Desty Online -- Online and Offline Businesses, Online Marketing » Advice http://www.destyonline.com Bringing offline business practices online. Turning bloggers into Businessmen. Wed, 15 Oct 2008 21:07:53 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 en Are You Making Money During This Economic Crisis? http://www.destyonline.com/are-you-making-money-during-this-economic-crisis/ http://www.destyonline.com/are-you-making-money-during-this-economic-crisis/#comments Wed, 15 Oct 2008 21:07:53 +0000 Desty http://www.destyonline.com/are-you-making-money-during-this-economic-crisis/ It’s a simple question.  Are you making money during this economic crisis?

If you’re not, then atleast you should be setting yourself up to make some major cash in the future based off your actions now.

Time to Use That Rainy Day Fund

Warren Buffett recently put up an option to buy billions of dollars worth of GE stock.  I know from personal experience that GE’s stock has been going no where but down.  If that’s the case, why is Warren Buffett interested?  Simple.  It is still a quality company, but until now, the stock’s price has been over inflated.  Now with the economy going south, and most to all stock prices going down with it,  now is the time, in Mr Buffett’s opinion, to cash in and buy a bargain.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you do NOT buy stocks because the price is going up.  That’s like waiting for the price of gas to start climbing before you go and fill the tanks of all your vehicles.  You want to buy when the price of stocks is going down, ie, on sale.  As long as the company itself is a quality company and will be so for as long as you can tell, the market will come back and you’ll see a nice return on your investment.

Just Say No to Dividend Reinvestment

This idea is a major turn around for me.  It has to do with the idea of dollar cost investing.  The thought is that as long as you buy your stock on a consistent basis, price up or down, you’ll end up ahead because of the law of averages.

Now, stay with me on this.  I say, have all of your dividends go into, say, a money market account.  Do nothing with this cash until you see your bargain, be it more investment into a company that you already have a relationship with, or a brand new stock that you’ve kept your eye on, just waiting for that price to fall down to a certain point.

Investment is a Game, but Which Type are You Playing?

People like to compare investing to baseball, keeping your eye on the ball, and hope to knock one out of the park.  I have to disagree.  Investing isn’t like baseball, it’s more like golf.  Golf requires that you take your time, use the right instrument (or tool in the case of investing, ie call, put, or stop options, etc) line everything up, and only when you have everything exactly the way you want it, take your shot.  Now, does that mean that you’ll make a hole in one, of course not!  But, if you know what you’re doing, have experience, use the right tool, you won’t hit the ball the opposite way you wanted it to go, unlike striking out in baseball.

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]]> http://www.destyonline.com/are-you-making-money-during-this-economic-crisis/feed/ A Critic Can Be the Best Thing in the World http://www.destyonline.com/a-critic-can-be-the-best-thing-in-the-world/ http://www.destyonline.com/a-critic-can-be-the-best-thing-in-the-world/#comments Wed, 12 Dec 2007 13:59:07 +0000 Desty http://www.destyonline.com/a-critic-can-be-the-best-thing-in-the-world/

When creating a product or service for public consumption, the creator, author, or inventor, does the best he or she can to ensure that the product of service in question is of the highest quality. Proofing, quality control, cross-checking, etc is performed, not only at the personal level, but, hopefully, with the help of others.

Best Friends = Worst Enemy for Your Product

Your immediate circle of influence (your family, friends, network, etc) has developed a relationship with you, either on a personal or professional level. They want you to succeed, but, at the same time, they don’t want you to get hurt.

Sure if there is a glaring problem or concern, they’ll bring it to your attention, but smaller issues, perhaps choices of taste, can be glossed over.

No need to bring that up.

It’s not a big deal.

I’ll get with him later about it.

While your friends and family do have your best interests at heart, for the most part, they cannot be counted on to give critical and, when needed, spirit crushing criticism.

You Might Want to Listen to That Loud Mouth A**Hole

There are millions of critics in the world. You’re a critic, I’m a critic, she’s a critic, he’s a critic. We see and experience products and services on a daily basis, but how much feedback do you give?

Have you ever had a really bad meal at a restaurant? I’m not talking about vomit on a plate bad, but bad enough that you wouldn’t come back to that restaurant? Did you express your concerns to the staff, or at the least fill out a comment card? I’m betting you didn’t.

Feedback is vital in all things, personal and professional. Simply put, if you don’t know that you’re doing something wrong or something is broken, how can you fix it?

Next time you get some jerk mouthing off about something you did or didn’t do, take a step back instead of ignoring him. Ask yourself these questions:

  • Where is he coming from? Does he actually have experience or knowledge in this and might ACTUALLY know something?
  • Why is he pointing this out? If he knows what he’s talking about, could he possibly really be trying to help you?

Sometimes a critic’s lack of tact can stand in the way of you making a vital improvement. Also take into account that if the criticism is done via text, there’s a chance that you might be reading more into the comment than was originally emoted.

Step Up and Have an Open Mind

Next time you get that yell from the peanut gallery, don’t dismiss it out of hand. Take a deep breath and look to see if there’s actually an opportunity buried in that pile of dung thrown at you. Shift through it, and you might just find a diamond; but look at the source first. Sometimes, a pile of dung is just a pile of dung.

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]]> http://www.destyonline.com/a-critic-can-be-the-best-thing-in-the-world/feed/ Stress Will Kill You if You’re Not Careful! http://www.destyonline.com/stress-will-kill-you-if-you%e2%80%99re-not-careful/ http://www.destyonline.com/stress-will-kill-you-if-you%e2%80%99re-not-careful/#comments Tue, 21 Aug 2007 16:47:11 +0000 Desty http://www.destyonline.com/stress-will-kill-you-if-you%e2%80%99re-not-careful/ In this day and age of civilization, everyone has stress. Stress can be imposed by others or by yourself. Types of Stress Stress can be inflicted on you from so many sources.

  • Work related stress
  • Financial stress
  • Relationship related stress
  • Medical stress
  • Family stress

Even with these forms of stress, there other, more minor stressors such as the daily commute to and from work, etc.  Stress Relief There are several ways to remove or relieve stress:

  • Removal or resolution of the stressful issue
  • Vacation
  • Exercise (a favorite!)
  • A night on the town
  • Shopping – mainly a stress reliever for women. I personally find shopping very stressful, but my wife swears by it.
  • Deep breathing exercise – a short-term immediate solution to stress relief. Go to a quiet place with no distractions. Sit down and get comfortable. Close your eyes and start to breathe in through your nose and out of your mouth. Take nice long and deep breathes. As your breathing starts to slow down, begin exhaling through your nose instead of your mouth. Focus totally on your breathing, nothing else. Let your shoulders drop, your stomach loosen, and let your body go limp like a rag doll. After a few minutes, slowly bring yourself back up, start to breathe through your mouth, and finally open your eyes. With enough practice, you can do it on demand.
  • Pitt one stressful situation against another – a personal example of this happened back just before Christmas last year (2006). I have a VERY stressful job that requires me to keep large amounts of information on hand in memory to juggle priorities. I was near burnout. We had to drive to Louisville KY for my oldest son to get an evaluation to see the extend of his delays and to see if they were serious enough to be labeled disabilities. It was a two-day trip and due to the evaluation, we were able to stay at the Ronald McDonald House in Louisville. The people at the Ronald McDonald House were totally wonderful and we didn’t have to worry about anything beyond the evaluation. Turns out his delays weren’t severe and he just needs therapy. After the trip, the next day at work I felt totally refreshed; being worried about something more important really put things into perspective and I was ready to tackle my job again with fresh energy.

Just like a person’s stress, how that person deals with stress is very personal. No one can tell you exactly what causes your stress and how to deal with it. What works for someone may actually make things worse for you. Stress relief is important and needs to be made a priority in your life. If not, stress can cause you to snap on the ones you love or if you keep it bottled up inside, can break you down and cause health problems.

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