VALENTINE'S DAY!

VALENTINE'S DAY

 "To love and be loved is to feel the sun on both sides"

VALENTINES DAY kind of breaks up the slower winter months.  It is a special time that is fun, colorful and full of suprises.  Some choose Valentines Day for a Wedding--Vegas seems to be a popular, fun and fairly easy wedding destination.  Romance is in the air!

Unique and Memorable Gifts or Suprises are always appreciated.  This year do something that will make the entire neighborhood aware of the Surprise!  Rent a Yard Card or Lawn Display and display your feelings with Yard Display.  Imagine the Smiles!
 

KID's Valentine FUN!

 

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

Marty Miller; Entrepreneur, Business Owner, Writer and Blogger

www.homeandhealthtips.com/     www.theyardcarddirectory.com/

 

Calm During the Holidays

"May your troubles be less, May your blessings be more, and  May nothing but happiness come through your door"  (author unknown)

Well, It is that time of year--where we pull our hair out with so much to do-- working, shopping, cooking, decorating, wrapping, entertaining and always feeling tired--ah, we forgot "resting".

It is difficult this time of year to feel calm and collected, particularly with all that has happened in 2012 with incomprehensible tragedies, shootings, natural disasters and worry for our future generations. Life must go on, so here are a few ideas that hopefully will be helpful.

* Make home-made gifts—they are usually treasured more than store-bought items.
*Plan a special Christmas Craft that you can do with your children or neighbor children.* If you must shop, do it early in the morning or late at night if you have stores that stay open late or all night. (Less people, less lines at check-out)
* Find a charity and make it a family event to take presents, clothes or whatever the charity needs. Take it TO the charity. It is a great teaching tool for children and putstheir life and "needs" instead of "wants" into perspective.* Make Christmas cookies while listening to Christmas music.
* Make lovely calendars using this past years photos--makes great memories!
* Take some Christmas cookies to the neighbors.
* Find some Hallmark Christmas CD's, such as “The Dog Named Christmas” or watch Christmas TV Specials, as a family.
* And most importantly remember the reason for Christmas or Hanukkah. It is to be a peaceful time, not hectic.
* Discuss the importance of caring for and sharing with others during this season.
* Take some time for quiet without TV or cell phones to be together as a family.
* Make Home-made decorations.
* DON'T forget those with December Birthdays!

AND for those of us in business--we must be courteous to our customers, despite our state of mind.Have a Healthy, Happy, Calm Holiday Season!

Marty Miller, Entreprenuer, Business Advisor, Writer    www.homeandhealthtips.com/

SUMMER STRESS or SUCCESS?

SUMMER BUSINESS SUCCESS or STRESS?

“ If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded”
Mayo Angelo on Success
How you THINK can make the difference between being Successful or just Stressed.

Be positive. Think Success, not failure. Do not stay in a negative place either mentally or physically. Let your customers and people around you know what your business or product will do to enhance their life, rather than telling them “about” your business. Customers ultimately care about what your business will “do for them”. See Features and Benefits.  
If you think you can do things to help your business grow, get on it. “Habit is like a soft bed, easy to get into, but hard to get out of”. (anonymous)  Refresh your thinking—set new goals—not huge ones, just little goals. When you reach the little goals, start making bigger goals. Write down your goals each day, maybe even just one. Writing it down really does help—when you succeed in that goal "celebrate" and cross it off of your list.
“Ideas won’t keep; something must be done about them”
Alfred North Whitehead (mathematician, philosopher)

YARD CARD and LAWN DISPLAY BUSINESS

For those of us in the Yard Card and Lawn Display business, summer is a good time for us as the weather is nice, people are happy, the sun is out (usually) and our business brings smiles.

Even if your business has taken a hit in this economy, as most have, don’t stop now, keep doing the things that work well. One of those is being present on the Internet. As has been stressed numerous times, you need your State and important information on your Home Page of your website. If you have not done this—do it now. Then join as many Directories as you can. Put in a few relevant search terms and see which companies and Directories come up on top. Join them—you must spend a little money to make money.
“Don’t pray when it rains if you don’t pray when the sun shines”. Satchel Paige

 Marty Miller   http://www.yardcarddirectory.com/  http://www.lawnexpressions.com/  http://www.homeandhealthtips.com/

COMPETITION and COLLABORATION in BUSINESS

"You can't use up creativity. the more you use the more you have"  Maya Angelou

Competition and Collaboration in the Business World

COMPETITION: (Rivalry, match, contest) Good, healthy competition is great, as it makes us grow and get better at what we do. We need competition to make us stretch ourselves; also it is imperative for the economy and gives the consumer "choices". However if we get stuck on always being competitive, it can be counterproductive. "Remember the banana--when it left the bunch, it got skinned."

Do be courteous about copying others' work or ideas without getting written permission. THERE IS PLENTY OF BUSINESS FOR ALL OF US!

COLLABORATION:  (To work jointly with others) In most businesses, collaborating is very good. You can share ideas, benefit from each other's knowledge, increase the market knowledge of your product and gain more visibility. Many companies worry too much about having other companies in their area. I always liken it to the city corners that have 3-4 gas stations. Who in town has the most business? ---the same type businesses close together, so people have options.


In our particular business of Lawn Greetings; if consumers see a lot of signs or yard card displays out there--it starts to imprint the idea in their minds for future celebrations. If people rarely see yard signs or lawn displays then the concept does not become popular. With several companies in your area that makes each company "work smarter, not harder". We are each advertising for each other with consumer product knowledge just by having people see the idea in a yard. Also our ultimate goal is to service customers wanting this type of celebration recognition in their yard and if we cannot help them out, we can refer them to another company.

If your do your industry's research you will find the most sucfessful areas of the country are those with more than one or two of the same type of industry.

For other Great Business ideas Visit this Great Website.
Visit the Yard Card Directory for your state.  This is a new site of mine to get great ideas on Home, Health, Kids games, crafts and recipe and Fun for Seniors.


"Put your heart, mind, intellect and soul even to your smallest acts.  This is the secret of success."
     Swami Sivanada

Marty Miller, Business Owner for 35 yrs.   http://www.lawnexpressions.com/   www.homeandhealthtips.com/