alexabimanyu™

Actors with narrative voice, who’s on your list?

alexabimanyu™ — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:47:51 +0000

There are some actors with distinct narrative voice that you can recognize right away, without seeing. In my list, they are:
1. Morgan Freeman
2. Anthony Hopkins
3. Jack Nicholson
4. George Clooney
5. John Malkovich
6. Al Pacino
7. Leonardo di Caprio

Who’s on yours?

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5 Ways to Make Your Business Easier to Recommend

alexabimanyu™ — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:40:44 +0000

This content from: Duct Tape Marketing
If I were to ask you what the secret was to getting someone to recommend and refer your business, what would you say? Perhaps you might focus on the experience that you provide. Or you might believe that this is a behaviour that you should focus on illiciting from only your best customers. Now what if I told you that the single biggest reason someone chooses whether or not to refer your business has very little to do with their experience with you? That seems counter intuitive. Yet if this were false, then everyone who had a positive experience would share it with someone else. And everyone who had a negative one would do the same. The point is, people don’t inherently share positive or negative experiences – they need an incentive to do it. The main problem is that anger or frustration IS an incentive. That’s why you hear the often repeated adage that it is much easier to get a customer to post a negative review than it is to post a positive one. Satisfaction, apparently, is not as powerful of a motivator as dissatisfaction. Yet despite this behaviour, there are ways to stack the odds in your favor. You probably already know that online opinions make a difference for your business. So the question you need to ask yourself (especially for Referral Week) is how you can make YOUR business easier for someone to share with a friend, family member or colleague. In other words, you need to be easier to recommend! Here are 5 tips you should consider to help you achieve that: Ask at the right moment. There is one moment when your customer is likely to be happiest of all, and that is the moment right after they buy something. The decision has been made, and anticipation is likely to follow. Why not ask them to share their experience with a friend right in that moment? Use a post-purchase survey online or encourage your customer to write a review or even take some extra business cards with them as they walk out of your retail location. The more you can do to get someone to recommend your business right after purchase, the more referrals you can generate. Create different levels. It is tempting to think of recommendations and referrals in strict terms. Say online review, and your mind probably goes straight to the sort of review you might find on Amazon or TripAdvisor. In reality, there are many different levels of engagement when it comes to online reviews, and hand written experiences are the most extreme. A much simpler style is what you may have seen on Facebook the simple thumbs up or thumbs down. Star ratings are another easy method. The lesson is simple to create more likely situations where people will share their opinion, try to accommodate for different levels of effort and complexity. Let them save your details. The magnet for your fridge that your real estate agent always gives you is the prime example of this idea. The opposing idea to #1, the philosophy behind letting your customers save your details easily is that you want to be there in the moment when they do get asked by someone to refer a business or service. Aside from fridge magnets, for the growing digital savvy customer, another way you may be able to stand out is to always include important keywords in your email communications (and always send email receipts). Then your customer can search their email account and even if they don’t remember your business name or have your card handy, you’re just a simple email search away. Have a personality. The basic fact is that people don’t generally remember businesses, they remember other people. For this reason, having a personality is of paramount importance. When you can foster a personal connections with your business, you give them a reason to remember and recommend you to others. This is the power of word of mouth referrals, that we will remember working with someone who we respected and will be more likely to actively recommend that person and their business in any relevant situation. Admit failure. This last tip will seem like an odd addition to the list. After all, we are generally taught to hide (or at least never admit) our failures for fear that it may make us or our businesses appear vulnerable. The surprising fact is that admitting a mistake can be one of the unintentionally best ways to humanize your business. We all make mistakes, but how you deal with them is the real question. Nothing can endear your business more to a customer than making a mistake an going overboard to correct it (and not making the same mistake again, of course). So the next time you or one of your employees makes a mistake, own up to it and actively fix it. You may find that in the process you converted an unhappy customer into a brand evangelist for life. Rohit Bhargava is a founding member of the 360 Digital Influence group at Ogilvy and author of the award winning new marketing book Personality Not Included, an entertaining and useful guide for companies on how to use their personality to stand out. He is also a popular keynote speaker on marketing and business strategy and believes in being approachable
http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/?p=5543

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Build Your Brand So People Will Refer You

alexabimanyu™ — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:37:05 +0000

Here are some ways to become a brand that people want to refer: Be interesting: People, who are interested in you, as a person, are more inclined to connect with you, do business with you and refer you to their own personal network. Your personal brand is not only defined by your job or company, but also by the activities you participate outside of the office and your hobbies. It might be hard to connect with someone on a professional level, but you might be able to bridge the relationship by talking about your golf game or the last season of Lost. Be valuable: There’s no question that experts are judged based on hard and soft results. It’s not just being valuable though, because all of your competitors can do that. You need to be unique and offer something your competitors don’t and compete on prestige and quality, rather than price. Online, if you’re seen as a valuable resource, the press will call on you, customers will be to work with you, and when all is said and done, and people will refer you to even their third degree network. Be generous: It’s rare that people share others products and services before they receive a sample for free. “Free” builds trust, authority and generates attention. If you want to be referred by others, then you’re going to have to give before you receive. The more generous you are with your network, by providing them with resources, helpful links, reports and advice, the more you will get back in return. Be enabled: How are people going to refer you to their network, unless you enable them to do so. By providing your email address on your web page and by allowing people to share your content through Facebook, Digg, Twitter, Google Buzz and others, people can find you. If you don’t enable your network and empower them to refer you, without much effort, then you won’t get as many referrals. Be networking: The more people you meet, the larger network you have and thus, the more people that can refer you to others. Meeting people is quite easy now due to the connectivity of the internet. Try and locate people that you’re actually interested in and can benefit from your services, instead of someone random you see on Twitter. Dan Schawbel is the bestselling author of Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success, an award winning blogger at Personal Branding Blog, the publisher of Personal Branding Magazine, a national speaker and consultant on branding and a BusinessWeek columnist. He’s been called a “Personal Branding Guru” by The New York Times and has been featured in over 150 media outlets.

http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/?p=5400

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DMX Arrested!

alexabimanyu™ — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:35:27 +0000

What else is new? Rapper DMX was arrested after allegedly violating his probation by using illegal drugs. His lawyer is now trying to get Dr. Drew’s attention saying of his client: “He’s been battling addiction for some time and he’s in need of treatment. We’re hoping that maybe Dr. Drew might be able to help him. He’s a talented manWe’re praying for him.” DMX was in jail just last year for charges of drug possession, animal cruelty and theft. He was released in May 2009 and sentenced to 18 months probation for threatening a guard while in the slammer. You know Dr. Drew will respond he’s getting to be a pretty big famewhore himself these days! [Image via Johnny Louis / WENN.] http://perezhilton.com/2010-03-10-dmx-arrested

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The Academy Offers Somewhat Of An Apology!

alexabimanyu™ — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:31:20 +0000

It took them long enough!!!! The Academy has finally apologized for omitting Farrah Fawcett from the “In Memoriam” segment on Sunday night’s Oscars! After days of criticism, executive director Bruce Davis has offered the following apology: “There’s nothing you can say to people, particularly to family members, within a day or two of the show that helps at all. They tend to be surprised and hurt, and we understand that and we’re sorry for it.” Davis also added that her “remarkable television work” was honored at this year’s Emmy’s, which he believes was a more fitting arena for a tribute. Hmmmm. What do U think? [Image via AP Images.] http://perezhilton.com/2010-03-10-the-academy-offers-somewhat-of-an-apology

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The Field Guide To Modern 3D Glasses

alexabimanyu™ — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:26:26 +0000

You might want to take a different approach when shopping for a 3D TV than a standard HDTV. Instead of just looking at the picture quality, you should also take a serious look at the brand’s 3D glasses. Some show some clear advantages to purchase that brand’s 3D TV and until there’s a standard format for 3D glasses, each brand requires its own unique glasses, thereby locking you into that manufacturer’s products. Yeah, it’s a bit messy right now. Click through for details on all of them.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/hXwmv3gNZM4/

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Police code

alexabimanyu™ — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 04:11:56 +0000

The Hundred Code ^[1] is a 3 digit police code system. This code is usually pronounced digit-by-digit, using a radio alphabet for any letters, as 505 “five zero five” or 207A “two zero seven alpha”.

The following codes are used in California; most are from the California Penal Code (except as noted below):

Code Meaning

187 Homicide

207 Kidnapping

207A Kidnapping attempt

211 Robbery

211A Robbery alarm

211S Robbery alarm, silent

213 Use of illegal explosives

217 Assault with intent to murder

240 Assault

242 Battery

245 Assault with a deadly weapon

246 Shooting at inhabited dwelling

261 Rape

261A Attempted rape

273A Child neglect

273D Domestic violence – Felony

288 Lewd conduct

311 Indecent exposure

314 Indecent exposure

374B Illegal dumping

390 Drunk

390D Drunk, unconscious

406 Breaking and Entering

415 Disturbance

417 Person with a gun

417K Person with a knife

419 Dead human body

428 Child Molest

444 Officer Involved Shooting

459 Burglary

459A Burglar alarm

459S Burglar alarm, silent

470 Forgery

480 Hit and run – Felony (great bodily injury or death)

481 Hit and run – Misdemeanor

484 Theft (definition)

487 Grand theft (value >= $400, or certain livestock)

488 Petty theft (value < $400)

502 Drunk Driving

503 Auto theft

504 Tampering with a vehicle

505A Reckless driving

507 Public nuisance

510 Speeding or racing vehicles

586 Illegal parking

594 Malicious mischief

604 Throwing missiles

647 Lewd conduct (various subsections)

653M Threatening phone calls

Code	Meaning
187	Homicide
207	Kidnapping
207A	Kidnapping attempt
211	Robbery
211A	Robbery alarm
211S	Robbery alarm, silent
213	Use of illegal explosives
217	Assault with intent to murder
240	Assault
242	Battery
245	Assault with a deadly weapon
246	Shooting at inhabited dwelling
261	Rape
261A	Attempted rape
273A	Child neglect
273D	Domestic violence – Felony
288	Lewd conduct
311	Indecent exposure
314	Indecent exposure
374B	Illegal dumping
390	Drunk
390D	Drunk, unconscious
406	Breaking and Entering
415	Disturbance
417	Person with a gun
417K	Person with a knife
419	Dead human body
428	Child Molest
444	Officer Involved Shooting
459	Burglary
459A	Burglar alarm
459S	Burglar alarm, silent
470	Forgery
480	Hit and run – Felony (great bodily injury or death)
481	Hit and run – Misdemeanor
484	Theft (definition)
487	Grand theft (value >= $400, or certain livestock)
488	Petty theft (value < $400)
502	Drunk Driving
503	Auto theft
504	Tampering with a vehicle
505A	Reckless driving
507	Public nuisance
510	Speeding or racing vehicles
586	Illegal parking
594	Malicious mischief
604	Throwing missiles
647	Lewd conduct (various subsections)
653M	Threatening phone calls

via en.wikipedia.org

For CSI and other detective movie fans. there you go.

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2010 Turkey earthquake

alexabimanyu™ — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:03:54 +0000

The 2010 Turkey earthquake was a 5.9 M_w earthquake that occurred on 8 March 2010^[1]^[2] at 02:32 UTC. The epicentre of the quake was Başyurt in Elâzığ province. According to global news channels, at least 57 people were killed. Another 100 or more have been hospitalised, many after falling and jumping from buildings during the quake.^[2]^[3] A stampede through the streets led to further injuries.^[4] The death toll is continuing to rise.^[5]

Many people used vehicles and taxis to drive to hospital.^[6] Most were asleep at the time the quake struck,^[6] with four sleeping sisters perishing in one house.^[7]^[8] Farm animals were also killed,^[6] and minarets fell down.^[7]

According to officials, most of the deaths occurred in three villages: Okçular, Yukarı Kanatlı and Kayalı.^[2] At least five villages, though, suffered loss of life.^[6]^[9] Villagers fled buildings, spending the night outside and lighting fires in the streets for warmth.^[6]

The earthquake came one week to the day after the Turkish Chamber of Civil Engineers sent a report to parliament detailing inadequate building projects and the possibility that Istanbul would be destroyed by an earthquake, which could kill tens of thousands of people, at some point in the next three decades.^[10]

via en.wikipedia.org

My condolences towards the victims and to the Turkish nation.

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Stirling Moss injured in lift accident

alexabimanyu™ — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:16:23 +0000

Stirling Moss is recovering in hospital from serious injuries he suffered in a lift accident at his home over the weekend.

The racing legend fell down three floors of a lift shaft following a malfunction with the lift doors – when they opened on the third floor while the lift was still a floor further up.

Moss broke both ankles and four bones in his feet, plus suffered further damage to his vertebrae, in the fall. Luckily he did not suffer any internal injuries.

Following the accident, Moss was admitted to the London Hospital and then later moved to the Princess Grace Hospital, following the intervention of Professor Sid Watkins. Doctors hope he can be moved out of intensive care later on Monday, and his life is not in danger.

Despite the severity of his injuries, his wife Lady Moss reports him to be in high spirits

via autosport.com

hope all is well for Sir Moss.

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Buildings @ SCBD

alexabimanyu™ — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 02:22:57 +0000

when the sky’s blue, the buildings reflect to it. Looks surreal.

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