Ad of the Day: Nike Gives Babies a Stirring Speech on Unfairness, Ambition and Triumph | Adweek

July 28, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The marketing side of sports is banking hard on origin stories of late. Obviously, cute babies help too.

Nike’s “Unlimited Future,” by Wieden + Kennedy, opens on a nursery full of future sports stars, including diaper-clad LeBron James, Serena Williams, Neymar, Zhou Qi and Mo Farah. The babies gurgle to the faint music of Chopin’s Berceuse, Op. 57, playing from a plastic radio.

Then the door swings open. Brusquely. A man in a suit and leather shoes stops the jam, and the crowd goes silent.

It’s actor Bobby Cannavale. And he’s shaken off the stale mothball stink of Vinyl.

“Listen up, babies!” he growls, before kicking off the motivational speech that will shape these tiny future-athlete brains in ways that would make Freud fist-pump (as a lone baby does, at the very end).

Are You Making The Most of Your Event Marketing? | The Startup Magazine

July 28, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

It’s true, event season is in full swing and it’s probably true to say that your diary is looking rather full for the next 6 weeks or so. But if you were honest with yourself, are they all really going to benefit you and if the answer is ‘yes’ what can you be doing to give your business the competitive edge?

Business events, exhibitions and trade shows can be excellent marketing opportunities, enabling you to meet with your audience face to face, building personal relationships and showcasing your products and services in all their physical glory.

Haven’t you found that with the rise of faceless digital communication, a face to face interaction suddenly seems like a daunting prospect? But now is the time, lets ditch the digital and get back to basics, there’s nothing like a sales pitch to get your heart racing, and ultimately boost your confidence; it can remind you of how passionate you are about your business.

‘Family Discount’? When and How to Say No to Freebie Requests | Business News Daily

July 27, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

When you start telling your friends and family about your new small business, at least a few of them are bound to ask — perhaps only partly in jest — about a “family discount” on your products.

What’s a small business owner to do when family, friends and even casual acquaintances ask for discounts or freebies? If you offer your services or products for free or for a deep discount, you may hurt yourself financially, and over time, you may even begin to resent people you love. On the other hand, you don’t want the people in your social circle to think that you are selfish or ungrateful, especially if they have supported your entrepreneurial endeavors.

Though there is no one-size-fits-all solution that will work for all entrepreneurs or in every situation, there are lessons to be learned from fellow business owners who have faced the same dilemma. Here’s how to turn a potentially uncomfortable conversation into a transparent and productive transaction that honors some of your most valued relationships.

Five Signs Your Interview Is Fake Because They’ve Already Hired Someone | Forbes

July 27, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

We met Alex, who had interviewed with the same company twice. “The first time I had an interview at that company, the HR Manager was very nice and very engaged in our conversation,” said Alex.

“She told me that the job I was interviewing for was one of their highest-priority job openings,” Alex said. “I had a great conversation with the hiring manager, too, but they ended up hiring someone else because they needed someone with more experience than I had back then.”

Alex left that interview process with a good feeling. The HR Manager, Allison, told Alex, “We will be sure to contact you if we have another opening that is a match for your experience.”

An Overview of the Potential Risks and Benefits of Forex Trading | Getentrepreneurial.com

July 26, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

As the world’s largest market and one which sees a staggering $5.3 trillion dollars traded each day,

Forex trading is a term which pricks the ear of anybody with an entrepreneurial spirit. Forex trading involves the trading of one currency for another at an agreed rate; this rate fluctuates according to economics, geopolitics and many other factors. By speculating on whether a currency’s value will rise (appreciate) or fall (depreciate), Forex traders can earn profit on their investment. In Forex, leverage enables you to trade without putting up the full amount which can be both a risk and advantage.

There are both risks and rewards with Forex trading and it is important for anybody to understand these before starting.

Crispr crops could end the war on GMOs | Business Insider

July 25, 2016July 25, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The next genetically modified food you eat probably won’t be a GMO.

At least not in the conventional sense of the term, which means genetically modified organism.

It will probably be made using Crispr, a new technique that lets scientists precisely tweak the DNA of produce so that it can do things like survive drought or avoid turning brown.

Harvard geneticist George Church thinks crops like these might be our best hope for ending the war against GMOs, which he and dozens of other experts call misguided, once and for all.

“It’s a beautiful thing,” Church told Business Insider.

You Want A Basic Income? Here’s How We Might Actually Do It | Co.Exist

July 25, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The idea of a universal basic income (UBI) potentially solves a lot of problems at once. By sending a regular payment to all citizens, we could end abject poverty, deal with technological unemployment, reduce the overall cost of government, give more autonomy to people, and gain support from across the ideological divide as we do it (in theory, anyway). In its long history, some form of UBI has been supported by everyone from Martin Luther King to the libertarian economist Milton Friedman, indicating its unusual appeal.

But, as yet, no government has ever introduced a UBI at significant scale, and, as such, there are a lot of unanswered questions. For example, how much would a UBI cost overall? Should everyone get it, or just people who really need it (then it’s not so universal)? How should it be distributed exactly? And, should people have to do anything in return to get it? While there are a lot of compelling reasons to implement UBI, there are obviously a lot of trade-offs to consider.

Dave Hakkens updates Precious Plastics recycling machines | Dezeen

July 22, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Dutch designer Dave Hakkens has updated his series of Precious Plastic machines, which anyone can build and use to make products by recycling the material (+ movie).

Blueprints for the new machines, which the designer described as “a solution to plastic pollution”, are now available online for anyone to download and build.

The devices are made using everyday materials and basic tools that Hakkens said are available all over the world.

Will a Camera on Every Cop Make Everyone Safer? Taser Thinks So | Bloomberg

July 21, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

On Aug. 9, 2014, in Ferguson, Mo., a white police officer shot and killed an unarmed black teenager named Michael Brown. Several witnesses described the shooting—which wasn’t captured on video—as unprovoked. In the national furor over police violence that followed, one remedy found common support across much of the political spectrum: outfitting more cops with body-mounted cameras to deter misconduct and create a record of tragic encounters. When a grand jury decided that November not to charge the officer in Ferguson, the victim’s family pushed “to ensure that every police officer working the streets in this country wears a body camera.” The White House proposed $75 million in matching funds for state and local police to buy the devices.

A few months later, in January 2015, employees of Taser International, the maker of stun guns, gathered for a sales meeting at the company’s futuristic headquarters in Scottsdale, Ariz. They filled the ground floor and lined the catwalks that crisscross the three-story atrium, a space where a lightsaber duel wouldn’t seem out of place. Shades blocked out the desert sun, and in the darkness, low, long trumpet sounds blared—the famous Richard Strauss theme used in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Don’t Overlook Wellness When Building Your Business | Entrepreneur

July 21, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Studies show that 93 percent of small businesses believe employee health is good for their bottom line. And they’re right. A strategic focus on employee health can help businesses grow.

So why do only 22 percent of small businesses actually have wellness programs? Maybe these programs (and the buzz about crazy-expensive wellness perks) seem like they’re just for big companies with lots of people on the payroll.

Even for the smallest of companies, though, employee wellness programs can improve productivity, help with talent acquisition and retention and increase brand recognition – all of which support business growth and can help small businesses get ahead without sinking too much money into a new initiative.