October 2011

A few months ago I started picking up broken laptops on eBay with the idea of either breaking them for spares or fixing them up. I have sold a couple of fixed laptops now, but with the costs of purchasing from eBay - I have to say I don't think it's going to be an avenue that I will be exploring any further... To be fair though, I have enjoyed fixing the laptops up and restoring their usefulness.
I have done a few tapes in the last month and am promised a whole stack of them next month, but paid posts have been very few and far between. I have bought some stock for cassette conversions so that accounts for the outgoings of £16. I had no 'hits' for affiliates paid out during October, but have had some recently that will be paid out soon I think..
In other news I had £135 back off the taxman for overpayment of tax on a company car - not strictly income, but helped to swell the coffers a little... That little payout added to income from eBay this month is building up into a decent amount. I am possibly looking at about £200 in tape conversions on the horizon at the moment, so if I can find the time to do them, that should help ease the Christmas squeeze on the wallet!

Epson TM-T88V Receipt Printer

Printers have evolved considerably over recent years, and the Epson TM-T88V receipt printer is one of those single-purpose printers that has developed to be used with a range of equipment to the extent that it has USB connection for connection to your laptop or PC.

Since the days of the dot-matrix printer, the printer market has seemingly split into two directions. The home/office printer has developed into a combination printer/scanner/fax, the business market has also developed single-purpose units for printing labels or receipts. These smaller purpose designed units come with specifications that are honed to give excellent results for their specific use.

Discount dental supplies

In recent squeezed economic conditions, some industries are establishing purchasing groups such as the discount dental supplies group which has been established to combine the purchasing power of smaller businesses.
A scheme of this sort allows the smaller players to compete on a more level playing field with the bigger concerns because they can demand the same sort of discount structure. This is a pattern that is likely to be repeated across a wide rage of industries where there are enough smaller local companies willing to cooperate with like-minded brethren in other areas.

Aluminum Briefcases

Christmas Ideas #1
Yes Christmas is fast approaching, and finding useful, exciting and affordable gifts is always a challenge. Some recipients will get cash because it's easier all round, but there some family and friends that I like to get a useful gift for - even if it means spending a little extra, I would rather get something useful than spend a little less and waste the money.

I currently have my eye on an aluminum briefcase which would be ideal for a laptop user needing that extra bit of protection and security. These are surprisingly affordable, and are definitely a step up from the standard soft case. They seem to be on the market with a starting price of under $60 (£50) depending on size and style - some smaller ones are even cheaper than this and could de ideal for a netbook or tablet computer.

I imagine this would be an ideal gift for someone who you know is getting a new laptop/tablet for Christmas, an equally useful gift for the businessman or computer-mad teenager alike..

The end of October approacheth...

As the clocks have gone back, Christmas and wintry weather is on the horizon and a quiet month ends with a bit of a splutter. Thankfully I have had a few cassette to CD conversions to supplement the meagre paid blogging opportunities. I had begun to worry that paid blogging was showing signs of drying up altogether, but there are still a few opps out there if you can be bothered to chase them down.
I have opted for the new Adsense dashboard, but am finding it less than intuitive when it comes to assessing performance. I am sure Adsense performance is going up and down, but am less sure which of the various URL's I use are performing better and which are performing badly.
Many a time I have wished that I had more time to look into these things more deeply, but then if I did, it would probably mean I wasn't doing my day-job properly which, after all is the main means of keeping the wolf from the door...
I managed to find time to put a few eBay auctions on this weekend, and as I still have a few laptops to get rid of, I need to make sure I get a return on the 'investment'.
I hope to post earnings for October soon - watch this space...

ProFlowers flowers direct

If you have a last minute requirement for a gift, then nothing quite says it like flowers... Whether you require a fancy bouquet, a single rose, a bunch of daffs or even a flowering plant ProFlowers flowers direct have everything you require, and it's all just a click away.

The beauty of buying flowers online is that in less than five minutes you can have that awkward gift sorted - all you need to do is select the flowers that you want, enter the address and the payment. Nothing could be simpler, and expert handling and packaging ensures that your gift arrives in pristine shape guaranteed to bring a smile to the face of the lucky recipient.

Blog, Twitter or Facebook?

The world of social media is fast-moving, but which platform serves you best?

In short, each platform has advantages and disadvantages, each platform is suited to different roles.

The blog is still the platform of choice for keeping a public online diary, laying out your home-grown philosophy or making money online.

Twitter is best for fast moving trending, getting the latest gossip, throwing out publicity snippets and generally making yourself look busy

Facebook is truly social media allowing interaction and picture and video-sharing, keeping you in touch with friends whether they be distant or local. Additionally it works well as a tool for creating groups to share information such as for clubs, as well as a form of promoting a business.

Google Plus plans to give FB a run for it's money, but they have a long hill to climb if they plan to replace FB simply because of the high take-up.

All these platforms can (and arguably should) be used for marketing, but how they are used will depend on the type of business you are running. I think it's still true to say A blog is probably the easiest platform to get into, and although Twitter is simple, it is harder to work out how it can be used effectively as a marketing tool. Facebook on the other hand probably provides the best set of tools for marketing and will work especially well if you can get your clients and prospective clients to 'like' your page. This is best achieved either by promoting your Facebook page on your literature, or gathering email addresses so that you can invite people to visit your FB page. There are even professional companies who will create an attractive page for you - but even if you do your own thing, make sure there is something to see for when your clients come calling.

FB also makes a good platform for promoting special offers, promoting a special line of offers exclusively on your Facebook page can build a loyal following.

You may be able to tell that my preference is for Facebook, but it goes without saying that whatever other media you are using, a traditional website with suitable SEO techniques is still a must. Linking up with the right social media platform should be the very next step after you have established your website. Incorporating a Twitter or FB widget into your site can give you seamless and effective dynamic content, and it is this linking of the different platforms that is both the beauty and headache of social media for marketing purposes.

EZ Bloomers

September has just gone, and it is a really expensive month for me as I have three significant birthdays all rolled into one week. Would you believe it is my Mom's, my Wife's and my Dad's birthdays all within a 7-day stretch...?

Now, I was impressed with one gift that came for my wife, a friend who lives quite a long way away sent flowers, and they were so beautifully presented that I got to thinking how sending flowers was the norm in times gone by, but it has been ages since I have actually seen any flowers sent in this way. Yet with the way that the internet is growing as a 'shopping' experience, it is no wonder that companies like EZBloomers.com floral arrangement services are so popular. I think one of the things that internet shopping has done is to bring the price of delivery services down to a manageable level. The knock-on effect of this is that having flowers delivered is not perceived as such an extravagance as it once was, once people realise this is the case, I am sure we will be sending flowers all over the place.

After all having flowers from a real florist is a cut above the droopy offerings that your local gas-station might have on their forecourt... and in fact I am seriously considering sending flowers to my Mom next year, they are the perfect gift for someone who is not easy to buy for, and receiving flowers still gives the recipient the feeling that they are special. I'm not sure that my Dad would thank me for flowers though, so I will still have to think of something suitable for him.

September 2011

Adsense payout and affiliates have shored up an otherwise fairly quiet month. Affiliate payments amounted to £22.50 this month which is very pleasing - with this affiliate, I don't think there is a way of finding out which adverts are being clicked, so I'm not entirely sure where the revenue is coming from - but it is very welcome all the same...

One positive is that I have not spent a cent this month, so it's all profit! Cassette conversions have been very quiet, but I have one just done that will figure in next months takings. Overall, not a bad month, but heavily reliant on a (relatively) large injection of cash from Adsense. £637 profit for the half year so far which is in line with last years income. Hopefully I can build on this to overtake last years figure, but either way - it's all good (as they say)...

Page Rank

Page rankings have been recently reassessed so I was looking for a page rank checking utility on line. Of course, for the paid blogger, page rank can be an important factor. A year or so ago, I was surprised to find that my page rank had come back (The history of my page rank has taken up quite a few posts on this blog..).
I checked my rankings again here: http://www.pagerank.net/pagerank-checker/, and am delighted to find that my PR has now risen to 2... I am sharing this link because most PR checking utilities make you fill in a captcha for every submission - the link above has a captcha, but they allow you to submit 20 URL's in one go - more than enough for me to check all of my domains.
I have not really paid so much attention to PR since Google started punishing all paid bloggers, and still find it ironic that Google doesn't like paid posts, but happily pays us to host Adsense on our sites. However some advertisers will still specify a minimum PR when they are looking for paid posts, so PR still has a value - I refuse to make any concessions to Google's preferences, but if they are happy to award me a ranking, I am happy to take it..

Baby Announcements

Friends over the 'pond' have recently had their second little girl, and we are able to keep up with baby announcements and pictures via the wonders of social media. However, for to closer to home births, traditional cards and physical photographs are still the norm.
The growth of social media as a way of staying in touch has not been at the expense of traditional greetings cards and paraphanalia, except at the very edges of that market.

For instance, there are contacts in social media that you would not normally send a physical card to, so an online greeting is perfectly adequate - however if it were a family member or close friend, you cannot substitute an online birthday greeting for a physical card arriving through the post.

Back to School

Tiredness seems to be the theme of this week.. Last week (the first back at school for kids locally) was a week of new exciting things, this week we seem to have hit a bit of a wall. If you don't have someone at school in your household then you may not be quite on the same wavelength, but I feel like I am ready for another holiday already.

Actually I still have (I think) more than a weeks holiday to take, but I am hoping to save them for sometime closer to Christmas. That's right Christmas is on the horizon and my seven-year-old is already asking how many days to Christmas - to be fair though, she has been doing it fairly regularly since last January...

Collection Agencies

One of the biggest problems for businesses both small and large is 'cash-flow', which is why some companies end up engaging collection agencies to keep their debtors to a minimum. It can be a real struggle to balance the money you have to spend, with the slow rate at which your clients are paying you - one of the best ways is to offer early or prompt payment discounts.
However when companies stubbornly refuse to pay, often they will take the debt more seriously once it gets into the hands of an agent

CURT Hitches

Ever since I 'inherited' the company car I have now, the towing hitch electrics have not worked. To make matters worse the hitch sticks out a mile and has come in for quite a few unscheduled meetings with both moveable and immoveable objects alike.
I have been reading up about curt hitches, and I think I may be on the verge of having the old hitch taken off and a completely new one fitted...

Peer to Peer decline?

'The Man' is clamping down on peer-to-peer it seems. My favourite service for watching sports on the internet has been shut down, and this is making viewing very difficult.

Naturally the major broadcasters want to protect their investment, but before the organisers started exploiting their monopolies, all sports used to be available on TV for everyone to watch.

Some years back it would have been assumed that for instance, any England football match would be broadcast on a free TV channel for all. The modern reality is that more and more matches are limited to pay-per-view services leaving the majority turning to Radio 5 live... or searching for a peer-to-peer broadcaster.

I am inclined to think that eventually broadcasters like Sky Sports will be forced to accommodate the peer-to-peer model as it feeds a considerable market which cannot be ignored. The 'market' is those people that don't want to pay to watch a game, but will tolerate watching adverts and sketchy quality broadcasting. I don't think it will be too long before broadcasters could be considering a low-quality alternative to pay-per-view HD broadcasts during which viewers must endure a couple of adverts. Offering a viable alternative is a much better solution rather than bullying free service providers operating outside the confines of the broadcasters franchise.

Instead of trying to close the peer-to-peer sites down, I think the Rupert Murdoch's of this world should adopt the maxim: 'If you can't beat them, join them' and just provide a better service.

Air Ambulance

Hopefully you won't need an air ambulance service on your next holiday, but wouldn't it be a good idea to sign up with an insurance service that has these facilities available just in case?

If you get ill abroad, or even at home, it costs an incredible amount of money to airlift a casualty, and whilst no-one expects to need this type of facility, how reassuring it would be to know that you have that type of backup behind you.

Everlon Collection

September is often an expensive month for me as I have three family birthdays including both parents and my wife in the space of seven days.

Normally I would not really consider jewellery as an option other than for a very special present (like a significant birthday), but the everlon diamond collection from 'Reeds' represents great value for money as they are heavily discounted, often as much as about 35-40%.

Getting the priorities right

As we approach the anniversary of 9/11, we are reminded (or should be) that life is not all about what we can 'make' for ourselves, but much more about the connections we make with others through our lifetime. I don't know anyone who lost a friend or relative in the tragedy, but I do know people who were in New York at the time, and I recall distinctly first seeing the horrific images on the TV screen with growing incredulity that this could possibly be happening.
Unlike a natural disaster like the awful Tsunami and subsequent flooding, this disaster was deliberate and intended which is why it is all the more horrific.
In our current economic climate it is even more imperative that we all look beyond our short term well-being, and work towards a future that is politically and economically secure for the generations to come. It's all about engaging with society even if you don't agree with everyone, we can agree that we all want to make the future more secure, and go from there. The recent riots in the UK (actually there were similar events in other European cities), are about the opposite, promoting anarchy and disengagement with the established society.

Whilst revolution may be on some folk's minds, you only have to look at the recently blood spilled in Libya, Syria, Egypt and similar regions to know that revolution should be a last resort in a region where torture and murder of citizens occurs on a daily basis. For these people revolution was a self-defence mechanism, not an opportunity to grab an Xbox game from a broken shop window.

August 2011

Being away at the end of the month has delayed my monthly income report, and to be fair, since I was on vacation, I have not even been thinking much about what my earnings for August might have been.

Altogether, it has not been my busiest month on all fronts, nonetheless, earnings have continued to come in.. a modest £79 is still a welcome addition to the coffers. This month has seen a small return on some of my expenditure on faulty laptops, but for the moment, I am not including these figures in my 'earnings' report. I think it may turn a small profit, but on the whole, I don't think there are vast amounts to be made from this venture, yet I am glad that I gave it a go.

This month, I have reached (yet to be paid) another payout for Adsense which is always a welcome landmark, I have done a few tape to CD conversions and a few paid postings, for some of which I will have to wait a month for payment. I have been assessing the effectiveness of affiliates and am pleased to find that I am getting great results from one of my affiliates and am expecting to be able to report more earnings next month - not massive earnings as yet, but this may be an affiliate that might be worth spending a bit more time and effort on. Ultimately affiliates are the perfect goal as they are true passive earnings once they are set up. However you can never really leave this type of project completely alone, traffic does not usually arrive of it's own accord.

Door Steppers - Part two

Part two of my rant against doorstepping companies using shady tactics to get a sale - these are my 'scripts' that you can use to throw the salesperson off balance..

knock knock...
Salesperson: Hi there, I won't take a moment of your time, I am just calling to see if you got your grant?
Me: I see - what is your name please (take badge, write down name and company - this has already halted the script and put you in charge of asking the next question - use as many from the list below as you think appropriate...)

• Does (energy company) think they have sent me a grant? (pen poised for writing any response down...)



• Does (energy company) approve of your technique of implying that I should have had a grant when it is clear that they should be fully aware that a grant has not been sent?
  


• So you are asking me if I have received a grant, when you have no way of knowing that I would qualify for it - Do you know what mis-selling is?
  


• Do you think (energy company) know that you are using a mis-leading technique to sell their products



• Do you understand that some people might be mis-led by your implication that they should be receiving a grant?

I am sure after you have fired a couple of these questions out, your visitor will not stay too long on your doorstep - you could even follow it up by following your hapless visitor down the street to see how they get on with your neighbours - you could offer suggestions like 'it's all made up', 'There's not actually a grant, 'It's all a bit of a con..' stuff like that. If this seems a little harsh, the reason I think this type of response is justified, is that vulnerable people will be mis-led into parting with their cash - nobody is ever going to sell anything to me on the doorstep - it's the elderly and those who are too trusting that we need to protect from this type of approach.

Hopefully other companies will follow the example set by British Gas, that's not to say that I think BG is being particularly honourable about this, I just think they've been found out and have consequently changed their tactics.

Chrysler accessories

With the launch of a new product, Chrysler are strengthening their brand in the UK. The Chrysler looks like a strong contender in the automobile market worldwide. Building a stronger brand means higher tempo production to keep up with demand and a growing support network to keep your customers supplied with servicing and spares. After all, you won't be able to pick up chrysler rubber mats at Halfords or any other spares store, if the parts and accessories are going to be in demand, Chrysler dealers will need to be represented nationwide.

Door Steppers - Part one

A few weeks back British Gas took notice of public opinion and vowed to stop cold-calling people on their doorstep. Whilst a personal call might be deemed beneficial in these cases, the nature of the sales pitch has proved to be little more than a con where near-lies are used to persuade the hapless victim to change energy suppliers - and in many cases finding themselves financially worse off despite a persuasive argument from the doorstep salesperson that they would undoubtedly save money...
It is sickening that big companies such as energy companies would stoop to such tactics, but at least British Gas have called a halt - the others however have not! I have been door-stepped twice this week and am frankly appalled by the 'con' approach that has been tried. In both cases the salesperson had the barefaced cheek to ask if I had received either my 'rebate' or my 'grant' when in both cases they were fully aware that I had not (and would not) be receiving anything of the sort.. They assume that starting the conversation in this way will engage me in a discussion to find out exactly how this grant/rebate might be obtained - in my case they were wrong!
The next time I will try to ascertain if this 'script' is approved by the company who sent them - or if it is a little 'con' that the salesperson has concocted - I shall start by getting thier name and company details, this will be followed up by communication to the said company to find out exactly where the story of a grant or rebate comes from - If there is actually money due to me, then I will pursue it through the proper channels where I am in charge of the enquiry, not via a grubby con artist who turns up on my doorstep.
I would urge everyone I can to do the same - never sign for anything on the doorstep - try asking for actual prices per KWh (kilowatt hour) from the electric company rep on your doorstep - 99% sure they won't be able to tell you - how is it then that they are so sure that they can save you money? It all in the statistics about average savings, but there is no guarantee that you are the average customer, and it could well be that your household will be worse off.
There is one simple trick to getting rid of the salesperson on your doorstep - when you get the knock at the door (assuming you are not expecting someone) you must already have the words 'no thank you I am not interested' on the tip of your tongue. Let them introduce themselves, then trot out your line and look them in the eye - they will hesitate for a second (not expecting an interruption to their script quite so early), start to close the door - and they are gone... For a more advanced rebuff, see my later post..

Quiet August

Although we are not really finished with August, this one has felt like a holiday month from a blogging perspective, not many paid opps, so not much blogging.
I have had a few opps from Blogsvertise recently, but I have to wait a month to get paid. There has been a few tapes (cassette to CD conversions) to do, so income has been steady.
I checked my results for last August, but there were plently of blogging opps then, so I don't think it's a seasonal thing. Whether the general economic climate is taking it's toll, is difficult to say, but low-cost advertising would probably remain attractive in a down-turn, so I don't think it has had a tremendous effect.

I have been able to get a new site started this month, and I have an idea for yet another site to follow when I have a little time to set it up. My latest mini-site is a Wordpress effort geared towards bringing together resources for building and hosting a website for free - yes it can be done!
If you are interested, you can visit the free webs site here - it's in early stages at the moment, I hope to get more resources added regularly. I am enjoying this first 'proper' journey into WP, and hope I get my head around it enough to knock out a few more... If September continues to be quiet, you can be sure I will have at least one more site up and running, especially now I have established that I can do it for free..

Online Dating

The rise of online dating is symptomatic of changes in society. Changes brought about by the internet itself of course, but also by technological developments which reduce face to face interaction in day-to-day life (automated tellers, non-attended checkouts at supermarkets etc..).

There are plenty of online dating agencies, but few of them actually offer free online dating. According to TV adverts I have seen, a good proportion of couples actually getting married, originally met on online dating sites. Hence the idea that online dating a last resort for aging singles is actually eroding quite rapidly.

Using social media

I have started using social media with a couple of websites just to see how they can be utilised effectively. My findings are thus:

I like Facebook as a feedback platform and have used it to link with two of my sites, my new cassette conversion site (you can see the FB page here..) and a home made cake site (you can see the FB page here..). I like the idea that you can interact with customers in this way, and hope that ultimately each of these pages will build up a lot of 'likes' - that way each update reaches loads of people directly on their facebook page.
I cannot say the same for Twitter, although I think using the RSS feed is a useful tool - to be really effective, you have to be a bit of a habitual twitterer (and I am not). I tend to do promotional stuff in 'fits and starts' (I wonder about the origin of that phrase?) by which I mean I will leave it months then devote a few hours to it, and then leave it for months again. You can certainly use Twitter in this way, but if you are displaying the RSS feed somewhere on your site (which is my preferred method of utilising it), It becomes obvious that there are large gaps between tweets - which may make the site look 'unattended'.

So, I am still not really 'into' Twitter as I have not experienced it actually doing anything for me, it has not bought me clients, although one of my Twitter accounts managed to pick up followers - with my sporadic tweeting, they are hardly likely to pay much attention. I must admit that one of the reasons for integrating these social sites into semi-commercial websites, was just so it would look good - as if linking with social media somehow in itself, endorses the site. I still happen to think that this is the case, much of this type of marketing is all about creating an impression. If Twitter and Facebook actually bring in customers, then that is just a bonus.

Pegboards

Point of sale material, displays and Pegboard are essential items for those considering opening or upgrading a high street store. Admittedly high street stores are not a growth area in the current economic climate, so it is important that a store makes the best use of the square footage available.
Some goods will always be sold in this way, convenience and snack foods, newspapers etc.. whereas many of the traditional retailers can be replaced by online shopping.
I was in retail for the first twelve years of my working life and would add that whilst good products sell themselves, good displays help to get the customer into the premises in the first place.

Coupons

Those looking to save a bit of money on their goods are already clued into using coupons for discounted purchasing. Every consumer would do well to look into websites that have a myriad a deals on offer, usually involving decent discounts off goods that you are already planning to purchase anyway.
Whether it be your regular shopping or if you are looking for a special gift for someone, it makes sense to check out the discounts you can get - they are already there waiting all you have to do is claim them....

The future of blogging

With the huge take-up of social media, by which I really mean.. Facebook, the future of blogging is under threat. Never mind linking blogs, Facebook and twitter together via RSS feeds and the like, certainly some 'goals' of blogging are achieved far more effectively via Facebook alone.
The concept of regular updates to keep others informed of your activities, or of sharing your photos online is far more effectively done via FB than via blogger or even the hippest Wordpress themed blog.
So is it all over for blogger?
To certain target groups, blogging is now a non-starter - an individual considering a platform for keeping friends informed of activities a few years ago, may have considered blogging as an option. Currently, Facebook would surely be the 'no-brainer' option... So where does that leave the humble blog? The blog is now possibly the tool of 'the campaigner' rather than the individual, the choice of someone who thinks they have a philosophy worth expounding. Blogs as corporate promotional tools still exist, but in most cases, there will also be a corresponding Facebook page too. Even 'paid to' bloggers are now encouraged to 'like' a clients FB page as well as write a promotional blog post.
The internet however, has many layers and the blog still has it's place as a promotional tool, and for bloggers, the rising popularity of facebook keeps the blogosphere less cluttered with half-started blogs, and narrows the competition when it comes to vying for paid postings. I said in a recent post, that two years counts as an 'era' on the internet such is the speed of change - the blog is not dead, but bloggers would be wise to embrace other communication tools.

July 2011

I had a lot of tapes to convert this month, unfortunately most of them were from one client, so I had to give a good discount. Nevertheless, this was a huge contribution to this months earnings which would have been very mediocre otherwise. Paid posts are few and far between at the moment, but sometimes you get a lull, then before you know it, there are suddenly a stack of assignments - maybe next month??
I have been trying my hand at trading laptops on eBay, have certainly spent some money - now need to get some back... (I have an ever increasing 'stock' of spare laptops at the moment...). One affiliate that keeps paying and paying is my '1and1' affiliate program - this accounted for another £22.50 this month, that's the best month so far - a total of £42.50 since April. As it pays straight onto my credit card account, I usually don't even realise until my credit card statement comes in. It's handy because most of my eBay purchases end up on my credit card, because my Paypal is a bit skint at the moment with the lack of paid postings...
Onwards and upwards... a good month behind me, a good month ahead if I can sell a couple of laptops - although I am not including this trading in my earnings here until I am a bit clearer on whether it will turn into a long term project...

RedEnvelope Coupons

The Munny4Hunny blog is all about making money and saving money, frugal living has been second nature for this blogger for about five or six years now.
Of course, most people are fully aware that there are lots of bargains and deals available via the internet, and my latest discovery has been redenvelope coupons. Red envelope has a huge array of deals and is especially good at locating gifts for those 'awkward-to-buy-for' people...
Whether you need a set of monogrammed golf clubs or a TV remote with built-in bottle opener(!), Red Envelope very probably has the perfect gift...

Coogi

Once priced to match the tastes of the 'bling' crowd, coogi clothing is now within reach of the average shopper who holds a desire to emulate their heroes through the brands that they wear.
This unique Australian urban chic clothing brand has styles for men and women ranging from jeans to jump-suits, boots to bags, high street to hoodies... Originally famed for it's high-profile (and highly-priced) knit-wear, Coogi is probably now more likely to be found on jeans and T-shirts, although the new owners have retained knit-wear in the latest ranges.

The development of blogging

It always amazes me that when typing in a blog post using the blogger dashboard, my browser spell-check settings always query the word 'blog' - it is not in the spell-check dictionary, yet blogs or weblogs have been around long enough for everyone to have heard of them (even if they don't appreciate or understand them).

Initially blogs were like online 'dear diary' entries - only really of interest if well-written, entertaining or informative in some way. I doubt that, at the beginning, it was possible to chart the success of the weblog.

A few years ago blogs became very popular, still used as an online diary, many companies began to see how well-regarded blogs were by search engines, so company-related blogs popped up everywhere. People began to see the earnings potential of blogs as advertising tools, hence the rise of paid to blog, and it's subsequent crash as the market got overloaded and Google got wise...

Now almost every online enterprise is accompanied with a blog - not JUST to 'game' Google results but more in line with it's original purpose, the blog is used to provide a commentary on current events in relation to that particular enterprise.

Modern blogging consists mainly of a hard-core of online diarists, online enterprise information portals and a core of paid-to-bloggers. There are still trash blogs out there as many 'get rich quick' like to use a free website to promote themselves, and others that cram a blog full of paid posts. In the main, however the rewards of paid to blog are more conservative and the market is a bit more intelligent insisting on good quality, and offering less incentive. Those that have ridden the storm have ended up being able to retain some sustainable income, in some cases maybe even making a living, although many have 'progressed' to other income streams.

In the modern era (an 'era' in internet terms is about two years!), most internet newcomers would now start with Facebook or Twitter rather than a blog, and of course there is little direct earning potential with these particular modes of communication. The blog still has it's place and now is firmly ranked alongside the giants of FB and Twitter as a must-have promotional tool - the main difference is that the latter two are brand-names and although blogger is still probably the leading blogging platform since it is easy and free (and belongs to Google), there are at least other prominent blogging tools allowing something of a free market.

Barcode scanners

The bane of every business that carries stock of any type is ...stock-taking! I have worked in retail for much of my early working life, and stock-taking was considered a particularly unpleasant task. Of course stock-taking is not limited to the retail trade, most businesses carry stock of some description.

We all know that barcodes are nothing new and have been around for decades, but in the past their use has been limited to use by larger companies. With software and hardware now being available for a fraction of the price, there is no reason why even the smallest company cannot take advantage of barcode scanner technology to speed up stock control as well as recording sales and returns etc..

Goggles!

Whether you are into your scuba-diving or more comfortable on the piste... the latest goggles are no longer just goggles. The newest range of goggles have built-in cameras to capture your every move under water or on the ski-slope. Anything from about 3MP up to about a 8MP camera can be fitted into goggles so you can share your sporting experiences online or with friends just by wearing a pair of these specially adapted helmet goggles. In general these come with about 1 or two hours of (HD) recording ability, and with rechargeable batteries - now you can share your next vacation adventure with everyone...

Earnings June 2011

At first glance, June looks like a bad month, but when you look closer you can see I have bought some stuff! Without the expenditure, I would have reported a more respectable £113. The first purchase was a domain renewal, but the major purchase was a laptop. It was an eBay purchase and I got it for under £50 (excluding delivery). It has prompted me to think about possibly selling laptop parts on eBay, but I may post about that another time. In the meantime, I am very happy with my new purchase. I plan to move all my website building stuff onto the laptop as it is not really going to be suitable for the cassette to CD conversions that I do. I had some other audio work to do which accounts for the 'other' £25 earned this month. This was the poorest month for blog posts that I have had for a long time, so I am hoping that this will pick up in subsequent months.

Slimming pills

Should you be one of those who are prepared to buy your slimming pills on the internet, or even use the internet to research the effectiveness of medications etc., you should also seek the advice of a qualified medical practitioner before coming to any conclusions.

True, there are plenty of online vendors, there is also plenty of online advice, but there are a few rules that you should adhere to when it comes to online medication:
Check out who owns the site that you are looking at

Check out if the site has proper accreditation from a medical body

Be aware of sites that are trying to pass themselves off as something they are not

Above all, get some independent and qualified medical advice to ensure that the medication is suitable specifically for your personal medical history. Additionally be aware that slimming medication is only a short-term aid to weight-loss, you can't take it for ever...

Medical Carts

Innovative design and specialist knowledge is a key to businesses surviving the current financial crisis. But there is far more to good business than being able to produce a product, marketing can make the difference between failure and success. That is not to say that good marketing is a substitute for good design, but certainly a combination of a good product and good marketing is a winning formula.

Take the Howard Medical medical computer carts for example (pictured here) - the visual impact of a well-designed piece of equipment makes the marketing relatively. If the prospective purchaser likes what they see, half the job of persuading them to buy is completed. A few well-chosen words and the right price.. hey presto! you have just sold a medical cart...

Slow month for blogging

I seem to have my focus elsewhere this month - there has been little blogging needing to be done, but thankfully, some other revenue streams have been a bit more active. This is just as well as I went a bit mad and bought myself my first ever laptop this month off eBay. I got a bargain at just under £50 plus delivery. The battery was duff, but I bought a broken laptop for £5, and that had a good battery - also a good DVD drive and hopefully other components that I may be able to re-sell. I may try my hand at laptop salvage for a while in case it may be a worthwhile income stream - bit of a gamble though buying broken stuff in the hope that something is salvageable...

Naturally, I will 'charge' the laptop to my online earnings as it is definitely a tool of the trade... mostly I intend to use it for doing website building. I also bought my first wireless router (not exactly a first-adopter) so the two are working well as a team.

Fortunately, I have had a few tapes to convert this month so I think the cost of the laptop will be covered - would really like to have another bumper crop of paid blog posts so I can invest in more broken laptops!

I recently bought a new domain for my cassette to CD conversions and have a spanking new web design up and running - for the time being I will run two sites promoting the same business. I am also linking the sites into facebook and twitter too - I am going to have to spend a little time encouraging people to 'like' my page - but I also want to revamp the old site to bring it up to a similar design standard. I will need to work out a long-term plan that makes use of the traffic that the old site gets and also encourages visitors to the newer site.

Still juggling too many ideas at once, but feel a bit more determined to see some plans through at the moment, so am going to make the most of this mood...

Garden Trimmers...

I managed to find a break in the weather last week so I could finally mow the lawn - it was getting very like a rain forest! Sadly, I did 90% of the grass before my hover mower lost one of it's blades. Having searched in vain for the missing blade I finally gave up and got the trimmer out instead. Now my trimmer is OK, but it's not exactly a redmax... I hardly thought that I would take such an interest in garden implements, but I could really make short work of that pesky grass with one of these...

Anyway, I am now waiting for another break in this awful Summer weather so I can finish the job properly.

Sale of Goods Act

I spent a little time studying consumer law when my career path was looking uncertain, having previously studied it as part of a Business qualification, and the studies have stood me in good stead when it comes to knowing my rights as a consumer.
However many consumers are ignorant of the rights that the Sale of Goods Act offers. I find knowledge of the actual legislation gives particular weight to your argument when making a complaint (should you be forced to do so). In particular if you use the full and correct name of the act: Sale of Goods Act 1979 - (my tutor was always keen that we should use the date to show that we knew the full details of the legislation) generally whoever you are addressing will probably assume you know what you are talking about.
Of course, there are always those traders who don't care how they treat their clients, but the majority will want to ensure they stay on the right side of their clients whilst staying on the right side of the law.
It is worth noting that this legislation comes under the heading 'civil law' rather than 'criminal law', so calling the police to resolve a consumer dispute is not appropriate. That said, you will still hear irate consumers threatening to call the police because they want a refund for a hat that doesn't fit!
Knowing a little about the Sale of Goods Act 1979 and the sale of goods and services act 1982 will not protect you from rogue traders, but it will give you the confidence of knowing when the law is protecting you, and when it is protecting the tradesman.
It is also worth noting that the law protects you when you are buying online, but has limited powers if you buy used goods from individuals rather than new goods from business traders.

eBay trading

On the whole eBay is a great place to get a bargain (and to spend your hard-won internet earnings) but sometimes eBay throws up an anomoly. I have noticed that when looking for computers on eBay, unlike with desktops (which you can hardly give away), laptops fetch silly prices.
Even the lowest spec broken rubbish laptops seem to go for a minimum of £100. My advice is to be careful about bidding for laptops on eBay, to get anything half-decent will cost you as there seems to be a lot of people prepared to bid way over the odds. Bear in mind that with a laptop, you will need all the drivers if you are going to re-install the operating system - the drivers for laptops seem to be a lot less 'standard' than for desktops particularly drivers for wi-fi etc.. Also bear in mind that changing a motherboard or processor in a laptop is not a job for the faint-hearted. If you are bidding on a laptop that is not working, you have to bear in mind that if the processor has burnt out, you are probably wasting your money. At least with a desktop you can simply fit a new one.
Laptops are limited in every respect apart from portability, for instance your laptop will be slower, have less memory capacity and a smaller hard-drive than the equivalent costing desktop. It is far more likely to have significant damage after the first year or so, frequently laptops are sold with broken keypads, broken screens - often they are sold as seen as the owner can't even get them to boot up, but yet there are apparently plenty of bidders who are willing to take a massive risk.
That said, I still want one, and I will probably use eBay to get it unless I get lucky and can find someone who has a laptop to get rid of.

Father's Day (UK)

Father's Day is just around the corner, and although I have come to think of it as a day when I can take it easy and be pampered by family, I also need to remember that I should be sending a card to my Dad too..!

I don't ususally get presents for such ocassions as I live a fair way from my parents and posting presents would be too costly. However I did see some hunting binoculars on a website and that reminded me of the sort of gift my Dad would love. Dads are typically hard to buy presents for, and my Dad (like me) is one of those who, if they want something will go and get it rather than wait for someone to buy it for him.

Frugality tip...

A 'first adopter' is one of those people who must have the latest gadget - amongst your friends they will have been the first to buy an enormous flat-screen TV and a Blu-Ray player, and then a Blu-Ray recorder. If, amongst your friends, the first adopter is you, then you are going to struggle with 'frugal living'...!
Being at the cutting edge of technology is a very expensive place to be, and although I am interested in all the latest gadgets, I definitely do NOT qualify as a first adopter... The frugal choice is to wait...and wait until the first adopters or even second adopters have moved on to newer toys, then buy their old ones from eBay.
Today's example is a bit extreme even for me... I have just (yes only just) installed a wireless network in my home (I am using it right now!). I have used the excuse previously that a wired network is faster and more secure - facts which cannot be argued. However in an unguarded moment the other day I bid £5 on a wireless router and won it for £2.70! The daft thing is I don't even own a laptop of my own (I use my works one at home sometimes). Anyway the point is that if you are prepared to wait, you can get some real bargains. Hard-drives are another example, today I bought a 1TB hard-drive from eBay for £25 including delivery - something that might have cost me twice as much six months ago.

'All things come to those that wait'

is my frugal tip for the day - that also applies to eBay auctions, sometimes you search for something for months before you find the bargain you were looking for (although to be fair sometimes it takes that long to learn that you are going to have to extend your budget to get what you want).

SLR cameras

If I had to choose gadgets that I desired, but have not yet managed to find at the right price, slr cameras would be amongst the first to come to mind. The last time I bought a new (non-SLR) digital camera, it cost me several hundred pounds, and yet I have recently replaced it with an equivalent but slightly better camera from eBay for less than £5...
I was never able to afford an SLR camera even before they were available in digital format, so the chances of being in a position to make that kind of 'investment' are slim. However, like all things technical, prices are likely to fall at least for the camera bodies if not for the lenses. The massive drop in prices we have come to expect for digital equipment will not apply to lenses for which there is a long established market.
I have recently been taking a lot of photo's for a website that I am building, and photo's of the goods offered are going to be crucial - so I am one step nearer to persuading myself that a digital SLR camera could be a vital work tool!

Earnings May 2001

A definite improvement this month, largely helped by an Adsense payment dropping in on the last day of the month... Without this boost, turnover would have been around £85, profit around £70. Some improvement in passive income signalling a return of the payments for fixed adverts that I thought had ceased, and a couple of small but welcome affiliate payments.
Major expense this month was a domain renewal, I thought I might sell a domain, but the offer I got was so low I may as well hold onto the domain and get some earnings from it.
I am looking a buying another domain or two for new projects and am still trying to find time to get 'into' Wordpress. I have another project using a different CMS at the moment, so I am hoping that this experience will inform my journey into Wordpress when I finally embark on it!
I have just submitted my figures for last year to the taxman, I don't think he will get overly excited about my earnings, but I am pleased with the improvements over the last 12 months and hope to be even more profitable this coming tax year...

US Business Lawyers

Usually you associate the term 'LLP' with US Business Lawyers, but I noticed recently that UK lawyers are using the same term for themselves. I firstly assumed that this was because US businesses were setting up UK offices, but I guess the term is common to either side of the Atlantic.

LLP actually stands for Limited Liability Partnership - It is because law businesses are not allowed to be public limited companies (Plc), that they must remain as a partnership, each partner having a limited personal libility for the business. Of course, this means that any partnership with limited liability may call itself 'LLP', but mostly the term is associated with lawyers and attourneys.

Saving money

I have been a keen advocate of the idea that saving money is actually one of the quickest ways to make money - it takes a split second to save money, but a lot longer to create revenue.
I was keen to see a TV program this week that was supposed to be full of money-saving tips, but it turned out to be very disappointing. Anyone that knows anything about frugal living, does not need to be told that a good way to save money is to buy 2 for 1 pizza! If you are buying take-out pizza, then you are not living frugally in the first place. Buying your way out of debt sound more like a political solution rather than an actual practical one...

I have, however, discovered a way to save myself a large chunk of money in the long-term. We have had one of those electricity 'meters' that your energy providers send out - it shows you how many Watts you are using at any given moment in the house. I used it to discover that my two PCs left on all night were costing about 5 pence per hour. Even if switched off for six hours every night for six hours, that's a saving of 30 pence per day - at least £2 per week, over £100 a year...
Admittedly, I am sure a lot of people routinely switch their PC's off - but if you don't you are probably losing about £50 a year for each one left on overnight.

To be fair the TV program did have one good tip - this concerned using a thermos flask to keep tea warm for hours at a time - we actually do store up 'spare' hot water in a flask every time we boil the kettle, so I didn't learn anything - but at least they did offer one thing that was practical and actually could save money.

Acsonix

Another acne treatment is on the market, you can read the acsonix reviews and make up your mind whether this medication would suit you. There are a host of medications all claiming outstanding results, reading reviews and getting the benefits of other people's experience could help you to make up your mind. As always though, please get qualified medical advice before starting a course of medication that could potentially have adverse effects on your health.

Getting a bargain

I have had many, many bargains since I started buying online. Most of these are the result of online auctions where new and used goods can be picked up very cheaply, but there are also many traders who offer good discounts for online shoppers.

However another advantage of online shopping is being able to find the precise item or component you need. I remember finding a seller of motorola batteries when my wife's phone failed - it was an old model and there was little chance of getting a cheap replacement battery on the high street. However, a quick search turned up the precise battery, and not only that - it was at a real bargain price too.

Google Panda update

You may have heard something of the fuss surrounding the latest Google ranking update, you may have even seen it's effects (especially if you write on one of those sites that pay you to write 'articles').
Google have seen fit to say quite a lot about the criteria they have used for changing the rankings of some sites, although as usual they will not be specific. To save you from having to sift through all the quotes an comments - it all boils down to one thing:

It's all about CONTENT.

Google is 'de-ranking' what it considers low quality or 'shallow' content, content that adds nothing new, or even repeats content found elsewhere - it's just not going to tell you how it evaluates a site.
In short, if you are writing useful, insightful original content you have nothing to be worried about. Nevertheless, this updates threatens the 'paid to' world as it is targeting sites that have thousands of individual writers adding their own content on a daily basis.

adapexin-p

If you have a weight problem, you will no doubt be interested in the likes of adapexin-p, and other drugs that are supposed to aid weight-loss. However, it pays to find out as much as you can about these products before embarking on a course of medication that has not bee prescribed by a doctor.
Despite all the claims and counter-claims that you may have read, you should seek some genuinely independent advice before taking medication of any description, and who better than your local GP?

Online IT degree

If like me, you bypassed university and went straight into the world of work, you may feel that your working experience may be enhanced by having a suitable qualification to go along with it. Of course, being a worker, it is not easy to just take time out to study because the bills still need to be paid... Online learning could be the answer, and getting something like an online it degree may not be too much of a disruption to your existing work and family life.
Now is a good time to consolidate your position in the workplace by adding the extra edge of a bit of education to your existing work experience.

Earnings April 2011

Turnover of £70 this month, which is nothing special, but after a bumper month in March, a slight slump was expected. I spent £15 on a CD player from eBay - this counts as equipment for cassette to CD conversions, so goes in the spreadsheet.
I have just made another Adsense payout total, so can look forward to that in the next month or so. April income was about average on the blogging side, not so busy for cassette conversions though. I have also just noticed that my regular passive income seems to have finally dried up - I had been reticent to make significant changes to one of my sites in case of disrupting this income, I guess if it doesn't return, I am free to make the changes I want (including removing some of the 'fixed' ads, and defunct pages that still had 'contracts' for fixed ads).
I have not really pursued 'fixed' ads very hard since this type of income began to wane a few years back, so now might be a good time to see if there are any new ways of getting regular fixed sponsorship payments for web pages.

Fort Worth flower delivery

Searching for what you want on the internet is simple enough, but I have noticed recently that adverts are being targetted on the locality of the person browsing - or at least on their perceived locality. For instance you may see an advert for Fort Worth flower delivery when you are browsing the internet from the comfort of your home in...Fort Worth.

The advert priovider uses the IP address of your computer to work out where you are located. It is not always right as these things are not always straightforward, however more often than not, they are fairly accurate.

I don't particularly mind this type of advertising although some people see it as a breach of their privacy. I don't think it is any different to advertising in a local magazine, and seeing as I make some money from adverts, I can't really object. I have found that even though I am unlikley click on a locally-targetted adverts, There is every chance that I will take notice of the company and will probably remember the advert if I actually did want a service that they were offering at a later point in time.

Cheap Web Hosting

I have mentioned on numerous occasions, the great web hosting package that I bought last year - it is an unlimited package allowing me to add as many domains as I want to the single-priced package. I wrote an article on my website called 'cheap web hosting' which looks at using different suppliers for hosting and domain registration. Since then I have purchased more domains, set up a few new sites and just recently ended my long-running expensive hosting package that I took out about four years ago.
I think it's true to say that once you take out your first hosting package, you are more than likely to stick with them. However, for my main (cassette to CD conversion) site, I have tried to get the best prices and tried not to be put off by the miserable prospect of trying to move hosts on a live site.
This last move however, was the smoothest simply because I now know what to expect. I now know that if I use a nameserver to redirect my site that the email will go with it, and if I use the IP address of the server, it will not....
With this in mind (and bearing in mind this is the most important of all the sites I have) I arranged to transfer the domain to 1and1 internet (the best price I have found for registering .co.uk domains) - this entails obtaining the 'IPSTAG' of your preferred domain registrar, and passing this on to your 'old' registrar.
Whilst I was waiting for the domain to be transferred, I copied all the files from the old site onto my super new unlimited hosting server, and added the domain on my 'CPANEL'. Then I went over to my 1and1 account dashboard and entered the nameserver of my hosting service against the domain I was expecting to transfer. Then I went back to my hosting CPANEL and opened accounts for all the email addresses I would be likely to need (three in all) - I then configured OUTLOOK to pick up mail for these email addresses.
Al that remained was for me to sit back and wait - I put up a note on the old site that over the next day or two, mail or web pages might go missing - and sure enough one test mail that I sent from the contact form on the site did not get through during this period. Nonetheless in about 24 hours or so, the site was showing on the new server (I made an adjustment to the copied web files so I would know when the transfer had taken place), and over the next 24 hours, the mail started to come across into the OUTLOOK accounts I had set up.
Now I have saved myself a lot of money in hosting and domain registration fees, although admittedly all my 'eggs' are in one 'basket' when it comes to hosting, domain registration is kept separate which makes a lot of sense when you control multiple domains. My whole online 'operation' is now completely streamlined (funny 'cos my expensive hosting service was called 'streamline'...), and I am happy that I am working as efficiently as possible with the money that I have available.
The learning curve with unlimited hosting is steep, but very rewarding when you realise just how much you can achieve with it - and I am thinking of maybe doing some tutorials for the tasks that I have done so far,to encourage others who are planning to go down the same route - believe me, if you plan to ever have more than one website on the go, then unlimited hosting is for you... to learn more about the services I use click the link to go to my web hosting and domain registration article.

Mantel Designs

Every house can benefit from coal, gas or coal-effect fires whether they are homes with contemporary design or traditional design themes running through the house. We have a coal-burning fire and a gas fire in our house and tend to favour the traditional designs - in fact one of the fire surrounds is an original cast-iron surround (although not actually 'original' for our house).

There are mantel designs for every style of home, and in many cases, the mantel can form the central focus of the room. Certainly when there is a fire in the fireplace, it is the first thing anyone notices when they come into the room.

Thumb supports

As I get older I find myself in need of more medical assistance just to get through the day! - I have a back support for driving, and ankle support for football, and am now looking at thumb supports, neck supports and elbow supports to assist my ailing limbs.

I was wondering what people did before such remedies were widely available, but then it occured to me that a lot of these ailments are caused by modern-day living. We get RSI from using computers, bad backs from driving and bad eyes from VDU screens. It's only when we get beyond our thirties that this degeneration starts to take place and we suddenly realise that we are not able to do the things we once did.

I have ventured out with back supports and ankle supports on many ocassions, I am quite sure by the time I am sixty I am going to have more padding than the average American Football player.

Tech Jobs

There are few enough jobs around nowadays, so getting yourself a new job or even that elusive first job can be a job in itself. Unless you are very lucky, a job is not likely to just land in your lap - the emphasis is on you to take steps to be in the right place at the right time.

Despite a general slow-down in the economy as a whole, there are still tech jobs manual jobs and other work out there if you can equip yourself to rise above the crowd in the job market. If you are one of those looking for work, the chances are you will get a job if you work harder at getting a job than others in the same field with the same qualifications.

Log Me In

I have been using 'LogMeIn.com' for a little while now, long enough for the free trial to have ceased and I am now running the free version.
LogMeIn is a service that allows remote access via the web between computers. I use two laptops at work and two desktops at home - they all have the software installed so I can access any of the four computers now from the web.
Although I have been downgraded to the free service, it still has all the features I need for simply checking my OUTLOOK inbox, or accessing the works database from home. The free version does not have file transfer capabilities, but I can always send files via email if I need to. I am sure there are other fuseful functions that are missing from the free version, but as far as I can tell, it does what it says it will, and allows remote access for no monthly fees...
I use 'Radmin' for the same thing at the moment, and that had an initial startup fee - however I can only ever use it on a single licence, LogMeIn Free allows me to add as many PC's as I want to my account, so I doubt whether I am ever going to need to use Radmin again (although it does have the missing 'file transfer' feature that LogMeIn Free does not have).
As far as free software goes, I am ranking this one up there with OpenOffice and AVG and all those other top free software titles that we tend to take for granted.

February 2014 - update about LogMeIn free service

Barcode Scanners

I had always thought of barcodes as being limited to large supermarkets and superstores, but the technology for producing and reading barcodes is becoming readily accessible for all types of businesses.

I recently discovered that Avery, the company that make label sheets for your PC printer, have a free printing program that can create labels with barcodes. Barcode scanners are now widely available as stand-alone instruments and also as 'apps' for your smartphone, there are even bluetooth barcode scanners available for those that work whilst on the move.

Barcodes are a quick and easy way to catalogue your stock, record stock movements and keep your records up to date, whether you are a small shop, an online trader or a major retailer.

FireFox 4

With FireFox 4 being available, I guess now is as good a time as any to talk about browsers and how well they perform.
Currently, my firm favourite is Google Chrome - it outstrips the other main players for speed, and I find the plug-ins easier to use - trying to access 'favourites' can be a bit tricky sometimes because they just disappear from time to time, but I do love the 'new tab' function which offers you all your most frequently opened URLs as thumbnails.
Internet Explorer is the last browser I will use, but sometimes due to compatibility issues with FF and Chrome, IE is the only one that functions.
I have just started using FF again because of compatibility issues with Chrome, but Chrome is too fast to ignore. My preferences:
#1: Chrome - 99% of pages work fine in Chrome and load a LOT quicker
#2: Firefox - If I get problems with Chrome, I will default to FF
#3: IE - when things are really, really desperate I start looking for IE

Digital Television Antennas

Of course, the advent of digital television and digital radio has created a new demand for digital television antennas. In fact, the part of the UK in which I live, lost all analogue/terrestial television signals quite a long time ago.
Like with 'conventional' aerials, there is the choice of indoor and outdoor. Your requirements will vary depending on how strong the signals are in your locality. We are fortunate in that indoor antennae seem perfectly adequate for our requirements. In fact I replaced our old aerial which was located in the loft, with a new indoor aerial in the same position, and just kept all the cabling in place. this has worked a treat for viewing digital TV.

1 and 1 Internet

I regularly use two domain registration services, I started with 'GoDaddy' and have found them to be excellent, but when I discovered that they don't really do '.co.uk' domains, I had to find an alternative.
I have to say I have been very pleased with 1 and 1 for domain registration - they offer a cheap and comprehensive service with easy-to-use front panel which allows you to change settings such as DNS. They are also helpful when it comes to getting support.
However. the reason I am most impressed with them is they are turning into my most active affiliate. The payouts are relatively small, but come in quite regularly - I even had two notifications today! The reason they are successful for me as an affiliate (I believe) is that I think they actually provide a decent service - and they really do offer competitive prices. So many other affiliates I try to promote are not really competitive price-wise. They offer big incentives, but you can't really put your heart and soul into promoting them because you can't in all honesty say they offer great value.
So hand on heart, especially for UK domains, if you are looking to buy a domain name or looking for a comprehensive hosting or email package, try 1 and 1 (they are not limited to UK domains by any means, but that is the reason I started using them in the first place).

Ada Lifts

Ada lifts are designed to help those with a disability when entering or exiting a public swimming pool. The ADA rules will apply to public and commercial premises in the USA. The owners/managers of these pools will need to ensure that their premises comply with the rulings introduced in the latter part of 2010.
The rulings differ slightly dependent on whether the premises is municipal or commercial, but will cover all premises from holiday centres to city and county swimming baths.

Spa Cover

If you have invested in a spa or hot-tub, you may need to think about replacing your spa cover if you have had it for a while, as a leaking cover can cause all sorts of problems the least of which is energy-wasting if it is not insulating properly.
Added to this is the worry of bacterial growth, or even legionnaires disease that can develop in such spaces. Enjoy a worry-free Spring and Summer in your hot-tub by ensuring that it is both energy-efficient and free of unwanted 'visitors'.

Car Insurance

We will soon be looking for Car Insurance as we are about to get a 'new' car. A friend has offered us a car for the cost of recent repairs - and it just so happens that the amount is very similar to the amount I made from online earnings this month. So you could say this month, I earned enough to buy a car!
My plan is to insure this car just for third party fire and theft so that we can build up some 'no-claims' bonus. My current car is a company car, so I don't have any insurance of my own. The down-side of the company car is that it costs me a lot in tax (a LOT!).
I wanted to buy a 'nice' car, and I had a list of desirable attributes that this car should have. Unfortunately, I then discovered that I would not be able to insure the 'car of my dreams' even though my dreams were relatively modest....
I think we could pick up this car fairly soon, and I am pretty excited about it (I don't even know what colour it is - though I do know the make , model and engine size and am fairly confident we can insure it quite cheaply)

Earnings March 2011

The end of the current financial year has provided a bit of a boom month for me in terms of online earnings. I have cleared £271 (approx £$450) this month, which I think is as much as I have ever earned in a single month from online sources. Earnings from converting cassettes and from paid postings both had a boost this month taking my years earnings to £1375.42 (approx $2290). This represents growth of £550 from last years effort (around 65%) which is not at all bad (assuming the growth can be repeated). Once again I aim to be amongst the first of the 'self-assessment' crowd to submit my earnings online, as I hate to have deadlines hanging over me.

I am already doing paid posts that will start off my earnings for the next financial year. I also need to reinvest some of my profits into 'stock' and by buying some new equipment for my home office. I am not too far off an Adsense payout either - if it had come in this month, I would have been particularly pleased - I will have to wait a month or so, but recently I have been getting a bit of an Adsense boost too.