p12, v7.34 — Business News & Trends

Business News & Trends

Mountain Views News Saturday, August 24, 2013

MVNews this week: Page 12

BUSINESS NEWS & TRENDS

Mountain Views News Saturday, August 24, 2013

WHEN LESS COSTS
MORE

TWO FUN HASHTAGS TO EXPLORE

If content is king, consistency is queen, then the Hashtag (#) is Merlin. It’s
the magic ingredient in social media. Hashtags work on Facebook, Pinterest,
Twitter, Vine and Instagram. A hashtag helps users of a social media site
quickly find content on a trending topic posted by others. They are often used during a major
disaster; they give people the opportunity to become virtual reporters and share up-to-the-minute
updates and opinions. But, they are also used around all kinds of topics from job searches (#jobs) to
Justin Bieber (#justinbieber).

If you want to have some fun in your social media strategy, you might explore these two hashtags:

#LifeHack

Life Hacks are the “MacGyver” of the internet.
Remember how he could make anything out
of the ingredients in his pocket? It’s a trending
topic on social media. Lots of people post
interesting solutions to every day problems:
bread tabs that hold your spot on a roll of tape,
paper clips that salvage broken flipflops, cd
containers that store bagels and a variety of
solutions for holding beer, etc. If you search
for #lifehacks on Pinterest, Facebook and
Instagram you will get a ton of content. You
could share these with your audience or you
could come up with your own LifeHack and
join the conversation.

#FlashbackThursday

Thursday is becoming a popular day on social media to share moments from the past. Finally we
have a use for those historical photos that are collecting dust under the bed or in our file cabinets at
work. People are sharing fun images of themselves sporting bell bottoms, beehives, shoulder pads etc.
Businesses are sharing pictures of their first locations, what their street looked like 50 years ago, and
other interesting historical photos of their business and environment. This is great content to share on
social media for a business because it’s interesting to see how far we’ve all come. There is something
fun that happens when old school meets new school technology.

About MJ: MJ and her brother David own HUTdogs, a creative services business that specializes in
Internet Marketing strategies. They are known for providing valuable information at their Social Media
and Email Marketing classes. “Like” them on Facebook for trending news in social media, internet
marketing and other helpful tips, www.facebook.com/hutdogs.

"Timing the market" in real estate doesn't work the way it does with stocks. Homes are bought and
sold more out of necessity than to make an easy buck. However, some indicators give a clue when it's
a good time to buy. Like now!

Despite the fact that rates are low and prices may still drop, now is the time to move if you have good
credit and funds for down payment. It would be a mistake to "wait and see" if rates or prices fall any
more. Why?

Rates are low now because of federal bailouts, but continued low rates can fuel inflation. Fear of inflation
causes "the Fed" to raise those rates. Waiting for a lower price on a home while interest rates rise
could make the home more expensive.

Example: purchasing a home now for $177,000 at 5% could make the total cost around $370,000 by
the end of the loan term. But what if you wait for prices to fall more, and next year you get that home
for $160,000. You saved $17,000 - right? Wrong!

If rates rise 2% during that time, you could pay over $400,000 over the life of the loan - $30,000 more
than if you bought now! If the math is still fuzzy to you, call me and I’ll be glad to crunch the numbers
with you. You'll be glad you did.

BUSINESS TODAY

The latest on Business News, Trends and Techniques

By La Quetta M. Shamblee, MBA

LESS WORK, MORE PLAY

I recall reading a passage in one of many books written by the late renowned best-selling
author, Steven Covey that went something like this, “I worked hard to climb up the career
ladder, then when I got to the top I realized it was leaning against the wrong wall.” This
conveys the experience of people who are so focused on the next promotion and the next
raise until they lose sight of the things in life that are most important. Created from a
combination of the words “work” and “alcoholic,” a workalcoholic is defined as a person who
is obsessively addicted to work.

It is a general belief that the word workalcoholic was introduced into the American lexicon in
the late 1960’s, but it was not until the 1990’s that the term began to be used widely. Initially,
being a workalcoholic was viewed as a positive character trait but over the years it has come
to be associated with high levels of stress, and in its most extreme form may be classified as a
work-related obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.

Working to provide for one’s livelihood is a fact of life, and people who are able to make a
living doing something they absolutely love is the best possible scenario. However, working
excessive hours on a consistent basis, without little to no regard for balancing work to allow
for personal time, has it’s own set of consequences. It is understandable that an employee
may put in extra hours from time to time. But when the extra hours become the rule, as
opposed to the exception, it’s time to take an inventory – especially when the extra hours
begin to interfere with one’s ability to be available for other important things in life, like
family, friends and fun from time to time.

A parent has the best of intentions when they work hard to ensure that their children have
everything that they need and much of what they may want. This often requires long hours
at work, and when those hours are extended on a regular basis, it reduces the availability of
what children want most from their parents – personal time.

In the end, making time for personal relationships and taking time to pursue life’s simple
pleasures are the types of time investments that add meaning to life. Though I’ve not been
able to identify the source of this quote, I find it appropriate to provide context, “No man ever
said on his deathbed, I wish I had spent more time at the office.”

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