Taming the Savage Email

What to do when you're drowning in your inbox

Even after mastering the art of spam filtering, most people wade through a deluge of e-mail every day – not to mention what happens when you’re on vacation. Sure, cleaning out your inbox is a great way to put off all those other things clamoring for your attention, but just looking at an endless string of bold-faced messages can be enough to cause stress. Here are some fast and easy tips for getting a grip on your e-mail. None require you to be a computer whiz.

Read the whole story - and all the tips.

Two Cents -- Logistics

What is a unique or memorable shipment your company handled?

Interviews with five industry professionals.

Click the image for the full story (JPG format).

Two Cents -- Web Design

What's your favorite or most memorable recent Web design project?

Interviews with five professionals.

Click the image for the full story (JPG format).

Catering to the Dog

Pet services are a growing business breed

Consumers will cut back on a lot of things in a recession, but don’t count on it being Fido. Pet-related expenditures in America totaled an estimated $35.9 billion in 2005, up $1.5 billion from 2004 and more than double what they were a decade earlier, according to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association (APPMA).

“This is one of the areas in which sales don’t decrease in a recession,” said Bob Vetere, COO and managing director of the APPMA. He cited several reasons for growth, including “growing uncertainty about the future” and more empty homes, as baby boomers’ children move out and young professionals wait to have children.

Not to mention that people are treating their animals more and more like, well, people.

Read the whole story.

Cell Phones Are For Kids

Companies are taking wireless to the last untouched demographic

Not too long ago, the only people with cellular phones were always-in-touch executives and bustling soccer moms. From there, most adults – and of course teens – adopted them, many of whom now can’t imagine life without a cell phone. Children can reach their parents whenever necessary – except for when the children are away from a phone.

All that is starting to change. While cell phone companies have been targeting the teen demographic for quite some time with family plans and cheap line additions, now the “tween” market – children between 8 and 12 – is up for grabs.

Give a child a cell phone, and it becomes easy to make arrangements for last-minute plans and easier to keep track of the modern-day child-on-the-go.

In Kentucky, the 8- to 12-year-old market – via their parents – forms a noticeable segment of consumers. Census Bureau estimates put the demographic at 277,336 strong as of July 1, 2004. By comparison, there are 283,015 teens – 13- to 17-year-olds – in the state.

Read the whole story.