Personal Photography
There are many types of photography, some types not as glamorous as other types. I could use up a couple paragraphs just listing them all; but since there only a couple that interest me, I won’t. But let me tell you about the type I enjoy the most, “Personal Photography”, sounds like I just made that up but I didn’t. See I’ve been doing this type since I was fourteen years old, need I mention that I’m fifty-one years old now. As a young lad I was always interested in photography, the one way I could show where I had been or what I had seen.Most important of all, it’s the personal memories it gives me of days gone by. Days that I will never see again and the people whom I most likely will never meet again. This is the type of photography you can’t buy, and maybe of no interest to anybody else. The photographs of my Mom and Dad whom have passed away; I can look back on those photos and see the different stages of their lives and reminiscences of how those times were. Photographs of my children as they were growing up; photos that show the changes in each of them, and most of all the pictures that make each of my kids unique.Sports and Landscape photography are what catches my main interest, and now and then an Air Show photography shoot. But Personal Photography is what keeps me snapping pictures. Now that we have computers and digital photography, (“if that sentence doesn’t show my age,”) I try to keep my hard drives and backups full of my personal photos. And I still have many photo albums full of black and white photographs, as well color images from color negatives. Someday I will transfer those Images to my computer also.And no matter what type of camera you have, personal photography can be taken with a “high-end” digital SLR camera or even now days: a cell phone camera. You don’t need to be a certified professional photographer to take this type of photograph and you really don’t need to impress anyone but yourself. Don’t let time pass you by without photographing it, because it is a moment in time that you will own forever. I am glad I had taken photographs through the years of the people I love and the places I’ve been, but most of all the pictures of family and friends that have “past-away”. I seem to always recollect when I look at photograph I had taken, the time frame in my life of that snap shot.Trust me when I say it’s cheaper now days to take photographs then it was when I started doing photography! So go out and get a point and shoot camera or the digital SLR that you have always wanted to get and start recording your own personal photography journal. And when you start taking pictures of people and places close to you and look back on them you’ll find personal photography is the most important photography in life.
Creating A Home Improvement Plan
You’ve got your eye on the out-dated kitchen or you think you might want to just tear up your carpeting and install hardwood floors, but before you start to rip out the cabinets or the carpet make sure to establish some guidelines for your home improvement plan. A good home improvement plan should take into account: budget, financing, scope of work, functionality and aesthetics, resale value.Budget ConsiderationsOne good way to find out what you can afford is to simply get three estimates from contractors. Discuss what you want with the contractor and if the estimate is high, ask them how you can reduce the costs. The estimate should be separated into cost of materials and cost of labor. By getting a professional opinion first, you may find that the bids are very similar and you have a good starting point for the high-end cost of your project.Now, you can begin to factor in whether there is some work you can do yourself. This will improve the amount of cash outlay necessary to complete the work. Another way to get to meet your budget is to shop for a cheaper source of materials or change the type of material used. Either way, these are highly flexible items in your home improvement budget.Sources of FinancingIf one doesn’t have the money, the inclination is not to do the home improvement. Cash, however, is not the only way to pay for a home improvement plan, you can also finance. If you find you don’t have enough cash, you can use a home equity loan to finance the remodeling of your home. Try to identify additional forms of financing in case you need additional monies to complete the project. In the end, a home improvement project should add to the resale value of your home for it to be a sound purchase.Scope of WorkThis is where a good plan is essential. If you are planning a major remodel, you will want some basic plans drawn up, preferably by a professional. You don’t want to find out later that the wall you envisioned removing for a more open space is a critical weight-bearing wall. Similarly, you don’t want to plan for electronic appliances and devices in an area where there are no outlets. If you plan on revamping a kitchen, the dimensions of workspace and appliance real estate are very important. Don’t try to eyeball it or you’ll end up paying for it later in time, additional work, or wasted purchases. By trying to define the scope of the work on paper first, you can bypass many of the simple problems that arise from not having thought the improvement plan out thoroughly.Functionality And AestheticsObviously, we don’t just want to substitute one thing for another, we want the new home improvement to outshine the old room. We want it to work better for us and we want that “ah” factor too. Have you done your research on the functionality of the appliances and space arrangements? How about the aesthetics and maintenance of the materials you chose? Does the improvement help to accommodate the growing needs of your family? Will it continue to be of service after 5 years? 10 years? These are all factors that should be considered and weighed against budget, scope, and resale value.Resale ValueThis is a tricky value that can’t really be foreseen that much. We know that kitchen and bathroom remodels recoup the most on the sale of the house. No home improvement will recoup 100% of the price it took to remodel, however, if you are in a climbing real estate market that might not matter. What you don’t want to do is to add a home improvement that detracts from the value of your property. Adding a fifth bedroom in a neighborhood of four bedroom homes would be detrimental to the value of your home. Adding a swimming pool in areas where houses with pools don’t sell well would also be considered an investment that could not be recouped. Some people still do it anyways. The point is that most home improvements are done to meet the needs of a particular family and the desire for a more comfortable living space. While resale value is important, it is just one of the many considerations that have to be evaluated in a good home improvement plan.
Using 40% of Your Software?
No one ever buys anything with the intent of using a small percentage of the product. Generally, when one makes a major purchase there is a good amount of research involved and desired features are scrutinized for efficiency and effectiveness. There may be yes/no checklists involved, various conversations with the vendor and many product demonstrations. People do this because they are planning on using the features that they will be paying for. Why is it then that most companies only use 40% of the features their software contains?Software is the core of any competitive staffing company. How well the company utilizes the software is imperative to success in business today. Too often when assessing software decision makers are blown away by colorful presentations that mean nothing to core business processes. Functionality should be the basis for any software decision and not colorful diagrams or how the screen looks. Software should also contain a basic workflow that stabilizes the way in which the firm will utilize the product to accomplish tasks.How can software productivity be measured? First, you must be able to report on the amount of time employees spend accomplishing specific tasks. Next, there should be reporting for the individual employees so that they can self-assess their productivity and plan tasks. Third, assess the time employees take to respond to customer orders and inquiries. Last, the ratio of revenue, profitability and output to employee expenses and time spent on tasks must be measured. In order to accomplish all of this you must be utilizing a fully operational CRM Model.Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is the most misunderstood term in the industry. The true meaning of CRM is the ability to measure success across the board from Marketing to Sales, Operations and Back Office. This model can only be implemented with a fully integrated front and back office model. The various departments within a firm must share information in order to be effective. This means that invoices should be viewable from front office. Collection calls must be viewable from front office. Software is a company communication project.Once the software model is in place and contains everything needed to run the company, it is imperative that a Software Policy Manual be created and reviewed with all employees in the company. A Software Policy Manual describes all of the major tasks that need to be completed utilizing the software and how the tasks are to be completed. It should contain “best practices” for the specific organization as every company’s process is different.Typically, when new software is put into place the users go through a basic training. This is generally a cookie-cutter course that the vendor uses to train all of its new customers. At times the course is tailored toward the type of staffing being done. A course like this is necessary and is enough to begin the journey to software success.If an extensive software suite is selected, and it should be, the software will contain many more features than can be covered during a basic training course. It would not make sense to include everything as users will normally absorb about 50% of basic training, often walking away a bit dazed after a couple of days of training. If more than the basics were covered it would most certainly cause user brain freeze.The initial basic training experience can be improved in 3 ways: 1) The basic course should feature “hand-on” training; 2) No interruptions should be allowed during the training; 3) Users must begin practicing what was learned immediately after training. For new software, users should be trained as close to the live date as possible, ideally while the final data migration is being completed. The Software Policy Manual should be complete and available for reference on the “live date”.Once users have begun utilizing software a common mistake is to stop training. Staffing is a high turnover business so chances are that 50% of the initial staff that was trained may be gone after the first year or two – maybe sooner. That speaks to the necessity of a formal training process for new hires. The class can be an internal training program if you have someone on staff that can dedicate time to formal training. If you don’t want to be in the software training business, solicit this service from your staffing software vendor. Too often formal new hire training is skipped, resulting in users that have no clue how to use the software effectively.Another area often overlooked is ongoing user training. Remember that basic class that: 1) doesn’t cover everything and 2) users will forget 50% of? Once users begin to use the software and complete tasks, you will want users to become “power users”. “Power use” should not be relegated to a certain few who take the initiative to advance their knowledge on the software. Every user should be a power user but they can only attain this status if they are offered advanced training. This is what makes the difference between a successful software implementation that offers monetary benefits/competitive advantage and a mediocre implementation that everyone complains about.There are several ways a user can get advanced training. The best route is to get regular training from your software vendor. Your vendor will have experienced trainers that know the software. Unless you have the resources to have a dedicated trainer on staff that does nothing but focus on the software you will not be able to duplicate a vendor training.On-line help is always available if you are using a leading software product. Familiarize all users with how to use this very important tool. Generally vendors keep this type of information on-line as hardcopy user manuals are for the most part a thing of the past.Next, if your vendor offers training webinars on best practices or new features make sure that your users attend these. This should not be optional. Often such sessions are free.Another way to gain knowledge is to be a part of your vendor’s LinkedIn or Facebook group. Often tips are posted and tidbits can be learned. Every piece of knowledge is important. If you are utilizing software from a leading vendor, there will be several updates and new modules offered regularly. Find out about them. Know your resources.