Here’s some food for thought. Is our current education system killing creativity for kids? Are we doing our society any justice by encouraging the focus on scientific and linguistic learning whilst down-playing the importance of class room creativity?
Here is an interesting presentation about this issue, and well worth the 19 minutes to watch. It is thought-provoking, funny and raises some serious questions about creativity and innovation, and the value we as a culture put on creativity.
Thanks to TED.com for the video and for allowing others to share it.
Every business, whether big or small, should consider purchasing business insurance to protect the interests of that business. Owners or managers of a well-run company must deal with many different issues every day. They must control inventory, hire employees, handle finances and attract customers. If something goes wrong in any of those areas or with some other aspect related to the business, there is potential for a loss of income, or possibly, a lawsuit being filed against the company. In order to guard against all possible contingencies, it is prudent to buy an adequate amount of business insurance.
One can buy business insurance to cover everything from employee theft to personal injury lawsuits. There are policies that will cover loss of business in the event of an outside event that causes you to have to temporarily shut down your operations. If a severe hurricane or flood strikes and your business must be closed until power is restored and the streets are made passable, business insurance can help compensate your company for the loss of revenue over the time period you are unable to operate. Policies do vary as to what circumstances are covered and to what degree they are covered. For further details on the different types of policies available, you can visit businessinsurance.org.
One specific situation that is quite common in most retail businesses is someone falling and injuring themselves while on your property. While not every slip and fall victim will pursue legal action, many will. Even if the case was no fault of the business, there are still legal costs and expenses that may be incurred while defending the business. Business insurance can help cover those out-of-pocket expenses.
Another situation might involve a disgruntled employee. You may be exposed to a lawsuit if an employee accuses the business of discrimination or unfair dismissal. An employee can also act negligently and do something that the business will be found liable for correcting. You just never know what can occur on any particular day.
It is relatively inexpensive to buy a business insurance policy. You will get protection and peace of mind. Consider this type of insurance as part of the cost of owning or operating a business.
I have talked about this with others. I have had others explain it to me. If you haven’t had a clear explanation yet of what a business model is and why you must have one if you want your business to survive, please watch this presentation below.
If you want a brief, straight-to-the-point review of what social networking and social marketing is all about, watch this video by TED.com. Enjoy!
Direct from TED.com’s RSS feed:
In a funny, rapid-fire 4 minutes, Alexis Ohanian of Reddit tells the real-life fable of one humpback whale’s rise to Web stardom. The lesson of Mister Splashy Pants is a shoo-in classic for meme-makers and marketers in the Facebook age.
Trade marks are what distinguish one business and its products from another. In selecting a new trade mark, whether as the name for a business or just a new product, there are a number of important issues to consider.
Is it distinctive?
A trade mark should be distinctive. It should not merely describe the products being offered. Why is that? Because other businesses in the same industry may have a legitimate need to use non-distinctive words and phrases, and the law recognises their right to do so.
Web Marketing can be considered by some to be an unknown process that only a rare few know how to do. It is true that search engine marketing requires a specific skill set, but there are ways in which you can market your website effectively to increase traffic.
Internet sales continue to soar, particularly in certain market segments and more and more, the first place people go to in order to learn about your business is the internet. If they find a well designed web site that is full of features, that works fast and draws them in, that can be a tremendous tool for promoting your business.
Trade marks are what distinguish one business and its products from another. They allow goods and services to be recognised and selected by the trade marks that they bear.
Good trade marks are memorable and distinctive. They will be remembered by the consumer, who has either seen an advertisement or used the product. They then allow that same consumer to look out for products bearing that same trade mark when shopping. As such, it is important that businesses can protect their trade marks from competitors using something similar.
User-centred Graphic Design is an approach to designing creative projects that focus on delivering information relevant to the end user that views the design. In its essence, it puts the needs and perceptions of the end user at the centre of the creative process.
Whilst this concept may seem apparent and be common sense, it is an often over-looked or under-valued component of the creative process. And the reasons why are usually the same regardless of the type of project – such as a website or a corporate brand.
Customer Relationship Management, or CRM for short, is the term given to the process that a business uses to manage its interactions with customers. Why it is so popular and is one of those corporate buzz words is that it helps organisations systematically track the activities they have with their customers and prospects.
You most likely already have a system in place to help you track your customers’ needs and the conversations you have with them. At the most basic level, it is usually a pen and paper. If you have a desk littered with reminder notes about people to call or email, then you can most likely relate to the frustration that this basic CRM system causes.
Putting into place a system that helps your people manage customers can be a complex task. Hopefully after reading this post this task will seem much more doable.
Its short. Its quick. And its really cool. The next time you are making your way through the train transport system where you live, imagine that the scene below took place and you saw it. How intrigued would you be with it all? And, how many people would you tell about it?
