Moving Homes; Need Two Crews

I have been spending the last three months packing and planning the move into our new home and all was going well. Then days before the move people started backing out or offering only a few hours to help with our move. In a normal move this is not generally a problem because if you are like me I always have more help than I actually need. But this time we did something different. We went with what we thought would be a less stressful move. We rented a trailer (U-Move) from AMJ Campbell which I still believe is a great concept at a great price but remember this; you will need two crews to move your home.

The idea was that we would have the trailer dropped off at our present home on early Thursday morning and then take our time loading all day and into the evening if needed. The next morning, Friday, AMJ would pick up the trailer and deliver it to our new home. Then we would have all Friday to unload. Sounds very doable and less stressful than having to load a truck and be out by 1:00 pm and based on my previous experiences, unloading the truck late into night. And there have been many moves over the years as we spent the 80's and 90's buying and selling homes to build equity quicker.

However, in the U-Move scenario not everyone, in fact nobody, could do both days. This meant two crews. As they started dropping like flies, filling the crews up again and doing some juggling to ensure I had an appropriate amount of muscle on each day was a challenge. We did it, we hope, and all that remains to be seen is the move itself.

The U-Move is a great idea, just think more about doing it over a weekend.

Wish me luck and I will be back on my Blog next week.

SEO - Put Yourself In Your Customers Shoes

Too often I see websites that are marketing to their customers in the words that they believe makes sense to the customer. In other words, they are not asking themselves how would the customer ask the question when searching for our product or service. For example;

An Airline Company website promotes Low Fares and what the
customer is searching for on the internet is Cheap Flights. In a one month study I saw at a recent SEO seminar I attended that compared both of these two keyword/phrases, searches done online during September of 2006, Low Fares had 629 searches and Cheap Flights
had over 1,500,000.

I learned the 6 Steps of building a Successful SEO strategy and how to keep from being black listed by the Search Engines. Yes, they have rules and if you break them they will stop crawling you up their pages. The most significant thing to remember is that Google and Yahoo are always changing their algorithms and you need to be on top of these changes to move up to the top of the searches and to stay at the top. Right now, for example, Google is cleaning house of any and all web sites that are nothing more than an Advertising or "Spam" site. The biggest component of your site that moves you up the page rankings is Content, Content, and Content. So make sure your site is loaded with great and lots of content. Down loadable white papers, frequently updated articles, press release and links to blogs are huge.

This was a 2 day seminar so I can't give you everything I learned but what I can tell you is if you are not using an internet marketing professional or consultant who has the latest and up to date SEO information at any given time then you are probably not being found on the internet. Seek professional advice and do it right...'Put Yourself In The Customers Shoes'.

Family Support

If you are considering business ownership ask yourself if this is your dream and everyone else is just along for the ride or, you share your dream with your spouse. If you are single and young you have your life ahead of you and risk is minimized by the attitude that every failure makes us stronger. When you are older and have to support a family, business ownership becomes a greater risk. To minimize this risk you need the support of your spouse.

He or she should be an active partner in the research into your future business opportunity. They don't necessarily have to be a working partner in the business but if you are planning on spending your family nest egg then they need to go into this with their eyes open. In fact, in Canada, if you are applying for a business loan or line of credit for your business your spouse will be expected to get an ILA (Independent legal Advice). This is a form to be completed and signed that she has spoken to her own lawyer who explained the consequences if you fail to meet your debt obligations. This is less frightening if he or she has been involved in the research from the beginning with you and has agreed to this new business in advance of meeting with the lawyer.

The biggest advantage of having your spouse be involved early in your research of a business is that they always see and hear different things than you see and hear. As a result, different questions are asked and of course answered giving you a deeper perspective on your buying decision.

When you both come to the same conclusion and move forward with the business you generally have a great back up and positive support person in your corner making sure you see everything on a frequent basis and can be there to boost your morale and celebrate your victories. Remember that if you both came to the same conclusion this becomes your spouses dream and passion as well, even if it is only to see you happy, successful, and proud for your family.

Family support in business is powerful if it is done correctly.