Tag Archives: business

Top 10 Most Successful Celebrity Chefs



Celebrity Chefs are a unique entity, unlike any other profession.  

Where fans can watch a professional sports event (football, golf, tennis), we know that we can never be as good as they are in their particular field of play.  We’ll play those sports for fun, with the full realization that we would never be able to do anything even close to what those folks are able to pull off on a regular basis.

But celebrity chefs?  They’re just cooking.  We can cook, too.

It doesn’t take that much skill to grill a steak to perfection – Web Watch does this all the time, and our steaks come out absolutely fantastic.

Restaurant-quality, if we do say so ourselves.

Granted, we need to pay a little more for some higher-quality ingredients on occasion to really pull off some incredible meals, but that’s a choice that we consciously make.  In any case, the average home cook does have the exact same tools available to them as the Celebrity Chef does, so in some ways it really is an even playing field here.

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Are you an ethical diner? Here’s how to select the best-run restaurant for your next meal



We all enjoy eating out at restaurants.

The food is typically well-prepared, and who doesn’t enjoy being waited on by a young go-getter who is eager to please and provide the Ultimate Dining Experience?

Ok, well maybe not every restaurant you eat at ends up being the Ultimate Dining Experience, but go with us on the concept here.

Let’s look at this from another viewpoint – if you were going to work at a restaurant, would you rather work at a restaurant that provided the Ultimate Employee Experience, or one that treated all of their employees without care?

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News flash: Men and women love different brands



What brands do you love?

What products do you especially seek out simply because you love the company, regardless of whether they’re considered the Best of Class in their product line?

Would you believe that men and women differ on which brands they admire most?

We know, it’s shocking that there could be gender differences based solely on brand affection – but it’s true.

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The difference between a “workaholic” and an “engaged workaholic”



Are you a workaholic?

Maybe you’re a workaholic and you don’t even realize it.

Sure, all of us tend to spend a lot of time either at work, thinking about work, or trying to do work at non-work times. Web Watch has told you numerous times in the past when we’ve taken conference calls while on vacation — that would certainly qualify as a definition of workaholic.

But did you know that there are different shades of workaholism? That’s right – there’s a heirarchy of workaholics.

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10 jobs that are expected to disappear in 2012



What do you do for a living today?

Do you expect that job to still be pertinent when 2012 comes to an end?   If you’re in the pay phone repair business, you may want to start looking to expand your skillset.

Same thing if you’re working at a GPS manufacturer or printing Yellow Pages.   All of these are jobs that technology has trumped over the past few years.

But there are trends that you may want to pay attention to, especially if you believe what the BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS’ OCCUPATIONAL OUTLOOK HANDBOOK has to say regarding what jobs are currently on the decline.

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When can we use the phrase “Super Bowl”? And other Super Legalities you should be aware of



One question that Web Watch hears a lot from our friends is “Why do some businesses use the term THE BIG GAME or PIGSKIN PARTY, while others use the term SUPER BOWL in their promotional material?” We’ve noticed this ourselves, and are often amused at the lengths some companies go to in associating themselves as being a part of the Professional Football Championship Game without actually mentioning any of the NFL’s trademarks.

Web Watch is not a lawyer, nor are we involved/affiliated with the Super Bowl, the NFL, and its various properties – but we can certainly share some of the things that we’ve learned over the years. Take the following as helpful suggestions, but if you are planning on using any of the NFL’s trademarks yourself – you may want to check with your own legal department and/or followup with the NFL themselves for your own DOs and DONTs list.

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Are you a Showroomer? When retail stores fight back against the Internet, we all lose



Showroom: The Saga of a Family, a Car Business and the Seven Deadly Sins
Showroom: The Saga of a Family, a Car Business and the Seven Deadly Sins

By now, Web Watch is sure that you’ve heard of the term “showrooming“, where consumers go to Target, Best Buy, or other major retailers simply to browse the aisles – cell phone in hand – with the explicit purpose to NOT buy anything that day.

Web Watch will admit, we’ve done this on plenty of occasions:  we go to an electronics department to look for a specific item — maybe so we can get a close-up of the box, or a better idea of the specs — and we do our own little bit of online price comparison.

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Amazon.com has the Best Customer Service. (Zappos ranks high, too)



Amazon.com Gift Card
Amazon.com Gift Card

When it comes to Customer Service, what retail companies come to mind?

We’ve heard countless stories about companies like Costco taking back anything that they sell, no matter how long ago you purchased it… but while Costco is an awesome place to shop, the long lines and lack of salespeople on the shopping floor can turn some potential shoppers off, as getting out of there with a purchase can be a bit more difficult than it needs to be.

Web Watch enjoys the staff at the local Home Depot and Lowe’s, but there are times when both stores struggle to answer our seemingly simple questions.

We do’t ask for much – we just want each shopping experience to be superior to the last outing.

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How much money do porn sites make?



The Erotic Engine: How Pornography has Powered Mass Communication, from Gutenberg to Google
The Erotic Engine: How Pornography has Powered Mass Communication, from Gutenberg to Google

In 2006, the US adult industry made over $13 billion in revenue.

In revenue, porn brings in more money than Microsoft, Google, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo, Apple, Netflix, and Earthlink combined.

Let’s say that last word again:  combined.

Yes, online (and elsewhere) we can safely say, “porn is king”.  Just like the porn industry is credited with the rise of VHS over Beta, the porn industry is also credited with pushing the technology envelope and make today’s Internet what it has become.

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How much do you tip your waiter? Chances are, you’re paying them way too much



How to Make Money and Bigger Tips as a Waitress
How to Make Money and Bigger Tips as a Waitress

How much do you tip your wait staff when you visit a bar or restaurant?

Some people go for the standard 20% off the final total of the bill — just take the total, move the decimal point, and multiply by 2… voila! No math required and you left a 20% tip.

Some people jump through complicated hoops to come up with a 15% or 18% tip.

We’ll be honest here – there have been times that Web Watch has left less than 15%… but trust us, the wait staff didn’t do their job that day by listening to what the customer wanted (they didn’t bring us the requested drink, the requested condiment on the side rather than on the sandwich, etc – and it wasn’t because the restaurant was busy that day… it was just bad service all the way around.)

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What to do in Vegas? In 2011, “not gamble” was on the list



Weird Las Vegas and Nevada: Your Alternative Travel Guide to Sin City and the Silver State
Weird Las Vegas and Nevada:
Your Alternative Travel Guide to Sin City and the Silver State

Web Watch loves visiting Las Vegas.

Then again, we also agree with our friends who say that “a little Las Vegas goes a long way”.  In other words, these people don’t necessarily enjoy the entire gambling, casino, nightlife, gambling aspect of Sin City.

Web Watch knows people that took a vacation out to Nevada and other points west, and their Las Vegas experience consisted solely of driving down the Las Vegas Strip.  They didn’t stop, they didn’t browse.  They had lunch as a nearby McDonald’s (not even at the In-n-Out!) before continuing on their merry way.

We don’t blame them.  There are aspects of Las Vegas that we don’t appreciate either.  But to each their own.

But then the Nevada Gaming Control Board decided to come out with their compilation of revenue numbers and financial analysis of the 2011 gambline business, and the numbers look a bit unusual to us here at Web Watch.

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The 25 Least Expensive Places to Live



Cost of Living and Doctor's Fees in 1848
Cost of Living and Doctor’s Fees in 1848

Sometimes it’s not so much how you live as where you live that determines how much money you can really save over the course of a year.

And we can thank the COUNCIL FOR COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC RESEARCH (C2ER) for their annual COST OF LIVING report that lists the LEAST EXPENSIVE CITIES to live in, based on the monthly rent for a 2-bedroom apartment, monthly average house payment, a gallon of gas, a hamburger, and a 1/2-gallon of milk.

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66% of employees surveyed will respond to email while on vacation



Vacation
Vacation

66% of people surveyed said that they will respond to emails and text messages from work while on vacation.

Combine that with the 83% of diehard workaholics that say they check business email after-hours after they’ve left the office, and the 29% who still attend online meetings and/or conference calls while taking a day or two off, and what you have is a bunch of people who just can’t learn how to relax.   Heck, Web Watch is guilty of this ourselves, having done everything from creating Powerpoint presentations while sitting in a Las Vegas casino hotel lobby to hosting a conference call while on the Mad Tea Party teacups at Walt Disney World. 

We’re not proud of the latter, but one does what one has to do.

Not everybody can be “on” all the time; everyone is entitled to having some sort of downtime… and if your office can’t survive for an evening without your prying eyes micromanaging everything, then maybe you’re working for the wrong company.

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List of 2012 Top Business Franchises



The Educated Franchisee: The How-To Book for Choosing a Winning Franchise
The Educated Franchisee:
The How-To Book for Choosing a Winning Franchise

Are you looking for a business to invest in, perhaps becoming an owner-operator of your own established chain of [whatever]?

If so, then you probably already subscribe to Entrepreneur magazine. In their most recent issue, they’ve published their list of the TOP FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITIES FOR 2012.

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Want to succeed in business? Try wearing black



Beyond Business Casual: What To Wear To Work If You Want To Get Ahead
Beyond Business Casual:
What To Wear To Work If You Want To Get Ahead

As we head into a new year, you may have on your list of New Year’s Resolutions to “get promoted at work”.

While working hard and getting recognized for the job that you do while at the office is only part of the way to advance your career – you may want to take a look at some of the esoteric things. 

Apparently, according to CareerBuilder:

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