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September 2nd, 2022

Made in America

What does “Made in America” mean to you?  Recently, a business owner of a well-known brand, Lions not Sheep, was fined over $200,000 for what the FTC said was a deliberate act to mislead the public. According to the FTC, the brand was removing a tag that said Made in China with their own that said Made in America. Like many stories…  there are two sides to it. Sean Whalen, fully admits to removing the labels (and references many other companies that do the same thing, as normal practice) and imprinting his brand on the shirt. His thought… the shirt is imported, but the messaging, branding, packaging, etc. are ‘Made in America.’   Personally, I never for a moment thought that the actual shirt was manufactured here in the states. Do you or someone you know wear Grunt Style shirts? That brand has taken off in the last several years, very much pro-American, and there are no Made in China labels to be had – but not for a moment do I think that the shirts are actually made here. I know what Sean and others mean when they make that claim. But is it enough? Do others know? Does it matter?

Many people make their buying decisions based on the claim “Made in America.”  According to the Reshoring Initiative, American companies are on pace to return 350,000 overseas jobs back to the US this year. That’d be the most since the manufacturing lobbying group started tracking the data in 2010 when only 6,000 jobs were returned. Some reasons for the boom in reshoring include supply chain havoc from Covid, the war in Ukraine, and new government incentives for domestic production.

NFT Madness!

What do you know about NFTs? I know very little, but I’m really getting interested in knowing more. I’m considering taking some classes (there must be some somewhere, right? Big opportunity if there isn’t). Check out this data I pulled… Collectors have spent $132 million on digital assets in the past seven days, down 6% compared to the previous week but still, how much?!

If I lived in Mountain View, California

I would be going to every garage sale every weekend. Actually, I think I would go from home to home and ask each owner if they had any old computers in their garage that they weren’t using and offer them some money for any they had. Here’s why: An Apple-1 Computer from the ‘70s sold at Boston-based RR Auction for $677,196. This is the same computer model Steve Jobs used in 1976 to demonstrate viability to a computer store owner in Mountain View, California.

Do you have a Peloton? Let’s connect.

Despite the trouble that the brand is having being profitable, I still use my bike and treadmill – and love them both. Peloton recently posted a loss of more than $1.2 billion in the previous quarter as revenue dropped nearly 30% from last year. I don’t pretend to know the inside workings of Peloton, but with 2.49 million subscribers paying an average of $39.99 a month (that’s $99,575,100 a month in revenue), how the heck are they losing money?

I hope they figure it out (John Foley, if you are reading this, I’ve got some great ideas) so I can keep riding and running with the Peloton community.

Did you know that you can create a picture with AI?

There are some promising stats being released, and they have caught this guy’s interest! AI-Generated imagery is taking a stab at replacing stock photos you would get on some subscription photo site.

Don McKenzie (brilliant mind with Deephaven) conducted a little experiment: he replaced thumbnails on his website with AI-generated images. The results were unbelievable -not only did they look better and cost less than stock photos, but they performed better too. You can still do post-production. Cut out extra fluff, change the positions of elements, add text… Basically, use an AI image generator as just one more tool in your workflow.

At the end of the day, it’s worth trying. This new, fun technology can save you a lot of time and also breathe fresh, colorful life into your blog and social media sites.

I took a shot at it and typed “a real estate agent showing a home to a buyer,” and 10 seconds later, this is what I got…

Keto Corner

I’m back on a very strict Keto diet, which in many ways is a relief. I know that I’ll be less bloated within days, and my mind and focus will be sharper. One of my favorite go-to foods on Keto is the Keto Brick. You can find them here  Perfect keto macros, totally shelf stable, and delicious flavors (chocolate peanut butter cup is my favorite).

Other stuff on my mind…

The debut of the Game Of Thrones prequel, House Of The Dragon, gathered nearly 10 million viewers last Sunday. This is the largest audience for a series premiere in HBO’s history!  Did you watch it?  What did you think?

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