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The Environment and You
Monday, August 3rd, 2009
There are plenty of things in the news these days about the environment and the “green” movement. Energy costs have been rising over the last few years and there are new taxes that will give every business a reason to consider the environment a bit more and try to become more efficient. Successfully reducing the energy use in your company and in your home demands a commitment from everyone. Not only will you help the environment, but you will also save some money. The tips and tricks I’ve laid out below are just a start – scratching the surface of the many steps that can be taken to cut back on energy use. And, there is no reason these can’t be incorporated at your home as well as the work place.
So, here we go…
1. Raise the Thermostat, Turn off the Water and Change the Lightbulbs - These are simple and probably the most basic of changes that anyone can incorporate. Raise the Thermostat: Trust me, I know that it’s hot in the summer – I live in Houston and I’m very aware of how humid and hot things get in the middle of August. But, your body can adjust to slight changes in temperature relatively easily. Turning the air up so that it’s not running all of the time will lower the bills and total energy usage. Make a plan to raise the temperature 3-5 degrees from it’s current position. Do one degree a week and by the time you get to your goal, your body will be used to the change. If you think it’s hot inside, just go outside for an hour. That will give you some perspective. Turn off the Water: Do you turn the water on and walk off to do something else? Do you keep the water running while you brush your teeth or stand in a shower for 20 minutes trying to wake up? Why? Turn it off – lower your water intake and again, you will help the environment and your pocketbook. Change the LightBulbs – The lightbulbs of the past are exactly that. So, get some Energy Smart light bulbs to replace your current bulbs. They are more expensive, but they save on electricity costs, use less energy and are overall better for the environment. Less wattage and longer lasting…it’s worth it and it’s easy.
2. Printers – How much do you use your printer? Are you printing things that eventually get thrown away or tossed in a drawer? These days, with the ease of 3rd party data storage and computer back up procedures, the printer is not the necessary machine as in years past. Of course we still need a printer for some things, but just think before you print. Anyone who knows me or gets emails from me has seen the bottom of my emails… “Please consider the environment before printing this email.”
3. Turn it off – Did you know that lighting accounts for 44% of the monthly electricity usage at office buildings? When you leave a room, turn the light off. And, utilize natural light when you can. At the end of the day, turn all computers, lights, copy machines, printers, etc.. off. Don’t forget the power strips they are attached to. Also, during the day, setting your computer to go to sleep automatically during short breaks can cut energy use by 70 percent. And so you know, screen savers don’t save energy. Make this a habit and it won’t even phase you. The machines will last longer and the energy usage will decrease.
4. Recycle - This can be done at home or at work. It truly helps and it does not take a big change to incorporate recycling procedures. Place recycling bins in each office, next to the printers, in the break rooms, etc… At home, have a regular trash can and a recycle trash can. Be sure to place a sign next to the bins with what can be recycled and what can’t. Saving the Earth one can at a time – seems impossible, but every bit helps.
5. Consider who you do business with – My final tip for the day will include a courier service example. Considering I own a Houston Courier Service, this is an area I am educated in and can speak about. The easiest way for me to give an example of energy saving and environmentally smart decisions is to give you a quick example of how working with a company like Hot Shot Delivery to deliver your packages vs. a different company can be good for the environment.
First, a little information….each person has a carbon footprint. According to Wikipedia, a carbon footprint is “the total set of GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions caused directly and indirectly by an individual, organization, event or product” – their individual drain of energy on the environment. Finding out your carbon footprint and then learning ways to reduce it is a great step towards embracing a “greener” life.
Ok, so back to my example – Let’s say that you are in Downtown Houston and need to deliver a package to The Woodlands (approx. 30 minutes away). By working with Hot Shot Delivery, chances are good that you are not the only one that needs a package delivered there. So, your package jumps in with a few other packages making that trip. And, when the driver gets to the destination, he may have a few other packages to pick up in that area to bring back to Downtown Houston. All of these packages, on one trip – lowers YOUR carbon footprint. When you work with a company that is larger with more clients, you do have that benefit. Now, I’m not saying there is anything wrong with working with small companies. However, in this example – the larger company can lower the burden on the environment by lumping several deliveries together to save gas, emissions and more.
Thanks for your efforts at “going green” and be sure to send in more examples of simple ways to reduce your impact on our environment.
Until Next Time,
Eric
Smart Things To Do With Your Money
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009
I recently had surgery on my shoulder and have been out of commission for the last week or so. Can’t trust my blogging on pain killers, so I decided to take a break to let the healing begin. But, I’m back and have tons to share with the world.
While sitting at home healing, I ran across an old article in Money magazine that got me thinking about what I would label as good uses of your money. The current economy has most people thinking of ways to be smart with their money and not wasteful. Being smart with your money does not mean not spending any of it…it means making the right decisions that will pay off for you financially, for your career or for your future. None of these ideas will make you rich, but they may be able to provide lower risk and a higher probability of success. That’s what I call smart. Most of these ideas are related to your money and your family. It’s by no means the only thing to do with your money, but it’s a start.
5 Things To Do With Your Money:
1. Automate – Your financial life, that is. Don’t rely on your emotions or your memory to put aside money each month towards your investments. Things get put off or moved down the list when you make them a manual action. Contact your bank or your broker to have monthly investments routed from your account each month…automatically. Make investing an afterthought by taking the thought out of it. Do the same thing for all of your monthly bills. It will make life easier, I promise. And, you will never pay late fees again or waste time each month managing the bills and investing. This leaves you more time to do the things that generate profit or income.
2. Every Penny Counts - Get a jar, a bucket, a big cup, whatever…and make a pact with your family to put all stray coins there. Pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, all of it goes in the jar. Do this for six months and then bring it to a bank that has a coin sorter. Now, for the boring part , don’t spend it. Yes, I said don’t spend it. Open a savings account and put the money there. Let it earn interest as you determine what you will want it to pay for in the future. It’s easy to save hundreds of dollars each year (if not more) effortlessly. This money can eventually pay for a big family vacation, a college education, paying down high-interest debt, etc… The possibilities are endless and the process is fun for the whole family. Kids really get in to this and it’s a great outing when you go to the bank to find out how much the family saved TOGETHER.
3. Invest in College - I can’t stress enough the importance of sending your kids to college. In today’s world, the competition is fierce and the jobs are limited. Save the money, borrow the money, whatever it takes – make sure they go to college. College graduates make 80% more than non-graduates over their lifetime. This adds up to a cool million over their lifetime. Now, that’s a good use of your money.
4. Know your credit score - This is a really important number to know. It can prevent or facilitate the purchase of necessary things in life. Having a bad credit score can haunt you for years and years. Get a reporting agency to give you the credit report for all three bureaus. It will cost you some money, but you will have the number and be able to fix any problem issues before it’s too late. And, many times, mistakes are made and your credit report has someone else’s problems on it. This can take years to fix if you don’t take action quickly. So, please spend the $50 and get a good idea of where things stand in your credit world.
5. Push the limits – Max out your 401(k). Yes, the market is rocky, but it’s still a good place to put your money to invest in your future. Determine your riskyness through your age and the closeness to retirement. Keep things a little more conservative if you can’t afford to have too much fluctuation. Either way, many companies provide 401(k) matching programs, which is free money to you. Take advantage of it and max out your contributions. Putting a few dollars in each month can turn in to thousands of dollars when it comes time to retire. It’s worth pinching the pennies now to have security later in life.
That’s about it for me for this week. I’m finally back at my Houston Courier Service this week and am very busy trying to catch up. I hope everyone enjoyed their 4th of July holiday. Let me know if you have any other great ideas for your money.
Until Next Time,
Eric
Social Media and Your Business
Wednesday, June 17th, 2009
Those of you who follow my blog may already realize that I’m relatively new to the world of Social Media. I’ve only been at it for about 6 months, but in that time I’ve learned some valuable lessons that I thought I would pass along.
Before I give you my few tips, I’ll let you in on why a company should be interested in the social media world. The plain and simple facts are that there are thousands of your clients, friends, family and community that are interacting online. They do business online, they maintain relationships online and they get educated online through news articles, websites and blogs. Why not get involved as a representative of your company? It’s easy but it does take a little time. However, this type of grass-roots marketing is worth it when you look at the cost – FREE. Talk about increasing margins… when cost of sales is nothing, sign me up for more of that!
So, here are my three tips:
1) Start a BLOG – Of course I’m going to recommend that you do a blog, considering you are reading mine right now. There are a few different types of blogs. A few examples are: 1) The Personal Blog – this is the most common type of blog and it provides commentary and insight on topics that are of interest to the author. The posts are a bit longer and explore a variety of themes. 2) The Online Journal Blog – This is a shorter, daily version of a blog. It’s less about exploring topics and more about a breakdown of daily occurrences. 3) Video Log – Another version of a blog is when the topics being explored are all recorded on video and provided in that medium to the audience. This is often called a VLOG.
The reasons a company owner should do a blog are countless. For instance, a blog lets you put a name and a face to the company you represent. You give your customers some insight in to who you are, the things that are important to you and the life you lead outside of the business. It also lets you explain certain parts of your business or your industry to those that are interested. Another valuable part of the blog is it’s effectiveness within the search engines. Blogs will help your company’s natural rankings go higher so that new customers can find you when searching for keywords related to your business.
A word of caution when writing a blog – try to keep it varied in topic and interesting. For instance, I have a Houston Courier Service, but if I wrote about how great my courier service was every single time I wrote a post, my blog readers would lose interest very quickly. Think about how you run your business and what insight you have learned that could help other business owners. Use your blog as a way to help others, not just to pontificate about how great your business is.
2) Get a Twitter Account - When I first heard about Twitter, I did not think it would catch on at all. Who would want to do updates throughout the day about random things? Turns out, it’s really easy to get in to. With all of the additional platforms that make it extremely easy to manage (TwitterBerry, TweetDeck, etc…), “Tweeting” is actually a fun way to reach customers or potential customers in your area. Many of the Fortune 100 companies have a Twitter account where customers like you and me can see what goes on in an average day at their company.
Will you get customers from Twitter? Well, it depends. Having followers and following people in your area gives you a chance to become aware of events and things that you may not have known about. Attending these events can provide a way to get face-to-face time with potential customers who may need your product or service. If you use the Twitter account as a way to get your foot in the door, then sure, you can definitely get new business from your FREE Twitter account.
A word of caution about Twitter – Do not push your company in every single Twitter post. Like a blog, your followers will get bored with your Tweets and “unfollow” you. Make your Tweets interesting, include links, pictures, funny thoughts, etc… Throw in a word about your business, but not in an overwhelming way. Keep the balance. Oh – and one more thing – many followers can see right through a “fake account” – so, keep it real.
3) Get a Facebook Account – Millions and Millions of people are on Facebook. Your employees, your friends, your grandmother, etc… This social media website has an extremely broad demographic that spans all ages, all genders, all cultures, etc… Why not create a page for you and for your company? Create a Group so people can follow your company and the events that are occurring. And the great thing is that you can link your Blog, Twitter and Facebook together so that all three update when one is changed. Post a blog and your Twitter and Facebook accounts can automatically inform your followers of the new blog with a link to it. Post a Twitter Update and not only do your Twitter followers get it, but so do all of your Facebook followers. It’s easy to set up and amazing to see the impact it can have on your business.
Those are my three tips for Social Media and your business. There are plenty more ideas that you can incorporate – Digg, StumbleUpon, Squidoo, etc… If you are interested in more information, please feel free to comment and I can send more over. Just remember, I am still new at this myself and trying to figure out what works and what is a waste of time. But, I’m more than willing to help you and your business move in to the Social Media world.
Till Next Time,
Eric
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