There’s nothing wrong with a mouse cursor, but for many tasks keyboard shortcuts are far more efficient than picking your hands up off the keyboard and pointing then clicking. Most users can name at least a few combinations off the top of their heads, and almost everyone knows the infamous Ctrl+Alt+Delete, but many of the best shortcuts are tragically overlooked.
“Our new apartment didn’t have a good cubby to hide away the cat box like our old apartment,” says Jon, “so we decided to hide the litter in plain sight. It’s an easy 4 step process:
1. Find a covered cat box $30
2. Find a cabinet that it fits in (in this case, a Flaren sink cabinet)
3. Find a pet door
4. Cut a hole for the pet door and install.
Buying a new car can be a confusing, frustrating and downright unpleasant experience. But behind the haggling and the anxiety and the dramatic theater of the salesman going to talk to the manager, how does this process really work? One anonymous car salesman lifted the veil and gave us a taste of what it’s like on the showroom floor. And most importantly, our informant lets us know how we can get the best deals the next time we’re shopping for a new car.
Cervical cancer is the 5th most common cancer in women worldwide with approximately 471,000 new cases diagnosed each year. Approximately every 2 minutes a woman dies of cervical cancer. 80% of the cases occur in low-income or middle-income countries.
Ronco Johnson knows financial planning. But when it comes to planning how to reach a critical set of potential customers, he mostly knows that he needs a new plan. That group is the Millennial Generation. Also known as Generation Y, this 80-million-strong legion of Americans born between 1982 and 2000 already exceeds the baby boomers in size and influence — and someday will rival them in affluence. Its a market no small business can afford to ignore.
Johnson, president and chief executive officer of L.R. Johnson & Associates, an insurance and financial services provider in Marietta, Ga., realized awhile back that his marketing tools and strategies would need an overhaul if he was going to have any hope of successfully reaching this huge market. “There is a big difference marketing financial services to Millennials,” he said.
For one thing, the pace of interactions is sped up until it resembles a cartoon chase. “They want their information now,” Johnson said. A series of 2-hour meetings in his office to discuss financial planning needs — de rigueur with older clients — is a nonstarter with Millennials.
“The surest way for an executive to kill himself is to refuse to learn how, and when, and to whom to delegate work,” said James Cash Penney, founder of the J.C. Penney retail chain.
When you grow, you have to know when to let go. You have to know when to delegate down so you can rise up. I’ve learned that people will seldom let you down if they understand that your destiny is in their hands, and vice versa.
The inability to delegate properly is the main reason that executives fail. But managers often mistake delegation for passing off work. So they don’t do it–and they wind up wasting their time as well as the company’s time and resources.
Brand management is vital to gaining market dominance.
Brand management involves the art of crafting and maintaining a brand image in the marketplace and of managing the product lines associated with individual brands. Marketers employ a repertoire of techniques to influence consumers’ perception of and preference for their brands. Focusing on continuous brand management can help your brand to solidify a position of dominance in your chosen industry or niche.
Industry Analysis
Analyze competing brands in your industry to determine where you would like to position your brand. Map out competitors and rank each by size, service model, reputation and target market segment. Determine how many players are serving the high end of the market and how many are serving value- or cost-conscious market segments. Determine which competitors feature full-service business models and which operate lean. Rank your competitors according to their reputation in the industry by comparing customer reviews and news articles.
Driving Solar Electric
Ford is offering an innovative package that pairs electric car ownership with a rooftop solar energy system generating enough electricity to offset an average of 1,000 miles of driving each month. The result is what many electric vehicle owners dream of – the ability to drive with zero emissions and effectively, without additional load on the grid. While the SunPower system doesn’t actually charge Ford’s upcoming 2012 Focus Electric directly, it does feed enough solar-generated electricity into the grid to offset the energy required for keeping batteries charged. Focus Electric owners can add the solar option for less than $10,000 after federal incentives.
The ‘Drive Green for Life’ program not only provides an all-new option for those who want to go the extra mile to drive sustainably, but also is big win for solar energy. Moves like this will motivate consumers to embrace solar energy who may not have done so otherwise.
Hey worrywart: take our stress test to find out how much you know about stress and pick up tips to beat it!
Depression and diet may be related. Some preliminary research suggests that having a poor diet can make you more vulnerable to depression. Researchers in Britain looked at depression and diet in more than 3,000 middle-aged office workers over the course of five years. They found that people who ate a junk food diet — one that was high in processed meat, chocolates, sweet desserts, fried food, refined cereals and high-fat dairy products — were more likely to report symptoms of depression.
Dispatches From The Front 