Children’s Consignment Events – Clean Out and Cash in For Families
As children grow, parents are always cleaning out the clutter that bombards our homes. Outgrown clothes and shoes to unused toys can easily take over an average American home. What should a family do with all of the extra items they have that are almost good as new? A children’s consignment sale could be the answer.Seasonal children’s consignment sales, help families sell their “gently used” children’s items and allow families to recoup some of the small fortune it takes to raise a child. Here’s how it works. Gather up all of the items that junior no longer needs. It is often best to do this when they are not home so you do not have to fight them to get rid of their old house shoes that are two sizes too small. Sign up as a consignor at your local consignment sale. You are responsible for tagging your own items, that means you get to set the price. Prepare your items by putting them on a hanger and attaching the tag. Once your items are ready for the sale, you just drop it off and wait for the money to start rolling in.Most seasonal consignment sales give 65% of the selling price to the consignor and use the rest of the money to run the sale. There are other benefits to being a consignor as well. Most sales allow consignors and volunteers to shop at an exclusive presale. The presales are held before the sale opens to the public. That means you get the best of the best so you can refill junior’s closet with clothes for the upcoming season. Typically there are also “first time moms” presales for expectant parents. This helps new families get everything they need for the new baby at a fraction of the retail cost.Once the sale is over, consignors can choose to pick up their unsold items or they can donate them to a local charity. Children’s consignments sales are a win-win for consignors and for shoppers. All you have to do is enjoy your uncluttered closets until junior fills them back up.
A Small Business Phone System Puts Small Companies in the Big League
A small business phone system can help a small business to operate more efficiently as well as minimize communication costs. Unfortunately, most phone systems are given little consideration when a business is first starting out. Communication with business clients and customers is essential to any successful business and should be given careful consideration before the final decision is made.There are many different options available to the business owner when looking at a small business telephone system. Most of the time, basic features are needed to conduct business on a day-to-day basis. Things such as call holding, call forwarding, music on hold, and voice mail are all basic features that most businesses use during the course of communicating with customers or clients. For this reason it is important that any system being considered has these options available.Since communication is the core of any business, considerations must be made for how the business operates and which features would be considered most important. As an example, if the business is involved in the delivery of physical products then having a way to communicate with drivers and dispatch deliveries would be important. A small business phone system in this particular case would need to include features that allow the dispatcher to communicate with the drivers as well as sales personnel and other employees scheduling deliveries. This type of system might include a feature that allows extensions to be forwarded to cellular phones so that drivers can be reached simply by calling their extensions.The above scenario is just one of many ways in which having a properly configured small business system can streamline productivity and save the company money. Larger businesses have enjoyed this advanced technology for some time and now many manufacturers are now making these features available to smaller businesses. Technology such as voice over IP and automatic call distribution are now being integrated into small business phone systems.One benefit to small businesses is having an auto attendant to route calls. With this technology in place, there is no need to have someone answering the phone simply to transfer the call to another person. The phone system can route these calls based on the last name of the person they’re trying to reach or entering the extension directly if they happen to know it. If the business does not have an operator, there are ways that the system can be set up to route calls should the caller press zero.Voice over IP technology has become the norm in telecommunications solutions. This technology allows businesses large and small to leverage their existing network for the transmission of voice communication. Phones for small business are now using this technology to allow them to have communication without boundaries. Like their larger counterparts, small businesses are taking advantage of the versatility that voice over IP provides. No longer limited to the office, employees can take their extensions with them so no matter where they’re at, they can conduct business seamlessly. Another advantage to employee mobility is that customers and clients are given one phone number. Giving a client or customer a cell phone number often results in an employee always being available whether actually at work or not. By giving a client an extension on the phone system, they will only be able to reach the employee during normal business hours. The phone system provides a voice mail where the client or customer can leave a message. During times when the employee is at work, the extension can then be forwarded to the cell phone so that the employee can be reached if he or she is out of the office.A large consideration when choosing a small business telephone system is one of supportability. Many smaller businesses do not have internal IT support. For this reason, when purchasing the phone system support should be included in the contract price. However, if the business does have internal IT support they will need to be trained on how to add extensions and provide other basic maintenance that the business needs on a day-to-day basis.Toll fraud can cost a small business lots of money before they realize that it has occurred. Security is of the utmost importance when implementing a small business phone system. Toll fraud occurs when unauthorized calls are made using the phone system and the phone lines attached to it. These calls are often made to overseas locations at the expense of the business. They often don’t realize it until they receive the bill and question the nature of the calls. Most of the time in these cases, the phone company will rarely reversed the charges. This is why it is important that the phone system be set up to minimize this risk. Additionally, a phone system should have the ability to block calls to specific parts of the world or to limit employees to making only local calls if needed.The type of circuit used for phones for small companies is typically what is called a POTS line. POTS, an acronym for “plain old telephone system” is a single phone line identical to what you would see in a typical home setting. The limitation of the POTS line is that it can only handle one phone call at a time. In order for a business to receive more than one call at a time the phone company must bring in multiple POTS lines. They’re then configured in the small business telephone system as a “trunk group”. The phone system then distributes the calls to individual extensions. Due to limitations of standard phone lines, many small businesses are taking advantage of the newer technologies such as voice over IP. Since data circuits can be used for more than just voice traffic, it’s become quite appealing to even the small business owner.A business system is becoming a necessity for many small businesses. In order to compete with larger businesses, the smaller companies must appear bigger than they are. Since many consumers will often go with well-known names, smaller businesses are going to have to work harder to establish Customer confidence. When a customer calls and the call is answered in a professional manner, the customer is more confident about the potential transaction. Having a small business telephone system puts a smaller company on the same playing field as its larger competitors.
Starting Your Online School Experience Off on the Right Foot!
One of the best things to remember about attending an online school is convenience. You will have so many great advantages at your disposal. As long as you learn to use them wisely then your online school experience will be an enriching journey of self discovery and self improvement.The traditional classroom scenario can be quite intimidating to many students for many different reasons. Often times the professor will have an accent to his/her way of speaking. This hint towards some far away land they once called home can add much welcomed interest and diversity. However to some students it will impose confusion and misunderstanding that can complicate an already trying experience. With the convenience of the online classroom you now have the ability to work, study, and learn all at your own pace. That’s not to say that there won’t be any deadlines on papers or tests, because there will be. But the ability to take notes, check references, cross reference online, check in with other students and then get right back to what the professor is professing will prove invaluable.When you are preparing for your online school of choice make sure that you aren’t caught off guard. Just because your class is online it doesn’t mean that the material will necessarily all be contained online. Make certain that you have all supplies necessary for your classes including all of the traditional study material: pens, pencils, paper, folders, and school books. That’s right. Although you may be able to get by without using some of these traditional materials for study, most will find them helpful.When reading material it is very handy to be able to scribble down notes on paper. Later if you wish to organize your notes and type them out I guarantee that it will aid in your ability to remember the subject matter. If you do need to purchase actual physical text books for the online course don’t wait until the last minute! Two of the reasons for your decision to take classes online are probably that you have access to a computer and that you would like to save a little money. So take advantage of that and order your specific (exact) textbooks using the internet. In almost all cases the necessary material can be purchased used and in good condition through online sources such as Amazon.com.Even with all that you will have going for you, all the online cards stacked in your favor, you still need to study. This is still a college degree you are working towards after all. Don’t dismiss this as simple, easy or undeserving of your full attention. When it’s time for class… it’s time for class! When it’s time to study… it’s time to study! Take care to ensure that the area around your computer is ready to deliver the proper learning environment. If there are other people in the house make sure that they realize that what you are doing is very important and requires your undivided attention. Close yourself off, quiet the background noises and set your surroundings to invoke your ability to absorb information. This is your time. Prepare for it and use it wisely.After your class is over I assure you that study time is in order. If quiet solitary study is the way you work best then you’ve obviously chosen the right type of school setting. If group study is more your game then you’re in luck as well. All accredited schools will have access to some type of student interaction available. This class is not a t.v. show; it’s a classroom online. Dialog and interaction are the “norm” they are expected. Get familiar with the help desk, student help centers, forums, blogs, chatrooms, etc. Seek out all information and assistance available to you. Don’t be shy. Ask questions! Learn all that you can! That’s why you’re here!