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Reducing Costs

"Sometimes it's not the Money you make but the Money you Save"

 One of truest quotes I've ever come across. Often I used to find myself caught in the rush of always trying to figure out different ways to make money. Meanwhile I was doing little to reduce unnecessary costs.

One day after coming across this quote I sat down and went over multiple monthly expenses both personal and Business. I literally added up to thousands in yearly wasted expenses. This was money I would normally sit around spending hours figuring out how to make that I was pretty much throwing away!

 So take some time out of your hectic day and go over current expenses. I promise you will come across at least one thing that's wasting a couple hundred a year. That's enough for a weekend getaway that you could be wasting, think about it.

 If you work at home or not Energy is one of the easiest things to waste. Look into lighting, cooling, water and air temperature adjustments. It's the little things like this that add up to big things. 

I'll be posting more detailed ways that you can save yourself some money. For my Bulls and Entrepreneurs worry not, I'll be posting plenty of ways to make some money as well. 

The Green Movement is vital to America's future

 I know, I know. Another "Living Green" article.

But before you run away, hear me out. I'm not just talking Green Living here, I'm talking Economics. I'll elaborate...
 We hear every single day how the Economy is simply not coming back. Inflation is going up, wages staying the same or going down. No opportunity, etc. But I think we're not doing the right things, or looking in the right places. This is where the Green Movement comes into play. People need to embrace it because it will save us money and make us money. First, lets talk saving money.

  The cost of living in this country is absurd. It costs an 18 year old kid no less then $750 to live on their own just in rent, yet they're living on 1200 a month. So how do we change this? We reduce costs. The number one culprit is the living space. We need to downsize. If your young, go for a Studio apartment, or 1 bedroom. When I moved out I had an online Business, even thought I was still turning a profit paying for 2 bedrooms (using my office as the 2nd) I was wasting hundreds of dollars a month for space I could use in my room. I realize this setup I'm explaining doesn't exactly sound ideal but remember, beggars can't be choosers. When you're coming up or saving there's sacrifices that need to be made.

 Consider housing alternatives. Have you ever looked into shipping container homes? They're perfect for putting your own individual stamp on the home's style, and they're much cheaper then building the traditional home. As a bonus for mother earth you're using shipping containers that would otherwise sit there and do nothing. It's a win-win for everyone. Think they're ugly? Think again.

Utilities are also a major culprit for wasting money. There's a lot of different ways people save..Lets go over a few. Water can be collected by setting up a water barrel to collect rain water. Usually people setup a gutter system right from the roof into the barrel. I've seen some people use rain water to flush their toilets as well. Energy is probably the trickiest one due to figuring out how to avoid a costly system. You can produce energy via Solar, Biomass Fuels, and plenty but even more costlier ways. If one could figure out how to construct their own solar panels I'd imagine they'd save a significant chunk of change on their system. Solar could be a beautiful thing, if it's more cost effective.

•  Home Living tips have been around for awhile now but here they are in case you needed a few:
• Clean your air ducts. Cooling/Heating is probably the most expensive cost in your electricity. Dirty Ducts will cost you a fortune (believe me, I know)
• Energy efficient Curtains. These really do help with reducing cooling costs in warm places.
• Program your thermostat
• Unplug your unused appliances

Want more Eco Living ideas? Sign up for my newsletter and I'll be posting them along with my other topics regularly.

What does a Brand represent?

I came across this video and thought I'd share. I really liked the way they described what a brand is. Check it out.

                                  
                           




                               

How do you reward your customers?

 
With so much competition in almost every area of Business, you have to be willing to do the things that make your Business stand out. When Marketing it's not just about the clicks, or the number of people that have heard about you. It's about the number of interactions. How many people really checked you out? How many talked to you and came away with a good impression? It's these type of things that will not only get you business but loyal customers as well.

  Lets be honest, any Business owner knows customers can be a picky bunch. So to keep them happy you need to do the deals and customers service that your competition does not. There's plenty of ways to do this, you have to be sure you're not making yourself lose money by providing these deals (something that happens more often then you think) and it has to be the deals that customers want. Some of my customers like extra stock in their orders, others prefer the faster shipping for a better deal, etc. These are just a couple of examples.

 When starting a new Business, meeting new clients or getting out of a slow spell, often I've found offering customers deals to be the most effective way of getting things going. You can advertise the deals on your Social Media page, your Blog, or Email Marketing (a fat email list with the right deal will bring you some serious results)

 Customer Rewards are important for gaining customers loyalty. If you haven't done so yet, give these ideas a try.

Are you putting enough information in your Marketing?

 I came across this article the other day and I thought it made a great point.

Today's consumer and especially millennials are information based. This means no matter your style of Marketing you need to inform your customers with the important details. People want to know what they're spending their money on, how it works, etc. Being vague will get you nowhere.

Why do you think people have always watched the News more than anything else on TV? Because we all want and need information. This is important to know whenever you're selling or marketing something. I remember when one of my first ecommerce websites was going nowhere in terms of sales. Customer feedback eventually told me they could not see the product clearly in pictures and this simple detail cost me a good amount of lost sales.

I've seen this same problem with clients I've worked with as well. This and lack of proper information, an inefficient layout or setup will take a lot of sales away from your business. Nowadays with everyone trying to do their own thing Online you have to stand out in every way possible. You hear all the time about connecting with the consumer. This isn't done from some magical event, it's by telling or showing the consumer the things they want to see.
Information is a valuable thing. Knowing how to use it can be the difference in deciding if you're successful or not.

Is your Strategy Sound through a Volatile Market?

 Right now the Stock Market is just as Warren Buffet described it "like being friends with a bipolar person"
I realize we're seeing levels in the S&P/DOW that we've not seen before, but clearly not everything in the economy is doing well. So far I notice retail/industry lagging behind tech. health care and even transportation. It makes sense as technology takes the lead in our everyday life, as for transportation the airline industry is really the driving force behind its great run.

I've been pointing a lot of my investing lately towards technology and health care to a lesser degree (I tend to stick with the type of stocks I know) Technology is going nowhere and it is a need just as much as transportation is these days. Health care has and always will be a need, add to rising health care costs and it's no wonder the sector is doing so well this year.

 Everyone has their own strategy but have you thought about yours lately? No matter what you know or like the Market and what it wants/needs constantly changes. You need to stay on top of this and educate yourself  about events in the economy as much as possible.