What Non-Retirees Mean for the Workforce | PROFITguide.com

May 30, 2017May 30, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

For all Hunter Harrison’s unquestionable talents, he is really bad at one thing: not working. The celebrated railway executive officially retired from Canadian National Railway Company (CN) in 2009, after a long career running railways. A little more than two years later, at the encouragement of activist investor Bill Ackman, Harrison came out of retirement to become president and CEO of Canadian Pacific Railway (CP).

His plan was to step away, again, this summer, when he was scheduled to hand the CEO reins to longtime lieutenant Keith Creel and start a three-year tenure as a consultant (or, in his own words, a “hired hand”) to the railway. That arrangement suggested the transition of power would be a gradual process. But earlier this year, CP announced Harrison would be departing immediately to pursue other opportunities. For his early departure, Harrison will forfeit some $118 million in benefits that had been awaiting him. Hours later, several reports emerged suggesting that Harrison will be partnering with another activist investor to take control of U.S. railway CSX Corp.

uHoo: Most Advanced Indoor Air Toxin Sensor | CoolBusinessIdeas.com

May 30, 2017May 30, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Meet uHoo – the most advanced air quality sensor in the world. With eight dedicated sensors, uHoo provides allergen and toxin alerts for air quality in the home and office.

How uHoo started

The idea for uHoo started as a conceptual idea to solve a serious problem that Dustin Jefferson S. Onghanseng has been facing. Dustin who has suffered from hay fever (rhinitis) since childhood, realized that air quality made a difference between “getting by” and feeling healthy. Suffering from bad air quality in Hong Kong led him down a path of research and discovery.

Dustin teamed up with electrical engineer Brian Lin, an asthma sufferer, who also happens to be his MBA classmate from HKUST. They pitched uHoo and won a number of awards from MBA business plan competitions from Bangkok and Shanghai to Hong Kong and Portland Oregon. Seeing that the idea has legs, both Dustin and Brian, dropped their classes in June 2014 and incorporated uHoo in August 2014.

‘Me’ vs. ‘We:’ How to Retain Increasingly Mobile Workers | Business News Daily

May 30, 2017May 30, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

As the economy improves and more job opportunities appear, workers are growing increasingly restless. According to research conducted by ADP, more than 1 in 4 people change jobs annually – an unprecedented frequency of job switching. Moreover, ADP found that 63 percent of the average employer’s workforce is open to leaving for a new job at any time, and 46 percent would leave for a job that paid the same or less than their current position.

So, how can employers find and retain top talent? Sreeni Kutam, division vice president of major account services at ADP, said the findings boil down to two philosophies in conflict with one another: “me vs. we.”

The Secret of Creating Enticing Call to Actions (CTAs) | Getentrepreneurial.com

May 26, 2017May 26, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

One of the most important things tied to high conversion rates is making an effective call-to-action (CTA) on your website. Engaging your audience and visitors in this way may be exactly what you need to boost your business and see your business flourish.

There are some tactics you should keep in mind when approaching CTA implementation to your website and we’ve summarized some of them for your better understanding of the process. Making a compelling CTA can be tricky, u don’t want to be too aggressive, yet, you don’t want your CTA to seem like something visitors would rather avoid than click on it. Here are some things to keep in mind when making an effective call-to-action on your site.

The Ultimate Guide to Small Business Keyword Research | Duct Tape Marketing

May 25, 2017May 25, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Keyword research is an important strategic marketing practice that, when thought of correctly, never really ends. While many people think of this type of thing as a technical aspect of search engine optimization (SEO), I would like to suggest that it’s so much more.

If fact, the practice of SEO has changed so dramatically over the last few years that you must revisit everything you think you know about SEO, and that starts with revisiting how you think about keyword research.

Turn a £7 LACK TV unit into a hallway bench | IKEA Hackers

May 24, 2017May 23, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Ikea Item Used: Lack TV unit

With clients visiting my home for my work, I have to be super tidy. I bought the Lack TV unit to use as a coffee table originally but without the gloss finish it wears very quickly and it was ruined on top with grazes and stains. So I hacked it!

By buying some foam seating, I attached fabric over it and then used wide sticky back Velcro to attach it to the bench. I went for nice fabric as price wasn’t a problem for me but any thick fabric will do (foam was blue so had to hide it showing through).

Pros and Cons of Commercial Window Tinting | The Startup Magazine

May 24, 2017May 23, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Commercial window tinting has become more of a norm for many offices and homes. With almost everyone looking for ways to reduce energy costs by conserving energy, building contractors, and homeowners are taking solar window tinting rather seriously. Many consider this as the ultimate solution for reducing energy costs without compromising anything. If you too are considering the tint, then discussed below are some of the pros and cons you should know about.

While we all love a well naturally lit space (at home or in the office), sun rays penetrating the large windows in office setups can raise room temperatures pretty fast. This forces the occupants to turn the cooling system higher just to keep temperatures low, which almost ways results in high energy bills. Solar window tinting, however, helps cut down on a number of UV rays entering the house, thus controlling the heat. The beauty in this is that the tint allows just enough light to pass through, hence no need to keep the lights on.

Boredom Can Make You More Productive Only When You Learn These 8 Tricks | Life Hack

May 23, 2017May 22, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Picture this:

You’re bored at work, almost in tears because the tasks on your to-do list seem so monotonous and dull. Your mind starts to wander and you ask yourself, “Is this what I should be doing with my life?” It’s as if your brain is trying to look for anything else to do to avoid the task at hand. You check you phone, you go on social media, you might even make a paper airplane – anything to make the feeling stop! Sound familiar? You are not alone!

But what if we could use our boredom to actually help us become more productive?

This Refugee Camp In The Jordanian Desert Now Has Its Own Solar Farm | Fast Company

May 23, 2017May 22, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

When the temperature soared to 100 degrees in the Azraq refugee camp in Jordan last week, refugees living there could keep fans running inside their shelters. The camp, which had only sporadic access to electricity for its first two and a half years, is now home to the first solar farm in a refugee community.

The two-megawatt solar plant, funded by a donation from the Ikea Foundation, sends power into Jordan’s national grid, helping offset the electric bill for part of the camp, which is now connected to the grid. For 20,000 Syrian refugees living in two villages in the camp, power is free 24 hours a day. The plant will soon be scaled up to five megawatts to cover the needs of all of the camp’s 35,000 residents.

This Is the Night That People Have the Most Trouble Sleeping | Entrepreneur

May 23, 2017May 22, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The Sunday Night Blues are real.

A recent survey conducted through YouGov for meditation platform Calm polled 4,279 Americans and Brits and found that insomnia plagued people the most on Sunday night.

Forty-six percent reported having trouble sleeping on Sunday night, followed by 17 percent on Monday, 9 percent on Saturday and Wednesday, 8 percent on Tuesday, 7 percent on Friday and oddly enough Thursday came in last with only 5 percent identifying it as the night where they did the most tossing and turning.