Working in the business world is a seriously hard job. It doesn’t matter if you have a business on the street corner across from Wal Mart, or a business online, you will all run into problems. Business society offers tips for those new to the business world. Remember though, everyone can’t be a success story. Be careful and know that there is information and products out there that can help you. There are also budget plans as well. Budget plans are business plans offered online that allow you to purchase a product for a low price, which has information in it that shows you how to utilize free services properly to build an online corporation.

There are alternatives in the business society. People using the internet don’t have to have their own business, they can work for other businesses as well. Its an ever growing list of sites that pay you to work for them.

Hey, at least that’s a noble way to become poor! The rich guys do it all the time (it’s just they don’t get broke). There are lots of different charities these days anyway, so what stops you from going there and giving all your money away?

Invest all your money in Lehman Brothers

They went bankrupt few weeks ago. Wall Street is on its knees. But you don’t care! You shouldn’t care. You are going to invest in Lehman no matter what happens! An attitude to make you poor over the short term, but over long-term…who knows? Some people say that even after the biggest storm the sun comes out shining like never before.

Set up a 7-day challenge

In this 7-day challenge you are going to:

• Sell everything you have
• Get the biggest loan you can
• Buy the car of your dreams and everything you ever dreamed of (oh, come on guys, I knew that women came on your mind!)

After 7 days you are probably going to be very, very broke. But hey, at least you had the time of your life!

Buy the most expensive version of everything

Wanting to buy a watch? Go to Rolex. New clothes? Gucci and D&G. A ring? Diamond. 8ct minimum! You can brag to your friends that you’re the biggest PIMP in the world. Of course, you’ll be broke after few days and your friends will think you’re a jerk. Anyway, you’ll live with the thought that in your previous days you had the life of your dreams

Any other ideas?

What really started the bubble was easy access to credit. Banks were determining credit worthiness by looking at FICO scores rather than income and other credit measures. The mortgage origination business picked up on what banks were requiring and found an easy way to make profits. The mortgage originator was paid on the front end for arranging the mortgage from the applicant’s fees and in some cases, bonuses from competing banks. I can’t count the number of young men that I know that migrated to the mortgage industry as that was were the cash was being made.

Once completed, the mortgage was purchased by another bank or brokerage to be bundled and sold as a credit derivative bond. The buyer of the derivatives was usually a high level market participant who purchased default insurance from the insurance industry (like Ambac, AIG, etc). However, no entity realized that the insurance company only had $.03 in reserve for every dollar of derivative insured.

Therefore, everyone thought they were covered from default. The derivative holder had insurance. The insurer had such a large number of clients that all could not fail at the same time. As we now know, this led to the projected $700 billion banking bailout that is being prepared today.

Look at the trail of failures from Ambac – Regional Banks – Brokerages and more to likely come. But the majority will be bailed out with taxpayer money. We know that it is better to bailout failures than to allow the banking system to collapse. It doesn’t seem fair to the general citizen to be affected by greedy capitalist. In general, money trumps fairness when greed enters the game.

The bigger problem is what has happened to John Q. Public. They were over-leveraged with mortgages that have now reset to a higher interest rate. Many of these people will end up in default and bankruptcy. Is the grass always greener on the other side? Or does the color green illicit greed? For now, Trump’s empire is safe from Mr. Public.

Let’s do a common sense check. Can a family with a household income of $40,000 live in the same size home as a family making $200,000? We know the answer to this question today! At last check, the consumer was responsible for nearly 2/3rds of the GDP. The impact of the credit crisis will negatively affect the GDP and move our economy closer to recessionary levels. Only time will tell the full implications to the typical American who lives responsibly within their means.

There is a way to rid ourselves of this clear and present danger of what the lack of prudent fiscal policies from business to our own government is doing to the United States Economy. In essence, what has happened through the federal governments refusal to lessen the burden on Americans by a disproportional tax system and corporate greed is an escalation of economic instability.

Most businesses today are in survival mode now and have been for the past 30 year becoming more self- focused and less interested in providing living wages to their employees. Whatever it takes to increase the bottom line. Gone is the motivation to produce quality, durable and reliable goods and services. Compounding all of this is the fact that the government’s refusal to ease the financial burden on all Americans brought on by, again, corporate greed from our energy producing industries which brought us ever increasing fuel prices. This leads to the rising cost of living, the increase of personal debt, and a spiraling downward economic climate. If nothing is not done, we will be thrust into an era much worse than the 1930’s.

The report does not portray an accurate account of personal wealth in the country today.  Personal incomes are continuing to fall by more than 7%  annually. The majority of Americans earn far less than they did, say ten years ago, factoring in the cost of living today. An example is in Hillsborough County in Florida,  where the majority of people earn less than $30,000 per year while the cost of living requires a salary of at least $45,000 per year.

With the ever increasing cost of doing business every where businesses are succumbing to the pressures of keeping up the profit margins. In doing so they contract, whether it be in the form of lay-offs or closing divisions etc. This is very similar to the period of the early 1930’s. Remember, “What we have to fear is fear itself.” Franklin Roosevelt understood what fear in the business community will do. Only through bold initiatives could pull the United States out of the Depression. Passage of the New Deal was crucial in bringing about lasting economic growth. Today what is needed to bring about lasting economic growth is a partnership with our government and businesses to work together in conjunction to pull the United States out from further economic decline.

Businesses instead of contracting must expand. The worst thing they are doing is not providing opportunities for growth and expansion. This is essential for every one. Instead of waiting for an economic turn-around we have to create one. This is done by bracing new technologies, expanding product bases, and generating real living wages so that all workers will be able to purchase the goods and services that they produce.

The United States Govenment must pass National Economic Reform. A similar proposal in scope and magnitude to the New Deal of the 1930’s  only updated for the 20th century. This along with a renewed effort by businesses to generate new products and expand existing ones will greate an economic expansion unparrelled in our history and in doing so will bring about economic and national securtiy, restore our nations credibility in the world, and produce lasting prosperity for all Americans. 

1. I’m too old to get rich

   Ray Kroc, creator of the McDonald’s franchise was over 50 years old when he earned his first millions. He was a simple food machineries salesman when he bought the small burger house from the McDonaldbrothers in New York City, the brothers incurred huge debt that they decided to give up their burger store and venture in another business. Ray Croc reinvented the food store into franchising and began expanding his territory all over the US and then-to the world. Now Mc Donald is one of the most admired companies in the world with more than 200,000 outlets.
   Dr. William Welch, the founder of Welch 100% Grape Juice was a rural health physician who switched to dentistry. He was 60 years old when he realized that he can earn huge money by extracting juice rather than pulling teeth. At first, while maintaining a dental clinic in Baltimore, USA, Welch utilized his time in reading books about fermentation process (introduced by French Bacteriologist Louis Pasteur) with his wife. Then he started the draining process of extracting Grapes in their kitchen.

   He first introduced his product to their Methodist Church to use as a ceremonial drink, the words spread to neighboring towns about the goodness of pure Grape Juice. Eventually it flourished and Dr. Welch decided to leave his profession to devote more time in his juice business. He then bought a piece of land to plant Grapes, now the plantation is well known as Concord. Today, the product boasted recognition when American Heart Association endorses the Welch 100% Grape Juice as an ideal drink which helps prevent heart problem because of Resveratrol (an antioxidant known for the prevention of cardiovascular disorder present in the Grapes).

   John Grisham, Hollywood’s blockbuster writer became multimillionaire when he was 45 years old, that’s when he left his job as a criminal lawyer and concentrated on writing suspense books. His published paperbacks managed to be included in the best-sellers record of New York Time Magazine and became instant hits among Hollywood producers. Grisham’s first movie blockbuster hit was “The Pelican Brief” starring Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington followed by “The Firm” which starred Tom Cruise. Grisham used his expertise in legal profession to make his writing works a truly believable plot.

2. I’m too young to get rich

   Bill Gates, the second richest man in the world (for a record of 10 years, Gates, hold the distinction as World’s richest man, until fortune Magazine published in March 2008 that the number one spot was dominated by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helu, a telecommunication moguls in Latin America), was only 23 years old when he started his Microsoft business. By the time he dropped out from the prestigious Harvard University where he took up Commerce, William Henry Gates Jr. already made up his mind to concentrate in his information technology empire. He first teamed up with another computer wizard Paul Allen, but later on decided to establish his own business. Paul Allen, however, remained his partner and became a self-made billionaire; he is currently in the top 30 list of richest people in the world.

   Lee Ka Shing, Hongkong’s wealthiest man was 21 years old when he began making money. His family moved to Hong Kong when the civil war in China broke up in 1930’s. When he was 14 years old his father died living his younger siblings under his care, he accepted different odd jobs, when he turned 20 he joined a direct selling business, it prospered and the boy who once did door to door selling to earn a living became a millionaire at 21. He did not go to college but his eagerness to leave a mark in the business industry fueled his desire to compete against well-educated individuals in the business world. Presently, he is the richest man in South East Asia and ranked number 9 in the world, based in the 2008 listing of Forbes Magazine (note: he is the only person from South East Asia who is in the top 10 ranking of world’s richest people in Forbes).

3. I have no capital

   Did you know that Lucio Tan, the Philippines richest man was a poor boy from China? His family migrated in the Philippines when he was 4 years old. He was a working student at Far Eastern University, Manila, where he took up Chemical Engineering and part timed as janitor in nearby oil company. He was diligent and industrious who valued time, after passing the chemical board exam he worked full time as a chemist, then he started his own company. According to Panorama Magazine (1994 issue), Mr. Tan’s secret ingredient to success is hard work. He personally worked in his business until wee hours. He is a simple person who wears only barong during important business functions even after he transferred to the glitzy subdivision-Forbes Park. His business empire includes Allied Bank, PNB, PAL, Asia Brewery, La Tondeña Distillery, Pentagon Electronics, Virginia Tobacco, among others. He is listed as the 415th richest man in the world by US based business magazine Forbes and ranked 12th in South East Asia.

   Philippine’s second richest man Henry Sy (14th richest man in South East Asia), is a son of a poor Chinese immigrant, so poor that when he first set foot in the Philippine soil he was Shoeless, when he became of age he went to Manila and lived with Chinese traders. He first worked as assistant in a shoe factory then put his own shoe shop, with perseverance, his shoe shop prospered, later became Shoe Mart which known SM CITY today. His business empire grew so fast that he competed with Asia’s traditional businessmen in establishing shopping malls, the latest addition; SM mall of Asia is the 3rd largest mall in the world thrilling behind West Edmonton Mall in Alberta, Canada and Golden Resources Mall in Beijing, China.

   Another poor man who captured the world’s imagination was Benjamin Franklin, American statesman, writer and inventor. He was the youngest child in the brood of 16. Though his parents owned a candle shop in Boston, Massachusetts, the mean income could not support comfortably with the whole family. Young Benjamin did not think much of food and what to eat because he had been told not to do so, he hardly eat delicious food. His older siblings had large appetite and would jam the table even before Ben could occupy his chair. When he realized that his father could no longer afford to send him to school, he decided to work in his brother’s printing shop. Much of his earnings went to books. He adored poetry and short stories. Amidst poverty, young Ben dreamed big things; he practiced writing, though he did not know the very basic of that profession. Then his brother started beating him cruelly, this prompted Ben to run away, with little bucks left in his pocket, he stole down to Boston harbor and went to New York City. Ben had nothing except clean t-shirt and the pants he wore. In New York, he was not accepted for any work, so he went to Philadelphia, because he had no money to pay for the transportation, he endured the long miles walking the rocky roads and sleeping at the fields at night, by the time he reached Philadelphia he was tired, dirty and hungry.

   Benjamin accepted odd jobs and work day and night until he earned enough money to support his schooling. Later in his colorful journey, he founded his own printing shop, invented the first gas stove, published stories and became America’s most celebrated statesman.(trivia: When Benjamin owned a company, he noticed a young man, 14 years his junior, who was prone to failures despite his aggressiveness in work, though this young man armed with undisputed talent, intellect and strengths, he was easily intimidated and discouraged with slightest mistakes. Benjamin decided to train this man and making his own struggles in life as example, he taught him how to conquer odds, the result was remarkable, this man became an asset of the company which later on made him a successful professional, he later on quit his job and joined politics, but the great lesson Benjamin Franklin taught him never fade in his mind and he used it as his springboard as he soared high in his career. That young man was none other than James Madison, who became the fourth US President. It’s amazing to know that his great teacher in life was a poor stow away boy from Boston who once endured walking a rocky road, tired and dirty just to reach his dreams.

   J.K. Rowling, Blockbuster writer of The Harry Potter series, made her humble beginning as a college secretary then a French language professor at the Edinburgh University in Scotland. By the time she was divorced from her first husband she had lost her job, she and her only child, a daughter, lived in a small cottage in Edinburgh City and would often ate in a charity kitchen. One time she traveled to Manchester City in England through a rail way transit and saw young children playing in the suburb area, this inspired her to write the initial plot of Harry Potter. Her manuscript rejected 12 times until Bloomsbury, a small publishing company in suburb England accepted it with one condition-that she will changed her name from Joanne to J.K(stands for Joanne Kathleen-Kathleen is her grandmother’s name) to camouflage her gender.

   In a male dominated society like Britain, women usually endure a painful discrimination getting youngsters market. The publication feared that the target market of Harry Potter might not patronize the book if they’ll find out that it’s written by a female. Jo Rowling created such impact that it became an instant hit, by the time the reading public knew the true identity of the writer it had gone a long way to the best-selling list of the international poll for new generation books and signed up to a British major movie outfit. Presently, J.K Rowling is listed in Forbes Magazine as the wealthiest author in the Entertainment Industry (she currently ranked 700th richest person in the world). She is considered also as the richest woman in Great Britain (Queen Elizabeth II had been excluded in the poll, because her wealth is tied up to her position as the current ruling monarch). Money does not count in the beginning, what matter most is one’s ability to pursue specific goals.

4. I’m not educated

   Great American inventor Thomas Alva Edison did not go to college and so Alfred Nobel, a Swedish born scientist who invented dynamite, in fact Nobel had no orthodox training in chemistry when he started experimenting home-made bombs. He was a son of a Swedish Engineer who maintained a laboratory for explosives. The Late Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis who almost owned the world in mid 60’s with his vast fortunes, had no formal college education. South Asia’s richest man Li Ka Sing was a high school drop out. Though they were not educated in the real sense of the word, they were personally knowledgeable on the field they excelled.

5. I’m not gutsy

   Alfred Nobel was often described by his family as a shy, grown up man who is afraid of meeting people. He didn’t marry, however, there was one legend that tells that Alfred Nobel once proposed to a sweet Swedish girl but was turned down because she preferred another man, a Swedish great Mathematician, Nobel took the rejection terribly that he decided not to propose to any woman again (the story remained a legend). He won’t join the group and would confine in his father’s laboratory for the rest of the day (his father, an Engineer, owned a laboratory who experimented explosives), before his death in December 10, 1896 he instructed his most trusted secretary to split his millions to various charity and founded Nobel Prize, the highest award giving body for human achievement in the world.

   (Trivia: Alfred Nobel’s hatred for that mathematician rival lasted for a life time. When he drafted his last will testament, he strongly pointed out that no mathematics field shall be included in the Nobel Prize Award. The 20th century great mathematician, Albert Einstein won the Nobel Prize in 1921, because there was no mathematics category, he was awarded in the Physics division for his resilient work in photo electric effect. It made controversies however, because at that time his famous work was the Law of Relativity, but the Nobel Prize Award committee doubted this theory because of insufficient evidence, he was advised to prove more work on Relativity [which he perfected many years later]. The committee played safe by giving Einstein recognition in Photo Electric Effect instead.)

   King George VI of England was tremendously shy, he suffered nervousness and often stammered in public which irritated his father George V. The timid monarch, who was known to his family as Bertie and The Duke of York before his surprise accession in 1936, never attended parties except for important royal functions. He once confided to his wife how much he hated social gatherings. When his older brother, David, told him that he planned to abdicate, Prince Bertie, who dreaded the idea of becoming King and carry the weight of the crown under his fragile shoulder, rushed to his mother’s room Queen Mary and broke in tears, which he recorded in his diary as “I cried in my mother’s lap for an hour like a poor child” (source: The Royal Sisters by Anne Edwards)

   He became king on the abdication of his brother King Edward VIII on December 11, 1936. Edward, who was known to his family as Prince David, chooses to marry the twice divorced American woman Wallis Simpson. The British constitution prohibited the monarch from taking a divorce woman as consort. Edward VIII voluntarily rendered his unforgettable abdication sending his shy brother to the throne. King George VI (he died in his sleep on February 1952 from coronary thrombosis) reign for 16 years and with the help of his gallant Prime Minister William Churchill and his Queen consort Elizabeth Bowes Lyon (known as the Queen Mother after her daughter’s accession in 1952), surpassed World War II with amazing victory. Great Britain became known as one of the most powerful and richest nations in the world. The British subjects adored and praised George VI honesty and leadership over his stammering habits and shy nature.

   Even the world’s most adored fairytale writer Hans Christian Andersen was a shy man who had inferiority complex. His inferior nature was rooted in his childhood. When he was a little boy growing up in a Danish village, he suffered many rejections among his playmates who sometimes bet themselves if Hans was a male or a female. Even his own family had little hopes for him. Hans would hide among trees and barns to write stories and eat alone. Amidst the rejection, Hans determined to become famous.

   When he was 19 he went to Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, he auditioned to become an actor, but the theater owner rejected him for not being good looking, he didn’t lose hope and tried several times but the result was the same. Thinking he would never qualify as a performer, he switched to another passion: writing. His effort paid off, one of the playwrights gave him a chance and accepted his plays. During Hans’ time playwrights were valued more than ministers and businessmen and they were often invited to royal palaces to entertain aristocracy and royalty. This paved the way for Hans’s greatness, in one of his plays; the King’s counselor offered him a scholarship and a place in the palace. Many years later Hans Christian Andersen became famous through out the world. His very popular fairytale story “The Ugly Duckling” many said, was the fairytale of his life. His fairytale books are known today as “stories that never grow old”.

6. It’s too late

   According to a Psychology expert, the phrase “too late” is the most terrible concept that ever landed in every human’s brain. There’s no such thing as too late, he said, because you can start at any point in your life, after all, success does not depend on the chronological age of a person; it is based on one’s perspective and ability to create a concrete goal. Hollywood Actress Jane Fonda once said, “Never too late to start, never too late to begin”, she was 52 then and had just married CNN Tycoon Ted Turner.
   Italian astronomer Galileo, the father of modern physics who discovered the law of pendulum and falling bodies, published his last book at the age of 70 four years before he contacted blindness (important note: Galileo died in the birth year of another great physicist Isaac Newton, known to the world as the father of modern science).

   Hollywood actor Paul Newman leads his team to victory in a car racing event in Italy when he was 82 years old.
   American writer Steve Berry; became a best-selling author at the age of 45. His first published book “The Amber Room” suffered 80 rejections before it was finally accepted on his 81st submission. The book became a best-seller.
   Yes, it is possible…and we don’t need to rob a bank, kidnap a millionaire, or be slave abroad just to earn money. What we need is the ability to learn and adopt new things and be equipped with 2 basic business functions-marketing and innovation, plus the principle of US President Theodore Roosevelt-Determination and Persistence.

   But if these things fail despite your effort to succeed, don’t you ever think that wealth is everything. While aiming big money is fine there are still best things in life that cannot be reciprocated by any amount: true friends, love ones, family, satisfaction, happiness, fulfillment and peace of mind. All these things operate outside the world of money. Some of the loneliest people in the universe are those who have billions in their accounts. While money plays an important role in our survival, self-belongingness and genuine happiness always count most in the over-all sense.
   Wisdom often leads us to greatness.

Iran has threatened to cut off the Straits of Harmuz if Israel attacks them.

That would drive a barrel of oil over $300.

What the hell is going on?

You’ve heard all the story, we’re running out of gas, the Chinese and Indian markets are buying cars and need gas for their millions of automobiles that are coming on line. Our SUVs are burning gas on the road by the tons.

Whatever reason you want to believe in, it doesn’t really matter to you. You’ve got to reach into your pocket and pay for that gas at the pump.

If you’re a small business person, it’s going to hurt your bottom line really bad.

What can you do?

You can do a lot and start you, your company and your employees get ready for it now.

First of all, do a little audit of your situation.

Do you have company vehicles?

How much of your sales depend on traveling to see your customers?

Do you have employees that travel more than thirteen miles to work?

What can you do?

Company Vehicles

Okay, let’s say you have five or more vehicles in your organization.

1. Consider putting computer systems into your vehicles in order to follow using GPS systems where your vehicles are going. This way you can keep and control where the vehicles are doing.
2. Plan out routes for your vehicles in order to save distance and gas usage. Planning the routes will show you the best and quickest way of getting to your customers and
3. Make sure that your drivers are driving within the speed limit. Remember that any miles over the speed limit can burn needed car fuel. Keep it 55 or under and save fuel.
4. Control the drag on your company vehicles. Eliminate the drag if you’ve got pickups and other open vehicles make sure that the items they carry are not creating drag on the vehicle.
5. Keep your tires inflated to the right amount. It sounds corny but it works and helps you save.

Employees

You can help your employees by holding meetings and teaching them way of saving gas for their own vehicles.

1. You can teach them to keep their tires properly inflated.

   Again, it sounds corny but it works.

2. Car Pool.

   It’s simple and can be done immediately.

3. Teach Employees how to save gas in their driving methods.

   Keep the lead foot off the pedals and don’t hit the brakes too much.

4. Help them plan out their days.

   If they have errands to run before and after work, help them design the routes that will save them gas and waste.

5. Digitize your office.

   Can you have your employees do the same work from home by computers? If so think about going Digitizing your office. Help Employees set up offices at their homes. Assist them in getting the needed material; internet hook ups, computers, cameras and so forth.

6. Four Day Work Week.

   Cutting back the time that your employees need to drive to and from work will save them money and give them an extra day to accomplish other things.

These are just a few things that can be done to make that $5 a Gallon bite not be that big and help you and your employees survive. You don’t need this to become a negative and possibly destroy your business and your employees. You can continue to work and keep your employees surviving this new era that we are entering. This is not going to be just a few months and then poof! We go back to where we were before. We’re never going back. It’s a new era, a new life style.

We need our government and leaders to get into a new mindset when it comes to our fuel and energy sources.

Detroit needs to start changing its ways and develop cars that we need today that will get forty miles or more to the gallon.

You the small to medium size business person needs to adapt. It’s just part of the new evolution in business. You need to have an energy policy ready to go.

Of all of the phrases that are pointless, meaningless and overused, “going forward” really is the highest ranker. Initially, it came in as a substitute for “in the future,” referring to plans to progress projects, etc. Of course, it’s not really about going forward in any sense other than chronologically, because much corporate activity is about dressing up the same carp to look different. Never mind the fact it still exudes the same aroma of fish. Why “going forward” has gained such popularity is beyond me. Why not say “in the future” which has the same number of syllables, or something meaningful dependent on the context its being used? Time was when context mattered. But going forward has gone viral. It’s become the “erm” of the corporate world. It’s a phrase, a sentence and a full stop in itself. “We’ll book a telecon to discuss it going forward.” “Yeah, book me in on my diary going forward.” As such, it’s become a cliché. More than that, its ubiquitous use has stripped it of any meaning.
Having heard the phrase used in interviews on the news recently, it appears that “going forward” has actually seeped into the real world.

Reinventing the Wheel

Reinventing the wheel is something that no sensible person would attempt. And most corporate bods are sensible enough to realise this. And not reinventing the wheel is something you’ll find managers bragging about. It’s a new approach, but they’re not trying to reinvent the wheel. Having said that….

Avoid Fillers

People pause and hesitate in conversation all the time. Sometimes it’s because they’re struggling for the right word. Sometimes it’s simply out of habit. In linguistics, vocalised hesitations are referred to as “fillers.” According to Michael Larcombe writing in New Scientist in 1995, “silence is often construed as a signal that the current speaker is ready to give up his or her turn. So, if we wish to continue our speaking turn, we often need to fill the silences with a sound to show that we intend to carry on speaking.” But there probably aren’t many linguistic experts in the corporate world, which is why when call centre staff are trained, they are instructed to avoid “foghorning.” This is presumably because protracted “eeeeer” sounds are a little like foghorns. Ok. But it’s also perhaps unsurprising that speakers of different languages use different sounds as fillers, which renders the term meaningless when used in training notes for staff in call centres based in India. Imperialism – or unfathomable ignorance – remains rife.

It’s On My Radar

A statement you’ll hear countless times when travelling by train within earshot of a corporate cock is, “Yeah, yeah, it’s on my radar…” A favourite of the inept and those who prefer to look busy rather than actually doing anything.

Car-Park That

I suspect that most normal people consider a car-park to be a large flat place where drivers park cars. The clue’s in the name, really. But if someone says they’re going to “car-park that” during a meeting, it’s probably not a good sign. On the surface, it’s

Put It On Ice

To me, a freezer is a domestic appliance that keeps foodstuffs cold, thus preserving them. The principle is extended in the business world to refer to keeping an idea fresh but inactive. Or something. A variation of the real-world term whereby something such as a project is put “on ice,” putting it in the freezer is much snappier and inventive, and provides a neat alternative to car-parking, or a “cooler” alternative to the back burner.

Be Progressive

The corporate world is big on buzzwords. Nevermind if they’re meaningful or used sincerely. Image is everything. Substance is for other people to worry about. Yes, the box is empty, but it looks nice from the outside, so people are going to be happy to pay through the nose for it. And they’re supposed to be thinking outside the box anyway, so what does it matter what’s inside? Progressive is one such buzzword. Companies like to appear “progressive” – whatever that means. As far as I can tell, it means they’ve found new ways of screwing people over and making as much profit as possible for delivering the minimum of service or product they can get away with.

High-Level Stuff

High Level – serves to reinforce the us and them division between managers and the chairpounders who aren’t important enough or savvy enough to understand what the upper echelons of an organisation discuss behind closed doors. The meeting’s all about high-level stuff… we’ll break it down and roll it out to staff once we’ve fully digested the implications of the implementing the strategy moving forward. What they really mean is that because they don;t actually do the work, they haven’t got a clue, and so talk about things broadly and vaguely with no idea of whether or not it’s physically possible. So, “we need to make a saving in this area of £6.2M. if we reduce the staffing levels by 60% that should do it.” Yeah, but the work volume’s still there. But that’s not for the people on the shop floor whose jobs are on the line to worry about, because it’s high level. The penpushing proles wouldn’t understand.

Pushing the Envelope

The implications of pushing the envelope sound very like passing the buck. But no, It’s going beyond the established boundaries. So why not pushing the boundaries or parameters rather than some meaningless metaphorical envelope?

Knowledge is Power

Sometimes there just isn’t a carp metaphor or catchphrase that fits the bill. I’ve overheard managers on phone calls, in telecons or even in meetings foundering for a phrase that sounds impressive and serves to cover the fact they haven’t a clue what they’re talking about. “yeah, yeah, I’ve not really got so far going forward on this one, it’s got a lot of chefs on it and I didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes. I’m still trying to capture down the soft knowledge, and it’s on my radar…”

But why? Knowledge is power. If you know the code, are privy to the important, “key concepts” you can speak in a manner that sets you apart from the plebs, the drones on the bottom rungs, and those who aren’t in the world of business. And in doing so, it’s possible to demonstrate that knowledge and radiate signals that you therefore have the power. So, remember and use these phrases in interviews, in meetings, or loudly while loitering at the coffee machine and you’ll go far.

Sure, an official economic depression requires two consecutive quarters with negative growth numbers. We haven’t quite gotten there yet, but there’s plenty of other signs out there. If only some of our public officials would admit there may be an issue on the horizon instead of telling everyone that things are fine, or only slightly bad but will recover in a few short months. Let’s take a quick look at those signs, shall we?

1. Retail Stores Closing

Stores come and stores go, especially when they’re little one-off boutiques that just didn’t have the right stuff or location to make it. But these aren’t little boutiques. Both The Bombay Company and Kirkland’s here in the Dallas area have closed their doors. The Bombay Company for sure has closed up shop and is no more. KB Toys has closed it’s doors in the malls around here. A mall toy store for crying out loud! One thing people are always willing to buy is toys for their children, and now toy stores are closing up shop because they can’t make any money. Even The Sharper Image, a toy store for adults, is on shaky ground. They haven’t closed up shop yet, but they’ve stopped accepting already purchased gift cards. If they don’t find help, they may go back to catalog only sales.

2. Precious Metals

Gold is hovering near $1000 an ounce, and silver has reached $20 per ounce. These prices haven’t been seen since the last “mild” recession back in the 80’s. Silver alone has had a 33% price increase since the beginning of the year. If that’s not enough, take a look at eBay and some of the other auction sites. More and more silver is being dumped as people are trying to make their money on it while they can. Many people are trying to undercut the price so they can turn around and sell it for melt value (which is up to 20% less than it’s real value since you have to pay the melter). Older coins are going for outrageous amounts at times. Not because they’re rare, but because people think that they can afford to buy some old silver dimes and quarters so that they can have a stockpile when things crash. Sadly, they’d do better overall by buying sterling flatware, but that’s another story…

3. Traffic

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’ve noticed an actual decrease in rush hour traffic lately. It’s not enough to make the commute a breeze, but a 30 minute trip now only takes 25 minutes. Point your fingers at the price of gas all you want. I don’t buy that excuse. If you live in a city that has poor public transit service to it’s outlying areas (like Dallas does) people will pay any price for gas just to get around. I know I will. My work commute is 45 minutes by car, or 20 minutes by car and 2 hours by public transit. I’ll drive thank you very much. No, rush hour is lighter because there are less people working, so there are less people who need to be on the road at those times. why drive with no destination when you don’t have a job?

4. The Housing Market

Sure, we’ve all heard about the slump in the housing market. More houses are going on the market than before, and there’s nobody out there willing to buy. I see more and more for sale signs every week. Not only that, but those signs I do see stay in front of the house longer and longer. Nobody’s buying, houses are being foreclosed because people couldn’t handle the increase on their ARM mortgage (or lost their job so can’t pay it no matter what). In the mean time, home builders are rushing to complete as many spec homes as they can just to try and recoup their costs and stay out of financial trouble. Let’s not talk about Bank of America bailing out Countrywide from their mortgage account troubles.

5. Currency Conversions

For as long as I can remember the Canadian Dollar was always less than the US Dollar. My how the mighty have fallen! The conversion between Canadian and US Dollar is right at one to one. I still have British Pounds left over from a trip a while back. I remember getting them at a conversion of $1.50 per Pound. I guess if I ever make it back I’ll have made some money on it all because it now takes two Dollars to buy one Pound. Even the Euro is pulling away from the US Dollar at about $1.50 per Euro. Maybe this isn’t the year for that European Vacation after all…

6. Thrift Store and Estate Purchases

It used to be if you went to a garage or estate sale that is you saw something you liked, you’d better pick it up and carry it around with you and buy it right then and there. That’s not so much the case any more. I still see as many people at the sales, but less and less are walking around with anything in their hands. Even more so, if you saw it for full price on day one, chances are it’s still going to be there on day three when everything is 50% off. Nobody’s buying like they used to. In the mean time, thrift stores like Goodwill and the Salvation Army are becoming hot beds of aggressive shopping. I’ve seen actual verbal arguments between people over who had the “right” to be searching through the bins and who was there first. Names have been called over pieces of silver plate flatware, and bad flatware at that.

If these aren’t enough signs of us heading towards a recession then I don’t know what is. Maybe you should pull your head out of the sand and count how many times the fed has cut the federal funds rates to try and stimulate things and how long things have stayed stimulated after the cut. Pretty soon the DOW will do better on Viagra than the Feds cutting the rates for stimulation.

As a full-time graduate student, I could not afford to donate much to charities or to dedicate much time to volunteer. Therefore, I found some free and easy ways to make a difference. Even if you are already making decent donations or offering your time to volunteer, you can still make more donations with these methods.

They require minimal effort make a huge difference! The best thing is that you simply do what you normally do to make free donations. It’s that easy.

Search To Give

Searching is probably what we do mostly on the Internet. If a donation is made for each search, it can really add up! Here are two websites that make donations to good causes every time you search. The source of money is advertising revenue.

• Search Kindly

  SearchKindly is powered by Google, so you get quality results. 100% of the revenue goes to a particular non-profit organization determined by a poll every month. Roughly 1/3 of a cent is raised per search. It sounds like not much, but it can add up.

• Good Search

  GoodSearch gives you the same search results as Yahoo! search. Although they donate only 50% of the revenue, they make about 1 penny per search to the organization you specify. What’s better is that you may put your non-profit organization, school, or church on the list after verification. That is what I did for my organization, American Zen Association.

Email To Give

After searching, what we probably do most is sending emails. Here are two free Web based email services that make donations to good causes for each email you send. Just like Hotmail, they both provide junk mail filter and virus scanning. The mailbox size and other detailed features may be different though.

• Care2 email

  Care2 provides a 100MB space and donates 5% of its revenue to environment-related and other good causes. You can choose a number of fun domain names for your email address.

• Planet Save

  Planetsave gives you a 25MB space and donates 25% of the revenue to green causes.

Chat To Give

Do you use instant messenger? The new Windows Live Messenger i’m intiate donates to the organization you support with every instant message you send. Setting up is easy. You just download and install the latest version of Windows Live Messenger and type the text code, corresponding to the organization you choose, on your display name.

Shop To Give

These online stores donate a portion of the sale to charities when you link to the store through one of the websites shown below. Each website has a different store database, proportion for donation, and designated good causes. You get the same product or service and pay the same price, so why not do it through these websites to make a difference? Just go to one of these websites first, link to the online store, and place your order as usual.

• GoodShop

  GoodShop is the other service offered by GoodSearch. When you shop online through the links on GoodShop, an up to 20% of the sale price (proportion varies; 3% in average) donation is made to the organization you support. They have over 300 online stores in their database.

• Care2 Shopping

  Care2 is a comprehensive website offering a number of services, including shopping to make donations. With over 200 online shops, you can buy almost everything and make free donations to environmental causes.

• iGive

  iGive offers a list of 680 stores and up to 26% (proportion varies) of each purchase donated to your cause. Like GoodSearch (GoodShop), you may add the organization you support to their database.

Click To Give

The last way to make free donations requires a little more effort because you need to remember to click. What I do is to set the website as my homepage, so I am reminded to click when I start my browser. Every time you click, the sponsored stores make donations to help different causes specified by the website. Note that only one click counts from a certain computer for each day.

• The Hunger Site Network

  The Hunger Site Network contains six websites that you click a button to feed the hungry, fund free books to kids, or save rainforest land. Clicking to give on this network is my first free donation action. I have been clicking on these websites daily since six years ago. More than 100,000 people click daily on each website in this network.

• Care2 Click To Donate

  Besides email and shopping, Care2 also has a list of websites offering click to give. Most of them are environment related, including global warming and endangered species. However, they also have some causes that help women and children in need.

Now you can make free donations everyday while you surf the Web, send emails, and shop online. Making free donations to good causes is that easy! Spread the word and let more people know how to make a difference on a daily basis simply by doing things they’re already doing.