Most of us already literally have the internet at our fingertips with the use of these fancy mobile enabled phones. We have given so much of our lives over to the internet, and really do have it to thank for the amount of time it saves us. For example, the weekly shop has gone from two hours on a Saturday morning to twenty minutes in front of the computer at 11pm on Thursday evening. My mother is not convinced as she's sure that they'll give you the rotten fruit and dented tins. However despite her personal reservations, shopping online whether it is for food, clothes, or furniture is the chosen option for many. Not only that it can actually save you money as with internet shopping you only seem to buy what you need.

Office supplies should differ in no way, ordering them online takes the stress out of visiting the high street. It also takes much less time, so you don't have to away from your desk, or lose an employee for half the day. You're less likely to forget any essential office supplies if you can take a break, come back to the screen and look over your order again before you finalise. Add the fact that buying online is generally cheaper than buying on the high street and the fact you don't have to struggle on the bus with reams of paper and your surely on to a winner

We all (well most of us) know that the internet makes working (and personal) lives so much easier. So, when ordering your office supplies, it may be an idea to keep in mind things that will make it easy for your workers to access and utilise both the internet and their computer. More efficient use equates to a much more productive workforce. One product that certainly helps to do this is the Internet Keyboard. These keyboards with a difference have been designed to make accessing the internet and your emails even easier. At the touch of a button you can open an email browser or a new email message.

Customers want your products or services. However more than that, they want to know that you are there long after the sale. This means at all phases of the sales process such as following them from lead, to pre-sale and conversion. Too many companies seem to forget their customers once they make the sale. Do this and it can cost you big bucks in the end. This is because businesses forget that retaining a customer is just as important as gaining new business.

CRM software is a powerful tool that will enhance your current methods. With CRM software you can actually track your customers each step of the way. So you'll always know where they are in the sales process. Want to know if a lead has been converted to a sale? No problem! If you want to know what your customers sales history is you can find it easily. This allows you to market new products and services based on prior customer purchase history? No problem! CRM integration allows you to follow the sales process of your team and actually see how well these efforts are paying off.

How many times has a member of your sales team left the office to go visit a customer and left their print out with all your customers details on it on their desk? What happens then? What do they do? With CRM integration, your sales team will have access to any customer's information from any place, safely and securely online. This can actually elevate the sales process because your sales staff can easily have access to all the information they need to insure 100% customer service.

By integrating CRM software with your current software like MYOB, you will have the tools needed to take your business to the next level and get an added advantage above your competition.

In an earlier article entitled Media Monitoring: What It Is. How It Evolved. How It's Done Now, I defined media monitoring, explained how the industry started and evolved, and examined how each form of media monitoring is done at the present time.

So, let's assume your organization has decided to start a media monitoring program....

How do you determine which media to monitor?

One key is to establish in which media your organization appears and how you plan to use the media intelligence resulting from the media clips.

News Monitoring

For most organizations, news monitoring is the core service. Monitoring news can provide insights on what's being said about your organization and its products. It also provides a good yardstick into the success of your media relations program.

News can be segmented for monitoring by geography, language, media type or industry.

Geography and language are the easiest to segment. How do you want to limit or expand your media monitoring geographically -- local (state), national, a selected set of countries or all countries worldwide?

Do you want media clips only in your home language or multiple languages? In the U.S., news is published in over 50 languages. Many publications worldwide publish online articles in multiple languages on the same website.

What media do you want to cover? General news includes daily/weekly newspapers, consumer magazines and news syndication services. If you use an online news monitoring service, general news also includes news portals like Yahoo! News and the websites of national TV and radio networks (CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, NPR) and local broadcast stations.

What industry trade publications do you want to monitor? In most media monitoring services, you can select general business publications and industry trade journals to monitor.

Except for businesses that are local, most organizations monitor all news sources nationally for all mentions about their organization and its brands and services. Many larger organizations only want to clip "important" articles or only one copy of a syndicated article. Some major companies confine media monitoring to major news sources - both consumer and trade.

Organizations with international operations will want to monitor media in the countries in which they operate and in the native languages. Articles in foreign languages can be translated almost instantly using software-mediated translation or, if more accurate translation is required, by translation services or native-language employees.

To monitor "print" news, you can choose a traditional press clipping service or an online news monitoring service. In a subsequent article, I'll examine the features and benefits of each approach. In general, online news monitoring services offer the best news coverage and the best value. With online media monitoring services, major international companies no longer have to contract with local press clipping services in each country.

Part II of this series examines "Print News Monitoring vs. Online News Monitoring."

TV News Monitoring

In spite of the growth of news on the Internet, most people still rely on TV to get the day's news.

In many ways, monitoring TV news is more difficult than monitoring print publications. While print media are now available online, TV newscasts are rarely accessible through the Internet.

For TV news monitoring, broadcast monitoring companies record the closed caption text and the video/audio signals of national TV networks and local TV stations. They then use search software to identify a client's key words in the closed caption text.

Network broadcasts can be monitored from one central location, but local TV newscasts need to be monitored within the geographical area they serve, either over the air or through a cable or satellite service.

If your organization does not appear on TV news very often, there is little or no need to pay for an ongoing broadcast monitoring service. You can order individual clips from a broadcast monitoring company on an ad-hoc basis. Broadcast monitoring companies will themselves alert you that they have found a story about your company or brand.

For major national or international companies, TV news monitoring is as vital as print/online monitoring in order to know what's being said about them on national news and talk programs and in local markets, especially local markets where they operate.

Part III of this series examines "Broadcast Monitoring for TV & Radio News."

Monitoring Radio News & Talk

Radio is even more difficult to monitor than TV. There are far more stations more widely dispersed. There is no closed caption text.

As a result, monitoring news and talk on radio for corporate and brand mentions is problematic. Very few companies continuously monitor radio newscasts - and they provide less than comprehensive coverage (mostly all news and talk stations). As a result, radio news monitoring is largely confined to having recordings done of radio interviews that you know about in advance.

Social Media Monitoring

Social media monitoring is the process of "listening" to what consumers are saying on the Internet. Social media are sometimes referred to as "word of mouth", "consumer discussion", or "user generated content".

The different elements to online social media include blogs, complaint sites, message boards, forums, Usenet news groups, and video sharing sites such as YouTube. Social media also include community sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Linked-In - and the microblog Twitter. Sites that review products like Amazon and computer publications are also important.

Because social media exert significant influence on corporate and brand reputation, most business organizations now recognize the need for and value of monitoring social media.

Since it's impossible to predict where or when important market intelligence will surface in social media — or where it will be repeated, it's best to monitor all elements of social media.

Many companies use in-house staff to monitor social media using online search tools such as Technorati, Google Blogs, BoardReader and the search engines of social communities.

Subscription services for social media monitoring provide more comprehensive coverage, save staff time, and provide many bells & whistles to manage social media clips. Many also include automated measurement of consumer posts.

Part IV of this series "Selecting a Social Media Monitoring Service" offers in-depth analysis what social media to monitor and how best to do it.

Integrated Media Monitoring

Most client organizations currently use separate monitoring services for news, broadcast, and social media, largely because the media monitoring companies created silos by specializing in one of the three services. Now, however, the trend is clearly toward integrated services in which one company provides all three media intelligence services: news, broadcast, and social media.

In order to be able to offer fully integrated media monitoring (online news + broadcast news + social media), the industry is entering into a period of co-opetition. In effect, the companies are cooperating as partners and competing with each other as well. Specialist companies use their own systems to perform one facet of media monitoring - broadcast monitoring, for instance - and then contract the other services from a competitor. They then package the purchased services for resale in their own integrated service under their own brand name.

By way of example, media monitoring organizations and public relations agencies are able to private brand the Omnibus News Service which monitors over 50,0000 online news articles each day as the news monitoring service for their clients.

Are "free" online media monitoring services good enough?

For many small and mid-size organizations, news search engines such as Google News or Yahoo News provide sufficient coverage and features. For user-generated content online, free social media search engines may indeed provide adequate coverage and search features. The free search services, however, can be costly in terms of staff time required to do daily searches.

For any organization with even a modest number of media clips per month, an integrated media monitoring service is more time efficient and may be more cost-effective, considering the cost of staff time.

Once you have decided what you want to cover, you can start contacting and vetting potential vendors.

Subsequent articles on "Print News Monitoring vs. Online News Monitoring", "Broadcast TV and Radio News Monitoring", and "Social Media Monitoring Solutions" examine media monitoring solutions for each major media segment. The articles provides in-depth information on how to sort through the various promotional claims of commercial media monitoring services - and how to decide on the best service to meet your specific needs.

A backed up sewer line can cause major concerns for whomever is living in the premises. The buildup of waste can cause a terribly unpleasant smell and will even cause sickness. The roots protruding from a tree from underground can put cracks in your septic system and drainage pipes. The only way to truly correct the problem and be sure that your plumbing will be back to normal again is by having an experienced professional make sure everything is working properly and will stay that way.

Since tree roots aren't always obvious to the human eye, it will be hard to realize what the true source of your problem is. A skilled professional will be able to diagnose the source of the problem and then take the proper steps to correct it. They have the knowledge and experience to locate the tree roots and provide the drain cleaning services you will need to ensure your plumbing system will be repaired efficiently.

Since tree roots are under the ground, fixing the problem could require some extensive digging. There are new technologies now available, however, that can eliminate some or all of the digging. Power rodding is one method, while hydrojetting is another. Power rodding can remove the roots by the use of an electrical sewer device with rotor blades quickly turning back and forth with heavy duty cables. Hydrojetting uses large volumes of highly pressurized water to eliminate roots and debris from all sewer and drainage lines.

You will be happy to know that there are professional plumbing companies that you can easily check out online. Here you can look over their credentials and the services they provide. They have experts in sewer and drainage cleaning and repair services that can get to the root of your problem, even if the problem is, in fact, a root. Whether you need sewer repair services, have problems with your water heater, or have drain cleaning needs, a technician will be there quickly to resolve your problem. When your septic or drainage pipes are cracked by roots, there is no one better to call than a plumbing pro.

Many business owners plan to die with their boots on. For some, that's because they love what they do. For others, it's because they haven't imagined the next phase of their journey. A future that is different than the present may seem scary or uncertain. They may have lost their ability to dream. Let's try a little exercise to get you dreaming. Let's look into the future. Just imagine: It's five years from now. You're sitting in your favourite chair, in your favourite spot, relaxed and contemplative. You're reflecting on what you've accomplished in the past five years and you are feeling satisfied with the way you've set up the next chapter of your life. Take a deep breath. It's been hard work, but you've made a serious life transition and you're proud of yourself.

What's different? What activities are you now engaged in? If you were to redefine "retirement" as doing only those activities that you like, how would retirement look for you? It probably includes many of the things you're currently doing. It doesn't necessarily mean that you stop working. Lots of entrepreneurs continue to enjoy their work well into their seventies. As you look forward, transitioning your business doesn't mean you have to walk away from what you enjoy.

So, imagine that tomorrow you start to retire: What would you stop doing? There may be activities in your business, which you have always done or that you feel obligated or responsible for, that could be done by someone else or could be dropped entirely. What saps your energy? Many entrepreneurs aren't great people managers. Dealing with performance issues, administering regular employee reviews, or letting people go could all be activities that drain your energy and leave you exhausted. These functions are important and necessary, someone has to do it, but does it have to be you?

We're not suggesting you abdicate your responsibilities, but you might be able to delegate them. Also consider whether there are activities outside of your work that weaken you. The weekly bridge party may have become a chore rather than a treat. You may have lost your passion for serving on a particular board of directors. What have you been telling yourself you "should" do, versus what you like to do? Would there be minor or major consequences for stopping? What would you continue to do? What parts of your life, whether work, hobbies, community or family activities, are fun?

Look for ways to enhance, expand or incorporate more of these into your daily life. What would you like to start doing? What are some of the activities you wish you had more time for? What are the things you've always wanted to do, but haven't yet gotten around to? If you retired tomorrow, what would be on that list? If you haven't done so, make that list now.

It is interesting that many of the entrepreneurs I have interviewed report that after they have sold their businesses they have gone on to start new ones. They seem to be 'serial entrepreneurs' who can't just sit still and retire in the traditional sense of the word. To them, running a new business that they have started from scratch, using all the wisdom and experience they have gained, is a great new challenge. In some cases they are only interested in doing some consulting or coaching with other entrepreneurs, enjoying the flexibility and independence and enabling them to use their hard-earned success to help others.

Transitioning your business is a reflection of transitioning yourself. In order to grow personally, you have to let some things go and accept that some things must end before others begin. The same is true for how you operate your business. To make room for others to grow in your business, you must let go of some of the responsibilities that were yours alone. Begin to focus on what you like to do, are good at and that give you energy. Let go of those obligations that you don't like, aren't good at, or sap your energy. If you start with a vision of what you would really like to be doing, you can begin to retire today.

The three main parts of an air conditioner are the compressor, the condenser and the evaporator. The air conditioner uses Freon, which is a chemical compound that is also used in refrigerators. The Freon enters the compressor as a cool gas, then the compressor, as the name says, compresses the molecules in the Freon together. This in turn causes increased pressure and temperature.

After that, the gas goes into the condenser, which then cools the gas, and turns it into a high-pressure liquid. The liquid then goes into the evaporator through either a tube or an expansion valve. The tube or valve controls the amount of liquid that gets put into the evaporator, and causes the pressure of the liquid to drop, and turn back into a gas. The gas then runs through a set a coils, which helps the gas absorb the heat in your house. This process is repeated again and again until a thermostat shuts the air conditioner off.

Most homes, apartments and condos nowadays have what is called central air conditioning. This system works on the same basic principals as described above. However, unlike a small window unit, the compressor and condenser are located outside of the house, while the evaporator is located inside of the house. The air conditioner is also connected to the ventilation system within the house, so the entire house gets cooled as opposed to one area.

However, if you have central air conditioning, you may have noticed that the temperatures in some rooms differ from others. Often times, the problem will lie within the air conditioning unit itself. It is important to have an HVAC specialist come at least once a year to make sure the unit it running properly, kind of like a yearly physical. You also need to make sure you change the filters in your air conditioner monthly. Not only will changing the filters keep your air conditioner from overworking, but it will also keep the air in your home clean.

You may also wonder what effect a constantly running air conditioner has on the environment. As stated above, if you keep the unit properly maintained, the air conditioner will run more efficiently and you won't have to use it as much. However, there are some other techniques that you can implement to keep your air conditioner from running constantly and help the environment.

If you have ceiling fans, turn them on, and make sure they are on the forward setting so the breeze blows downward. This keeps the air circulating, and will cool a room 6 to 7 degrees. You can also keep your window blinds and curtains closed, which will trap heat between the window and the blind. Your best bet though is to keep the heat from getting in your house. Planting a tree or other large plant in front of windows that get the most direct sunlight will block a lot of the sunlight from entering your house and is also good for the environment.

Aluminium can be a difficult metal to work with, especially for those experienced only in steel welding, and care must be taken to get the best result. Aluminium Fabrication welders are aware that what works for steel may not work for aluminium. There are three areas in particular that need to be addressed:

1. The set-up and associated techniques.

2. Power sources.

3. Three ways to feed the aluminium wire.

As this is a large subject, the set-up will be discussed here, and the other areas will be addressed in a subsequent article.

The Set-up and associated techniques.

The following changes to steel settings and equipment are required:

=> Liner and Wire Guides: a helically wound steel liner is not suitable as it would scratch the soft aluminium wire creating shavings. Use a Teflon or nylon liner and wire guides to reduce friction and eliminate shavings.

=> Drive Rolls: Use a U-shaped groove in the drive rolls to eliminate sharp edges that will shave off the aluminium wire. Reduce the tension on the drive roll to stop the wire from crushing during feeding.

=> Contact Tips: A bigger hole is needed for aluminium than for steel, as the aluminium expands further than steel when heated. Purchase contact tips designed especially for aluminium to prevent poor electrical contact.

=> Brake Tension: Set the brake tension on the wire spindle more loosely than for steel to reduce the force needed to pull the wire off the spool.

=> Gun Cables: Keep the gun as straight as possible to minimize tangling. The column strength of aluminium makes it much more difficult to feed.

The softness of the metal is the most difficult thing that people new to welding aluminium must consider. There is always the possibility of scratching of the soft wire and the creation of shavings which cause other problems to surface, so individual welders who are used to fabrication work must make recommendations for changes in the initial setup stages.
]]> http://constantcontentsource.com/business-general/what-should-i-do-with-these-old-shingles.html http://constantcontentsource.com/business-general/what-should-i-do-with-these-old-shingles.html Tue, 07 Sep 2010 10:11:42 +0100 You have just put new shingles on your roof and now you are stuck with all the old ones. What do you do with them? This is a problem many homeowners face each year. You cannot very well bag them up and set them on the curb for trash pickup. You cannot try to burn them or you would likely end up in the local jail. If there was a landfill nearby and if you had a truck you could take load after load, but that wastes time and gas. What if you could get a container to put all that mess in and have it hauled away after you were finished filling it?

You can! There are companies available known as carting companies that bring the containers to you. Their rolloff container will be rolled off the truck onto the spot you pick in your yard or driveway. The container will typically be yours to fill for about 5 to 7 days. Most companies will allow you to keep them longer if prior arrangements are made. Once you have finished filling it up, they come back, load it on their truck, and take away your old shingles.

Containers come in a variety of sizes with most companies carrying 15 yd, 20 yd, 30 yd, and 40 yd sizes. For an average residential home a 15 yd or 20 yd size container would be sufficient for the pile of old shingles. The dumpsters are generally 3.5 ft high and 8 ft wide, with the length being different for each one. Prices will vary depending on the company, the size of the rolloff container, where you live, and the contents of the container.

You can put roofing materials, house and yard clean-up and construction debris in a rolloff container. You CANNOT put hazardous waste, mattresses, tires, flammables, or medical waste in these dumpsters.

When picking a carting company make sure they are professionals who will work with you. You want a company that works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year. Pick a company that is available on weekends and holidays. If you think about it, and if you are doing the work yourself, weekends or holidays is when you are going to be off work to be able to do the job. So you will need a carting company who will be available to work around your busy schedule.

When you see how efficient a container is for disposing of the pile of shingles, you will find other reasons to rent one. Maybe you need to clean out your attic or basement. A rolloff container will work very nicely for that. For kitchen and bathroom remodels a container will fit the bill. There are so many uses for a rolloff container. The convenience of the company hauling away your trash is just fantastic.

Traditionally training budgets are targeted in a cost reduction programme; however there is still a legal requirement to provide employees with health and Safety training. E-Learning can offer a solution for reducing costs while also providing your employees with interactive and engaging training.

What are the advantages?

This is a powerful tool which offers companies a number of key advantages, with the main advantage being the quality of training offered. E-Learning providers are able to respond quickly to any changes in health and safety legislation and guidance and update courses accordingly.

E-Learning presents content in an appealing, media rich and interactive way. These combined attributes ensure that your employees become fully engaged in the Safety Learning course content and absorb the information presented.

A good course will include a self test at the end of the course as a method of ensuring your employees have fully understood the content. Employees who successfully pass their course(s) can then be given a Certificate of Training as a reward which can be printed off directly from the E-Learning system.

For health and safety training, the reduction of risk employees' face is a vital element. Courses can include a risk checklist, asking your employees questions about the safety risks they face in and around the workplace. This checklist will enable the administrator of the E-Learning system to identify any employees who are at high risk and record details of any measures put in place to reduce this risk.

Once training has been completed, you will need to store training records should you ever get assessed by the Health and Safety Executive. An E-Learning system will hold all training data including courses started, completed and incomplete and results of the self test and risk checklist for each individual employee. This powerful information is accessed by the system administrator and is an audit trail of all training completed through the system.

Let's not forget the cost savings!

By implementing an E-Learning system can save a company up to 80% of their training costs. Although the initial cost the system may appear to be a more expensive alternative, when the costs are broken down, you will see the savings.

An E-Learning system will save costs in a number of key areas. Staff downtime will be reduced as they will not be required to leave their tasks for more than an hour at a time. The flexibility of E-Learning means they can complete their training course(s) at a time and pace that suits their learning style and access training 24/7 via the Internet. They can now choose the most appropriate time to complete their training while having minimal impact on productivity.

This system will also remove the need for travelling to external locations for training sessions. You will save on travel expenses; trainer hire and venue hire costs when using an E-Learning system.

Finally, if you have migrant workers within your company, you may currently need to hire an interpreter for your training sessions. However, by using an E-Learning system that is Multi-Lingual capable, you will no longer need to hire interpreters as employees can train in their own language.

Why do businesses choose to lease rather than to buy? For some it is because they cannot raise the money in any other way, the banks not being as free with money as they used to be. For others, who could raise the cash that way, they chose to go down the leasing route as leasing does not affect their 'bottom line' of credit in the way that a capital loan does.

Others go for leasing as it enables them to reduce their business tax bill in a better way than renting or purchasing (be sure to check with your accountant here if you decide to lease).

There is still another group who prefer to lease as this often includes yearly upgrades, something that can be very useful in fast moving areas like Computers and Information Technology.

The reasons for choosing leasing are therefore plain to see, so it makes sense, if you are a seller of cars, vans, catering equipment or computers to ensure that you can offer any potential customer the ability to acquire what they need using leasing finance.

Why the above may sound simple enough, it is not the sort of thing that is easy to set up with your (friendly?) bank manager. No, you need to talk to the specialists, those finance firms who have the structure and experience to help you help your customers.

In the UK there are quite a few finance houses in this market place, so you do have a few to choose from (always better that way). What you need to look for is a company that is sound and most importantly customer focused and efficient. It must be said that many companies in this area are 'helpful' but this does not make them efficient.

To be efficient in the area of leasing equates to having the right structure and processes in place, the right IT systems. Plus above all, access to funds and a sympathetic attitude to financing businesses (at least as sympathetic as can be expected these days).

So, when deciding which leasing company to offer to your customers, give them all a ring, ask them how long it takes to make a decision (the good ones will be able to get back to you within hours and some even have 'guaranteed' levels of funding, different levels being set for different types of equipment and borrower).

You can also check up on how well they treat their customers by checking the Internet for reviews as well as their websites for testimonials and case studies. Reviews always have to be taken with a bit of a pinch of salt, but some of them are sure to be the truth. To assist here many companies today are even going to the trouble of having their testimonials independently checked (look out for the signs like those offered by verifiedcredible). In the latter cases you can be sure that all is OK and can believe what you read (a rare thing these days!).

Once you have decided on your leasing 'partner' you will be able to offer leasing services for your products, something that could easily result in many more sales, and that can't be a bad thing can it.