Travel, life-improvement, social networks — It’s all there on the web. Here are a few feel-good sites to visit:

Goodreads - A social network for book readers. List your books and review them. See what your friends and others are reading. Look up book reviews from other readers.

Swaptree - Trade books, music, and DVDs with others. For free.

stickK.com - Make a commitment contract for yourself to reach a goal (eat healthier, lose weight, live greener). The incentive is money. Fail your goal and the money you down can go to a charity, a charity you don’t support, or a friend or foe. Succeed and you get your money back.

Walk Score - Type in an address and see how walkable the neighborhood is.

TripTouch - This should be your homepage wherever you travel. Open up the site and you get a snapshot page of local info on the city in which you’re currently located.

I have spoken in the past about delegating. It’s becoming a much larger trend, now with services popping up overseas in, where else, India. Blogs and news articles discuss outsourcing your personal tasks. Now companies like Your Man In India, Get Friday, and AskSunday allow you to outsource individual tasks or projects and pay by the hour. Small businesses may choose this cheaper route as an alternative to hiring another full-time employee.

Tim Ferriss wrote The 4-Hour Workweek, which talks about living your “dream life” by outsourcing a lot of your life / tasks. His book doesn’t come without criticism, and many say he is selfish that something comes from taking pride in work. Still, outsourcing and delegating tasks help you manage your time. Sunday is a personal assistant service co-founded by Steve Ludmer, a Penn grad with a great deal of business management background. “Sunday is committed to simplifying our member’s lives by providing personal, travel and tech support assistance via the Internet and telephone.” Their call centers are in India and the Philippines.

What makes Sunday different from a typical concierge service is that there are few limits. Most concierge services will try to stay away from medical or financial requests and they won’t give you a wake up call. They won’t but something on eBay for you or Craigslist and they won”t purchase tickets from just any source. Sunday will. Sunday will call your cable company, wait on hold for you and patch you in when a rep comes on the line. They’ve called a magazine for me to check on the status of a gift subscription. The best part is that they turn around results in often less than an hour. The price is cheap: $29 for 30 requests per month. Less than a dollar per request. Hey, it’s outsourcing.

Feedback on Sunday:

• The few times I’ve called, I tend to reach one individual (Bruce). Sunday is not about caller experience. They barely ask questions. Because of this you have to be as detailed as possible. They listen to you and say, “Okay, we’ll email you.” No date or time when to expect the results.
• Since speaking with a person is more like speaking at them, it’s probably better to use their voicemail feature and leave a message with your request.
• Turnaround time impressed me. Less than an hour for Boston restaurants with wine tasting menus (they even called the places to confirm). 12 minutes for a request to call a magazine customer service for me (I emailed the request).
• Most large US-based concierge services take your request and simply add it to their queue, often taking 24 hours for the restaurant request (above). I asked Sunday to send me a spreadsheet with external hard drive options, prices, etc. I got that in one hour. My credit card concierge said it would be three business days!
• It’s great if you want to make a personal call (like to your bank) but can’t at work. Email your details and they’ll call for you.

The bottom line is that Sunday is impressive in getting it done in a timely manner and doing exactly what you ask without much of an “experience.” Larger concierges strive to give you a call experience, often provide pull and access, and try to add value–but turnaround time can be way too long.

Sunday Perks:

• Reminder calls
• Make your doctor appointment
• General information
• International calling (make calls for you and patch you in as needed)
• An online profile that the rep can access
• They typically begin a request right away
• Can access your email accounts or Google calendar (passwords are encrypted through the Sunday Portal)
• Travel agency
• Computer tech support

Sunday Projects is similar to sites like Your Man In India (YMII), which perform larger projects (business, data, entry, research, presentations) and charge by the hour or quote a price depending on the project. YMII focuses mainly on NRIs (Non-Resident Indians) and can assist with anything regarding India such as sending your family flowers, helping with taxes, relocating to India, etcetera. Outsourcing has become personal. It’s obvious that Sunday can only offer their services so cheap because of this. They’re looking for a cheap solution, not something focused on customer experience.

>> Read more about Americans outsourcing to Asia [1, 2, 3]

What was the fasting rising Google search of 2007? iPhone. Google’s 2007 Year-End Zeitgeist was recently released and showcases the “collective consciousness” of our world and the top newsmakers.

It also clues us into the consciousness of the Presidential campaign:

It’s also been an exciting year for celebrity happenings. February was a spike in Britney Spears searches after she shaved off all her hair. Or June when Paris Hilton was released from jail. Then there’s the Hannah Montana craze, for which searches far topped the Rolling Stones:

Diets, ringtones, game consoles, sports - Google shows trends in not only our search patterns, but delves deep into our thinking. What’s on our mind? Google looks at the top Who is, What is, How is searches:

Who is God?
What is love?
How to kiss

>> View the full 2007 Zeitgeist here

Not sure if you’ve seen the power of Google Maps’ newish Street View feature. They’ve recently expanded and now feature 360 degree street-level photography in 21 US cities.
I’ve just recently discovered it since they’ve expanded to Boston. I would say that 95% of streets in Boston are covered. Google used special cameras attached to vehicles that drove through every street. Coverage even expands out into suburbs.

So not only can you see a location from above by satellite, but you can zoom down and see what it looks like to stand there. Let’s say you’re planning a trip to Boston and you want to see the State House. Take a look before you get there. Just enter a location or click any highlighted road on the Street View map and you’re there. Pan around.

It’s great if you’re going somewhere for the first time and you don’t know what the business or house looks like.

Heading to Boston by Amtrak? Check out South Station. Check out Macy’s in Downtown Crossing. Check out Flamepoeira, my favorite coffee shop in the North End. How about the Prudential:

The upcoming Presidential election has got some big issues, one of which is America’s health care problem. But Daniel Brook makes a good point in Good Magazine:

“… it’s puzzling that when the presidential candidates talk about their health-care proposals, they only talk about poor kids and Wal-Mart workers. This doesn’t square with my experience of the health-care crisis. I know plenty of people who are sweating health-care coverage. None of them are poor kids. And they don’t work at Wal-Mart.”

The US has a pretty low self-employment rate compared to other countries and what is holding freelancers, artists, creative folk, and other people back from pursuing their own businesses, asks Brooks? Health care. Or lack thereof. Now think about countries with universal health care. Health care is not an obstacle to self-employment. Politicians need to stop focusing on the Wal-Mart workers, and pay attention to everyone whose dreams may be barred because of something that should be a universal right.

“Lately, Americans have come to think of the governmental safety net as being not for the ambitious but for people who can’t take care of themselves—like poor kids. But the metaphor “safety net” comes from the piece of circus equipment that lets the trapeze artist attempt his or her most daring feats.
It’s time the proverbial trapeze artists among us spoke up. And time the candidates listened.”

>> Read Daniel Brook’s full article here.

Slate’s Chad Lorenz has brought up an interesting insight: Is email dying?

It seems that us young people are foregoing email for other messaging mediums like IM, Twitter, and Facebook messages. Forget old fashioned email party invites: It’s a Evites, Facebook or Google event invites. But maybe that’s slow. You might as well RSVP by IM!

Personally, I find fewer people are quickly responding to email. Now it’s instant responses that are expected. Texts or IMs. Goodbye Yahoo and Hotmail account. At least Gmail has a chat feature … and I tend to use that more than typing an old fashioned electronic mail.

As we head into the new year, it’s important to look back and see what events occurred that will lead us into future trends. Trendwatching.com has compiled a fantastic report on important consumer trends that will take center stage in 2008.

Items like the iPhone has created a revolution about “status spheres”. It’s all about lifestyle and having the latest. But, there are many different kinds of spheres, according to Trendwatching.com, high net work individuals increased 8.3% this year creating more disposable income and more of a market for premium products (like $17,000 pacifiers). These people make up we we call the “traditional” status sphere. Then there’s the online sphere which is all about online presence and status or the eco sphere which includes people trying to greenify their lives.

This ties in with the next trend for 2008: Premiumization — making any product into something even more, like high-end $20 bottles of Evian water. It’s about catering to the rich and making those in debt, poorer.

More trends to bloom in ‘08: Need for instant gratification, obsession with the web, narrower–more local–social networks, and ecommerce, eco-awareness, and make-it-yourself and personalized products.

Read the full trend briefing here.

One huge trend that began at the beginning of Apple’s existence was a growing cohort of people who became followers of Apple’s innovation and insanely great ideas. Not only that. Macintosh has become a “lifestyle”.

Since then sprouted fan and rumor sites, a Cult of Mac book and blog, forums, product unwrapping ceremonies. The Cult of Mac book says that Apple has become sexualized in the eyes of its hardcore followers (see undressing below). New product and software releases, store openings pull thousands out to retail stores in long lines and hours of waiting. When have you seen that for Microsoft?

When they get home they take “undressing” or unboxing photos of their new Mac, exemplifying Apple’s artsy and efficient packaging. There’s even a site devoted to unboxing ceremonies: Unbox.IT

With Apple’s Mac market share rising above 8% and the release of Leopard, you can expect the Cult of Mac base to grow. More will find themselves checking AppleInsider.com or MacRumors to find out about the newest Apple product rumors or taking unboxing photos and posting them to their Flickr. Macintosh is a lifestyle, for sure.

Today at work someone sent me a blog link that got me laughing harder than I ever have. I couldn’t control myself. Johnny Virgil writes a blog called 15 Minute Lunch, in which he posts many humorous entries about all sorts of things he encounters. It turns out that the other day he found a 1977 JCPenney. What comes is a series of old school catalog pictures and some pretty freaking hilarious commentary.

>> View the post here. You’ll laugh pretty hard.

This is a response to a comment by Kate on my Sexist Products entry. She feels this was my opinion, not surprisingly, after a discussion we had on why women, on average, make 25% less than men (according to a GAO report).

There are many reasons that feminist organizations do not often take into account when reporting these numbers. The GAO concluded some reasons: Many women leave their job either to have a child or raise a family. When they decide to return to a career they have fallen behind the amount of time they were out of the workforce. They are not in the same point in their career or experience as they may have been if they hadn’t left work. So, if you compare men and women in their same period of life, you will most likely find women with a lesser median salary partly because of this gap in career experience. Women also tend to have fewer years of work experience.

Another possible reason is that women do not tend to ask for a raise or promotion as often as men do. We should not discount any discrimination, as black people also statistically make less, though factors such as education and time in the workforce must be considered. There are many reasons such as this that contribute to women earning less than men.

CNNMoney.com’s Jeanne Sahadi published an article called the “76-cent myth“, and she comes to similar conclusions, but doesn’t discount any discrimination (which may account for a quarter of the wage gap):

“But all the wage-gap ratio reflects is a comparison of the median earnings of all working women and men who log at least 35 hours a week on the job, any job. That’s it.

“It doesn’t compare those with equal work, equal training, equal education or equal tenure. Nor does it take into account the hours of overtime worked.”

>> Read more about the pay gap and the GAO report.

Here’s a trend: Niche marketing. I’ve spoken about it before; about how marketers are more and more targeting women who make up more than 80% of consumer purchasers in the US.

Now BuzzFeed has captured this as “sexist products”. Home Depot is piloting a new store called “Her Depot,” a store for women with “cleaner” aesthetics. Now women can buy tools comfortably! Feministing.com calls is the “most condescending sister store of all time.” Garmin is releasing the Pink Nüvi GPS for the ladies.

These products are nothing new. It’s smart marketing indeed. Products are targeted to all sorts of people: children, men, women, elderly, boomers… It’s not sexist.

I apologize there have been no posts in a while. Here’s the reason:

Leena’s a Bichon Poo and boy has she been keeping me busy! Updates soon…

This is absolutely amazing! I can’t tell you how long I’ve been looking for the ultimate way to track your spending. It’s here.

I have been creating spreadsheets to tracking spending, following a detailed budget, and entering every single transaction I have into a banking program. That’s all fine and good at the micro-level, but here comes Mint.com, an easy to use website for managing your finances — on autopilot.

The best part is this: Mint connects to your banks and downloads all your transaction data, aggregates it, and analyzes it. You have a live snapshot of your finances — your savings and debts. It will alert you when your balances go below a certain level or if you’re close to a credit card due date. It will even tell you your spending habits and if you’re spending more on shopping this month than you do on average.

Mint takes security seriously and has a strong privacy and security policy. How do they make money? By giving you offers to save money, like transferring to an E*Trade account or getting a credit card with a lower interest rate.

The economy is a tough and complex thing sometimes. In times of turbulence or high inflation, the US central bank typically adjusts interest rates. This controls spending since it determines how expensive it is to loan money.

Just recently they reduced interest rates by one-half percent. This means it’s cheaper to borrow money — more spend and that in turn drives the economy. Hooray for debt and spending! The Fed hopes this will prevent a recession. And, since the US is the world’s largest economy, it affects other economies, too. Will it work? It may or may not. The US housing market is fragile and may not recover its slowdown.

>> Read an explanation of the US interest rates at BBC News

Avast! It be International Talk Like A Pirate Day! So yah scurvy dog, what it to yah? Make yah learnin’s below!

The dream of passenger travel to space is here. Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic spaceline is well on its way to flight in 2009 or 2010. Already, SpaceShipTwo (predecessor to SpaceShipOne) is being constructed in Mojave, California. The flight experience takes passengers into sub-orbit where they will experience four minutes of weightlessness before returning to Earth. The spaceliner will be launched in the air from a mega “mothership” aircraft. Tickets are $200,000 for the maiden passenger flight.

The first spaceport has been designed and will be located in New Mexico. Construction begins in 2008 and the new Spaceport America terminal and hangar facility will house two White Knight Two motherships and five SpaceShipTwo spacecraft. The terminal will have plenty of space for lounges, offices, and operation and flight facilities. The cost of the spaceport is estimated to be $31 million.

Will Whitehorn, President of Virgin Galactic says that 2008 will be “The Year of the Spaceship”.

One thing that has always bothered me is how the United States insists on being different than the rest of the world. We call it soccer. We don’t have universal health care. We don’t even use the metric system!

The US is one of three countries in the world that do not use the metric system. GOOD Magazine has prepared a powerful graphic that shows how isolated we are.

See the full version here, including an explanation about the origin of the meter.

Today was Free Hug Day, as organized through a Facebook event. Location? Everywhere. Number confirmed participants? 879,258.

After posting about this a few days ago, I decided to hang a “FREE HUGS” sign on my cube at work today. I think some people thought I was just silly. I got a few chuckles as people walked past, many questions, and ended up giving five hugs by day-end. There was this one woman who kept asking about it throughout the day, so I finally said, “Do you want one or not? You’ve been avoiding it all day!” She shyly ran off.

Others I think seemed to feel uncomfortable with the thought. The guy that sits behind me made his own sign that read, “Hugs $.50″. No one had heard of this international campaign! (They thought it was my ’strange’ creation) From all over the world, you can find hundreds of these free hugs pictures on Flickr. I used today to show people that acts of kindness are not so hard — yet it seems you will always have those who are made awkward by affection.

Look at these pictures. Who wouldn’t smile?

This is generating a bit of buzz. Channel Federator, the net’s place for cartoons and animation has presented, internet pop culture in three minutes.

This is a tribute to the internet celebrities of the past couple years, the Numa Numa Guy, the nervous sportscaster, lonelygirl15, Shoes, Dick in a Box, and so much more. Love it.

When you live in a country where the national savings rate is frighteningly low and consumer credit is what drives the economy, you really need to focus on saving.

I’ve been keeping a budget (PearBudget) fairly well, however there are times where I tend to spend over budget and I don’t really see that until I enter my receipts and see the totals. So how do I stay on budget? It’s something, for some reason, I had never thought of before: Write it down.

My budget is divided into five “irregular” spending categories (food, needs, auto, entertainment, misc). What I do now is see the remaining amount in each budget category and write it down! I keep it in my pocket or iPhone and can reference it to determine whether I can buy whatever it is I want to buy. This way I’ll have more of a real-time view of my budget wherever I am–and update it periodically.

>> Read more about American debt, saving money, and open the Thought Press money drawer

When I learned that Apple reduced the cost of the 8 GB iPhone by $200 after two months (now $399), I was pissed–as was many early adopters of the iPhone. “Can I be paid my $200 for being a beta tester?” wrote one on a MacRumors forum. Others calculated what this “Early Adopter Tax” cost per day: $3. Like many, I expected the price to drop possibly for Christmas, but not $200!

Hundreds of letters poured into Steve Jobs’ inbox and as blogs and sites continued to post anger and disappointment in Apple, Steve realized he made have made a bit of a mistake and lost some trust with their most loyal customers.

So, Steve Jobs published an open letter on apple.com telling everyone that all early buyers of the iPhone before the price drop will receive a $100 credit that can be used at the Apple Store. This was a good decision and a good change of heart.

“… we need to do a better job taking care of our early iPhone customers … Our early customers trusted us, and we must live up to that trust with our actions in moments like these.”

It finally happened. A few weeks ago I dropped my iPhone on the sidewalk as I was trying to plug in my headphones. The result was a few dents and nicks on one side and the casing popped out a bit. While the phone still worked, my nerves were cringing.

The Apple Store would not help me since the phone was still working. I guess I’d have to live with it the way it was. Just then I realized I had purchased the phone with my American Express card. It had the Purchase Protection Plan!

I ran home and looked up the terms and conditions and discovered that accidental damage was covered within 90 days of purchase. I went to americanexpress.com/onlineclaim to determine what documentation I needed: Your Amex charge receipt (statement), original store receipt, photograph or repair estimate for damage, and any insurance documentation if you went through homeowner’s or renter’s insurance first. I went to the Apple Store to get a repair estimate ($279.45). I faxed the documents in and two weeks later I got a communication saying that this payment has been approved and will be credited to my account!

It worked. Now I have to go to the Apple Store, set up the repair, get their loaner phone, and smile. Hooray for American Express.

Sometimes, a hug is all we need.

This is what the Free Hugs Campaign is all about. Juan Mann began this amazing cause after he had returned home to Sydney and saw lots of people hugging and being welcomed by their friends or family. He was alone and had no one to smile and hug him, so he took some cardboard and a marker and created a sign that said, “FREE HUGS”.

The result was a campaign of random feel-good kindness that swept the world. When I was in Seattle I saw some people with these signs. I was thrilled and joyfully hugged my fellow strangers. I can tell you, hugs feel a lot more special when they come from someone you’ve just met. Frowns turn to smiles and bad days turn good.

Playboy is 54 years old and apparently their readership is declining. In response to that and to contribute to the world of social networking, they have launched Playboy U. The non-nude social network is open only to college students and requires a .edu email. “Sorry, but high schoolers, old dudes and your Mom can’t join,” says the site.

Playboy Enterprises Inc. is hoping to build more brand loyalty through a cable television program, Sirius channel, and now Playboy U. The company is now returning to profitability after a heavy loss in 2000.

The social network prohibits nudity although, I think you will find, it leans toward more provocative message board topics and racy photos. Can professors join? Sorry, Playboy U claims it will cancel membership of any faculty, staff, or alumni it discovers.

>> More about Playboy’s attempted profit recovery at Time.com

Pomegranate Mojito? Pomegranate Ice Cream? Pomegranate Frappuccino? Or, my favorite, POM tea!

The fruit is hip and trendy and popping up everywhere. According to a recent USA Today article, in 2000 only 4% of those in the United States had ever eaten a pomegranate. It has been shown that they can reduce cholesterol, blood pressure, and of course, there are high levels of antioxidants. You’ll even find Häagen-Dazs has released a Pomegranate Dark Chocolate Ice Cream Bar.

>> Read some more about pomegranate’s health benefits [1, 2]; Read the buzz!

Wow! This is worth buying an iPhone for! SHAPE Services, based in Germany, has released an online web-based access to Skype through your iPhone. Now you can make cheap or free international calls on your cell phone! The service uses your SkypeOut credits.

But here’s the best part: After you log in and enter a phone number to call, the service rings your phone and then connects you to the number you’re calling. Simple and free (for now during beta). Just point your iPhone browser to skypeforiphone.com.

There are some great sources for election data. Newsvine’s ElectionVine (right) tracks the election consensuses site by site. Bloggers and sites post polls on their sites and Newsvine aggregates the results. What does this give? A view of the race “across the independent internet and blogosphere.”

More people seem to be paying attention this election too. With so many important issues at hand, a chart showing each candidate’s position would be helpful! Below is a tiny snippet of a much larger chart showing all the candidates, divided by party, and their standings on all the major issues. Click the image to see the full-size version.

Just announced: On January 2008, the Walt Disney World themepark, Disney-MGM Studios will be changing its name to Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

>> Read the full press release 

I never realized how cheap GPS units have become for your car. After research and speaking with others, not long ago I bought a Magellan Maestro 3100 GPS ($200) and I have been quite pleased! All the reviews give it a thumbs up for value and quality. While there are only 750,000 points of interest, the map is pre-loaded and cannot be updated, and there is no traffic or voice recognition, I’ve found the device to be perfect for a first-time buyer like myself. The Maestro 3100 gives clear verbal directions, quite accurate travel time, and has a simple user interface.

Today I was travelling about 20 miles, part of which was on the highway. The traffic slowed down quite a bit so on the Maestro display appeared an detour icon. This appears when the unit notices you’ve slowed down in a traffic jam. I pulled out my iPhone with Google Maps and checked to see what the traffic was like ahead (very slow for the next 2-3 miles). I then hit the detour icon on the GPS and chose to avoid 3 miles of the current road. The Maestro took me off the next exit and lead me down a few roads, spitting me back on the highway about 3 miles from where I was. The traffic was moving speedily at that point. Fantastic.

>> Read a detailed review and the Engadget review

Here’s something I don’t understand: People who send “virus warning” chain emails. These emails apparently warn you of a circulating computer virus and ask you to “pass it on immediately!” So these emails circulate — most likely endlessly, even after this virus (if it’s even real) is eradicated. They are chain emails and have no integrity.

This information arrived this morning direct from both Microsoft and Norton.

You may receive an apparently harmless email with a Power Point presentation “Life is beautiful.” If you receive it, DO NOT OPEN THE FILE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, and delete it immediately. If you open this file, a message
will appear on your screen saying: “It is too late now, your life is no
longer beautiful.”

Subsequently you will LOSE EVERYTHING IN YOUR PC and
the person who sent it to you will gain access to your name, e-mail
and password.

BS. This has been circulating since 2002 (Snopes).People that fall for this probably fall for the Nigerian scams as well. Here’s one that someone just posted on Facebook. How sad.

READ. Don’t just skim over.

Hello, I thought I would pass on an email I rec’d today from a friend:
If some person with the email address bum_tnoo@hotmail.com wants to add you as a friend - do not accept it because he is a hacker. Tell everyone on your list because if anyone accepts him/her then you get them on your list and he/she will figure out your ID, computer address, so copy and paste this message to everyone and fast because if he hacks their emails he is hacking your mail for Facebook as well.

Somehow I think the person that wrote this is smiling, seeing it posted everywhere by gullible people.

I’ve never been one to constantly be reading. I know many who can get through a book in a couple of hours and never fall asleep during the read, like I do. The latest books I read have been through referral, and that’s definitely the best way to discover new books. I prefer non-fiction, so here are some great books I’ve read recently thanks to friends or others recommending them:

How to Be Like Walt - This is possibly the best biography of Walt Disney I’ve come across. The book pulls together Walt’s life lessons and attributes like imagination, optimism, courage, integrity, and hope for tomorrow, and shows how you can apply his learnings to your life.

Blink - A bestseller about snap judgments and first impressions–and their importance. Blink shows you how the hidden unconscious plays a major role in our decision-making.

Vagabonding - Rolf Pott’s book will change your mindset about independent long-term travel. How to get started, life on the road, travel experiences you may encounter, the joy and self-fulfilling affect of travel. This will give you the travel bug.

One Year Off - Long term travel–with three kids! This is a fun tale of a family who left their jobs and sold everything to travel the world for one year. It’s a fun read and you’ll find yourself smiling throughout.

Eats, Shoots & Leaves - Mentioned previously by me, an enjoyable lesson in punctuation and grammar, highlighting the sad state of it in our daily life.

The Power of Now - An inspirational and life-changing guide to focusing on living in the moment and simply being present in the Now, not constantly worrying about the future and dwelling on the past, the cause of most of our pain. I’m halfway through and it creates an exciting new possibilities for self-happiness.

Where have you not seen products or services targeted to baby boomers? This month’s trendwatching.com briefing is about such “forever trends” and these ginormous niche markets: Women, GLBT, Boomers! Here’s a brief overview:

Women
Here’s a good point — Women make 80+% of consumer purchasing decisions in the US. Maybe you’ve noticed plenty of adverts targeted to the female species (Female Fever, it’s called). “Why should boys have all the fun?” says an Indian ad for a Honda scooter made for women. Sales jumped. Also, while alcoholic beverages for women is nothing new, beer-sellers are introducing specific brands for women.

Almost every industry is touching this important niche: Investing, retail, food and beverage, clothing, shoes.

Gays
Quite a market indeed: trendwatching.com states that the buying power of the GLBT community will exceed $835 billion by 2011. There are websites devoted to marketing in this market. Lots of companies have taken a positive first step in gay-friendly advertising and it’s been shown that this has created a powerful new sales-driving segment.

And it’s not just the youn