Think classical music can’t be hot? Think again. Just because there aren’t X-rated lyrics or scantily clad women gyrating across the screen doesn’t mean classical music doesn’t have its finer moments when it comes to seduction. Tom Huizenga at NPR has rounded up a collection of classical pieces that’ll steam up a brass section before you can say "Beethoven." Just remember, if the concert hall's a' rockin', don't come a' knockin'... Strauss: Dance of the Seven Veils (from "Salome") Kissing the severed head of John the Baptist, which indeed occurs in Richard…
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Most Topular Stories
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The sexy side of classical music
Holy Kaw!12 Feb 2012 | 7:16 pm -
Raising Money: What Not to Say and What Not to Believe #OfficeandGuyK
How to Change the World20 Jan 2012 | 10:46 amOver the past two weeks via my partnership with Microsoft and Office Web Apps, I’ve provided templates of models for you to create enchanting PowerPoint pitches, Word business plans, and Excel financial models. They are all available for you to download from my SkyDrive account. I hope these documents and blog posts help you save a boatload of time and increase the quality of your efforts.I leave you with two sets of top ten lies: one of entrepreneurs and one of investors so that you know what not to say and what not to believe. Top Ten Lies of Entrepreneurs “Our projections are… -
The sad irony of selfishness
Seth's Blog12 Feb 2012 | 2:30 amMore often than not, the selfish person is insecure, fearful and filled with doubt. The selfishness springs from his belief that this is his only good idea, his last dollar, his one and only chance to avoid failure. "I need this, not you," he says, because he truly believes he's got nothing else going on, no other chance, no hope. The irony, of course, is that selflessness (not selfishness, its opposite) is precisely the posture that leads to more success. The person with the confidence to support others and to share is repaid by getting more in return than his selfish counterpart. The… -
7 Worthwhile Content Marketing Links
Copyblogger11 Feb 2012 | 3:00 amThis week on The Lede … How George Lucas Would Write a Blog Post Mark Zuckerberg’s 6 Ingredients of Success How to Make Your Content Go Viral The Difference Between Good and Great Content Marketing If you want more links you can use than the seven we highlight here every week, follow @copyblogger on Twitter. // The Difference Between Good Content Marketing and Great Content Marketing Mr. Pulizzi offers a compelling short history of content marketing, as well as a digestible list of six characteristics that will determine whether your content is great, or merely good. And… -
? Footed Pajamas for ADULTS!!! ?
Squidoo Top 100 Lenses12 Feb 2012 | 7:34 pm<p p="p" style="border-right: lightblue 12px solid; padding-right: 5px; border-top: lightblue 12px solid; padding-left: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; border-left: lightblue 12px solid; padding-top: 5px; border-bottom: lightblue 12px sol...
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Holy Kaw!
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The sexy side of classical music
12 Feb 2012 | 7:16 pmThink classical music can’t be hot? Think again. Just because there aren’t X-rated lyrics or scantily clad women gyrating across the screen doesn’t mean classical music doesn’t have its finer moments when it comes to seduction. Tom Huizenga at NPR has rounded up a collection of classical pieces that’ll steam up a brass section before you can say "Beethoven." Just remember, if the concert hall's a' rockin', don't come a' knockin'... Strauss: Dance of the Seven Veils (from "Salome") Kissing the severed head of John the Baptist, which indeed occurs in Richard… -
Love matches with a little help from Walgreens
12 Feb 2012 | 2:47 pmBefore there’s any reason to ask for anything from behind the counter, there must (or should) be a first date, and with that romantic thought in mind (or rather cynical way of driving future business), Walgreens is here to help make a few love connections. By “liking” the Walgreens page, the world of matchmaking amongst your Facebook buds will magically open, and the drugstore will do all the work for you. Once a match has been made, the Play Cupid app also creates a lovely picture mash-up of the potential couple. The problem is, there’s no way they’re taking the… -
Retailers get their ♥ on for Valentine’s Day [infographic]
12 Feb 2012 | 12:28 pmVia Monetate. Get the big picture with infographics. Permalink | Leave a comment » -
Cruising over the East Coast with ISS [video]
12 Feb 2012 | 12:17 pmThe geography buffs out there will certainly enjoy picking out the landmarks as the ISS cruises over the eastern United States on January 29, 2012, from Central America to the bright Northern lights of Newfoundland. Full story at NASA @ YouTube via Geekosystem. The view from above. Permalink | Leave a comment » -
7 V-Day no-nos
12 Feb 2012 | 12:06 pmT-minus two days until Valentine’s Day. For some, this means anticipating extravagant gifts of jewelry to keep the romance alive, if commercials are to be believed; for others, it means heading back to the bar for the annual Bitterness Bash with close friends. Either way (or any in between), Care2 has compiled a list of things to avoid this February 14. 1. Go on a first date. I would like to shake my fist at whoever suggests this as a way to spend Valentine’s Day. First dates are hard enough as it is without the added pressure of taking place on a holiday like this. Chances are…
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How to Change the World
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Raising Money: What Not to Say and What Not to Believe #OfficeandGuyK
20 Jan 2012 | 10:46 amOver the past two weeks via my partnership with Microsoft and Office Web Apps, I’ve provided templates of models for you to create enchanting PowerPoint pitches, Word business plans, and Excel financial models. They are all available for you to download from my SkyDrive account. I hope these documents and blog posts help you save a boatload of time and increase the quality of your efforts.I leave you with two sets of top ten lies: one of entrepreneurs and one of investors so that you know what not to say and what not to believe. Top Ten Lies of Entrepreneurs “Our projections are… -
Design a Sam Adams beer
20 Jan 2012 | 8:24 amNow this is a fun project. I’m helping Sam Adams “tap” the knowledge of beer drinkers and crowd source its next brew. Join the party by getting the app and designing your beer: The final brew will be released in Austin in the first week of March. #sponsored -
How to Create an Enchanting Financial Forecast #OfficeandGuyK
17 Jan 2012 | 1:52 pmThis is the third post in my Microsoft partnership, and it’s all about numbers. The topic is crafting your financial forecast to include in your pitch. Bill Reichert, my partner at Garage Technology Ventures, created an Excel model and wrote this blog post. There’s a lesson in this too: Get the best person for the job. His grasp of financial models and how to present them exceeds mine by two orders of magnitude. The Purpose of Financial Projections When it comes to financial projections, there are two types of entrepreneurs: first, the “visionary entrepreneur” who… -
How to Create an Enchanting Business Plan #OfficeandGuyK
12 Jan 2012 | 8:16 amHere is the second post in my series about planning, pitching, and launching a new business venture. In partnership with Microsoft and Office Web Apps, I’ve created a Word document that outlines a good business plan. It’s saved to my SkyDrive folder here. Feel free to download it and use it as inspiration. And if you’re working with a partner, you can use the free Word Web App to stay in sync. I provided the PowerPoint document before the Word document because a good business plan is an elaboration of a good pitch as opposed to a good pitch being a distillation of good business plan. -
How to Create an Enchanting Pitch #OfficeandGuyK
9 Jan 2012 | 8:01 amWelcome to the first in a series of blog posts I’ll be doing as part of a partnership with Microsoft and Office Web Apps. Over the next two weeks, I’ll cover everything a budding entrepreneur needs to turn an idea into an enchanting investment opportunity—from the perfect pitch to a killer business plan to financial forecasts. I’m going to start with a little dissertation on creating effective PowerPoint pitches for your company. I embedded the sample deck for you to click through by using the PowerPoint Web App. When you’re ready to get started, you can download the…
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Seth's Blog
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The sad irony of selfishness
12 Feb 2012 | 2:30 amMore often than not, the selfish person is insecure, fearful and filled with doubt. The selfishness springs from his belief that this is his only good idea, his last dollar, his one and only chance to avoid failure. "I need this, not you," he says, because he truly believes he's got nothing else going on, no other chance, no hope. The irony, of course, is that selflessness (not selfishness, its opposite) is precisely the posture that leads to more success. The person with the confidence to support others and to share is repaid by getting more in return than his selfish counterpart. The… -
People who know what they're talking about...
11 Feb 2012 | 2:39 amAlmost always talk like they know what they're talking about. That's why it pays to invest more time than you might imagine on the vocabulary, history and concepts of your industry. Insider language, terms of art, the ability to use technical concepts... it matters. On the other hand, sounding like you're smart doesn't mean you are. Necessary but not sufficient. -
It's never too late
10 Feb 2012 | 2:55 am...to start heading in the right direction. -
The Weird interview
9 Feb 2012 | 12:06 pmTo celebrate the launch of Squidoo's new UpMarket magazine, we got permission to post an audio interview I recently did with Darren Hardy of Success. You can find it here. Thanks for listening. -
Inaccurate labels and why we need them (and need to improve them)
9 Feb 2012 | 2:46 amIf I tell you, "I'm going to the baseball game," it seems as though you're likely to understand what I mean. Of course, you won't. When George Will goes to a baseball game, it's a religious experience. Me, I don't even like baseball. Or maybe it's my nephew's ball game (the playoffs), or maybe going to the game causes me to miss an important event, and on and on. We label the experience with just two words, and two words can't possibly capture the emotions and circumstance surrounding an event. The same thing is true with brands. If I tell you that a new business was funded by USV, that might…
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Copyblogger
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7 Worthwhile Content Marketing Links
11 Feb 2012 | 3:00 amThis week on The Lede … How George Lucas Would Write a Blog Post Mark Zuckerberg’s 6 Ingredients of Success How to Make Your Content Go Viral The Difference Between Good and Great Content Marketing If you want more links you can use than the seven we highlight here every week, follow @copyblogger on Twitter. // The Difference Between Good Content Marketing and Great Content Marketing Mr. Pulizzi offers a compelling short history of content marketing, as well as a digestible list of six characteristics that will determine whether your content is great, or merely good. And… -
Why Not Sell Physical Stuff With Digital Media?
10 Feb 2012 | 9:00 amWe know that online marketing works when selling digital products. When’s the last time you thought about selling physical products online? Of course, the business of physical widgets is booming, even though Internet types tend to shy away from it. Online marketing doesn’t necessarily mean an exclusively online business. Ben Settle jumped on the line with me this week to talk about his old school physical information product business. Give it a listen to find how he gets it done, and how he gets his stuff into the hands of buyers … In this episode, Ben Settle and I discuss:… -
How to Recover From a Social Media Hangover
9 Feb 2012 | 3:00 am“Hello. My name is Cori and I’m a social media addict. “Today is day 1 of my commitment to give myself a regular break from technology and the foggy, uncreative haze it can unwittingly lead to.” I was reading a post the other day by blogger Michael Brenner at B2B Marketing Insider, talking about getting your social media game on. Of course, being the skimmer that I am, the first thing that caught my attention and made me go back and read the whole thing was his mention of having a Social Media Hangover. His hangover was induced by sometimes (as we all do) forgetting to… -
The “New” SEO Secret Weapon
8 Feb 2012 | 3:00 amIf you have a web site, you may have noticed one of two things about the traffic you get from search engines. Your search traffic may have dried up overnight, with once-healthy streams turning into a sad little trickle. Or you may have noticed a nice, steady improvement as you’ve climbed higher in the SERPs (search engine results pages), while other sites that used to outrank you suddenly evaporated. There’s a super-secret new ingredient in SEO. It was always a factor, but it’s become even more important recently, as the Google team relentlessly declares war on what they see… -
8 Quick Tips for Writing Bullet Points People Actually Want to Read
7 Feb 2012 | 3:00 amIt’s a Twitterized world, we’re just living in it. Blog posts, Tweets, quick videos, Google+, the Facebook Timeline, and tens of thousands of images pinned to digital boards are flying past us faster than we can read them. Faster than we can even scan them, depending on the time of day. What does this mean for writers trying to cut through it all? At least two things that I can think of: You’d better know how to write a compelling headline You’d better know how to write bullet points that grab (and keep) your reader We’re not telling you to keep your copy short.
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Squidoo Top 100 Lenses
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? Footed Pajamas for ADULTS!!! ?
12 Feb 2012 | 7:34 pm<p p="p" style="border-right: lightblue 12px solid; padding-right: 5px; border-top: lightblue 12px solid; padding-left: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; border-left: lightblue 12px solid; padding-top: 5px; border-bottom: lightblue 12px sol... -
Photofunia Style Photo Editors
12 Feb 2012 | 4:48 pm<p style="border: solid 10px #0D2C10; background: #eeeeee; padding: 15px; margin: 0; line-height: 25px; color: #191970; font-size: 15px; font-family: verdana">Photofunia offers high quality photo editing for free. See examples a... -
What is The Disney Vault? What Is Disney Releasing From The Vault in 2012?
12 Feb 2012 | 2:30 pmEver wondered about the Disney Vault? Wondered what it is, how it works or even if it really exists? Well it does exist and yet it doesn't. The Vault is actually a term that really refers to a process although there is, of course, a place where the original... -
Simple Affordable Little Girls Easter Dresses For Spring & Summer
12 Feb 2012 | 2:30 pmAre you looking for affordable <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fs%3Fie%3DUTF8%26redirect%3Dtrue%26ref_%3Dsr%5Fnr%5Fn%5F0%26keywords%3Deaster%2520dress%26bbn%3D1036682%26qid%3D1267324853%26rnid%3D1036682%26rh%3Dn%253A1036592%252Ck%253Aeaster%2520dress%252Cn%253A%25211036682%252Cn%253A1040662&tag=treasubybrend-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957"... -
Bible Coloring Pages - Old Testament
12 Feb 2012 | 1:54 pm<p style=" border: solid 10px #266988; background: #E1EBEF; padding-top: 15px; padding-right: 15px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 15px; margin: 0; text-align: justify; line-height: 20px; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-family: verdana">I...
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Mashable!
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Grammys 2012 Live Blog: Join Our Discussion
12 Feb 2012 | 4:28 pmThe 54th Grammy Awards airs tonight, and we’re capturing all the action for you on scene in Los Angeles and remotely from New York City. Join us as we dish the details before, during and after the ceremony, which starts at 5 p.m. PT. Mashable‘s Christina Warren is in L.A. and ready to give you the inside scoop from the winners. During the broadcast, the Recording Academy plans to pay tribute to icon Whitney Houston, who died on the eve of this year’s Grammys. Please share your thoughts with us about the tribute, winners and online buzz. More Grammy Awards Coverage: 2012… -
Can Pinterest Help Your Job Search?
12 Feb 2012 | 4:14 pmSean Weinberg is the COO and co-founder of RezScore, a free web application that reads, analyzes and grades resumes instantly. You can connect with Sean and the RezScore team on Facebook and Twitter. Just when you thought you had mastered the job search on all social media platforms, along came Pinterest. You’ve optimized your Facebook and LinkedIn pages and you’ve got the Twesume. Now it’s time to amp up your job search even more by putting your resume on Pinterest. What’s the Big Deal? For those of you not in-the-know, Pinterest is a social networking site where people can create… -
10 Kinetic Typography Music Videos
12 Feb 2012 | 3:37 pm1. Tramp - Lowell Fulson Beautifully paced, and with some great graphic elements, our only complaint with this video is that it's not longer.Click here to view this gallery. If you’re a music lover and a font fan, then a kinetic typography video beats the more traditional genres hands-down. While you’ve no doubt seen a few famous examples, we’ve gathered up some lesser-watched creations for your viewing pleasure. Although varied in style, these videos all use kinetic typography, or “moving text,” to illustrate the lyrics of a song. We’ve been impressed with… -
The Social Media Salary Guide [INFOGRAPHIC]
12 Feb 2012 | 3:10 pmSocial Media Week is upon us, so we thought it would be appropriate to delve into the social media industry and see how its salaries stack up. Social media is an evolving and cutting-edge field, so it should come as no surprise that you can make a great living managing a brand’s presence on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest, Instagram, Foursquare and other social platforms. In the infographic below, produced by OnwardSearch, you can see where the social media jobs are concentrated, the breakdown of job titles in the industry, and how much dough the average… -
10 Apps for Finding Apps
12 Feb 2012 | 2:35 pmWith the bounty of apps available for mobile devices, it would take a full-time job to customize the best apps to suit our needs and populate our devices. Of course, there are the good ‘ol standbys like Facebook, Shazam, Twitter, Pulse, Angry Birds, (insert your favorite app here), but there are so many others that are worth the real estate on your phone — it’s just a matter of finding them. Luckily, there are apps for helping you find apps. Thank technology for doing the work for you and saving yourself from the hours it would spend researching and hand-picking. The following 10…
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chrisbrogan.com
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Three Minutes On Social Media
12 Feb 2012 | 8:30 amI had the pleasure of talking to deputy editor Teri Evans at Entrepreneur Magazine after keynoting their Growth Conference in Long Beach. This ends up being a few tips about small business and social media. Hopefully there’s something useful in here. (Oh, and for a behind-the-scenes detail, check out what I shared with people on Google+ about the day we shot this.) Can’t see the video? CLICK HERE To see more from the series, click here. -
The Connection Will Carry You – or What Skrillex Taught Me About Platform
11 Feb 2012 | 5:09 amI’m currently a little too obsessed with the musician/DJ Skrillex, as he’s known (real name Sonny Moore). He’s become the “from out of nowhere” face of a movement. Interestingly, he’s not the face of dubstep itself, exactly, but instead, I’d offer that he’s the face of “the mainstream’s introduction to dubstep.” The distinction is huge. ( If you want even more on dubstep, Spin produced this primer.) It also means that Sonny Moore has a lot in common with Tony Robbins, Run DMC, Banksy, and Sir Richard Branson. And, quite… -
Throw Away the Maps
6 Feb 2012 | 1:30 amPeople judge us by the path they’ve seen us walk before. They can’t anticipate our future steps. We, ourselves, look to how things have been, what seems to be the lay of the land, without realizing that the maps are not the territory. Want to succeed at work? Then don’t try to do your job. Instead, work towards something larger, more meaningful, and something that blends your convictions internally with your best ability to help others externally. Want to create something new? Then throw away the old, or maybe join two disparate old things together into something new. The… -
The Next Social Networks
5 Feb 2012 | 1:30 amThe rage in social networks right now is Pinterest, partly because it’s probably the first social network that has a much higher adoption rate by females than males, and partly because it’s an interesting concept: somewhere between visual social bookmarking and scrapbooking. What also might not be immediately obvious is that it’s just “easier” to interact there. In that way, Pinterest has something in common with Instagram, which is community around photos. What I’m interested in, though, is Gentlemint, which I keep calling “Pinterest for… -
Learn From Adele – Build Your Platform
3 Feb 2012 | 1:30 amJacq and I just watched Adele Live At The Royal Albert Hall (amazon affiliate link), and though every song was just wonderfully done, I found myself fascinated by what Adele was doing in between each song. Because even though most people would be interested in hearing her belt out her amazing repertoire of hits, what I took away from the performance was Adele’s real magical ability: the ability to resonate with her audience. What Adele Could Teach You About Impact I’m writing something about this right now for my upcoming book with Julien Smith, but I had to share some of the…
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TheBloggess.com
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And that’s why I can’t get any work done. That and the fact that Doctor Who is on.
9 Feb 2012 | 10:13 amA picture of my (previously abandoned) office immediately after I start blogging: All the cats in the house, present and fucking shit up. Each trying to typing as soon as I type. Sitting on the escape key. Screechy cat fights erupt behind computer within seconds of a good idea. UNWORKABLE. And that’s why I’m not working for the rest of the week. Because none of these cats understands how important my job is. And also because I really want to watch Doctor Who. And because I’m tired and sort of whiney. And because I’m going to see my parents for a few days so I… -
Robot tigers or Robobcats? I’m leaning toward the latter simply because they’d be easier to put in your carry-on luggage.
7 Feb 2012 | 6:25 amVictor: One day I’m going to finish my robot tigers and we will rule the world. me: It’d be easier if you just took over the world with real tigers. Victor: Robot tigers are scarier than real tigers. me: No. Real tigers are scarier because they’re unpredictable. Victor: My robot tigers have a random setting. me: Like a shuffle function on an iPod? Victor: Exactly. me: That is way scarier. Victor: Plus they could beat you at chess. me: Well, not me specifically. I’m pretty damn good at chess. Victor: Not as good as a robot tiger. me: Live tigers are… -
This candle-stick needs an intervention.
4 Feb 2012 | 6:46 pmConversation I had with a shopkeeper at a resale shop today: me: Can you go any lower on the candle-holder in the back room? her: No, it’s in really good shape. me: Yes, but looks like it has erectile dysfunction. her: Oh. Well, it gets hot in here in the summer. But the candelabra is still very nice. me: It looks like it’s very disappointed to see me, and possibly needs to be medicated. her: Um…? me: I think your candlestick holder is clinical depressed. her: What? me: I think I need to have an intervention. With your candle-holder. her: … me: I… -
UPDATED X 2: Lost in translation
1 Feb 2012 | 4:29 pmVictor: What are you doing? me: Making stuff for my store. It helps me break my writer’s block. Victor: Who’s gonna buy a mug that says “I love to go down”? Are you making mugs for hookers again? me: What? I don’t have a mug that says that. Victor: Uh, yeah, you do. It’s right there. me: That’s a guy on a slide. It means “I love slides.” Because I do. Because they’re whimsical. The fuck, Victor? Not everything is about sex. Victor: That’s not a slide. It’s an escalator. That’s the… -
The end. And the beginning
31 Jan 2012 | 12:26 pmI know I said I was going to give away five red ball gowns as part of the #travelingreddress project, but I am a tremendous liar who can’t be trusted. That’s why instead today I’ll be mailing out nine red ball dresses to women around the world. The tenth will be just as beautiful, but will be smaller and hopefully a bit more magical, as it will be going to Alice: Amazing pictures already pouring in from women across the globe in their red dresses. In fact, some have improvised using just a few yards of material to make amazing portraits. Ball gowns are flying across the…
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Playbill.com : News
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Wasn't It Romantic? The Phantom of the Opera Hits Performance No. 10,000; Playbill Goes Backstage
12 Feb 2012 | 4:57 pmPlaybill was at the Feb. 11 matinee at Broadway's Majestic Theatre for the 10,000th performance of The Phantom of the Opera. Hear what the cast and creatives had to say. -
Book of Mormon Wins Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album
12 Feb 2012 | 3:00 pmThe Broadway cast recording of the musical The Book of Mormon won the 2012 Grammy Award in the category of Best Musical Theater Album, formerly called Best Show Album. The 54th annual Grammys, honoring excellence in the recording industry, are being handed out Feb. 12. -
PHOTO CALL: Gloria Estefan Visits Priscilla Queen of the Desert
12 Feb 2012 | 4:44 amGrammy Award winner Gloria Estefan visited Broadway's Priscilla Queen of the Desert on Feb 10. -
THE LEADING MEN: Colin Donnell of Merrily We Roll Along and Anything Goes
11 Feb 2012 | 9:02 pmColin Donnell is taking a break from playing Billy Crocker in Broadway's Anything Goes to explore the complexities of Merrily We Roll Along in an Encores! concert. -
PHOTO CALL: First Look At Lyric Opera of Chicago's Show Boat
11 Feb 2012 | 9:01 pmThe Lyric Opera of Chicago's new production of Show Boat, the 1927 musical drama that was a watershed in American theatre, plays Feb. 12-March 17 at The Civic Opera House. Opera and concert star Nathan Gunn and Broadway's Ashley Brown (Mary Poppins) play young lovers whose path over the years is as twisted as the Mississippi River.
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The Bad Boy of Musical Theatre
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We'll Live in Peace and Love and Rock & Roll Forever More
9 Feb 2012 | 11:47 amCry-Baby rehearsals are going really, really well. We're done blocking the show, everything's choreographed, and Tuesday night, we ran the whole show for the first time. And it was really great! Sure, there were bumps along the way, mostly just brain farts, but it had great energy, a great sense of fun, and some wonderful surprises... For example... I had suggested to Mike Dowdy that it might be fun if his character Baldwin (the story's squeaky clean villain) starts to really lose his shit in Act II when everything and everyone is turning against him. I thought it would be fun if,… -
Don't Mean to Be Rude
31 Jan 2012 | 11:38 amOne of the coolest thing about my job and the kind of work we do is that I frequently get to talk to the writers of the shows we produce -- Jason Robert Brown, Bill Finn, Andrew Lippa, Adam Guettel, Steve Sondheim, Tom Kitt, Amanda Green, Kyle Jarrow, and others. It's so helpful to hear them talk about what elements are really important to them, what their original intentions were, what they thought of their shows' original productions, etc. But now I've had what may be my coolest writer conversation yet... I had the intense honor yesterday of talking on the phone with John Waters! First of… -
We're Lucky to Be Us
28 Jan 2012 | 12:08 pmStill working on funding applications for next season... Part of that process is asking people in our community to write "letters of support" about how cool New Line is, to include with our applications. This year, the three support letters we'll be including in our applications are so heartfelt and so complimentary, that I have to share them with you. One letter is from Kyle Jarrow, writer-composer of the brilliant rock musical Love Kills, which New Line produced in 2009. The second is from Jake Fruend, college student and former New Line intern. And the third letter is from Larry Quiggins,… -
See, I've Got a Vision
24 Jan 2012 | 11:30 amThere's a fine, fine line, as Kate Monster would tell us. We walk a potentially treacherous tightrope with a lot of our shows, quite a few of which have wacky, outrageous surfaces and serious, intense, sometimes even depressing subtext. But the Cry-Baby tightrope may be the hardest to balance on. After all, it's concept musical in which the style of old-school musical comedy wars with the style of the modern rock musical, and this stylistic battle serves as a big, blazing metaphor for the central conflict of the story. But that's not all there is to it... The story is also originally a… -
You People Think You Know Me
18 Jan 2012 | 1:00 pmI've been working on funding applications lately, something I really hate a lot. I usually procrastinate till the last minute but I decided I'd try to do them early this year, several weeks before the deadlines, before I get too busy with Cry-Baby rehearsals. Each year we get written feedback on our applications from the "peer panel" that reviews them. Some of these comments are helpful and some are just weird, but the ones that really bother me are from people who want to cram New Line into some mold they have in their mind and slap some preexisting label on us. I've learned over the years…
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BroadwayWorld.com Featured Content
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Stephen Schwartz on Whitney Houston's Death: 'Shocked and Saddened'
12 Feb 2012 | 3:40 pmIn 1998, composer Stephen Schwartz wrote When You Believe, performed by Houston and Mariah Carey for the DreamWorks animated film The Prince of Egypt. The song was awarded the Academy Award for Best Original Song in March 1999. Stephen Schwartz is a genius, Houston said in an interview that year. Just a beautiful song. -
Photo Coverage: Remembering Whitney Houston
12 Feb 2012 | 2:41 pmA rep for singer Whitney Houston announced to the Associated Press that Houston died yesterday at age 48. The singer died in her room at the Beverly Hilton hotel, where she was for Clive Davis' Grammy Awards party. No cause of death has yet been revealed. -
AUDIO: First Listen- Katherine McPhee & Megan Hilty Sing 'Call Me' & 'Crazy Dreams' on 2nd Episode of SMASH!
12 Feb 2012 | 2:24 pmOn the February 13th episode of NBC's new musical drama series SMASH entitled 'Callbacks', Ivy Megan Hilty and Karen Katharine McPhee jump through hoops for the brilliant but temperamental director Derek Wills Jack Davenport as they pursue the role of a lifetime. Meanwhile, Julia Debra Messing and her husband Frank Brian d'Arcy James, are frustrated by the red tape of an international adoption process, and Eileen Anjelica Huston fights to finance her new musical in the midst of an acrimonious divorce. Christian Borle, Raza Jaffrey, and Jaime Cepero also star. The episode airs Monday, February… -
The 2012 Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album Goes to THE BOOK OF MORMON!
12 Feb 2012 | 2:22 pmThe 2012 Grammy Awards are tonight, and the nominees for Best Musical Theater Album were THE BOOK OF MORMON, ANYTHING GOES, and HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING. -
Alan Menken and Glenn Slater Receive Grammy Award for TANGLED's 'I See the Light'
12 Feb 2012 | 2:16 pmThe 2012 Grammy for Best Song Written for Visual Media has been awarded to composer Alan Menken and lyricist Glenn Slater.
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Latest Broadway Buzz
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Lea Michele Won't Grow Up, Nick Jonas is the Best Ex Ever and More Lessons of the Week
10 Feb 2012 | 8:32 pmAs another fun-filled week on the Main Stem comes to a close, Broadway.com is revisiting our top headlines from the past seven days. From little red puppets to the secret Broadway dreams of TV’s biggest stars, we’ve had a busy seven days. Need a refresher on this week’s top stories? Read our top 10 lessons from this week below. Lea Michele Is Forever Young Twenty-five-year-old Broadway vet Lea Michele has been dancing through the halls of McKinley High School for three seasons on TV’s Glee, and now she’s considering a reprise of her Broadway breakout role,… -
Porgy and Bess Stars Audra McDonald and Norm Lewis on Pizza, Sex Symbols and Les Miz Chic
10 Feb 2012 | 8:19 pmAudra McDonald and Norm Lewis heat up the stage in the acclaimed revival of Porgy and Bess, and offstage the stars are super close pals. The friends took a break from Catfish Row to answer fans’ burning questions and finish each other’s sentences in this hilarious Ask a Star. Highlights include bickering over who is the real star and everything from Norm’s take the Les Miz movie musical casting to Audra’s wedding plans. If you think the headlining duo have chemistry on stage, wait until you see them let loose in this fun-filled video. -
Lea Michele Talks About Potentially Leading the Spring Awakening Film
10 Feb 2012 | 3:00 pmFans of the Tony-winning musical Spring Awakening rejoiced yesterday when news broke that the production’s original Wendla, Glee star Lea Michele, may reprise her role in the upcoming film adaptation. Michele responded to casting rumors, telling EW.com that she is not currently engaged in talks, but has previously discussed the possibility of playing Wendla on the big screen. “Spring Awakening is so special to me, as is the character Wendla.” Michele said. “We have discussed this as a possibility, and we’ll see what happens.” Featuring music by Duncan… -
Follow the Captain! Take a Trip with William Shatner to Shatner’s World
10 Feb 2012 | 2:14 pmAfter a 50-year hiatus from Broadway, William Shatner is ready to make a return in Shatner’s World: We Just Live in It! at the Music Box Theatre, the same stage where he last appeared in 1962’s A Shot in the Dark. The legendary actor of stage and screen, best known for his role as Captain James T. Kirk on Star Trek, cleared Broadway.com for landing at the Roundabout rehearsal studios where we came in peace to chat with the star about his one-man show, which explores the highs and lows of his vast career through jokes, songs and intergalactic humor. Click below for a sneak peek at… -
Original Passion Stars Donna Murphy & Marin Mazzie Dreamcast the Upcoming Revival and Reminisce About Stage Nudity
10 Feb 2012 | 1:15 pmStephen Sondheim devotees aren't the only ones looking forward to the Classic Stage Company's 2013 revival of Passion, Sondheim and James Lapine’s Tony-winning 1994 musical. The show’s original leading ladies, Donna Murphy and Marin Mazzie, are also eagerly awaiting the John Doyle directed production. Broadway.com recently found out, however, their anticipation isn't entirely unadulterated. “It makes me feel very old, when they’re reviving a show you think you did not that long ago,” Murphy, who won a Tony for her role as Passion’s homely,…
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BroadwayWorld.com - The Broadway Pulse
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BWW Launches Non-Equity Audition Center with Free Listings
27 Jan 2012 | 11:15 am -
BWW Joins Google +
11 Jan 2012 | 10:30 am -
2012 Regional Expansion - Find Shows, Restaurants & More
10 Jan 2012 | 9:00 am -
Today's BWW Upgrade - Audition Center
28 Dec 2011 | 1:28 pm -
Upgraded BWW Grosses Features
27 Dec 2011 | 3:57 pm
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Austin Music Source
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No Grammys for Austin-based nominees
12 Feb 2012 | 4:21 pmNone of the three nominees with Austin ties, including Austin-based musician Marcia Ball, won awards on Sunday. Ball, who was nominated in the best blues album category for her album “Roadside Attractions,” was beat out by the Tedeschi Trucks Band. Other nominees with ties to Austin included Sarah Dodds and Shauna Dodds, who were nominated in the best recording package category for their work on Reckless Kelly’s “Good Luck & True Love,” and Brandon Bell, Gary Paczosa, Sangwook “Sunny” Nam and Doug Sax, who were nominated in the best engineered… -
SXSW Band of the Day: Blitzen Trapper
10 Feb 2012 | 8:03 amFrom: Portland Website: www.blitzentrapper.net In 50 Words or fewer: Portland rock band Blitzen Trapper first got noticed by a lot of people with their 2007 album “Wild Mountain Nation,” which combined their countrified rock with a noisier side. Since then they’ve filtered out some of their rowdier tendencies. Could fit on a bill with: Wilco, Real Estate Howl: On the title track to Blitzen Trapper’s 2008 album “Furr,” frontman Eric Early sings about turning into a wolf. -
Weekend picks: Golden Boys, Thurston Moore, Sadie Hawkins Valentine's Dance
9 Feb 2012 | 8:52 am(Brian K. Diggs AMERICAN-STATESMAN) FRIDAY Golden Boys at the Beauty Bar.“Dirty Fingernails,” the soon-to-be-released fifth album from Austin-based band the Golden Boys, is a howling chunk of rock ‘n’ roll gems. With Ghost Knife, Broken Gold, Lights Go Out. $5. 9 p.m. 617 E. Seventh St. thebeautybar.com/austin — Peter Mongillo Also playing:Ben Kweller at the Beauty BallroomOctopus Project, Deep Time, Hidden Ritual at Mohawk Action Bronson, Phranchyze, Table Manners Crew, Applied Pressure at ND Lennings, Miranda Dawn, Meggan Carney at Hole in the Wall Spray Paint,… -
Thursday music links: mtvU Woodies, Mess With Texas, Gram Parsons Foundation
9 Feb 2012 | 8:42 ammtvU is once again holding its Woodie Awards during SXSW. This year the awards show will be expanded into something MTV is calling the Woodies Festival, which will take place during the day on Thursday, March 15. Skrillex, the Black Keys and Frank Ocean are among this year’s nominees. No word yet on where the awards and festival will take place or who will perform. Last year’s ceremony was held at the Austin Music Hall. The annual Mess With Texas party, which usually takes place at Waterloo Park during SXSW, has a website. We’ll update with more info about where and when the… -
Tonight's picks: Marmalakes & The Sour Notes 7" release party
9 Feb 2012 | 4:43 amMarmalakes & The Sour Notes 7” release party at Mohawk. Two Austin indie rock up-and-comers celebrate the release of a split seven-inch single. Speak, Marmalakes and Roky Moon & Bolt play outside. The Calm Blue Sea, Follow That Bird, The Sour Notes and more play inside. 7 p.m., $8. 912 Red River St. mohawkaustin.com. Also playing: Trip Crystals at Trailer Space The Jensen Eyes, Creationists at the Scoot InnThe Dead Space at the Legendary White Swan Gaslamp Killer at the Beauty BallroomCrash Gallery, Modok at Lovejoys Zapata! at Hotel Vegas Soul Rebels Brass Band at Stubb’s…
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The Goods
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15 years of shoes by Jimmy Choo in new book
2 Feb 2012 | 7:33 amIf you can’t afford a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes, perhaps looking at beautiful fashion photos featuring the history of the iconic brand will feed your fix. Jimmy Choo is celebrating 15 years of outfitting the soles of fashionable women across the world with a coffee table book, “Jimmy Choo XV.” The book chronicles the 15 most iconic shoes in the company’s history and is divided into eight chapters concentrating on moments that have helped define the brand. Chapters touch on celebrity icons featuring the “feather” shoe worn by Carrie Bradshaw in “Sex and… -
Designer Jason Wu hits Target stores Sunday
2 Feb 2012 | 7:32 amJason Wu’s affordable line to hit Target Ladies, prepare yourselves for another Target stampede on Sunday. Jason Wu’s collection of feminine pieces with a nostalgic nod to the 1960s is certain to attract hordes of Target’s loyal frugal fashionistas. A relative newcomer to the fashion scene, Jason Wu debuted his ready-to-wear collection in 2006 to much acclaim. He’s known for dressing luminaries including first lady Michelle Obama and actress Natalie Portman. Wu recently dressed Michelle Williams for the Golden Globes. He was a finalist in the 2008 Council of Fashion… -
Fancy-up Fridays with coffee and vintage wear
2 Feb 2012 | 7:31 amYour workplace more than likely embraces casual Fridays. The baristas at Hounds-tooth Coffee are out to change the way you view Fridays - at least in the coffeehouse. Baristas don their most dapper attire complete with fedoras, suspenders and bow ties for “Fancy Fridays.” It didn’t take long before “Fancy Fridays” inspired a shopping event. The North Lamar coffee shop hosts a pop-up shop every Friday in February featuring wears from Hold Vintage, an Austin-based online vintage clothier. Sift through men’s accessories such as ties and pocket squares and… -
Rev shopping engines - Le Garage is back
26 Jan 2012 | 7:16 amThe fabulous fashion extravaganza known as Le Garage Sale is back and is christening a new venue. CREDIT: Rodolfo Gonzalez AMERICAN-STATESMAN Each year, local boutiques set up shop in a huge marketplace offering new inventory with drastically marked down prices. Serious shoppers show up at Le Garage Sale before the doors open Saturday. Many go for the extra savings on Sunday when many retailers mark prices even lower. This year’s participating stores include Adelante, By George, C.Jane, Bootleg, DuO, Edge Boutique, Kendra Scott, Sanctuary and many more. Enjoy a full bar and food and… -
Don't be afraid to incorporate Tangerine Tango into your wardrobe
19 Jan 2012 | 6:30 amAustin personal stylist Edith Henry gave us so many helpful hints for our story on the vibrant, reddish-orange, we couldn’t fit them all in print. Here’s to incorporating tangerine tango into your 2012 wardrobe! Statesman: “Many people don’t attempt to add orange to their wardrobe — thinking it won’t look good on them. (I’ve heard this from men especially.) As an orange-lover yourself, do you think tangerine tango is a tough color to pull off? Who looks good in it? Can anyone wear it?” Henry: “I am a huge fan of orange, you’re right!
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Salsa Verde
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Comptroller reports on drought's economic impacts
8 Feb 2012 | 1:08 pmIn an effort to gauge the financial toll of the ongoing drought during 2011, the Texas Comptroller released a report today highlighting some of the somber facts. The state lost at least $5.2 billion in the agricultural industry during the worst single year of drought and the driest year on record. Much of what Susan Combs’ report contains has been reported in the past year, but you can take a look at the report to read about droughts in general, the state’s history of drought, expected impacts of a continued drought and existing strategies for getting out of drought. Some of the… -
LCRA was selling water from well that has now run dry
1 Feb 2012 | 9:09 amUpdated at 2:30 p.m.: The Lower Colorado River Authority was trucking water out of the Spicewood Beach area, a spokeswoman said today. Two water haulers drew water from the Spicewood Beach water system, supplied by a well that on Monday had too little water to be used. The haulers were told on Jan. 4 they could no longer buy the water, but they had bought water in 2011. The river authority’s spokeswoman Clara Tuma did not say who the water haulers were, how much water they took from the system or how often they would take water out. Tuma said the LCRA did not have records on where the… -
Drought and the Texas water plan: notes from a lunchtime talk from former LCRA chief
31 Jan 2012 | 12:51 pmThis afternoon, Tom Mason, an environmental attorney who headed the Lower Colorado River Authority from 2007 to 2011, gave a brief talk about the current Texas drought, the state water plan and what’s next for the state and the Austin area. I was able to catch his lunchtime talk, followed up with a few questions from an audience of about 100 people involved in water issues, including local politicians, current and former LCRA board members, groundwater district managers, attorneys and other water specialists. Mason spent most of his time outlining some of the main strategies in the… -
Spicewood Beach and neighbors getting water trucked in
30 Jan 2012 | 2:27 pm(Ricardo B. Brazziell AMERICAN-STATESMAN) SOUTHEASTERN BURNET COUNTY — A Central Texas community has run out of water amid a statewide drought, prompting the Lower Colorado River Authority to start trucking in water. The well supplying the Spicewood Beach water system, about 35 miles northwest of Austin on Lake Travis, no longer has enough water to supply the 500 homes and an elementary school relying on the system, the LCRA said. The first 4,000-gallons of water came in today as a truck pumped into the system’s storage tank. A contractor will bring in four to five 4,000-gallon… -
Spicewood Beach down to a few days of water, LCRA says
24 Jan 2012 | 2:27 pmThe well serving about 1,100 people around Spicewood Beach in Burnet County is estimated to run out of water in just a few days, the water system’s owner, the Lower Colorado River Authority, said today. The well level has been steadily dropping since the summer, the LCRA has said, due to prolonged drought conditions. On Monday, the LCRA said the well had two to three weeks of water remaining, but on Tuesday said that the well level dropped 1.3 feet overnight, after falling one foot over the past week. The LCRA moved the water system, which serves homes and businesses in the communities…
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Homeroom
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AISD official to lead Texas School Coalition
9 Feb 2012 | 9:13 amChristy Rome, the Austin school district’s government relations director, has taken a new job as head of the Texas School Coalition. The coalition represents school districts that are considered property wealthy, such as Austin and Eanes, and many of its members have brought one of the four school finance lawsuits filed against the state. Rome previously served as an aide to Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, and joined the Austin district in 2007. “This is a critical time for school districts in Texas and together we can make sure our voices are… -
RRISD board to ask Wilco attorney to investigate one of its own
2 Feb 2012 | 4:58 pmUPDATE: School board votes 5-2 to ask Williamson County attorney’s office to investigate the issue of Romere forwarding an email from one parent to a member of the public, without redacting the parent’s email address. EARLIER: The Round Rock school board is meeting to determine what to do about a trustee who released confidential information to a member of the public. Trustee Terri Romere could face discipline by the school board after she was identified during a school board meeting in January as the district official who forwarded an email concerning school boundary changes from… -
Former trustee Bernice Hart dies
31 Jan 2012 | 10:01 amFormer teacher, counselor and Austin school board president Bernice Hart died Monday morning of natural causes, her family said. She was 91. “She will definitely be missed,” said her nephew, Otis McCullough. “She was dedicated to all children, regardless of race, color or creed.” Hart grew up in East Austin and earned a bachelor’s degree in education at what’s now Huston-Tillotson University. She earned a master’s from the University of Texas, becoming one of the few female, black graduates at the time, her family said. “One thing I remember is… -
Report: Former president defends federal role in education
12 Jan 2012 | 9:04 amWith several GOP presidential candidates talking about abolishing various federal agencies, including the Department of Education, former President George W. Bush is defending his No Child Left Behind Act today on Time.com. In an exclusive interview with Time’s Andrew J. Rotherham published today, Bush said the country should not abandon the progress his administration made toward making schools more accountable. “In some circles, punching No Child Left Behind is a way to basically say, I’m against Big Government,” Bush said in the interview. “In fact, No Child… -
Graham Elementary School honored by state
9 Jan 2012 | 4:50 pmThe Texas Education Agency announced that state Education Commissioner Robert Scott has nominated Austin’s Graham Elementary School for a federal Blue Ribbon Schools award. Schools are selected for either showing dramatic improvement or high achievement on state tests. This year Graham, which the Statesman featured in an article on Nov. 5, was one of 26 public schools nominated in the state of Texas. Agency officials said that since 1982, the program has more than 6,000 schools including 538 Texas public schools. “We’re very pleased that Graham Elementary is being recognized…
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Restaurant Reviews
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A pub gastronomique: Hopfields has plenty of appeal, from the bar to the kitchen
18 Jan 2012 | 10:45 am"Gastropub." It's become a buzzword in the culinary world over the past several years. -
At Stack Burger Bar, enticing fillings such as fried eggs and flavorful sauces make it easy to forgive the pedestrian buns
14 Dec 2011 | 9:50 amOne could argue that Austin needs another burger place about as badly as it needs another taco trailer or unemployed guitar player. -
Hooked on a feeling: Papi Tino's menu doesn't always live up to its sense of place
30 Nov 2011 | 8:56 amThe old ramshackle white house sits amid a line of hip, new bars and aging businesses on East Sixth Street. -
At Vino Vino, thinking outside the glass
9 Nov 2011 | 7:55 amPeople loved Vino Vino. But they kept leaving. After a few glasses of wine, their thoughts turned to dinner, and options at the wine bar that opened in 2006 were limited. -
Hugos feels like a ready-to-franchise concept that still needs fine tuning
19 Oct 2011 | 9:11 amTucked into the bottom corner of the slowly developing mixed-use building on bustling South Lamar Boulevard, a muted Hugos shrinks behind a veil of palm trees, flowers and a bank of wrap-around windows.
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statesman.com - Gardening
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Gardening Calendar
10 Feb 2012 | 2:45 pm"Antique Roses - The Ultimate Landscape Plant." 10 a.m. today. Presentation by Mike Shoup. -
In Your Garden: Rollingwood community garden gets education
10 Feb 2012 | 2:44 pmThe Rollingwood Community Education Garden came about in December 2010 when Rollingwood resident Roni Koltuniak was inspired by the book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle," by Barbara Kingsolver and decided to test the waters for interest in a community garden. -
Gardening Calendar
3 Feb 2012 | 3:43 pm"Creating the Butterfly Garden of Your Dreams." 9 a.m. to noon today . Workshop led by Joan Calder. -
What's your plant hardiness zone? New map more specific
3 Feb 2012 | 3:42 pmWhether or not you are a gardener, you've probably heard of the United States Department of Agriculture's Plant Hardiness Zone Map. -
Gardening: Still time to plant winter vegetables
27 Jan 2012 | 1:50 pmIt's hard to believe that we still can plant a last round of winter vegetables right now. Instead of protecting our vegetables from freezes like we would in a "normal" winter, we might be shading them from the hot sun.
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OPEN Forum Articles
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Can Wacky Employee Perks Help You Retain Your Staff?
12 Feb 2012 | 9:00 amFrom Rieva Lesonsky: USA Today recently highlighted the quirky employee perks some employers are offering to motivate their teams in a still-challenging economy. Pet insurance, at-your-desk meditation services, jewelry discounts and funeral planning were among the most unusual. Others, while nontraditional, are more practical—such as free theme park tickets, on-the-job massages and discounts on cell phone plans. I’ve heard this tune before. Back in the dotcom heyday, companies vied to outdo each other with offbeat perks (“dogs in the office”… -
Retail: How to Manage Teenage Employees
12 Feb 2012 | 6:00 amFrom Jennifer Gregory: Having teenagers work for you can be a positive experience not only as a business owner, but also for your teenage employees. However, teenage employees can also bring challenges that aren't typically found in adult employees. Many times the difference is simply in how you approach and manage. Here are five strategies for bringing out the best in your teenage employees. Set Expectations and Teach Professionalism One of the most important parts of having teenage employees is setting clear expectations for every aspect of their job. “I find that the most… -
6 Online Video-Hosting Sites for Small-Business Marketing
11 Feb 2012 | 9:00 amFrom TJ McCue: Online-video technology is changing the world. Without it, the iPhone would not be near as interesting. Without it, citizen journalism would not be as compelling. Smartphones, video cams and wearable cameras are just about everywhere. You can use one to share your company story. YouTube is well-known for online video. Here are six other video-hosting sites you might want to know about for hosting your company video. Animoto This is one of my favorite video-hosting and video-creation sites. You can upload photo images and combine them into a hip video. You can add your own video… -
Why Positive Affirmations Can Be a Business Liability
11 Feb 2012 | 6:00 amFrom Susan L. Reid: What's wrong with the touchy-feely advice that's so popular these days? People don't succeed with their business simply by staying positive and thinking good thoughts. Chanting affirmations does not take the place of hard work. There's no substitute for examining the problems plaguing your business. Most of the time, people who use positive affirmations are using them incorrectly. Positive affirmations, in themselves, are not wonder drugs for business success. How to use positive affirmations correctly 1. Don't think one thing will make the difference. Positive… -
The 5 Ways to Make Yourself Memorable
10 Feb 2012 | 3:00 pmFrom Mike Michalowicz: The formula to marketing success? Being memorable. Throughout our lives we constantly encounter many people from many walks of lifes. Often though, we only remember a select few of those folks. Why are some more memorable than others? Why were they more interesting and seemingly more distinguished from the countless others you spoke with that day? The answer is relatively simple: they planted the seeds in your mind that made them take root in your memory. That is some powerful stuff, because if you too can make people remember you, you will stand out by default. And…
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Entrepreneur Update
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My Top 10 List: Online Entrepreneur Craig Newmark
12 Feb 2012 | 7:00 amThe Craigslist founder shares his latest projects, plus his picks for browsing, reading and TV watching, too. -
There's No Business Like the Chocolate Business
11 Feb 2012 | 7:00 amA truck dealer, an engineer and a mapmaker left their professions to work with their one true love -- chocolate. -
What 'Project Runway' Can Teach You About Business
10 Feb 2012 | 9:09 amRule No. 1: Entrepreneurs who pursue their own passion can't lose sight of what makes a business successful. Two 'Project Runway All Stars' recently made this key-business flub. -
Moshi Monsters and the Mistake That Launched the Multimillion-Dollar Business
10 Feb 2012 | 7:00 amMind Candy's Michael Acton Smith offers his three biggest lessons before striking gold with one of the fastest-growing online children's games. -
Five Tips for Retooling Your Business
10 Feb 2012 | 5:05 amIs your business feeling like an old jalopy? Here are strategies for getting the money-making engine humming again.
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Escape From Cubicle Nation
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Taking People With You: Interview with CEO and author David Novak
9 Feb 2012 | 9:36 amIn a departure from my normal entrepreneur interviews, in this podcast, I talk with Yum Brands CEO David Novak who talks about how to create a great culture for your startup. Although he is the head of a huge corporation, he talks about core building blocks that apply to any stage of business. His book Taking People With You: The Only Way to Make Big Things Happen breaks down the critical things you need to keep in mind to build a great business culture with happy employees, customers and shareholders. In our interview we discuss: How to choose the right people to grow your business How to… -
Tracking your right life: Interview with Martha Beck
6 Feb 2012 | 12:00 pmThose of you who have been following my work for awhile know that I have been heavily influenced by my coach mentor Dr. Martha Beck. Her book Finding Your Own North Star changed the course of my life when I read it nearly a decade ago, and eventually led to my Escape from Cubicle Nation work. Martha is a Harvard-trained sociologist and bestselling author. She is Oprah’s life coach in residence, and writes a monthly column for O Magazine. In this interview, I talk with Martha about her brand new book Finding Your Way in a Wild New World. Building on the research she started at Harvard… -
Are you massively wrong about the size of your market?
2 Feb 2012 | 4:05 pmI walked in my son’s Cub Scout meeting late last night, and ran into the wife of our den leader. She is a wonderful person; an engaged mother, passionate volunteer and airline pilot. “I am so sorry for being late,” I said. “I was teaching a class.” “No problem at all, where were you teaching?” she said. “On the phone,” I said. She looked puzzled. “You were teaching on the phone? How does that work?” “I teach marketing to coaches who are in the Martha Beck coaching program. They dial in from all over the world, and I… -
A concrete example of how to get yourself to “do the work”
1 Feb 2012 | 8:51 amGolden Gloves contender Amanda Wang and Pamela Slim. Photo by proud cousin Abe Cajudo. They say the best way to learn something and reinforce positive behavior is to teach it. So here, 5 minutes after gaining insight while on a walk to Starbucks, is my advice to help you “do the work” (said channeling Steven Pressfield). To watch directly on YouTube, go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zVWDH2QflA What I neglected to say in the video is that exercising even a little bit makes everything feel better! <Enjoy getting back to your regularly scheduled programming. I have a… -
How to build a powerful and profitable mailing list
17 Jan 2012 | 12:27 pmIf you have studied small business marketing, you may have heard the frequent cheer “The money is in The List!” And indeed, creating a strong email marketing list is a powerful foundation for any business, online or offline. In this video, I give you a few things to think about as you are establishing your mailing list, as well as a cardinal sin to avoid. To view this directly on YouTube, go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4xEkc0qEbg More marketing tips coming! At the end of this month, I am going to be opening a new section of Power Boost Marketing for enrollment. Power…
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NYT > Small Business
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Entrepreneurs Must Consider New Tax Matters
12 Feb 2012 | 1:08 pmStarting a business means mounds of intricate tax-related paperwork that might need to be reviewed by a professional. -
Small-Business Guide: Business Owners Adjusting to Patent System Overhaul
10 Feb 2012 | 11:58 amEntrepreneurs see pros and cons in the America Invents Act, which is being phased in through March 2013. -
You’re the Boss Blog: The Myth of Biodegradability
9 Feb 2012 | 12:00 pmThe obvious benefit of using biodegradable plastic is that it has the perceived ability to decompose when it becomes waste. As with many green practices, however, the devil is in the details. -
Special Section: Wealth: Taking Back Your Business
9 Feb 2012 | 11:36 amEntrepreneurs who have seen the companies they sold hurt by bad management or a bad economy often get the urge to take back control. -
Wealth Matters: Advantages and Risks of Gingrich’s S Corporation
9 Feb 2012 | 9:00 amNewt Gingrich set up his speaking and consulting business as an S corporation, which exempted this portion of his income from Medicare taxes, an unusual move for a business based on services.
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Planning Startup Stories
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3 Questions Business Owners Need to Ask About Employee Expenses
9 Feb 2012 | 10:09 amDo you own a business? Do you run a business? Then I recommend you follow me through this simple math and some reasonable conclusions. Assume you have a person making a $50,000 gross salary. Assume their true cost — including health insurance, overhead, work space, computers, Internet, electric power, payroll taxes, etc. — is $80,000. That person costs your company about $40 per hour. For that calculation, I divide the $80,000 by 49 to calculate the weekly cost of $1,633 (I take off two of the 52 weeks in a year for vacation and another for national holidays). I divide that… -
Challenge: Can You Tell a Business Model from a Business Plan?
7 Feb 2012 | 8:45 amWhat’s the difference between a business model and a business plan? It depends on who you ask. Business plan means a lot of different things to different people, and so does business model. I’ve complained occasionally about confusing terminology, but I guess it’s just the way things are. There are similar problems with strategic plan, annual plan, etc. What I really don’t like is people saying “don’t do a business plan; do a business model instead.” My favorite definition of the business model is the excellent book Business Model Generation, by… -
How Contagion Can Help You Forecast Sales
6 Feb 2012 | 8:45 amCan we talk about beauty in numbers? Amidst all the nervousness about forecasting new products, does it not make sense, and add elegance too, to talk about the classic s-curve we see in nature? So many natural phenomena show an increase along a natural S-curve and bell curve like the two shown here on the right. Which, by the way, was done with Excel. And I’m going to explain it here and give you the formulas, so you can use them in your own sales forecasting. If you like this sort of thing. What we see there is a natural projection of a good product — like cell phones or… -
Make My Business Analysis Intuitive, Please.
3 Feb 2012 | 8:42 amAre you thinking type or feeling? Analytical or intuitive? There are studies, there are tests, there’s a whole body of work on personality types dividing people into types. Most of us have heard of this, but if you haven’t, and you’re curious, you could find out more with this google search. It’s about the work of Carl Jung, the Myers Briggs tests, etc. There are more factors than just this one division, but this division — thinking vs. feeling, analytical vs. intuitive — is interesting to me. I’ve had a career focused on business planning, metrics,… -
Blaming Angels and VCs for Choosing is Like Blaming Up for Down
2 Feb 2012 | 2:35 pmI was happily reading Sramana Mitrea’s The Other 99% of Entrepreneurs on Read/Write Web, agreeing with every detail, when I ran into a snag. It’s in italics in this quote from Sramana’s post. Over 99% of entrepreneurs who seek funding get rejected. Yet, the entire world is focused on the 1% that is “fundable.” The media, when pitched a startup story, is interested in who funded the venture. They seldom ask how much revenue the company has or if it is profitable. Incubators take pride in how exclusive they are and how many “deals” they…
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Small Business News, Tips, Advice - Small Business Trends
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How to Drive Buyers for Your Book, in Droves
12 Feb 2012 | 5:54 pmCongratulations – you just wrote a book. But if you think all the work is done, think again. As an author of a business book, you still have work ahead of you. You have to market your book. After all, these days it’s up to the author to do most of the marketing. Publishers provide a limited amount of marketing. And as an entrepreneur, that usually means you have to be big on creativity — to make up for a small monetary budget. The topic of marketing your book was one we explored recently in an hour-long chat on Twitter. We tapped into the expertise of 4… -
Online Event Registration with Eventbrite
12 Feb 2012 | 11:30 amAt first glance, Eventbrite does not appear to be a small business tool. Most small business owners are not planning events, right? Let’s redefine what an event is and then we’ll see if this tool can help you grow your small business and marketing presence. Events are the secret sauce to good marketing and Eventbrite can help you manage and promote your business. This review is for the small business owner or team member who handles marketing tasks. I’m defining the term “event” broadly — if you are a small business owner who is meeting with customers or… -
Three Unusually Named Books To Check Out
12 Feb 2012 | 5:30 amWorking behind the scenes on the Small Business Book Awards, you get to discover a lot of books you might not have known about otherwise. Here are just three uniquely-named books that we found there. The Cheese Mall If the title of this book isn’t enough to make you read it, I don’t know what will. Written by Bernie Tracey (@theBeaconCoach), The Cheese Mall teaches lessons about marketing through the story of Millie and Matthew (they’re mice), who decide to start a business. Putting the customer first is the recurring theme and one we could all stand to have drilled… -
Take a Look: Small Biz Awards and Contests
11 Feb 2012 | 11:30 amThis list of contests, competitions and awards for small businesses is brought to you every other week as a community service by Small Business Trends and Smallbiztechnology.com. Also, if you’ve entered and won a contest or award listed here, let us know so we can share your news. * * * * * Fulton County PA Excellence in Small Business Award Enter by February 17, 2012 The Awards Committee of the Fulton County Chamber of Commerce & Tourism is accepting nominations of local businesses for the 2011 Excellence in Small Business Award. The award will be presented at the… -
No, You Can’t Pick My Brain Reminds Entrepreneurs of Their Value
11 Feb 2012 | 5:30 am“If you’re good at something, never do it for free” – The Joker, as played by Heath Ledger In the movie The Dark Knight, The Joker bargains with the Gotham mob dealers for half of their holdings if he kills Batman. He replies with the above quote when a Gotham mob boss asked if killing Batman was simple, as the Joker had implied, why hadn’t the Joker done so. Even in a fictional council of criminals, there’s an code that implies worthwhile endeavors, especially strategic ones, are seldom free. In the more honorable and less sociopathic world of small…
