What Is Innovation Today?

by Chris Frost on February 8, 2010

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Today, innovation is about much more than new products. It is about reinventing business processes and building entirely new markets that meet untapped customer needs. Most importantly, as the Internet and widens the pool of new ideas, it’s about selecting and executing the right ideas and bringing them to market in record time.  In the 1990s, innovation was about technology and control of quality and cost. Today, it’s about taking corporate organizations built for efficiency and rewiring them for creativity and growth.

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Protected: Frostfire 2010

by Chris Frost on February 3, 2010

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As Frostfire continues to building the latest innovations, whether it be in healthcare, energy, lighting or media we come across many incredible companies and entrepreneurs that are using technology to improve our lifestyles.

A list of companies that have recently caught our attention can be seen below.

http://www.kior.com/

http://www.ecomotors.com/

http://www.nanostellar.com/

http://www.livinghomes.net/

http://soladigm.com/

http://www.topangatech.com/index.html

http://www.ausra.com/

http://www.greatpointenergy.com/

http://www.nanoh2o.com/Technology.php5

http://www.segetis.com/alpha/home.htm

http://drathscorporation.com/

http://www.paxstreamline.com/

http://www.groupivsemi.com/

http://www.coskata.com

http://www.amyrisbiotech.com/

http://www.ls9.com/

http://www.gevo.com/

http://www.rangefuels.com/

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The Ultimate List Of Tips For Life

by Chris Frost on November 17, 2009

I was recently forwarded an email from a 90 year old lady with her list of tips on life, normally i do not read these types of emails, but this one caught my attention.

1.  Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.

2.  When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3.  Life is too short to waste time hating anyone…

4.  Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick.  Your friends
and parents will.  Stay in touch.

5.  Pay off your credit cards every month.

6.  You don’t have to win every argument.  Agree to disagree.

7.  Cry with someone.  It’s more healing than crying alone.

8.  It’s OK to get angry with God.  He can take it.

9.  Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10.  When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11.  Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.

12.  It’s OK to let your children see you cry.

13.  Don’t compare your life to others.  You have no idea what their
journey is all about.

14.  If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.

15.  Everything can change in the blink of an eye.  But don’t worry;
God never  blinks.

16.  Take a deep breath.  It calms the mind.

17.  Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.

18.  Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.

19.  It’s never too late to have a happy childhood.  But the second
one is up to you and no one else.

20.  When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no
for an answer.

21.  Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie.
Don’t save it for a special occasion.  Today is special.

22.  Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23.  Be eccentric now.  Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.

24.  The most important sex organ is the brain.

25.  No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26.  Frame every so-called disaster with these words.  ‘In five years,
will this matter?’

27.  Always choose life.

28.  Forgive everyone everything.

29.  What other people think of you is none of your business.

30.  Time heals almost everything.  Give time time.

31.  However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32.  Don’t take yourself so seriously.  No one else does.

33.  Believe in miracles.

34.  God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you
did or didn’t do.

35.  Don’t audit life.  Show up and make the most of it now.

36.  Growing old beats the alternative — dying young.

37.  Your children get only one childhood.

38.  All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39.  Get outside every day.  Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40.  If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s,
we’d grab ours back.

41.  Envy is a waste of time.  You already have all you need.

42.  The best is yet to come.

43.  No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44.  Yield.

45.  Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.”

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100 Proven Headline Formulas For Social Media

by Chris Frost on November 4, 2009

Take these fill-in-the blanks templates and complete them to create your own compelling, click-getting headlines.

Get What You Want (Health, Wealth, Relationships, Time and Lifestyle)
1. 10 Money/Time Saving Tips for ______
2. The Secret of Getting the Best Price for Your _______
3. How to Find the Best _____ Deals on the Web
4. Top Gadgets for _____
5. Are _____ Worth the Money?
6. Everything You Need to Know About Getting Cheaper _____
7. Top 10 Tips For Hassle Free ______
8. Best ____ For Under [Price]
9. Unusual but Achievable ____
10. 5 Ways to Boost Your ____ Without Spending More _____
11. Ways to ____ on a Budget
12. 5 Ways to _____ and Profit!
13. 21 Audacious and Creative _____ Ideas
14. Who Else Wants to ____?
15. Now You Can ____ for Free!
16. How to Get _____ in Half the Time
17. 10 Stars and their ____
18. _____ Life Styles of the Rich and Famous
19. How to Look and Act ________
20.Now You Can Have Get More and Better ____ With Less Effort
21. ______ like a Movie Star
22.9 Ways You Can ____ Better Than You Deserve
23.How to ____ in 10 Seconds
24.Have a ____ You Can Be Proud Of
25. 21 _____ Conversation Tips
26.Finding Your Perfect _______
27. Plan a Perfect ______
28.What ____ Really Want
29.7 Signs You Are/Can _______
30.Get ____ Now

Crystal Ball and History
31. The History of _______
32.How _____ Will Impact _____ in [Year]
33._____ Then and Now
34.40 Predictions on the Future of ____
35. The Modern Rules of ______
36.___ Lessons from History
37. The _____ Story
Problems and Fears
38.Are _____ a Dying Breed?
39.How to Beat the Fear of _____
40.10 ____ Scams and How to Avoid Them
41. How Secure Are Your _____?
42.7 Most Frightening ____
43.Top 10 Scary _____ Facts
44.Outrageous _____ and How they Could Impact You
45. Get Rid of Your _____ Once and For All
46.Could Your ______ be a ________?
47. What Your ____ is Not Telling You About _______
48.Beware ______ and How to Spot them
49.10 Good Ways NOT to ______
50.How to Safely _______
51. The Unseen/Biggest Dangers of _____
52. ______ Do’s and Don’ts
53. 21 Ways to Screw Up _____
54. 10 Reasons Not to _____
55. 7 _____ Danger Signs
56. 7 things _____ Should Never Do

Fact, Fiction, Secrets, Truth and Lies
57. What Everyone Ought to Know about ______
58.____ Personality Test: What Your ____ Says About You
59. _____ Lies and How to Spot them
60._____ Facts and Myths
61. The Real Truth About ______
62.21 Secrets the _____ Experts Don’t Want You to Know
63.101 Most Popular _____ Myths
64.10 ______ Facts You Need to Know
65. The Secret of Successful _____
66.Little Known Ways to _____
67. Truth and Lies in _____
68.All You Need to Know about _______
69.10 Lies We Tell Our _______
70.101 things Not to tell _______
71. Revealed: Why _____
72. How to Spot a Fake ______

How-To Tricks of the Trade
73. When is it Smarter to ____ or ____?
74. Little Known Ways to ________
75. 10 Reasons it’s Better to ______
76. How to Plan the Ultimate _____
77. How to _____ Like a _____
78. ____ Jobs You Can Do Yourself
79. Here is a Method That is Helping _____ to _____
80.Here’s a Quick Way to _______
81. 7 Creative Ways to ______
82.How to be a _______
83.9 Surprising Things You Can _____
84._____ Like an Expert in 10 Easy Steps
85.21 Expert ____ Tips
86.5 Reasons You Should ______

Best and Worst
87. Top 10 Worlds Cheapest/Best/Most Expensive _____
88.The Worlds Best _____ You Can Actually Afford to Buy
89.The Worlds Worst Ever _____
90.The World’s Most Unusual _____
91. Funniest ______ Stories
92.Sexiest _______ in the World
93.The Top 10 Best and Worst _____ in the World
94.Top 19 Most ____ Friendly ____
95. 100 Useful or Beautiful ____
96.5 Reasons _____ is Better than ______
97. The Worlds Top 10 Most Important ______
98.Top 20 Clips About _____ in Films and Television
99.10 ____ We Don’t Want to See ____
100.21 Most Hilarious _____

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Your Personal Brand Is Not Just You

by Chris Frost on October 18, 2009

Because your personal brand is built from the thoughts and words and reactions of other people, it’s shaped by how you present yourself publicly. This is something that you have control over. You can decide how you would like people to see you and then work on publicly being that image.

You should plan your personal brand based on your aims. If you want to sell an expensive course in watercolor painting you’ll need to be seen as someone with the authority to teach others on the topic. If you want to get work for high-end design clients you’ll need to be seen as a runaway talent with a professional attitude. Two useful springboard questions are:

  • How would you like potential customers/clients to think of you?
  • How can you publicly ‘be’ that brand?

The second question is an important one, but a tricky one. Your personal brand is composed of your public actions and output in three main areas:

1. What you’re ‘about’. Seth Godin is about telling stories, being remarkable. Leo Babauta is about simplicity and habit forming. Jonathan Fields is about finding ways to build a career out of what you love doing. Think about the key ideas you would want people to associate with you.

2. Expertise. Every good brand involves the notion of expertise. Nike brand themselves as experts in creating quality and fashionable sportswear. Jeremy Clarkson (host of Top Gear) is an expert on cars. Even if you’re not interested in marketing your advice you need to create the perception that you are very good at what you do.

3. Your style. This is not so much what you communicate about yourself, but rather, how you do it. Are you kind and unusually enthusiastic, like Collis Taeed? Are you witty and raw, like Naomi Dunford? Are you confident and crusading, like Michael Arrington? Hopefully you’re none of these, or at least, not in the same way. Your style of delivery should be as unique as any other aspect of your personal brand. This doesn’t mean you need to sit down and brainstorm how to be different. If you don’t actively imitate anyone else, it will happen naturally.

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Is Social Media A Fad?

by Chris Frost on September 11, 2009

Watch the video and let me know whether you think social media is a fad.

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7 Twitter Plugins For Wordpress

by Chris Frost on September 11, 2009

With Twitter’s amazing popularity and Wordpress’ dominance in the blogging community is no wonder that the wordpress community have put together some great plugins for integrating Wordpress and Twitter.

Below is my list of useful plugins.

Twitter Tools - This plugin integrates your Twitter profile with your Wordpress blog. You can take your tweets and post them as individual posts.

Kish-Twitter - This plugin lets you display your tweets and your readers’ tweets. You can also use it to display “Related Tweets” which will find tweets related to your post topic.

Twitter Tag - If you include someone’s Twitter username in the @user format a tweet will be sent ot them to tell them they have been mentioned in a blog post.

Twitter User - A great plugin for multi-blogger sites, this plugin adds a field for the user’s Twitter username to the profile page. Then it automatically adds a button to the end of each user’s posts (or where you specify) linking to their Twitter page.

WP to Twitter - Automatically posts a new tweet using cli.gs short URLs’ each time you post on your blog. There are quite a few plugins that do this for you, but WP to Twitter seems to be a popular choice.

Thread Twitter- Fetches your tweets and @replies and displays them in a cool threaded format.

Top Twitter Links - Tell your readers whats new with this plugin that displays popular links from Twitturls in a widget.

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25 Sites To Get Free Stock Photos And Textures

by Chris Frost on September 8, 2009

Over the years of bring products to the market and creating websites i have used a huge range of photos. Rarely have i paid since there is so much decent free content available. Royalty-free stock photos and textures are incredibly useful when creating graphics for print of for the web.

There are many websites where you can find free photos and textures but you will find that the quality is often poor.

Here is my list of 25 of the best sites to download photos and textures:

Adigitaldreamer

free-stock-1

sxc

free-stock-3

Photogen

free-stock-5

Freephotosbank

free-stock-6

MorgueFile

free-stock-2

Pixelio

free-stock-4

Stockvault

free-stock-7

Pixelgalerie

free-stock-10

Photocase

free-stock-11

Freerangestock

free-stock-8

Nationsillustrated

free-stock-9

Freefoto

free-stock-12

Vintagepixels

free-stock-13

Turbophoto

free-stock-14

Freedigitalphotos

free-stock-15

Grungetextures

free-textures-1

Texturez

free-textures-4

Amazingtextures

free-textures-5

Urbandirty

free-textures-2

Textureking

free-textures-3

Texturewarehouse

free-textures-6

Textures.z7server

free-textures-9

Free3dstextures

free-textures-7

2textured

free-textures-8

Freemediagoo

free-textures-10

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10 Things That Make Great Companies

by Chris Frost on September 7, 2009

Great products come from great companies so in this post i look at what makes a great company.

1) Great companies constantly innovate, suprise the market and their customers.  They also take innovative risks at times when their competition is nervous of change.

2) Great companies are built for the long time, they plant seeds and expect to see the results after mnay years.  A great example is Amazon, it took many years to build this large and successful company.  Amazon’s success did not happen overnight.

3) Great companies leave plenty of cash in the bank for tough times.  Cash is king!

4) Great companies lead the market and accept that their innovations will be copied.   Apple is a good example of a company that innovates internally and is copied by the compeition.

5) Great companies rely on their brand value, they encourage their customers to sell their brand and products.  The customers’ word of mouth marketing is the best sales force.

6) Great companies retain key management and the founders for many years.  This way no short term decisions are made and the business is nurtured to become a long term success.

7) Great companies have trade globally and treat each person as a potential customer.

8)  Great companies do not chase money, they look to change the world and bring about social change.

9) Great companies use teams to guarantee their success.  No one individual runs the company, instead the culture and company values run through the comapny like blood in the body.

10) Great companies make sure the customer is always happy.  The customer is always right!

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