Case in point: I have a hanging peanut tray and the bluejays love it. Generally when I fill it, they carry on, making noise for all their friends, letting the entire neighborhood know about the restocking of said tray. What often happens, though, is squirrels and grackles also show up, and these varmints are wasteful and tend to bully the jays away. The grackles will also bully smaller birds off all the other feeders and basically take over the entire property. The peanuts are gone, the birds are gone, the yard is quiet. Yuck.

Today was different. The jays watched as the crazy lady refilled the feeders, but this time, not a peep. Instead, they must have flown around to trees in the area and “told the others”, as they each started showing up, no sign of grackles, much to my delight and likely to the delight of all the other birds.

What’s the lesson? Be careful who you tell about your most prized resources, lest you want your booty plundered. If you don’t protect your intellectual property, you could run out of peanuts.

The point is not whether it works (it does, even if you’re not using it yourself for fear, thoughts of it being a kiddy tool, or you think you’re too busy to market in this way), but whether it will work for you. The answer is, “if you work it, it will work” Really.

Social networking is here to stay and the further your reach, the more you can influence, help, hurt, chide….so use caution. And if I’ve impacted the way you think about Twitter and you now want to use it, here is a great blog on jumping in with both feet. Oh, and Twitter Me if you dare.

Are you the average business person, allowing something to keep you from your own success? Make it a day where that “something” is in the past and eliminate a hurdle every day. Do this every day and you’ll see that goal come closer, faster.

If you’re looking for a user-friendly online calendar that really plays nice right now (not next year or?….),  check out 30 Boxes. While I was having a love affair with Scrybe, I also felt like I was being lead along a primrose path, with no hope of a real exciting future. Sometimes you have to shake things up to get what you need.

It reminds one that if you just create a path of least resistance, things can correct themselves and improve the business climate. In this case, removing an obsolete (if not downright asinine) law from the books.

Raise a toast, maybe Sunday liquor sales will equate to more revenue and more job opportunities. I know some will grumble about working a Sunday, but some folks will be happy to take a shift on a weekend. If I were a liquor store, you bet I’d be having an event of some sort…say, with a 21st Amendment party theme? Read a great article from Colorado Daily and another one here, from the Boulder County Business Report on this subject.

For some of the “not-so-high-profile” players, this offers an opportunity like no other - if you can offer great pricing, reliable uptime, AND great service, you will be heads above the kinds of companies that spend their resources on racing car sponsorship, instead of stellar service. Who do I recommend to every client? BlueHost. They rock on every level and their backend is a breeze, nicely organized and easy to get around. If you must call (yes, their number is on the site), you will get a message telling you how long you can expect to be on the phone, in order of when you called. Whatever your issue, they will handle you promptly, professionally, and without the usual bull.

The point is, as in everything, you have choices in webhosting and gone are the days of having to choke down over $250.00 a year just to have your site up. Before jumping on the bargain you think you find, ask around and ask PROFESSIONALS what they think. They’ll tell you a little extra money can save you and your website from being forgotten.

• Web Ready - 72DPI or better
• Print Ready - 300DPI or better

Keep in mind that changing the DPI in a graphic program does not make the picture better, it just makes it generally bigger.

The lesson: if you pay for an image, logo, or graphic, spend extra and get the high resolution from the get go; it can always be used for your print and web needs.

Back to the YouTube impact; this singer hails from Manila and Journey bandmates looked long and hard to find an adequate replacement to their former lead. Of all places, they found their new guy on YouTube, covering a Journey song. The search is off, this guy is now on tour with them, and the rest is history. Just goes to show you, you never know what you might find on the Internet. Arnel has found his pot of gold and Journey appears to have found their way back into recording studio and back onto the stage.

Oh, and the show? It rocked.