Take a look at this post and tell me... how would you answer the salad question??? http://jobmob.co.il/blog/tricky-job-interview-questions-answers/



Job interviewers know about interview training and techniques and now they want to ask you something to catch you off guard. So how would YOU answer the salad question? I am still thinking on it http://amplify.com/u/a1cfa0

Two shares from me today... One on clearing your desk from the lovely Yolanda Facio, the productivity expert over at Red Hot Momentum. Go take a look and embrace your pile. http://www.redhotmomentum.com/learn-to-tame-the-piles-on-your-desk/



And how do you hear your blog's community now we have so many outposts? http://bestbloggingtipsonline.com/5-listening-tools-you-can-use-to-hear-your-blogs-heartbeat/ If you have a listening tool come and share with us

Sarah http://amplify.com/u/a18k4e

Automating your blog post promotion will kill your audience

URL:  http://www.birdsontheblog.co.uk/automating-your-blog-po...

thoughts? Do you automate? How does that compare with your manual results?

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bsl7d

Can you use social media in an offline business?

A guest post here, and in it I talk about our experience as a service based offline business and how we use social media tools such as Twitter and Facebook.



Is there a business that could not benefit from some aspect of social media?



There must be one.... there always is!



Sarah

Amplify’d from www.smallbusinessbranding.com

When people talk about social media, sites like Facebook and Twitter they often talk about return on investment and monetizing it. If I told you I invested 3 hours a week and got a significant return would you believe me? Would you believe me if I told you I was a brick and mortar business and not a social media business?

If you are a chatty helpful person then you can do well with social media too.

Set up your searches for your keywords, and talk back to people that need help.

Direct them to pages on your blog that can help and ask them to ReTweet if they found it useful.

If people are in other countries direct them to a Twitter user or blog in their own country for help. You make two new friends that way.

Nearly 20 billion searches a month are performed on Twitter so once a day Tweet out what you do and a link to your website so you are found in the searches. Mine goes out at around 4am in the morning so it can be found but not annoy my regular followers. Read more at www.smallbusinessbranding.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/anyxi

Quantity of Backlinks you need to raise PR

Wow....

Amplify’d from publisher-tricks.us

Well, I was looking on the Internet for how many backlinks you actually need to raise your PR and What PR do they need to be and I found this useful calculator. Hope you people find it useful.

To achieve PR2 you need 101 PR1 or 18 PR2 or 3 PR3 or 1 PR4/5/6/7/8/9/10

To achieve PR3 you need 555 PR1 or 101 PR2 or 18 PR3 or 3 PR4 or 1PR 5/6/7/8/9/10

To achieve PR4 you need 3055 PR1 or 555 PR2 or 101 PR3 or 18 PR4 or 3 PR5 or 1 PR 6/7/8/9/10

To achieve PR5 you need 16803 PR1 or 3055 PR2 or 555 PR3 or 101 PR4 or 18 PR5 or 3 PR6 or 1 PR7/8/9/10

To achieve PR6 you need 92414 PR1 or 16803 PR2 or 3055 PR3 or 555 PR4 or 101 PR 5 or 18 PR6 or 3 PR7 or 1 PR8/9/10

To achieve PR7 you need 0.5M PR1 or 92414 PR2 or 16803 PR3 or 3055 PR4 or 555 PR5 or 101 PR6 or 18 PR7 or 3 PR8 or 1 PR9/10

To achieve PR8 you need 2.8M PR1 or 0.5M PR2 or 92414 PR3 or 16803 PR4 or 3055 PR5 or 555 PR6 or 101 PR7 or 18 PR8 or 3 PR9 or 1 PR10

To achieve PR9 you need 15M PR1 or 2.8M PR2 or 0.5 PR3 or 92414 PR4 or 16803 PR5 or 3055 PR6 or 555 PR7 or 101 PR8 or 18 PR9 or 3 PR10

To achieve PR10 you need 84M PR1 or 15M PR2 or 2.8M PR3 or 0.5 PR4 or 92414 PR5 or 16803 PR6 or 3055 PR7 or 555 PR8 or 100 PR9 or 18 PR10

That would be the table, M stands for Millions and, remember that it is OR, it doesn’t mean you need all of them, it is one or another.

Published by AdSense tricks Read more at publisher-tricks.us

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/jzo6

Where does the money from our blog go?

Our revenue from Birds on the Blog is quite low, too low to split between the contributers. So we put it to good use, we pay for the education of twin girls in Uganda.



A worthwhile cause.



If you visit our blog you can read more, if you subscribe to our newsletter you will get in just in time for our free Christmas gift to you.



Sarah

Amplify’d from www.birdsontheblog.co.uk

With that out of the way we headed to the school. The children put on a song and dance for the parents and it was heart warming to see. We had drinks and bites courtesy of Hastoe Housing Association staff who selected this community as their overseas project

I sneaked off and had a meeting with the Head Teacher to see how he was settling (only been with us for 3 weeks) and also met the Girls’ teacher. She gave me a sneak preview of their end of year class reports. Although they are only 5 they had to do exams, Perfect was 5th out of 80 and Princess was 12th, whilst their older sister Cycline was 5th out of 30. Their best subjects are English and Maths. I can’t tell you how proud that made me feel. I also learned that our contributions were enough to cover Cycline’s fees last year so we have have sponsoring all 3 girls!

See more at www.birdsontheblog.co.uk

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/i7y6

Blogs and the snow

Gosh what a week in the UK. Yes this is my obligatory snow post :)



Earlier this year we had snow and I blogged and video'd a few snow posts. Driving in the snow is here



You can see Ken talking about his snow tyres here.



Jackie Walker shares the seduction of snow here and how she has prepared for it in Scotland.



Are you prepared for the snow?



Sarah



Sameday couriers

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/h1qp

5 Ways to Win More Business with Google Places

Interesting - are you using Google places?

Amplify’d from www.toprankblog.com

With the rise of smart phone use in the US, (Google Android and iPhone are currently reporting roughly 500,000 activations a day ) it’s more important than ever to have your Google places listing up to speed because when people use voice search on  Android phones, the first results they see are from Google local.

With the recent Google launch of Hotpot, Google is entering the local recommendation space.   Hotpot combines Google Places, the places you like and the places your friends like making it even easier for people to make decisions about which local businesses to patronize. Read more at www.toprankblog.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/fuv3

Do you have an interest in Africa?

If you do, have you met Ida Horner?



Over at Birds on the Blog, we adopted twin African girls through one of Ida's charities. Ida helps African women generate business through her site Ethnic Supplies. The women make the products and Ida sells them, and the women get paid a sustainable income.



Ida never asks for herself, she has only ever asked for the women in Africa who depend on her.



Well, one of Ida's customers went bust owing her a lot of money. That puts her December trip to Uganda in jeopardy.



If she doesn't go, there will be no more work for the women involved in her projects. Communities will be affected. Families affected. Children affected. Ok, I guess it's not as big as Bono pulling our of Africa :), but people need her help, she's their hand up.



Ida blogged about it and the African community have rallied and tried to help her, they even have their own hash tag (which came about as a bit of humour in a tough situation). It's #AfricanCyberBegging. Her request is here - Airmiles to Africa



So I will ask you, do you have any airmiles, points from loyalty cards that can become airmiles. Can you help us to send Ida to Africa, so she can continue her work.



Would you consider buying one gift from her site as a Christmas present if you don't have airmiles to donate?



Please click the Airmiles to Africa link and tweet it out.



Together we can help someone, it doesn't take a lot if we work together.



Sarah

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/eit7

A week on the road

This week we have blogged mainly on road safety.



We got Kevin in front of the Flip and started filming the first in a series of videos. I am sooo not impressed by the hat, and see if you notice a small change around half way through.







In the article there is mention of a handy iPhone app that can help you find the accurate pressure of your tyres! No more under-inflating and lots of fuel saved! It's a great post to check out -http://arrowlighthaulage.co.uk/arrowblog/1807/check-your-tyres/



We also talked about a dangerously more common  drugged driving. Not illegal drugs but over the counter prescriptions. You can read more here - http://arrowlighthaulage.co.uk/arrowblog/1796/are-you-drugged-driving/



Doug Jenner gets creative in his writing and tells us the tale of jealousy and misery, and for the record our other woman is called Mrs Hawkins :)



http://www.blokesontheblog.co.uk/dear-mum-and-dad/



Kev also wrote briefly on shed delivery... yeah sheds :)



So that is our week on the road, in blogs.



Sarah



Same day couriers

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/e6z4

Should you work with a writing coach?

URL:  http://www.birdsontheblog.co.uk/working-with-a-writing-...

If you are a budding novelist, writer or blogger... should you work with a writing coach?

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/dui6

Blogging and twitter whirl....

This week I felt terrible. I realised I had been neglecting my newly resurrected Amplify blog :(



So an update is in order...



Last weekend I wrote on my sandpit blog about stealing other peoples blogs. It got good traffic but no comments (I can live with that ;) )

The other day, by accident I came across a courier company who had taken one of my ezine articles and stripped my links out of it, then posted it as their own work.



So I pinged over a ‘cease and desist’ email and got a hugely patronising response back…



No need for threats here …. I’m VERY, VERY sorry and I will more careful in the future … I was just worried about who I was linking to and was lazy not to check it out … I used an article once that pointed my visitors to porn …



So Laura … could you send me the html that you would like me to add to my article and I will get it up ASAP …. or would you rather me remove the article?



Awaiting your reply …



Bruce



Well, I tore Bruce a new backside for stealing my work. The annoying thing is, he could have used it correctly and linked back and no damage would have been done. Right now I know a few things about Bruce that he thinks I don’t... Stealing other people's blog posts

So, he gets your name wrong, big deal you may think. Well this guy is trying to make a living delivering things, he should have an eye for detail or he'll collect the wrong cargo!



Over at Business on Twitter (owned by the lovely Nikki Pilkington, who lets me have a weekly column to write about twittery things) I wrote about Carol Vorderman and how she is giving away her shoes on twitter... yes really. She has kipper feet ;) (only teasing).

Is there something business related that you can give away via twitter that would benefit many?



Remember, this isn’t just Carol Vorderman giving away her shoes, she has to package them and send them, so it’s costing her money to do this. So if you are planning a series of giveaways for physical products then you need to factor in all the costs.



Does a physical product giveaway work better on twitter?



If you have an exclusive product that would benefit from great ‘Word of Mouth’ then a physical giveaway is a great idea. If it’s portable, then people will show it to other people and talk about the product. It may lead them to searching you out on twitter or searching for the product.



That doesn’t work quite so well for a generic product as the search may not lead back to you and your business.

I also wrote about twitter turning us into a nation of whingers. It seems like we have ceased to use a complaints procedure and gone full bent on moaning about companies using social media tools.

There is something utterly repellent about someone who whines all the time. Lately when I look on twitter, someone whom I am following is whining about something, if it’s not #Barclays it’s #BT, if it’s not them it’s some other big name being berated for not doing something for one of their customers.



Let’s be honest with each other here, if you were the boss of BT, how likely would you be to go on twitter? If it was me, I’d say no way, I get nagged enough at work. Does Engagement really mean answering a never ending stream of gripes from customers?



Is twitter turning us into a nation of whingers

I have wrote over at blogmistress too, my usual column about the love involved in a multi author blog :) Will make that tomorrow's Amplify! :)



I shall leave you with Chainsaws...

Getting social media - yes people who 'get it' and acting like smug marrieds have been winding me up this week. So I took a chainsaw to them. I don't get social media is here

Let's not be strangers :)



Sarah

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/dpvu

Prepping for Christmas deliveries

Working for a sameday courier company means a lot of the work is ad hoc, and because it is left to the last minute it becomes a premium service. 11 months a the year that works perfectly. Except for December.



In December time seems to get shorter. As an ethical business we will not take work if we cannot complete it, although there are many national parcel companies that will take the packages and do their best, even if that means the parcel sits in the warehouse over Christmas.



We also have watched vans go out overloaded and understaffed, that also means you don't get your goods in time for Christmas. It also means when stores are cutting costs that you don't always get the service you require-

So the courier company will give the shop/warehouse several prices -

• Two man team, dedicated delivery



• Two man team, no fixed time



• Delivery on a dedicated vehicle



• Delivery on a specific schedule, a working driver

Guess which one is the cheapest? Did you say the last one? Given the choice of the 4 options, and the store knowing you have disabilities / no parking / no one home until lunch, they always go for the cheapest.



Just blame the delivery guy

As a consumer there are things you can do to prevent Christmas presents being stuck in a depot...



Get things prepped early.



Ask if there is terminology that you don't understand.



Ask if there are any expected delays



Be prepared that if you leave things to the last minute you have two options - cheap and it risks non delivery, expensive but guaranteed delivery with a same day courier. Same day couriers are the only courier services that have a 100% effective guarantee. Don't believe me? check the small print of the guaranteed deliveries...



Sarah

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bsa2

Where do you go when a scammer targets you?

Have you ever been targeted by a scammer or what looks like a deal that is too good to be true?



What do you do?



I am fortunate, I hate met and spoke to Charles at Scam Detectives. So when we got a scam email, I knew it was a scam and although my husband wasn't so sure it was a scam (but it was indeed a fraud), we forwarded it to Charles who verified, yes indeed it was a scam.



You can read about the latest courier and hauliers scam in more detail over at Charles' blog.



Hope this helps you avoid the scammers out there



Sarah

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/b2qv

Exploring the Landlord / Tenant relationship

After reading an online friends plea for housing help the other day, I became interested in the relationships between Landlords and Tenants.



So I started to look at what resources there were out there, and one led me back to Tessa Shepperson's site, where I guest blogged back in the summer.



She has a good post about what the actual responsibilities of being a landlord actually means. something I am not sure all property investors understand, but soon come to learn. I know I learned real fast.

Landlord responsibilities are not the first thing most people think about when they consider investing in property. But it is important to realise that if you become a landlord, you are taking on legal obligations as well as an income stream.



What being a Landlord really means

Tessa also tackles Common Law, and what it actually means.

Non lawyers often seem to think that there is this vast body of statute which details everything, so that somewhere there will be an act of Parliament saying whether their landlord has to get rid of the wasps nest in the loft and how long their notice period should be.



Some of these things will be covered by statute but others won’t.  What do you do then?  This is where the Common Law comes in.

Again handy to know from both points of view.



Whilst I didn't find the solution to my friends scenario, I did realise what a great resource this site is and wanted to share that.



And my guest blog ... Moving on a budget is here if you want to take a look.



Sarah

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/axt2

Getting the best possible service from your courier

Booking a courier service is not rocket science (and even rocket science is fairly simple to a rocket scientist ;) ).



There are a few things that are useful to know first though - What type of courier service is needed?, is your chosen courier allowed to transport it? and what can you do to avoid the pitfalls and stopping your deliveries from going wrong?

The right kind of courier service is essential if you are looking to save yourself money getting something delivered. If it’s fragile or high value you will need a same day courier service. If it’s low value and durable a parcel courier or the local post office are the better options.



Resource: Avoiding mistakes with your courier service

Same day courier services – For urgent items that MUST be there today. These are dedicated delivery vans and the driver that collects, is the driver that delivers. Sometimes known as express delivery courier.

• Fragile deliveries are safer, much less chance of breakages



• High value goods are covered by the higher insurances offered



• Without transhipping – reduces the chances of your cargo or freight getting lost to zero



• Reliable, fast, dedicated delivery for when it has to get there on time and in one piece

Next day courier or OverNight Courier – Less urgent cargo or freight, can be delivered overnight if required.



Parcel Courier – Services similar to the Royal Mail, they mass deliver many small parcels and packages. This type of courier service is  ideal for small items that are not very valuable (less than £250).



Resource: Types of courier services

Using the right type of courier for your business will help you save money and time, so a little research first is essential.



Sarah

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/aj8v

Fuel Saving

With the price of fuel due to go up (again), are you looking at ways to drive more fuel efficiently?



We have some tips, please add some as well

In my last two blogs we looked at preparation for fuel efficiency and wasting fuel on small local journeys. In this blog we’ll look at the actual driving aspect of fuel conservation.

http://www.kent-business-buzz.co.uk/saving-fuel-while-driving-part-three/



Driving greener has the much welcomed benefit of saving you money. If you have to drive, following our tips and tricks will allow you to maximise the usage of your vehicle and your fuel.



http://arrowlighthaulage.co.uk/arrowblog/52/fuel-saving-tips/



What are your fuel saving tips?



Sarah

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/ag8d

This is my first post on Amplify! Testing, Testing ... http://arrowlighthaulage.co.uk/arrowblog/1699/want-us-to-use-your-fuel-cards/ http://amplify.com/u/ad48

This is my first post on Amplify! Testing, Testing ... http://arrowlighthaulage.co.uk/arrowblog/1699/want-us-to-use-your-fuel-cards/ http://amplify.com/u/ad48

Spare a thought for our troops please and sign here.

Whatever you feel about war, the soldiers are the ones that pay. They pay for the decisions of politicians regarding where and who to fight, they pay for the failures on budgets, they are the ones that follow the orders.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

When I was alerted to this, I felt real sad. My wife wanted to join the RAF, and if she'd this would have been a lifeline to us, as it is to many soldiers. Soldiers are people, with family and friends who maintain hope and keep them motivated.

Please see below a petition to keep the British Forces Post Office from closing. This means that all free post (under 2kgs) to Afghan will be stopped amongst other things.
Below is a quote from Sky News.
"When the servicemen and women of our country are fighting and dying for this government's dubious honour, it treats them with the contempt it has shown across the board," he said. "The BFPO has for decades provided a lifeline that is utterly vital in maintaining moral and now they want to cut it. "MPs have granted themselves £7,000 a year postage - but they seem to be happy to put extra costs on service families. How typical, how venal, how vile."
Please sign the petition.
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/SaveBFPO/

Whatever you think, please spare a few minutes to add your signature to the petition.

Regards

Kevin Arrow