Terra3.0 - The New World of Independent Thinkers

Think of artists as brands

2011-09-22T17:55:19Z

Troy Carter, Lady Gaga's business manager, mixes old fashion marketing techniques with new media to create a mega brand. His first order of business: think of artists as brands. His relationship with Lady Gaga: 95/5. She makes 95% of the creative decisions, he only 5%. He makes 95% of the business decisions, she only 5%.

Watch this quick interview at the Ad Age's Digital West Conference here.

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$85 designer T-shirt by Starbucks

2011-09-21T17:59:00Z

To celebrate its 40th anniversary, Starbucks released a limited edition designer t-shirts that look like a spilled coffee. Price tag: $85.

For $25 I will create one-of-a-kind, real coffee spilled t-shirt. And, I will even autograph it.

Who is watching when

2011-09-19T14:31:40Z

Check out this interesting study published in Ad Age and visualized by MBAonline.com. Notice the choice of the icons to represent each generation's activity. Quite telling... ...

Costs: $0. Renues: $$$$$

2011-09-15T10:45:00Z

Remember when this was happening on a daily basis and was considered OK? Since then many advocates of child labor have worked hard to put a stop of this practice around the world. It embarrassed a lot of people and companies.

According to Ad Age's Simon Dumenco and Forrbes' Jeff Bercovici, Huffington Post and Patch are seeking 13-year olds and younger to be editors for a new vertical called HuffPost High School. All good, you'd say. Except that these editors are not paid. And the companies will collect ad revenue from advertisers, but will not share the revenue with the editors. One can only wonder: how is this different from child labor?

Read the Ad Age article here and Forbes' here.

Only Low Klout Score Gets you in

2011-09-14T16:32:17Z

At a Florida fashion show, only people with a Klout score of 40 or below could get it. Klout, scores your social influence based on a variety of factors by scouting all social media sits and collecting data about your social presence. In a nutshell, the lower your Klout score is the more influential you are in the social world. (Click here to see the criteria for Klout scoring).

Freedom vs. Power

2011-09-13T23:22:28Z

I was reading an interesting post by Brian Tracy. He talked about why people want to make more money. Most of them answered: because they wanted more freedom in their lives. Yet, a lot of people want more money because more money makes them more powerful and more power positions them on the top of society's echelon.

If you want more money to gain more power, you are most likely to compromise your values, run over people, put profits before people, and become a not-so-pleasant-person-to-be-around.

If you want more money to gain more freedom (financial, time) you will make decisions that have a long-term focus and you will build long-lasting relationships.

It's your choice.

The Seven Step Process for Setting and Achieving Your Goals

2011-09-12T10:16:00Z

Here are Seven easy steps to setting and achieving your goals - From Brian Tracy.

First, decide exactly what you want in each area of your life. Be specific!
Second, write it down, clearly and in detail;
Third, set a specific deadline. If it is a large goal, break it down into sub-deadlines and write them down in order;
Fourth, make a list of everything you can think of that you are going to have to do to achieve your goal. As you think of new items, add them to your list;
Fifth, organize the items on your list into a plan by placing them in the proper sequence and priority;
Sixth, take action immediately on the most important thing you can do on your plan. This is very important!
Seventh, do something every day that moves you toward the attainment of one or more of your important goals. Maintain the momentum!

Thank You!

2011-09-11T10:27:00Z

To all the men and women of our arm forces, first responders, and those working in the shadows: THANK YOU for protecting us. Your vigilance, your sacrifice, and your dedication are no in vain. You stand for what America stands for: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. And we stand with you.

THANK YOU

Are you doing what you preach?

2011-09-10T17:08:44Z

Most people are great preachers. They can talk about certain topics for hours. They can give great advice in these topics. However, most of them don't do what they preach. They are great marketers, but don't market themselves very well. They are great salesmen of other people's products, but when it comes to selling themselves, they don't apply the same principles.

Before you go on a preaching mode again, ask yourself: Are you doing what you preach.

Bonkers World Org Charts

2011-09-08T16:16:21Z

I found these org charts drawn by a French artist, physicist, and computer scientist Manu Cornet. They are very funny as they are true. Check out his other drawings. It's a more uplifting break than reading the news...

Randomness

2011-09-07T14:01:38Z

Most problems in life and business come from high level of randomness. We simply don't want to take the time to think, to organize our thoughts, and to plan properly. We are a society that moves from one day to another in a random way, with no clear path. We lack a long-term vision. "But everybody is doing" , you might say. "We are too busy, things are too unclear, the government doesn't give us a clear direction, the market is schizophrenic, the personal problems are unmanageable".

Excuses. Excuses. Excuses. There is no excuse to let your own life be control by anybody or anything else - being another person, the government, society, or an institution. You have to take control of your life, because if you don't nobody else does. You need to stop running your life based on random thoughts- those of your own or others . Did you notice that you've been going in circles for quite awhile now? You need to stop, think clearly, put your thoughts in a logical order, make a plan, and thus, take control of your own life.

No more randomness.

How to mark work-life work

2011-09-06T10:55:00Z

Here is an interesting talk given by Nigel Marsh at TED:

Are you hungry enough?

2011-09-05T18:15:43Z

It turns out that this expression, like most others, has its root based on reality: hungry people live a more fulfilling and happier life. To them, the hunt for the next meal (which is their goal) becomes an obsession, which once fulfilled calls for celebration. The triumph of achieving the goal (finding a meal) makes hungry people very happy and increases their self-esteem - they managed to succeed in finding food, thus they will go to bed with a full stomach. And, the obsession to find it, makes them laser-focus on the task at hand, thus they don't have time to ponder on the craziness of the world around them.

This behavior is no different from that of successful people. They do become obsessed with their goal and thus, laser-focused on achieving it. They do have a great self-esteem having had achieved success and knowing that there is nothing they can't achieve when they put their minds to it.

Are you hungry enough?

Best Apple Commercials

2011-08-27T11:40:00Z

If you are like me, you feel that Steve Jobs' departure is an end of an era, which calls for a requiem. Here is last part of nostalgia. By the way, I will still buy Apple products...

Shareable Future of Cities

2011-08-26T21:00:47Z

Alex Steffen gave a very interesting presentation at TEDGlobal this year on how cities can help save the future and highlights some environmentally-friendly projects.

The end of an era...

2011-08-25T13:05:00Z

The end of an era. This is what Steve Jobs' resignation means. Yes, we all expected it at some point but we hoped it would come sometime in the next millennium. Lots of great writers spend a lot of digital ink talking about Steve Jobs and his impact on technology and our daily lives. I won't repeat what was said. I will only say this: this post would fit in all categories.

Once more, here is the speech that summarizes his life and his career. A speech that impacted a lot of people and created scores of entrepreneurs.

Greens Jobs - Real or on Paper?

2011-08-23T10:11:00Z

The New York Times published an article about the massive failure of the so-called "green economy". Couple of years ago, green economy was supposed to save the national economy by creating 5 million jobs over the next 10 years. Photos of companies receiving $0.5 billion grants (with a "B") were all over the news.

The newspaper tracked down the results of the billions of dollars invested in several companies around the country. Here are some highlights from the combined research of the newspaper and The Brookings Institution. (The Brookings Report):

SolFocus of California makes solar panels, but assembles them in China. The US headquarters employs just 90 people.
Rather than adding jobs, the sector actually lost 492 positions from 2003 to 2010 in the South Bay (California), where the unemployment rate in June was 10.5 percent.
The $186 million in federal stimulus money to weatherized drafty homes fell flat, too. The states have realized that home owners don't want to pay the price associated with weatherizing their homes. Only 538 full-time jobs were created in California to serve this market.
Job training and apprenticeship money led to the placement of only 719 workers at an equivalent of $82,000 subsidy for each one.

Sharing a very different opinion, Fast Company says the green jobs are there and they have the infographics to prove it.

Which one do you believe? Please leave your comments by clicking on the "Add Comment" link below.

Seth Godin's Quieting the Lizard Brain

2011-08-22T12:23:00Z

Seth Godin made the word "Ship" a very popular one. No, it's not the boat. It's shipping the product you created instead of perfecting it. It's shipping instead of procrastinating. It's shipping instead of lamenting about the economy. It's shipping instead of blaming the world for your non-shipping.

Seth Godin: Quieting the Lizard Brain from 99% on Vimeo.

The Idea Economy

2011-08-21T11:52:00Z

Justin Gignac gave a really cool presentation on ideas and how to turn them into reality. One take away: it doesn't have to be a great idea; only it needs is execution.

PSFK CONFERENCE NYC 2011: Justin Gignac from Piers Fawkes on Vimeo.

Green Stadiums

2011-08-20T15:48:17Z

Fast Company listed the top five greenest stadiums in the world.

Five of the Greenest Stadiums in the World

1// Kaohsiung National Stadium
Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Architect Toyo Ito's dragon-shaped stadium has 8,844 solar panels and draws 100% of its power from the sun.

2// Safeco Field
Seattle
In 2006, the park recycled 12% of its waste. last year, that rate reached 70%--which saves $72,000 a year. Grounds crews also get fertilizer from compost bins.

3// Rose Garden
portland, oregon
The trail blazers use low-flow plumbing and partner with local utility companies to make sure 100% of the garden's energy comes from renewable resources.

4// Target Center
minneapolis
Every year, its plant-filled green roof (the fifth largest in the u.s.) absorbs a million gallons of dirty storm water that would otherwise drain into the Mississippi.

5// Pocono Raceway
long pond, pennsylvania
Drivers compete under lights powered by a 25-acre, on-site solar farm that off-sets some 3,100 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually.

via FastCompany