Is your fixed income broken? #TBT

This post is from 2 years ago:

Many people my age are retired or are about to retire. It's time to begin living on a fixed income, although I find the term misleading...most of us have lived on a fixed, or nearly fixed, income all of our lives.

When we were kids, many of us got an allowance and in most cases it was fixed. And our parents decided when to pay us and how much. Then we got older and got a job and our employer decided when to pay us and how much. If we were lucky we got paid for OT and got a bonus, but for many of us we didn't get any of that. But there was a limit on how much we could get paid and it was usually fairly consistent from year to year...not enough! And then we retire and now the government or our former employer (if we're lucky enough to get a pension) decide when to pay us and how much. And again it's probably not enough.

There are a couple of ways that you can fix your broken fixed income. You can get a job but you're only getting a little more of the same. If you want a much better way to fix it, start your own home based business. Not only are you able to earn an additional income, maybe a few hundred dollars a month, if that's what you'd like...or much more if you'd rather have that. But it's up to you to decide. The only thing fixed about the income you make is how much work you want to put into it. There are many kinds of businesses you can start from your home but I highly recommend a network marketing business. They're inexpensive to start and the sky really is the limit because you are harnessing the power of other people doing the same thing.

Another way that a home based business can help is that it can also repair your expenses. What? With a home based business you can also write off at least part of your living expenses. I'm not a tax expert, but here are some of the tax deductions you may be eligible for: you may be able to deduct part of your rent or mortgage and your utilities if you have a permanent space for a home office. Part or all of your cell phone and internet access may be deductible even if you don't have a home office.This can add up to quite a few thousand dollars over a year. Do you enjoy eating out? With proper planning you may be able to deduct part of your meals by making them a business meal...you can also include events like concerts or ball games...or a round of golf. How about travel? Would you like the government to reimburse you for your trips to see the grandkids? Or friends? Or just a nice get away to the mountains or a tropical beach? With proper planning you can turn all of those into a business trip!

How about health insurance? Would you like to find out how to get free health insurance? Again, I'm not an expert but there are experts out there...just be sure to find one who understands network marketing.

I can help you get started with a home based network marketing business. Feel free to email me at rick.tompkins@yahoo.com or you can call or text me at (707)685-1382 at anytime...day or night!

And if you'd like to find out about a way to restructure your expenses and boost the effectiveness of your money, without changing the amount you spend...just how you spend it, contact my friend Dennis Beckman at dennis@backinpowerinc.com.

Interesting days

Today - Love Litigating Lawyers Day, We Love Memoirs Day and Trail Mix Day We must really love memoirs by litigating lawyers

September - Pulmonary Fibrosis Awareness Month,Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, Suicide Prevention Month, Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, Sewing Month, Read A New Book Month, Piano Month, Happy Cat Month, Hunger Action Month, Honey Month and Chicken Month

Tomorrow - Ginger Cat Appreciation Day, Bring Your Manners To Work Day, Building and Code Staff Appreciation Day, Letter Writing Day, Emma M Nutt Day, College Colors Day and Lazy Mom's Day

Next Thursday - Superhuman Day, Salami Day, Beer Lover's Day and Buy a Book Day

September 31 - You get a break since there isn't a September 31st

How to Have a Good Day, Every Day

Today's post is based on a podcast from The Art of Manliness:

We’ve all had those days where everything seems to go just right. We set goals for ourselves and we accomplish them. Instead of frittering away our time on YouTube, we’re focused and get work done. Even when we experience setbacks, we’re able to deal with them graciously and effectively. It’s easy to attribute these sorts of days to luck, but my guest today argues that research from behavioral economics and psychology can show us how we can consistently have more of these good days.

I don't know about you, but having more good days sounds like a good thing to me. What are some of the things we can do to have good days?

If you decide to put yourself in a more positive mood, then you suddenly see the world is a more positive place. The research behind this is really robust … Some people know the term “confirmation bias”, others may have heard the term “selective attention”. The upshot for us is incredibly positive because it means that we just have to be a bit more deliberate about how we go into, I don’t know, everything that matters in a day.

You can do this every morning. You can say, “What really matters to me today? What’s my real aim? What attitude do I want to have? What assumptions do I want to have as I go into the day?” knowing that that will shape what you see. If you’ve got a difficult conversation coming up with someone that you think is kind of a jerk, confirmation bias means that your brain will look for evidence that you’re right. You’ll see everything that will be slightly annoying and you might actually miss anything that suggests that the person is trying to be more supportive or conciliatory.

Another way you can make a better day is to reduce the amount of things you have to think about. If our brain is overloaded, we tend to make bad decisions:

You can save your brain effort if you’re trying to remember to do something by deciding on a particular cue. Instead of saying, “Oh, I must exercise today. I really, really must exercise today”, you say, “When I come out from lunch, I will put on my sneakers, whether they’re Nike sneakers or not, and I will go exercise at that point.” By defining a really specific time and a really specific cue, you’re way more likely to allow your brain to remember that this is actually something you want to do.

These when/then’s as I call them or implementation intentions as they’re called by the behavioral scientists just have been shown to increase your chances of achieving your goals by something, like, three hundred percent.

Often, it's difficult to say no to somebody because it usually puts the other person on the defensive. There is a proper way to say no:

The trick then is actually to say no without putting them on the defensive. It’s not hard to do; it’s just quite different to how we normally do it. The trick is to start with the thing that you’re saying yes to. If you start with the thing that you’re saying yes to … First of all, start with something warm and appreciative and “Thank you for your invitation, blah blah blah”. We often forget to do that when we’re stressed about saying no.

Then say, “I’m really excited to tell you about this book that I’ve been working on for the last four years and … I think things are going absolutely fantastically. It’s very intense, blah blah blah blah blah. As a result, I’m having to make” – and this is where the no comes in – “As a result, I’m having to make some quite tough choices about what I do and don’t do with deadlines looming. Regrettably, that means I’m simply going to have to say no to your very kind request.”

There's much more to it, these are just a few of the highlights. Go to the web page and listen to the podcast and begin having more good days!

Interesting days

Today - International Whale Shark Day, Grief Awareness Day, Holistic Pet Day, Toasted Marshmallow Day, Frankenstein Day and Slinky Day

Tomorrow - We Love Memoirs Day, Trail Mix Day and Love Litigating Lawyers Day

Next Wednesday -  Fight Procrastination Day and Read a Book Day

September 30 - Mud Pack Day, International Podcast Day, International Translation Day, Extra Virgin Olive Oil Day, Hot Mulled Cider Day and Save Your Photos Day SendOutCards offers a great way to save your photos. Every account has space for 500 photos. But since many people have more than 500 photos on their phone, you can upgrade to storage for 1,000 photos for a one time fee of $99. Still not enough? You can upgrade to unlimited photo storage for a one time fee of $199. Your digital photos will be safe and with the built in contact manager, you can then add those photos to greeting cards that you can send to your friends and family.
 

Time and money are the only benefits...everything else is just features

This is what Randy Wey said during his talk at the Gold Star Referral Club meeting that I went to a few weeks ago. I'm not sure if it originated with him or not. I didn't receive his contact information, so I haven't been able to talk to him about it.

This ties in with what Casey Eberhart always says: Business owners are only interested in two things...saving time and making money. But this may apply to everyone.

What's the difference between features and benefits? Here's a handy definition from Enchanting Marketing:

Summary: The difference between features vs benefits

1. Features are facts about products or services; they add credibility and substance to your sales pitch
2. Benefits give customers a reason to buy because they explain how your product or service improves their lives
3. To translate features into benefits, answer the question “So what?”

I talked last week about why people don't get what they want out of life...it's usually a lack of time and/or money that stops them.

It's said that people only buy solutions to problems but most problems really boil down to a lack of time or money.

I'll use greeting cards as an example. Two of the main reasons that people don't send greeting cards is because it takes so much time to drive to the card store, browse the card aisles, buy a card, get it home, fill it out and get it in the mail...and the price of the card once they find one. A third reason is that they forget about birthdays or anniversaries...and that's because they didn't take the time to set up some kind of reminder system.

SendOutCards solves these problems by allowing you to send a card from wherever you are, including sitting on the toilet,

24 hours a day, seven days a week for $1.98 per card (or less). And the system will remind you of birthdays and anniversaries!

Even losing weight, eating healthier, buying food...it often comes down to the fact that you shop at places that save you time and/or money.

This is what we need to remember when we're selling our product or service: Features tell, benefits sell.

Interesting days

Today - Individual Rights Day and More Herbs, Less Salt Day

Tomorrow - International Whale Shark Day, Grief Awareness Day, Holistic Pet Day, Toasted Marshmallow Day, Frankenstein Day and Slinky Day

Next Tuesday - Another Look Unlimited Day, World Samosa Day, Be Late For Something Day, International Day of Charity and Cheese Pizza Day

September 29 - World Heart Day, Biscotti Day and Ask A Stupid Question Day Is it just me, or does it seem like every day is Stupid Question Day? Was that a stupid question? Was that? Oh dear!

In case you missed it

In case you missed it, yesterday was the first monthly wrapup...basically all of the Friday Fishwraps from August.

This is still in development. Please take a look at it and let me know what you think. Should I do less of something? More of something? Scrap the entire idea? Let me know.

Interesting days

Today - Cherry Turnover Day, Crackers Over The Keyboard Day, Race Your Mouse Around The Icons Day, Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day, Radio Commercials Day and Bow Tie Day

Tomorrow -  Individual Rights Day and More Herbs, Less Salt Day

Next Monday - Wildlife Day, Newspaper Carrier Day and Macadamia Nut Day

Get some Mrs. Fields Macadamia Nut Cookies from SendOutCards to celebrate!

September 28 - Good Neighbor Day and Drink Beer Day

The monthly musing

I haven't quite decided what I'm going to do with this monthly blog post, but here it is:

The month in review

Week of August 4:

Monday - "Your best investment is in yourself" Why is it important to invest in yourself? "Unlike other investments out there, investing in yourself is never a risk, because it always pays off. "

Tuesday - "Embrace your skeptics" Find out why skeptics are a good thing for your business. "If somebody tells you that they need more information, that's a good sign. Be sure to share your 3rd party tools...videos, 3 way calls, whatever your company provides for you. And when a skeptic does finally sign up, they're likely to be one of your best team members!"

Wednesday - "Thou shalt not divide by zero" Have you ever wondered why dividing by zero is not allowed? "The simple answer is that dividing any number by zero is undefined. But what does that mean? Why is it undefined?"

Thursday - "Life/work balance #TBT" Sometimes being out of balance for a short time is a good thing. "At the end of 90 days check your results. Did you meet your goals? Often you won't but you should at least be closer...if you followed the items on your to-do list or calendar."

Week of August 11:

Monday - "The end of an era" No more "Funday Sunnies" on Sundays. "I'm going to post 6 days a week most weeks except I will do a monthly wrap-up on the last Sunday of the month which will contain links to the 4 (or 5) Friday Fishwraps of the month and what each one contained."

Tuesday - "A Revolution in Real Estate Sales!" All about the SendOutCards Super Saturday event coming up tomorrow. "Jim won't be joining us live since he'll be in the Washington DC area on Saturday, but he's kindly consented to letting us use the video of an event that he did in San Diego."

Wednesday - "Networking the Network" How to use networking groups effectively. "The more value that you add to your network, the more value your network will add to you."

Thursday - "The 7 Secrets to Effective Follow Up - Secret #5 #TBT" Follow up statistics. "So, half the sales people are fighting over the same 2% of the marketplace while only 10% of the sales people are reaching a whopping 90% of the marketplace."

Week of August 18:

Monday - "Save yourself time, energy, and money" You can save money but can you save time? "It's more efficient to be effective with our time. To make the best use of our time. But what does "best use" mean?"

Tuesday - "Happy #RelaxationDay" Some tips on how to relax. "So, sleep in late, have a leisurely breakfast, stretch out in the hammock for an afternoon nap, and just take it easy all day. But if you're not able to do that today, then look at the previous blog posts linked to above and see if you can find a way to fit at least a little relaxation into your day!"

Wednesday - "How to join the 1%" How difficult is it to join the top 1% of network marketers? "I am often asked by distributors, "What does the average distributor earn?" The answer sets them back a bit. "Nothing.""

Thursday - "Extending the life of a greeting card #TBT" What do I mean by extending the life of a greeting card? "No matter how long you keep your cards, or how you preserve them, remember that choosing to send a card is choosing to send love and affection. It’s a simple way to remind those around you that you care and you want them to have proof of that. So make your cards last, and the feelings they bring will last, too."

Week of August 25:

Monday - "Why money can't buy happiness" And what you need instead. "As I wrote about previously, it's much better to have time freedom as opposed to financial freedom."

Tuesday - No blog post

Wednesday - "The how that makes you say wow!" Is there a way to get to the why that makes you cry? "Whether or not you have a why that makes you cry, network marketing can be the how that makes you say wow!"

Thursday - "You have a 93% market share. Now what? #TBT" The key is in the follow up. "Is it possible to have more than a 93% market share?"

Interesting days

Today - Banana Lovers Day, "The Duchess" Who Wasn't Day, International Bat Night, Tug-of-War Day and Pots De Creme Day

Tomorrow - Cherry Turnover Day, Crackers Over The Keyboard Day, Race Your Mouse Around The Icons Day, Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day, Radio Commercials Day and Bow Tie Day

Next Sunday -  Pet Rock Day, Skyscraper Day and Welsh Rarebit Day

September 27 - Morning Show Hosts Day, Tourism Day, Crush a Can Day, Ancestor Appreciation Day and Corned Beef Hash Day

Your weekend guide to interesting days

This week

Sunday - World Mosquito Day and Chocolate Pecan Pie Day

Monday - Spumoni Day, Poet's Day and Older Peoples Day

Tuesday - Eat A Peach Day, Take Your Cat to the Vet Day, Pecan Torte Day and Be An Angel Day

Wednesday - Ride the Wind Day, Cuban Sandwich Day, Sponge Cake Day and Valentino Day

Thursday - Internaut Day, Burger Day, Peach Pie Day, Vesuvius Day, International Strange Music Day, Pluto Demoted Day and Knife Day

Yesterday - Whisky Sour Day, Kiss And Make Up Day and Banana Split Day

Today - WebMistress Day, Cherry Popsicle Day, Dog Day, Franchise Appreciation Day and Women's Equality Day

Next week

Sunday - "The Duchess" Who Wasn't Day, International Bat Night, Tug-of-War Day and Pots De Creme Day

Monday - Race Your Mouse Around The Icons Day, Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day, Radio Commercials Day and Bow Tie Day

Tuesday -  Individual Rights Day and More Herbs, Less Salt Day

Wednesday - International Whale Shark Day, Grief Awareness Day, Holistic Pet Day, Toasted Marshmallow Day, Frankenstein Day and Slinky Day

Thursday - We Love Memoirs Day, Trail Mix Day and Love Litigating Lawyers Day

September - Pulmonary Fibrosis Awareness Month,Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, Suicide Prevention Month, Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, Sewing Month, Read A New Book Month, Piano Month, Happy Cat Month, Hunger Action Month, Honey Month and Chicken Month

Friday - Ginger Cat Appreciation Day, Bring Your Manners To Work Day, Building and Code Staff Appreciation Day, Letter Writing Day, Emma M Nutt Day, College Colors Day and Lazy Mom's Day

Saturday - International Turkey Vulture Day, V-J Day, World Beard Day and Calendar Adjustment Day

Next month

September 20 - Punch Day and Pepperoni Pizza Day

September 21 - Miniature Golf Day, World Alzheimer’s Day, International Day of Peace and World Gratitude Day

September 22 - World Car Free Day, Hug a Vegetarian Day, Business Women's Day, Doodle Day, Ice Cream Cone Day, Elephant Appreciation Day, Hobbit Day, Dear Diary Day and White Chocolate Day

September 23 - Celebrate Bisexuality Day, International Rabbit Day, Checkers Day, Restless Legs Awareness Day and Supernatural Day

September 24 - Punctuation Day and Cherries Jubilee Day

September 25 - Binge Day, World Pharmacists Day, Cooking Day, World Dream Day, Better Breakfast Day, Comic Book Day, German Butterbrot Day, One-Hit Wonder Day, Psychotherapy Day and Family Day

September 26 - Johnny Appleseed Day, Batman Day, Love Note Day and Lumberjack Day

The Frday Fishwrap

All the news that's fit to wrap around a dead fish

The week in review

Monday - "Why money can't buy happiness" And what you need instead. "As I wrote about previously, it's much better to have time freedom as opposed to financial freedom."

Tuesday = No blog post

Wednesday - "The how that makes you say wow!" Is there a way to get to the why that makes you cry? "Whether or not you have a why that makes you cry, network marketing can be the how that makes you say wow!"

Thursday - "You have a 93% market share. Now what? #TBT" The key is in the follow up. "Is it possible to have more than a 93% market share?"

Interesting days

Today - Whisky Sour Day, Kiss And Make Up Day and Banana Split Day

Tomorrow - WebMistress Day, Cherry Popsicle Day, Dog Day, Franchise Appreciation Day and Women's Equality Day

September - Pulmonary Fibrosis Awareness Month,Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, Suicide Prevention Month, Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, Sewing Month, Read A New Book Month, Piano Month, Happy Cat Month, Hunger Action Month, Honey Month and Chicken Month

Next Friday - Ginger Cat Appreciation Day, Bring Your Manners To Work Day, Building and Code Staff Appreciation Day, Letter Writing Day, Emma M Nutt Day, College Colors Day and Lazy Mom's Day

September 25 - Binge Day, World Pharmacists Day, Cooking Day, World Dream Day, Better Breakfast Day, Comic Book Day, German Butterbrot Day, One-Hit Wonder Day, Psychotherapy Day and Family Day

You have a 93% market share. Now what? #TBT

Is it possible to have more than a 93% market share? Read this post from last year to find out!

If you consistently apply the strategy from yesterday's blog post then you should be well on your way to grabbing a huge amount of market share. But now what?

It's important to keep doing what you're doing, not only with your customers but also with the people who went with your competitors.

What does that mean, exactly? It means to keep sending cards after someone becomes your customer. And just as importantly, for the ones who didn't. But why would you want to keep contacting someone after they become your customer? Isn't that just a waste of time and money? Especially if they went with someone else?

Not at all! You went through all the trouble to get those customers and you want to hang on to them. And at some point the customers that you didn't get will probably be up for grabs!

According to this chart, nearly 7 out of 10 people who quit doing business with someone is because of "Perceived indifference". You may love your customers, but if you don't let them know they may think that you don't care.

Let's go back to our hypothetical 100 customers from yesterday. And let's pretend that 93 of those 100 customers are yours. Let's also assume that 10% of the customers, or 10 out of the 100, leave. Of those 10, 7 will leave because of perceived indifference and 3 will leave for one of the other reasons. But, if you're following up with your customers they probably won't leave you which means that the 7 customers will be leaving your competitors. And if you've kept in contact with them, they'll very likely think of you when it's time to move on. And even more so if they ask for referrals...as you'll recall from yesterday since you have the most customers you'll probably get the most referrals.

In a perfect world, most if not all of those 7 customers looking for a new home will come to you. But since this isn't a perfect world you probably won't end up with 100% of the customers...since some may go with friends, some may not like you for some unfathomable reason, or one of many other reasons but you should end up with a substantial market share over time.

So, to wrap this up...please check out the Master Relationship Marketing course for an excellent series of video lessons on how to use follow up to build and maintain your customer base or you can contact me for more information.

Interesting days

Today - Internaut Day, Burger Day, Peach Pie Day, Vesuvius Day, International Strange Music Day, Pluto Demoted Day and Knife Day

Tomorrow - Whisky Sour Day, Kiss And Make Up Day and Banana Split Day

Next Thursday - We Love Memoirs Day, Trail Mix Day and Love Litigating Lawyers Day

September 24 - Punctuation Day and Cherries Jubilee Day

The how that makes you say wow!

The why that makes you cry

If you're in network marketing, you've probably heard that statement before. If not, I've written about it here. It's important to know why you're doing something, whether it's in your personal life, your job or in your business. And if your why is important enough to you...the why that brings tears of joy to your eyes whenever you think about it, you can overcome any obstacle in your way.

Why not?

Perhaps just as important as why is why not? Why aren't you living your why? Why aren't you financially free? Why can't you spend more time with your family? Why aren't you happy?

For most people the why not is either lack of money or lack of time, or more likely both. Let's say that you want an extra $300 per month. There are a few ways to get that much money:

1. You can earn it in interest from savings
   
2. If you work full-time, you can ask your boss for a $2 an hour raise
3. You can get a part time job. A minimum wage job in California will pay you about $300 per month, if you work 7-8 hours a week
4. You can start a home based network marketing business. One advantage that this has over the other choices is that you're allowed to write off many expenses on your taxes!

The first two choices don't offer you any time freedom, although they don't take time away from you. Number 3 takes away a serious amount of time. But number 4 can eventually offer time freedom because you can get paid 24 hours a day, 7 days a week whether you work or not.

Suppose you want $10,000/month? All you need is $2.4 million in the bank, or a $62.50 per hour raise, or work 238 hours per week at a minimum wage job (there are only 168 hours in a week), or start a home based network marketing business. It'll take some time to get to that point, but it is possible. If you're making $10,000 per month, doing little to no work, do you think your why nots will be answered and you can live your whys?

Whether or not you have a why that makes you cry, network marketing can be the how that makes you say wow!

Interesting days

Today - Ride the Wind Day, Cuban Sandwich Day, Sponge Cake Day and Valentino Day

Tomorrow - Internaut Day, Burger Day, Peach Pie Day, Vesuvius Day, International Strange Music Day, Pluto Demoted Day and Knife Day

Next Wednesday - International Whale Shark Day, Grief Awareness Day, Holistic Pet Day, Toasted Marshmallow Day, Frankenstein Day and Slinky Day

September 23 - Celebrate Bisexuality Day, International Rabbit Day, Checkers Day, Restless Legs Awareness Day and Supernatural Day

No blog post today

I'm feeling a bit under the weather, so I'm taking today off and getting some extra sleep. I'll see you tomorrow!

Why money can't buy happiness

They say there are two things that money can't buy: happiness and love.

In this post I'm going to concentrate on happiness.

So, why can't money buy happiness? Doesn't having everything you want make you happy? Often, it's just the opposite...having stuff doesn't make you happy but if you believe it does you may end up buying more stuff to try to make yourself happy which doesn't make you happy, so you buy more stuff and on and on in a vicious cycle.

If money doesn't buy happiness, what does? Time.Time buys happiness. Many of the things that make us happy require time, not money.

Spending money on your kids doesn't make you happy, spending time with them does.

Spending money traveling doesn't make you happy, spending time traveling does.

These are a couple of the why's that make people cry...especially if it's traveling to spend time with family.

I'm sure there are others, but these examples are the ones that popped into my head when I started thinking about this post.

But can money buy you time? If you spend your money properly, it's possible to "buy" time and by extension to buy happiness.

According to an article in The Telegraph:

New research suggests that using money to buy more free time - such as paying for a cleaner or cook to take the daily chores off your hands - does actually improve well-being.

In contrast, spending money on possessions does little to improve happiness.

 

"People who hire a housecleaner or pay the kid next door to mow the lawn might feel like they're being lazy," said study lead author Dr Ashley Whillans, assistant professor at Harvard Business School who carried out the research.

"But our results suggest that buying time has similar benefits for happiness as having more money."

As I wrote about previously, it's much better to have time freedom as opposed to financial freedom. Although having both is even better! I also wrote that if you have to earn money when you're awake, the only time you get to live your life is when you're asleep. You need to reverse that so that you can earn while you're sleeping and live your life when you're awake. And the only way that most people can do that is by way of leveraged, residual income...just the type of income that network marketing provides.

Interesting days

Today - Spumoni Day, Poet's Day and Older Peoples Day

Tomorrow - Eat A Peach Day, Take Your Cat to the Vet Day, Pecan Torte Day and Be An Angel Day

Next Monday - Crackers Over The Keyboard Day, Cherry Turnover Day, Race Your Mouse Around The Icons Day, Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day, Radio Commercials Day and Bow Tie Day

September 21 - Miniature Golf Day, World Alzheimer’s Day, International Day of Peace and World Gratitude Day

Your weekend guide to interesting days

This week

Sunday - International Lefthanders Day and Filet Mignon Day

Monday - Afternoon Tea Week, Creamsicle Day and Social Security Day

Tuesday - Relaxation Day, Lemon Meringue Pie Day, Acadian Day and Check The Chip Day

Wednesday - Ecological Debt Day, Tell A Joke Day, Rum Day, Wave At The Surveillance Cameras Day, World Bratwurst Day, Airborne Day and Rollercoaster Day

Thursday - Vanilla Custard Day, Get Smart About Credit Day, Thrift Shop Day and Black Cat Appreciation Day

Yesterday - Serendipity Day, Pinot Noir Day, Mail Order Catalog Day, Bad Poetry Day and Men's Grooming Day

Today - International Geocaching Day, International Homeless Animals Day, International Orangutan Day, International Bow Day, Break The Monotony Day, Photography Day, Potato Day, World Honey Bee Day, Aviation Day and Humanitarian Day

Next week

Tomorrow - World Mosquito Day and Chocolate Pecan Pie Day

Monday - Spumoni Day, Poet's Day and Older Peoples Day

Tuesday - Eat A Peach Day, Take Your Cat to the Vet Day, Pecan Torte Day and Be An Angel Day

Wednesday - Ride the Wind Day, Cuban Sandwich Day, Sponge Cake Day and Valentino Day

Thursday - Internaut Day, Burger Day, Peach Pie Day, Vesuvius Day, International Strange Music Day, Pluto Demoted Day and Knife Day

Friday - Whisky Sour Day, Kiss And Make Up Day and Banana Split Day

Saturday - WebMistress Day, Cherry Popsicle Day, Dog Day, Franchise Appreciation Day and Women's Equality Day

Next month

September 13 - Kids Take Over The Kitchen Day, Celiac Disease Awareness Day, Fortune Cookie Day, Defy Superstition Day, Programmers' Day, Peanut Day, Roald Dahl Day and Positive Thinking Day

September 14 - Cream Filled Doughnut Day, Eat a Hoagie Day and Gobstopper Day

September 15 - Tradesmen Day, Make A Hat Day, Hug Your Boss Day, Concussion Awareness Day, International Dot Day, Greenpeace Day, International Grenache Day, Double Cheeseburger Day, Felt Hat Day and Cheese Toast Day

September 16 - International Red Panda Day, International Eat An Apple Day, World Ozone Day, Coastal Cleanup Day, International Read An Ebook Day, Stepfamily Day, Collect Rocks Day, Play Doh Day, Working Parents Day, Gymnastics Day and Guacamole Day

September 17 - Monte Cristo Sandwich Day, Locate An Old Friend Day, Wife Appreciation Day, Apple Dumpling Day, International Country Music Day and Constitution Day

September 18 - Cheeseburger Day, Respect Day, Water Monitoring Day, First Love Day and Hug A Greeting Card Writer Day 

September 19 - Butterscotch Pudding Day, Talk Like A Pirate Day and Get Ready Day

The Friday Fishwrap

All the news that's fit to wrap around a dead fish

The week in review

Monday - "Save yourself time, energy, and money" You can save money but can you save time? "It's more efficient to be effective with our time. To make the best use of our time. But what does "best use" mean?"

Tuesday - "Happy #RelaxationDay" Some tips on how to relax. "So, sleep in late, have a leisurely breakfast, stretch out in the hammock for an afternoon nap, and just take it easy all day. But if you're not able to do that today, then look at the previous blog posts linked to above and see if you can find a way to fit at least a little relaxation into your day!"

Wednesday - "How to join the 1%" How difficult is it to join the top 1% of network marketers? "I am often asked by distributors, "What does the average distributor earn?" The answer sets them back a bit. "Nothing.""

Thursday - "Extending the life of a greeting card #TBT" What do I mean by extending the life of a greeting card? "No matter how long you keep your cards, or how you preserve them, remember that choosing to send a card is choosing to send love and affection. It’s a simple way to remind those around you that you care and you want them to have proof of that. So make your cards last, and the feelings they bring will last, too."

Interesting days

Today - Serendipity Day, Pinot Noir Day, Mail Order Catalog Day, Bad Poetry Day and Men's Grooming Day

Tomorrow - International Geocaching Day, International Homeless Animals Day, International Orangutan Day, International Bow Day, Break The Monotony Day, Photography Day, Potato Day, World Honey Bee Day, Aviation Day and Humanitarian Day

Next Friday - Whisky Sour Day, Kiss And Make Up Day and Banana Split Day

September 18 - Cheeseburger Day, Respect Day, Water Monitoring Day, First Love Day and Hug A Greeting Card Writer Day With SendOutCards, everyone can be a greeting card writer!

Extending the life of a greeting card #TBT

This post is from 2 years ago:

Since I'm giving platelets today, I'm re-purposing one of my SendOutCards blog posts. Please sign up for my email list there and you'll receive an email when a new monthly blog is posted.

August 07, 2015

by r_tompkins

Many people love greeting cards because they are physical reminders of thoughtfulness. A simple piece of card stock can tell someone you love them, you wish them well and that you are thinking of them. It’s really amazing what a card can do.

But for most people, keeping cards may not always be practical, so here are a few ways to extend the life of both the cards you send and the cards you receive.

1. Personalize it: The best part about using Sendcere is the ability to personalize your card. You can add your own pictures, create your own design and put in your own words. When a personalized card arrives, it’s not just another greeting card – it’s a handcrafted, individualized greeting for the one you love. When someone receives a personalized card, they will know that it was created for them, and them alone, which makes it extra special.
2. Save your cards to display: Saving your cards in an old box is great for when you remember to pull the box out and look at them. But then you have to remember where you put the box. Use your cards to create fun, meaningful crafts and decorations for your home. The wonderful messages you received will be immortalized, and you’ll have created a unique decoration that reminds you of the love that has been shown to you. Here are a few great crafts you can try with your greeting cards!
3. Scrapbook it: There is no better way to preserve a memory than to scrapbook it. Not only will you preserve the card, but you will also create a document that reminds you of how you felt when you received it and what it means to you. Years from now when you look over that scrapbook, those feelings can be recaptured, and you will feel an even stronger connection to the person who sent you such a sweet message.

No matter how long you keep your cards, or how you preserve them, remember that choosing to send a card is choosing to send love and affection. It’s a simple way to remind those around you that you care and you want them to have proof of that. So make your cards last, and the feelings they bring will last, too.

Unfortunately, Sendcere went away at the beginning of last month.

Interesting days

Today - Vanilla Custard Day, Get Smart About Credit Day, Black Cat Appreciation Day and Thrift Shop Day Take your black cat for a trip to the thrift shop...just don't leave it there!

Tomorrow - Serendipity Day, Pinot Noir Day, Men's Grooming Day, Bad Poetry Day and Mail Order Catalog Day  Do you still get mail order catalogs? Or do you do all of your shopping online now?

Next Thursday - Internaut Day, Burger Day, Peach Pie Day, Vesuvius Day, International Strange Music Day and Pluto Demoted Day But you can't keep a good planet down. Pluto is back to being a full planet again but this whole thing reminds me of the New Coke fiasco! It's also Knife Day I never go anywhere without my Super Tinker

September 17 - Monte Cristo Sandwich Day, Locate An Old Friend Day, Wife Appreciation Day, Apple Dumpling Day, International Country Music Day and Constitution Day

How to join the 1%

According to Networking Times magazine, there were 103 million people involved in network marketing worldwide in 2015, although only about 20 million were from the U.S. Since the population here in the States was about 326 million in 2015, that means that about 1 in 16 Americans were involved in network marketing 2 years ago. I don't have current numbers.

With 2015 global sales at $183 billion dollars and U.S. sales at $36 billion, network marketing is a huge industry!

How much do top earners make?  As of January 2017 the top earner made $2,100,000 per MONTH in 2016. The 200th made $1,440,000 per year...which isn't too bad. Jordan Adler, the top earner in SendOutCards, was number 126 on the list with an annual income of $1,800,000 per year. The median income of those 200 top earners is $2,100,000 per year. But 200 out of 103 million is only about two ten-thousandths of 1%. So, how much does the top 1% make? I don't know. I haven't found any definitive answers...but probably not very much...so it's easy to get into the top 1%.

Here's a perspective by Richard Bliss Brooke on why so many people fail at network marketing:

I am often asked by distributors, "What does the average distributor earn?" The answer sets them back a bit. "Nothing." The average distributor earns nothing, invests virtually nothing, learns nothing, practices nothing, risks nothing, and does nothing … all the while expecting to make it big like the company's video suggested. Network Marketing is not an opportunity for someone of average ambition, average courage, average confidence, or an average work ethic. Malmart is.

Be sure to read Richard's advice on how you can succeed at being in the top 1% (or better)!

Interesting days

Today - Ecological Debt Day, Tell A Joke Day, Rum Day, Wave At The Surveillance Cameras Day, World Bratwurst Day, Airborne Day and Rollercoaster Day

Tomorrow - Vanilla Custard Day, Get Smart About Credit Day, Thrift Shop Day and Black Cat Appreciation Day

Next Wednesday - Ride the Wind Day, Cuban Sandwich Day, Sponge Cake Day and Valentino Day

September 16 - International Red Panda Day, International Eat An Apple Day, World Ozone Day, Coastal Cleanup Day, International Read An Ebook Day, Stepfamily Day, Collect Rocks Day, Play Doh Day, Working Parents Day, Gymnastics Day and Guacamole Day Do you have a favorite guacamole recipe? Share it!

Because there just isn't enough chemistry humor in the world!

Happy #RelaxationDay

Today is a day we can get all behind celebrating!

This post is based on an email I got from Dr. Michael Breus:

In the email, Dr. Breus talks about educating people on National Relaxation Day and he shared these statistics:

According to the survey out by Wakefield research:   

• 49% of Americans are getting less sleep than they need, this is a little less than the 57% that we saw in 2015
• 51% of moms get less sleep than they need, compared to 29% of dads
• 47% of caffeine consuming Americans admit to drinking caffeine at 2pm or later
• 53% of those over 21 report that they have had alcohol within 3 hours of bedtime
• this breaks down to 61% of men and 47% of women surveyed
• 68% of Millennials, 61% of Xers, and only 38% of baby boomers imbibe before bed
• 67% of Americans report that today’s political climate has made it harder for them to relax

He also talks about something called a “Napercise" class in the UK!

I've discussed some ways to relax in previous posts:

• Breathing
• Sleeping 
• Stress

I've kinda gotten away from implementing these but I'm starting to get back into them.

So, sleep in late, have a leisurely breakfast, stretch out in the hammock for an afternoon nap, and just take it easy all day. But if you're not able to do that today, then look at the previous blog posts linked to above and see if you can find a way to fit at least a little relaxation into your day!

Interesting days

Today - Relaxation Day, Lemon Meringue Pie Day, Acadian Day and Check The Chip Day

Tomorrow - Ecological Debt Day, Tell A Joke Day, Rum Day, Wave At The Surveillance Cameras Day, World Bratwurst Day, Airborne Day and Rollercoaster Day

Next Tuesday - Eat A Peach Day, Take Your Cat to the Vet Day, Pecan Torte Day and Be An Angel Day

September 15 - Tradesmen Day, Make A Hat Day, Hug Your Boss Day, Concussion Awareness Day, International Dot Day, Greenpeace Day, International Grenache Day, Double Cheeseburger Day, Felt Hat Day and Cheese Toast Day Sizzler has a countdown timer on their website that's counting down to Free Cheese Toast Day. They also have some contests that you can enter there. Or you can just make your own!