KnowYourPro

You hear a lot of clatter from the right-wing these days about (what else?) WELFARE and Unemployment. Some people still don't get it, so I am going to try to paint a picture of what these socialist programs actually do.

Welfare and unemployment are nothing more than the federal government SUBSIDIZING CONSUMERISM when the private sector isn't creating enough jobs to do it on it's own! Simple, right? Think of welfare and unemployment as a simple way to get 'spending money' into the hands of the people who need it most- Corporate America!

Even when times are good in this country, many people will be out of work. Some people will never work, either due to laziness, lack of brain power, lack of motivation etc... Annoying? Sure. But I'm not going to get all bent out of shape over it. Every penny they get in their federal checks goes right back into the system.

But I am willing to make a case against both Welfare in it's current form, as well as the extension of unemployment.

In the case against welfare, you have a large number of people who deserve better and they don't even realize it. I would propose adding state-run work programs. The able-bodied people that collect checks might as well get out of their homes and do something productive every day, right? Clean the sidewalks, paint public buildings, take care of publis spaces, beautify the neighborhoods. Not only will people be earning the spending money they get, but I do believe they would feel empowered and more confident. Having a purpose is important, and our government should no longer be content with allowing some people's sole purpose to be CONSUMING. There has to be more to life than that, for everyone.

As far as unemployment goes, we all know people who have needed it. We know people who maybe turned down a job or two because they'd make less than their weekly check too... right? We all pay into the system, so we should all be able to use it. There is no question. But again, when you have 10%+ unemployment in this country, and a private sector that has shipped off millions of jobs over the last couple of decades, you need to put a foot or two down! The private sector got their massive tax cuts from George W. Bush. What did they accomplish? Well, the rich got more of our money- that's for sure. But in terms of these tax cuts helping businesses small and large create jobs, I think we can largely agree that is pretty much a dead theory. It didn't work, it will not work. What we need is ethical business practices. We need corporate infrastructures that value American jobs and success. How many companies got bail out money and kept all the dough to themselves? How many of those companies continued closing down shop and shipping jobs to other countries?

PROFIT AT ANY COST MUST DIE.

If the private sector (namely the large, sociopathic corporations), is unwilling to create and maintain decent jobs, they cannot receive government support! Seems easy enough. As for unemployment itself, is there an alternative? Perhaps government run housing/food and clothing programs for the unemployed to use until they find work again?

Why do we keep subsidizing the failures of these reckless big businesses?

Why is Welfare so demonized?

Why is there such a lack of innovation and willingness to change?


Lastly, why does our government want us to be a bunch of babied CONSUMERS instead of strong-willed, thinking, useful CITIZENS?


What do you think? Can anything be done?


JM

To answer the question of the new century, I turn to my instinct.

LeBron James will........



STAY IN CLEVELAND.


It's where his heart is. It's where he made his promise to bring a championship. And it's exactly where most 'experts' think he is LEAST LIKELY to end up. Going with my gut here, I think he will remain in Cleveland for a few more years. He's young, he can do anything he wants. And for him, money probably has very little to do with it. What he gives up from signing with a team willing to give him more in salary, he will most likely make up by snagging a new endorsement gig.


I can't wait to find out if I am right!


JM

No need for fine print here- this is very simple. Become a member by creating a ProFile, and you are automatically entered to win an Amazon Gift Card.

Eligibility- New and old KnowYourPro members, other than the owners of the site (Paul Mondello and I).

Dates- Become a member by 05/31/10 to be eligible. Drawing to be held 06/01/10.

Prize- One Grand Prize- an Amazon.com Gift Card in the amount of our total membership count, up to $500. This will be a fun way to reward our membership base. We now have 80 members, that would mean an $80 gift card. 120 members=$120 gift card. If we exceed 500 members, we will still only give away a $500 gift card.


Create your FREE ProFile today, and take advantage of all we have to offer!

Jennifer Monastero 

In case you haven't heard, petroleum is going to run out sometime in the future. That means our gas-hogging vehicles will need to find an alternative means to get moving.

Forget about the  fact that vehicles are not supposed to run on petroleum-based products. Forget the fact that Hemp oil and other vegetable oil products were what Henry Ford had in mind. Forget the fact that we give control over oil prices to a finicky investment market who's whims cost us billions. Forget the fact that off-shore drilling has just taken a nasty PR hit and wouldn't solve our price problems to begin with.

Electric cars will eventually be a viable, and very cool, alternative. Take a sneak peek at these cars: http://www.hybridcars.com/electric-car 

My favorite is the Aptera 2e. It's a three-wheeled, all-electric, head-turner of a ride. I want one so bad I may actually move to California and get on their waiting list. I would actually sell a kidney to have one. And that sets up problem number one: Cost. Many electric cars are out of the price-range to make them truly attractive to the masses. 15,000 dollars can't buy you a cool electric car. You'd be better off suping up a golf cart. Sure, you can get a shoebox for a decent price, but not a hot Aptera 2e, or a Tesla Model S. Oooohhhhh, what I wouldn't give. I suppose that's not really a problem as that's the way car prices are- pay more, get a cooler ride. Very simple.

Problem number two is battery life- how can you take a long trip with an electric car? You really can't, unless you don't mind a 6 hour pit-stop every 100 miles or so. Unless they find a way to make the batteries more light-weight and interchangeable, we have a wall to tear down. The current plan is to have 'refueling stations' in cities across the country. You stop, you plug in, you wait. But what if the batteries were set up in such a way as to make it possible to switch them out instead? You stop in for 'refueling', and instead of plugging in, the crew takes out your discharged batteries and replaces them with a fully charged, ready to go, set. Is it possible? Yes. Anything is possible, this is the United States dammit. Home of innovation and technology. Well, it used to be.

Believe it or not, we now lag behind other countries like China and even India in certain forms of technology. Why? Because the idiotic American consumer is unwilling to make changes. I STILL see Ford Excursions on the road. Hummers have come back in full force. These gigantic, heavy, globs of metal and plastic that take so much energy to run have become our way of life.

My parents had five kids. We never even had a station wagon. A mother of two does NOT need a Lincoln Navigator (8 miles to the gallon??) to go GROCERY SHOPPING! Grow a brain people! We spend hundreds of billions of dollars on oil every year, most of that going OUT OF THE COUNTRY. This cannot keep up if we are going to see any sort of progress.

The time to get a vehicle that runs on something other than Dinosaur blood is fast approaching. What will make electric vehicles more enticing to consumers? How could automakers that are struggling use these new innovative products to regain some prosperity? What is going to have to happen before we start looking at ALL alternative power sources instead of chanting 'Drill baby drill'??? 

I, for one, and saving up for my Aptera 2e. They also make a 2h, which is a hybrid model. 350 miles for a run time. See, innovation kicks ass!


Jen 

I’ve been told that the one thing small business owners need more than anything nowadays is tips on how to save money on stuff by doing things on their own.  There are, of course, resources online that can guide one through any project out there, replete with samples, templates, YouTube’s and all that.  If you got the time, just Google it.  If not, this here bit is a short breakdown of how to create your own direct mail campaign for real estate and related professionals, start to finish, and of course, save some serious dough. 

1.   Market research Is a WASTE of time and money.

Everyone says you have to target your mailing piece to an audience, especially those direct marketing associations and other organizations who charge money for demographic research.  Of course it may work for some industries, but in Real Estate – all men, women and pets were created EQUAL, separated only by their net worth.  So really, your target is whatever you want it to be, easily determinable by the kind of casa prevalent in the area, the size and/or presence of stock portfolio of your average client, and your willingness to pay no attention to anything outside of the dollar signs.  People who buy or sell real estate eat, drink and bleed green.  Remember that.  So check this step off your list.  You are done here. 

2.   Looks Matter – the biggest overstatement.

This crippling thought was imposed on us by the purveyors of anorexic models parading in stuff no one else could ever wear and the sleek glossy ad-creators.  We know nobody normal buys into the whole polished, pretty or color coordinated stuff, so don’t worry.  There is absolutely no need to spend money on graphic design, when you can just as easily do it yourself.  Heck, we all know how to use a crayon, don’t we?  Given the above, designing your very own direct mail piece should take no more than 30 minutes in these two easy steps:

You need graphics and text.  No need to agonize over either of these two.  Hit the net for free photos, clipart or even real estate specific graphics, and snag the first one that appeals to you.  Don’t worry about DPI (resolution) or size.  By the time you are done printing it yourself (see #3), no one will know the difference.  You don’t have to worry about copyright or attribution either, cause what are the chances the creators of the graphic live anywhere near your particular farm?  Statistically, zip, zilch, none-whatsoever.  So just go for it.

As for text – no biggie here either.  Take a look around your office or at the stuff done by your competition and do the same thing.  There is infallible logic in the assumption that the stuff everyone does must work, or people would stop doing it.  Here is what works in real estate: Free Market Report (or any of the euphemisms for same) and a call to action.  A call to action is simply CALL NOW type thing that tells the consumer exactly what you want them to do and gives them the means to do it.  So CALL NOW with the phone number right there is perfect.  Don’t overthink the text - most people won’t read it anyway, they’ll just go straight for your phone number, so remember to make it as huge as possible, and you’re done. 

3.   Printing Quality Matters – total bull.
Here is why: people get so much crap in their mail boxes , especially people who actually have money and remember, those are the only folks you are interested in speaking to, that no matter what you send, it’ll be lost in the giant sea of crap (see number 4).  Heck, if anything, I recommend going with the cheapest printer you can get on ebay.com and really skimpy stock (you know, the type you can pick us at some liquidation sale for virtually nothing).  Save even more by using black toner only!  In those communities, it just may be that the crappier your mailing piece looks and feels, the more chance it has of standing out. 

4.   Consistency Trumps ALL – finally, an absolutely true statement.
Once you decide on your mailing piece, no matter what happens, you have to send it at least once a month to the same area for anywhere from 6 months to 15 years to get any measurable results.  I know that sounds like a lot, but since you’ll be saving all this money on design, photos, printing, market research – you can put it all to good use by bludgeoning the same people over and over again.  It’s proven to work in any market under any economic conditions, guaranteed. 

5.   Reputation + branding. Blah, blah, blah…
If you happen to be one of those agents who works for a big name brokerage with standards for the way their stuff looks, like Sotheby’s or some such obnoxiously ego-driven firm, leave.  Run away to a mom and pop shop, or they will never ever let you do the stuff that I am writing about here.  Nobody cares if you work for Sotheby’s or CraftyRealtorsUnite, it’s all about YOU, not them.  So make sure YOUR NAME is prominently displayed on all your stuff in huge bold letters.  All CAPS are definite attention getters, use lots of them…  Underline, bold AND capitalize everything you want people to remember (and that’s simply YOUR NAME AND PHONE NUMBER).  Trust me, the less subtle, the better. 

6.   It costs too much money to mail stuff. 
True, but if you are smart – it can work out to not costing you a dime.  Call it a power partnership.  Us, industry folks, call it cooperative advertising, but there is nothing cooperative about it.  It’s your piece, and you call the shots.  Here is what you do.  Take your sample design piece, blow it up to poster size (11X17 at the very least) at your local Kinko’s or Staples (it’ll be $3 or $4 bucks well spent), and then simply walk it into all the little stores and businesses you can think of.  For a fraction of the cost of doing they own mailing, they can now occupy a small space on the piece you prepared.  If you make the names/logos of those businesses really small, you can squeeze a dozen or so into the blank spots of a standard 4X6 postcard.  It’s not that hard.  Heck, if you play your cards right, and don’t suck at sales (which being a real estate person, you obviously don’t), you can even make these things profitable.  And then, if you want to take it to the next logical step – you can charge other realtors in a non-competing area for teaching them how to not only get your own direct mail campaign done on the cheap, but how to profit from it.  Now, that’s what I call ancillary income. 

So there you have it.  Here is an example of a DIY card that you can put together in no time.



It’s yours for the taking (less my SouthPark self-portrait, cause that's mine).  And remember in 6 months to 15 years – you should definitely OWN your market.

This is the number one question we get. There are a lot of 'social networking' websites out there in cyberspace, what makes knowyourpro.org so special?

While I would love to share our exciting plans for the future, and all of the cool tools and features we will have, I want to focus instead on our mission. If you compare us to the larger and most-used websites like Facebook and LinkedIn there will be a few glaring differences. Firstly, there will never be spam advertising. The goal of the largest social networking sites has predominantly been data-mining for advertising dollars. The more email addresses they have, the more personal information they have, the greater number of pages they have- all that adds up to more advertising revenue. The problem is, most of the ads are just plain worthless, and sometimes scam related. What is the point of that? Of course, to make money. There has to be something more worthwhile out there than that!

There is a great deal of Anti-Facebook sentiment brewing out there, and while I contemplate dismantling my account there, I do think most people will remain content with the way things are handled and will remain loyal. But, if anyone ever feels like leaving, here is what I can promise you today:

1) No spam ads.

2) No third-party applications.

3) No sale of personal information unless SPECIFICALLY authorized.

4) A friendly community dedicated not only to online networking, but community involvement as well. Instead of playing Farmville, why not start a community garden?

5) Profile information that can be as public or as private as you want with no surprise violations while you weren't looking.

6) Our income stream will always focus on vetted and approved 'Sponsors'- never garbage advertisers. This means a more relevant and community-conscious revenue stream- a win-win.

7) No fees to join- only to sponsor or become a 'Featured Pro'. Members will never be solicited to help us make money- you will have already done your part by making this community a part of everyday life.


As it happens, I just tried to log in to my Facebook account and was told I dont exist. Well, I guess it's for the best.

Goodbye Facebook and all of your silly time-wasting applications. Hello KnowYourPro and your wonderful community of business owners, professionals and consumers!


Jen Monastero
Master of Her Domain
KnowYourPro 

* PAINTING CONTRACTOR 
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CONTACT INFO:        (405) 317- 6723
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http://www.naihp.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage&Itemid=53

Low membership fees and the first event is an anti-HVCC rally in DC.

I'm in love.

I have a few 'pet peeves', and they have one thing in common. Laziness, taken to the extreme.


1) People who don't use their turn signals. I see it all day long, every day of the week. 90% of drivers on Connecticut roads and highways do not bother using their turn signals. Assuming 3 of those people actually have no left arm, that leaves a LOT of folks who are just too lazy and stupid to let people know when they are changing lanes. Would it kill them to flick their left wrist ever so slightly? Is it really that difficult? To get the answer, I spoke with Loretta McSweeney, 94 years old, of Sunset Meadows. I brought her frail and arthritic body out to my truck via gurney. While she was enjoying the fresh air, she said 'Oh boy, I can't wait to drive! I haven't been in a truck since my husband passed in '73, hooray!'. She was so cute. I propped her up in the driver's seat, got in on the passenger side, and said 'Let's go granny! Yeehaw!'. We didn't move. She needed me to turn the key and start the engine. My bad. I forgot her decrepit fingers had little strength left. After I started the truck, she revved that engine and I jokingly yanked it into gear to give it a little goose. We got cruising around the parking lot, and wouldn't ya know it? SHE USED THE TURN SIGNAL. I was so blown away by the fact that a woman with relatively little dexterity could manage to use such a troublesome tool. I asked her why she used it, and how her wrist felt after making such a laborious motion. She simply said 'Oh, that was nothing. I still wipe my own ass, ya know.'. Classy Loretta, real classy.

2) People who litter. I once saw a group of girls in a car driving out of a gas station parking lot throwing wrappers of whatever they had just purchased out the window. I wondered if they were aware that gas stations have garbage cans. I wondered what made a person feel like the Earth IS their garbage can. I wondered if I would get in trouble for running them off the road, or at least into a guard rail. I went walking today through a beautiful wooded area. There were all manner of nasty things strewn about- Twinkies wrappers, water bottles, cigarette packs. Why? Stuff your garbage in your pocket, bring a small bag to put your garbage in, or better yet- don't bring what you can't take out. This is easily the most disgusting thing lazy people do, and it irks me to no end.

3) People who cannot bring their shopping carts to a corral or  at least move them out of parking spaces. True story, unlike McSweeney above. My sister and I were shopping at Bob's clothing store in Danbury a few years ago. We were walking into the store, but saw the most amazing thing in the parking lot behind us so we stopped to watch. There was a shopping cart left by idiot #1 in a parking space. Idiot #2 and his wife pull into said parking space, and proceed to NUDGE the shopping cart INTO THE DRIVING LANE. Neither of them could be bothered to simply exit their vehicle and move the cart to the next spot, or BRING IT TO THE STORE WITH THEM. The wife got out, and came into the store, cartless. What happened next is so shocking, it cannot be shown on TV. The husband didn't get out of his SUV at all, he simply nudged the cart a little further, and drove off, leaving the cart in the middle of a driving lane so that others had to drive around it. SERIOUSLY?! This is acceptable behavior?? If this is not the most perfect example of laziness, I will tell one more. There was an old man (50's, but hey... he acted 110) at a Stop & Shop in Southington. He walked his cart back toward the cart corral, but just couldn't make it all the way there. I presume he had to get back to water so he could breathe again. He left his cart not ten feet from the corral and IN BACK OF ANOTHER VEHICLE. Really, you can't make this up. 


What examples of laziness have YOU seen? What makes you cringe in disgust? 


Jen 

Hey All,

It is time again to take action.  Yes, this is in regard to YOUR INCOME...YSP and SRP.  This is in regard to having the ability to continue to offer valuable services to our clients.  This is about NOT letting our government create order takers out of us by being paid no better than a minimum wage. 

If you are like most, you have not read the entire, long legalize documents of the bill...or understand it if you did make an attempt to read it.  Want to hear what the Federal Reserve is proposing right now to destroy our income?  Download the link below.  It is a call with Sue Woodard, Barry Habib and Paul Mondor.  Paul Mondor is an attorney working with the Feds to do away with our income.  THIS IS SHOCKING AND FRIGHTENING.  What they are attempting to do is a joke.

Phone Interview

Why do I bring this to your attention?  Because it is time to TAKE ACTION again.  There is a grass roots effort in an attempt to OPEN UP THE COMMENTS again on this bill.  People, you may be busy...we all are.  If you care about this business at all, your income and your livelihood, MAKE TIME to do this.  There is a CALL TO ACTION that will take a whole 5 minutes of your time.  If you want to take even more time to understand the plea for action, you can listen to the video link on the website.  Go to www.frbcalltoaction.com.  No time right now?  No problem.  Get up an hour earlier or stay up an hour later.  Please...just take action.