In today's business podcast, we will talk about the latest cool inventions.

We have a lot to learn from the people that spend millions on research and development on the products they are creating and the prices they are charging. We talk about a $90,000 electric car that is purchased not for being "green", but being FAST. We discuss how our present life situation (and economic situation) can limit our creative and marketing efforts. I know that I don't think about creating expensive "toys" for people with disposable income, because I don't have disposable income - so I'm missing a huge market out there (and a high profit margin!).

People will pay for what they are passionate about.

Whether it's a brand of ice cream or toilet paper, or a big screen tv or business consulting, or clothes or make-up, some people will pay top dollar to get what they are passionate about. They may skimp in some areas, but they will pay top dollar for something they believe is really worth it. We need to find out what people in all different economic levels are passionate about - and create something to feed that passion.

What happened to Keds? New, wild sneakers...

You will not believe what manufacturers are putting in athletic shoes. MP3 player with speakers! That's just one of the things we'll discuss, so you'll have to listen to this business podcast to hear the others. <smile>

Best Buy is trying to increasing innovations by culling employee brainstorms.

Best Buy is trying to learn from the employees that have the highest amount of contact with clients. They find out what angers the clients and create ways to fix that. Damage while delivering large screen tvs was rampant. Thanks to a Best Buy employee's idea (with a lot of tweaking), they are addressing that problem.

We also talk about the high price of hiring the lowest bidder, and the stupidity of continuing to do business with bad service providers.

Some people don't learn. I've seen large million dollar machines being transported in Refrigerated Trucks, causing irreparable rust damage. And then they don't put safeguards in place to make sure it doesn't happen again. Stupidity. Or how about continuing to use someone that keeps damaging your product in transit, just because they are the low bidder? You really need to pay for the quality of work you desire.

Well, enough on that soap box - thanks for listening today. Remember the contest we're running. If I can get 10 people to respond with their brainstorms, judges and listeners will vote on the winner, and they will get $100! I look forward to hearing about what you think would be fun and cool.

Penny Haynes, 1st Podcast Publishing and BizPodExpo.com