Category: Tips

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A Commercial Moment For Girl Scout Cookies

Well it’s that time of year again; Girl Scouts are out and about selling their cookies. I have personal experience with this because my sisters are in the Girl Scouts and they have a goal.

They each want to sell something like 120 boxes of cookies and we only have so many neighbors. I think it’s silly to try to win a prize like what they want. They have both selected a junky little bag with some brushes and a stuffed elephant! That’s a lot of work for a tooky toy.

But, then I learned the true reason why the girls sell the cookies, it turns out that all the money doesn’t just go to the troop. The troop only gets 50 cents per box and the rest goes to the Girl Scout Council to help poor girls that can’t afford to be in Girl Scouts. The money raised from cookies allows them to join and be part of a group and stay active.

My sisters and the rest of the Girl Scouts all work very hard at selling these cookies, and my Mom is pressuring me to buy some to help them out. This isn’t a big deal to me because I love Girl Scout cookies, and I think you do too. So, when a little girl comes to your door asking if you would like to buy some cookies, keep in mind the girls that they help.

Now, to the top selling cookies on the Girl Scout cookie list. (TOP 5)
1.  Thin Mints
2.  Samoas
3.  Do-Si-Dos
4.  Trefoils
5.  Lemons

What is my personal favorite? I love the lemons!

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Keeping Tabs on Your Website Placement

Have you looked lately at your website’s organic placement? The majority of my business comes in from our high listing in the organic search results for the majority of our important keyword phrases. I know this and monitor my own website’s placement at a minimum of once a month.

What I have done is researched the popular search phrases that I want to place on. I have then optimized my source code to organically place for these terms. Once a month I review all the terms and update my placement and the placement of key client’s on my search engine results page.

To make it easy to track my results I made a word document with the term and inserted the Google, Yahoo, and MSN returns page address that shows my placement. When I want to do a review, I click the link in the Word document, use Control+F to open the search box and enter my domain, this allows me to count back up to the top of the page to know my own placement immediately. I then log the placement on the same Word document so I have a running tally of where I am. This allows me to identify if my month’s efforts or last page update made a difference up or down.

After I document my placement, I will typically go and tweak my home page or section home page in an effort to improve my own placement for those specific terms.

If you are not tracking your own website placement you should. You should be using your organic placement as a key metric to identify if what you are doing is working for you. A website that doesn’t work for you is not worth your time and money investment.

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Our Kids – Generation Text and How To Deal With Them

I am reading an excellent book right now called Generation Text Raising Well-Adjusted Kids in an Age of Instant Everything by Dr. Michael Osit. I have to say that I clearly see my 19 year old college student and triplet 11 year olds as being Generation Text kids. This book “speaks” to me on many different levels as I try to be the very best Mom that I can be.

The book is excellent and if you as a parent and have ever had issues with your kids not getting off the computer when you tell them, kids performing under their real capability in school, and issues with kids being too connected to games and cell phones at the expense of real world activities, this is a book that you really must read.

My kids hate that I am reading it as I am using many of the no-nonsense practical tips for parents that so far for me are really working. I don’t review many books in my blog, although I am an avid reader, but this book really stands out as a winner.

Dr. Michael Osit give such insight into Generation Text kids and the issues that we as parents have raising them that you would think that the book was written just for you and your family in mind. One concrete thing that I have done to help my own kids breakout of the Generation Text entitlement mentality is to institute a schedule of daily activities for my younger kids, and to help my older kid with real lessons in time management and a procedure on how to push yourself to performance not mediocrity.

So far the entire family has bought in to these new concepts as a team embracing the change. As a result of the new schedule and better time management, my house has never looked so clean and my kids so happy. In fact, homework and music practice was even done before dinner without a struggle!

If you are like my family and you struggle with kids pushing the limits to game constantly either on Fiesta, video games, or DS Games, the chores never seem to get done – as playtime has taken over work time, or your kids seem to just be surfing through school without understanding that a C is not okay in the grand scheme of things, then this is the book that you have been waiting for.

I have linked the title of the book in this post to Amazon so you can check it out. I am not being paid to review the book nor have an affiliate link tied to the Amazon link – I get nothing for recommending the book to you. I just think that you would strongly benefit from reading it if you have kids from age 10 to 20 years of age.

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2008 iPod Nano Review

The new iPod Nano is a great improvement over the older version of the iPod Nano. I got the Nano for Christmas and I have to say I love it and wanted to share the best new features with you.

  • 8GB memory (smallest size now, was largest size 2 years ago)
  • More durable then the old model (stronger screen and casing doesn’t flex)
  • HD screen
  • Capability to watch movies (not available in old iPod Nano)
  • Screen adjust to how you hold iPod (flips when you hold it sideways)
  • Like all iPods easy to upload music (just plug into computer and iTunes opens and syncs music and videos)

I would definitely suggest the iPod Nano to everyone. If you like music on the go and don’t want to spend $300 for an iPod Touch or Microsoft Zune, then the iPod Nano is the MP3 player for you.

I also have the LG Chocolate cell phone and I used to use that as my MP3 player until I got the iPod Nano. The big reason for the switch is that I was unable to plug my phone into the stereo outlet in my car. I was unable to  play the songs through my stereo while I’m driving.

Also the iPod Nano has an 8GB memory, which is a lot, that’s about 1,200 songs. I was able to put all my music on my new iPod Nano and still had room for videos. I also put 4 videos on it and one of them happens to be a full length movie, and still have room to spare for more songs.

These are all reasons that I wanted the iPod Nano. Over all, I think it was a great switch. Thanks for the Christmas gift Mom and Dad!