Managing Home Maintenance Costs

More and more companies are using the feature called Text Message Blast to get information out to their customers and employees quickly and efficiently. Universities are using this feature to get message to their students and faculty quickly. They can update them on events at the university or the college.

If there is some kind of emergency they can warn students and faculty. Perhaps to get inside or stay away from a specific area until the situation is brought under control. They can use the same messaging capability to tell everyone that they can stand down once the emergency has been cleared. A tool such as text message blast can literally save lives. Find out more about this application.

Text Message Blast

Companies can use text message blast in the same manner for emergencies on their premises in offices and in factories. They can issue emails for detail messages. But not everyone has access to email instantly in the way that text messages are. Text messages are sent directly to a person’s mobile phone. Which everyone pretty much carries. They will be alerted to the message by a ring tone or alert on their phones. Later emails can be sent to provide them with more detail if needed.

Text message blasts to customers who have expressed an interest in receiving these messages can be a great way of advertising as well. Advising of sales at stores that are coming up is a great way to let your customers know that a sale is going on. Another use is to let them know that a new product or a new line of products has been added which they may be interest in. Customers can decide for themselves if they want to take the time to go online or visit the store to take advantage of these product offers.

Use With Care

But companies have to be careful and use this feature carefully. Too many messages and it starts to irritate the customer. Then they stop looking at the text message, preferring to just ignore it. Messages that are not clear are also not useful to a customer or an employee for that matter.

In addition text messages should only be sent via a text message blast format to people who have agreed to the service and have signed up for it. There is no better way to irritate a customer than to send unasked for messages advertising your product to them.  These people may not be your target market anyway. If you send them messages, they are just deleting them without reading them.

Give some thought to how you use this powerful tool before you press the send key! Once it the messages are sent there is no taking them back even if there is a spelling error or the message is not clear. Proofread it several times before you send it.

For more text messaging posts and topics, click here.

Planning a new hardwood floor is part figuring out which type of hardwood to install. Then what color to install in your home and then who to install the floor! Most people spend a lot of time on the type of hardwood and the color. They want the end result to look really nice of course. Also to create the right look and atmosphere in their home and match it with their existing furniture.

For most consumers this is the tough part. They give little consideration to the actual installation. They assume that the installer knows his business and will do a good job completing the installation. Sometimes the store were you purchase the hardwood will recommend an installer that they like to deal with. This is probably your best choice. Since he is associated with the store . You can take advantage of this relationship if there is any kind of problem with the installation itself.

Consumers may want to learn more about the installation so that they can save themselves some money. In addition also ensure that they are totally happy with the installation when it is completed. For example the biggest complaint that many people have after their floor is installed is about squeaks the floor makes when you walk across it. As the floor dries out the floor will move a little bit and gaps sometimes form. When a person walks across the floor, the wood will move and make that squeaking noise that can be irritating to some. There are methods consumers can use to minimize the squeaks.

Wood Flooring Installation – Eliminate Squeaking Floors

You can never reduce or eliminate all of the squeaking. But you can certainly reduce the amount of squeaking if you take appropriate steps. Make sure that the sub floor is strong enough to support the wood floor that is being installed. Also that the sub floor is securely nailed to the joists below. For example your sub floor should be at least 5/8 inches in thickness to support the hardwood floor. It also should hold the nails that will be used to nail the wood floor to it. Assuming that the thickness is sufficient, consumers should make sure that the sub floor is nailed to the joists securely. Place a nail every 12 inches to make sure there is no opportunity for the sub floor to move. Many people will screw nail the floor as well.  Place a screw nail beside every nail.

If your sub floor is not sufficient thickness, you may have to add additional sub floor. Screw nail or nail it to the existing sub floor. Adding an additional sub floor layer and then the hardwood floor on top of that adds additional height to the floor. Which can be a problem when matching to other floors in other rooms. Consumers should take this into account when they are making their decisions. Discuss these requirements with the hardwood flooring stores. There are products that can be purchased that will bridge between floors . They will gradually slope from one floor to the other to provide a more gradual interface. Instead of an abrupt step from one floor to another.

Discuss How the Floor Will be Laid Out with the Installer

The motto of this post is always, “Always Ask for Discounts”. The worst that will happen is that the person will say no, they even may apologize for not being able to offer a discount! But in most situations, if the person you are dealing with can offer a discount or at least something, they will.

Discount for an Oil Change

This morning I took my car in go get the oil changed. This includes the oil change, a full 100 point check of the car and a car wash for $41. This by itself is not a bad deal compared to what I normally have to pay. We pay over $50 in Canada and we do not get the car wash or the 100 point check, so at $41 this is a really good deal.

I asked if there was a discount for seniors or triple A. He said he was sorry, there were no discounts for these but he could offer me $10 off bringing the price down to $31! Now that is what I call good service that inspires loyalty and saves me money at the same time. It also demonstrates another way to save money. Always ask for a discount!

The person I was dealing with did not have to meet my request. He could have said no and although perhaps a bit disappointed, I still would have been satisfied with the service and the price. I get to wait in a nice air conditioned reception area and they also provided free coffee as well. But the fact that he offered a discount was really the icing on the cake, so to speak.

Ask for a Discount at MacDonald’s

Another example and this applies to seniors. If you are a senior, always ask for a senior discount. At MacDonald’s for example, if you are buying a coffee, you can ask for a senior coffee and they will be happy to oblige you. The coffee is a small cup and is always discounted for seniors. They provide free refills on their coffee as well so having coffee is an even better deal. The funny thing about MacDonald’s is that the price varies across provinces and states. I have paid as much as $.98 for a senior coffee and as low as $.38 for a coffee. It is always less than the regular price, but some locations are really inexpensive.

Always Ask for Discounts – How Much Money can you Save

It obviously depends on your spending habits, but let’s say you save $10 a week by always asking for discount when you make a purchase. If you save $10 a week that adds up to $520 a year. What can you do with $540? A lot is the answer and you might just save a great deal more than that on some deals, which pushes your average way up.

Some people suggest that you not worry about the small stuff. Focus on the big deals to save a lot of money. Yes, you can save a lot on large deals, buying a car for example and getting a discount etc on the price. But industry has figured out that it is the small transactions that have really made the cash flow issue for them. The banks nickel and dime you with every transaction. The coffee shops increase their price by a couple of cents and make millions. Same with the restaurants. Any transaction you make a lot of is also where you should focus. Don’t forget the large ones but also focus on the small daily cash flow as well for discounts.

For example at Starbucks, if you have a registered Starbucks card, you can refill your coffee for free. In addition after 12 coffees, you can have any drink of your choice at Starbucks. That’s a good deal and although Starbucks is an expensive place for fancy drinks it is on par with most other places for good coffee. If for example you have a refill 50% of the time and get your free drink, your coffee is working out to less than a dollar on average at Starbucks. Pretty good deal and this is one of the best discounts for coffee next to MacDonald’s.

As we said our motto is “always ask for a discount”?