I promise it will make you rethink how you feel about social media.

In order to compete in the modern marketplace, every business and not-for-profit including traditional “brick and mortar” operations, sole proprietorships, and even mom-and-pop style organizations should have an Internet presence.  Ignoring the massive amounts of customers and patrons who surf the web every day and expecting to prosper in the next decade is akin to hiding under a tree in a thunderstorm: it sounds like a good idea until the lightning strikes.

Many small businesses fail to acknowledge, or refuse to admit, that traditional media outlets are struggling.  While television, and to some extent radio, are still fairly strong players in the local market, print media such as circulars and newspapers are hurting:  readership is declining, classified sections are shrinking, advertising costs are rising.  Nationally, many large newspapers are either in–or headed toward–bankruptcy while their smaller cousins are either switching formats (daily to weekly, etc.) or going out of business altogether.  Even those that are still operating have been forced to cut back services.  My local, the Ellsworth American, had to recently start charging subscription fees to its previously free online version because so many of its everyday patrons were opting to read it online rather than actually buying the paper.  Several national and international papers including the Times, the Sunday Times, the Sun and the News of the World are doing the same.

Why Should you Get Your Business Online?

Continuing to count on cheap paper advertising that actually reaches consumers just isn’t a viable option anymore. The Internet has taken advertising to the next level of efficiency and cost-effectiveness. So why (and how) should traditional businesses build an Internet presence?

1) Impression: by creating a website or joining any of the web 2.0 social media networks, businesses not only create an impression that they are forward-thinking and prepared to do business in the future but also appear responsive to their customer’s ever-changing needs. Simply put, by making it easier for consumers to find the products and services they need and want, businesses will become more valuable to those customers.

10 years ago would any of us have envisioned being able to order takeout online? Probably not but Papa John’s, Pizza Hut, and other fast food restaurants now offer that service to the modern consumer. In addition to take-out you can also order groceries flowers, and even fine wine online.

2) Engagement: every good salesman knows that the key to getting consumers to buy is getting them actively engaged (and keeping them that way) with a product or business. That’s why car dealerships send you birthday cards, Christmas cards, and thank you notes long after you’ve traded in the automobile you bought from them.

The Web offers even small companies that unique ability to engage customers in the dialogue like never before. By building an attractive, interactive site where potential customers and clients can hear what a business has to say, see photos of the products they are advertising or of the people selling them, or even watch video demonstrations of those products, business owners can create a relationship with consumers without ever having to meet them.

The interaction doesn’t have to stop there. Why not have an online forum where past customers can post reviews of products and services they purchased from you, or where potential customers can ask questions; ask for e-mail addresses and send out periodical notices or promotions; have online contests or post satisfied customers photos? The sky’s the limit.

Locally, one of the dealerships in my area gave away a car last year. All consumers had to do was post a photo of themselves kissing the car on the dealership’s website. Nationally, you can now follow JetBlue on twitter and find out if your flight is behind even before you get to the airport.

You don’t have to get a customer into your showroom before you introduce them to yourself and strike up a conversation anymore. Think of your website, your social media presence, or your web correspondence as the “back door” through which you should invite customers.

3) Incidental Revenue: while some businesses are better suited to earning incidental revenue from their web presence, any business can do it—if they know how. Services like Google’s Ad Sense, and affiliate programs such as the ones offered by Amazon and eBay allow you to make money without really having to do anything. By simply posting ads or affiliate links on your site or sending those links and ads out in messages or e-mails, you have the potential to earn money. While affiliate programs often require a consumer to actually purchase a product they come across by clicking on your links, Ad Sense allows you to earn income (though quite a small amount in the beginning) if your customers simply click on the ads.

The best part about the services I mentioned is that you can control everything about the ads from what they look like, to what products they display. For example, you could use an Amazon widget to advertise a product complementary to one you sell on your site (say HDMI cables for gaming systems, or a “For Dummies” guide about gardening if you sell plants or seeds.)

By giving consumers access to products that you can’t or don’t provide you will be adding value to their day and they will be more likely to remember your name in the future. However, be careful not to advertise products that compete with yours—don’t advertise Amazon books if your bookstore. Chances are you won’t be able to compete with the prices of an online mega-marketplace.

There are also link sharing services out there and people who will pay you to advertise their sites on yours. You can also swap banners so you can advertise on their sites as well.

Even if you decide it’s not for you, it’s in your best interest to learn about these forms of incidental income.

It’s Not As Bad As You Think

These are just a few of the benefits of catching up with the times, and giving your the business to boost it needs to compete in an increasingly digital marketplace. It may sound scary, a bit overwhelming, and frustratingly difficult, but getting online is easier now than ever before. For more on that read the second part of this article: Getting Your Brick and Mortar Business Online is Easier Than You Think

Feel free to drop by my website www.therealrobertpalmer.com to see how I can help you get started online.

You can find much better info on how to get started with Twitter by asking the Google. Here are a few of the better resources that I’ve found:

Stephanie’s Twitter:  New User’s Guide

Katherine Boehret’s Birds of a Feather

Simply put, twitter is a micro-blogging tool that functions similar to an instant messaging service. In essence, it’s text messaging via the internet. The big difference is that Twitter limits you to 140 characters (not words) for each post you broadcast. That’s great because it forces you to really think about what you’re saying and how you are saying it. That’s also precisely the reason many folks have a hard time using Twitter the right way. They’ve never had limits imposed upon them before and can’t handle not being able to ramble for pages about the brambleberry pie that aunt Edith made for little Johnny’s fifth birthday party at the camp out by the lake when the sun was shining and the goats. . . . You get the picture.

So, now that you know what Twitter is, go to the links I posted above and learn how to use it. It’s easy, I promise. After that, come back and see me and I’ll teach you how to get the most out of your Twitter experience.

Five Simple Rules

They’re not rules—not really. Twitter doesn’t have very many rules and that’s the great part about it. Think of my “Rules” (Robert’s my name) as suggestions. However, if you want people to take you seriously, Follow you when you Follow them (important for your Twitter Ratio—more on that in a bit), and take the time to get to know you and introduce you to their friends you have to know what you’re expected to do as a good Twiitterphyte and, more importantly, what you’re expected not to do.

 “Robert’s Rule” #1: Be selective about who you choose to follow

When you first step into the Twitterverse, you’re going to be confronted by a whole bunch of strange folks speaking interesting languages (TwitterSpeak) and you’re going to want to follow as many as you can.  After all, you’ve probably heard that if you follow them, they will follow you because to not do so is rude, right?  Well there’s a whole bunch of rude people out there and if you just start following random folks (maybe because you like their profile pic or whatever) you’re just going to come across as creepy and as a bit of a stalker.  That’s never good. 

No matter how you try to hide your dark, voyeuristic tendencies, everybody will know because Twitter prominently displays your Twitter Ratio.  Well not really—but it does display the number of people you are following and the number of people following you.  You want those two numbers to be at least as close as possible, if not biased in your favor (more people Following you than you are Following.)  Why?  Because the more people you have Following you shows others just how fun and interesting or informative you are.  And you’re such an interesting fellow, aren’t you–sorry ma’am.  I didn’t see you there . . . with the mustache.

So how do you choose who to follow?  Search for people who share the same interests as you do.  Start with folks you know who may be already on immersed in the Twitterverse and branch out from there.  Once you have a couple of folks to follow, take a look at who is following them.  Poke around, be nosey, check out their profiles and their past Tweets (another term you should already know if you’re reading this guide.)  If what they have to say looks interesting, follow them as well.

A few tips:

1)      Avoid spammers.  These are folks that post nothing but links to their own material, endless streams of nonsensical conversation snippets, or just love to post what they ate for breakfast, where they ate it, and what they were wearing at the time.  (You laugh now but you’ll see that people really do that!)

2)      Avoid inappropriate content (unless that’s what you’re looking for—wink, wink.)  Just like any service on the internet, Twitter can be used for good as well as “evil.”  There are those in the Twitterverse who post adult links, curse like sailors, and have very “un-diverse” opinions.  Twitter is a great cross section of America so you should expect to find anything you’re liable to run across on a big city street.  Feel free to follow that content if you want (I’m not here to judge) but keep in mind that other folks can see who you’re following.  It might be useful to pass up the spicier side of Twitter if you’re using it at work, in a house with children present, or in Church—just saying.  (You can always create a second account for that.)

3)      You can always un-follow anybody.  If, after a few days, hours, or minutes, you realize you’ve made a mistake by following Jane Doe on Twitter because all she does is give you a play-by-play of her day right down to how “funny” her corn flakes tasted this morning, you can always stop following her just as easily.  So feel free to experiment:  Follow some folks for a while; if you like what you’re seeing keep on doing it.  If not, there’s always that handy little “remove” button.

 “Robert’s Rule” #2: Getting People to Follow You is Easy

It sounds a lot harder than it actually is.  Some folks will even follow you just because you’re on Twitter—you don’t even have to have Tweeted anything.  These folks are usually just looking to boost their Twitter Ratio but some are just plain friendly and outgoing. 

The best way to earn followers is to provide them with valuable content (whatever that may be.)  Think of Twitter as one long, uninterrupted conversation between a several thousand folks all at once.  Just start talking, or in this case Twittering.  Offer your opinion on the latest blockbuster, share a link to your favorite Key Lime Pie recipe, link to your Flikr or PhotoBucket albums.  Put what you have to offer out there and I guarantee that somebody is going to want to listen to what you have to say.  Hard to believe right, but how else do you think all of those Jane Does I mentioned above got all of their Followers.  

Also, the number of people Following you will grow as those Followers introduce you (directly or indirectly) to the folks who are following them.  It sounds kind of creepy, a little viral, and maybe just a tad disturbing but it’s true.  TwitterFolk love to Follow.

You could also resort to the old I follow you, you follow me routine but if you’re not selective you’ll end up following a bunch of spammers or getting lost and eventually forgotten in somebody’s gaggle of Followers.  Whatever you do, do not ask to be Followed.  It’s a little childish, a little desperate, and generally won’t get you anywhere—like asking a cheerleader out to a Star Trek movie while you’re wearing your Spock ears.

 “Robert’s Rule” #3: 140 Characters is All You Get

Yup, that’s it. If you can’t say what you want to say in 140 characters or less you should probably try saying it somewhere else. Twitter is like a condensed version of email for the MTV generation—short, sickly sweet, and easy to digest when you can’t sit still for more than thirty seconds.

So think about what you want to say (think really hard) and ask:

1) Do I need to say this?

2) How can I say this in the most succinct fashion possible?

3) Does the English language really need vowels?

For excellent tips on how to condense your Tweets the right way visit Grammar Girl’s Strunk & Twite: An Unofficial Twitter Style Guide

On the up side, the character limit keeps every Twitter user on task—for the most part.  Most of them know enough to get right to the point rather than lollygag. 

Unfortunately, the limitation also makes it a bit hard to follow conversations, especially between two or more people.  The individual posts are usually pretty clear but without the context, they make no sense.

You should also always try to avoid splitting a single “idea” between two Tweets.  It’s just bad form.

 “Robert’s Rule” #4: Tweet How Thou Wouldst Be Tweeted

I know that’s the third time I’ve blatantly ripped off a literary work in this guide but if the shoe fits, why fix it—or something like that.

Here are a few things every Twitterphyte should know:

1)      Twitter is a conversation not a one-sided soliloquy—so converse!

2)      Don’t spam–no constant stream of links (I Follow one fellow, though I don’t know why, who posts the same link every day, multiple times a day—like anybody is going to fall for that trick the second time)

3)      Don’t be selfish—the internet has a ton of stuff to offer so share the spotlight.  I know you think you’re the most important person in the world (and you are—no really) but it’s nice to let other people think they’re important too.

4)      Vary your content—throw some links in, photos, jokes, rants, raves, and reggae anything you think other people might be interested in.  It makes your Twitter stream more fun to follow and will connect you with more people who are also fun to Follow.

5)      Tweets are Permanent—okay so they aren’t really.  You can delete them but once you’ve posted them there’s no telling who has seen them or what they’ve done with them.  Always Tweet responsibly and remember that you sometimes say things you end up regretting in “Real Life.”  The Twitterverse is no different.

6)      Don’t be a bully—Twitter should be a forum of free expression and open thought.  It should never be used as a tool for hatred or violence.  Keep your nasty thoughts to yourself.

To Tweet, or Not to Tweet . . .

You should commit to Tweeting on a regular basis.  Whether that’s once a day, once a week, or once every ten minutes it makes it easier for people to follow you, makes you seem more interesting, and your overall Twitter experience will be much more fun.  Plus, you make yourself a little creepy if you don’t Tweet at all.  I actually saw a profile that over 1,000 followers and they had only ever Tweeted twice—that was just freaky!

On the other hand, don’t Tweet until you’re blue in the face.  Give people time to digest what you’ve just posted before blasting them again.  Twitter is not really an instant messaging service (though it does send messages instantly.)  Try not to carry on long, drawn out diatribes.  Not everybody wants to hear what you and your buddies are Tweeting about.  Think about it, you don’t like listening to other people’s phone conversations when you’re waiting in line at the grocery store, do you?  Especially not if what they’re talking about is something boring like Charlotte’s purple dress that she wore to her second cousin’s housewarming party.  It’s better to use the direct message function for those personal conversations.

Goodnight and Good Luck

Sorry, I just couldn’t resist throwing in another pop culture reference there. 

I hope you’ve found this little Twittiquette guide enjoyable, informational, and just an absolute blast.  If you haven’t you can just mosey on along before things get nasty.  Seriously though, with a little forethought and preparation anybody can have a wonderfully enriching experience tripping the Twitterverse.  The best way to get started is to just dive in and have some fun.

For more about me, your author and Twitterverse Guide extraordinaire:  www.therealrobertpalmer.com

While the software takes some time (a few hours) to train to properly recognize your voice, the process is so simple and intuitive you won’t even know you’re working. The software has you read a series of stories, articles, or manual excerpts and learns your voice as you speak–all you have to do is read aloud.

Get your copy of Dragon Naturally speaking today and be on the fast track to quality content creation.

Once the software is trained, you can use it to dictate in to any Microsoft product (Outlook, Word, etc.) And the best part is that the software never stops learning. Everytime you use the program, Dragon Naturally Speaking analyzes your speech patterns and adapts itself to more quickly understand what it is you are saying.

One of the coolest features is Dragon Naturally Speaking’s versatility. If you use a digital audio recorder a lot, I use an Olympus WS-110, you can pop the recorder into your USB port, upload the audio file to your hard drive, and Dragon Naturally Speaking will convert the audio on the file into text!

But Dragon Naturally Speaking doesn’t just limit you to dictation. Versions 9 and newer offer a wide range of spoken commands which you can use to control pretty much any aspect of your PC. You can open new windows, launch software programs, browse the web, and even play ping-pong using only voice contol!

Never before has affordable voice recognition software been so fast, so accurate, and so easy to use.

Dragon Naturally Speaking is so far advanced that sometimes its easy to forget your speaking to your desktop (or laptop) and not the computer on board the USS Enterprise.

Greensulate™ is what its inventors call “low-tech biotech.”  Created by allowing mycelia (the roots of mushrooms) to grow in agricultural material such as buckwheat and cottonseed hulls , the material can be formed into strong rigid board-style insulation that passes all ASTM tests for mold growth, water sorption, and vapor transmission.  The product is also completely safe for humans to handle install without the use of protective gear and clothing. 

While the material isn’t the first green alternative to petrochemical insulation, it’s one of the only board-type insulation alternatives available, making it extremely desirable for building contractors who cater to green home buyers. 

Because the material is literally grown and not manufactured, it can be customized in a matter of hours by substituting different component materials to provide unique strength characteristics.  The inventors had also wondered if the unique properties of the constituent materials would lead to any special properties and they were thrilled to learn that the finished material is flame resistant and earns a class 1 fire rating.

The same process used to create Greensulate™ is also used in the growing of mycelia-based packing materials trademarked under the name Ecocradle.  As an alternative to Styrofoam, the material performs extremely well and can be custom shaped by altering the container in which the material is grown.  Ecocradle material is completely biodegradable and some enterprising users even recycle the material as mulch for gardens.

In a relatively short amount of time, the company and its products have gained a tremendous amount of interest being featured in Popular Science, PopTech, and even appeared on an episode of CSI:  NY.

To learn more about Ecovative Designs or any of its revolutionary biotech products visit the company’s website at:  www.ecovativedesign.com/

The Habitat for Humanity has a long history of preserving building materials through well organized demolition and acceptance of donated goods.  Originally, this started as a way to save the organization as much money as possible.  By reusing materials they pull from one jobsite on another or taking materials local contractors or business owners no longer needed, the company was able to run a much tighter ship—very important indeed when your organization depends on monetary donations for financial support.

However, as an added “side effect,” the process of reusing those materials ahs helped to keep hundreds of thousands of tons of building materials out of landfills and eliminated the need for the manufacture of an equivalent number of new products–which is an extremely costly endeavor in environmental terms.

Habitat for Humanity’s ReStores are just a natural extension of that green behavior.  The retail stores, located in forty-eight states across the country including Hawaii, take donation of everything from building materials to fixtures and even appliances and sell those items at drastically reduced prices to the general public, building contractors, and even other retail outlets.  Not only does this process keep those materials from rotting away in landfills, it also generates a revenue stream for the volunteer organization. 

The company has also recently added ReStore items to its online store including recyclable pens constructed with cornstarch barrels, 100% corn plastic travel mugs, and a pen/pencil set made from recycled paper. 

This is just a small part of the organizations environmental initiative which includes affiliate training, Energy Star compliant building codes, and their Healthy Housing information program designed to help partner families “enjoy healthier, more energy-efficient and durable housing at the lowest possible cost.”

Often times when we think of green building practices and materials we rush to judgment and assume that those products and services will inherently cost more.  Habitat for Humanity has discovered a positive model for green building that actually saves money. 

For more on the Habitat for Humanity ReStore program or to find a ReStore near you, visit:  www.habitat.org/env/restores.aspx

The answer is most definitely yes. Most squeeze pages suffer from poor design, poor layout, repetitive themes, and very few of them actually standout from the crowd. If you want to learn what you’re doing wrong, have a look at this.

http://hubpages.com/hub/SqueezePagesdontWork

You’ll learn:
1) The biggest mistakes you can make when creating your own squeeze page.
2) What to look for when your outsourcing agent gives you a page for approval.
3) How to stop turning away prospects with poor design, functionality, and hyperbole

Feel free to leave your comments and for more info on internet marketing, check out the widget below.

 

                In 1938 the Fair labor Standards Act attempted to regulate the number of hours employers could demand that their employees worked per week in order to put an end to near slave-like conditions in which people were regularly forced to work twelve to eighteen hours a day.  The act established the forty-hour work week, and provisions for overtime pay that we all have come to accept as standard.  But even now a forty-hour workweek may seem like science-fiction to some.  In the year 2000, a study found that twenty-five percent of fulltime employees regularly clocked over forty hours in a week.  Ten percent worked fifty hours or more.[i] 

As Maine’s economy gradually catches up to the world’s by swaying away from traditional production-focused industries such as commercial fishing and timber harvesting toward high tech research and service related industries, are all of those extra hours really worth it?

The Math!

                With OPEC predicting that the price for a single barrel of crude oil will top two hundred dollars, consumers should expect to see the price at the pumps surpassing the five dollar per gallon mark sometime in the near future,[ii] making the first and most immediate concern on most people’s minds these days the sky-rocketing price of gasoline. 

Take a second to break the numbers down.

·         Maine is currently home to 600,020 employees.[iii] 

·         Roughly eighty percent of them commute to work by car (figure is based on national average though, in Maine, I would suspect the actual number is much higher due to lack of mass transit options in rural areas.)  That’s 480,016 people travelling to work by automobile. 

·         The average commute for each of them is nineteen miles each way (which translates into twenty-three minutes per commute.) 

·         The average mileage rating for cars currently on the road is twenty-one miles per gallon.

·         Currently regular unleaded is hovering rslightly under four dollars per gallon. 

Add it all up and Maine employees are currently paying an average of $3,474,401 per day just to get to and from work.  Multiply that by five days a week and you get $17,372,007.  Break that down to an individual level and the figures are even more startling.  One person can expect to spend roughly $1,800 per year just travelling to and from work – and that’s at current gasoline prices.

                Also, keep in mind that over twenty-percent of Mainers have commutes of forty-five minutes or more, and that those figures don’t even include all of the miscellaneous expenses of owning an automobile such as loan payments, maintenance, and insurance which can run upwards of $6,000 per car, per year.  The cost is compounded even more when more than one person works outside the home in each household.

The Human Element.

                Not all of the harmful effects of overworking are strictly financial.  Sixty to seventy percent of atmospheric pollutants are caused by automobiles.  A total of fifty percent of a person’s daily exposure to “ultrafine particles,” pollutant particles which are linked to cardiovascular and respiratory disease and are produced in-part by combustion engines, occurs during the daily commute due to the tendency of those particles to concentrate in high levels inside automobiles.[iv]  With cardiovascular disease alone costing Americans $400 billion dollar per year,[v] reducing, even incrementally, an individual’s risk for developing such health risks would be worth a considerable sum.

                More surprising perhaps are the social detriments of extended workweeks.  Studies have consistently found that people who regularly work more than forty hours per week tend to drink more alcohol, smoke more, gain more weight, and be involved in more work-related injuries than those who work forty hours or less.  In addition, they are more likely to suffer from depression and, those who are married, are more likely to file for divorce.[vi] 

                Social risk factors such as alcohol abuse and tobacco usage may lead to chronic health conditions and familial “baggage” that leach not only money from employers but employees from the available work force.

The Solution?

                Many corporations and individuals are looking to a four-day work week as a viable alternative to wasteful overtime and sky-rocketing transportation costs.  Indeed, one survey by Human Resources Management, found that thirty-eight percent of companies are offering some sort of “compressed” workweek (a typical forty hour week that is accomplished in four ten hour shifts rather than five eights.)[vii]  Some corporations and individuals are going so far as to mandate thirty-two hour workweeks that are more in line with a European sensibility.

                Ryan Carson, web designer, applications builder, and founder of Carson Systems, has been working a four-day work week for years.  How, he asked himself, would it be possible to successfully run his business by working twenty-percent fewer hours?  The answer came to him when he realized that “there will always be more work to do.  Working more hours won’t change that.  In fact, working more is actually counter-productive.”[viii]  By precisely managing the time he allows himself, his work gets done and with fewer unnecessary interruptions leaving him with “more peace.  More time to think.  More time to enjoy life,” he says.  “It’s fabulous.”

                The idea is not new.  The oil crisis of the ‘70’s prompted many corporations, individuals, and institutions to shorten their own schedules to conserve precious resources and energy and even before that, innovators such as W.K. Kellogg (founder of the cereal giant) reduced their standard workweek from forty to thirty hours.  Even so, the idea has not been quick to catch on in Maine – perhaps because of the Puritan work ethic Americans in general and especially New Englander’s have chosen to espouse.   

                The key to successfully making the change, says John Challenger of Challenger Gray and Christmas, a nationwide consulting and coaching firm, is shifting the focus away from hours worked toward performance during those hours.[ix]  In essence, employers need to stress quality over quantity.  By cutting out unnecessary meetings, lost time during commutes, wasted time at the “water cooler,” and setting clear, attainable goals for their employees companies can focus and hone the work apparatus they already have in place into a product-driven juggernaut and potentially increase their productivity by as much as twenty-five percent.[x] 

                Several municipalities across the country have adopted shorter workweeks and have either realized or expect to realize significant savings.  

·         The state of West Virginia is considering cutting municipal workweeks to four days and estimates it will save 65 million gallons of gasoline per day. 

·         Marion County Florida has adopted a similar program and expects to save $250,000 per year.[xi]

·         Birmingham Alabama has decided to compress its employee’s week to four ten-hour days which is estimated to save $500,000 to $1 million in the first year in fuel costs alone.  

                Recently, school districts in Maine tried to institute similar changes but education Commissioner Susan Gendron denied the request to shorten the school year to 175 days.  The length of Maine’s school year, she pointed out, is state regulated and cannot be change without legislation.  The request was made after district boards recalled the extraordinary circumstances that inspired Governor James Longley to allow such a change during the energy crisis of the ‘70’s. 

                Though the measure was temporarily defeated in Maine, school districts elsewhere have successfully adopted modified weeks.  One such is the MacCray school district in Maynard, Minnesota.  Superintendant Greg Schmidt was happy to reveal that the school year would now be 149 days instead of 172.  Each day would include sixty-five extra minutes of instruction to compensate for the shortening.  The change to a four-day week occurred after finance committees calculated a total savings of $50,000.[xii]   

                In addition to the monetary savings, several school districts in various states that have had four-day weeks for some time regularly reports less instances of student violence, increased test scores, and stricter adherence to rules laid down in the student handbook.[xiii]

Is it all good news?

                Even if job markets do shift from hourly quantity-based pay to project and goal based, there will necessarily be deficiencies.  It would be nearly impossible to complete the same amount of work in thirty-two hours as could be done in forty.  Those deficiencies would be most noticeable in industries that require a five, six, or seven day presence – such as customer service and hospitality.  To recover those lost hours, employers may find it necessary to search out new employees.  Even so, the financial impact is negligible.  Indeed, economists have found that, in the long run, it costs an average of twice as much to pay current employees overtime as it does to hire another person to cover those extra hours – even when the figures include benefits packages, taxes, and training![xiv]  Also, hiring more employees will decrease joblessness and the drain on social services such as welfare.

The future looms large . . .

                Whether or not they think it is a good idea, Maine employers may be forced to adopt some form of compressed workweek sooner than they think. 

                Dave Vaughan, executive director of Neighborhood Development Services in rural Ohio, recently faced such an ultimatum.  When several of his employees informed him they would be searching out jobs closer to home or getting done altogether because the expense of travelling had overshadowed the wages they earned by working, Vaughan agreed to a four-day work week.

                “In rural areas like we are, gas price increases are more challenging because we don’t have the mass transit alternative – we can’t jump on a bus or take a train,” he said.  With no alternatives, he had to make the change because he couldn’t afford to and “didn’t want to lose people.”[xv]

                With more than sixty percent of Maine classified as rural and over twenty percent of Maine workers commuting an hour and a half per day, many Mainers will soon be approaching their own personal threshold.  Already, many workers find that they spend the first hour or even two of each shift working just to earn enough to buy the gasoline that got them there.  If the price of crude, and coincidentally the price of gasoline, rises as high as some speculate, soon going to work might not be worth it! 

                Is a four-day workweek a viable option to avoid crisis?  More and more individuals, companies, and corporations believe that it is.

Japan is known around the world for its quirky shops and outrageous themed restaurants but one of the most popular trends in recent years really raises the bar to another level altogether.  Prison restaurants such as “Alcatraz” and “The Lockup” have become quite a sensation within the big cities.

At the “Alcatraz” diners are greeted at the walk-up by pretty young ladies in stylized prison guard uniforms, handcuffed, and then led to their respective cells.  The atmosphere is distinctly macabre and has the feel of a run-down maximum security detention block complete with barred doors, chains in the wall, and appropriately dressed servers. 

But the experience doesn’t stop with the décor.  Diners can choose from themed cocktails and entrees such as “the Lethal Injection” and the “Incest Salad.”  But dinner isn’t just dinner; it comes with a show as well.  Several times a night, a daring breakout is staged by a staff member clad in prison coveralls.  The lights flash, sirens wail, and the prison guards come looking for the wannabe escapee. 

“The Lockup” is similar in that the walk-up, staff, décor, and meals are all themed but is slightly different as the theme has a hospital overtone.  Like something you’d see in a horror movie, diners are led down dank and dreary corridors to individual rooms.  They receive their meals on stainless steel trays from servers clad in vinyl and PVC outfits that look like something straight out of a fetish themed anime.  Whereas the main entertainment at the “Alcatraz” is a prison break, “The Lockup” features monsters and psychopaths that try their best to give you a fright with your night out on the town.

Hostess at The Lockup and one of the permanent residents

 These themed restaurants are not only a hit with native Japanese, they have become an international draw with people from all over the world making them destinations during their stay in Japan, even booking tables months in advance.  In response, these restaurants are franchising and new locations are rapidly popping up elsewhere. 

If you’re looking for a little danger with your dinner or fear with your food, it may be worth your time to visit one of these quirky joints yourself.

Japan has long been regarded as the world leader in forward-thinking technology and robotics.  Some of the ideas to come out of the Land of the Rising Sun are so “fashion forward” that they seem almost backward to us over here.  Don’t believe me?  You wouldn’t see stackable, coin operated plastic “hotels” set up on the street in bee-hive like cubicles in the states, would you?  How about pre-cooked, multi-course meals shrink-wrapped into little plastic cartons and served out of vending machines?  No, Twinkies don’t count.

So when Mitsubishi Heavy Industry and Intelligent Robotics and Communication Laboratories teamed up to build four different types of personal shopping assistant robot and decided to test them at Universal Citywalk in Osaka, should we really be surprised?  The various robots offered Citywalk shoppers’ assistance in choosing products to buy, gave directions to those wandering aimlessly, handed out coupons and other promotional material, and displayed information pertinent to what each robot guessed the individual shopper might need.

That’s right, these aren’t just mindless automata pre-programmed to perform actions.  These little gizmos monitor and analyze the patterns, habits, and actions of shoppers to determine what the person needs by where they are, what they are looking at, and how they are acting.  The robots are linked together by a wireless network and work in tandem to give shoppers the best possible retail experience.

Robovie-II may look a little like his “Short Circuit” cousin Johnny 5 but he sounds a little bit more like T-101 from “The Terminator.”