A Centrist Point Of View On The Price & Profit Of A Gallon Of Gasoline

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By a quick show of hands how many would agree to pay 1.00 American money for a gallon of gas from this day forward and forever? I proved my point already. Since I constructed the article I do hope I can ask you to indulge me with two minutes of your time to read the rest.

I often find it difficult to comprehend why on a plethora of topics people gravitate to the left or right and never consider the middle of the road? Since we are talking about the Oil Companies and billions in profits why not continue with the theme. On one side you have people yelling that the profit made in four months time for some of the oil corporations in 2008 were the largest in history. On the flip-side of the coin individuals yelled back that the amount of total taxes paid by the oil industry is probably the highest in North America and they directly or indirectly employee millions of people of all wage levels. Both sides have valid points but are leaving something out of the equation.

Why should the profit a corporation makes at the end of a fiscal year raise your eye? Shouldn’t the bottom line be the price and the value of the service. In 1976 wasn’t a gallon of gasoline roughly fifty-five cents in the United States? Oil executives still were driving the luxury cars and taking their families on trips around the glob. Resentment was minuscule because common sense dictated that if you can get a gallon of gas for under one dollar you have received total value for your hard earned money.

You can use an infinite amount of industries to further solidify the central point of view. Sports would be a perfect one for the next example. In 1973 George Steinbrenner purchased the New York Yankees baseball team for ten million dollars. Last week it was revealed that even with an economic recession the club is worth 1.5 billion dollars. The Yankees are a cash cow for the sales sold per game, the revenue generated from their own television network called YES, merchandising, and several other marketing gems. If you can’t afford to see the team play in person every game can watched on television and listened to on the radio. They show twenty games a season on free TV and a basic cable package on many systems grants you access to the YES Network. From 1995-2007 the team made the playoffs every year.

You can see that in a capitalistic society if a product is legal and ethical we shouldn’t begrudge the Steinbrenner family for being able to own a billion dollar enterprise. As long as the product is competitive and a fan can follow the team via the media outlets mentioned above, the amount of revenue they receive should not be an issue.

Why don’t we all put our heads together on finding ways to keep gas prices stable and in a legitimate price range. If turns out we accomplish the goal let the executives have the house in Maui and Beverly Hills because we can fill-up without mortgaging our own property.

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Craig Fenton is the creator of Painting My Room In A Colorful Way (the ultimate speaking and writing course with written, audio, email, and phone coaching). He is the author of the Jefferson Airplane book Take Me To A Circus Tent and the Jefferson Starship Have You Seen The Stars Tonite. Craig lectures with a one time member of the Grateful Dead and a legendary American Rock & Roll Photographer. http://www.learnpublicspeakingskills.com

 

WWTCD What Would The Colonel Do? The KFC Grilled Chicken Was Nowhere To Be Found

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WWTCD What Would The Colonel Do? The KFC Grilled Chicken Was Nowhere To Be Found

The big day is here! No, it isn’t the moment the beautiful lady neighbor agreed to go out with me, but on my calender in bold it states “Kentucky Fried Chicken KFC Grilled-Chicken Product Launch.”

Thus far the test marketing had been superlative. Containing less fat, calories, and cholesterol the new product on the block was ready to take a front counter seat as a healthier alternative to the fast food artery clogging ingredients.

This morning I am the first person through the door at the local KFC. In my possession is a hungry appetite and a pen and paper for my own review. As I break the land speed record from the front door to the service line I was delivered a blow to the head. Not all locations regardless of the population of the town have been set up to offer the new grilled chicken sandwich for sale. Perplexed as usual I could barely utter the words to the polite employee behind the counter. How can this be with all the hype and time for the product launch?

The word communication would be the answer, sort of. As it turns out not only did all the KFC’s not receive the okay to offer the new product today but the employee had no information as to when they will be approved.

In no way did she act indifferent about the situation. It sounded as if her goal was to try the product as soon as possible. I got handed an address and phone number (which in no way were they obligated to do) of the closest Kentucky Fried Chicken location that offers the grilled chicken.

Since the corporation didn’t articulate their thoughts and game plan correctly the local branch lost several customers today. When I left the premises a husband and wife, and three co-workers were right not far behind.

I learned many phenomenal lessons from my parents (missed more each day) and one of them is to be proud of your community and try to keep money within a close proximity of where you live. Each dollar spent helps keep the economic blood flowing and the publicity of the town positive.

These words are something I hope that the representatives of Kentucky Fried Chicken heard today. Every intention was made to support a new product and do so within a few miles from the home. The best laid plans. The rest of the quote we can finish later, because I’m hungry.

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Craig Fenton is the creator of Painting My Room In A Colorful Way (the ultimate speaking and writing course with written, audio, email, and phone coaching). He is the author of the Jefferson Airplane book Take Me To A Circus Tent and the Jefferson Starship Have You Seen The Stars Tonite. Craig lectures with a one time member of the Grateful Dead and a legendary American Rock & Roll Photographer.
http://www.learnpublicspeakingskills.com

 

A New Use For Twitter, it can be a great writing exercise (Say more in less time)

Painting My Room In A Colorful Way is the ultimate guide to better speaking, writing, and self-confidence with a book, audio files, email support, and phone coaching. With a price that won’t leave you speechless. Includes a money back guarantee.

http://www.learnpublicspeakingskills.com

One of the latest social networking phenomenons is Twitter.  It seems to be on the mind of every celebrity, politician, student, business owner, and social maven.

If you aren’t aware of what Twitter is, here is a brief description.  Twitter lets you post (the catch is 140 characters total or less) what you are doing, thoughts on a subject, a plug for a product, or a hello to your friends.  You follow Twitter users and they can follow you as well.

Here is where I have found a new use of the site.  One of the exercises I am currently teaching is how to say what you need to in articulate sentences while still staying in the 140 character restriction.

Yes, there are ways to circumvent the limitations such as using u for you or 4 and not 4 but when you can get a full impact to the reader without having to abbreviate your thoughts, you have learned a valuable tool.

When you speak or write the key is to keep the attention of those that you are communicating with.  We often find ourselves endlessly explaining something that could be stated in more concise patterns.

The exercise is can be advantageous for the sports commentator that has to get his point across between each pitch of a baseball game or in between downs of a National Football League broadcast.  It can help somebody on a job interview think faster and better their choice of words.  Maybe you are a business owner and need to get the attention of a future client in a couple of sentences, or you are writing a headline for a blog post.

Whatever the reason why not try this.  Think of a message you want to get across to friends, family, co-workers, and so on.  Start to write the contents in Microsoft Word.  When you have finished check the character count and if it is over 140 try to condense it without using abbreviations and losing the meaning of your thoughts.  The next thing you can do is to take something that you have already posted or written that is over 140 characters and see if you can truncate this as well.  It is not always feasible to be effective with a word or character limitation but for practice it can only benefit your speaking and writing capabilities today, tomorrow, and further down the road.  What have you got to loose but a few words.   Good luck!

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Craig Fenton is the creator of Painting My Room In A Colorful Way (the ultimate speaking and writing course with written, audio, and phone coaching).  He is the author of the Jefferson Airplane book Take Me To A Circus Tent and the Jefferson Starship Have You Seen The Stars Tonite.  Craig lectures with a one time member of the Grateful Dead and a legendary American Rock & Roll Photographer.
http://www.learnpublicspeakingskills.com