Applebee’s America reading notes
- by Douglas Sosnik, Matthew Dowd, Ron Fornier 2006
- “A How To book on fooling the public” p 218
Gut Values Connections
“it’s not issues that count but gut values connections”
Life Targeting
It’s the Lifestyle Stupid
Navigators and Influentials
Religion of business; Corporations infecting faith
Lloyd Hill of Applebee’s:
Emotional investment in people p 80
Great Connectors p 92
“You can do it. We’re here to help.” Home Depot strategic marketing
Praise the lack of spin
Book by Robert Putnam “Bowling Alone”
Self-polarizing public p 130
Age of Autonomy – 1993 1965-2005
four decades of losing faith in government
Best brand = trusted brand
Individual Americans are the most effective problem solvers
Migration patterns
Philadelphia lost more than 350,000 between 1970 and 2000
Social capital; Essembly.com; Meet up
Migration trends; Gentrifiers; Transforming urban sprawl
Third Place – The purpose driven church
9/11 Generation
Spending patterns of 9/11 generation p 229
9/11 generation has a sense of entitlement about control
Young women are outshining young men
Answers to 12 questions completely unrelated to politics can predict political party affiliation (Appendix 1)
Quotations
“In times of change, learners inherit the earth while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists” – Eric Hoffer
“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but rather the one most responsive to change.” -Charles Darwin
“There is nothing patriotic about hating your country or pretending that you love your country but despise your government” -Bill Clinton in Michigan State University address (1992?)
“Americans are drowning in information but starving for meaning” -Pastor Rick Warren
New tax law limiting out-of-pocket medical expense deduction makes new planning strategies necessary
Beginning next year, tax deductions for out-of-pocket medical expenses will become more difficult than ever before for individuals. The current limit allows a deduction for expenses exceeding 7.5% of income. The new threshold for 2013 is 10% of income. Fewer individuals will qualify and those that do will find more of their expenses will be not deductible. A taxpayer with a gross income of $100,000 and $10,000 out-of-pocket medical expenses will lose a tax deduction of $2,500.
The only remaining practical tax breaks for out-of-pocket medical expenses are employer-provided health plans that reimburse out-of-pocket expenses (HRAs, FSAs and Cafeteria benefit plans) and Health Savings Accounts. We suggest that all of these should be included immediately in advance tax planning discussions for individual clients with substantial out-of-pocket medical costs. Because of the “lead time” necessary in setting up and transition to these tax-free benefit plan options, it is not advisable to wait until the end of 2012 to change health plan strategies.
The problem with Facebook IPO
This quotation from a Facebook advertiser summarizes the difficulty Facebook will face in maintaining market value as a public company.
“We still don’t have a huge correlation between Facebook fans and return on investment in an actual sales in store. Until that metric becomes a lot more solid, I don’t think our company or other brands are going to be full-fledged into Facebook advertising.”
The penetration of Facebook is obviously impressive. Yet the revenue per “like” or per user is so small as to be insignificant. I think it could be years until Facebook users are actually influenced by paid advertising in a way that has significant meaning to businesses.
In my specific industries (accounting, private health insurance and online financial services) the disconnect between Facebook and advertising revenue is even more pronounced. We may be several decades away from the time when any significant number of Facebook user profiles meshes with the demographic of our customer profile (wealthy individuals, business owners and executives in their mid-50s to mid-60s) and it seems difficult to imagine a scenario where other forms of marketing would not be more effective.
quotation from “Facebook Seeks More Paid Ads” – WSJ.com on 2/3/12
New report of small business optimism
This is the brightest small business survey result that I’ve seen published so far in this recovery.
SurePayroll Small Business Scorecard’s optimism survey shows some very positive signs for 2012.
- Along with optimism being up to 63 percent, the highest it has been since June, the survey also shows 50 percent of small business owners planning to hire in 2012.
- Meanwhile, 56 percent plan to increase wages for some or all of their employees in the new year.
- Only 2 percent plan to cut wages.
The survey also found that 21 percent would seek lending to grow their business. Respondents indicated marketing, new technology and equipment, and upgrades to their facilities as areas where they would invest.
We recognize that a private industry study like this does not offer the same degree of reliability as an independent economic researcher and we have little information on the respondent pool or survey methods.
Less than half of us believe in the American dream
Americans increasingly see tension between rich and poor. A sharp change in American attitudes is summarized in this report:
A new Pew Research Center survey of 2,048 adults finds that about two-thirds of the public (66%) believes there are “very strong” or “strong” conflicts between the rich and the poor—an increase of 19 percentage points since 2009.
However, the part of the Pew study that caught my primary attention were the public misperceptions about the source of wealth. The misperception remained unchanged from a previous survey in 2009 despite several recent books and studies that attempted to address the issue.
Only 43% believe that wealthy people became rich “mainly because of their own hard work, ambition or education”. The truth is that the large majority of American millionaires rich were not born rich but achieved this success through their own work. Similarly, a large majority of the super-rich families achieved that status because they started a company and then sold it. The misperception is blamed on public media, especially television that focuses on young people like Paris Hilton and the Kardashians born into rich families.
It is especially discouraging to read that young adults are even more unlikely to believe in this fundamental principle of the American dream than older people. This false belief may directly explain why we see fewer young people today with ambitions of working hard and getting a good education.
In a larger perspective, the combination of these two beliefs taken together (increased class tension plus a lack of personal influence) reported in the Pew study raises significant concern for the long-term sustainability of our society.
Rising Share of Americans See Conflict Between Rich and Poor | Pew Social & Demographic Trends
Review of “The Biology of Belief”
Is there scientific evidence for a spiritual afterlife? If so, it’s easy to conclude that it will not found in the way that many of us expect. If not, how do we explain the growing body of scientific findings that conclude that DNA and known environmental factors do not encode all of life’s development? Dr. Bruce Lipton’s book “The Biology of Belief” was certainly one of the most challenging I’ve read in a while. From it’s first pages the book requires dusting off buried concepts learned in college biology and quickly bringing them forward into the current age.
It seems to me that a third party layperson’s critical review does not add value for the reviewer or the reader in a topic that requires an extensive build-up, education and review of research in the premise. so I’ll simply skip it. That’s right, I’m skipping the review section of a book review. Instead I’ll simply state that it should be required reading form any person who wishes to associate with the descriptive term “intelligent” and for any young person expecting to bring a new life to the planet. I only regret that many soon-to-be parents would not have the ability or to make it through this type of book and there’s not likely to be any Cliff Notes or YouTube summary of the thesis.
As is customary in my book reviews, following is an unedited transcription of the scribbling’s I made while reading the book:
Fear kills p .120
Re-examine fear p. 123 (admits lack of effectiveness of this exercise in addendum. Check out psych-k.com for more effective way to re-program)
Parents p. 125
Darwinism p. 158 and 168
Self p. 161
Afterlife p. 161
Evolution p. 167
Environmental stress p. 169
“Survival of the most loving” p. 169
Join like-minded people for individual and planetary survival p. 172
Addendum
- Limiting/ self-sabotaging beliefs
- 95% of behavior is subconscious
- First 6 years of life
- Other people essentially program our lives
Praise for Kaiser Family Foundation & HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius
We applaud HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for a groundbreaking speech delivered yesterday at Kaiser Family Foundation. We hope that it marks an expansion of boundaries, literally and conceptually, for the federal government’s health reform movement.
It no longer makes sense to view the American health care system independently of worldwide health care. We live in a global economy and must recognize the many areas of health care where national boundaries have already been set aside.
At Freedom Benefits we have been a source of consumer information about international health economics including international medical insurance, medical tourism and, more recently medical insurance tourism.
Sebelius’ speech included this passage:
“Today, it’s clear that to keep America healthy and safe, we need an approach that takes into account both the threats and opportunities we find in the rest of the world. And that’s exactly what our department has put forward in our first-ever Global Health Strategy. This strategy does not represent a radical new direction. Rather, it seeks to provide a new focus going forward so that we can use department’s unique expertise, resources and relationships to make the biggest impact possible.”
Read the entire speech here: Kaiser Family Foundation : Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Department of Health & Human Services
Motivation vs. Follow-through
This is a useful distinction; reminds me of the lessons learned in Dr. William Glasser’s famous book “Positive Addiction”. We might think of motivation as inspired thinking. Follow-through is most effective as a mindless compulsion. The neurological differences in these behaviors are fascinating.
“Motivation is in the mind; follow-through is in the practice. Motivation is conceptual; follow-through is practical. In fact, the solution to a motivation problem is the exact opposite of the solution to a follow through problem. The mind is essential to motivation. But with follow through, it’s the mind that gets in the way”.
quoted from Your Problem Isn’t Motivation – Peter Bregman – Harvard Business Review
My biggest regrets of 2011
1. Missing the Delaware Estuary Summit in Cape May this past January. I’ll be sure to make the next one in 2013.
2. Underestimating consumer reaction in response to passage of the Affordable Care Act of 2010. The change in consumer market behavior caused a net drop in my net income through Freedom Benefits of about 40%.
3. Relying on conventional single machine backup software that cannot restore to a different machine or drive. This cost me much lost time and perhaps even some data. I should have known better and have a multiple machine system now.
4. Trying to give up my Blackberry to save money. I must admit that if I want to maintain this level of productivity then I am an addicted technology junkie .
5. Not recognizing that my wife was always right. This should have been listed as #1.
January 2; a decade-by-decade backward glimpse
The start of a new year presents the opportunity to look at where I stand today in comparison to where I’ve been in the past. This little mental exercise helped me today.
January 2, 1962
Learning to explore our twin house on Mill Road of Elkins Park, PA as a 2 1/2 -year-old toddler. Younger brother John, 1 1/2, was now likely out of the play pen so we probably hung out there together each day.
January 2, 1972
Returning to school as a 6th grader at Visitation BVM after a too short winter break. I was the youngest and smallest on my school’s wrestling team and we experienced the shock of a teammate’s accidental death at home over the winter vacation. This was my first exposure to the concept of death and mortality and was still fresh in my mind as I returned to school this semester. Mom had not been healthy but she made sure that our family’s Christmas season was magical. I had no way of knowing she would die six months later. Winter weather was brutal on the Stump Hall Road farm; we struggled to keep water flowing to the animals and early morning chores sometimes meant carrying pails of hot water to help melt the ice. Even walking the long driveway to get the school bus seemed a challenge on icy mornings.
January 2, 1982
I enjoyed running the hills during the mornings at Humaco, Puerto Rico in training for the second semester of my senior year in wrestling. We would stay there at Palmas Del Mar until about January 12 when I would fly home healthy and in better shape than most of my teammates. I looked forward to getting married to Patricia, my high school romance, shortly after graduation this spring. This planning dominated much of our discussion. “Big man on campus” described me well back at my small college campus. I was the school’s only All-American that year and an outspoken activist as the editor of the student newspaper.
January 2, 1992
Struggling to rebuild my income after losing time due to an auto accident. I had difficulty using my left hand especially in cold weather. I loved my home and office at Doylestown but Stephanie was not so happy. We were having discussions about whether it was time to try have a child; this possibility was both exciting and scary but I had no clue about what it really meant.
January 2, 2002
I was open to the possibility of a new relationship after a rocky year with Barbara. My primary focus was to establish a healthy, stable and nurturing home environment to share with Josh, 8 and Arielle, 5. Right now I was “between houses” following the sale of the Pennlyn Place house in Ocean City and the purchase of my house on West Avenue. Coaching and my demanding travel schedule took up a lot of energy but I was able to bring Josh and Arielle to home matches. I seemed unstoppable on the wrestling mat and believed that I could win the national open tournament in the spring and was a long shot for an invitation to the olympic training camp. The most difficult challenge was finding practice partners so I travelled to local colleges whenever I could.
January 2, 2012
I’m re-launching my professional career after a five year break. Marriage and family life are stable. Instability at Money Island NJ has worn us out both emotionally and financially. Lori and I are most thrilled that all six of our children are thriving; we know that we could have no greater blessing. Her career is taking off and for the first time she is the primary income earner.
