http://www.respondingtoopportunity.com Wed, 31 Dec 2008 15:16:46 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en There is a good piece at WSJ Online titled, "Get Ready For A Lost Decade-Bad Times Don't Produce Good Policy" by Holman W. Jenkins Jr. He reaffirms my beliefs that during times of little prosperity, those seeking more regulation, higher taxes, and protectionism usually get their way. But once prosperity blows up, ... http://www.respondingtoopportunity.com/on-government-policy-made-during-down-times/ This morning I was ironing and accidentally put a scorch mark in a cotton button up I was planning on wearing. My Mom is the authority on stain removal and seems to always have a unique home recipe. She suggested white vinegar, but unsure of herself she recommended Google'ing. I couldn't ... http://www.respondingtoopportunity.com/how-to-fix-a-scorchmark/ Courtesy of Michael Galpert. A method for seeing subscriber content for free on the WSJ Online. See an article, click on the Digg link, then click on the story link on the Digg page and all the content will be shown. Pretty sneaky. How to bypass WSJ.com subscriber wall from michael galpert ... http://www.respondingtoopportunity.com/wall-street-journal-hack/ For the last few months I have been poking around the internet reading articles on how to market a commodity. A commodity is a product with little to no difference when compared to competing products. There are many substitutes and therefore many consumers focus on price when making a buying decision. ... http://www.respondingtoopportunity.com/marketing-a-commodity/ I hope everyone had a good Christmas. I think this is a time of year where hopes and dreams build for the coming year.Unfortunately, some people are looking to the government for their hope and "Change." My wish is for people to find the hope within themselves and to make the ... http://www.respondingtoopportunity.com/merry-christmas/ I enjoyed reading Hubspot's State Of The Twittersphere today. It contained interesting statistics, but mostly confirmed that Twitter is reaching critical mass when it comes to growth. Somewhere around 5k new accounts are created daily. Although I don't contribute to Twitter that much, I am a lurker. I follow 56 people ... http://www.respondingtoopportunity.com/hubspots-state-of-the-twittersphere-my-thoughts/ A couple weeks I attended the quarterly artist showcase/Christmas party at AnteUp Audio in downtown Cleveland. I was surprised such a cool place existed in Cleveland. It is well hidden on the eastern side of downtown in an area of mostly abandoned factories and warehouses. They took on a huge opportunity ... http://www.respondingtoopportunity.com/anteup-cleveland/ In my experience with Intense Debate and some other web projects, I found that it was more important to be first and considered the innovator than having a perfect product. "Perfect" meaning, tested for nearly every conceivable situation, gone over with a fine toothed comb, meticulously crafted, etc. Sometimes there ... http://www.respondingtoopportunity.com/real-world-versus-web-world/ As Warren Buffet once said, "We will always be looking for low cost manufacturing, as long as the quality is high." In the past 25 years much of the American Manufacturing backbone has been displaced to other parts of the world. The best example would be China, where low cost labor, ... http://www.respondingtoopportunity.com/my-thoughts-on-material-costs-and-globalization/ Like many people, I love golf. When Tiger Woods entered the professional ranks, the number of golfers in the United States swelled. The number of golf courses being constructed increased. That was in 1996. In 2008, golf is growing much slower and with far fewer people playing consistently. The number of golf ... http://www.respondingtoopportunity.com/signs-are-worth-it/