learning

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/

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A Year of Sacrifice

/ Amanda Hodson / Leave a comment

This week will mark one year of a life changing event; I was let go from a company that I worked very hard for, and it was a huge shock for me. I considered this job a foot in the door into something I saw doing for the rest of my life; being my own boss. I was working for a small family business, locally owned. Employed are about 50 people during majority of the calendar year, during high sales volume we had extra staff to assist with the extra needs, so you could say it was a very family oriented environment. We all worked together, though we all specialized in our own specific job description, there was no task that that we could turn down because it wasn’t “our job” to do.

Some of you reading this may wonder, why is the anniversary of a job loss so important and en-grained in my thinking. The answer is simple: I pass by the business on a daily basis whenever I drive into town as it is a mile from my house. Another reason why this loss was so big for me was because I felt that it happened through a misunderstanding. I never was given the chance to defend myself and tell my side of a story that could easily have cleared up a miscommunication. It was simply one person’s word and then bam, I was out. Oh well, I will always know my actions and that I worked as hard as I could.

They say everything happens for a reason. Right after this job loss occurred, a family medical crisis was beginning and I had to take action. Because I was no longer at my job I was able to put all my focus on my family member who needed some desperate help keeping their health in check. I was there to provide transportation to medical appointments, I was there to help with moral support, I was there to help keep the household running with cooking, cleaning, whatever was needed. I was there. This is all the while trying to figure out how to keep myself happy and my next career aspiration and passion.

I truly believe in the idea that no one will ever understand what a person has gone through until they walk a day, a week, a month, a year and so on in their shoes. Life can be beautiful, and life sure as hell can be ugly. This post is more of a reflection of this past year. All the while taking care of my family member who I can say has the treatment they need, and will always have a shoulder to lean on. All of the hours I sacrificed for myself to help my family member will never be wasted. Sure, it wasn’t fun, and at times, very depressing because I felt I wasn’t doing enough, it will always be a chapter of my life that will never be forgotten. Even though I had to put my goals on a back burner to help my family member, not once can I say that I regret doing it. I feel my help will have forever have made a major impact on their health, for the better.

Regular Price to Coupon Price

/ Amanda Hodson / Leave a comment

I have blogged about this before, and I will blog about it again, I LOVE to coupon. I have found multiple ways to reduce the cost of my grocery bill, and I want to share it all with you all.

Coupons.com is a new treasure that I discovered last Fall, 2016, and it has been such a welcoming surprise. I clip all of the coupons that I need, print and scan! One key concept that I only recently learned was that you can combine multiple different discount techniques: in store promotion, digital coupons through the app, and now manufacture coupons both through the newspaper and through online sources, such as coupons.com.



One very exciting money saving tip that I have is how to get an item that is not on sale at all, down to only one dollar. I recently took up consuming Boost for the nutritional benefits as well as a yummy protein shake. Depending on your budget, purchasing Boost on a weekly basis can get expensive. I became lucky the past two weeks; I managed to get this nearly $10 pack of protein shakes down to only $1.19. How? I had a digital coupon through my CVS app for $2 off of Boost shakes, I had a $2.oo off coupon I had printed out through coupons.com and I had 20%off any item in store at CVS. Combine all those together, and I was able to get a nearly 90% off discount. Talk about a money saver!

I plan on purchasing my next pack soon, as I have $2.00 off again through coupons.com, I now have a $3.00 off through the app and I have $3.00 in Extra Care rewards to use, so once again a major discount, and this is before the item even goes on sale in the store. It is possible to get a significant discount on your own, without an in store promotion, you just need to be educated on the different saving techniques and have good timing.

Launching a Business…Baby Steps

/ Amanda Hodson / Leave a comment

Hello readers!

I am writing this post as a novice when it comes to launching a business. You see, I am a born entrepreneur, I love the idea of being my own boss, making my own rules, and helping others. I’m sure many of you are thinking the exact same thing: wouldn’t we all love to be the boss in our line of work. Well, I have a question for every single business owner out there:

How did you actually launch the business?

What I mean by this is, literally what steps did you take to get the business going. Yes, I understand about having a business plan, marketing and of course the finances to cover all of the start up costs. What I mean is, when someone says that they started from nothing and then built a very successful business, how did you go about marketing, and going from perhaps the basement in your home to an actual business office. How did you go from being a one person, or a literal family business to having the recourses to pay your staff. I have read many different articles about how people have found a situation that they wanted to solve and thus created a product or business (I watch “Shark Tank a lot as well) and they have said how they “launched” their business. Well, I am one of those individuals who needs to know the EXACT steps these entrepreneurs took to make a success.

I recently thumbed through a book about how a mom wanted to have it all: a family, career and overall enjoy life. Well once again, she used that word, “launched.” Its a great word in the business vocab, but again I ask HOW.

Please feel free to comment how you business folk started. Trial and error always happens, share your thoughts. Please and thank you!

…..And the beat goes on

/ Amanda Hodson / Leave a comment

Growing up, I wanted to be a teacher, I had my heart set on it. You know what changed that–high school. I realized in high school that I didn’t want to pursue that career dream anymore. I then thought about marketing. Marketing is demanded in any field, right? Politicians need to have their campaigns very well marketed to gain voters, entertainers need to have their tour dates very well marketed so that fans know when and where their shows are. A major event going on in a small hometown needs to be advertised so that community residents know to attend. Marketing is everywhere.

March of this year, I was hired to work with a small marketing firm and work closely with the owner. I was very excited at this opportunity, not only was I working for a marketing business, but I also would see first hand how an entrepreneur runs a business. Funny thing is that I learned something that I never knew about myself with this job, I like conducting sales.

To briefly describe my job, my boss has various contracts with botanical gardens around the country. My job is to contact and invite those members of the gardens to renew expired/expiring memberships. The training that went into this job was very specific. I have so much more appreciation for the time that it took me to do the training and all of the specific details that went into it, customer service and product knowledge  really go hand in hand, and they help drive sales. I get a rush when I complete a sale, knowing that I persuaded the client to trust me and go through me to renew their membership.

I never thought I would be gain happiness like this before from a job, and I’m grateful that I was given the opportunity to explore this field. It has taught me that you should always keep your options open, and never say never to something. I’m in marketing and sales now, I know that I want to be in marketing, its just what type of marketing.

The whole point of my message is that you may think you know the answer to something, you try something new, and then realize a whole new world of another. Experiment, have fun, and learn.