Category: Tools and Information

Booking a flight? Save by leaving on a Tuesday | MoneyCnn.com

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140626113448-cheapest-day-to-fly-620xaPlanning to take a much-needed vacation this summer? Fly out on a Tuesday and you’ll save a chunk of cash. Passengers who schedule flights that depart on summer Tuesdays will pay an average of $77, or 17%, less for a ticket than they would if they fly out on a Sunday, the most expensive day of the week to fly, according to a survey by Cheapair.com.

The booking site compared fares for 900,000 round-trip flights scheduled between June and September and found that the average fare for a Tuesday was $367. That compares with $444 on Sundays, $412 on Fridays and $402 on Saturdays. Wednesdays were also cheap at an average of $368.

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5 Things Never to Say On A Sales Call | Inc.com

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The words we use can make the difference between landing a sale or getting kicked to the curb. When observing salespeople selling, I’ve found many phrases used over and over again causing negative reactions from buyers. Salespeople can ask a question and not get a truthful answer from the buyer–simply because of the way they phrased the question. Here are five examples of what not to say on a sales call. Some of them may surprise you.

Are you the decision maker?

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Great question, but it’s worded poorly. Surprisingly, this question actually persuades your prospect to lie to you. Here’s how. The question is closed-ended, meaning it requires either a “yes” or “no” answer. This makes a non-decision-maker feel threatened. They don’t want say “no” and appear unimportant, so they will often answer, “yes”. What they’re not telling you is that their “yes” is a “qualified yes”. What they are really saying is, “Yes, I’m the one who decides who gets to present to my boss–the ultimate decision-maker.” You’re now attempting to sell to the wrong person. This is why so many sales reps lose sales when they discover late in the process that someone else makes the decision.

Better: “Who else is participating with you in making this decision?”

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From the Scarcity Mindset to the Abundance Mindset | The Simple Dollar

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The scarcity mindset revolves around the idea that there simply isn’t enough to go around. There can be only one raise at work and if one person gets it, everyone else can’t have it. My paycheck only has a certain amount of money in it and if I don’t spend it now, it will “go away” – the “man” will take it. If I don’t party now when I’m young, I will never have the chance to party later.

Thus, the scarcity mindset always focuses on the extreme short term of every decision. What is the most fun option right now? What uses up the resources I have right now so that they can’t be taken away later?

It ignores the long term of every choice, too. The most fun choice in the short term often has long term consequences. If you spend all of your paycheck this week, how will you have anything for the future?

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8 Leadership Mistakes That Others Made So You Don’t Have To | Entrepreneur.com

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For every success, there is an epic failure. Those leaders who achieved greatness did so not because of their success stories, but because the lessons in failure that they learned and applied to create those success stories. In other words, leaders find “right” only after navigating through a storm cloud of “wrong.”

Before assuming the reins of your next venture, run through the following checklist of no-no’s from mistakes made by others — so you don’t have to:

1. Setting a tense tone. Stress and tension are no fun, and how a leader chooses to show up everyday is everything. Positive or negative, cordial or rude, your people will embrace and spread “you,” intentionally or not.

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Why Does Coffee Make You Poop? | livescience.com

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It’s proven that the caffeine in coffee stimulates the brain, but there’s something in a cup of joe that can also jump-start the other end of the body.That’s right: Coffee can make you poop. And though a number of studies have attempted to explain the effect of a cup of java on the bowels, scientists have yet to determine what it is about the beverage that sends some imbibers running to the restroom.

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Apple’s New iPhone Ad Shows You More Incredible Ways You’ll Never Use Your iPhone | Adweek

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Apple’s new ad for the iPhone 5S is called “Dreams,” though it might have been called “In Your Dreams.

“Like other recent iPhone spots and iPad spots, for that matter, it shows people using the device in pretty amazing ways—to measure wind speed, to plot the course of an airplane, to place a diamond in the setting of a ring. At the 37-second mark, a woman places her iPhone against the rib cage of a horse they don’t even bother to explain it, really—all you need to know is the iPhone is horse compatible, and it hits you. You’ll never use your iPhone for any of this stuff well, OK, the audio translation app looks pretty rad.

Is an advertisement aspirational when you don’t necessarily aspire to many of the behaviors it depicts? It’s a key question for Apple, which is riding that line between rarefied and relatable in its marketing.

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  3 Strategies to Work Positive in a Tragedy | Getentrepreneurial.com

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As I left our home and drove around the mountain, fog enveloped me quickly. Unexpectedly.

There was no sign of fog when I pulled out of our garage.

The business environment changes that quickly, also, particularly with what influences our customers’ and clients’ lives.

For example, the shooting down of the Malaysia airliner over the Ukraine suddenly dominates our conversations, news media, buying habits, and prayers. It fogs our perception.

So how do you do business when tragedy fogs over your business? Here are 3 Strategies to Work Positive in a Tragedy.

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Wall Street Gathers at Bitcoin Conference to Figure Out What Exactly Bitcoin Is | Bloomberg

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I’ve been to quite a few bitcoin gatherings, where the standard attire is a sweaty T-shirt and sneakers. This week’s Digital Currencies conference in New York was different. It felt more like a Wall Street confab than the usual fellowship of the neckbeards.

The suits were out in full force at the bitcoin convention on July 29, organized by American Banker. In attendance were representatives from Visa, Citigroup and other financial institutions.

The professionals there were by no means bitcoin faithful. Most bankers’ views on the digital currency — or virtual commodity, depending on who you ask — ranged from puzzled to noncommittal. Lester Joseph, manager of the global financial crimes intelligence group at Wells Fargo, said the bank doesn’t have a grand plan for bitcoin.

“We don’t really have a strategy,” Joseph said during a panel called the Nexus Between Banking and Bitcoin Companies. “We just try to understand it and try to manage the risk.”

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What’s Up With That: Your Best Thinking Seems to Happen in the Shower | WIRED

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You’re in the shower. The water sounds like a gentle, rainy static, and feels like a Plinko massage. You’ve just started to lather up and suddenly, you’re hit with a flash of brilliance. Maybe it’s the answer to a vexing problem at work, the location of your lost USB drive, or perhaps it’s just a random, inconsequential yet totally satisfying insight.

But, by the time you towel off, the idea already has spiraled away down the drain. We all get these kinds of thoughts, and they don’t just happen in the shower. Long drives, short walks, even something like pulling weeds, all seem to have the right mix of monotony and engagement to trigger a revelation. They also happen to be activities where it’s difficult to take notes. It turns out that aimless engagement in an activity is a great catalyst for free association, but introducing a pen and paper can sterilize the effort.

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