What does it take to manage your business successfully? Find systematic approaches to managing profitable businesses through best practice articles and discussions.
tag thisCrazy Costume Store
Posted by TruProf on 06/30/09 in Shopping
When my mom and I were trying to find a flapper style dress for her to wear to my 1920s themed wedding, we went into a vintage costume store near my house. Although we found a fantastic dress there, we also had to deal with the shopkeeper — seriously one of the weirdest people I’ve ever met.
The store itself was great. There were costumes in pretty much every size, including plus size costumes, which are normally somewhat difficult to find. Some of the costumes were vintage, while others were modern. There were also hats and even wigs to choose from! It was a large store, which allowed for a pretty fabulous selection.
The shopkeeper, though, was kind of weird. He reminded me of a hippie who had done too many drugs in his youth. He peddled handwritten copies of his book — which he seemed to think were collector’s editions and soon-to-be very valuable — and gave us fake money with his picture on it. I’m also pretty sure he lived in the storage area in the back of the store, where he kept a dumpy little couch.
The dress that we found was absolutely fabulous, but I’ll never go back in there again. Next time I’m looking for something specific like that, I’ll do my shopping online, where I can browse at my convenience and in the comfort of my own home!
Internet: Out with the Old?
Posted by TPS on 06/29/09 in Internet
When you work for an Internet-based business, you need to stay on the cutting edge of everything online. The web just changes so rapidly that if you don’t stay on top of it then you’re not going to succeed in an online business. This doesn’t mean, however, that you have to stop doing what you’ve been doing every time that something new comes along.
For example, a lot of people are starting to replace Pay Per Click advertising with Pay Per Play advertising. Pay Per Click advertising means that you put a banner ad on your website and you get paid each time that people click on the banner ad. Pay Per Play advertising means that you put an audio ad on your website and you get paid when people listen to that audio ad.
These things are similar but different. Pay Per Play advertising is newer. It’s certainly right for some businesses. For example, if you own a Tampa business selling speakers or music then you may find that Tampa Pay Per Play is more successful for you than Tampa Pay Per Click. That’s because your customers are naturally more tuned in to audio ads.
However, you wouldn’t want to give up PPC altogether. You’d want to test the waters of the new web service. You’d still want to use the old web service. When the old one becomes obsolete or isn’t useful anymore, you’d let it go. For now, PPC is still a great thing to use so you would keep on using it. That’s how you stay on top of the web without becoming fickle about it.
What I’d Do If I Retired
Posted by TPS on 06/27/09 in Careers
I recently read an anthology about retirement. It was just short memoir pieces of people reflecting on their retirement experiences. This got me thinking about what I would do if I retired today.
Some of the things on my retirement wish list include:
- Take a Canadian Rockies train ride. I’ve always wanted to do the via rail Canadian Rockies trip but have never had enough time to take that vacation.
- Study random subjects. I feel like I stopped learning new things when I got out of school. That’s not really true but I do miss structured classes. I would take classes in sewing, cooking and foreign languages.
- Get rid of a bunch of junk. I’ve accumulated so much stuff over the years. If I had downtime at home, I’d start clearing out all of that junk.
- Revive the romance in my relationships. I would do more little things for the people that I love. I would make romantic gestures even in my platonic friendships. I would build stronger connections.
Looking at my short list, I see something that should be obvious. I don’t have to wait until retirement to do any of these things. I can find a way to live these dreams now.
Hanging On To Old Habits May Be a Good Thing
Posted by TPS on 06/26/09 in Business
My dad has operated his own home-based business for over thirty years. He still runs it basically the same way that he ran it when he first started it. I always used to think that this was ridiculous. Things have changed a lot since then. However, I’ve recently started to see the benefit of hanging on to those old ways.
I can definitely see ways the new advances in technology might make businesses want to change their practices. For example, a lot of restaurants have decided to rely on GPS instead of delivery maps to find the places that they’re delivering to. Another example is that businesses are now collecting customer demographics information through anonymous online surveys rather than trying to talk to every customer that comes through the door.
So it’s not that I think I was totally wrong about the benefits of updating your business. It’s just that I’ve started to see the value of simplicity. Dad’s business works. It doesn’t make millions of dollars but it makes him happy. Trying to deal with new technology and new processes of working would only frustrate him. Since he owns his business by himself, it’s really not necessary for him to advance in the way that larger businesses have. I’m starting to think that’s okay by me.
Work as a Product Reviewer
Posted by TPS on 06/23/09 in Business
One of the jobs that I’ve done in the past is being a product reviewer. This is someone who gets hired to test out products. The reviewer then gives his or her opinion on those products. This opinion is almost always given in the form of a written review. However, with the increased interest that people have in vlogs and video clips, more and more reviewers may do voice and visual reviews instead of written reviews.
Doing product reviews is a really cool job. You get to test out all different types of products that you might not otherwise have purchased yourself. For example, I once got to test out an echo1 airsoft gun. I had never played airsoft before but I got to learn the game as a result of my job. In fact, I learned a lot of neat stuff from that job.
There’s a downside to working as a product reviewer, of course. For one thing, you don’t make a lot of money. You get a lot of perks and free products but the actual pay tends to be minimal. And another problem is that it’s hard to get these types of jobs. If you can snag one though, this can be a really fun part-time job that brings in a little bit of extra income and a lot of interesting things.