If you are a small business you can't always afford those expensive customer relationship management systems (CRM) the big companies use. More than ever you need to stay in close contact with your customers as you know small business thrives on its relationships. Without some type of database system you are unlikely to remember all the details that allow you to maximize your sales. I like to use Excel to create a customer spreadsheet and then ensure I am maintaining my relationships.
1. Excel: Put in demographic columns for name, phone, email, etc... Make sure you put in a column or two that discusses contacts and conversations.
2. Keep it Maintained: If you are selling services or pricy products you will want to keep this sheet up-to-date with sales, conversations, likes/dislikes, etc...
3. Follow-Up After the Sale: Follow-up with sale and ensure the customer is still happy. An unhappy customers won't come back!
4. Reach Out from Time-to-Time: If you want to establish a relationship you will need to check in on customers from time to time.
Friday, February 15, 2019
Thursday, February 14, 2019
Dog Grooming-Look at the Price! How to Save?
Personally, I like my dog clean. I usually wash him myself and try and take care of what I can on my own. Yet sometimes this can get difficult if the dogs hair gets matted. A few ideas on saving are....
-Cut yourself every other time. $35 for a descent cheap electric razor.
-Brush your dogs hair regularly.
-Instead of a full cut get one short and one clean up which is cheaper.
-Look for people on other sites that work from home. They are also cheaper.
-Wash and clean regularly to extend grooming time.
Wednesday, February 13, 2019
Eat Small and Integrate Workouts For Maximum Health
There is a trick to getting in shape but don't share it! Shhhhhhh! To get in shape one must eat in smaller portions and integrate workouts throughout your day. That means smaller and more frequent meals with less calories. You might want to add more protein. Of course all of this is useless unless you have a fitness oriented lifestyle! Add as much fitness activities and options as you can!
Eat Small: While calorie reduction is often the key for most people so is the portion size. Each smaller more frequent means. Know what your eating and don't just eat because your hungry. Get some healthy snacks and leave them around so you can easily grab them.
Integrate Your Workout: Go to the gym in the morning but don't forget about the rest of the day. If you have a lunch break eat a quick bite and go for a speed walk some days. Take the stair case or do some yoga in next to your desk.
Eat Small: While calorie reduction is often the key for most people so is the portion size. Each smaller more frequent means. Know what your eating and don't just eat because your hungry. Get some healthy snacks and leave them around so you can easily grab them.
Integrate Your Workout: Go to the gym in the morning but don't forget about the rest of the day. If you have a lunch break eat a quick bite and go for a speed walk some days. Take the stair case or do some yoga in next to your desk.
Is a False Perception Holding You Back as a Successful Executive? Looking Glass Self Theory
One of the biggest obstacles that hold executives back from success is themselves! You would think all executives are confident but that isn't necessarily true; they are human like the rest of us. When executives lack confidence they may have a difficult time pulling ahead and could even be inadvertently self-sabotaging their own successes. To truly unlock your potential you will want to review your true and false self through the Looking Glass Self Theory.
Executives often hold themselves back!
Started in 1902 by Charles Horton Cooley the theory states that how our identities are formed are through the eyes of other people (Lumen). This means that we only understand ourselves when we interact with other people. It is this interaction that helps us form our first identities.
The very beginning of our lives is formed through our first contacts which include sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers and close relatives. If you have a positive first experience you will be healthier than if you were traumatized. Likewise, if your family worked in skilled labor much of your identity might be tied to this.
How we are viewed impacts how people interact with us and the feedback they give us. While many times this is accurate it is also possible that the information is not accurate or you have the wrong impression of yourself.
Lets look at an example. Tom is a creative and intelligence executive but views himself as not worthy of his successes. He may end up self-sabotaging by missing deadlines, making dumb mistakes, and cutting corners. As an executive he is slowly putting nails in his coffin.
The problem is that Tom has the skills but doesn't believe he has the skills. To free himself he must evaluate his beginnings and understand how he formed his primary identity. That identity was carried forward throughout his life and impacted almost everything else. The information presented to Tom may have been inaccurate and if he comes to understand that Tom could be very successful.
How to Look Through Your Own Glass?
1.) Understand that your early experiences often formulate your identity.
2.) Understand that certain life events impact how you view yourself.
3.) If you begin to take a more objective view of yourself you may have a different impression.
4.) The difference between those who are successful and those who are not is confidence.
5.) Find your core identity and skills. Relate to people on that level.
6.) Never let anyone tell you who you are without evaluating whether they are accurate or have certain motivations they are struggling with.
Executives often hold themselves back!
Started in 1902 by Charles Horton Cooley the theory states that how our identities are formed are through the eyes of other people (Lumen). This means that we only understand ourselves when we interact with other people. It is this interaction that helps us form our first identities.
The very beginning of our lives is formed through our first contacts which include sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers and close relatives. If you have a positive first experience you will be healthier than if you were traumatized. Likewise, if your family worked in skilled labor much of your identity might be tied to this.
How we are viewed impacts how people interact with us and the feedback they give us. While many times this is accurate it is also possible that the information is not accurate or you have the wrong impression of yourself.
Lets look at an example. Tom is a creative and intelligence executive but views himself as not worthy of his successes. He may end up self-sabotaging by missing deadlines, making dumb mistakes, and cutting corners. As an executive he is slowly putting nails in his coffin.
The problem is that Tom has the skills but doesn't believe he has the skills. To free himself he must evaluate his beginnings and understand how he formed his primary identity. That identity was carried forward throughout his life and impacted almost everything else. The information presented to Tom may have been inaccurate and if he comes to understand that Tom could be very successful.
How to Look Through Your Own Glass?
1.) Understand that your early experiences often formulate your identity.
2.) Understand that certain life events impact how you view yourself.
3.) If you begin to take a more objective view of yourself you may have a different impression.
4.) The difference between those who are successful and those who are not is confidence.
5.) Find your core identity and skills. Relate to people on that level.
6.) Never let anyone tell you who you are without evaluating whether they are accurate or have certain motivations they are struggling with.
Tuesday, February 12, 2019
National Debt Reaches 22 Trillion Dollars Forcing Future Concessions
The national debt is rising at an alarming rate and is likely to be part of growing concerns about what will happen to our economy in the future. Out of control spending with little fiscal control is part of the problem! We must find a way to reverse course and build a strong economy while reducing debt. Moving through this mess means improving economic synergy found through innovation. Income must rise more than debt and this requires increased transaction speed between businesses that leads to more products/services that the market is willing to pay for.
Without quick change we may run the problem where programs will have draconian cuts that leave people unable to adapt quick enough. Likewise, high debt increases risks to the U.S. economic and military position if there is not enough resource cushion.
Without quick change we may run the problem where programs will have draconian cuts that leave people unable to adapt quick enough. Likewise, high debt increases risks to the U.S. economic and military position if there is not enough resource cushion.
Using Desktop for Instagram App to Market Your Business
Instagram is a great resources for marketing purposes. A single picture might create enough buzz to put a business on the "map". The social sharing site works well with cell phones because the community is focused on spreading thoughts and ideas (the very essence of a community). People who want to edit their marketing pictures before sending them may be at a loss. The Desktop for Instagram App makes it very easy to post these pictures from your computer.
There is a way to upload pictures to Instagram from your desktop without using this free software. I tried it and wasted about an hour and never got it to work. Perhaps there was a difference in the technologies being used.
Companies use Instagram for marketing purposes by uploading pictures and other content people may find useful. With a billion monthly users (Statista) it makes sense for companies to start using this platform.
One of the advantages is that most of the young people are already using this system and Instagram offers an excellent way to keep in touch. Even if you are a local business many young people may follow you anyway. When you have a sale or event to post go ahead and create a flyer and upload.
One of the reasons why the Desktop for Instagram App is handy is that you can edit your pictures before uploading. Cell phones don't often have this capacity and don't have the most powerful editing program. Your desktop makes it possible to post a picture from your hard drive.
There is a way to upload pictures to Instagram from your desktop without using this free software. I tried it and wasted about an hour and never got it to work. Perhaps there was a difference in the technologies being used.
Companies use Instagram for marketing purposes by uploading pictures and other content people may find useful. With a billion monthly users (Statista) it makes sense for companies to start using this platform.
One of the advantages is that most of the young people are already using this system and Instagram offers an excellent way to keep in touch. Even if you are a local business many young people may follow you anyway. When you have a sale or event to post go ahead and create a flyer and upload.
One of the reasons why the Desktop for Instagram App is handy is that you can edit your pictures before uploading. Cell phones don't often have this capacity and don't have the most powerful editing program. Your desktop makes it possible to post a picture from your hard drive.
Monday, February 11, 2019
Theory of Interactive Clusters
This Research is in process of being created. Chapter 1 is being offered here. You can then click the link to see the rest. As the Theory isn't completed it will take more time to edit and improve the theory for public consumption.
Read Theory Here
Clusters can be the foundation of the American economy and in one way or another are part of the historical foundation of the people. The way we think about economics in a modern era is changing and to spur further growth will mean moving to new economic platforms that are data driven and more responsive to market needs. Competing with other nations will require faster innovation and growth while drawing intellectual, financial, and physical resources to regions that contain the best ability to develop them fully for maximum financial profits and economic advancements. The Theory of Transactional Clusters helps to better explain future growth in the new economy.
An economic cluster can be defined as, “socio- territorial entity which is characterized by the presence of both a community of people and a population of firms’ and he adds that ‘in the district, unlike in other environments . . . community and firms tend to merge” (Becattini, 1990, p. 38). It is an economic entity where the components work together and interact on a formal and social level that creates economic growth in ways that fulfills participant needs. When effective needs fulfillment and market projection lead to a perpetual self-sustaining economic system. It develops into a self-adjusting organism adapting toward greater mastery of its environment as it seeks market maximization.
Clusters often form organically based on the characteristics of region and the resources available and it can also be sparked through government and industry action (Dmitry, et. al, 2018). It is possible to spark faster cluster growth when the environment is ripe for development and investment. Pushing ready clusters to develop fully leads to faster economic growth for nations and it is essential to know where and how to do this efficiently and effectively with minimal risk.
Principle: It is possible to spark industry growth if we understand the underlying mechanics of innovation and development.
Economic development rests on many different factors that include investment, infrastructure, business environment and even people's motivation. The study of economics is the study of human behavior to come to conclusions about how and why people invest, invent, create, take risks, pay for products and ultimately improve the economy. Clusters are a convenient research subject to see how the various factors come to play in viable industry development such as what may be seen in Silicon Valley or New York.
Therefore, there are many different factors that come to influence economic growth and prosperity. No economist, or industry expert, has all the answers because of the shear mammoth amount of variables in the market. Yet it is possible to start analyzing and breaking down ideas in a way that leads to a better understanding of how the whole works. With time and research we are able to chip away at the knowledge needed to create effective economic models.
Principle: Transactional clusters are comprised of many micro choices of profit and innovation.
According to to Professor Kenneth Scheve from Stanford University and Matthew Slaughter from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth college cities have experienced significant growth of (15%) versus rural areas (4%) for rural areas between 2000 and 2016 (Scheve & Slaughter, 2018). Thes same cities also experienced 93% of the population growth. Part of the reason why this occurs is because the workers were more productive around other highly skilled workers.
People live and are embedded into an environment and if that environment is designed for growth there will be an organic enhancement of people, ideas, and business. That isn't likely to happen if the landscape only fosters a rudimentary and politically skewed sense of improvement. Failure to develop a more prosperous future often depends on the political process itself and how attract the growth factors at their most rudimentary level and that takes a new way of thinking and leadership.
Principle: Cities are places where people act and interact with each other to create economic growth.
City centers act concentrate the economic activity into a dense locations where economic "actors" better interplay on each other. Innovative companies cluster together and draw talent in a manner that changes the character of the metro environment. Young professionals are likely to flock to growing cities and will flourish if we are prepared to "set the table". With influx of new intellectual talent comes faster innovative and idea generation that leads to greater wealth that transforms and revitalizes decaying cities. The long-term impact in creating modern economic centers can change the prosperity of a nation for generations.
Many metro cities are built off of Industrial Age platforms and could potentially be developed further to help raise innovation and output through new capital growth. That growth would come through greater industrial, informational, environmental and personal development that when matched with appropriate investment leads to change. Investment leads to development which leads to new investment in a cyclical fashion.
While it can be difficult to analyze large groups from a social perspective, down into the intricate details of their lives, we cannot ignore the sociological aspects of how ideas are shared built upon to construct new and innovative ideas in repeated patterns. We should also not ignore the financial and personal motivations of the entrepreneur and investors that spark growth in a region that seem to be part of all growth. Thus the study of economic development is the study of what aspects of growth seem to repeat themselves.
Principle: Hubs develop through linkages of ideas and resources through entrepreneurial innovation.
All hubs foster linkages of people, ideas, firms, resources, and investments that create geographically anchored innovation that supports stronger global economic prosperity. The manner in which business and people interact, openly innovate and provide feedback to each other creates the national innovation approach (Lundvall, 1998). This development is uniquely based on cultural background, social structure, and the vantage points of stakeholders that constitute the atmosphere of motivation, learning, sharing and exploring that foster growth.
Hubs attract entrepreneurs and investors who seek lucrative opportunities that grow personal wealth through market investment. Entrepreneurs focus on value creation, development of new products/services, sparking ventures, and encourage market innovations (Brush, et. al., 2003). It is theses renewals of intellectual and financial resources that develops stronger economic systems that breath life into stale economic structures. Drucker (1985) describes entrepreneurial opportunities as:
1. The creation of new and unique information
2. Exploitation of market inefficiencies as a result of information asymmetry
3. Acting upon the costs and benefits of alternative resource allocations
Principle: Cities will attract younger generations looking for entrepreneurial and expressive opportunities.
Development is based on the many transactions that are in dense form within cities. In modern times, cities are experiencing a renaissance of growth and development while helping to spark larger regional changes. A study by IHS Global Insight indicates that 95% of U.S. cities will see economic growth (Jean, 2014). Their regional director believes that "The economic prosperity of the U.S. economy is directly linked with the economic prosperity of metro economies".
Cities would be wise to prepare for growth to encourage global competitiveness. Emerging nations in Asia will begin to outstrip American producers based on their constant investment in their infrastructure and production capacities. The U.S., and its European Allies, are at a place where they can arrest this trend and pull themselves up from their bootstraps so they can develop cities that are capable of drawing international investment and producing world class products.
Because cities are growing in popularity and size it also affords Americans an opportunity to enhance economic activities in hubs in a way that leaps ahead of economic curves through proper data analytics. Now is the time for the U.S. to consider its overall strategy to economic development and the market in order to ensure that they are not left behind in the advent of the "Age of Asia".
Metro cities are attracting a younger generation of workers drawn to communities that offer new opportunities and this could be a catalyst for change. This generation are entrepreneurial by nature and seek to make an impact on society. Less oriented toward money than previous generations, but seeking career opportunities, they dream of being business owners and trend setters that blaze their own rules. It is a generation that seeksto create, innovate, start, and re-build.
Clusters also offer a chance to expand opportunities across this entrepreneurial generation and impact different sectors of society. Young people are seeking to develop their own opportunities and this could raise America's innovative development. For example, Three sociologists from the University of Southern California conducted a study that associates San Diego’s future with creating opportunities that reduce inequality through employing more people based on:
1. High-tech and high-need,
2. Innovation and inclusion, and
3. Places (Pastor, Sanches-Lopez, and Ito, 2015).
As investment and research match each other, new revenue streams are found and exploited for greater regional benefit. Investments are a key fuel in economic growth. It offers organizations that opportunity to expand their their entrepreneurial activities by allocating resources to great ideas. It is these innovative ideas that lead to new product that often result in product/service creation and greater growth. Without needed funds new ideas are left on the side and industry begins to decline.
What We Learn:
1. Cities attract younger generations.
2. Cities will become commercial centers of innovation and development.
3. Entrepreneurs will find their greatest opportunities within cities.
4. Each city will develop their own socio-cultural method of approaching the market.
5. The success of the city will be associated with its quality of life.
6. Hubs can create interaction of the economic elements that lead to growth.
7. Cities need investment and innovation.
8. All cities are based on transactional micro choices of profit and innovation.
Read Theory Here
Read Theory Here
Clusters and Cities
Clusters can be the foundation of the American economy and in one way or another are part of the historical foundation of the people. The way we think about economics in a modern era is changing and to spur further growth will mean moving to new economic platforms that are data driven and more responsive to market needs. Competing with other nations will require faster innovation and growth while drawing intellectual, financial, and physical resources to regions that contain the best ability to develop them fully for maximum financial profits and economic advancements. The Theory of Transactional Clusters helps to better explain future growth in the new economy.
An economic cluster can be defined as, “socio- territorial entity which is characterized by the presence of both a community of people and a population of firms’ and he adds that ‘in the district, unlike in other environments . . . community and firms tend to merge” (Becattini, 1990, p. 38). It is an economic entity where the components work together and interact on a formal and social level that creates economic growth in ways that fulfills participant needs. When effective needs fulfillment and market projection lead to a perpetual self-sustaining economic system. It develops into a self-adjusting organism adapting toward greater mastery of its environment as it seeks market maximization.
Clusters often form organically based on the characteristics of region and the resources available and it can also be sparked through government and industry action (Dmitry, et. al, 2018). It is possible to spark faster cluster growth when the environment is ripe for development and investment. Pushing ready clusters to develop fully leads to faster economic growth for nations and it is essential to know where and how to do this efficiently and effectively with minimal risk.
Principle: It is possible to spark industry growth if we understand the underlying mechanics of innovation and development.
Economic development rests on many different factors that include investment, infrastructure, business environment and even people's motivation. The study of economics is the study of human behavior to come to conclusions about how and why people invest, invent, create, take risks, pay for products and ultimately improve the economy. Clusters are a convenient research subject to see how the various factors come to play in viable industry development such as what may be seen in Silicon Valley or New York.
Therefore, there are many different factors that come to influence economic growth and prosperity. No economist, or industry expert, has all the answers because of the shear mammoth amount of variables in the market. Yet it is possible to start analyzing and breaking down ideas in a way that leads to a better understanding of how the whole works. With time and research we are able to chip away at the knowledge needed to create effective economic models.
Principle: Transactional clusters are comprised of many micro choices of profit and innovation.
According to to Professor Kenneth Scheve from Stanford University and Matthew Slaughter from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth college cities have experienced significant growth of (15%) versus rural areas (4%) for rural areas between 2000 and 2016 (Scheve & Slaughter, 2018). Thes same cities also experienced 93% of the population growth. Part of the reason why this occurs is because the workers were more productive around other highly skilled workers.
People live and are embedded into an environment and if that environment is designed for growth there will be an organic enhancement of people, ideas, and business. That isn't likely to happen if the landscape only fosters a rudimentary and politically skewed sense of improvement. Failure to develop a more prosperous future often depends on the political process itself and how attract the growth factors at their most rudimentary level and that takes a new way of thinking and leadership.
Principle: Cities are places where people act and interact with each other to create economic growth.
City centers act concentrate the economic activity into a dense locations where economic "actors" better interplay on each other. Innovative companies cluster together and draw talent in a manner that changes the character of the metro environment. Young professionals are likely to flock to growing cities and will flourish if we are prepared to "set the table". With influx of new intellectual talent comes faster innovative and idea generation that leads to greater wealth that transforms and revitalizes decaying cities. The long-term impact in creating modern economic centers can change the prosperity of a nation for generations.
Many metro cities are built off of Industrial Age platforms and could potentially be developed further to help raise innovation and output through new capital growth. That growth would come through greater industrial, informational, environmental and personal development that when matched with appropriate investment leads to change. Investment leads to development which leads to new investment in a cyclical fashion.
While it can be difficult to analyze large groups from a social perspective, down into the intricate details of their lives, we cannot ignore the sociological aspects of how ideas are shared built upon to construct new and innovative ideas in repeated patterns. We should also not ignore the financial and personal motivations of the entrepreneur and investors that spark growth in a region that seem to be part of all growth. Thus the study of economic development is the study of what aspects of growth seem to repeat themselves.
Principle: Hubs develop through linkages of ideas and resources through entrepreneurial innovation.
All hubs foster linkages of people, ideas, firms, resources, and investments that create geographically anchored innovation that supports stronger global economic prosperity. The manner in which business and people interact, openly innovate and provide feedback to each other creates the national innovation approach (Lundvall, 1998). This development is uniquely based on cultural background, social structure, and the vantage points of stakeholders that constitute the atmosphere of motivation, learning, sharing and exploring that foster growth.
Hubs attract entrepreneurs and investors who seek lucrative opportunities that grow personal wealth through market investment. Entrepreneurs focus on value creation, development of new products/services, sparking ventures, and encourage market innovations (Brush, et. al., 2003). It is theses renewals of intellectual and financial resources that develops stronger economic systems that breath life into stale economic structures. Drucker (1985) describes entrepreneurial opportunities as:
1. The creation of new and unique information
2. Exploitation of market inefficiencies as a result of information asymmetry
3. Acting upon the costs and benefits of alternative resource allocations
Principle: Cities will attract younger generations looking for entrepreneurial and expressive opportunities.
Development is based on the many transactions that are in dense form within cities. In modern times, cities are experiencing a renaissance of growth and development while helping to spark larger regional changes. A study by IHS Global Insight indicates that 95% of U.S. cities will see economic growth (Jean, 2014). Their regional director believes that "The economic prosperity of the U.S. economy is directly linked with the economic prosperity of metro economies".
Cities would be wise to prepare for growth to encourage global competitiveness. Emerging nations in Asia will begin to outstrip American producers based on their constant investment in their infrastructure and production capacities. The U.S., and its European Allies, are at a place where they can arrest this trend and pull themselves up from their bootstraps so they can develop cities that are capable of drawing international investment and producing world class products.
Because cities are growing in popularity and size it also affords Americans an opportunity to enhance economic activities in hubs in a way that leaps ahead of economic curves through proper data analytics. Now is the time for the U.S. to consider its overall strategy to economic development and the market in order to ensure that they are not left behind in the advent of the "Age of Asia".
Metro cities are attracting a younger generation of workers drawn to communities that offer new opportunities and this could be a catalyst for change. This generation are entrepreneurial by nature and seek to make an impact on society. Less oriented toward money than previous generations, but seeking career opportunities, they dream of being business owners and trend setters that blaze their own rules. It is a generation that seeksto create, innovate, start, and re-build.
Clusters also offer a chance to expand opportunities across this entrepreneurial generation and impact different sectors of society. Young people are seeking to develop their own opportunities and this could raise America's innovative development. For example, Three sociologists from the University of Southern California conducted a study that associates San Diego’s future with creating opportunities that reduce inequality through employing more people based on:
1. High-tech and high-need,
2. Innovation and inclusion, and
3. Places (Pastor, Sanches-Lopez, and Ito, 2015).
As investment and research match each other, new revenue streams are found and exploited for greater regional benefit. Investments are a key fuel in economic growth. It offers organizations that opportunity to expand their their entrepreneurial activities by allocating resources to great ideas. It is these innovative ideas that lead to new product that often result in product/service creation and greater growth. Without needed funds new ideas are left on the side and industry begins to decline.
What We Learn:
1. Cities attract younger generations.
2. Cities will become commercial centers of innovation and development.
3. Entrepreneurs will find their greatest opportunities within cities.
4. Each city will develop their own socio-cultural method of approaching the market.
5. The success of the city will be associated with its quality of life.
6. Hubs can create interaction of the economic elements that lead to growth.
7. Cities need investment and innovation.
8. All cities are based on transactional micro choices of profit and innovation.
Read Theory Here
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