The old branding model is past its “sell by” date. It is a product-centered model that comes from packaged goods in the ’70s and ’80s; offer differentiated benefits that a particular consumer segment is thought to care about. “My peas are picked at the peak of sweetness”…that kind of thing. This model is breaking down as people try store brands and find they are “fit for purpose” at a better price. Now what?

Change the model.

People live life in four dimensions. We have functional needs, but we also are social creatures, have self-expressive needs, and crave content that we find to be entertaining and informative. Thinking this way reveals new ways of making your brand relevant:

1. Functional: go from “product feature” to “solution-based” thinking
2. Social: make your brand a celebrity that is fanned, friended, and followed. Or, create a thematic environment around a value shared by your brand and its customers (e.g. Dove and “the real meaning of beauty”)
3. Self-expressive: the brand must stand for something so clearly understood, it is cultural currency
4. Content: become the logical and top of mind source for content centered on what your brand is about

But here’s the catch; your competitive set will change as you offer new constructs…new ways to categorize. This takes us to the idea of a “mental marketplace” where your brand must vie for attention against other brands that are functionally unrelated. Product brands can even find they compete with celebrities and news publishers.

Noah Brier has created a freely available tool called brand tags. (You should also check out mattermeter.) Brandtags displays a logo and asks you to type the first thing that comes to mind when you see a particular brand’s logo. You can then see what that brand means to everyone else.

3M competes with Apple in the mental marketplace of innovation but they express their brands differently. Experience the Apple store in SOHO. Apple has leveraged innovation, cool, and edginess into self-expression, a sense of belonging and maybe a little bit of “theme park” thrown in. Oh by the way, Apple stores reached $1 billion in sales faster than any other chain in history (previous record-holder was the Gap).

Whole Foods vies in the mental marketplace of health/fresh with Dannon, Kashi, and Subway (and others, of course). Whole Foods “competes” via brand community across social media (e.g. 800,000+ Twitter followers), has a wonderful blog and iPhone app about a wellness lifestyle from organic/fresh foods. A Whole Foods shopping bag is almost a clubhouse handshake.

When a brand wins in its mental marketplace it leverages multi-layered connections with people into spontaneous credibility that converts into sales. The unfamiliar new product becomes instantly familiar.

If store brands are going to dominate the mental marketplace for “affordable” where do you plan to play and win?

How sweet it is. Even in a recession, candy has been a luxury that many people can still afford. “Chocolate is a comfort food,” says Dan Johnson, owner of Choco-Logo in Buffalo, New York, which has seen retail sales rise 30 percent since last year. The confectionery industry, as a whole, grew 3.7 percent during the 52-week period ending April 19, according to the National Confectioners Association, which is pretty good considering so many industries are flat or declining. Historically, experts say, candy is one of the most recession-resistant industries and many of today’s classic brands, including Snickers, Tootsie Pops, and 3 Musketeers, all launched during the darkest days of the Great Depression, between 1930 and 1932.

APPS

Apple launched its App Store last summer, creating a whole new burgeoning industry in the process. Sales of apps in the first month topped $30 million, leading Steve Jobs to predict that the marketplace would be worth $1 billion some day. To date, companies have produced more than 30,000 applications, ranging from games such as Tap Tap Revenge to apartment-hunting help to tools for finding out the name of a song; in all, Apple has processed more than a billion downloads. To capitalize on the trend, venture-capital firms such as Kleiner Perkins have begun investing in app producers; the venerable Sand Hill Road firm has earmarked $100 million for the market.

Digital Medical Records

The challenge of streamlining patient care through digitized medical records, e-prescription programs, and online hospital communication, is just now gaining momentum, giving younger companies a chance to make inroads. The federal stimulus bill pledged $19 billion to the development of a health-information tracking system. Based on that level of funding, employment in the field is expected to grow by 18 percent between now and 2016, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. One up-and-comer: Phreesia, a New York City business that makes electronic patient check-in tablets for doctors offices, recently closed $11.5 million in Series C funding, and has secured $25 million in funding to date.

Partying

Even as consumers cut back on their consumption of premium alcoholic beverages, sales of booze at lower price points have risen significantly over the last year. As a result, beer, wine, and liquor wholesaler profits have grown 18 percent and sales have grown 5 percent over the past year, according to Sageworks. And the Distilled Spirits Council estimates exports of U.S. distilled spirits grew by 8 percent last year, to $1.1 billion, led by robust demand for American whiskeys.

Niche Software

Although software spending is expected to increase just 5 percent through 2013, the software-as-a-service niche is forecast to expand by nearly 20 percent annually over the same period, as companies continue to see the benefits of on-demand, flexible applications, according to Gartner, a market-research firm. The industry is expected to produce $8 billion in sales by the end of this year and $16 billion by the end of 2013. The office suites categories will lead the pack this year, increasing 376 percent to $512 million.

Health Care

Perhaps the sector likely to benefit the most from the aging baby boomer generation is the home health-care industry. An increasingly popular alternative to nursing homes, home health-care services tend to offer patients lower costs while affording them the dignity of being able to remain in their homes. Industry employment is expected to increase 4.5 percent annually through 2016, the third-highest rate of growth recorded by any industry, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The industry has spawned dozens of promising niches, including companies that specialize in cognitive-fitness computer programs, which help exercise the mind. Total revenue for companies in the cognitive-fitness market topped $265 million in revenue in 2008, up from $100 million in 2005, according to the market research firm SharpBrains. Total sales are expected to hit $2 billion by 2015, the firm estimates.

Yoga Pilates

Amid a recession, are we getting more in tune with our inner spirit? Perhaps. Americans spent $5.7 billion on yoga products, equipment, and clothing in 2008–87 percent more than they did in 2004, according to a study from Yoga Journal. Nearly 14 million Americans say a doctor or therapist has recommended yoga to them. And as the industry continues to expand, there is ample room for new products. One promising opportunity: creating appealing men’s yoga apparel.

Trade Schools

With unemployment numbers up to 8.9 percent, it’s no surprise that technical and trade schools are experiencing a surge in business. Revenue at these for-profit schools rose an average of nearly 8 percent over the 12-month period ending in May, according to Sageworks, a financial analysis company. While thousands of Americans are trying to set themselves apart from other job applicants, others are switching careers as the realization hits that their former industries may have permanently contracted.

Food Trucks

This year might be the worst ever for the food-service industry as a whole, but the emerging fast-casual segment — which falls between fast food and full-serve restaurants — continues to shine. Sales for the top 100 fast-casual restaurant chains grew by nearly 11 percent in 2008, to $16.7 billion, according to Technomic, a Chicago-based restaurant industry research and consulting firm. Panera Bread led the segment with $2.6 billion in sales in 2008, representing 16 percent growth, while Chipotle Mexican Grill totaled $1.3 billion in revenue, good for a nearly 21 percent growth. For those without the capital to start a restaurant, food industry watchers are seeing a growing trend in food trucks, with those that offer one type of food — tacos, waffles, and even Korean barbecue — all the rage on the streets of major cities.

Green Renovation

The construction industry may be in a slump, but companies that specialize in green building are bucking the trend. The overall green building market is expected to more than double from $49 billion today to approximately $140 billion by 2013, according to a report from McGraw-Hill. A growing consumer awareness of the advantages of sustainable homes and buildings, along with the increased government focus on environmental initiatives, will only bring more opportunities in this arena. Businesses that position themselves as both eco-friendly and affordable stand to benefit even more.

Niche Business Consulting

In terms of overall job growth, the nation’s fastest-growing industry is niche business consulting; it’s workforce is expected to increase by 5.9 percent through 2016. Corporate layoffs have spawned a wave of professionals who are trying to repurpose their skills in the consulting realm. While the competition is fierce in this space, the barriers to entry are low, and the industry as a whole is seeing a shift as clients drop big corporate consultancies in favor of smaller, more specialized firms. Particularly in demand right now: consultants who can help companies to save money, minimize financial losses, and do public relations damage control.

Game Designing

The education-technology industry has been gaining momentum for years and the $650 million allocated to it in the recently-passed federal stimulus bill should only accelerate the transformation inside U.S. schools and school districts. Companies such as Promethean USA, eInstruction, and Luidia have already capitalized on growing demand, carving out market share in the emergent interactive-whiteboard industry. Then there’s Schoolwires, a company in State College, Pennsylvania, that designs content management systems for school districts. The business plans to increase its workforce 60 percent this year. Don Knezek, CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education, says when it comes to technology in classrooms, the U.S. is still an “emerging market.”

Head Hunters

At a time when many companies are reducing their headcount, now might seem like a funny time to start a staffing firm. But some agencies, particularly those that specialize in filling part-time positions, are doing well. This sector — the largest within employment services — “should continue to generate the most new jobs in this industry,” according to a government estimate. Those agencies that position themselves to take advantage of changes in the workforce by specializing in locating positions that offer flexible schedules, for example, are well-positioned to succeed.

Government Jobs

In the past year, government services has been gaining steam as a top category among the fastest-growing private companies on the Inc. 500 | 5000 list. From 2007 to 2008, the total revenue for companies in this category nearly doubled, from $678 million to $1.2 billion, and the median four-year growth rate for companies on the 2008 list came in at nearly 1,300 percent. President Obama’s $787 billion Economic Recovery Act certainly won’t hinder that growth. According to the administration’s Recovery.gov website, by 2012, two-thirds of the approximately $23 billion allocated to individual states will reflect investments in local infrastructure, creating opportunities for start-ups to bid on projects that involve transportation, broadband technologies, and clean water, among others.

Accountants

It may not be considered a “sexy” industry, but small and independent firms that help companies manage cash flow by keeping on top of accounts receivables are increasingly in demand — especially during a time when customers will do anything they can to avoid paying bills. Accounting work is a function that companies routinely outsource, especially when they are seeking to cut costs during a recession, which opens up opportunities for start-ups. Profit margins can be especially high for solo entrepreneurs or those who run their businesses from home. According to recent data from Sageworks, private accounting firms have seen a 20.9 percent growth in profit over the last 12 months.

Repair Jobs

As money gets tight more and more people will be fixing their existing stuff rather then buying new. Currently business is up 2.4 percent at auto repair shops and 4.6 for electricians and plumbers in the past year, according to statistics compiled by Sageworks. Other lucrative sectors include shoe repair shops, many of which have seen business more than double since the start of the recession, as well as personal electronics repair shops. The repair business is also hospitable for fledgling ventures: businesses can often be run from home and sustained on the founder’s knowhow and sweat equity.

Self-improvement

If ever there were a time in which people are searching for self-improvement, it’s now. Americans spend more than $11 billion each year on self-improvement products and services, including motivational-speaker seminars, networking and wealth-building instructional DVDs, and spiritual guidance books, according to Marketdata Enterprises, a Tampa-based research firm. Over the next three years, while many industries contract, self-help is expected to grow 6.2 percent annually.

Brought to you by DWHS Web Hosting

All Web hosts ultimately provide the same service. An individual or a business places a page on the host’s server and people all over the world can access that page from their Web browser. But that, unfortunately, isn’t all there is to it.
A Web site’s performance depends on the bandwidth, server resources and infrastructure of the hosting provider. Hosting comes in many forms–shared hosting, dedicated hosting and co-location, plus hundreds of variations of each.

RELIABILITY

When choosing a Web host, you should look for size, speed, and diversity of dedicated Internet connections, as well as what hardware and software the host uses. Reliability is very important. Is there more uptime than downtime? Also important are a host’s response times. The quality and standard of back-up power is also important, as is security. But one of the most important issues you’ll face when choosing a host is the quality and level of customer service.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

Twenty-four-hour customer service means next to nothing unless the persons fielding calls are qualified computer professionals. What about the skill level of the technical representative at 4 a.m.? How accessible is an engineer during “non-business” hours? Can the engineer on call be notified via pager that there’s a problem? This isn’t a problem if your site is simple but can be if it’s more complex.

RESPONSE TIME

Response time is important. When sending a message out into the great unknown, it’s nice to get a response back within an hour or two. This is something you can test before signing on with a service. After sending the host’s support department a question, how long does it take for them to respond? Also, how helpful is the response? If a host has extensive online FAQs, then its customer support team should respond faster to queries and respond in more detail than if they were bogged down all day telling 500 people how to upload a page.

ENSURE MAXIMUM UPTIME

Size and speed indicate the Web host’s total bandwidth to the Internet and, therefore, directly relate to the speed of a site’s delivery and the traffic it can support. One of the most overlooked issues is diversity of a host’s Internet connections. To ensure maximum uptime, it should have connections to several national backbones. This ensures that it will have at least one active connection even if one of the national backbones goes down.

Many hosts claim they have “unlimited bandwidth.” This simply can’t be true, as no one has unlimited bandwidth, and someone eventually has to pay for it. If you set up a site which chokes a host’s Internet connection, the host will either make you pay more or simply shut off your site.

HOW IS THE HOST SETUP POWERED?

What hardware is being used, what operating systems and Web servers are being run, and what is its internal networking structure like? After obtaining this information from several different hosts, you’ll be able to sift out those with weaker setups.

What about the physical platforms that are used to host sites and connect to the Internet? What about router platforms? Are they redundant and diverse? At what capacity do they implement upgrades? Are the platforms made up of industry standard vendors such as Cisco Systems, Sun Microsystems, etc., or does the host use lesser-known vendors or possibly other proprietary methods? Also, is the host Y2K compliant? All of these capabilities ensure interoperability, especially between client and vendor in private business applications where employees have access to databases through the company Web site.

Every time a visitor goes to a Web site, he or she downloads the images off of its host’s server and onto a PC. This transfer causes data to be sent over the host’s internet connection, which is only of a finite size. Too much data can cause the connection to become clogged. But figuring out your site’s requirements is easy. If your homepage has two 5K images on it and receives 100 visitors, that means that each visitor would download 10K of information over the host’s Internet connection or 10K x 100 or 1000K, which equals 1MB. One to two gigabytes of traffic is ample for 99 percent of the sites on the Internet.

HOST RELIABILITY

Reliability can be a tough issue. Servers crashthat’s simply a fact of life. Everyone has seen the dreaded “Server not responding…” message. For a host to admit to downtime is an admission of failure. However, a responsible host should understand that crashes are a part of running a server and be open about any major interruptions of service. Your site should be reachable 98 percent of the time.

WHAT ABOUT DANGER FROM FLOOD?

You probably won’t ask what floor the hosting facility is located on until there’s a flood. Business people and Web developers often don’t look at the Internet as something physical. But the virtual world exists on physical facilities, and competitive pricing is only one of the critical elements to consider.

HOW SECURE IS YOUR HOST?

Even more important is the security of the network. What is the host’s security policy and configuration? Do they have a firewall? Is there a security expert on staff? Hosts with weak network security are vulnerable to hackers.

After checking off the above items, you should contact some of the host’s current customers to see how satisfied they are with its service.

It takes a lot to be a successful entrepreneur. Do you have what it takes? Check out this list of qualities common in successful entrepreneurs and see how you measure up.

1. Great People Skills

Entrepreneurs have great people skills and understand that it’s the relationships between people that get things done. They enjoy being around people and know how to work a crowd without the crowd even realizing it!

2. Confidence—in Yourself and the Product

Another essential quality for any successful entrepreneur is confidence. We’re not talking about regular old self-confidence however. Entrepreneurs take it to another level. It’s that extreme confidence and belief in self and product that gives an entrepreneur the wherewithal to shamelessly promote a product or service.

3. Passion

Ever wanted something so bad you could taste it? Then you must be an entrepreneur! That burning desire to succeed is what enables entrepreneurial types to accomplish just about anything, from the apparently insurmountable to the thankless minutia required to keep your business running.

4. Perseverance

Every entrepreneur stumbles into roadblocks once in awhile, but what sets the successful ones apart is the ability to step back, re-evaluate, and take another route. You know that familiar saying, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again?” Consider it the mantra of the successful entrepreneur.

5. Stamina and Energy

High energy levels and stamina go hand in hand with perseverance. Any successful entrepreneur will tell you that he or she has had a pattern of burning the midnight oil, skipping lunch, working 80 to 100 hours a week, and missing out on social events in pursuit of success.

6. Sharp Focus on Goals

Entrepreneurs are focused and goal oriented. They set up goals and develop plans of action to achieve those goals, whether they’re generating sales, improving efficiency, or reworking a product design in a time crunch.

7. An Understanding of How to Make Money

An entrepreneur’s primary goal is to make money. They are not content to work solely for the pleasure of doing something they love; they prefer cold, hard, cash and understand how to get it.

8. A Gift for Sales and Marketing

Entrepreneurs don’t have to be born closers, but they need to know how to sell and market their products. It usually comes naturally to business owners; even people who don’t enjoy sales usually find it easier to sell and market a product or service they completely believe in.

9. An Eye for Opportunity

Last but not least, an entrepreneur cannot be successful without a product or service that people want. Even if your product is fantastic, you won’t make a dime if there’s no market for it. Getting the right product in front of the right audience at the right time is crucial. The ability to spot a trend or need in the marketplace and run with it is the hallmark of every successful entrepreneur from the guys behind Ginsu knives (still going strong after more than 30 years by the way), to Vince Offer, creator of the ShamWow.

Both automobile and bicycle purchases fell overall in the first quarter of 2009, but in a surprising twist, bike sales trumped car sales (2.6 million bicycles vs. 2.5 million cars). And while bike sales are down 30% overall from the first quarter of 2008, it’s a slower drop than car sales, which are down over 35%. Granted, bikes are much cheaper than cars–many college students can afford a brand new bike but would be hard-pressed to purchase a car. Still, Dennis Markatos, founder of Sustainable Energy Transition, thinks it is also an indicator of a growing bike culture in the U.S.

Markatos may be right (and just in time for national bike month). With increasing gas prices and decreasing spending money, bikes seem like a reasonable choice for many city-goers who don’t want to brave the public transportation system. New roadways and bike lanes are being built for bikers every day. The East Coast Greenway Alliance plans to connect paths from Key West, Florida, to Calais, Maine, on a 3,000-mile-long paved trail, and New York City is planning to install 33 miles of new bike lanes in the coming year. And with hybrid bikes becoming increasingly common, there’s no reason for even lazy commuters to shun the bicycle lifestyle.

Cars won’t go away, of course, but increased bike sales may mean less-crowded public transportation, cleaner air, and city streets with minimal traffic. More importantly, a swell in the amount of bikers on the road could mean that car drivers will be forced to give bicycle enthusiasts the one thing they truly covet: Respect.

As simple as it sounds, writing GOOD summaries is the key to gaining popularity, high ratings and well, money. Here are some important points to keep in mind:

1. Correct grammar and spelling are essential to the success of your summaries and reviews.
2. Short sentences and short paragraphs (1-4 sentences) are much easier to read. Tip: Sum your paragraph’s main idea in its first line.
3. Write for a diverse audience. The internet is visited by readers of different ages, occupations and interests, not to mention beliefs, cultures and countries . Try to write something that’ll be comprehensive and accessible to everyone.
4. Stress important words and key sentences. Just like we’ve done above…
5. And finally – select a relevant category for your summaries and use tags (relevant keywords) to make them easy to find.

As new technologies come out so does the new use of money and what it’s spent on. This recent chart shows what the average college student spends over four years at a university.

In a nut shell I see it like this: Marketing is more for branding and the business image, where advertising is more for selling and showing a product.

The argument that throws me is why a logo or a logo and name is displayed say on a bus stop bench or sign it is then called advertising? I mean it’s not selling a product, it’s more just trying to get brand name recognition, which clearly is Marketing and not advertising. I mean if you see a sign for a DWHS store. That has the name and logo, is that a add even though there is nothing for sale on it. And would you say “look at the marketing sign” apposed to “look at that advertisement”. My guess is advertising rolls off the tongue better and usually means less so it used more commonly said, even though some ads as we might say are really strictly for the purpose of marketing.

Also I have heard marketing is more about selling the company rather then what they do. For example explaining the company uses solar panels for their office is marketing and saying they have solar panels for the new car they are releasing is advertising.

If you have any thoughts on this let me know!

Beat the recession and upcoming job struggles with careers that will be around for longer then your life span.

• Undersea Welder

Wet welders work in offshore oil fields as deep as 400 feet, building and repairing undersea infrastructure. (Sorry, kids, you can’t buy this exclusive PM action figure, devised by Jeremy Madl at Mad Toy Design. It’s ours.)

Arc welding underwater with electrodes carrying 185 amps might seem unwise, but deep-diving wet welders do it every day. They build and repair pipelines and oil platforms—in January 2009 there were 313 new bids worth $484 million in the western Gulf of Mexico alone. Dusty Harrison, placement director for a Florida school called the Commercial Diving Academy, says, “There’s no telling how much work there is,” thanks to a decade of hurricanes and a boom in oil exploration. During the Gulf ’s hurricane season, some welders work in West Africa and Asia.

How to Do It: Oil companies hire dive outfits with welders certified by the Association of Commercial Diving Educators. Schools such as the Commercial Diving Academy and New Jersey’s Divers Academy International have four- to five-month certification courses. Swimming ability and a high school diploma are prerequisites; scuba diving isn’t.

Earning Potential: Right out of school, you’ll pull in $17 to $20 an hour. “After two and a half or three years, that typically doubles,” Harrison says.

• Zero-Energy Home Architect

Some houses now being built make as much energy as they consume. They rely on equipment such as solar cells to generate power, while using efficient design to keep consumption down. Michelle Kaufmann, an architect in Oakland, Calif., is bringing the zero-energy idea and other forms of sustainable design to prefab houses such as her mkLotus, a small, one-bedroom home. (Kaufmann worked for architecture legend Frank Gehry before founding her own firm in 2002.) Kermit Baker, an economist for the American Institute of Architects (AIA), says, “Sustainability and architecture are now intertwined.” In a recent AIA survey, architects reported that 47 percent of their clients in 2008 used green building elements. Despite the housing slump, Kaufmann says her 15-person staff is swamped: “We have more projects than ever before.”

How to Do It: Earn a master’s from one of the 61 U.S. architecture programs that offer classes with a green bent. (Yale has a joint degree in architecture and environmental management.)

Earning Potential: Nationally, staff architects earn about $45,000 to $100,000. Architects who own their firms can make much more.

• Combined Heat and Power Mechanic

Jim Bondi is an old-school electrician who embraces new-school energy production. After eight years working on projects that included solar installations, he joined Pennsylvania-based E-Finity, designing combined heat and power (CHP) plants. A CHP unit saves energy by burning fuel to produce electricity and using the excess heat for climate control and producing hot water. “With the nation’s rising energy demand and the increase in environmental stewardship, CHP is an economic and environmental no-brainer,” Bondi says. The Department of Energy hopes the industry will grow enough to add a million workers by 2030.

How to Do It: CHP suppliers provide training. Electricians and mechanics with experience on jet and helicopter engines, which are similar to CHP turbines, find their skills are a natural fit.

Earning Potential: Salaries are $30,000 out of the gate; they top out at $75,000.

• Energy Engineer

When the Coronado naval base in San Diego wanted to shrink its energy consumption, it turned to the consulting firm Tetra Tech, whose energy-efficiency staff has grown sixtyfold in the past decade. “The naval base is like a small city, with office buildings, a supermarket, bowling alleys,” says Linda Hunter, a Tetra Tech energy engineer who was brought in to boost efficiency on the base and its two aircraft carriers. Energy engineers may recommend new air-conditioning equipment or solar-powered streetlights, or they may design entire renewable-energy systems, such as harnessing methane from a landfill to generate electricity.

How to Do It: Earn a degree in chemical, mechanical, electrical or civil engineering—or a newer specialty called energy resources engineering. A Certified Energy Manager (CEM) certification is useful; it demands expertise in subjects like indoor air quality codes and standards, thermal energy storage systems and energy economics.

Earning Potential: Salaries start in the $50,000 range; with a master’s, you’ll get bumped up to around $70,000. Managers can pull in more than $100,000.

• Digital Detective

Red teamers focused on digital security are hired to hack into computer systems to uncover vulnerabilities. The Department of Homeland Security plans to quadruple its cyber-security staff this year. Mark Mateski, a red teamer and the managing editor of Red Team Journal, says, “You’ll find a lot of red teamers working in war gaming and cyber security in the government-contracting world.” Even bigger growth may be coming in the private sector: “If your business’s survival depends on cyber security, you’re going to start looking for unconventional answers,” he says.

How to Do It: Programming skills are a must; a degree in computer science is helpful in landing a job. The Center for Cyber Defenders Program at New Mexico’s Sandia National Laboratories offers specific red-team training.

Earning Potential: $60,000 to start on the government and government-contract side; six-figure salaries are common in the private sector.

• 3D Sports Tech

Many fans already say they get a better view of sports events watching TV than sitting near the action, but 3D cements the argument. At least, that’s the view of Steve Schklair, CEO of Burbank-based 3ality Digital Systems, a company specializing in 3D technology and production. “If you’ve got a camera down low next to the green and the golfer is putting uphill, you can actually see the roll of the green while he’s putting,” he says. Ray Hannisian, the company’s lead stereographer, uses software running complex sets of algorithms to fine-tune and synchronize the depth readings of as many as 10 cameras during events. The technology raised its profile during this year’s national college football championships, which 3ality shot and broadcast live to 63 movie theaters in January. Such broadcasts will soon be coming to a living room near you: American consumers have already bought 1.4 million 3D-compatible televisions, and every major electronics manufacturer is now producing such sets. Of course, the best-known 3D arena remains moviemaking. More than a dozen 3D movies are scheduled for release in 2009.

How to Do It: You can master 3D still photography on your own using a program like HumanEyes Capture 3D Software. Also, take classes in digital videography (art schools and university film programs offer them), then look for a job as a 2D cameraman. “With digital technology, you can learn a lot about 3D while you’re actually shooting,” Hannisian says.

Earning Potential: Salaries start at $50,000 and can go as high as $150,000 for television work. For the elite earners in 3D movie production, Schklair says, “There is no limit.”

• Wind Explorer

When civil and environmental engineer Mathias Craig arrived in Nicaragua in 2004, he found a stretch of Caribbean coastline where transportation consisted of horses and boats and there wasn’t a single light bulb. “It was like the Wild West 200 years ago,” he says. As founders of the nonprofit Blue Energy Group, Craig and his brother organized volunteers to build wind turbines to catch the Caribbean trade winds and supply several com-munities with electricity. Hugh Piggott, a Scotland-based wind-energy pioneer, has worked on similar projects in Zimbabwe, Peru and Sri Lanka. “One of the places wind energy is expanding most rapidly is the developing world,” he says. “The number of people in the world who don’t have utility power is actually increasing.” That’s because the population in many regions is growing faster than grid lines and new power plants can be constructed. Craig and his staff of 32 have already installed nine turbines in Nicaragua. They’ve also scouted sites in West Africa, and they’re in talks to expand into Honduras and Guatemala.

How to Do It: Texas Tech University’s Wind Science and Engineering Research Center offers a summer internship for undergrads and has one of the country’s few Ph.D. programs in the field. However, it’s possible to jump in without an advanced degree. Piggott teaches turbine-building seminars worldwide; Blue Energy has an apprenticeship program in Nicaragua.

Earning Potential: Nonprofit firms based in developing countries pay from $1000 to $4000 per month. Annual salaries in the U.S. currently range from $35,000 to $55,000.

• Fabricator of Carbon-Fiber Spaceships and Planes

“We’re like the shipbuilders of the modern era,” Reuben Garcia says. As head composite fabricator at XCOR, an aerospace company in Mojave, Calif., Garcia is deeply engaged in the race to make ships capable of carrying tourists into space. Garcia and his team take the plans drawn by XCOR’s engineers and make them real, using lightweight carbon composites similar to the materials used everywhere from Formula One race cars to high-end fishing rods. Composite structures are built up layer by layer, and Garcia’s high-tech creations are shaped largely with such low-tech tools as squeegees filled with epoxy resin. XCOR, which plans to conduct test flights to space by 2011, is situated in a tiny town that has become a hotbed for spaceship and small-airplane construction. “You can walk into any of the 20 or so companies here and have a job in an hour,” says Jon Sharp, owner of Nemesis Air Racing, which builds racing planes.

How to Do It: Many companies will train newbies. However, community colleges can offer a head start with introductory courses in composite fabrication.

Earning Potential: Pay starts low but can climb to $20 per hour. Managers who go on to earn engineering degrees can make up to $100,000 a year.

• Battery Engineer

Will Gardner was a freshly minted college graduate with a degree in mechanical engineering when he was hired by Duracell. “I had no idea what a battery company could want with a mechanical engineer,” Gardner says, but he was drawn to the field, which combines elements of electrical engineering, chemistry, materials science and, yes, mechanical engineering. “You need to know something about each of them in order to succeed,” he says. Today, Gardner leads a team that designs, builds and tests batteries for hybrid electric cars at A123 Systems, a fast-growing firm based in Watertown, Mass. A123’s clients include Chrysler, GM and automotive upstarts Think and Better Place, and the company’s staff has jumped from 150 to 2000 in the past three years. Ann Marie Sastry, who directs the University of Michigan’s master’s program in energy systems engineering, says, “The DNA of the automobile is changing, which means the composition of the workforce has to change.” Sastry also runs her own battery company, called Sakti3. “We’re hiring,” she says. “It’s a great time to be a battery guy.”

How to Do It: A bachelor’s in math, materials science or engineering is essential. Sastry’s program is very highly regarded: “Students are getting jobs even before they finish their studies,” she says.

Earning Potential: To start, $50,000 to $60,000; at the senior level, $95,000.

• Independent Video-Game Designer

It took Kyle Gabler just four days to come up with the concept for his first video game, and, frankly, it didn’t seem like a blockbuster waiting to happen: The protagonists are gobs of goo. But in the growing world of independent game design, execution is key—and Gabler created a look that has drawn comparisons to filmmaker Tim Burton, supporting a story filled with intrigue and humor. The prototype became an indie hit, and in October 2008 Gabler launched the Nintendo Wii game World of Goo (above). In an era of sequels (a dozen Medal of Honor games, eight iterations of Grand Theft Auto), the industry needs fresh ideas—and supplying them has traditionally been a designer’s main job. But as Simon Carless, publisher of the industry website Gamasutra and a former lead designer, says, “Now designers also need practical skills. You need to be able to make the game.”

How to Do It: More than 200 schools offer game-design degrees, including the Art Institute of Portland, which graduates students with a B.S. in Visual and Game Programming. But consumer tech is so good now that you may be able to go it alone. “You can make stuff in your bedroom that’s as good as what people are making professionally,” Carless says. Art, music and coding skills are all critical.

Earning Potential: Staff designers start at an average of $62,000, according to a survey by gamecareerguide.com. On your own, it’s feast or famine. Gabler was incomeless while designing World of Goo. In January, it became the 10th-best-selling PC game on the market.