7 Step Consulting

I love coupons

My wife and I are always on the lookout for new ways to save money. The more money we save, the more fun things we get to do … or the more we get to save for retirement or pay down our home mortgage. Some people scoff at using coupons to save money on some necessities like toothpaste, body wash, soap, laundry detergent, shampoo, conditioner, etc.

I’ve heard time and time again from people… they say they only spend 0.01% of their annual or monthly budget on these types of items. I’ve specifically heard “Hey, when you learn how to save 50% on your house or car maintenance, or on energy costs, then I’ll be interested in what you have to say.”

My thoughts on this: a dollar saved is a dollar saved. Am I wrong here? I don’t care if I only buy toothpaste once every two months or shampoo once per month. If I can save money on it then I want to!

Here’s some links to help you save some money this week: Overstock.com $30 instant savings promotional keycode, get your “wife” something at Fredrick’s of Hollywood, get some art for your house, or get a discount on your Netflix subscription.

Page Ranks Updated Again?

I think Google has adjusted some of their page ranks… again. One of my other blogs went up, which is definitely good news! Some others have gone down, but I guess that’s just how it goes.

Anyone else see a bump in PR?

Clean it out

Once upon a time I went shopping with my wife at one of our local malls. I think it was before we were married, so technically I guess she wasn’t my wife just yet. We hit all the typical clothing stores — Express, American Eagle, Victoria’s Secret — and the big department stores at both ends of the mall. Our mall has a Belk’s and a Macy’s at the two ends.

My wife loves to shop. I don’t mind going with her as it gives us some quality time to spend together. She likes it that I like to go with her rather than most husbands that just say “eh, I’ll stay home and watch the game.” Brownie points for me!

Well we made our rounds to all those stores and ended up in Macy’s. Naturally we are in the women’s section, here I am the only guy for miles. My wife found several articles of clothing to try on and we headed over to the dressing room area.

At Macy’s in the sitting area outside of the dressing rooms they have TVs above so that the (mostly) husbands can have something to watch. You’d think they would play ESPN or some sort of sport… you know, since this is primarily for the guys.

But no, not this time. It wasn’t even on something “girly”. It was on an infomercial for a Colon Cleanse product. I just thought to myself, wow, this is definitely making the ladies want to buy some clothing.

The #1 College Football Conference

…is the Southeastern Conference. ‘Nuff said.

Look at the teams — Georgia, Florida, LSU, Auburn, Tennessee… all major contenders and tough opponents. Mississippi State surprised some folks last year, Kentucky was good… there just isn’t a “bad” team in the SEC.

I’d LOVE to work for the SEC, or an SEC team. Someone hook me up!

Upgrade Your Sugar

There are apparently many type of sugar products in this world ranging from raw sugar to really pure sugar to fake sugar like Splenda. As you might expect, all of these go through certain Sugar Mills to process and refine the sugar into what you purchase at the grocery store or high end shop.

We love sugar down south. It goes in everything… sweet tea… cookies… brownies… you name it. Of course you want the cheapest price for the highest quality sugar that you can find.

You folks up north don’t know what you are missing out on with sweet tea. Most northerners say it is just too sweet for them. I think they’re nuts.

Consulting in Sports

Does anyone out there work in consulting with sports? I’d love to get on with a major team be it college or professional. I’d prefer football, but hey, you take what you can get. I’d work for a minor league baseball team if I had to, just to get some experience.

Maybe I should start networking on that end…

Different Marketing

You’re trying to grow your consulting or small business. Your budget is small. Again, you’re just starting out. Every dollar counts. You are boot strapping your business to try and keep overhead down. Every revenue dollar is cherished and quickly utilized to pay the utility bill, employee pay checks, or your suppliers.

Every dollar counts.

In the same vein, every marketing dollar is especially important. First, the fewer dollars you spend, the more you have to do those other things like product development and paying employees.

Secondly, you’re small and can’t just throw money at a problem. You need those few dollars you spend on marketing to generate a lot of revenue — which in turn can generate more marketing. Kind of a cycle.

One way to make sure your marketing dollars have a big impact is to not pay for marketing at all!

Now that seems kind of crazy, you’re not going to be able to run an add in the newspaper for free.

But a viral marketing does just that. If people love your product or service, they can become your marketing force. They generate word of mouth (the best kind of marketing) for your company. That’s awesome. But sometimes it can be hard to do that. You might want to check out Ryan Pitylak and his blog. He’s out there showing you how to go viral.

Baseball

Baseball is one of those funny things. I love to go to the ball park and watch a game just like anyone else. But watching it on TV starts to put me to sleep. Not completely, but it is one of those sports I can just have on in the background and not think anything of it.

I’m watching the Braves vs. Phillies game tonight…

More interior decorating from The Curtain Shop

We’ve talked about wall paper and bar stools in the past. Let’s continue the trend of updating your apartment, condo, or house by finding some high quality window drapes.

The Curtain Shop is an online store to help you get connected with all kinds of new interior decorations… from window drapes, to bedding ensembles, to rods and hardware, to kitchen and bath things.

When shopping online you want to make sure you are getting connected with a high quality shop. One that will not only provide high quality products, but one that will ship them on time, ship them appropriately, and give you great customer service. I always say the litmus test for an online store is how they take returns. The better the return policy, the more likely I am to do business with them.

The Curtain Shop will also do price matching — which you don’t see very often from an online retailer. That speaks to the quality of the shop.

I’m not the guy to talk to about what type of curtains to get — that is more my wife’s deal. Actually that IS my wife’s deal. She’s great with interior decorating. Me, on the other hand, … well, let’s just say if I were in charge it would look like we’re still in a college dorm room.

Bosses

Aren’t bosses hilarious fun?

My boss is bi-polar. Maybe not medically or technically speaking, but he certainly acts like it.

Happy one minute. Pissed the next.

Is your boss like that?