Today Show

Every Day is Veteran’s Day…

Posted on by Kelly aka LadyOTrout

Our family is full of Veteran’s and probably so is yours. Everyone, elected officials, celebrities, it is a hip thing to say how much they mean to us

and the freedom of our country.  Right now, it is the season to lower the flag at half staff and tell them we care.  We do. In the meantime, let me tell you a story about my current active duty National Guard Airman.  She is my niece.  Just came back from the Persian Gulf safely, thank God.

She taught me how to use a very special service called Skype.  Now I have heard lots about it, seen it on interviews on TV, but just didn’t know a lot about it and to be truthful, I am just learning how it works, but I have used it enough to know that it does. And so far it is FREE!

Here are 3 quick reasons why you should use Skype:

  • It works on any high speed internet connection (DSL, Cable)
  • It works whether you have a web cam or not. (audio and video options)
  • To subscribe is FREE and if you call another subscriber it is also FREE!

The military reference comes from the fact that Skype is used often by military personnel to connect with family and friends thru video and audio for free.  And that was exactly how I started using it.  BUT there are many other reasons you may want to use it.  A conference call with a client or to stay connected with your relatives that are far away.  With kids growing so fast, we can Skype grandkids, neices and nephews or anyone else we would like.  Skype helps you see and hear them wherever they are.

Bad weather and cannot make a long distance trip to see a client?  The possibilities are endless!

If you have an older computer you may need a webcam and maybe a microphone.  But for under $100 in hardware,  (you know me I love Best Buy) you can be up and going in no time!   The holidays are coming and not all of us can be together so start using Skype and get your family to do it too, you will love it.  Test it on a friend, remember if you are both subscribers it is FREE.  Just like anything, practice makes perfect – by the holidays you will be an old pro — or better than that, you will be a “COOL” pro!

"It’s the economy, stupid!"

Posted on by Kelly aka LadyOTrout

Is a quote uttered by Bill Clinton in 1992 in his presidential bid against Bush. (The first one!) Here it is 16 years later and we are in the soup again. We are all worried about unemployment and how our businesses will be effected. If you own your own, the sleepless nights become more frequent. Or the time lying awake is longer. (I have lots of experience and I am peri-menopausal !!)

So much we worry about we cannot control, and especially if you are in your 40’s like me, your life is full of demands of work, family, dogs, school, whatever it is, it gets piled on the top of it all.

So let’s think for just a moment of some things you can do to feel empowered rather than to feel helpless.

If you are currently employed and work for someone else, TAKE INVENTORY.

Taking Inventory of those items on the computer you work at in the office, phone numbers, contacts, passwords for any of YOUR OWN social networking sites like linked-in, etc. Often these passwords are saved in your company computer and you may not remember what they are, the computer there just remembers them for you.

DO NOT USE company email addresses as a sole contact mechanism for sites to “confirm password” back to – if you are “downsized” and lose that email address, cannot get into sites to update your profiles, the “password reset” message will go back to the email you provided and it may be that one at your work – in this case you don’t work there anymore!

Make sure your resume is saved off and and deleted from the system and there are no traces of personal information on the company systems-period.

If you have all ready “fallen victim” to the economy ax, then hopefully you did this all ready.

Going forward, one of my new Compadres on Twitter just got downsized himself and one of his recent blog posts reminded me of something. Standard Classified Newspaper Help Wanted Ads are not the way to go. First off let me say, if you don’t have a job, bookmark Dave’s blog because he is very funny and will give you some comic relief, especially if you are in the same boat. If you do have a job, visit rhodester.net anyway. He has a unique perspective, even if he is a cat person!

Nationally, Monster.com is the most recognized website to look at. More locally in Maine, JobsInMaine.com is one we have as well as some of the newspapers have even decided to have their own (usually under a different name), but you can GOOGLE a term as simple as “Looking for a job in (my state)” and you will be surprised what you will find. For the employer, these sites are often more economical than traditional newspaper classifieds. So all the more reason they are more popular.

Finally, yesterday the Today Show had a segment on 7 Ways to Make Money, How To Give Yourself a Holiday Bonus. Some of the ideas I thought were silly, but some were really good. I thought I would pass on the link as well as a few of these, if anyone missed it. If you are interested in making money with Focus Groups and part of the Twitter community, look for FocusGroups and you will get a tweet everytime they update. If you dont participate in Twitter, here’s another reason you should. Follow Me and I can help!

There is a blog that you can go to for Focus Groups, click here and you will go there, but you have to remember to do that on your own, with Twitter, it tells you automatically.

So take some stock in YOU and take control of what you can, it will give you piece of mind!