My friend is a fashion blogger. She has been involved in an endless love affair with clothes, shoes, bags, and accessories. She has been a self-made fashion designer for years and now owns her a clothing line named after her. I really think that she has a great sense of style. In fact everything she wears fits her very well. I can’t say that it is just because of her natural beautiful face and nice body, her choice of clothing is excellent and she knows what to wear. I also think that she really has what it takes to be entitled as “best-dressed”. Because of the importance she gives on fashion, she started a blog that proclaims everything about her number one love.

At first, she did it just because she wanted to document every piece of clothing and accessory that she will wear. It was merely just for fun, but in the long run, her blog started to have a lot of viewers and followers. She also started to make money out the advertisements, and brands started to sponsor her and gave her clothes to post on her blog. She also had viewers who wanted to buy her self-made accessories and clothing, while some wanted to pay her for advice on fashion. She also gained costumers who wanted her to be their stylist.

She never thought that she will get this far with her blog and at the same time, with her boutique. Her sponsors became regular and now they are availing b2b services to make their transactions more convenient. She has a very wide range of customers nationwide and some people cannot go to her shop directly to buy her products. To manage this, she used outbound telemarketing services to save her time and make work more efficient. She said that she has no time and room for wrong orders and deliveries. She also wanted to satisfy her customers and avoid errors.

Who would have thought that my friend’s fashion blog became the first step of her success? I was stunned by how her business grew that fast. I think it is because of the combination of her talent, skills, and right management of business with the help of the right assistance she needed. I can really say that it is important in business to have great ideas, good customer care, and management. Without these, it will be a struggle to get into the lime light because of tough competition and other factors that may affect business. Thus it is best to invest on good products and services to get the satisfaction of customers.

My good old friend Harry has been undergoing a lot of challenges lately. I believe that challenges add spice to life, and we can consider it as positive events that can make us stronger inside and out. For many years now, Harry has owned 600 websites and has been managing it himself. He has virtual assistants and paid them regularly. His business was good, and his websites flourished. But one day, some of Harry’s sites crashed. It was the fault of some of his assistants. It was a much unexpected event for everyone, even for his other employees.

It is inevitable for businesses to face these kind of challenges, and as for Harry, it is not yet the end for him. He temporarily stopped the operation of his team and focused on what went wrong with his other websites. He tried selling sites and earned some money through it. It is a good thing that he was far from bankruptcy, and all he needed was to refresh and get rid of some employees who were not capable. It was also a good wake up call for him, because got too relaxed and relied on his employees too much. Harry is very grateful of the online marketplace because he was able to sell some his sites that are no longer very active. It was a very fast transaction for him. The sites were sold in a jiffy for a very good price. He got inspired and is even planning on making his own selling site. Now, he has fewer sites, but the more important thing is that the qualities of the sites that were left are of good quality. He realized that he didn’t need too much websites, but instead he should focus on quality rather than quantity.

Harry is now on the next part of his career, a much better and well improved version of him. He can say that he has improved as a person and as a business man. He resumed the work team that he had, and the employees who were left were very happy that they are back in operation. Harry sent them a message about his new rules and regulations. He advised the group that they should love their job and keep on doing the right thing.

There are a lot of businesses that are good, but get destroyed due to mismanagement. I hope Harry’s case will be a lesson for us. He made a mistake, but he did not dwell on it for long. Instead, he became a fighter and restored his business again.

My electric bills are rising, and I am afraid that the cost of electricity may continue to go up. My business demands a lot of electricity consumption because I use the computer all the time. Plus, I am also a home buddy, and I use the electricity too much. When I’m not working, I spend my time watching movies, eating microwavable food, soaking in my Jacuzzi, and workout using a treadmill. I cannot count all the different things I do that require electricity.

I have a friend who is an electrical engineer and he has been working on solar panels for many years now. Since I’ve started my work online, he has been recommending me to install solar panels in my house. He said that it’s quite expensive, but it will give long term benefits that will make the price worth it. He even told me that my house will be more expensive and increase in value if I install solar panels because it is a great asset. At first, I ignored his advice, because I got used to the conventional way of receiving electricity supply. Now, due to my rising electric bills, I’ve decided to invest on solar panels. My friend worked for Austin solar panels and he recommended me what type of solar panels I should install in my house. I was amazed by their company because they have other concerns that are good for the customers. They are concerned that they will not destroy the design of your house. The solar panels actually look good and not very destructive to the view of the surroundings. They also offer maintenance services for your solar panels. After a few days of planning and working, my residential solar panels were finally installed. It looked good and worked great. In a few months, my electric bills went low. I am even planning now to stop using commercial electricity and rely solely on solar power.

My friend thanked me for finally switching to solar electricity. He did not thank me for the money that they earned through it; instead he was thankful that I am now finally helping the environment. I did not realize that at first, because I was too happy with the cut down on my expenses in the electric bills, and I was also enjoying my cheap electricity too much by doing the usual home buddy things that I do. There were also incentives from the government for putting up a residential solar panel in my house. I’m really happy with my choice. I highly recommend solar energy!

My cousin just passed the board exam, and he is now a full-fledged accountant. Even before he passed the board exam, he had customers who pay him for accounting jobs. He is a really smart and well connected guy. After passing the exam he became highly recommended by his customers and other people who know him. Some people are even advising him to apply and work for a big company because of the benefits that he may receive.

He is still in awe with all the offers that he is faced with, and he doesn’t know which one to choose yet. Right now, he wants to practice privately and gain some experience. He is now very busy with his career, and the study desk in his house is no longer appropriate for his transactions. He contacted me one day to help him find an office space where he can meet and accommodate his clients conveniently and formally. And because he asked for my help, I suggested that he should look for business premises to let because of the demands of his career, he might receive a big offer and may be forced to leave his office anytime. I think it was a better idea because he will be saved from contracts that will require him to rent office spaces for a year or so. He agreed, and of course with the help of the World Wide Web, we were able to find the perfect office for him in just a few days.

He was very happy to have his office. It provided him with a very healthy working environment. He was able to organize his things and made his job seemed to be easier. His clients were also happy that he finally rented an office space. They felt more convenient and more convinced with his professionalism. In fact, after he had his office for a few months, the number of clients he received became higher.

I am so happy for my cousin, he is still young, and he seems to be on the right track. I know with the right discipline and with good relationship with his clients, he will become more successful in the future. He also did the right choices to have the right facilities to accommodate the needs of his job and his clients. I really think that he has a bright future ahead of him. I hope he can face all the challenges in this maze-like business world.

A few days ago, I was badly in need of an accountant to work for me. I was too busy with my job, and I didn’t have the time to process and check everything. To make the situation worse, I need to do it fast before the deadline comes. I asked for my cousin’s help, and to my surprise he is now a part of a very prestigious accounting firm. Without hesitations, he offered me some help and gave really good advice on how to understand and decipher a good accountant. He told me that it is very important to find an accountant who is reliable, honest, responsible, and of course, wise. He referred me to one of the accountants in their firm because he was already busy with other clients.

The most important thing that I needed to get done at that moment was my tax return preparation, because I have to meet the deadline. At first I was in doubt if he will be able to do it as fast as he can, but I was surprised that he was able to finish everything in just a day! He told me that my accounts were stable and easy to prepare, if he worked for a company, it would usually take him four days to finish everything. He was very confident with the task he did for me, and he assured me that I will never get into trouble with my taxes because he did everything that has to be done. I was so overwhelmed with what I’ve heard. I was about to give him a tip, but I thought that it might be kind of rude. So I just shook his hand and told him, that I will be very happy to hire him again.

After a few days, the deadline for tax returns came, I was happy that I didn’t get into confusion and trouble because of the paper works, because I had a very reliable accountant who helped me. I thanked my cousin for referring me to one of the accountants in their firm. With the help that I have acquired, I was able to other tasks that I had to do. I was also saved from terrible headaches that I usually face when I do my income tax return.

I am so glad that I did not become an accountant, because if I were, I would have been crazy right now. Even though I have been called by most people I know to be the “jack of all trades”, I can still say that accounting is not my forte. I love doing business, but there are times that I am too preoccupied to do other things. That is why I am very thankful that accounting firms existed.

I had trouble getting in to my jeans today, the waist and the butt part was too tight I realized that I’m gaining too much weight recently. It must be because of my job. I have not had enough decent exercise for a long time, and aside from facing the computer, the only other activities I had were eating and sleeping. I’ve heard a lot of news about lifestyle related diseases like coronary artery disease, diabetes, cancer, and hypertension. They said that these have been the main causes of death in our country lately. I was afraid that I may develop one of these diseases. Due to my fears, I decided to have a workout plan for myself. I bought a treadmill, dumbbells, and a bicycle in case I want to exercise outdoors. I also planned a diet with the help of my friend nutritionist.

On the first day of my workout plan,   I used the treadmill and enjoyed the sweat. It felt good to have some exercise. I was determined to lose some weight and develop a healthier lifestyle. I also stopped drinking, and I’m now in the process of quitting smoking. The days went on and I started to enjoy my daily exercise plans.

treadmill

One day, while I was having exercise, the treadmill broke down. It has been only just a few weeks since I bought the treadmill, and now it’s not cooperating with me. I was not pleased with what happened. I think the qualities of products are now going really low. You cannot trust a brand anymore. I decided to call the customer service hotline to get some help. I believed that the treadmill was still under warranty, and I badly need a replacement because I have a workout plan to follow. Customer management outsourcing has been popular for quite some time now. I like the fact companies now put effort to their customer service and make sure that the customers are getting the right kind of service that they need. The contact centre of the treadmill company was very good, and I got the right service that I expected. Soon enough the treadmill was replaced and my problems were solved. Without further ado, I was back to my exercise plan and was enjoying the sweat again.

After a few weeks, I lost 10 pounds! All I did was exercise, eat more vegetables, and sleep on the right time (getting the right number of sweat a day). I have never felt much better about myself.

money prob

During my sister’s financial crisis, her desperate need for cash forced her to sell her collection of bags, shoes, and clothes. While she was doing her small business of selling her stuff, she turned to lending companies in order to sustain her lifestyle and pay her bills. I thought it was a bad idea to borrow money from lending companies because it will take a very long time before the loan can be approved, but there are new strategies nowadays that let customers borrow money like magic. In fairness, my sister was able to sustain, save her belongings, pay her bills, and in the end pay back the loan. I was curious on how the lending works. It can now be amazingly done through the internet or through mobile phones. One of the lending companies my sister turned to was Pound Access. I was wondering on how it worked so I tried it myself just to get the experience. To my surprise, it was very convenient and fast!

I was once on a trip to New York, unfortunately my wallet got stolen. It probably happened while I was walking in the crowd. I did not have any cash and cards on hand. The only things left with me are my baggage and mobile phone. I tried to contact some family and friends for help, but nobody answered. I took a seat at the park and thought very hard on what to do. Then I resorted to loan money from a payday loan firm.

money money money

I remembered how my sister felt when she was in financial problems, and the feeling of not having cash in your hands whenever you needed it was a very ugly feeling. It is a good thing that lending companies have thought about this kind of strategies that really helps their customers and add more to their convenience. Through my mobile phone, I was able to borrow money that will sustain me for days until I get to report my lost cards and wallet. I was also able to check in to a hotel with the money I got from the lending companies.

My sister’s misfortune can sometimes be helpful to me (no offense sis). If it weren’t for her, I would not have any idea about the new strategies of lending companies. I thought I was the one who is supposed to be more updated in business and computers here, but I realized that no one can defeat my sister when it comes to solving financial problems. She would really do anything.

My sister is addicted to shoes. She has a hundreds of pairs stuck in her closet. I don’t why women are attracted too much to shoes. Most of it looked very uncomfortable to wear and at the same time very expensive. I think my sister has some kind of disease that is why she cannot stop the itch of buying shoes whenever she likes it. Aside from shoes, she also collects bags and clothes. These are also flooding her closet, and there is no space left for more, but she still keeps on buying! I kept on telling her not hoard too much stuff, but she did not listen.

One Saturday afternoon, the moment I was waiting for finally arrived. She is having financial problems and wanted me to help her earn money. I don’t have any idea what sideline job I can advice my sister since she got used to working in the fashion industry. I tried to tell her that she can just work for me, but she didn’t want to. She hates the idea that she will be working under me. I understand that this old brat is still having siblings issue.

After thinking for a few minutes, a brilliant idea came into my mind. I told my sister that she should sell her clothes, bags, and shoes.  Most of her items are slightly used, while some have never been even used at all. She was hesitant at first, but she was left without a choice since she was badly in need of money. I told her that I will help her put up a garage sale. But again, the brat did not like the idea. She did not want people to go to her house and touch all her stuff in display. She wanted real buyers who know what they want and what they are looking for. She insisted that her items were limited editions and unique and some people are dying to have it.

for sale!

She tried selling her stuff online, it did well, but she spent too much money on gasoline when traveling to meet up her buyers or shipping the items. She asked for my help again if I can find someone who can help her with appointment setting so that she will cut the expenses on gasoline and at the same time be more environmental friendly. I got her some help from a telemarketing company called Big Green. It gave double advantage because my sister did not have to sell online too much, because Big Green will be the one to find the buyers for her. Sometimes, appointments were not necessary and sales lead generation through telephone calls and shipment of items to the buyers were done also by Big Green.

Soon my sister had a closet filled only with the necessary stuff. She gained back her money, and was happy that she was not in financial crisis anymore. I also think she has learned her lesson well. Hoarding can be a real problem especially to those who do not have the luxury of collecting too much stuff. Most of these items are also depreciating.

My cousin, Joe was planning to put up a restaurant. He finished his culinary course years ago and had some working experience after. Now he wants to use his skills by putting up his own restaurant. He asked for my advice on his business plan. He had enough capital and has been preparing for this for years. So I think he was ready for it. As a cousin and friend, I assisted Joe with his restaurant, but not to the extent that I influenced his decisions.

After a few months, the restaurant was almost ready to open. He was so excited and has been monitoring all the things that were happening. One day, he asked me to do him a favor. He wanted me to help him screen all the applicants. He wanted to screen them himself in his own expense. He really wanted to make sure that his crew will be clear from any criminal record, disease, and other negative things. He had a point, it really is important to screen employees in the right way, especially for the kind of business that he is putting up.

To fulfill my task, I used the power of the internet to find a way on how to screen the 30 potential employees that Joe has chosen. I found a website called fideliasm.com. It is a company that deals with pre employment background check. I was so delighted to see this, because I do not have the time to bring or order these people to go to one place to another in order to have a complete screening. Fideliasm will do everything for the employer, and I thank the heavens for this kind of service.

After a week, the results were in and Joe got to know more about his potential employees. He found out that some were not qualified for a position in his restaurant. Some had health problems, while some had past history of transmitted diseases. Joe did not want to appear that he was discriminating some of his applicants. So he informed the applicants in the right way in order for them to improve, and hopefully get a job next time. The people still thanked him for the screening. They believed that it was a good experience because they found out more about themselves and their capability of getting hired. Though some of them were not hired, the new knowledge that they gained about themselves gave them hope for a better chances of employment next time.

Joe was happy with what I have discovered through the internet. He said that it was really a reliable company. His workers are very efficient and responsible.  Joe’s restaurant is now a big hit. He has a lot of avid customers coming back regularly.

Cash and Coins

There are a lot of times that I get tempted to buy stuff that I don’t really need. This is one of the enemies that our money has. Buying unnecessary things that becomes a liability rather than an asset in the long run. There have been too many time that I told my self that “Just this time” in buying things we do not really need, but then it always happen again. I told my self that there got to be a stop to this, because it does not only lose money but it also creates another appetite for more material things that we don’t really need. So here are some tips that also helped me overcome the great compulsion to spend.

Control your envy – How? Think of what you have rather than what you don’t have. Be more thankful of the things that you have. If you can still use it then you don’t need a new one. Just because you saw a new and larger flat screen plasma TV it doesn’t mean that you have to buy it. If your TV still works then that’s good enough. Envy is very hard to control, it’s better to focus on other stuff rather than concentrating on that plasma TV, that way you save your self a good amount of fortune.

Plan Ahead of Time – Planning is very important; I learned this from my mother. I loved to go with her to the market when I was still a kid, she always has a sheet of paper with her to guide her with her buying. It is something that she does to remind her to stick to the plans. She has some things that she wants to buy too, but that list reminds her of the goods that are still needed in the house. In other sense it can back up your self control and just stick to the plans, especially when you are on a tight budget.

Discipline Your Money – what I really mean by this is discipline your self. This is the most important thing, if you have this then the two above will just follow. But this is the toughest for me, I hope not for you. This is my struggle to have a self discipline even in the foods that I eat. But I must overcome my compulsions for the good of my family and my self, and also to the business.