For Entrepreneurs, Is Impatience a Blessing or a Curse? | All Business

December 18, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

I have never been a patient person; it’s the way I’m wired. Once I have an idea of where I want to go, I want to get there as soon as possible … even if it means getting out of bed at 3:00 a.m. I don’t see the point in waiting.

I know this internal sense of urgency can annoy others and my haste has stung me a few times in life. But I firmly believe an entrepreneur needs some level of impatience in order to succeed. Over the course of my career, impatience has been my friend – but like anything, moderation (or management) is the key.

Many smart people never succeed as an entrepreneur. We often chalk this up to risk aversion, fear of failure, or just plain old bad luck. However, I think the worst thing you can do as an entrepreneur is wait for things to come to you.

Why Entrepreneurs Are Important for the Economy | Investopedia

December 17, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Entrepreneurs are frequently thought of as national assets to be cultivated, motivated and remunerated to the greatest possible extent.

Entrepreneurs can change the way we live and work. If successful, their innovations may improve our standard of living. In short, in addition to creating wealth from their entrepreneurial ventures, they also create jobs and the conditions for a prosperous society.

The following are six reasons why entrepreneurs are important to the economy.

This bike path is made entirely of solar panels | Public Radio International

December 17, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

If you could get up on the roof of our offices in Boston, you’d be standing amongst a bunch of solar panels. That’s not so unusual.

But in The Netherlands, they’re experimenting with putting solar panels in a much more unusual place: Bike paths.

A bike path made of solar panels opened today in a suburb outside of Amsterdam. Just 230 feet of it exist. Designers say it’s enough to power three homes.

But is it worth the cost? Many in this cycling crazed culture say yes.

“It’s incredible. It’s the world’s first ever public, solar cycle path,” says the BBC’s Anna Holligan. “There are actually more bikes than people in this country. It’s famous for cycling. So it’s the right place to be testing this pioneering technology.”

Amazon’s Bargain Button Could Actually Be Good for the Economy | Businessweek

December 16, 2014December 16, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Amazon (AMZN) is now taking bids. Venders who sell on Amazon can enable a “make an offer” feature that allows customers to offer a lower than list price. The seller can accept, reject, or counter the offer. If one makes a counteroffer, buyer and seller can haggle over e-mail and—if they reach an agreement—pay Amazon its commission. So far, the option is available only for 150,000 goods on the website, mostly art and collectables.

Amazon may extended the option to hundreds of thousands of items for sale within the next year. Amazon calls the offer process a “game-changer.”While that’s probably an exaggeration, bargaining does have the potential to change American retail, quite possibly for the better.

In plenty of countries, people negotiate for nearly everything. Not so in the U.S., where bargaining on price tends to be limited to cars, real estate, and cable service. Research suggests that Americans are uncomfortable with the little haggling they do. In a LinkedIn (LNKD)survey of 2000 professionals in 2012, Americans (especially women) reported being more anxious than any other nationality when it comes to negotiating. (Indians feel most confident, followed by Germans.)

Public Relations Tips and Tricks for Your Business | Inc.com

December 16, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Creating an efficient PR and marketing plan is a cornerstone to building up your organization’s success. Marketing and PR, unfortunately, sometimes can be costly, particularly if you’re running a lean operation and just starting out. Thankfully, there will include a few affordable PR and marketing tips and tricks which may offer your small business a cost-effective way to successfully increase sales and grow your consumer base.

You may have an excellent service or product, yet if nobody has knowledge of it, generating sales might be difficult. Effective public relations and marketing include proactive methods for you to spread the message to your market and attract potential customers and clients.

Marketing is about discovering methods of reaching your targeted audience–these potential customers and clients who possess an interest in and possible necessity for what you are selling. Public relations includes obtaining positive press and publicity in regard to your business concerning its most recent services, brands, and innovations.

Predicting Self Control and Success with Sweets | Page 19

December 16, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Should you check your email just once more or keep on working? Jam that marshmallow in your mouth, or resist it? No matter how good instant gratification might feel, here’s a scientific case for delaying your rewards to double them.

If you’re one of the lucky ones endowed with strong willpower, you’re probably the envy of all your friends – and with good reason. Having strong willpower is a great predictor of success.

Self control depends on two systems: the hot system, which instantly reacts to the environment, and the cool system, which is responsible for controlled, rational behavior. It’s the hot system that gets us to give in to the temptation of eating that chocolate we shouldn’t or checking Facebook when we have a report due. By contrast, the cool system focuses our attention away from our impulses to instead engage in wholesome and productive behavior.

7 Proven Ways To Write Emails That Get Replies, Backed By Science | Yesware Blog

December 15, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Effective email writing boils down to one thing: Mind reading.

Really.

Sure, we’re all different, but in many instances our brains are prone to react to psychological triggers in a similar manner. Understanding these subtleties can help you hone in on creative ways to persuade others to take a desired course of action, like reply to more of your meticulously written emails.

Here are seven powerful psychological principles that can help you get busy people to respond to your emails, backed by template reply-rate data and examples from Yesware’s own sales team.

9 jobs robots could replace in 2015 | Mashable

December 15, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Walking through the city, I find myself thinking about all the jobs a robot could do.

A robot could probably stand in for my coffee truck guy, though I doubt he’d smile, call me “buddy” and ask if I said “three sugars” or “no sugar.”

A robot could probably take over for that guy spraying down the street every morning — though I often wonder why we need anyone doing that at all.

Could a robot drive that taxi, which just deposited a woman on Fifth Ave.? Probably, though I bet it wouldn’t be as good at multi-tasking. I’ve watched taxi drivers snack, take a call and quiz me about my work all while driving above the speed limit. A robot might simply drive at 25 MPH.

These are not idle thoughts. In two separate reports over the last two years, researchers predicted that the rise of the robot worker was imminent. In the UK, Deloitte and the University of Oxford predict that 10 million unskilled jobs could be taken over by robots. Last year, Oxford Research predicted that 45% of the U.S. jobs across a fairly wide spectrum of industries could be automated and taken over by computers by 2033.

Tap the Power of Thank You | Getentrepreneurial.com

December 12, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

There may be only one day a year devoted to giving thanks, but expressing thanks year round and doing it well is one of the most profitable business strategies you can have.

Numerous studies reveal that when you thank your customers, they spend more money and tell their friends about the exceptional service and products you deliver, increasing your profits. Volumes chronicle how employee productivity zooms when appreciation is expressed, raising your margins. Vendors go the extra mile to extend credit and deliver “just in time” when they hear gratitude regularly, and keep your cash flowing. Giving thanks works in business.

But you’re already doing more with less and the last thing you want is another item on your to-do list. What are the most effective and efficient ways to express gratitude to these important players in your positive business success?

Start today implementing these 4 tips to develop the profitable habit of saying “Thank you” to your customers, employees, and vendors year-round:

Shopping Ads Test: Is Google Stealing Traffic Again? | Small Biz Trends

December 12, 2014December 15, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

How would you feel about paying more for your Shopping Ads on branded search terms?

A new Google Shopping test, spotted recently by Andy Taylor at RKG, actually directs branded search traffic to a Google Shopping results page, rather than back to your website or your own Shopping Ads.

In this test, the Anthropologie shopping results are organized by category in the top right. The “Shop from anthropologie on Google” link takes the user to a Google Shopping page. In fact, clicking on any content (images or categories) in that ad box will deliver the searcher to the category on Google Shopping, not the Anthropologie website.

In the example RKG found, at least, all of the products on the results page were offered for sale by Anthropologie, the brand from the original query. However, Ginny Marvin at Search Engine Land found this additional test result – querying “David Yurman” and drilling down into the “Rings” category surfaced shopping results from multiple retailers: