Judith's Blog

As you know I am a big advocate of being more efficient. When I started my locksmith Federal Way based business I knew that I had to keep costs low while the business gained popularity, and back then we did it by doing everything ourselves. Now that I work with bellevue locksmiths things are much different. One recent change that I have made in my business is investing in software that can handle calls from customers when the store is closed or when I’m on leave. Having call recording software can help your business operate productively. It lets you monitor employees’ performance and know customer experience. But before you make the purchase, here are some points to attend to.
 
Define what you really need.
 
Before you look for a supplier, have your reasons and objectives clear. If you just want to record calls, a simple system may do. If you also want to keep track of employees’ performance and customers’ experience, a system with special features like analytics may do, but for a higher price. Have the purpose and budget set.
 
Also consider the future. For now, you only want to record calls, but how about in the next five years? Addressing this question will not only make your shopping easier, but also make sure that you are making the right investment.
 
Have things in place.
 
First, be sure that the software is what you need. When it is, start training the persons assigned to it so when the system comes, you will reap the benefits right away. Also prepare the other departments as well before the system arrives. This will make adjustments and transitions smoother and easier.
 
Determine how much you need.
 
Do you need to record all calls or just a portion of it? Put that in mind before choosing a system so you will not overspend or underspend. Also consider the future. You may only need to record 10% of the calls now, but how about in the next five years? This will make sure that you will not upgrade or replace the system more often.
 
Know how easy it is to use.
 
Make sure that the supervisors, managers and the rest of the staff will find the software easy to use. This will save you training time and ensure that they will really use it.

Something that I have been messing around with is whether or not to promote my Twitter account @judymeuli. Should I buy twitter followers or what? Many have opted to buy twitter followers in order to get noticed and impress members of the Twitter community. People who have tried this range from small business owners, models, artists and even porn stars. But are these people getting the results they wanted in the first place? Are there online alternatives to buying twitter followers? Does Twitter even allow this kind of practice? Read on and find out.
 
Against Twitter Rules
 
Gaining popularity in a not so legal way is no poularity at all. Buying followers is not really Twitter’s idea of being ethical. They do not allow this kind of practice and would never agree with how operators who try to sell followers do it the unethical way just to deliver the followers they promised.
 
Online Alternatives
 
Increasing the followers in the right way and ethically would always be the way to go. One of the ways to have more followers is through advertising on Twitter. Solutions in doing this is offered by the site itself. One can promote the profile, tweets and trends. Doing this together with another online alternative, like running a contest can produce tremendous results. Start letting those creative juices flow to get new followers. Launch the contest via the site and make sure to give a clear contest rule and of course the prizes.
 
Another easy altenative that one can do is joining the directories users of Twitter have online. Adding oneself to Tiends, Twellow or WeFollow will definitely generate some followers. Guest blogging can be another alternative to adding more followers to your account. Posting on other blogs can be one easy option compared to running one’s own blog. Linking them to one’s Twitter account will simply allow more people to be an added follower if they happen to like the post.

I recently had to pick up a central heating system for my home and it was quite a hassle, so I decided to blog about it here in hopes it may help others. Centralized air-conditioning units exist to help people stay cold and comfortable during days with unbearable heat such as summer. However, there is a problem with the opposite. What about during days when the cold is unbearable? That is why there is a need for people to have a central heating system. This is to help people stay comfortable and feel like there’s just the regular relaxing climate. How does one pick out a heating a system? Easy, just know the pros and cons of each heating system.
 
One can have the electric furnaces. This option may be expensive for a person, but they present no open flame. Most homes choose electric furnaces mainly because this is their only option. Another option is heat pumps. They are much more cost-efficient compared to electric furnaces, and they are flexible enough to heat different kinds of homes regardless of their size. One kind of heating system is the gas furnaces. Gas furnaces are also cost-efficient and are even environment-friendly. The only downside with gas furnaces is that like any other gases, it, too, is prone to explosion. One can never risk that. Another environment-friendly option would be solar power. Although it is rather costly, if one wishes to save the environment and make due with natural elements, this will make due.
 
With all technological advancements, one clearly has a lot to choose from. The only important thing about choosing a central heating system is to choose what is best for the circumstances surrounding the family, the people that will be benefiting from the heating system and the kind of building that the heating system would be. One should also take note of the risks and safety of the heating system. This would be to avoid accidents and at the same time, enjoy the perks of such system.

Something that I am a big advocate of is hard work. I believe that if you are willing to work hard that you can reach out to your goals and succeed in life. I think we live in a society where people think that they are working hard, but in reality they are really not. If you have a 9-5 job and work Mon-Fri, I’m sorry that is not hard work. To be honest, I think that is rather normal, and borderlines on lazy.
 
If you truly work hard (ie 60+ hrs a week), I believe that you will be able to reach out to your goals and move upwards in society. For example, my son Harvey runs a web design London based company that is only now beginning to take off. I remember there were times where he would work 16 hrs a day for nothing, but he never complained, and he kept trucking on. While other people were enjoying happy hours at the local pub, my son was furiously at work designing websites for clients. This is the true definition of hard work in my opinion, not the standard 9-5.
 
If you understand what truly hard work is I believe there is no limit to where you can go. It is simple logic to reason that if you work harder than everyone else, you will probably get a lot further financially than these people. It actually irritates me when people say they work hard but can’t seem to get ahead, because to be honest I think this really means that you are doing the “bare minimum” and expecting to reap the fruits of labor that much harder working people do.
 
So again if you feel like you are spinning your wheels and not getting anywhere, maybe it is time for you to really reevaluate what you are doing in life and figure out whether or not you are really working as hard as you think. If you don’t have a second job, I am willing to bet that you can actually work a lot harder than you are now, and will eventually get to where you want to go. Good luck and Happy Holidays!

As you know I have been strapped for cash since I have been studying for my advanced cardiac life support certification and had some skin tag removal surgery. The holidays can be a very expensive time of year. Besides all of the gifts that you have to buy your family relatives, there are also all of the dinners and gatherings with friends and family that you will have to account for. Add on top of that the expense of holiday travel and the Christmas season can definitely put a big dent into anybody’s wallet. However with a little bit of wise planning, you too can get through the Christmas season with much greater savings than you ever thought possible. Here are some tips you should try.
 
The first tip that I can give you is regarding holiday travel. I live on the ease coast but most of my relatives are on the west coast, so I know a thing or two about bargain hunting when it comes to travel. My favorite tip would be to name your own price for tickets where you set the price and let airlines fight for your business. I like using priceline for this, however there are many services as well. There are also many sites where you can score great last minute deals on hotels and laterooms if you know where to look, so definitely shop around to be sure that you can get the best deals on your travel.
 
Next when it comes to holiday shopping my favorite word of advice is to look through the mailers that you get in the mail. The holiday season is loaded with sales, and more often than not there will be a sale in your neighborhood that you don’t even know about. So check out the mailers and don’t just throw them away. There are a lot of hidden goodies there so be sure to take a look.
 
And finally when it comes to saving money during the holidays I would say it is very important that you check out online retailers. These days online stores like amazon and ebay can provide you the same products for much cheaper. So if you don’t mind waiting, definitely browse online for your favorite stuff and you just might save yourself a pretty penny!

It is that special time of year again where family and friends gather to share in the important things in life. No matter what is going on in your life at the moment the holidays are great time to think about what is really important to us. For many of us the holidays are the only time that we get to see family so it is important that we do our best to make the most out of this time. I don’t know about you guys, but I have been stuffing myself silly and need to find some magic bodybuilding supplements to get in shape for the next year! I did come across some interesting raspberry ketone reviews so I actually may try to find that magic bullet again! It is easy to forget the love and affection that we have for family in our everyday busy lives, and we need to do our best to celebrate this not only this time of year but throughout the rest of the year. Watching my son practice his basketball drills out in the snow makes me remember that there are more important things in life than work and we need to take the time to really think about it this season.
 
2012 is been a great year for myself however looking forward to the new year I’m very excited. Though I have achieved much this year I feel that there is so much more to go. My photo booth rental business has been doing well, and I look forward to a better year in 2013. I’ve so much more to offer the world and they intend to do so with a bang in 2013. I’m not necessarily talking about New Year’s resolutions, but more about pushing forward with life’s goals.
 
There may things that I still have yet to do, and I hope that this list gets a lot shorter this year. I think too often we forget that there are more important things in life than just work. The work is important, you need to understand that it is a means to an end. And no matter how successful your life the most important part that you must not forget is to be happy. There are many successful people in this world that are not happy. And no matter how rich you are, your life’s worth is only measured and how fulfilled you feel.
 
So going into the new year is important that we define goals that we have both personally and financially. For someone may need more work than the other, however it is important that we understand that both of these are related. You cannot be happy in life if both of these are not in sync with each other. They are not mutually exclusive, and we should not neglect either.
 
So going into the holiday season be sure to think about where you want to go in 2013. No matter how good or bad your was this year, we are about to start new and we should look for to these new beginning. As long as you have your health life is good, and no matter how down at times you may feel, know that you will get through it. Whether you believe in God or not, you need to believe in yourself. So make sure that you believe in yourself and all good things will happen for sure.