Not that this would ever happen. But one way to reduce undue influence on politicians while raising some revenues is to collect sales tax on money spent by lobbyists. An extra added tax above and beyond whatever point-of-purchase sales tax is levied by a state or local government. Want to buy a congressman or congresswoman? Read More …
The Number Crunchers love all sorts of indexes and ratios when picking stocks. But R&D/price and debt ratios and PEGs only tell part of the story. What about some other measures to treasure? Marketing Multipliers: Gotta have cool designs, great names, famous brands, smiley sultra-models / likeability. Tricky to assess: Sometimes ugly stuff is perceived as cool. Service Smarts: Read More …
You know it’s coming … if it hasn’t already somewhere. Every week for years, I see some new and BIGGER drugstore replacing some landmark corner store. The costume shop is gone. The little pork-sandwich eatery. The elementary school, too. In their place some Walgreens, Rite-Aid, CVS. Why so big? Do we need to sell groceries Read More …
The world as you see will be radically changed by the Flat-Screen Revolution. J.K. Rowling had it right: People will move in paintings and newspaper pictures. But take it further: Imagine how decals with moving images would make race cars even more of a visual riot. Billboards will move. Bumper stickers. (Once wrote a sci-fi Read More …
Here’s a win-win for charities and advertisers. It’s a site where companies get good publicity in exchange for matching contributions to charities. Plus it’s a way for philanthropic, benevolent souls to get more bang for their buck. Basically, works like this: Charities and companies with existing matching-contribution programs sign up, agreeing to link to the Read More …
It’s ridiculous how many hidden taxes we pay. Phone taxes, gas taxes, hotel and airplane surcharges, parking meters, bridge and turnpike tolls, car registration and driver’s license fees, unemployment and Medicare deductions, even taxi taxes. Want to really spark a tax rebellion? Create a kind of spending-tracker credit card that totals all our taxes. Better Read More …
Always open to taking new directions. So I’m looking for feedback and suggestions. For starters, here’s a poll. It’d be great if you’d spell out your wishes or opinions by leaving a comment, too. Which of the following would interest you? (Vote for as many as you like.) A page updated daily linking to hot new Read More …
Visited the U.S. Mint the other day to see how the presidential dollar coins are being made. Collectors seem to be excited about new features, like four new presidential portraits a year, and writing around the rim. But will the coins wind up in cash drawers and pockets? Skeptics say there’s only one way: No more dollar Read More …
Let’s hope that ads eventually make all Internet sites free. But now you’ll find publications like magazines that charge dollars for reading current articles, or for accessing archives. How about some ecoonomy of scale? Charge way less, so you get more customers, producing as much revenue if not more. Here’s a way for Paypal, or someone other online paying Read More …
Seriously, why should a big-time TV event like this fail to generate any revenue for anybody? The networks run no ads, the government gets no rights fees, and a handful of major networks alienate chunks of their TV-addicated audience. So revamp the speech to have commercial breaks, and sell the exclusive rights to one network, or one broadcast and Read More …
Advertisers want undivided attention, right? Subscribers want cheaper cable. So why not offer discount cable where the catch is some ads are always in view, in strips around the bottom of the screen. Worse, when you use the remote (trying to escape ads), some ads pop up and follow you temporarily. Maybe that second part belongs Read More …
In this league, you draft athletes not for yards or touchdowns or home runs, but for endorsement deals. Hold it every July after Forbes puts out its annual list of best-paid athletes. To make it more challenging (we all know Tiger Woods will rake in megabucks), the aim is to assemble a roster with the largest year-to-year increase. Read More …
The mother of all Magic 8 Balls. Has a much bigger window. And when you shake it and turn it over, three of the 20 message triangles float into view within that window. For example: “Edible.” “Music.” “Money.” Let it percolate. What bubbles into your brain? Edible Music? Song lyrics printed on flat candy? Chocolates Read More …
What if stores had PhoneZones where customers could tap into all kinds of customer service options through their cellphones? Rohit Bhargava starts a discussion on his Influential Interactive Marketing blog, saying a photograph of a barcode could give shoppers immediate access to all sorts of price and product information. I’d like to see it do even more, like fetch a salesperson, tell what’s in Read More …
One worry I have is that many of the ideas here are tricky to turn into a business. But here’s a way to make money right away, have income to write off expenses, get feedback, find possible collaborators, and collect information that could become a book: Teach an evening class at a local high school. Want to write a Read More …