Google came out with a service not long ago called Google Voice. It is a great time management tool if used for that. There are a number of reasons people use Google voice, here is mine. It is a free sign up. You can possibly get a number that has your name in it, like xxx-xxx-JACK, or whatever. You can use that number to have all of your numbers forwarded to you so you will never miss a call. There are many uses for it. Feel free to read up on it on at www.google.com/voice . I am going to tell you how I use it as a time management tool. If you hate typing, this is a great service for you. If you have to send out a number of memos, this is for you. If you need to dictate things, and don’t like to waste time, this is for you. Here is the beauty of Google Voice. Call your number, and wait for the voice mail to pick up. Then simply speak what is is you need typed out. In fact, part of this newsletter was put together using Google Voice. After you speak to your voice mail, wait a minute, and you will have everything you said sent in an email to you. All you do is cut and paste, put the text in your document, email it or print it, and you are done. If you have a to-do list that you keep written, this is a great service. Just call your Google Voice number and say everything you need to add to your list and in minutes it will be typed for you and waiting in your inbox. And it is FREE. I will admit, if you do not speak clearly, or there is a lot of background noise when you are calling, a word or two may be mistaken and replaced with another one. For example, one time I said Google, and it typed Drupal, which if you don’t know what Drupal is, it is a type of format a website can be in, like Wordpress. But let me ask you, is it easier to go and correct a couple of words, or type an entire document? Just think, if you have a blog, and you are trying to keep fresh content on it, how much easier and faster it is to call your number and just say what you want to be your next post.   I think you have about three minutes before you time out, but hit redial and keep going if you need more time. If you think about it for a few minutes, this could be a great time management tool to put in your “toolkit”.

It is a new year.  We have seen the economy as bad as it has ever been in most of our lifetime.  Many people don’t realize how close we really came to catastophic circumstances with our economy. The unthinkable nearly happened.  Even with that crisis apparently avoided, many people don’t think we are out of the woods.  Certain states, like Georgia, are now facing more foreclosures than ever.  The food banks and toy drives were needed more than ever, and they had a bigger shortfall than ever.  Whether you are in a tough situation, or you need to change your spending habits, I will be offering suggestions on how to cut your budget, without necesarily making big lifestyle changes.  I will continue to offer business ideas, as that is the main focus of this blog, but right now, here are ways to cut your budget.

How to save money:

Shop for clothing at thrift shops (especially for young kids). Look for gently worn or even new clothes for 1/10 the price of new (or less).

Pay your bills online. It’s protected and you can save with stamps.

Put your kids on the school bus rather than driving them to school.

Slipcover or reupholster older furniture for a quick update rather than buying expensive new furniture.

Refinish furniture and/or decorate with new paint. Use older and broken furniture to make a unique piece.

Take your lunch to work every day! Make your meals in bulk and then freeze them in smaller containers to save even more money.

Buy a bread maker to make your own bread. This is much cheaper than $2.00 a loaf, and tastes terrific!

Shop for dented canned goods and outdated toiletries at salvage grocery stores.

Read magazine subscriptions at the library or buy them at the thrift shop for .25 to .50 after someone else has read them.

Stop drinking expensive sodas and make Kool-Aid or decaffeinated iced tea, instead.

Cancel expensive telephone options like call waiting. Consider using an internet based phone company, but make sure you are comfortable with how the 9-1-1 service works. It is different than a traditional landline phone service, and in an emergency, it may be more difficult for them to find exactly the address from where you are calling

There are many more ideas to come on how to save money, but this will get you started.

Despite the title of this article, this will not be some secret revealed that nobody has ever heard of, but rather something far too many people continue to ignore.  Despite us being in the era of “if you want to get what you want, you need to help people get what they want”, there is far too often a subtle thing people do that cost them more than they know. We often do things that impact us negatively, and we don’t realize it.  And because life does not often afford us the opportunity to get comment cards from people to see if they like us, want to be our friend, or buy from us, we lose out on information that could greatly change how successful we could be.  I believe we should all be a collector of people.  I think we should make more friends, we should make more sales, and if possible, always try to make more money.  Not only does it help improve you and your family’s life, but it is the lifeblood of a company.  If you have a business that can benefit from social media (which is almost all businesses) you want to continue to build followers as well.

Have you ever wondered why a person you thought you hit it off with finds excuses to not meet you for lunch, stops taking your calls, or answering your emails?  It is obviously possible that they have poor etiquette, they are busy, or they aren’t the people you thought they were.  It is also possible that they did not like you as much as you liked them.  It could be a simple reason.  It could be something you do or say that you have done so often it has never occurred to you that it may be off-putting.

When I have the opportunity, I always like to ask questions when I talk to people.  It is amazing what you can find out by asking. People may not tell you about what they like or don’t like about you, but you can find out alot by asking them about people they have met recently.  I like to find out what attracted them to this person (as a friend or collegue) and find out what they didn’t like about certain people.  I have found it to be very telling, and a good tool for self improvement.  Often, people don’t enjoy a persons company when  the problem is no more complex than they do something irritating that could easily be corrected.  Simply put, people are often self absorbed, and either can’t, or don’t want to  put themselves in the position of the people with whom they are speaking. I will give you a simple example.  Over the holidays, I was visiting my parents.  I am a person that pretty much lives in golf shirts and shorts.  My mother, who still thinks I am her baby, told me to put some socks on.  I said mom, I am not cold.  She says, how can you not be cold?  I said, I don’t know, I’m not cold. She said, well, I’m cold, I have socks on, you need to put socks on.  Don’t get me wrong. I love my mother dearly.  No one could ask for better parents than I have been blessed to have.  But in this case, it really hit home for me.  We often come at people from our own point of view, and because we experience something, we often expect them to experience, or have experienced what we have.  We overlook their feelings, and perspective, and we lose, sometimes for good, the chance to connect with that person.  Obviously, that is not the case with my mother.  She is a sweet, wonderful person, and by the count of how often her phone rang during our visit, she is blessed with a lot of friends. However, I would imagine, if she came across as a person who knew what was best for everyone, she would wear on people pretty quickly.  We have all been around that person who tells you to taste this, or try that, even though you have never liked that particular thing.  And you hear from them, sure, but you have never tried this. People, please!!!  It doesn’t matter, we don’t want your opinion.  I don’t like asparagus, it could be dipped in chocolate, or wrapped in cheese pizza, and I would hate it.  But I have been told by people, you would like MY asparagus.  Anything is possible, but I am not interested.  And that is the key.  When you start trying to tell people what they should do, or what they should like, instead of asking, you lose them, and maybe forever.

When you don’t give people what they want, but give them what you think they should want, it is a safe bet you will not make more friends, sales, followers, and money. It is a simple thing to correct, but it may not be easy.  Strive to make changes for the better, and you will improve your life, and those around you.  Happy New Year!!