Tony Brewer

One of the most important parts of running a successful business is getting the customer’s attention.  There are many ways to do that; some of which include advertising on television, radio, printed media, and the Internet.  On a more local level, customized signs and banners, custom license plates, car magnets, bumper stickers are also good ways to get the customer’s attention.  I was just having some fun checking out the various custom bumper stickers that were displayed as samples on the buildasign.com website.  I think that bumper stickers are a fun way to make a point.  While I was on the website I was also noticing that the website has a lot of different methods to help one promote a business, or a cause.  They also sell banners, flags, neon signs, magnetics, vinyl lettering, vinyl decals, and a wide variety of different types of signs.

I seem to recall reading in a college textbook a few years ago that 98% of America’s wealth is in the pockets of only 2% of American citizens. That doesn’t leave a lot of money left over for you and me, does it? I’m always interesting in finding out how wealthy people have made their fortunes. Obviously a large percentage of them inherit their money from a couple of generations ago when their grandparents were able to do things that are now illegal. Well, there’s really no way we can mimic that now and stay on the good side of the law, is there?

No, I’m more interesting in learning how the Nouveau Riche (French for newly rich) made their fortunes. I was reading a CNN Money website about the Nouveau Riche titled THE BILLIONAIRES 1991, and was interested to see how many billionaires there were in the United states back in 1991. It made me wonder how many there are now, seventeen years later! This article was fascinating in that it wrote about so very many wealthy people, and how they got their fortunes. As I expected, the vast majority of them inherited their fortunes. What I did find interesting was that the Nouveau Riche mostly made their fortunes through real estate transactions.

I was just reading that the CEO of Ford Motor Company, as part of his plan brought before Congress, has agreed to be paid a salary of only $1 per year if the company has to take any government money.  I was reading the story on the Internet at the yahoo news site.  The article did not say how many years he would do that…..  I found that very interesting, and I think that all of the CEOs should follow suit. 

It will be very interesting to watch and see what the plans are that the big 3 will bring before Congress, and whether or not Congress agrees to bail them out.

Everyone I know has been saying for at least since last January, that we in a recession. Today the government has finally agreed, making it official; we have been in a recession since last December! I don’t know what exactly is the reason it took them so long to admit it, I think that politics were involved there somewhere along the way, and now that the election is over, and there’s nothing at stake (nothing left to lose) the truth finally comes out. I sure hope that Mr. Obama can come up with a successful economic stimulus plan to turn the economy around! It’s going to be tough going, and I sure wish him luck!