money

I've recently relocated to London. I wasn't sure what to expect in the way of culture shock - so far so good. Living in New York City for 20 years can pretty much prepare you for any international move. I imagine relocating to somewhere a bit more exotic would pose a host of different challenges, but London/New York not so much - or at least not on the surface…

Some of the more subtle differences include how to dress (warmly and maybe not as fashionably). Reason? It is always cold in London, and cabs are not as inexpensive as in New York, so good-bye heels. Service. What service? People are VERY polite in London but the concept of service is another matter altogether. The happy offshoot of this development is that you are forced to slow down, things will not go as fast as you would like. Period.

London is greener than New York. For reasons I haven't discerned yet, London is more hectic (it's not just the traffic) than New York. And that green stuff, you need it. Green provides the "ah" factor. And social strata… There really isn't one in New York that isn't directly related to money. In London pedigree matters and you can't buy that for any money. Not really, anyway.

Long and the short of it? Love London. Love New York. Love them for different reasons. And Love is all you need!

Generally speaking, money has long been the motivating force behind getting a job. You need to pay bills. You get a job to pay the bills. Ok, so maybe the motivation is to pay bills, but money plays a part. Of course it does.

When you're running a business there is a natural transaction that takes place between you, the owner and the workforce. They (the workforce) do a job and you (the employer) pay them - money. But to truly motivate, the work should be satisfying. And to truly feel satisfied with the work they do for you, the results should be good. In this case, money is not so important. The motivation being value and satisfaction (it stands to reason that if the work needed by the employer is no fun then the compensation should be higher, but the reverse is usually true.) All this is to say that money has long been, and rightly so, the motivating factor behind the work exchange.

Today, however, that is changing. Personal satisfaction seems to be the modus operandi. Employees want to feel good about their work. They want to feel there is value associated with it, and that they are in turn valued. The employee seems to be saying, if who I am and what I do doesn't matter the

n I'd rather do this somewhere else. No longer are they satisfied with scratching their way to the top of the heap. Of course, this is a big generalization, but it seems to me that it is a trend. And if it is here's the other trend - money will not be the major motivating factor in retention. Value will be the key. Value who you have and they will "value" you back. Now you can take that to the bank!

Yes, that's right ladies and gents...according to PopEater some celebs including Britney Spears and P. Diddy are getting paid upwards of $20,000 PER TWEET!!

As a company who uses social media daily to not only promote our business but our clients as well, does this really come as a shock to anyone? I feel it's a genius idea....we all know that in today's society celebrity influence is HUGE with consumers...but I can’t help but wonder, do these celebrities really need this money?? Wouldn't it be great if instead of taking the money for themselves they were obligated to donate it to a charity of their choice?? That would be a win win for all! Who’s with me?!

Source: forbes.com

US News and World Report recently published an article on materialism and whether or not things make you happy. I go back and forth on this myself, but as a marketer that is dedicated to helping my clients (both in the luxury and the “masstige” arena) promote their products, it’s definitely a question to consider. After all, if everyone decides “things” don’t make us happy, then my clients might be out of luck.