10 Deadly Mistakes During Business Cocktails

I recently attended a cocktail party with business people and have to admit that I didn't act too professionally at the beginning. So I decided to share some conclusions with you :) Just to make it clear - I didn't make all of the mistakes listed and I'm not going to share which ones were mine and which ones I've noticed before.


So here they are:


1. You forget the meaning of 'small talk'


When someone starts a casual talk with you, you suddenly turn it into a complex, intellectual, and well, let-me-escape-from-you conversation.


E.g.
"Nice to meet you, X. Do you enjoy your time here?"
"Yes, I do, thanks. But to be honest, not everything from the food appeals to me. They could have chosen another brand of cheese or at least serve it with a wholemeal bread. On the other hand, people here seem to be nice, but I think that this woman there next to the door is shooting angry glimpses at me, dunno why."


Your life at this moment could have been much easier if you had just said something like:
"Yes, I do, thank you. I don't really like the cheese, but i can live with that.How about you?"


2. Not drinking and giving long explanations for that


"Where is your drink?"
"Oh, I don't drink. It's just my lifestyle. Some people may find it strange, but it is just the way I am."


3. Wearing unpolished shoes


Like your dog has stepped on them. Dusty shoes make you look cheap.


4. Saying mean things about other people in the room.


We all have some moments when we feel awkward and say the first thing that comes to our minds. For example, discussing other people or laughing at them. It not only sounds malicious, but it also makes you feel low-confident. And just imagine that the person in question is the best friend of your interlocutor.


5. Eating fast/ eating food that applies big chunks/eating all the time like a rabbit.

 


Not sexy, nor professional!


6. Being dressed too casually

 



You are not on a teenage party, so if you don't want people to look down at you, you better try to understand the dress code.


7. Feeling too comfortable

 



If you are feeling relaxed and calm, it doesn't mean that you have to straddles your legs and occupy the whole sofa.


8. Forgetting what people have just told you 5 minutes ago.


As a result you feel unfocused and distracted and people may think you don't care about what they have to say.


9. Interrupting


Someone is telling you their favourite story and you constantly find something to add in between their sentences. Annoying!


10. Blah-blah-blah-blah


Even if you find the best listener to the world and he/she waits for you to finish your waterfall of words, it doesn't necessarily mean that they are interested in the endless talk.

To conclude with, I think that you actually need to make some of the mistakes in order to become more professorially-looking. And after all, it's always a good laugh when you remember it all!

Geek vs. Nerd Overview

I've been thinking about two popular terms 'nerd' and 'geek' which seemed identical to me. But as it turned out they aren't. And because my blog is mainly business dedicated I decided to explore them from a jobs point of view. But first, let's examine the distinctions.

What is a Geek?

(Yup, Justin. He was in an article about celebrities going geek)

1. Someone with specific niche interest or lifestyle

2. An early adopter (from marketing point of view)

3. The knowledge ranges from 'living encyclopedia' to mundane

4. He/she can be pretentious

5. A fan of gadgets

6. Someone who wears ironic T-shirts

7. .. and is highly likely to own a Mac

8. Geeks are usually communicative

What is A Nerd?

1. Someone extremely interested in academics

2. Runs away from society (introverted)

3. He/she is interested in games, movies, science, computers

4. Usually owns a PC (or a huge pile of books)

5. His/her interests include books: chess, fantasy, sci-fi, physics, computer programming

6. Nerds wear those kind of clothes which when you see you ask yourself: 'Who the heck would wear that?'

Movies Geeks like:

- Anchorman

- Donnie Darko

- Tron

- Office space

- Arrested Development

Movies Nerds like:

- Lord of the Rings

- Battlestar Galactica

- Star Treck

- Matrix

- Pi

Source: www.mastersinit.org

P.S. The business side of Geeks & Nerds is coming soon!

Top 8 for Expensive Pillows

There is something very cozy about those two pictures. I can't remember how I found them. Oh yes, they were in the folder of my old blog - Lullaby.

So how can I connect them with a business concept?
The first association is... pillows!

Here are the 8 most expensive pillows 
(that I managed to find)

8) £65.00 Organic wool pillow (www.greenfibres.com). Looks comfy, but as organic as it is, it's too expensive for me!

7) £81.73 Versace Silk Cushion Pillow (www.ebay.co.uk) - Ok, we all know that a brand always adds value.. to the price.

6) £110 Supreme Canadian White Down Pillow (www.duvetandpillowwarehouse.co.uk) - Well, this one is waaay to much. How special can it be to cost 110??

5) £223.48 Vintage Cotton & Silk Suzani Pillow (www.ecrater.co.uk) - Mmm... to be fair, this isn't the most beautiful pillow I've seen...

It's getting worse! Look at that:

4) £292 1950's Elsa Schiaparelli Silk Scarf Pillow (www.newyorkshoppingdiary.com)

 (Sorry, creators, if you read this, but I just don't see the logic beyond the price of this granny pillow)

3) £875.20  Rose Princess Pillow (www.etsy.com). Based on?

2) £1,069.69 Decorative Designer Pillow (it's a cover) (www.etsy.com) - And this is just the cover. Imagine if the had included the pillow (or VAT :D)

1) And the winner is... 

£ 1,887 - Twilight pillow from Edward& Bella  love scene (www.ebay.com)!

I temporarily lost my ability to talk!

The Hedgehog Model

I came across a cute picture of two baby hedgehogs while I was studying for Marketing. The authors of the book have decided to give an example of a business with hedgehog breeding.
So because my blog is dedicated to business, I decided to google hedgehogs and see what I can find about them.

To my surprise, there exists a socio-/psychological concept called The Hedgehog concept.

Interesting. What does it mean?

It resebles the famous fable about the tortoise and the hare The hare is known to be faster, more energetic and willing to win, while the tortoise moves slowly and heavily. Surprisingly, when they compete against each other, the tortoise wins because it moves slow, but steady and reaches the final destination in a smart way, whereas the hare blinded by its skills fails.

In a similar way, the author Jim Collins distinguishes two opposite leadership models - the Fox and the Hedgehog. The Fox always comes up with new ideas and solutions, like foxes try to kill hedgehogs in different ways. So it jumps from one project to another with fast pace. The Hedgehog however knows its strength and focuses single-mindedly at what it does best and which goal appeals to it the most. Exactly like hedgehogs uses their super gun - their needles.

So if you are a Fox, new ventures are likely to appeal to you and your passion would drive you towards the next one and the next one. And if you are a Hedgehog, you'll plan strategically in advance and will most probably hit your big aims powerfully. 

Examples of what you can be good at and therefore what you should concentrate on (if you are a Hedgehog) include:

Telling your story - relating to people and selling your experience

Inspire authenticity- free talent, voice, opinion, consciousness

Your economic engine is driven by the internet - you are in internet (marketing) guru aware of all the trends online

The Foxes need to be aware that although they energy levels are highly appreciated, jumping from one Big thing to another Big thing can make them easily distracted and losing focus of the main picture.

I like those kind of comparisons that writers make. Well done, Mr Collins! And the findings are actually quite true.

Read more: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-hedgehog-concept.htm

http://www.joyceoladipo.com/business-strategy/the-hedgehog-model

http://www.d.parrish.dial.pipex.com/hedgehog.html

Terong - the Sleeping Town

This beautiful picture was taken in Terong which is in Perak, Malaysia. The photographer C'LAVIE (Flickr) describes the place as  'a small sleeping town 17km off Taiping. Hectic life is merely non-existent, as time passes indefinitely slow in this town which mainly produces charcoal. Other attractions are mangrove swamp fishing activities and friendly people.'

Perak is a state based in Malaysia and the name means 'silver' in the Malay language. The state is the home of the country's oldest museum and oldest zoo. Also, they have a factory which specialises in the production of cottages. And according to the source which I'm using they have a beautiful nature and offer some trips with a tent. Other industries in the state include emphasising on Oils Palm and fruit produce and growth, mining is in decline. 

It seems that the time has stopped there and they have some old buildings and rail system unchanged during the years. 

I managed to find some pictures of their cottages and a website of the company producing it. A cabin costs about 700$ and there are many ways you can pay including leasing as an option. The website is http://www.parkcabins.com/

More info: http://go2travelmalaysia.com/tour_malaysia/perak.htm

Windows '95 & Sexy Greta

I came across an old tutorial for Windows '95 led by a sexy blond wearing bikini. Windows '95 is known to have significantly helped helped the development of computing. Some claim that it was Greta that pupularised computing, not the operating system itself. I just wonder if she actually helped people learn how the system worked. Or were they too distracted?

The Power of Togetherness

 You've probably realised how great some people make you feel after you've spent some time with them. Shared burden is half burden, as they say. You exchange ideas, brainstorm or tell interesting stories/jokes. Most of the time, other people make you feel better.

Ont he other hand, sometimes certain people make you feel exhausted because they either complain, don't listen to you, interrupt you, make you feel sad/angry etc. In other words, they act as 'energy vampires'.

So, what's the explanation from a metaphysical point of view?

When 2 or more people come together, pursuing the same goal/purpose results a synergy. In physics, the phenomena interference occurs when 2 waves of motion collide. They either strengthen each other, or they weaken each other and they form one wave called a standing wave.

What happens to people?

In maths, 1+1+1=3. But when it comes to synergy, it's different. 1+1+1=111, which means that when there is true synergy and 3 people synergise together they produce something really powerful! Everyone's contribution is great and his/her energy is much higher that if the person was alone. This is not always the case. Very often, the synergising doesn't produce such high results and could lead to 0 or even to a negative figure. In the case of negative 3 the result is -27. 

Why?

Because most of the people don't understand how synergy i.e. working together works. So they don't know how to contribute to each other's rising of energy levels. Therefore, there are so many failed relationships, friendships, marriages.

From a psychological point of view.

If person A alone is too short to reach an apple on a tree and person B is too short as well. Once person B sits on the shoulders of person A, they are more than tall enough to reach the apple. In this example, the product of their synergy would be one apple. Another case would be two politicians. If each is able to gather one million votes on their own, but together they were able to appeal to 2.5 million voters, their synergy would have produced 500,000 votes.

Synergy usually arises when two persons with different complementary skills cooperate. The fundamental example is cooperation of men and women in a couple. In business, cooperation of people with organisational and technical skills happens very often. In general, the most common reason why people cooperate is that it brings a synergy. 

So I think it's definitely worth it mixing up your energy with other people.Because your own one will boost dramatically. And the effect of -27 is much more insignificant that 111!

Read more:

http://psychology.wikia.com/wiki/Synergy

http://www.themodernstudent.com/content-index/40-chapter1/62-synergy.html

Smoothies can cause problems with your teeth!

One of my friends told me that she had 6 teeth fixed recently! And she has a very healthy lifestyle. Surprisingly, the dentist told her that the reason is most possibly her habit of drinking smoothies/fresh juices. And especially the fact that she keeps the liquid for a while in her mouth before she swallows it.

The reason?

Fruits contain acids which make your teeth more 'vulnerable' for some time after you've eaten something sour or drank some juice. That's OK as long as you don't do it too often because the teeth have a natural mechanism for recovering themselves (about 1 hour). So it's advisable not to brush your teeth within this time.

The remedy?

Several options:

- swallow quickly

- use a straw

- eat cheese or milk after eating/drinking what contains acid (What a cool advice from the website that I read!)

- regular dental checks

What can happen?

- dental erosion!

 Read more:

http://www.dentalhealth.org/tell-me-about/topic/mouth-conditions/dental-erosion 

Roasted Pumpkin

I've never realised how much I adore pumpkin 'till today!
Or squash, they are pretty much the same.


My favourite way of preparing both is just:
- put them into the oven
- bake for ~ 20 mins
- add a little bit cinnamon


Done!


So delicious, cheap, healthy and low-calorie. Try it, you won't regret it!

Lego Targets Girls

It seams that Lego has had some problems with the sales and profits.

So they needed a change and decided to develop something new. After some research amongst daughters and mums, they finally released they fist product aimed exclusively at girls. For the fist time! (They've been operating since 1934.) It is called 'Lego Friends' and is rich in pink and purple.

The sales are said to have jumped dramatically. In 2011, their figures soared by 17% to nearly £2.2bn while operating profit jumped from £573m to £660m.

More info:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/mar/01/lego-profits-rise-pink

How Does the Stock Market Work?

 I have to admit that although I am a Business student, I never knew how the stock market actually works.

Until I found this fantastic animated video which explains it all!

It may be a little bit old, but it is very clear and things haven't changed much during the years when we talk about stock market.

Potatoes Make Dark Circles Disappear?

 Do you have problems with dark circles around your eyes? You may find this interesting.

What?

I came across an appealing article. Instead of buying expensive make-up to cover the areas that you may wish to hide (e.g. concealers), it suggests that you try a home remedy. Cheap, easy and hopefully, effective.

How?

What you need is a grater, a cheese cloth and a potato (raw).

You need to grate the vegetable, put it in the clot, place it on the areas that you wish to lighten, lie down and wait for 20 minutes.

Why?

The reason why it should be effective is that scientist have found that the potatoes contain a chemical called catecholase which helps with the natural lightening of the skin. It is a major ingredient in many skin products.

What causes dark circles?

In short:

lack of sleep

inheritance

medicals

food allergy

lifestyle

sun

the skin around the eye is very tender, so it is easy for it to get wrinkles or dark circles.

I personally haven't tried it, but intend to do it asap. Student life is not easy, so tiredness needs to be covered.

 

 More info:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/85039-use-raw-potatoes-dark-circles/

http://www.targetwoman.com/articles/cause-dark-eye-circle.html