Strega Nona, the Missing Kisses, and Your Competitor’s Back End
The other day, my wife and son were reading Tomie de Paola’s wonderful children’s book Strega Nona. In the story, Big Anthony comes to work for Strega Nona and overhears her incantation over her magic pasta pot. The result: He learns the spell to get the pot started making pasta… and memorizes the words to turn the pot off. But because he is hiding while doing this, he misses the visual accompaniment to the “stop-the-pasta” spell: blowing three kisses…
READ MOREEntrepreneurial Lessons From The Blue Whale
The first day, our new restaurant was jam-packed. People queued up to sample the food, and we immediately made a profit. We had an incredible chef, and the waiters were efficient and always full of alacrity. The restaurant thrived that whole summer, and our reputation spread across town.
READ MOREThe Hidden Poison in Your Wineglass
You’ve heard quite a bit about the health benefits of red wine. Not long ago, Dr. Sears told you about its anti-aging benefits, and I wrote about its ability to protect against two health-harming byproducts of fat digestion.
READ MOREHow to Survive Excessive Recession Hand Wringing
Has the looming recession got you scared yet?
The mainstream media sure hopes so. Sells more newspapers, boosts cable ratings on CNN and Fox and MSNBC, makes the populace hyper-aware (like jittery squirrels gathering nuts in a dog park), and gives advertisers a tidy little narrative to help position their products.
READ MOREShame on Wal-Mart?
Forget that Wal-Mart employs 1.3 million people in the U.S. alone. Forget that it saves consumers billions of dollars each year on retail purchases. Forget that its employees, on average, earn about double the minimum wage. The word from some disgruntled employees is that Wal-Mart doesn’t treat its employees “fairly” – whatever that’s supposed to mean.
READ MOREDear ETR: Should I stay in school or start a business?
I am a student currently attending university. Between school and my job, I have found very little free time to dedicate to the things that I really see as beneficial to my future. The question is, with the doom and gloom market we are in, coupled with the constantly diminishing value of a college education (even from a private university), would it not be better to focus on starting a business now?
READ MORESimple Investing Works Best
The longer I invest, the more I realize that simple investing works best. The fewer rules you have, the better.
Simple investing should be a natural outgrowth of having more knowledge and a better understanding of how investing works. Your ability to pick out what’s truly important and what works for you is key.
READ MORETart Cherries Reduce Inflammation
Tart cherries might not be one of the first foods that come to mind when you think “heart healthy,” but perhaps they should be. New research from the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center shows that compounds in cherries may protect against the kind of inflammation that’s been associated with both heart disease and diabetes.
READ MOREIssue #2438 The Art & Science of Bear-Market Real Estate Investing
“Something is worth precisely what someone else is willing to pay for it.” So said a stock-market analyst to me one fine bull-market day many moons ago.
A statement like that can seem profound, but it’s useless. Yet it is the mantra of many investors in all fields. In bull markets, the sellers say it. In bear markets, the buyers say it. But it is about as helpful as saying, “Wherever the sun shines, there it is daytime.” So what?
READ MORECulinary Choices, Chemical Signals
When it comes to keeping your cells cancer-free, for example, most risk factors are related to hormone levels. Hormone levels drive cell division and increase the chances for random DNA copying errors to occur. These errors lead to mutations in genes and promote cancer cell growth. And there are two ways your diet affects those risk factors.
READ MOREIssue# 2438 Break Out of the Crowd to Get Free Publicity
A big article about your business in a publication (online or offline) – or even a brief mention on television – can catapult you to a whole new level of success. That kind of exposure just can’t be bought at any price. As a result, there are hordes of businesses trying to attract the media – and that makes it difficult for you to stand out from the crowd. Difficult… but not impossible.
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