Escape the Mundane + Experience the Remarkable

A Simple 5-Step Method to Determine What Book to Read Next from Amazon

Comment
Digital Nomad

If you are like me, you read a lot of books. But no matter how fast you read or how many you have already read, there will always be too many books to easily decide on what book to read next. So I have developed a quick and easy method using Amazon to find your next read:

1. Determine the genre

This is the only step that requires any thought. But luckily Amazon does a good job of guessing what type of books you like to read. Depending on how often you use Amazon, it may take a little poking around to get them to have recommendations for you.

Look through your recommendations and select a random book with a genre that looks appealing. From the book’s main page, you must scroll down a bit to the product details. Most of the time (if it’s a popular book), you will find what categories it ranks well for:

2. Rank by best selling

Once you have found the exact category you are interested in, you will get to the following list. (There is a way to skip the previous step and go directly to the top bestsellers. But I have found that it limits the discovery process, since some books hide in categories you would never think of exploring)


[Read more...]

The Power of Several Job Titles: The Virtual Multi-Hat Negotiation Gambit

2 Comments
Business

Shedding The Status

Job Titles

To an entrepreneur, what’s the difference between a vice president, a director, a general manager, a partner and a chief? Nothing. When creating your corporate governance and management structure, keep this in mind. A job title is nothing more than a tag line on a business card and an email signature. However, job titles in general are one of the most important elements when going into negotiations.

The Multi-Hat Advantage for Entrepreneurs

As a start-up, you are free to label you and your initial employees whatever you want. This means you and your team can virtually be any employee of the business. In essence, you can construct a much larger business in the minds of prospective clients, companies and the public. Do you think the CEO of your competitor is going on sales calls? Probably not. But the senior account manager is. Swallow your pride and shed the founder label. Become the account manager on sales presentations, the director of marketing when buying advertising and the vice president when negotiating for better insurance rates.

Why is this so important?

The most important negotiation tactic to expose upfront is higher authority. And what better way to make the other side assume you have little to no decision making authority than by lowering your job title. [Read more...]

Ten Tips to Save $1000 or More A Year Buying Produce

Comment
Lifestyle

fruits

“Vegetarian – that’s an old Indian word meaning ‘lousy hunter.’”

- Andy Rooney

Living healthy is an important variable in an entrepreneurial lifestyle. I try to eat as much fresh, raw and organic produce as possible. However, this is not cheap. By utilizing these ten tips you will not only save your health, you will save your wallet:

1. Buy flash-frozen fruits and vegetables

When it comes to buying fresh vs. frozen fruits and veggies the only consideration is the nutrient content. However, the small loss of nutrients in a flash-frozen fruit or green is insignificant and thus makes a great alternative for buying fruits, especially varieties that are out of season. Also, frozen fruits are ideal for smoothies.

2. Not everything needs to be organic

(prelude: while the fact that organic is always better for the environment, it’s just not always better for the wallet) There is a common misconception that all produce needs to be organic, while in fact there are many options in which non-organic will suffice if cash flow is tight. One such example is a banana in that the peeling helps protect the inner fruit from any pesticides or other harmful chemicals used in the growing and distribution process. Conversely, keep your items such as leafy greens, berries, and other produce that would have direct contact with the outside world should stay as organic as your budget allows.

3. Farmer’s markets

If you shop at your local farmer’s market, not only will you help save the environment and support your community, you can find extremely good prices. A tip to keep in mind is the later in the day you attend the market, [Read more...]

Quickly Save $10,000 or More a Year: How to Automate Purchasing to Save Time and Money

Comment
Business

stack of money

By utilizing efficient buying techniques, you will greatly free up your valuable time and quickly negotiate for better prices. A need for a new office printer came up so I thought I would put these techniques to the test and the following is an extremely helpful example based on my purchase.

Here is how it works:

[Read more...]