Life of Riley

Facebook Photos

A thought crossed my mind the other day...weird, I know. I have no idea how I started to think about Facebook and it's ability to make money, but I did. I am curious as to why Facebook has not attempted to monetize the photo sharing aspect of its site. There are a few of reasons that quickly ran through my mind...either no one has thought of this, the upside is too little when compared to the investment, or Facebook has been unable to find a suitable partner to manage this.

I am not envisioning anything crazy...just a simple 'click here' button to purchase prints of photos that have been posted. Of course there would need to be safe guards...a user can only purchase their own photos or only those in which they are tagged or those albums that they are given permission to order...so that not just anyone could order prints of anyone's photos. I know that there are photos that either I've posted to Facebook or have been tagged in that are posted that I would purchase.

Is there something that I am missing here that would prevent FB from offering such a service?

Validation?

I came across this article this morning on my way into work. Is this validation of Social Media as a mainstream form of advertising?

this should not be happening

This is, as of a few minutes ago, the feature article on CNN. When did we become a socialist state? I didn't think Obama took office yet...

If things keep going this way I may as well just move to France...at least they have crepes there!!

there is a business here...

I'm back! After more than three weeks of learning to do many things one handed...off-handed...I am back, able to use both hands and able to type a bit more efficiently. I have been sitting idly by the past few weeks...cheering on my 'Boys to a 3-0 record, watching the Government create a welfare system for big business/financial markets, watching countless campaign ads, betting horses...wishing I had the power and/or energy and/or ability to sit up and put a few words to the computer screen. Well, after pondering the past couple days as to what I would come back with, I found this article on wsj.com today...

There is certainly a business here and, as the author points out, a difficult one. Give the right structure I think that a company in the business of buying homes at deep discounts to rent out is a great idea. I looked into it after Katrina. Given my own experiences I didn't get too far with the idea, since most of what is listed in the WSJ article is true...leaky toilets, driving to fix things, seeking out tenants for rent...and can lead to many headaches.

However, I do not see why some states or locales don't get into the practice of purchasing foreclosed homes or pre-foreclosed homes in order to rent out. The 'boom' that we experienced created a rather sizable shortage of 'affordable' housing. Why not buy up these properties and turn them into affordable housing?

I know, I know...who will look after them, who will fix things, who will collect rent...etc, etc. Well, if this were to come to fruition, locales could appoint a position in the government to do these things. The rental income would offset the salary and, if done right, help to increase income.

I am not saying that this will work everywhere, and I am making it out to be much simpler than it would be in reality, but I still believe that some sort of similar program would certainly work.

practice what you preach

As a business owner/manager/supervisor one of the greatest, most important clichés to live/work by is Practice What You Preach. That is, make sure that you are following the same rules you set for your employees and work to lead by example. Making sure that you do so will show your employees that you care about business as much as they need to and you are just as invested in the success as you want them to be. Making sure to lead by example will help to garner the support needed from them and will help to build and sustain a strong, viable team.

 If you want your employees to work extra hours, don’t come in late and leave early because you can.

 If you want your employees to shoulder extra responsibilities, don’t spend the day on the phone and take extended lunch breaks.

 There are so many more that I could come up with, but I will stop there and leave it to you to come up with other examples.

great ads

The other day while listening to ESPN radio I learned that during the 2008 Beijing Olympics somewhere near 100,000 condoms will be distributed to athletes in the Olympic village. What is interesting is that there are only about 2,000 athletes or so. Why so many condoms? Well, apparently in Athens, during the ’04 games, over 75,000 condoms were provided…and demand was not satisfied.

 So when I shared this info on Friday night, Caroline took it upon herself to research these interesting facts. Well, she came upon this article, which shows some very intriguing, comedic uses of condoms in advertising. I am not really sure how the accompanying slogan of “Sports make you health." fits within the scheme of this, though. Whatever…the ads are great and make light of a somewhat awkward product to market.

The ads seem to be working. There is quite a bit of buzz surrounding the campaign, which is exactly what advertising is supposed to do. Great job. I've included one of the ads above, but there are many more here...including a basketball, gymnastics, & swimming gimmick.

addict

So I have joined the ranks of the millions of CrackBerry addicts out there. I purchased the Curve 8830 yesterday afternoon and haven't stopped playing with it since...except for the few hours of sleeping last night. I am having so much fun searching out different applications, browsing the web, and just playing with it. So far I am enjoying Viigo the best...and I am trying to stay away from Brick Breaker. I am seriously considering purchasing Guitar Hero, but I am not sure how fun it would be on a phone...

My experience with Verizon was, predictably, awful. I have been with them for 10 years now, have tried other companies, and their service can't be beat...cell service that is! VZW needs to get its employees all on the same page. No matter where I am or what I am trying to do I always seem to get a different story about what I can do, can't do, should do, or shouldn't do. My latest issue couldn't be solved by the customer care people in the store...even though it was a corporate owned store...I had to make a phone call to the customer care national line. Absurd! The manager at the store apologized and assured me that it was a free call to national customer service. LIKE I CARE! I spent over 40 minutes waiting in line to be told that I need to call someone because they can't credit accounts in the store.

So here is my take...if you don't trust the people you hire to do the right thing...especially management...you shouldn't be hiring them at all! Get everyone on the same page, get all of your policies in order, and get your customers happy. Having a $175 strangle hold on your customers doesn't mean that they don't deserve a good experience. Love/Hate with me & VZW...

art of money getting

I was recently pointed to a great service called DailyLit, which is an online service that emails portions of books to you at pre-determined intervals. There are many titles from which to choose...many are free and some require a small fee. I chose to start with Art of Money Getting by P.T. Barnum.

This is a great book on many levels. There is inspiration for life as well as business. There are many lessons to be learned for the eager entrepreneur as well. I am only a little past half done with my installments, but I figured now was as good a time as ever to share. The author delves into topics such as avoiding debt, hiring and dealing with employees, running a business, creating and maintaining success, and perseverance.

Although it is written in an old style with many outdated references this is certainly worth a read for anyone in the business world, anyone looking to start a business, anyone in need of some good advice, or anyone who just likes a good book. His advice is on point and many of his suggestions still hold true today.

I will put together a more detailed review of the book at a later date once I finish the whole thing, but for now I will share a little piece that I read today and really enjoyed. There is a relayed conversation where a student asks an old lawyer whether there is room in his profession and the lawyer replies that "The basement is much crowded, but there is plenty of room up-stairs." This is true in so many ways today...we need good people in (almost) all fields and there is always room for those who work to become the best. It is those that choose mediocrity that fill the basement, so to speak.

So no matter what the chosen path, aim for the top, work hard and almost surely you'll end up up-stairs.

being well

Wellness programs within the workplace are put into place to encourage employees to get fit, be healthy, and live well. This is accomplished through education, discounts, and guidance designed to change behaviors for the better. As my body slowly recovers from last weekend's adventure, I started to think of how nice it would be if my firm offered such a program.

As I looked around the web for resources on such programs...and if my employer needed to participate in order to gain some benefits...I came across some interesting info about these wellness programs. First, I was surprised to learn that nearly half of America's companies offer some form of wellness programs (not where I work)...and this number is expected to increase to nearly 70% by next year (probably not here). Although I think these programs are great ideas I really am surprised that so many companies actually participate.

Second, I was a little dismayed that laws in states that prevent employers from "discriminating" against employees for off-site activities could have an impact on these programs. Of course there are privacy concerns here that go well beyond the scope of this posting and I will leave it at that. However, when argued the right way, these statutes may actually prevent such wellness programs on the ground that they discriminate against people who choose to be unhealthy outside of work. Unreal!

So instead of rewarding people for caring about their health, it is those who don't care who find the benefits. Those that smoke, or do drugs, or eat too much, or don't exercise are the ones who are protected. They get to pay the same health care premiums. They get to continue to act as they wish. They get to burden the health care system.

There is an argument to be made that truly disabled people are unfairly left out of the possible benefit of such programs. In my eyes...yeah, maybe. Just because someone is in a wheelchair, or are blind, or mentally challenged, or whatever doesn't mean that they can't make a lifestyle change to lead a healthier life. There are ways around gym discounts...give people unable to workout discounts to Weight Watchers or include nutritionist visits to their health plans. Disabled people are not unable to be healthy and should still be able to participate in wellness programs.

What really irritates me is that there are people out there who will not be able to partake in such programs; people who will be forced to shoulder higher health care costs; people who live healthy lives just because there are idiots out there who would rather kill themselves with their smokes or their triple cheeseburgers. Just like any incentive program there are people who can and will partake and then there are those who choose not to participate. If someone chooses to not be healthy outside of work...that is their own business...but not being able to participate because of those choices should not be discrimination in the eyes of the law.

If someone chooses not to participate they are not then punished by not receiving a discount...they are paying what they would anywhere else for living their life the way they choose. What happens with these programs is people have a CHOICE to participate and as a REWARD for that choice, they receive a discount.

In my eyes these programs are akin to car insurance discounts. You have airbags...discount. You have an alarm...discount. You are a good driver...discount. SAME THING WITH WELLNESS PROGRAMS. You eat healthy...discount. You go to the gym...discount. You are a healthy person...discount.

It is just another case of people feeling as though they are entitled and being lazy. It is another case of people trying to piggy-back on others hard work and dedication. It is another case of people trying to make sure that everyone is treated equal for unequal behavior. It's just another case where I sit back, shake my head and hope the legal system gets this right.

advertising SNAFU

I listen to ESPNRadio on Sirius satellite radio while driving to work in the morning. There are plenty of advertisements between segments and most of these ads are offbeat. One ad that I always get a kick out of is that for Prolixus...which is a supplement that promises to add width or thickness to one's 'manhood'. Well, the voice on the radio was that of Something-Something-the Third (I can't remember his name), supposed inventor of this magical pill. Mr. ____ III had a wirey voice, sort of high pitched; a voice that brings to mind images of that pimply faced kid from high school that was always afraid to talk to girls.

A funny thing happened today. Apparently these magical pills not only thicken your...well, you know...these pills also cause a significant deepening of one's voice. Today the voice coming from my speakers once again proclaimed to be Mr. ____ III, the inventor of Prolixus. Well, he didn't sound like he did yesterday or the day before or even last week. His voice was deep; a voice that brings to mind an image of the star quarterback who has extreme confidence and has to shake women away with a stick.

It isn't as if Mr. Squeaky was on one station and Mr. Confident was on another...they were both on the same station proclaiming to be the same person. I find it amusing that no one guiding this marketing scheme brought up the possibility that someone out there may hear the differences in the two voices. If you are trying to convey to the listener that Mr. ____ III actually invented a magic pill, why would you then tarnish any confidence in this message by all of a sudden changing who Mr. ____ III is? The product is suspect at best, don't compound this by engaging in sketchy advertising.

If you are going to pick a spokesperson, make sure that the person stays the same. If you need to change the person conveying your message, make sure that you don't try to pass them off as the same person. This will destroy whatever credibility your product has and will severely dilute your message.