I know we do it at work and at home, but there’s a rebirth on a version of “multi-tasking” before the term was ever coined.
The newspaper column that I discovered this past week is running in several newspapers across the US.
The column is called PANTRY POWERHOUSES.
And it ain’t about the home-makers who can cook those family dinners in 20 minutes from scratch.
Nope. It’s the new Middle Class American 2010 version of the “Hints From Heloise.”
Here’s the PANTRY POWERHOUSES elevator set-up…
“Some plain, unassuming household objects have hidden superpowers. And most of these items cost less than a couple of bucks..”
That’s the Middle Class American angle…
The 2010 version is captured in…
“These double-duty ideas will help you go green while you save some green.”
Here are some of the examples…
• Keeping brown sugar soft by adding a few marshmallows to the bag before closing it
• Preventing piano keys from turning yellow by cleaning them regularly with mayonnaise
• Removing bumper stickers by rubbing mayonnaise over the entire sticker
• Getting rid of the chlorine green hair with a ketchup shampoo
• Treating poison ivy with instant oatmeal mix
While many of the “Young Pioneers” of the American Middle Class may not fully identify with the term “Pantry”… I would bet that they, along with several of the other American Middle Class groups, have many more ideas to add to the list.
Just think about it.
Many in the business world believe that it’s the upper income folks that are the trendsetters and innovators.
I beg to differ.
More times than not, innovation is fueled by the need to get by and get ahead.
Therein may be what they term as the "hidden superpowers!"
So go Google “PANTRY POWERHOUSES” and check out the amazing things you can do with all that stuff stored in the kitchen and utility room cabinets.
And then come journey with us as we go down to the nearest coffee houses, pubs and lunch cafés and listen to what the folks are talking about doing!
That’s the hotbed of the innovation right now.
Really!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
The Surge of the American Middle Class Entrepreneur
About 10 miles northeast of our office is a very interesting neighborhood called Chamblee.
Once a bedroom community of the expanding city of Atlanta, today this community is a hot-bed of internationality that spans the spectrum from Hispanic- to Latino- to Chinese- to Korean- to Vietnamese- to Iranian- to Indian- … Americans that is!
It is a group that we term as the “Commuter Mosaic” of the American Middle Class!
There ‘s an international farmer’s market smack dab next to an international mall with an international food court. Then there’s strip center after strip center or retail and service outlets selling everything from electronics to baby clothes.
Outside of a recently built Wal-Mart, there’s limited brand chains in the area. Most of the business is pure entrepreneurial “mom & pop” complete with nephew, uncle and grandparent too!
By the way…nearly all of these places continue to remain in business.
In this week’s edition of Newsweek, there is a great article that showcases America’s first viral restaurant.
That’s not a typo…it’s a true VIRAL restaurant.
Kogi is the name of it and Roy Choi is the power behind it. Roy cooks up Korean tacos that are sold from two roving trucks whose travel routes are posted in real time on Twitter.
As Choi is quoted in the article…”At every stop, it’ll be, like, hundreds of young people and 12 middle-aged copycats in suits asking me where I buy my cabbage.”
His crowds often exceed 600 people guided by their Twitter App on their iPhones.
In fact, his combination “online and on-the-street” advertising program consists of follower-designed T-shirts, an official blog, YouTube videos and Twitter.
As the Newsweek article quotes Choi as saying…”I can cook for 100 people a night in a conventional restaurant or using Twitter, can hit, like, 5,000 people a second.”
His product formula is simple: market produce and unfamiliar proteins prepared for the authenticity-craving, post-racial palate and sold at recession-ready prices ($2-$7).
Choi is aiming to send trucks to San Diego and San Francisco next.
Many of the immigrants coming to the US start out from pure scratch and spend hours working hard to get their business off the ground.
And because many are in the process of learning English, they don’t catch all the gloom and doom of the news media, banks and investment groups nor the cloned MBA-models of academia.
Many “Commuter Mosaics” see the glass as half full and their dream as still possible. They are innovative and re-engineer their pathways to success no matter what hurdles pop up along the way.
There’s a lot to learn from folks like that…
So, Hey…turn off that CNN and Fox News…go Twitter a few friends and Let’s Journey!
Once a bedroom community of the expanding city of Atlanta, today this community is a hot-bed of internationality that spans the spectrum from Hispanic- to Latino- to Chinese- to Korean- to Vietnamese- to Iranian- to Indian- … Americans that is!
It is a group that we term as the “Commuter Mosaic” of the American Middle Class!
There ‘s an international farmer’s market smack dab next to an international mall with an international food court. Then there’s strip center after strip center or retail and service outlets selling everything from electronics to baby clothes.
Outside of a recently built Wal-Mart, there’s limited brand chains in the area. Most of the business is pure entrepreneurial “mom & pop” complete with nephew, uncle and grandparent too!
By the way…nearly all of these places continue to remain in business.
In this week’s edition of Newsweek, there is a great article that showcases America’s first viral restaurant.
That’s not a typo…it’s a true VIRAL restaurant.
Kogi is the name of it and Roy Choi is the power behind it. Roy cooks up Korean tacos that are sold from two roving trucks whose travel routes are posted in real time on Twitter.
As Choi is quoted in the article…”At every stop, it’ll be, like, hundreds of young people and 12 middle-aged copycats in suits asking me where I buy my cabbage.”
His crowds often exceed 600 people guided by their Twitter App on their iPhones.
In fact, his combination “online and on-the-street” advertising program consists of follower-designed T-shirts, an official blog, YouTube videos and Twitter.
As the Newsweek article quotes Choi as saying…”I can cook for 100 people a night in a conventional restaurant or using Twitter, can hit, like, 5,000 people a second.”
His product formula is simple: market produce and unfamiliar proteins prepared for the authenticity-craving, post-racial palate and sold at recession-ready prices ($2-$7).
Choi is aiming to send trucks to San Diego and San Francisco next.
Many of the immigrants coming to the US start out from pure scratch and spend hours working hard to get their business off the ground.
And because many are in the process of learning English, they don’t catch all the gloom and doom of the news media, banks and investment groups nor the cloned MBA-models of academia.
Many “Commuter Mosaics” see the glass as half full and their dream as still possible. They are innovative and re-engineer their pathways to success no matter what hurdles pop up along the way.
There’s a lot to learn from folks like that…
So, Hey…turn off that CNN and Fox News…go Twitter a few friends and Let’s Journey!
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Green Gardening Is Going To Be In The Green!
I heard a radio spot over the weekend that was promoting now as the time to start the tomato seeds in the house.
Have you ever started tomato plants from scratch?
If you haven’t, you might want to think about starting this year!
According to Better Homes & Gardens, the family garden is going to be hot this year.
With the economy in the tank and eco-green one of the four platforms of the Obama administration, gardening promises to be a top five cheap form of family entertainment.
According to the radio ad, gardening is not only a green thing to do, but with all the problems with contaminated food at the grocery stores (i.e. the Georgia Peanut Butter issue!), home gardening is one sure way to have safe foods!
The current issue of Better Homes & Gardens talks all about the low costs of getting everything from tomatoes, peppers, squash and cucumbers started right in the home workshop or basement.
While many of the folks who make up the American Middle Class groups “Back Country Villagers” and “AARP Heartlanders” likely got their gardening training through membership in the 4-H Groups (Google it if you don’t know what 4-H is), according to the data released in the Fall 2008 Simmons Survey, it looks like all the other American Middle Class groups are planning to garden more over the next year.
I can hear it already…”what does this mean to me…I don’t market a seed company!”
Well… get that mind a churnin’… pull out those weeds of “so what” and sew those seeds of creativity and imagination!
Maybe your brand becomes the small reward for the plowing, planting, weeding or harvesting…
Maybe your brand can match up with the fresh salad picked from the garden…
Maybe your brand plays the music listened to on the iPod while the family tends to the garden plot…
Or develops a planting guide App…
Or is what soothes the stress of the hands while weeding…
Or links into the Weather Channel’s website targeted by cable zone in relationship to the best potential target group…
Or links into a promotional mailer with the balance statements from the bank…
Or…
It’s gardening this spring and summer…canning in the fall…home cooked goodness for holiday giving…
It's the American Middle Class feeding the family...now how much more cooler can it get!
Are you pumped yet?
If so…Hey! Let’s Journey!
Have you ever started tomato plants from scratch?
If you haven’t, you might want to think about starting this year!
According to Better Homes & Gardens, the family garden is going to be hot this year.
With the economy in the tank and eco-green one of the four platforms of the Obama administration, gardening promises to be a top five cheap form of family entertainment.
According to the radio ad, gardening is not only a green thing to do, but with all the problems with contaminated food at the grocery stores (i.e. the Georgia Peanut Butter issue!), home gardening is one sure way to have safe foods!
The current issue of Better Homes & Gardens talks all about the low costs of getting everything from tomatoes, peppers, squash and cucumbers started right in the home workshop or basement.
While many of the folks who make up the American Middle Class groups “Back Country Villagers” and “AARP Heartlanders” likely got their gardening training through membership in the 4-H Groups (Google it if you don’t know what 4-H is), according to the data released in the Fall 2008 Simmons Survey, it looks like all the other American Middle Class groups are planning to garden more over the next year.
I can hear it already…”what does this mean to me…I don’t market a seed company!”
Well… get that mind a churnin’… pull out those weeds of “so what” and sew those seeds of creativity and imagination!
Maybe your brand becomes the small reward for the plowing, planting, weeding or harvesting…
Maybe your brand can match up with the fresh salad picked from the garden…
Maybe your brand plays the music listened to on the iPod while the family tends to the garden plot…
Or develops a planting guide App…
Or is what soothes the stress of the hands while weeding…
Or links into the Weather Channel’s website targeted by cable zone in relationship to the best potential target group…
Or links into a promotional mailer with the balance statements from the bank…
Or…
It’s gardening this spring and summer…canning in the fall…home cooked goodness for holiday giving…
It's the American Middle Class feeding the family...now how much more cooler can it get!
Are you pumped yet?
If so…Hey! Let’s Journey!
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