http://ping.fm/9b0mc

What do you do for your community ?

What do you do personally or with your business to help and share with other people? Do you give your time or skill to help others less fortunate or money to support a worthy cause?You might possible do something for the troops that support our nations such as cards or letters or friendship packages.Do you assist someone that is elderly or respite care for a family with your children?I feel that it is very important that everyone share a skill or time with someone that needs your help.Maybe a visit to an elderly neighbour for a friendly visit as the winter months are so long.It is something I believe very strongly about sharing your time and skill and give back and care about our community and our world as the "net" , has brought our close as a heartbeat.Share back with me , what you do?Next question what do I do?Two things I support two children in the third world as a support sponser through Plan Canada . By my monthly support the family have the guidance for health and education and clean drinking water. For two dollars a day I am able to help and watch these beautifull children grow. I received a drawing last week from the little girl it was a truck and written in french , I have it on my fridge, next to my grandaughters colouring.I also am going to be going to our local library to hear children read and to help those with English that is their second language.I also visit a couple of neighbours and drop in and do little things like mailing letters and manicures and foot care. I am a former nurse and know the importance of a foot inspection for redness or tender spots and toe nails that if not trimmed properly can lead to problems.There are many ways of providing service with a smile as I see it on this snowy Saturday night.http://www.preciousbabysite.com/

http://www.busy-mom.com/

http://moms.myceo.com/aff.php?aff=031

I just came across this site , sharing empowers each and everyone of us . What we learn from another we first share as a student and then a teacher. http://ping.fm/QK87a

I was introduced to a fantastic software that will help leave a live message for your customer, http://www.snapvine.com
I just did it...and wow you can share the site add a picture and the message is as long as you wish.

Customer service does your rate http://ping.fm/WHMUc share with me your experience.

Customer Service with a smile

Hello My name is Nancy Macdonald I am a self employed virtual customer service Agent representing Companies by phone or text chat or email.

Customer service is the backbone of any Company as without the customer there is no sales of any kind for your product or skills.

A good customer service assistant will do two things to ensure that the customer is treated with respect and loyalty. No matter what the call is concerning you are polite and listen to the customer, then validate the problem and find a solution that works.

If the item purchased was late in delivery or not correct or the instructions to hard to understand, then it is up to the agent to help.

To help by offering an apology to the customer and listen to how they feel even if the customer becomes very angry. By diffusing the situation and saying I understand the way you feel and I will give this my prime attention , this helps.

By word of mouth of great customer service you have done two things, kept a customer happy and second he will be your buzz agent.

What I mean by buzz agent he will tell his friends and co workers and family about first what happened and second what the agent did to help.

It might have been a refund or discount or a return of the item or extended service or connecting with dept that handles the product information. By taking small steps you have provided the best selling point for the company.

Not everyone can be a great representative , you must have patience and the skills to listen and then act in a calm manner at all times.

A company large and small will always need that friendly voice to answer the phone or connect with the customer virtually by mail or text chat.

The skills are very open ended on what your tasks might be such as contacting the customer concerning updating his existing product, or up selling him to a similar products of his needs. Calling a customer to update his records and profile to his location and phone and his current email address.

A job involving spreading the word about an up coming sale for members only offering a special discount to preferred customers. By making your customer feel special your customer will be loyal to you.

Your position might be involved with informing future customers on the Internet about the products and services and providing data entry .

In these economic times and downsizing the need to promote and maintain a customer or future prospect is an absolute number assets to keep any business afloat .

I provide such a service and very proud that marketing has provided the skills need to enjoy a weekly pay cheque.

At the end of each day I am satisfied and what I am able to accomplish each and every day as you never stop learning.

Social networking and connecting with like minded people is not a waste of time , it is a source of connections with people.

We empower each other when we share abilities and skills and give back to others of what you have learned.

When you have a moment join my group on facebook , Customer service with a smilehttp://http://www.new.facebook.com/wall.php?id=1320516554&banter_id=694111046&show_all#/group.php?gid=60326179728&ref=mf

join our ning group http://www.busy-mon.ning.com

on twitter http://www.twitter.com/attnbusymoms

http://www.twitter.com/OurPreciousBaby

Share and browse our website http://busy-mom.com http://preciousbabysite.com

Happy Birthday to all those that share the day with the world..speaking of what makes a good day it is from the heart, not the weather or the gifts you have around you. It is you are the gift that you share with skills or caring or information. Lets start a share of a kindness event , these types of stories just make you want to stop and think ..there is much to life.

Sharing today groups for saving moneyhttp://ping.fm/X261B drop by and check out the savings.

Check out http://ping.fm/Di9mY and add to our discussion concerning balance in life online and off.

Thanks for sharing your resource Tanya that is something different , look forward to chatting with you.

http://ping.fm/szutL

I would like other Moms to share with me about the birth of their child in the first year.

Let your spirit shine

Being in a home-based business allows you to be in business for yourself, but not by yourself. It has brought me freedom, happiness, and a passion for what I do that I want to share with others. I've made the decision to combine my passion for online marketing with my love for animals and created the website http://doggietreasures4u.com .

Hi, I'm Karen from Louisiana – USA and thanks for stopping by. Some of my background includes: professional online marketing, telemarketing, appointment setting, business operator/answering service, background researcher, skip tracing, investigative research assistant, data processing, and U.S. Air Force civil service with military hospital command.

Together with my VERY special dog Trixie, we visit folks who are in hospitals, rehabs, schools, etc., it is so fulfilling to see the smiles on peoples faces as we enter a room. Trixie is a VERY special canine for several reasons - the #1 reason is she is my helper dog and was trained especially to help me with things to keep me independent, as I use a motorized wheelchair to get out and about, which I do alot. She is so smart - she knows over 80 commands! Yep, she is an 8 year old Border Collie/black Lab mix we've been partnered together for 5 years now.

"Believe you can and you are already half way there" - Theodore Roosevelt


Karen Conley
Skype ID cashqueenkc

How to save on your cell phone bill.

=========================================================== -- Inflation Fighter --Optimize Your Cell Phone Billby Ramit SethiTwo ways to cut your cell phone bill Many of us (including me) pick a cell phone plan, then nevercheck to see if it's the right one for us based on our usage.Because the average cellphone bill is about $50, that's $600 per year of moneyyou can optimize. Perfect. Today, I'm going to show you two ways to cut your cell phonebill: one easy, one hard. And remember, this tip doesn't justapply to cell phones. You can optimize your spending on nearlyany other subscription you've got. Optimizing your cell phone bill - the easy way If you still have a landline, the easiest tip is to call yourwireless company and bundle it all into one plan or get rid ofyour landline altogether. Anyway, when I went to buy a new cell phone a couple monthsago, I picked the unlimited everything plan with unlimitedvoice, unlimited data, and unlimited text. I also set a three-month check-in on my calendar to go back and analyze myspending patterns so I could cut back on my plan if needed.This is a technique I use a lot. With any usage-based services(e.g. web apps or cell plans), I'll pay a little more up frontso I can monitor my usage, then downgrade to the appropriateplan after three months. Analyzing your usage can be a pretty laborious task, but I usea site called Billshrink at http://www.billshrink.com to do itfor me automatically. You should also know that, according toa recent survey by J.D. Power and Associates, "people who text message, e-mail, anddownload files on mobile phones spend $14 a month more thanpeople who don't." Do you really need all that stuff? Couldyou try going a couple months without it? It pays to look at your actual usage and switch to a plan thatbetter fits your needs. If you're only using 150 textmessages, you can probably downgrade to the "200 textmessages/month" plan. As you get used to the new limit, add acalendar reminder to check in on the 15th of each month andmake sure you're not wildly over for the first few months. Optimizing your cell phone - the harder (but more rewarding)way Cell phone companies have this wildly curious business modelof acquiring tons of customers through very expensive means(e.g., national advertising), then churning through them bytreating them horribly. Yet even they know that it's cheaperto retain an existing customer than to acquire a new one. Youcan use this "customer acquisition cost" in your favor. Here'show: 1. Find comparable plans for your usage on other cell phonenetworks. For example, I'm with AT&T, so I'll investigateVerizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint by going to their websites.Write down how much they each cost, how many minutes you get,and any other benefits. 2. Call your current cell phone company. To make it easy, hereare the phone numbers: AT&T : 1-800-331-0500 Verizon : 1-800-922-0204 TMobile : 1-800-T-MOBILE Sprint : 1-866-866-7509 3. First, be nice. Ask them what better plans they have tooffer you. You: "Hi, I was looking at my plan and it's getting prettyexpensive. Could you tell me what other plans you have thatwould save me money?" Them: Blah blah same plans as on the website blah blah You: "What about any plans not listed on the website?" Them: "No, what we have is listed on the website. Plus, you'reon a contract and have an early cancellation fee." You: "Well, I understand that, but I'd be saving money evenwith that cancellation fee. Look, you know times are tough soI'm thinking of switching unless there are any other plans youhave. No? Ok, can you switch me to your cancellationdepartment, please?" Note: What you really want is to be switched to their"customer retention" department, which is the group that hasthe ability to retain you by giving you a bunch of free deals.You can either ask to be switched directly to the customerretention department, or play a game and hope that by askingfor "cancellation," you're actually transferred to retention.Play around with a few phone calls and see what works best. When you get to the customer-retention department, ask for thesame thing. This is when you pull out your competitive intelon the other services being offered. If Verizon is offeringsomething for $10 less, tell them that. That's $120 savingsper year right there. But you can do more. You: "Listen, you know times are tough and I need to get abetter deal to stick with you guys. You know and I know thatyour customer acquisition cost is hundreds of dollars. It justmakes sense to keep me as a customer, so what can you do tooffer me this plan for less money?" Notice that you didn't say, "Can you give me a cheaper plan?"because yes/no questions always get a "no" answer whenspeaking to wireless customer-service reps. Ask leadingquestions. You also invoked the customer-acquisition cost,which is meaningful to retention reps. Finally, it reallyhelps if you're a valued customer who's stuck around for along time and actually deserves to be treated well. If youjump around from carrier to carrier, you're not a worthwhilecustomer to carriers. One final thing: People get scared that if they go to thecancellation department and try to negotiate, they'll gettheir account cancelled without really wanting to do that.There are two things to remember about negotiating yourwireless bill: (1) You have a much stronger position if you'reactually willing to walk away and switch to another plan, and(2) your account will never get cancelled until you say thefinal word. You can negotiate for three hours and walk away ifyou want. Use this technique on virtually any subscriptionyou're paying. Businesses want to keep customers and arewilling to negotiate, but since most people don't, they'releaving money on the table.http://www.busy-mom.com

Its a birthday

Mom's busy... what about HER birthday?Posted by Ava on January 11, 2009 at 8:13pm
Send Message View Ava's blog



Tomorrow is my birthday! Yay, I made it through another year! :)

My daughter is 16 1/2. (am I giving my age away? LOL. On her bedroom wall, she has 8"x11" photos of her in her birthday parties. Every single year.. I have given her a huge party, celebrating her life. What ever she wanted to do. Invited every friend and family member. It is important for me to celebrate the life of my daughter, and every year I have with her, and show her how much I love her and happy she is my daughter.
These parties can take months to plan.

Ooops back to MY birthday. See what I mean... LOL. We focus so much on our childs birthdays, but then what do we do for ourselves? If we do nothing, does that show them that only they are important, but we are not?

If we has adults think about our birthday, and talk about it.. people think we should grow up, don't make such a big deal out of it.. who wants everyone to know how old you are anyway? Why? Why is it that after 21, only 30,40,50, 60, 70 80, 90, and 100 are important? We have to wait 10 years to celebrate?
Do we celebrate the day we were born, or that we made it to another year, or to look forward to this age that we are becoming now? Isn't our life important at any age?

Especially as single moms, we usually don't have someone "built in" to celebrate our birthday with us. No husband to make sure he brings us flowers, a gift, and take us out to dinner. So we usually go out with friends,"the girls", family.. the kids take us to a fast food place and it ends up being for them... or we just need to be creative and make the best of it because we can't afford to do anything.

As moms we need to celebrate ourselves more. We do soooo much..
We need to take the time to take care of ourselves, think about our past, and plan our future.
We need to pamper ourselves. Even if we can't afford to go to a spa.. try to get some quiet time alone, or to think.. Write in a journal.. Take a long shower, give yourself the " overhaul "! LOL.
Trade with a friend of you need childcare during your birthday. Invite your friends over with their kids.

Do you really need another shirt? Swap gifts, clothes, usable items.. Give free Ebooks, or extras of your products if you sell. That also saves money, the landfills and helps the environment! Swap time, services.. maybe you and a friend can do a "spa day" at home.. do each others nails, hair, etc.
You can also do this with your daughters! It doesn't even have to be your birthday!

I would love to hear your thoughts on this...
What should I do for my birthday?
I would love to hear from other busy-moms about this issue, and hear some ideas!

Happy Birthday To Me! :)
Happy Birthday to you too!

-Ava
Co-Owner, Busy-mom.com
Owner, AvaHosting Internet & Telecommunications http://www.avahosting.biz
95-60 Queens Blvd
#221
Rego Park, NY 11374
webmaster@busy-mom.com

Finding your right path in life

I’m Terresa Roden, currently living in Milewaukee, WI (US). I’m working in a call center at the moment, enjoying the fact that I get asked if I’m a recording from time to time. It’s rather fun to greet a caller and get a brief pause when I finish only to have the caller ask if I’m a real person. My answer is usually some variation of “As far as I know they haven’t replaced me with a machine” or “Last time I looked I was a real person” followed by amused laughter from myself and the caller.
I spent most of my early life in Minnesota, first in the small town of Aitkin, going to college in Crookston and then moving to Minneapolis-St.Paul until I shifted to Milwaukee in the late 1990’s. I’ve held various jobs, usually in some type of support staff role and I currently work in a call center doing both inbound and outbound work. What makes the job satisfying to me is the fact that I get to indulge my passion for helping people. Incoming calls are for help with various companies products – placing orders, subscriptions, missed issues, etc.
In April of 2006, I turned 50 years young. At that time I began to consider my life and what I had done with it. As I looked back, I realized that I had never really answered the question “Who do I want to be when I grow up?” As I began searching myself for the answer to that question, I was also looking for ways to increase my income by finding some sort of online business. I tried several things with little success, but in that process I met several people who began to mentor and encourage me, among them Sally Witt and Kim Mutch Emerson. Both Kim and Sally were great supporters as I worked through the process of “Who do I want to be?” and suggested developing the questions I was uing for my own search into a workbook that could be of assistance to others going through the same process.
By the end of 2008, the “Uniquely Me LifeBook” first edition was completed and made available on the web as an eBook, available at my website http://www.theresaroden.com . I have created a Skype room, and a Yahoo group that are available to users of the LifeBook for ongoing support and questions.
One of my talents is “pulling rabbits out of hats” for people. In the course of conversations I often come up with “outside the box” answers to problems that people are experiencing. I look forward to developing a consulting clientele of people looking for a sounding board for brainstorming and problem-solving as part of my business.