#education

Amazon New HQ2–Good or Bad?

/ Amanda Hodson / Leave a comment

Hello readers!

Unless you live in a very closed off bubble, everyone has heard of Amazon, and many are Prime Subscribers. Over the past year, Amazon has been on a massive search around the country to expand their headquarters. Amazon announced that the two lucky winning cities to host are Arlington, VA and Queens, NY, meanwhile, Nashville, Tennessee will host a smaller campus.

There has been a range of feedback of enthusiasm to criticism from both the public arena as well as private citizens. During my studies in marketing, one of the largest factors in business success is location, location, location. Did I mention location?

I live right outside of DC, specifically Tysons Corner, aka NOVA (Northern Virginia) so I can only credibly speak of the new Arlington location. NOVA is known for great, but very competitive employment opportunities, real estate (albeit resulting in a hugely expensive area to reside) and of course all of the tourist and historical attractions that come in correlation to our nations capitol. All of the benefits of living in the area, along with travelers enjoying the attractions, however, brings one major inconvenience and headache: traffic.

Now that Amazon is coming to Arlington, the increase in traffic congestion is at least one of the front runners of concerns. My personal reaction: what is a little more traffic when we are all used to it? Our very own Governor, Ralph Northam is enthusiastic about the business opportunities Amazon’s empire can bring: jobs, education and more. Watch his reaction here.

Aside from traffic, other concerns brought forth is the cost to tax payers; remember how I mentioned the enormous cost it is to live in NOVA? Well this business deal can bring a high cost in operating expenses, resulting in potential hikes to tax payers.

I’m personally cautiously optimistic about the location being in my neck of the woods; I don’t want a hike in money taken out of my paycheck to pay for this, but the benefits outweigh the traffic that I’m already used to.

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

As always please subscribe, and let me know what blogging content you’d like from me.

    

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Make Money with Reading!

/ Amanda Hodson / Leave a comment

Hello readers!

Over the past year, I have joined up with a wonderful company called Usborne Books and More. It is a book publishing company that sells excellent quality books at a very affordable price.

The books are designed for children beginning at a very young age, all the way up until high school, though anyone who likes the books can benefit and enjoy them!

You might be wondering from the title how you can make money from reading. Well let me explain. I became a consultant because not only can I read the books and enjoy them, but I now sell them. I signed up under a neighbor; she is my go to consultant when I have questions, or just overall want a team partner. Signing up is a one time fee, and you receive a welcome kit with all the information that you need, plus starting inventory of books, catalogs, and more. There are no quotas you have to meet per month, no minimum in sales, nothing. Just the amount of work YOU as the consultant want to put in, is what you get out of it. There are many different ways that you an earn money: web sales, Facebook parties, home shows, community fairs and more.

An added bonus, the more you sell, the more free books you earn, which then makes your inventory greater for future sales. This is all the while you can help encourage your student to want to learn to read and to make it a fun learning process. Everyone needs to learn to read, why not make it enjoyable!

Visit my consulting website to shop the catalog, and if you would like, become a consultant with me, that way you an start your own business, promoting a wonderful cause, LITERACY!

https://j5126.myubam.com/

The Best Books For The Best Price

/ Amanda Hodson / Leave a comment

Hello readers!

So I have written about this before, but I have to write about it again, because it is just too good not to learn about. I became an Independent Consultant with Usborne Books and More last year. For those who are not familiar with Usborne, the company sells books for very young children all the way up until high school. The quality of Usborne Books and More is fantastic, from the graphics, the actual paper the books are printed on, the content, everything. And the best part!….the prices. Seriously, they are so incredibly affordable.

Now before you start thinking about how all I am trying to do is convince you to buy something from a company I have signed up with, go take a look at the website. Usborne is all about increasing childhood literacy and having your student enjoy reading, all at an affordable price. Who doesn’t want their child to love to learn? Please visit my consulting website here to learn more about Usborne, the books, and how you can even get book for free and half priced! Once you have fallen in love with the books, because I know you will, become a consultant with me, that way you can develop your own way of making money on your own schedule, all the while allowing your child to have the best education possible. Our children are the future after all! There is a one time start up fee, in which you receive your welcome kit, as well as other online tools to help get your business rolling. There are no minimums you have to make each month and there are several different programs that you can get involved in. Give it a chance.

Thanks for reading xoxo

The More Education….The Better?

/ Amanda Hodson / Leave a comment

Recently, I have been doing a lot of reorganizing of old college files that I stored away for the longest time, and I decided to go down memory lane with the different completed assignments. I was looking at papers I wrote, and realized how my writing and comprehension has vastly improved. With the exception of a post college continuing education course here and there, I have not pursued any graduate programs, and I’m beginning to rethink that route.  Education after high school unfortunately is not a free ride, unless you are a lucky individual who has access and/or earns a scholarship. Education is expensive, but does it earn you more money in the long run?

Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg have certainly proved that you don’t have to have those pieces of paper in order to earn those extra figure paychecks.

Here’s another great question: is experience or education better? I know some people, who do not have college degrees, whereas I do. However, they are more established in their careers than I am. Is that because they were out working hard in career aspirations establishing themselves, while I was focusing more of my time on academic endeavors. If both of us were applying for the same job today, and we both had similar to equal qualifications and experience for the job, but the only true difference between us was that piece of paper….who would get the job. It’s a debatable question at times.

They say that more education earns more money, but is there enough evidence to back this up. Do all of the celebrities who are out there making money off of their films have college diplomas and even further qualifications. Do all of the journalists, artists, entertainers, etc have diplomas?

To set the record straight, do I regret going to college and graduating? Absolutely not. I do not regret it for a second and I am a very lucky person who does not have any college debt. There are many people out there, however, who are paying off their loans, and perhaps are still not done with academic interests and programs. We never stop learning, but the true question is does shelling out thousands of dollars for a program honestly help us earn more money. The question may never be 100% truly answered. Just some food for thought.

I complete this posting still on the notion of applying to graduate school. You just never know what the world has in store for you. Always learn, never stop (it just depends on how much money you want to spend :))