___

___

Let’s start with fitness. Is that fun? One of the biggest trends is dance. Zumba, which combines South American rhythms with cardiovascular exercise, is expected to be one of the biggest crazes.

___

___

I tried that once with some friends. I wasn’t very good at it. My instructor sure was – she could really shake it. I ended up going back to the treadmill.

___

The young and the restless

But dance isn’t just for fitness; dance halls are making a come back. People are looking for ways to feel good and have fun in these tough times. That applies to all of us, but this trend is particularly expected to capture the under forty and single crowd.

___

So young people will be going out, having fun, socializing, and dancing to upbeat and swinging music while us old folks are dancing at the fitness center to stay in shape!

___

Home, sweet home

And staying home more. Cocooning is expected to be all the rage again for those of us who aren’t going out dancing. When we’re home, we’ll enjoy more video-on-demand, not just from things we’ve recorded or TIVOed. We’ll sit down to a whole array of movies and shows that will be available as new technologies come online.

We’ll also be playing more video games. A lot of people have already invested in the biggest part of a good home entertainment system. Experts expect video games to do well.

___

I’m amazed at the percentage of adults who now play video games on a regular basis. I’m further amazed to count myself in that group!

___

___

We like the Sony Wii, which is great for entertainment but also hit the list of hot trends in fitness with Wii Fit.

___

Plain Jane (and John)

We mentioned the do-it-yourself trend on a previous show this week. DIY fashion – from jewelry to clothes – is expected is be very popular, not only among hobbyists, but as a cottage industry. Sites like etsy make it easier than ever to sell your homemade goods.

There’s an old adage that stocks follow hemlines. As hemlines go up, stocks rise. Hemlines go down, you know what happens. So we wondered what would be hot in fashion in 2009.

The look is dowdy, a successor to the grunge look. Faded colors and plain styles will be in vogue. As if the economy isn’t dismal enough, now we have to dress that way! It seems to us like we should do the opposite – dress boldly. Maybe that would get our stocks excited!

Cruisin’

All inclusive vacations are expected to be hot again because we know what we’re going to spend before we go. That certainty is appealing right now. One beneficiary of this is expected to be cruise lines.

Never second best

Another travel trend is people visiting the “second city.” Rather than London, go to Birmingham. Instead of New York City, think Chicago. The Windy City is also expected to do well because it’s the hometown of our incoming President.

Park place

The most popular destinations this year will be national parks. Seventy-three percent of the respondents in a recent survey by TripAdvisor said they plan to visit one. Parks and other attractions close to home keep budgets in line because we don’t have the expense of flying.

And in case you’re wondering, people are planning to spend around $1,500 for domestic trips and about $4,000 when traveling abroad.

It’s important to have fun, in good times and bad. The good news is that, in these bad times, you can get some great deals. Plan ahead. Shop around. And save bigg money!

___

___

Thanks for joining us today. Check in next time when we’ll discuss the mattress stuffers of the 21st century. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes. 

Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed.

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file:
http://media.libsyn.com/media/biggsuccess/00305-010909.mp3

Related posts

What’s Hot in 2009: Careers

What’s Hot in 2009: Businesses

What’s Hot in 2009: Threats

What’s Hot in 2009: Questions

(Image in today's post by MISHA)

___

___

Let’s start with fitness. Is that fun? One of the biggest trends is dance. Zumba, which combines South American rhythms with cardiovascular exercise, is expected to be one of the biggest crazes.

___

___

I tried that once with some friends. I wasn’t very good at it. My instructor sure was – she could really shake it. I ended up going back to the treadmill.

___

The young and the restless

But dance isn’t just for fitness; dance halls are making a come back. People are looking for ways to feel good and have fun in these tough times. That applies to all of us, but this trend is particularly expected to capture the under forty and single crowd.

___

So young people will be going out, having fun, socializing, and dancing to upbeat and swinging music while us old folks are dancing at the fitness center to stay in shape!

___

Home, sweet home

And staying home more. Cocooning is expected to be all the rage again for those of us who aren’t going out dancing. When we’re home, we’ll enjoy more video-on-demand, not just from things we’ve recorded or TIVOed. We’ll sit down to a whole array of movies and shows that will be available as new technologies come online.

We’ll also be playing more video games. A lot of people have already invested in the biggest part of a good home entertainment system. Experts expect video games to do well.

___

I’m amazed at the percentage of adults who now play video games on a regular basis. I’m further amazed to count myself in that group!

___

___

We like the Sony Wii, which is great for entertainment but also hit the list of hot trends in fitness with Wii Fit.

___

Plain Jane (and John)

We mentioned the do-it-yourself trend on a previous show this week. DIY fashion – from jewelry to clothes – is expected is be very popular, not only among hobbyists, but as a cottage industry. Sites like etsy make it easier than ever to sell your homemade goods.

There’s an old adage that stocks follow hemlines. As hemlines go up, stocks rise. Hemlines go down, you know what happens. So we wondered what would be hot in fashion in 2009.

The look is dowdy, a successor to the grunge look. Faded colors and plain styles will be in vogue. As if the economy isn’t dismal enough, now we have to dress that way! It seems to us like we should do the opposite – dress boldly. Maybe that would get our stocks excited!

Cruisin’

All inclusive vacations are expected to be hot again because we know what we’re going to spend before we go. That certainty is appealing right now. One beneficiary of this is expected to be cruise lines.

Never second best

Another travel trend is people visiting the “second city.” Rather than London, go to Birmingham. Instead of New York City, think Chicago. The Windy City is also expected to do well because it’s the hometown of our incoming President.

Park place

The most popular destinations this year will be national parks. Seventy-three percent of the respondents in a recent survey by TripAdvisor said they plan to visit one. Parks and other attractions close to home keep budgets in line because we don’t have the expense of flying.

And in case you’re wondering, people are planning to spend around $1,500 for domestic trips and about $4,000 when traveling abroad.

It’s important to have fun, in good times and bad. The good news is that, in these bad times, you can get some great deals. Plan ahead. Shop around. And save bigg money!

___

___

Thanks for joining us today. Check in next time when we’ll discuss the mattress stuffers of the 21st century. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes. 

Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed.

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file:
http://media.libsyn.com/media/biggsuccess/00305-010909.mp3

Related posts

What’s Hot in 2009: Careers

What’s Hot in 2009: Businesses

What’s Hot in 2009: Threats

What’s Hot in 2009: Questions

(Image in today's post by MISHA)

We recently posted an article on hot careers for 2009. On today’s show, we want to share some more thoughts. It’s a tough market if you’re looking for a job or changing careers right now. However, rest assured, there will be opportunities in 2009.

___

___

Opportunities in 2009

In the near future, we think the best opportunities will be “pockets”. As we define this term, “pockets” are niches within a larger job category. To find the pockets of opportunity in 2009, think about what’s been in the news and what opportunities in your area of expertise may benefit from that news. 

For example, while foreclosures and bankruptcies are wreaking havoc on many, they are also creating opportunities for others. The finance profession has probably been hit as hard, or harder, than most fields.

However, opportunity still exists for certain specialists. A friend of ours is employed by a major bank’s workout department. In the last month-and-a-half, they’ve gone from our friend and one other employee to a department with about forty employees.

Some of these opportunities may be really hot in the next year or two. Then it will be time to move to a different specialty.

Opportunities in 2009 and beyond

For the long-term, think trends. In the article we mentioned previously, we looked at careers that the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects to be in high demand for the next eight years or so. Then we refined it by looking at expectations for 2009, industry by industry. 

If a downturn was expected in an industry, we excluded careers in that field from the list. For example, it’s expected that the casino industry will be hiring people at an above-average rate in the coming years. However, the industry isn’t expected to do well in 2009 so we removed jobs in that sector.

One trend we’re all familiar with is the aging of the baby boomers. As they reach retirement age, many career fields are expanding to serve them. One is the health-care arena where demand for workers isn’t expected to be saturated for some time to come.

Another field that plays into this trend is financial services. Especially in light of what we experienced in 2008, people are being more diligent with their investments. In particular, the baby boomers are looking for professionals who can advise them on crucial financial decisions.

These are just a couple of examples that play off this one trend. The full article has over fifty occupations with a bright outlook in 2009 and beyond.

Even if you’re not currently in the market for a job, you might find it valuable to take a look at this information. You may just discover your bigg opportunity.

___

___

Thanks so much for checking in with us today. Again, be sure to check out our extensive article on hot careers for 2009, you'll find over 50 professions listed. Next in our series of what’s hot in 2009, we’ll focus on business opportunities. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes. 

Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed.

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file:
http://media.libsyn.com/media/biggsuccess/00301-010508.mp3

Related posts

What’s Hot in 2009: Businesses

What’s Hot in 2009: Threats

(Image in today's post by MISHA)

We recently posted an article on hot careers for 2009. On today’s show, we want to share some more thoughts. It’s a tough market if you’re looking for a job or changing careers right now. However, rest assured, there will be opportunities in 2009.

___

___

Opportunities in 2009

In the near future, we think the best opportunities will be “pockets”. As we define this term, “pockets” are niches within a larger job category. To find the pockets of opportunity in 2009, think about what’s been in the news and what opportunities in your area of expertise may benefit from that news. 

For example, while foreclosures and bankruptcies are wreaking havoc on many, they are also creating opportunities for others. The finance profession has probably been hit as hard, or harder, than most fields.

However, opportunity still exists for certain specialists. A friend of ours is employed by a major bank’s workout department. In the last month-and-a-half, they’ve gone from our friend and one other employee to a department with about forty employees.

Some of these opportunities may be really hot in the next year or two. Then it will be time to move to a different specialty.

Opportunities in 2009 and beyond

For the long-term, think trends. In the article we mentioned previously, we looked at careers that the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects to be in high demand for the next eight years or so. Then we refined it by looking at expectations for 2009, industry by industry. 

If a downturn was expected in an industry, we excluded careers in that field from the list. For example, it’s expected that the casino industry will be hiring people at an above-average rate in the coming years. However, the industry isn’t expected to do well in 2009 so we removed jobs in that sector.

One trend we’re all familiar with is the aging of the baby boomers. As they reach retirement age, many career fields are expanding to serve them. One is the health-care arena where demand for workers isn’t expected to be saturated for some time to come.

Another field that plays into this trend is financial services. Especially in light of what we experienced in 2008, people are being more diligent with their investments. In particular, the baby boomers are looking for professionals who can advise them on crucial financial decisions.

These are just a couple of examples that play off this one trend. The full article has over fifty occupations with a bright outlook in 2009 and beyond.

Even if you’re not currently in the market for a job, you might find it valuable to take a look at this information. You may just discover your bigg opportunity.

___

___

Thanks so much for checking in with us today. Again, be sure to check out our extensive article on hot careers for 2009, you'll find over 50 professions listed. Next in our series of what’s hot in 2009, we’ll focus on business opportunities. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes. 

Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed.

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file:
http://media.libsyn.com/media/biggsuccess/00301-010508.mp3

Related posts

What’s Hot in 2009: Businesses

What’s Hot in 2009: Threats

(Image in today's post by MISHA)