Entrepreneur

Martin Lindstrom: Carefully camouflaged tubes strategically placed amongst the tinsel and glitz were piping in the sumptuous smells of Christmas: a perfect mix of cinnamon and pine. Although it seemed I’d gotten to the nub of the issue, I was still perplexed. I mean, can a tube dispensing cinnamon and pine really compel me to embrace the Christmas spirit way ahead of time? Surprisingly, yes. Dr. Gemma Calvert, who is an expert in modern brain imaging based in Oxford, England, discovered the remarkable ability smells have to reactivate childhood memories. She exposed a group of volunteers to cinnamon and then viewed their reactions, using an fMRI scanner. As they breathed in the sweet spicy scent, their brains fired up — including the region responsible for authentic emotional engagement. It seems cinnamon is one of the main ingredients associated, over time, with baking and cider-making rituals and can kick-start an emotional journey whenever it wafts our way. So while it might seem as though retailers are concentrating on everything that delights your eyes and ears, they also might be surreptitiously enticing you to buy more through your nose. Martin Lindstrom is the author of Brandwashed: Tricks Companies Use to Manipulate Our Minds and Persuade Us to Buy. Photo by Timmary/ShutterStock.

Bizopy: “Life can be much broader, much better, once you recognize one simple fact: life as you call it, was made up by people no smarter than you.” Watch this (likely never seen before) video here.

Cassandra Daily: Journalist Melinda Wittstock, harnessing both crowdsourcing and gamification, hopes to create a flourishing source of citizen journalism with her new reporting platform NewsiT . Participants in Wittstock’s mobile, crowd-reporting experiment accept distinct tasks in order to contribute to evolving news items. They can opt to interview a source, capture an image, or check a fact in order to add their weight to an ongoing assignment . Intrepid news-breakers can also upload images and videos in order to initiate stories of their own. Users who contribute to and/or rate NewsiT content are rewarded with points that enhance their on-site editorial status and expand their access.

1819 – The U.S. vessel SS Savannah arrives at Liverpool, England, United Kingdom. She is the first steam-propelled vessel to cross the Atlantic, although most of the journey is made under sail. 1840 – Samuel Morse receives the patent for the telegraph. 1877 – Alexander Graham Bell installs the world’s first commercial telephone service in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. 1948 – Toast of the Town, later The Ed Sullivan Show, makes its television debut.

Don’t you wish your product has this kind of “history” (even if it is fictional): In early 1849, Joshua Shelby was working as a cook in a fancy St. Louis restaurant. The hottest topic among the patrons there was the rivers of gold that had been found out in California. These seemingly easy pickins stoked a full-blown case of Gold Fever! The only cure was a pick axe and gold pan way up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains which lay far to the west. In mid 1849, Shelby loaded up his wagon and along with hundreds of other would-be prospectors he headed west to California. Eventually he settled in the Mother Lode region, not far from what became Yosemite National Park. Accompanied by his trusty mule Codie, and panning along the Merced River, Shelby found a little gold, but eventually grew tired of the backbreaking work. Looking around for something else to provide a living, Shelby realized that the gold mines and camps dished up awful, bland food that failed to stick to a man’s ribs and about which the miners complained constantly. Falling back on his skills, recipes, and spice blends, Shelby took a job as a gold camp cook which led to local fame and a little fortune. He soon developed a reputation as a first class frontier chef famous for good ‘ol fashioned home-style cooking. Joshua Shelby’s trademark spice and rub blends were always chock full of flavor and new blends continuously evolved as immigrants of from far off countries arrived in the camps, some with exotic and rare spices with flavors he’d never encountered before. Shelby’s dry spice blends stayed fresh until mixed with meat and various liquids available in the gold camps. Legend has it that he guarded these recipes with deadly accuracy. With his ol’ 50 cal Sharp’s rifle he was able to shoot the center out of a silver dollar at 75 yards. These mixes come from Josh Shelby’s own handwritten journal, recovered along with a well-seasoned cast iron skillet from his secret hiding place, deep underground in one of the many mines that still dot Mariposa County. Miners Mix is a local company that manufactures (what they claim) are historically-accurate Gold Rush-era seasonings.

CoolBusinessIdeas.com: In Canada, MyLawBid saves people time and money when searching for a lawyer by having lawyers compete for their business. It also saves lawyers time and money by having prospective clients come directly to them. Individuals and small businesses can find a lawyer in three simple steps: 1) Individuals and small businesses anonymously fill out the request for legal proposal (RLP) form; 2) Lawyers informed of RLP and respond describing how they can help and how much they might cost; and 3) Individuals and small businesses select the lawyer best for them.

Entrepreneur.com: A decade ago when Beth Heller and Tami Quinn opened Pulling Down the Moon in Chicago, “fertility yoga” was little-known. Today, they operate four centers in Illinois and one in Rockville, Md., offering a variety of services to women trying to get pregnant. “Never did we imagine that it would grow into a $1.3 million company,” Quinn says. To generate interest in their yoga classes, Heller and Quinn initially sent out marketing materials to area fertility doctors. As the customer base grew, so did the company’s holistic offerings, which now include acupuncture, nutritional counseling, Chinese herbal medicine and massages. Pulling Down the Moon’s story is an increasingly familiar one. As the number of fertility doctors has grown, so too has a cottage industry of yoga centers, acupuncturists, nutritionists, massage therapists, online sites and CD-makers that claim to increase a woman’s chances of conceiving. While the scientific evidence is limited, there is growing belief among both doctors and patients that stress-reducing techniques, acupuncture and proper diet can increase the probability of pregnancy.

Vindy.com: Brain Swaggle is an interactive game that combines Scrabble and chess, making for an online game that’s strategic and stimulating, said Downing, the game’s creator, who is from Cortland. “I thought that it would be cool if somehow a game could be created combining the strategy of chess with the vocabulary skills needed for Scrabble,” Downing said. “It’s kind of like sparring with letters.” Downing said the game is played online. Currently the only option is to play against a computer challenger. Each player takes turns picking a letter to spell a word, Downing said. “You can choose how long you have on each turn — 15, 30 or 60 seconds,” he said. “It’s really tough to plan ahead because as soon as the computer makes its move you might have to rethink your word.”

Most people who find success are in the lap of luxury. However, Kathleen finds herself in the lap of eco-success. Her baby blankets, made of easily renewable resources, have introduced a bamboo and soybean material that is soft enough for babies and green enough to support an eco lifestyle. Using a no waste approach, the tag that comes with each blanket is not only recycled, but you can plant it and flowers will grow. I recently asked Kathleen a few questions about Lotus Bebe and the inspiration behind it. Tell us a little about Lotus Bebe. Lotus Bèbè is a line of eco-friendly and luxurious baby blankets. Our blankets are made with eco-friendly bamboo and soy both are trimmed in 100% silk to give them that luxurious feel that all little ones love. We sell wholesale nationwide to upscale children’s boutiques and online, through Amazon.com and www.lotusbebe.com. Lotus Bèbè has the only collection of both bamboo and soybean baby luxury blankets on the market today. What inspired you to go into the baby blanket business? After reading about eco-friendly bamboo and soybean fabrics I started searching for blankets for my son, made with either fabric. This turned out to be a challenge, due to the fact that no one was carrying these items. So I got the idea of designing and selling them myself. After 2 years of research and a few challenges Lotus Bèbè was created. What separates your product from the competition? We offer both bamboo and soybean blankets and both are trimmed in 100% silk. Many other blankets on the market today are made with polyester and trimmed in a polyester satin. We wanted our line to be as eco-conscious as possible. Each blanket comes with a tag printed on 100% recycled paper that GROWS! Plant it under a thin layer of soil and water a little bit each day. “Watch your baby grow as the wildflowers bloom.” How many colors and styles do you offer? The collection includes luxury soy blankets, bamboo blankets, and bamboo petite blankies. The soy luxury blanket is made of a soft plush soybean fiber with a 100% silk box pleat trim. The soy comes in a natural dye-free pale gold color and the silk trim is available in a rich chocolate brown or a pale pink. The soy luxury blanket’s generous size of 42”X31 is perfect for use as a throw or just for wrapping up little ones for many years of luxurious softness. The bamboo blankets are made of a bamboo fiber fleece that is softer than the softest cotton, has a natural sheen to the surface and feels similar to silk or cashmere. The blankets come in 3 colors, pale blue, pink and pale green and all come with a deep brown 100% silk trim. The blanket measures 30” X 30” and the petite blankie which is a smaller version of the larger blanket measures 15.5” X 15.5”, perfect to take along for little one’s on the go. Do you have any plans to expand on your product line? If so, can we have a hint? Yes, I am looking into developing more eco-friendly items for children, décor and accessories. Do you have any goals you’d like to accomplish in the next year or so? Yes, One goal is to obtain 5 new key accounts and also to sell through our remaining inventory for the year and start the year with some fresh new styles of blankets and some different accessories, bibs etc. What are some lessons your business has taught you? Be persistent and never give up. I have also learned that for the most part it is a numbers game, you have to go through the numbers to get to the prize. If you could go back, is there anything you would change about your business? No, not really, I have learned so much from the whole experience, even my mistakes are a lesson and if I did not make them I would not have learned as much. Do you have any advice you’d like to offer fellow entrepreneurs who are just getting started? Yes, do lots of research on your industry, learn as much as you can and have a good knowledgeable team of advisors. Also never give up on your dream! Remember: “Some will, some wo

Though the idea of renting a puppy seems weird, it is part of a larger trend to do away with responsibility and permanent connections to things that require upkeep, repair and maintenance. Things, like pets, that used to require a multi-year (or decade) commitment are now available for shorter spans. It’s an extension of the idea that nothing is permanent. Just as people now have starter marriages and starter jobs, rental-able pets fill a need for a connection without requiring a much from the customer. What’s next, rentable children? Deseret News: For college students everywhere, having permanent pets in student apartments and dorms is usually out of the question. BYU student Jenna Miller is making international news for creating a way for students to have a puppy — at least for an hour — and not break any university rules. “The first reason I decided to start it is that college students aren’t allowed to have pets and a lot of students really miss that, their pets back home,” Miller told the Deseret News. “I thought it’d be a good idea to get a taste of that it would possibly help give puppies a home so that people would be able to see them first and then adopt them.” Puppies for Rent is Miller’s new business where people can reserve a puppy for one or more hours to play with in the Provo and Orem area. For $15 an hour, $25 for two, and $10 for each additional hour, a puppy can be rented out after contracts are signed.