Correct grammar, spelling and controlled coloring were the goals to reach when we were kids.
Words and language make the world go round. Spelling a word incorrectly or using the wrong word can make or break a negotiation or contract. It's a business commodity just like chairs and furniture and is wielded effectively through magazines, novels, books and newspapers. We are manipulated by words through online and offline content.
What happens with all of the gaffs and mess-ups, when we don't get it quite right? Where does it all go? Maybe if we find the incorrectly spelled words, we'll also find the home of lost luggage and socks. More than likely, it is eradicated in the classroom, stomped into oblivion by book and newspaper editors. What we receive is uniform consistency, spelling it right is upheld, and life moves on.
Here we are then in the 21st century amid technology and texting, emails and instant chat rooms - a whole plethora of technological invention where incorrect spelling is becoming the informal norm. What's a businessperson who speaks English to do?
Everybody is misspelling and texting. Even Grandma is texting and misspelling. Does anybody care if you spell stuff correctly anymore?
Your grade school teacher may be appalled, but there are people who actually want you to mis-spell - in fact they're betting a wad on you doing just that.
Savvy web entrepreneurs like Kevin Ham get excited when you accidentally type in prpsi instead of pepsi. It's so easy to do. The 'r' key is right next to the 'e' key on the standard Qwerty keyboard and Vancouver resident has a search engine listing where he gets paid every time you click on one of his ads.
Do you have any idea how much money you can make from living on the edge on the Internet waiting and hoping for people to make spelling errors.
Business 2.0, June 2007 issue covered Ham's $300 million dollar business that is comprised of mis-spelled domain names that people type directly into their Internet browser address windows.
Others have also bet the farm on your lousy typing and spelling ability. Mark Schilling owns over 320,000 domain names and is constantly increasing his portfolio from his home in the Cayman Islands. He wants you to mess up. Yun Ye, another misspelling guru recently sold his portfolio of 100,000 domain names for $164 million dollars.
In 2006 Ham worked a deal with the Cameroon government in Africa. Why? Well, they have the cm extension for their country. Do you have any idea how many people miss the 'o' in com? Think of the money he will earn just because your finger missed the 'o'. The possibilities are staggering.
Web surfers will make a mistake and end up on Cameroon servers. The name is checked and if there's no one with that domain name, it is redirected to agoga, which Ham owns of course. He claims 8 million unique hits per month.
How does he make money?
Each of his pages are "parked" which means they're not real sites. They simply have money-generating pay-per-click ad links on them that relate to keywords used by searchers. The visitor arrives, finds a page of links, clicks on one and viola, Ham makes money.
Other ways that misspellings are used is to take popular sites and figure out all the ways it can be misspelled, register those pages and put pay per click links ont hose sites or redirect those sites to your main site.
Think about it. Someone misspells a popular name and it is redirected to your little site. Wouldn't you like your site at the end of prpsi? Think of the number of hits you'd get, just because somebody missed the 'e'. So, the next time anyone tells you that you have misspelled something, just tell them toe story about Kevin Ham and keep on typing. Try spulling it wrong. It could make you a fortune.
At the turn of the 20th century, the average life expectancy was 47 years. Today, the average American can look forward to about 78 years of life. For individuals aged 65, average life expectancy is 81 for men and 84 for women. What’s behind this trend? Some causes are obvious, such as improved health care, both early on in the form of preventative medicine and during the later years of life. Medical advances allow older Americans to remain active. Healthier lifestyles are also a contributing factor.
A Different Perspective on Age
The result is a new way of thinking about age. The period between ages 45 and 65 is no longer middle and old age. As a consequence, today’s older American doesn’t hesitate to change jobs or careers in the pursuit of keeping life interesting. This trend should accelerate. A nationwide survey of workers revealed that 67% of respondents plan to continue working in some capacity after retirement.
Pension and Social Security
There is widespread concern about at least one traditional source of income for retirees �" Social Security Income. Under current conditions, Social Security funds could fall short of needs by year 2040. But the reality is that Social Security was intended only to supplement other sources of retirement income. In fact, Social Security benefits account for only 39% of the average retiree’s income.
Even pension plans, once considered a staple of retirement income, only account for 19% of the retirement-income pie. In recent years, employers have been moving from traditional defined-benefit plans based on salary and years of service to defined-contribution plans, funded primarily by the employees.
This shift makes it even more important for individuals to understand their goals and have a well-thought out financial plan that focuses on the key source of retirement income which is personal savings and investments.
Points to Ponder
• As people live longer and healthier lives, retirement begins to take on a whole new perspective.
• You’ll need to adopt a financial plan suited to your specific vision of the future.
• Under the current trend, Social Security funds could fall short of needs after year 2040.
• There might be a need to rely on your own personal savings and investments for the majority of your income retirement.
Both Kevin Sinclair & Raven Kae Yonzon are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.