Wanted: American Innovation, Resolve, & Persistence

The United States faces innumerable challenges. Policy experts could write entire treatises on all of these, but clear solutions may get lost in complicated or trivial details. As the Pareto principle reminds us, 80% of our results can be achieved by focusing 20% of our efforts on the most important activities.

So, what if we concentrated our labors on two pivotal problems that American resolve, innovation, and persistence can, and must, successfully tackle – transportation and energy.

Let’s start with transportation. The US transportation system of highways, bridges, tunnels, and railroads is stressed, strained, and badly in need of repairs and upgrades. 7 of the 10 most congested cities are on the East Coast and West Coast.

In fact, if you travel along the I-5 or I-95 corridors, you probably think that the 3 million large trucks in the US are directly in front of you. You may wonder why we don’t repair and expand the transportation system.

There are many reasons but consider the biggest, money. At least $2.6 trillion is necessary to bring our transportation and infrastructure system up to our expectations for efficiency and safety. Then, along the coast, such as the I-95 corridor on the East Coast, there is precious little land available for expansion and the rest is environmentally sensitive.

Read more

6 Tips for Being Relevant to your Target Group

I hope you all had a wonderful Labor Day Weekend and that you had a chance to think about all your design and business ideas. Here’s my idea: Why not start putting into practice the best marketing ideas that can benefit your design education, your company, your search ranking, and/or your reputation? Let’s check out these 6 tips for being relevant to your Target Group.

It’s vital to refresh your ideas every few months so that you’re not trying to attract publicity and attention with stale, outdated approaches that only serve to date your company. Whether you’re finding better ways to embrace mobile content or experimenting with ad retargeting, your education and perhaps your company as well will prosper by adding in these best marketing practices.

1. Embrace Retargeted Ads

This growing trend is a reminder of just how versatile online advertising can be. Retargeted ads identify people who have come to your website before without taking any definitive action and give them a pitch tailored to second, third, or even fourth-time visitors.

For example, if you sell mosquito repellent, your ad might say, “Don’t get eaten alive this summer—remember this mosquito repellent you looked at last week?” or something along those lines.

Read more

Five Ways to Succeed at Marketing Automation

Many businesses have embraced the idea of marketing automation in hopes of gaining a larger customer base. In theory, marketing automation sounds like a great idea – personalize your pitch to your target audience in hopes of making a connection that leads to a sale.

However, there are many things to consider when executing a successful plan. If you plan to invest in a marketing automation program, you need to understand what is successful and what is not in order to see your efforts pay off.

It helps to begin with a strong concept of what marketing automation is. Marketing automation is a combination of software and marketing tactics that deliver personalized content to clients in order to gain their business. Consider a company like Amazon, which emails clients lists of products they may be interested in after making a purchase on the site.

Amazon tailors its home page based on the buyer’s interests and sends out surveys after a sale is complete. Amazon has proven success in marketing automation and is certainly a company to emulate. Here are five ways to implement a successful marketing automation program to help your business succeed.

Read more

Culinary Arts Schools in Washington State

Your high school diploma or GED makes you eligible for a college education, and many students dream about a career as a chef. Let’s take a closer look at some culinary education institutions in Washington State.

Are you thinking of enrolling in a culinary arts school in Washington and exploring the world of becoming a chef or a baker? There are great culinary arts schools in Washington, and these fine culinary arts schools can make your dreams come true.

If you are in Washington State right now, are very interested in culinary arts, and want to become a world-class chef someday, then you are in the right place because Washington State is a hotbed for culinary schooling.

Start your culinary career now and choose and find the right culinary arts school in Washington for your culinary arts education and training. Usually, holding a secondary education degree is required for admission, but if you don’t hold a high school degree, you can always sign up for a good online GED prep course and earn your high school equivalency diploma.

The culinary arts schools in Washington educate and train their students on the principles of how to cook and prepare great food. Culinary arts schools in Washington also help students become very successful in their quest to become a chef or baker in the future.

Vocational training schools, technical trade schools, community colleges, and universities in Washington offer comprehensive culinary arts degrees, courses, classes, culinary arts training programs, and culinary arts certifications. Culinary arts schools in Washington also provide excellent education and training that includes lectures, classroom training, classroom demos, field trips, externships, and hands-on training.

Read more