Sep 30

This is simple, just do all the household work so she doesn’t have to.  Three times a day take the dogs out for a nice long walk to the park where you play ball, pick up their poop, and tire them out so they don’t bother you for a couple of hours.  In between dog walks, clean the pool and make sure the chemicals are maintained so that she can take a swim whenever she wants.  Once that is complete make sure you have plenty of groceries to make a nice lunch right before you take the dogs out for another walk.  Repeat this three times a day and before you know it, you will be ready for bed and your wife will be happy.

You could make er even happier by doing all this plus making time for her.  How is this possible? You could hire out all this work to people that specialize in these things.  For instance I used to live in Scottsdale and I would look up Pet Sitting Services in Scottsdale to find someone who could take care of my dogs at least once a day and free up some of my time.  I would also look for Phoenix Pool Care Services and just let them keep my pool clean.  I also found a service where that gives you great quotes on all household services.  Although hiring out these services saved a lot of time and made the wife quite happy, it didn’t save very much money though.

Sep 29

Lately we have seen national driving schools offering lessons for a very cheap price. Is it therefore really possible to make a good living as a driving instructor as the advertising would have us believe?

I believe that there are currently twice as many instructors as there were 4/5 years ago and new pupils wanting to learn to drive are down about 5% over the same period. Very competitive times indeed and offers like those of the national driving schools are indicative of this situation.

Resting on ones laurels is no longer an option and any instructor/driving school needs to be very pro-active if they are to sustain, or dare I say grow, their business. This would include networking, a website for your driving school (not a stale historic site but an evolving, growing site - pupil testimonials is a must), directory listings etc. Yes, it may be a bit of work but, being an independent driving instructor is not a job, it is a business - your business.

Give yourself a competitive advantage whenever you can. I see many listings on the Driving Schools Directory that basically say, as an example:

Towns:
Staines

Additional School Information:
Pleasant & relaxed instructor.

On the application they are encouraged/told to complete ALL towns & villages and not just the principal towns - it is amazing what some people will search for - but they don’t. Staines, Egham, Laleham, Thorpe, Thorpe Lea, Stanwell, Stanwell Village etc. should have been inserted.

Additional info - come on, is that all they really offer? What about some background, track record, pass rates, type of car, why they are different/unique etc. Entice them to make some sort of contact with you.

Like it or not, it is a sales process/advert and prospects are likely to be attracted to a listing that has a little more to say about themselves - prospects are searching for information to make a decision about who to take their driving lessons with - help them make their decision! Don’t rely on them phoning you to start a relationship, you just may not get that far!

I think what I am trying to say here is that I am sure there are better things to compete on other than just price. If everyone did that we as driving instructors may well be registering as charities as part of the training process in the not too distant future.

Sep 29

Deciding what present for a family member is never an easy task. Typically it can be a struggle to find gifts for even your tightest friend. There is so much to look at and I will usually find myself thinking will they like it and what does this gift say about me. The trick is in buying them a present they would like and enjoy. Typically this means conducting some research first although you can typically find a range of things out by asking a few questions.

You will always hear all sorts of old wives tales when looking for presents especially if your trying to buy clothing or shoes. I remember being told that if you buy a girl shoes, she’ll walk out of your life and that buying accessories like a watch can destroy your relationship. Both these statements may or may not be true but I can offer some useful advice when buying clothes.

First things first, when it comes to buying clothing do your research first. Make sure to find out the size someone is whether it is shoe size, trousers or a simple t-shirt. This is more important than you think because if you buy clothes that are too small then people may be disappointed but if you buy too big a size then that may be viewed as insulting. The next thing to do is to investigate the clothing they already have. This will help you to work out what styles they are into and what clothes work best for their body.

When buying for younger people it is important to look at the clothes they have already. Young people view clothing differently as it helps to establish who they are. For example there is no point buying some bright Paul Frank clothes for a Goth that wants to have black pvc trousers. Investigate first, you could even enlist the help of a best friend or partner by asking them if Vince likes SupremeBeing clothing or if he likes this sort of SupremeBeing clothing. If you follow these simple steps then you should be able to find a shirt, hooded sweatshirt or jeans that he wants.

 

 

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