Weekend Treat – The Worst Online Passwords, 80 Is the New 65, Time Spent Grooming by Men and Women and More!

Our weekend treat includes some interesting news and information, tips and quotes discovered along the way this week.  I thought you might enjoy them and maybe even learn something.  The possibilities are endless!!

·         A software security firm has isolated the 25 worst passwords to use online.  These include “123456”, “qwerty”, “letmein”, and the worst, “password”.  (ABCNews.com)

·         A British study found that men now spend 81 minutes a day on personal grooming, including shaving, washing, moisturizing and picking out clothes.  Women spend only 75 minutes a day on personal grooming. (The Week)

·         So much for relaxing in your sunset years, said Walter Hamilton in the Los Angeles Times.  Nearly three quarters of Americans say they expect to work into their retirement years, according to a new Wells Fargo poll of 1,500 middle-class Americans between the ages of 25 and 75.  A quarter of the respondents said they would need to work until age 80 to retire comfortably.  It appears that many Americans are “dangerously unprepared for retirement.”  On average, those polled had saved only 7 percent of their desired retirement goal and three in 10 people in their 60’s had saved less than $25,000. (Los Angeles Times)

·         “Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity:  It must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all.” ~ William Faulkner (HuffingtonPost.com)

·         Of the top most innovative companies in the world from 2005 to 2010, 40 are from the United States, 27 are from Japan and 11 are from France, according to a new report from Thomson Reuters on patent activity.  (The Economist)

·          With college tuition soaring, few gifts will be more appreciated this holiday season – or down the road – than contributions to a 529 college savings plan, said Sandra Block in USA Today.  No other savings option “offers greater tax benefits.”  Your earnings on investments grow tax-free, withdrawals used for college expenses aren’t taxed and 34 states also offer state tax deductions.  What’s more, “anyone – parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles – can contribute to a child’s 529 account.”  If the beneficiary skips college or gets a scholarship, the account can be transferred to another child.  (USA Today)

·         “When your work speaks for itself, don’t interrupt.” ~ Henry J. Kaiser (Associated Press)

Remember to dwell in possibilities but be sure to have fun doing so!!
 

Cindy

How to Market a Product and a House

A recurrent “to be continued” theme is that gone are the days when you can just stick a “for sale” sign in the yard!  When a house goes on the market for sale, it is no longer the owner’s source of pride.  It has become a product for sale that needs to appeal to as many buyers as possible.

We came across an article recently that made the same point. 

“Like inventors and marketing professionals, home sellers are in love with their product (home). Many home sellers believe they have an excellent home (product) and that it is ready to market just the way it is. Unfortunately, this is rarely ever true.”

This article built upon the ideas in a basic product marketing approach and applied them to marketing a house.  This article presents a checklist template for how to market a house like you would market a product. 

For most of my Realtor partners and “to be continued” followers, this article (How to Market a Product) will be a refresher guide.  But there may be a nugget of an idea or an approach that is new and different.

Explore the possibilities of “How to Market a Product” at http://energizedseller.com/gralarticles/gralarticles/archive/2011/10/04/how-to-market-a-product.aspx .

 

Dwell in possibilities

Cindy