Working as a Mobile Light Bulb Salesman

I have had a number of businesses over the years, and for the most part, they have been successful.  From the silk screening business, to offering the businesses in our town mobile signs, I would like to think that I have made some impact on our community.

I thought I had done well until I launched our mobile light bulb replacement service in May.  Up until that point, I would have to say that most of my business ventures were moderately successful, but never to the point where it became a large scale operation.  I had always dreamed of running a business that would help others make a living as well, and up until May, I had always missed that mark.

But after the initial demand of the Metal Halide and Fulham Ballast lights by the business community, I knew that I had struck gold.  In fact, I was the only person in town that offered that type of service, and I had businesses lined up that needed the services that I was offering.

Now, three months later, I have four mobile salesmen working for me and business is better than ever.  It is definitely amazing to finally achieve the business success that I have always dreamed of.

Don't Hire if You Can't Pay

Freelance writing is dangerous in some respects. There are tons of unscrupulous clients out there who will hire you to write something without any intention of ever paying you. Or perhaps they know they won't be able to pay you, but convince themselves that they'll figure something out when the time comes.

I've only been actually stiffed once, and so far I've never seen any of that money. Basically he claimed he didn't have the money to pay us, yet he was still printing more issues using other writers. If anyone ever needed to make use of debt consulting services, it was him!

Basically, if you find yourself getting into a situation where your business owes too much money and you fear that soon you will no longer be able afford to pay your employees, it's time to take a step back and talk to someone about what you can do. Don't wait until you owe your employees for weeks or even months' worth of work before admitting that your business is in trouble! Even if it means suffering through a layoff, your employees would much rather have that happen than to lose several weeks or months of pay when they could have been looking for another job.

The bottom line is, do the right thing by your employees. Do something about it early on if you recognize that your business is in trouble, and don't hire or keep working employees if you cannot afford to pay them.

Make Money Blogging with Affiliate Programs

One of the best ways to make money with your blog is to sign up with a few advertisers or affiliate programs. These are two different things: Advertisers run ads on your blog, generally either paying you for the ad space for the month OR per click that the ad gets. Affiliate programs, on the other hand, are where you post listings of a retailer's items on your site, and whenever someone buys something via your site, you earn a commission.

These programs are generally pretty easy to implement, but they'll be more useful if they have something to do with the subject of your blog. For instance, I have a 1920s wedding blog where I post Amazon affiliate ads for books on 1920s fashion. Likewise, if you had, say, a blog about your experiences with sleep apnea, you could post affiliate ads for CPAP supplies such as CPAP machines and masks.

These affiliate programs are more likely to earn your money because your readers are also more likely to be interested in purchasing these items. A similar concept is true for advertising — if you are dealing with the advertisers directly, be sure you choose companies and products or services that would appeal to your readers.

Who Decides How Much Mortgage Training You Need?

People who work in the mortgage industry have to get a certain amount of education. Who decides how much mortgage training is needed to do this job well? A few different people decide this.

Some of the folks who decide what the minimum mortgage education is for professionals include:

• The national government. There is something called the Safe Mortgage Licensing Act which lays out the minimum federal requirements for both initial and ongoing mortgage training.
• State and local governments. Different states and regions can opt to require even more licensing than what is mandated by the national government.
• Bosses and organizational leaders. If you work for a professional company in the mortgage industry then you may be told by your boss that you need to meet additional requirements. These may be specific classes or just more hours of training than what is required by the state or federal government.
• You. Don't let others dictate how much education you need. Sure, you have to meet those minimums but if you believe that you need even more mortgage training to do your job well then make sure to continue taking classes even though they aren't required.

Several people decide what kind of mortgage training is needed for industry professionals. If you're in this industry, make sure that you are one of those people.