What men & women think about each other

Consider Howard Wolowitz and Rajesh Koothrappali.
They may be fictional characters on a popular sitcom, "The Big Bang Theory," but new research suggests there’s a lot of truth in how they interact with women.
Wolowitz is a teeny guy with dorky hair and dorky clothes. He’s brilliant and gainfully employed, but on the attractiveness scale, he’s maybe a 2, possibly a 2 ½. Despite his physical shortcomings, though, he imagines every hot woman who glances his way wants to jump his bones. Of course, he’s always wrong.
Then there’s his buddy Raj, a pretty nice-looking guy once you get past his haircut. But he’s so insecure around women he can’t even talk to them unless he’s drunk.
What’s the deal?
There are "tons" of studies that show men think women are interested when they’re not, says lead author Carin Perilloux, a visiting professor at Williams College. But her study, which will be published in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science, found that not all men do. And surprisingly, it appears that the dorky, less attractive guys are more likely to think they’re babe magnets than their more attractive counterparts.
Perilloux was an unattached graduate student at the University of Texas when she decided to look into how men perceive women’s level of sexual interest and vice versa. She and her coauthors enlisted the help of about 200 straight undergrads, split evenly between the sexes, with an average age just shy of 19.

The researchers asked each of their subjects to rate their own attractiveness on a scale of 1 to 7. The students then had three-minute one-on-one conversations with five members of the opposite sex, a setup the scientists describe as "speed meeting." (The goal wasn’t to get a date, because some of the participants already were involved with people outside the study.) After each conversation, they rated the other person’s attractiveness and sexual interest.
The more attractive the woman was to the guy, the more likely he was to overestimate her interest in him, researchers found. And it turns out, the less attractive men (who believed they were better looking than the women rated them) were more likely to think beautiful women were hot for them. But the more attractive guys tended to have a more realistic assessment.
And the women? Perilloux and her coauthors found that women underestimated men’s sexual interest.
Believe it or not, this all probably makes sense from an evolutionary perspective, the scientists say. Attractiveness is linked to fertility, so if guys keep hitting on hot women, they’re bound to score occasionally and father sons who act the same way. Those attractive men don’t have to try as hard. As for the women, their underestimation of guys’ sexual interest might help prevent them from developing a reputation as a slut
Of course, if men and women were more explicit about their level of interest, they wouldn’t be so confused, Perilloux points out. But it’s unlikely either sex is going to use the line "hey, I’m 75 percent interested in you."
So here’s Perilloux’s tips: "For men, the best piece of advice is to be more cautious if you’re interested in someone." For women, she says, save the flirting for guys you actually are interested in sleeping with. "Men seem to take any flirtatious signal and run with it."

Business lessons from the Wiggles

The release of BRW's list of Australia's best-paid entertainers has underlined once again what an incredible success story children's entertainment group The Wiggles is.
The business – yes, that's a fair description – posted gross earnings of $28.2 million in the last 12 months, according to BRW, which is an impressive result the boys in the coloured skivvies didn't release a new album during that period and a key member (purple Wiggle Jeff Fatt) was ill for part of the year.
I've got a three-and-a-half year old boy, so I've had a bit of a chance to study the money-making machine up close in the last few years – or at least through the prism of the CDs, DVDs and Band-Aids (they're a particularly big hit) that lie around our place.
With this in mind, I've compiled five business lessons that SMEs can take from The Wiggles:

Extend the brand

The business of selling stuff to kids is all about licensing – how many different products can you get The Wiggles symbol on? Lunch boxes, backpacks, toys and of course CDs, books and DVDs are all part of the range. But the deal to put the brand on Band-Aids is a particularly good example of the way the group has been able to find left-field branding opportunities.

Diversify

The number of different programs (both on television and stage shows) produced by The Wiggles is pretty amazing. There is the Dorothy the Dinosaur Show, Wiggly Waffle, Wiggle and Learn and a show for little kids called Baby Antonio's Circus. Many of these shows are repackaged or cut down versions of other content, which highlights another business lesson – the power of bundling and introducing different tiers of products.

Succession

A key to any business, but not easy to pull off when your four key "executives" (the Wiggles themselves) are so recognisable. However, when illness forced Greg Page out of the Wiggles a few years back, the transition to the new yellow Wiggle, Sam Moran, was seamless. Will they be able to gradually replace all the members? That will be tougher, but it is not beyond the realms of possibility.

Direct marketing

A key to The Wiggles' longevity on the highest-earning entertainers list is their dedication to live concerts. Not only are the margins much better on concerts than they are on DVDs and CDs, but the constant touring engenders the sort of loyalty that keeps the sales of licensed goods ticking over.

Exporting

Without question, the smartest thing The Wiggles ever did was look outside of Australia and take their brand to America and Europe. It just goes to show that kids are kids everywhere – happy music, bright colours and colourful characters work in any market.

Capital Region Entrepreneurs

I would like to invite our readers to join our "Entrepreneurs Meetup Group" http://www.meetup.com/Canberra-Entrepreneurs/ also we are on Face Book. http://www.facebook.com/groups/126533364128136/

Canberra Entrepreneurs

www.meetup.com

The Canberra Entrepreneurs group is an opportunity to build/enhance your contact network and knowledge base. Entrepreneurship Association of Australia The Entrepreneurship Association of Australia is a not-for-profit association dedicated to providing information, research and networking activities based on four categories: commercial, corporate, social and government entrepreneurship. The Entrepreneurship Association of Australia provides information on programs and activities to increase individual efficacy, and entrepreneurial behavior. Information on entrepreneurial activities will be collected by membership focused on developing knowledge within their desired field. Information will be disseminated through the EAA web site. Members may utilize their EAA home page as a virtual networking tool selecting links and communicating with other members. A priority objective of EAA is to be comprehensive in presenting links for existing entrepreneurship programs, providing promotional support for effective programs, and creating or innovating programs based on membership demand. Each entrepreneurship group operates through leaders driving activities based on group needs and desires. Communication between members through the EAA web site will originate ideas to further develop into action. The monthly meetings of the Canberra Entrepreneurs will allow for sharing membership knowledge through panel led open discussions on pre-selected topics. This is your opportunity to start, grow and develop your PCN (personal contact network). Joining the Canberra Entrepreneurs Meet-up group may allow you to develop your leadership skills, presentation skills, networking and increase your efficacy for development of your own entrepreneurial activities.

saturday morning cheer

A young lady confidently walked around the room while leading and explaining stress management to an audience; with a raised glass of water, and everyone knew she was going to ask the ultimate question, 'half empty or half full?'.....

She fooled them all...

"How heavy is this glass of water?", she inquired with a smile.

Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. to 20 oz.

She repl ied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter.

It depends on how long I hold it.

If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem.

<If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm.

If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance.

In each case it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

She continued, "and that's the way it is with stress. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on."

"As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again.

When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden - holding stress longer and better each time practiced.

So, as early in the evening as you can, put all your burdens down.< o:p>

Don't carry them through the evening and into the night...

pick them up tomorrow.

Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment.

Relax, pick them up later

after you've rested.

Life is short.

Enjoy it and the now 'supposed' stress that you've conquered!"

1. Accept the fact that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue!

2. Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.

3. Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.

4. Drive carefully... It's not only cars that can be recalled by their Maker..

5. If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague

6. If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it..

7. It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.

8. Never buy a car you can't push.

9. Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.

10. Nobody cares if you can't dance well.
Just get up and dance..

11. Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late..

12. The second mouse gets the cheese.
13. When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.

14. Birthdays are good for you.

The more you have,

the longer you live.

15. You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.
16. Some mistakes are too much fun to make only once.
17. We could learn a lot from crayons.Some are sharp, some are pretty and
some are dull. Some have weird
names and all are different colors,
but they all

have to live in the same box.
18. A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour..

19. Have an awesome day and know that someone

thought about you today.

20. It was me, your friend!

Save the earth -- It's the only planet with chocolate!

women and money

What is your relationship with money?

Experts say that for women is all about the emotions, just how you feel about yourself. The way we spend, save and invest is often dictated by deep-seated psychological issues relating to self-worth, security and status. Women when they are miserable, they hit the stores to compensate for something lacking in their life, these are the women who shop themselves into debt and even if they are on generous salaries borrow money to pay bills.

Then there are those women who through overly austere measures use money as a security blanket, who account for every last cent and deny themselves the smallest of luxuries and as such do not enjoy the money they earn.

Women have a heavier emotional involvement with money than men, and we have more worries, fears and anxieties connected with it. ‘Women have less confidence in their financial expertise than men, but if they can get beyond their fear, they are often better at investing because they take a more long-term view,’ says Emily Haisley, a behavioural finance specialist at Barclays Bank.

Focus is critical if your money is to meet your needs for the long term future and the way the world economy is heading and our own personal relationship with men is heading this financial focus is now more important than never before.

currency manipulation

the Aussie market has had to compete with cash rates of around 6 per cent. So asset prices have stayed low in order to attract buyers. Further price falls from here will make equity prices attractive relative to cash. That’s especially the case if you choose to ignore 95 per cent of the economists out there and believe that interest rates will fall in Australia later this year or early next.

-- Currency manipulation, just another potent ingredient in this horrible global cocktail of bad policy decisions, is one major reason why the RBA won’t be raising rates anytime soon.

--We’re in a crisis of government. The whole apparatus needs an overhaul and more than anything we need a return to sound money so people can conduct business in a stable environment.

-- That reality is still some time away. In the meantime, don’t look at the market as crashing, look at it as getting cheaper. Because as a value investor, we think this market is beginning to look very cheap.

Sharemarket turmoil

I am sure that most smart entrepreneurs will have spent the weekend thinking about how their business will withstand the inevitable drop in consumer and business confidence that we are going to see in the next few months as a result of the sharemarket turmoil.
While a recession in Australia looks extremely unlikely, the spending strike we've seen in the last 12 months will deepen as consumers retreat further into their shells.
That points to a tough few months. New customers may be harder to find, deals are likely to get harder to close and clients could reduce their typical spend. Cashflow is a particular danger at times like this and business owners and managers should be extra vigilant about late payers.
But while the confidence of business and household consumers is likely to take a beating, this is not the time for entrepreneurs and their teams to retreat into their shells.
The reason? Australian SMEs come into this rough patch much better placed than they entered the GFC.
Here are 10 reasons why:

• The lesson of the GFC – too much debt kills – has been well-learned by SMEs, who have trimmed their borrowings and scaled back financing requirements in recent years. This will give SMEs flexibility and options if the economy slows further.
• SMEs appear to be running reasonably lean – another learning of the GFC. While skills shortages are affecting some businesses, SMEs have been cautious about hiring. This should mean overheads are relatively low.
• Australian SMEs delivered strong growth during the GFC and over the last two years. In 2009, for example, our Smart50 list delivered average growth of 91% and created 900 jobs.
• While households are not spending, they are actually reasonably well placed to do so. Thanks to a savings spree, household balance sheets are in much better shape than during the GFC.
• The RBA upgraded its growth forecast for 2011-12 by a quarter 0.25% to 4.5% on Friday. The first half of calendar 2012 should see the economy accelerate.
• Australia's unemployment rate is at 5% and is unlikely to rise very far. Remember, in the US they are dealing with unemployment above 9%.
• Australia does not have the sovereign debt issues of the US or Europe. Our debt is tiny compared with these nations, so the sort of austerity measures likely in the northern hemisphere won't be seen here.
• Australia's Federal Budget is in good shape. If the Government needs to stimulate the economy (and it probably won't) it has lots of scope to do so.
• Australia is perfectly positioned to ride the continued growth in China and other parts of Asia. While the mining sector is the biggest beneficiary of this, we're much better off tied to Asia than Europe or America right now.
• Australian SME entrepreneurs are smart, nimble and flexible. We have the capabilities and skills to adjust to the changing needs of markets and customers and have proven this time and time again.

This last point is very important. SME business leaders have shown they can deal with turmoil and grow their business.
Consumer confidence might be sinking, but entrepreneurs have good reason to be confident in their ability to deal with this challenge.