The Earth Is Getting Lighter Every Year

Did you know our planet is losing 50,000 metric tons every year, even though we gain 40,000 metric tons due to gravity pulling in space dust? Why the loss? Here are the numbers according to Dr. Chris Smith and Cambridge University physicist Dave Ansel:

• Earth gains about 40,000 metric tons of dust every year, the remnants of the formation of the solar system, which are attracted by our gravity and become part of the matter in our planet.

• NASA says that Earth gains about 160 metric tons of matter a year because the global temperature is going up: “If we are adding energy to the system, the mass must go up.” Oh, those crazy thermodynamics.

• But here is the biggest reason for our weight loss: about 95,000 metric tons of hydrogen and 1,600 metric tons of helium escape Earth every year. They are too light for gravity to keep them around, so they get lost in space.

What about all those buildings we construct and trash we create? Apparently that has a zero sum effect on weight since these items are being made of matter that already exists and is merely being transformed.

Batman, Alfred, And Your Assistant Job Description

Believe it or not, Batman has more than one lesson to teach entrepreneurs. One of those lessons is the how and why of a dedicated personal assistant – an Alfred. Do you have an “Alfred”? If so, do you utilize him or her properly?

I have posted a brief video to help you learn the four steps you can take to determine whether or not you need an assistant, and how to set that person up to succeed through his or her assistant job description. Check out the video here: http://tinyurl.com/batmanandalfred

After you watch the video, here are a few action steps:

• Decide if you really need a personal assistant vs. an employee
• Follow the order of offloading
• Document the position
• Follow the 75% rule
• Share your perspective or ask questions on that page

Here are the key principles to pick up on from this concept:

• Personal Assistants are dedicated to you 100%. Their job is to help you and no one else. If you need someone to focus on a specific part of your business, then what you really need is an employee or perhaps a contractor.

• If you don’t follow the order of offloading, you may hire an assistant prematurely.

• A Position Agreement is a documented system that describes in detail what a personal assistant does.

• The 75% rule states that your personal assistant should have tasks that do not require your constant attention for at least three quarters of their work hours.

 

Guest article provided by:

Dave Crenshaw is an author, speaker and CEO coach. He has appeared in TIME magazine, Forbes, SIRIUS XM Radio, and the BBC News. His first book, The Myth of Multitasking: How ‘Doing It All’ Gets Nothing Done, has been published in six languages and is a time management bestseller. His latest book, Invaluable: The Secret to Becoming Irreplaceable, is also an organizational behavior and motivational bestseller. For videos and articles from Dave, visit www.DaveCrenshaw.com.

Dealing Crack? There’s An App For That

Not too surprisingly, drug dealers and criminals are using the latest technology to run their “business.” Recently an iPhone developer, A-Steroids, created an application known as “Drug Lords,” a program that would enable both drug-dealers and users to find one another in real time and space using their smart phone’s built-in GPS. This application allows dealers to post prices of the various drugs they are selling, the amounts available, and even comes with a convenient calculator that determines the price per gram. They can even raise or lower the prices by location and supply so the price per gram is cheaper in Paris than New York.

Using Google maps, buyers (a.k.a. customers) can quickly find the location of the nearest dealer and compare prices to make sure they’re getting the best deal possible. And like any good “market” online, it contains a star rating system, allowing buyers to post feedback on the quality of the products and customer service. More recently, A-Steroids added a point system that allows you to pull some strings, like to gain full police protection for some period, to postpone your loan shark pay off, or even to get a full refund for your equipment upgrades so you can rearrange them. There is a free version of this app and a more robust paid version.

Fortunately, Apple rejected the application to be sold on iTunes, stating that, “anything that involved or implicated the trafficking of illegal commodities would not pass the bar or be accepted for sale.” The developer, A-Steroids, claims the application was meant only as a game and that it was not designed to assist real-world drug deals; but since the application worked exactly as advertised, it could have easily become the perfect app for drug dealers.

Not to be discouraged, A-Steroids rebranded the game as “Underworld: Sweet Deal.” While all the basic features and objectives of “Drug Lords” remained intact, the products being sold were changed from cocaine, heroin and marijuana to donuts and lollipops. Naturally, this can still be used by drug dealers provided all the users agree that “lollipops” is code for heroin.

Attention Parents: The above story is a good reminder to make sure you are constantly monitoring your children’s phones, Internet usage, and other devices. You also need to keep yourself up-to-date on the latest scams and threats so you know what to look for to keep you and your family safe.

How To Get Your E-mail Broadcasts Opened, Delivered, And Responded To

Despite all the spam, e-mail is still the workhorse of online marketing. As a business owner, the lure of fast, cheap and easy communication to hundreds if not thousands of customers is too hard to resist. But e-mail is certainly not a “perfect” media. Response percentages are low to non-existent and you can quickly make a lot of people angry if you don’t use it properly.

First and foremost, get your customers to give you their permission to e-mail them. Sounds obvious, but many salespeople are using LinkedIn or other sneaky ways to garner e-mails online for prospects they’ve never met or talked to. If you don’t mind making a handful of people REALLY angry with you, this might be an okay strategy. However, if you want to build a good relationship with the people you are trying to sell your services to, then work hard to EARN their attention, not steal it.

So how do you do that? By offering some type of valuable information or entertaining content to them in exchange for their e-mail address. This could be a “how to” webinar, white paper, eBook, or buyers’ guide. For example, a realtor could offer a monthly newsletter on home sales and home values for their neighborhood. A vet could offer a free report on “How To Solve The Top 3 Misbehaviors In Dogs,” or “How To Choose The Perfect Cat.” A restaurant could offer coupons and specials exclusively for their newsletter subscribers along with recipes and invitations to VIP client events. This type of information should be offered on what’s called an “opt-in” page.

Once you have their e-mail address, don’t abuse it by sending boring, off-target spam. That means you’ll have to work hard to consistently come up with good, valuable and interesting content or subscribers will ignore, delete and opt out of your list fast. And finally, make sure you have clear opt-out instructions on every e-mail you send along with your full contact information; the law requires this and it’s just good online etiquette.