much higher than expected.
Yes, the initial cost of buying the pieces was less than the deliverable in the pre-built or custom scenario but there is more to this than wood. In our choice to build it ourselves, we were assuming the risk that all would go exactly as planned and be without variance.
Is this ever possible? Read the rest of this entry » »
Is it true? Can it be?
There is a growing number of doctors and researchers who say that there is a common cause underlying all sickness and disease: Acidosis.
The increased level of acidity in the human body; specifically of the blood. The healthy pH level of the blood is approximately 7.4; acidosis occurs when the blood’s pH falls below 7.35. Our bodies are constantly doing a balancing act to keep the blood in an alkaline state– that is 7.4 or above. When we eat acidic foods, fatty or junk foods are bodies supposedly become more acidic and to counter it our bodies use reserves of alkalinity, calcium from our bones or obesity. Read the rest of this entry » »
A new threat to privacy is emerging in the form of a tiny microchip with an antenna attached (RFID=Radio Frequency IDentification). As I read through the article below, many thoughts crossed my mind, unfortunately most of them were not good ones. It concerns me to think about how much information the government and if the RFID trend continues in the retail area, companies will soon have about us.
So I hope that you all read the article and familiarize yourself with a technology that could become much more saturated in your life over the next ten years, and ask yourself how you feel about this new use of technology. This post was simply created to bring up an issue that many people seem to be unaware of, but could potentially have a huge impact on our lives in the future.
If you are like me and had a strong reaction one way or the other, leave a comment below and take action to make your opinion count.
Every day when I wake up in the morning I do three things on my laptop before I pack it up and get going for the day. I check the sports scores I might have missed from the night before, I check my e-mail and I look to see what is going on with people I know on MySpace Facebook LinkedIn… You get the picture.
The point is social networking has worked its way seamlessly into the daily life in netizens - so much so that any serious political candidate (and many candidates that are not so serious) now has a MySpace page. This is an interesting social phenomenon and one that is making serious inroads into the business and marketing schemata of many intelligent organizations.
Jack Felsheim, a VP at Ovation Marketing wrote an interesting blog the other day regarding the relationship between social networking and website traffic. The idea is simple, get your website referred to as much as possible on as many sites as possible and you will see an increase in website traffic. Sounds easy enough right? Well with so much competition out there for space in the minds of your target audience, simply being a part of social network sites is not enough. Read the rest of this entry » »
Hello…
It amazes me how technology defines celebrities these days.
Now you can get minute to minute gossip as it occurs. In the last week, Heath Ledger has circulated the Internet at an incredible rate. Maybe the information wasn’t accurate but it still was impressive how news was dispersed. I even checked Ledger’s entry in wikipedia.com and sure enough, there was an update after a few hours when he was declared deceased.
In a lighter note, the world wide web (WWW) is a legitimate media in which regular people transform into celebrities.
Gone are the 15 minutes of fame. Arriving are video productions and blogging. The pop culture conversation is your home -made videos. Celebrities have been made out of those mini YouTube productions; the buzz word is their screen name.
What happens to them?
Some keep to their Indie style of production, while others get signed. Panic! “At the Disco” built a solid fan base with purevolume.com and myspace.com before signing with a record company. The question lies will the web be the benchmark for popular culture as well as even alt and indie culture?
–Kraig
Enthusiast has been around for over 7 years. Certainly standing the test of time is a big win.
However, time isn’t everything.
There are many other factors that can affect the success of a business, especially in the beginning. A great resource to help business through this process are books about other businesses showing what they did and did not do. One such book that just came out this week is “Zero to One Million: How I Built My Company To 1 Million In Sales… And How You Can Too.”
It chronicles the early years of a company, offers a unique process for evaluating ideas, and gives out some always needed passion and enthusiasm.
If you pick it up, drop me a line here and let me know what you think.
–jc
When I first heard the term ‘Sales 2.0′ my first thought was “oh dear, not another sales gimmick!”
For those who’ve been in sales a while, you probably know what I’m talking about. We tend to get inundated with hundreds of articles on new sales approaches, how to be a more efficient sales person, reduce or eliminate cold calling, present better, so on and so forth. Some articles are indeed good — don’t get me wrong — but some tend to feed the “flavor of the month” trap of excuses of why sales don’t happen.
I’m a firm believer in the tried and true sales approaches like SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham and have felt that some Web 2.0 tools (Instant Messaging, LinkedIn, Facebook, LiveHelp, etc.) actually enhance these proven approaches. In my mind, the most successful sales people are master social networkers and multi-taskers where these tools come in handy and lend to what is coming in Sales 2.0. Read the rest of this entry » »
Have you ever been driving down the freeway while listening to Jack FM, and the first note of Hotel California sparks a symphony of creative and committed action items? Call Jane about the sales meeting, buy Made to Stick, etc.
I know I am not alone in this. I see the drivers next to me boldly tapping at their blackberrys.
Then I change lanes.
To save us all the risk of peril in light of our large thumbs and fading eyesight focused on such small buttons, I offer Jott as a solution.
One of our clients, Dr. Stuart Dauermann of Rabbenu, a futurist who is well ahead of his peers when it comes to innovation and technology mentioned Jott to me. He described how he often has “a ha!” moments in the car and often cannot capture them as leaving himself a voicemail is often cumbersome and then requires follow up dictation while listening to the long message over the phone which no one enjoys.
Jott solves this problem by providing a voice to text system with an email/sms delivery model that makes logging multiple tasks on the go a snap. In fact, for those of you out there who love to broadcast yourself, you can even update blogs and other systems using Jott as well.
Check out more at www.jott.com and leave a comment below on how you use it and what benefit it had.
With enthusiasm,
–jc
Every winter I try and take a short vacation away from the balmy climes of Southern California, and try to get to some place that actually gets cold. With snow. And icicles. Whether Mammoth or Big Bear, getting into the snow is somewhat cathartic for me — I really feel like I’m getting away from the rote things I tend to do.
This winter, my heart was set on getting to Lake Tahoe, but not settling for a hotel room. I was looking to stay in something more memorable and less cookie-cutter. So, I started checking out my options on the ‘net , and one of the first places I came across was a great website called Home Away. Now, this isn’t an Expedia, Travelocity, or Orbitz, this is simply a site that connects someone who has a place to rent — whether a condo, a cabin, a house, or an entire plantation — to someone looking for a place to stay. Read the rest of this entry » »
One thing I love about the Enthusiast model is how we are able to interact in creative ways with our clients. Not just once but along the journey as we all grow, mature, and learn. One client of note is a great local city paper out of Culver City, now 100% digital, called The Front Page. I wish my home town had such great coverage on the details of city hall, the school board, and land development activities.
I was graciously invited to begin a column on marketing and Internet related topics. I am happy to say my first article has been posted and I hope you enjoy it. Everyone in business wants their core business to be remembered and stick to their buyers. How this happens can be a mystery but there is a method to the madness. Read on to learn how your ideas can be like “gum on the brain.”
Here is an excerpt:
“All too often, the delegate sent in place of true audience understanding in marketing today is the common platitude.
Please welcome the meticulous “Quality is Job No. 1” to the podium. He is flanked by the energetic “Providing Innovative Solutions” and the plural presence of “Our People Make the Difference.”
Not only can these phrases be wielded by any competitor without malice, they lack the concrete, real life details that make schema connections with your audience. “
I invite you to read “SSKI vs. KISS: Schema and a Smooch for Marketing” for more.
– jc
