The house is getting full of items that you no longer need or use, what the heck do you do with all of it??  Well, you can have a garage sale and find someone that thinks the stuff you have is something they really want to add to THEIR collection of too much stuff to store!

Wherever we travel we see garage sale signs.  Seems that everyone wants to move their stuff from one place to another.  We have visited garage sales in Arizona and Texas, in Iowa and Kansas. 

Thinking about the advantage of a garage sale is that if you don't have enough for an auction and you really don't want to just throw the stuff away, sell it at a garage sale!  Be sure to put an ad in your local paper, you will get people you never thought would come to a sale!  Then put the signs up around your area (do not put them on utility poles, it's against the law in most places) but you can staple them to a dowel rod and stick them in the ground rather easily and no one will have a fit!  Be sure to go pick them up after the sale of people will still be coming well after your sale is over!

If you have thngs left over that didn't sell and you don't want to haul them back into your house, put them next to the curb with a big sign saying FREE and watch it disappear!  Better than paying the trash man to pick them up!

Have a blast at the garage sale!

Winter in the majority of the country is less than pleasant for many people.  The idea of taking a cruise or going to some warm place is so appealing that the highways and airports are filled with people wanting to get away, if only for a few days, from the snow, cold and ice.

When you board a cruise ship in the winter months you will meet people from all over the country that are just wanting to see some sun, get a tan to show off when they get home and get pampered for a few days, forgetting the 5' drifts of snow covering their driveways and making their heat bills soar!

Many choose to go to the south for the winter.  Florida, Texas and Arizona have huge inflows of people spending from 2 to 5 months enjoying the company of others from the northern areas of the country in the warmth of those states.  The income flow is huge to the sunbelt.  The residents of those states may complain about the increase in traffic, but not many complain about the increase in revenue to the state.

Visit the Caribbean during the winter months and you will pay a premium for a hotel or resort.  Visit them during the summer and the cost is greatly reduced.  Most people don't want to go where it's warm when it's warm at home.

So, take a trip, go see someplace new, go back to the south where you have found an area you enjoy and get out of the cold.  Have a great season where ever you go!

Whether you are working full time or have chosen a different path you probably have stories to tell, experiences to share or knowledge to pass on.  Each of us is a unique being who has something to offer others.

That is why I have begun the journey of writing ebooks.  Knowing that not everyone has the inclination or experience to train, I decided to make the process of getting ready for a training class, setting some goals, having some fun and actually teaching something of value would be something that, if kept short, sweet and to the point, others may gain value in reading.

The books that I am writing (and have written) don't take hundreds of pages to teach you how to proceed.  I take you, step by step, through some of the most basic, yet critical, training lessons which will enable you to not only have a successful training class, but drive revenue to your company bottom line.

It is not just the staff that needs to be trained.  The owners, managers and supervisors need to be trained too.  Perhaps they don't need the same type of training you are giving your staff but they need to understand the philosophy that you are teaching (which better match that of the vision and core values of the company).  The truth is that often those core values are forgotten by leadership.  It's not that they don't care, it's just they have gotten busy with work and forgotten the basics that have gotten the company to where it is now. 

Without some form of vision statement, some belief in what the company should be doing and how to do it the owner probably wouldn't have been able to get the company off the ground in the first place.  But, as is so true in the business world, sometimes these critical statements and values don't get reviewed by the founders of the team, the officers, owners and managment.

It is for this reason that I have put together a simple ebook on training, called "The Joy of Customer Service Training".  Included are lessons for everyone from the owners to the staff.  It would benefit you and your company to take a look at the book and then use the lessons included as a place to start to drive revenue to your bottom line and make for a much happier, stable staff.

To buy my book go to http://www.joyoftraining.com, I'm sure you will be pleased you did.

Hard as it is to find the time to do everything we want to do, it is always fun to take a break from the normal day and go to an auction.  Estate auction, moving auciton, going out of business auctions all have their own type of products that may be fun to go to to "get a bargin."

In Iowa the season for most auctions is from March through October.  March starts with just a few outside auctions, then in April the number increases and by June there are auctions numerous times a week.  Some of these are inside but the majority are outside in the wonderful weather…unless it rains and then it isn't such a great day for a sale!  Occassionally the auction will be cancelled if it's raining but sometimes they just forge ahead and have it.

There are furniture items, glassware, linens, tools, equipment, sometimes cars (which can be purchased, normally, at a really good price…but of course there is no warrenty), and anything else that you can imagine that it takes to have a home or a business. 

People drive for miles to come to an auction.  Some are collectors, some are used furniture dealers, some are eBayer's and some are friends and family of the people for whom that sale is being held.  You will meet new people, learn the terminology and go home wiht some treasures you just couldn't live without.

Other areas of the country have auctions, but the southwest, such as Arizona, seem to be shy in auctions.  Such a shame, they are so much fun and the opportunity for networking is so good that you would think everyplace would support the business of auctioneering!

Check your local newspapers, go on line or look for the ads in the weekly advertising flyers and go have a day at the auction.  Once you do you will probalby go back often.