Jenny’s Review Place

I feel really embarrassed to admit that I am not done my shopping for Christmas yet.  I have always prided myself as being proactive when it came to Christmas, and I am usually done by the end of November.

But not this year.

Ever since I knocked my diploma frames off the wall at my office, I had a slew of bad luck.  Everything from my car catching on fire, to slipping on ice and breaking my leg.  It has definitely been rough for the past month.

Since I was dealing with all these crises, I had no time or desire to go shopping.  So, I find myself sitting here, madly pouring over site after site trying to find the perfect gift for each person on my list.

I feel really disappointed that I am going about things this way, as I love taking my time when picking out gifts.  In fact, I pride myself in knowing that I look through store after store, searching for the perfect gift for those on my list.

I am afraid that my choices this year might end in disaster, but I will have to see.  Besides, Christmas isn’t supposed to be about the gifts, right?

Technorati Tags: diploma frames

One of the most important things that you can do as a small business owner is to find a way to set your business apart from the competition. There are a lot of things that you can do to accomplish this goal. However there are really only two basic approaches that are available to you:

1. Find your niche. The main way to set yourself apart from the rest of the people in your industry is to find a niche that very few other people are doing. For example, if you own a candle company then you might want to specialize in soy candles, biodegradable candles or edible candles. These are unique approaches to the candle business and would make you different from your competition.
2. Do the job better than anyone else. You don’t have to have a unique niche product if you are capable of beating out the competition by doing a better job than they do. If you can offer lower prices, faster service or higher-quality products than the industry average then you’ll do well in your business.

You will find lots of little ways to distinguish yourself from your competition but chances are that most of them will fall into one of these two categories. Plan your business strategy around one of these methods.

Technorati Tags: candle company, soy candles

After buying a new 12 Megapixel digital camera, I found myself in the position of not knowing what size of memory card to buy.  I know, it might sound a little silly, but you have to bear in mind, my last digital camera was only 2 Megapixels with a “big” 128 Mb card.

So when I was at the store, I had some questions for the sales clerk as to how big I needed to go.  I had plans to take pictures at the highest resolution, but at the same time I wanted to do video as well.  I knew that we were planning a vacation early on next year and we would be gone for two weeks, so I wanted to make sure that I wouldn’t run out of space during that time.

The sales clerk suggested a 4 GB memory stick pro duo for my Sony camera.  When I asked if I could use another memory card such as a SD multimedia card, I learned that only the memory stick would fit in my camera.

I just hope that the sales clerk was right when it comes to the size of the memory card that I needed.  It would be inconvenient if he is wrong and I can’t take pictures every day that we are gone.

Technorati Tags: memory stick pro duo, SD multimedia card

Do you want to get Cisco training? Or do you need to get your Cisco certification in order to compete in today’s job market? If so then you are probably wondering how you are going to be able to afford to take these classes.

Here are five ways to save money on your Cisco training courses:

1. Have your employer pay for it. Many employers will subsidize the cost of your education if it benefits you in your work. This is true even today when employers are stingier than ever before.
2. Take classes online. If you do Cisco online training course then you won’t need to pay for transportation to and from your classes. This should save you at least a little bit of money.
3. Travel to India to get certified. It is possible to take very low cost classes in other countries like India. If you are able to get a cheap ticket to one of these places then it could be cheaper to do your certification this way.
4. Look for coupons. Believe it or not you can sometimes find coupon codes for getting your Cisco training done at a bargain.
5. Write it off. If nothing else then you might be able to write off the cost on your taxes as a business expense.

Technorati Tags: Cisco online training, Cisco training courses

The end of the year is almost upon us. Unless you run on a fiscal year instead of a calendar year, this means that you need to take a serious look at your 2009 business spending right now. You want to see if you have money left over this year that should be invested back into the business. If so, use it before December 31st because you’ll be able to deduct the expenses off of your taxes in a couple of months.

What should you buy before the year ends? You want to buy things that your business truly needs and will benefit from having. You also want to make sure that these are things that you can write off as real business expenses on your taxes. This is especially true if you work for yourself from home.

For example, you wouldn’t necessarily want to get the fancy light fixtures from Elk Lighting that you have been eyeing if you’re a freelance writer. It may be hard to justify writing those off. Then again, if you own an art gallery that could really benefit from those lights then it would be a great expense. Otherwise choose things like a one-time deep cleaning service, much-needed computer or office equipment or new marketing tools for the business.

Technorati Tags: elk lighting, light fixtures