Category: Dollars & Cents

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Yard Sales

Rachel drug me to a couple of yard sales over the weekend and I have to admit I thoroughly enjoyed it.  It’s almost like going on a treasure hunt.  We found a great antique chair for our bedroom that needed some new upholstery but other than that, it’s a great find at an even better price.

So now we are looking for some fabric to reupholster the chair and are even going to do that ourselves.  It’s not that hard to do on the style of chair once we really looked at the chair.  All we have to do now is find the right material and some upholstery tacks and it’s going to look great.  I hope so anyway.

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Weeds are taking over

The season of yard work is now in full bloom. Mowing isn’t that bad and neither is weed eating the yard but the weeds are taking over. We only have a few flower beds around our yard and I hate the thought of using weed killer. It’s not only full of chemicals, but you run the risk of damaging your flowers should the wind blow.

A friend of mine told me about using white or distilled vinegar to kill weeds.  They told me that I might have to spray the weeds a few times before they die but the vinegar is biodegradable and won’t hurt the environment. I’m all for that.  Not to mention, it’s a lot cheaper than weed killers.  Guess I’ll give it a try and keep you guys posted of how effective it is.

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Auctions

As I was driving down the road the other day I noticed a sign that was advertising auctions. I used to go to auctions when I was young with my father. I thought it would be pretty cool to go to another now that I am an adult.

The auction is today and I am excited about going to it to see what is happening. I am always interested in finding things that are interesting to me. I may buy something or I may not, but I am sure that I will have a good time.

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Green business

There are many areas of the economy that are not performing all that well. We all know that. The good news is that some areas of the economy are doing very well. Those who are smart and who get in on the ground floor of these businesses will have a bright future. That’s why I made a suggestion to my next door neighbors son Charlie that he should think about getting some training and starting his own business.

One area of business that is really taking off is green technology in homes. People want lower heating and air bills and are willing to pay for it. The government provides many tax incentives in many cases and it’s good for our environment. Many people are now looking to starting a home energy audit franchise. This is a golden opportunity for those who are willing to learn about it.

The internet will be the backbone of these new businesses and there are people who can help you get started. You can find training as well as marketing home improvement business plans. They can provide the knowledge and experience needed for contractors websites marketing. I think Charlie will be glad I mentioned this to him and I wish him the best in his new career.

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Friends, Florida, and cars

Since my work takes me out of state every once in a while, I am sometimes able to visit friends or family if I am in the area. I was recently in Tampa, Fl and was able to see an old friend of mine named Bob. We went to college together and have stayed in touch ever since. It turned out that I had one whole day to do whatever I wanted and so I hung out with him.

The only thing that Bob really had to do that day was that he wanted to buy some Used Cars he could give to his children. He had gone online and watched some used car videos and wanted to get my opinion on the cars he liked. We found a place that we liked for used cars Tampa and that can be found at this web address http://www.parkautomall.com we got ready to head down to the lot.

We talked with the salesman and found two cars we liked. We made a pretty good deal to buy both cars and he was able to apply for credit right there at the store. When the deal was closed I think everyone was happy. We spent the rest of the day enjoying the kid’s faces as they saw their cars. All in all it was a great trip and I hope to back to Tampa Bay soon.

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The latest in science

There is a new plan out there that is as far fetching as it seems in reality as well as in its imagination. A group of tycoons are planning to mine asteroids for their valuable minerals. They plan to catch asteroids and squeeze them dry of their metals which will then be sent back to earth.

The plan is futuristic but some believe the technical difficulties can be overcome. The plan has large start-up costs and will take many years before it happens but it may well work.

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Should the penny stay or go

Many Americans have different opinions on whether the penny should stay or go. The Canadians are in the process of eliminating their penny because it costs too much to make. It costs about a penny and a half to make each penny.

Americans are a little different breed though and feelings for the penny run high. We are basically a nostalgic people and we love that Lincoln’s head is on the penny. We will have to see how this plays out.

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Advertising our success

This was a pretty good week around the office that I work in. Everybody was excited to learn that our numbers were up for the third straight month. Business has really picked up and our employees are very busy and yet very happy. The best part is that we all know the reason why. We started a new advertising campaign about six months ago and the results have been very good. It seems that everyone knows our name and that’s a good thing in this type of industry.

We do have a couple of people to thank for all this success. The first person is me as I am the one who pushed for an increased advertising budget. I knew that it would pay off and it has. I would also like to thank the good folks at the Advertising Agency we picked to do the job. They were very professional as far as knowing what to do and introduced us to some new ideas we hadn’t thought about doing. It’s all going according to plan.

We will have our spring picnic soon and I am sure that we will be doing even more business by then. It will much better than last year as we were certainly struggling to get by. The good news is that our hard work is paying off and the coming year is destined to be one of our best. I am glad for those of us in the company who worked so hard to make this dream come true.

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Things that are old

Every once in a while, people find things that are old that they believe are worth money. Some of these things are valuable and sometimes they are not. It just depends on what the item is and how well it has survived over the years. I had a sewing machine from 1892 that I thought was very valuable. It turned out that it was not.

Other things like comic books and games can be very valuable especially if they are the right kind. Condition is always a concern but in the end there are many things worth money. The moral of the story is that you need to check the worth of an old item before you throw it out.

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Maximize

One thing about the internet is that it is always changing. I remember when it first started for me and it has come a long way since then. I was just growing up when it started. It seems that every day there is a new company who is trying to take over the circus we call search engines. There is fierce competition between the companies and it can be difficult to know how to proceed if you are trying to improve your stats with a local search optimization company. That’s why it pays to take a few days and weigh the pros and cons of each company.

While I do not claim to be an expert by any means, I have done a fair amount of research on the subject. I believe that there are many people who are looking to advance the progress of their small business marketing. After all, the best way to improve your sales is to get the widest variety of customers. No one will buy from you if they do not know you are in business. There are many ways to do so and there are some people who can help you with this.

Anytime you go onto the internet and do a local search, there are a number of factors that are involved. The page rank of your site plays an important role in this. Making sure that your site is optimized for this is critical. You have to be sure that your site is continuously updated and is easily found by the various search engines. I would highly recommend that you find a company that has experience in making sure your site is high on the list of being used by other people. The internet can be tricky but there are those who know the ins and outs of the business. All you have to do is a little research.