Podcasts about your roi

When an interior product brand works with Thrive In Design, they often come with the same question: "How can I make my brand story cohesive across platforms and have an online and offline strategy?" It's important to emphasize the significance of having a consistent brand story across various platforms. Companies need to understand that their brand expansion is directly correlated to telling a consistent story and the experience a designer has with their interior product brand. Consistency in branding creates trust and recognition among customers. When consumers encounter a brand message that is consistent across different platforms, it reinforces the brand's identity and values. This consistency builds credibility and loyalty, ultimately leading to increased sales and brand growth. Thrive In Design specializes in helping companies develop and maintain a cohesive brand story that resonates with their target audience. By crafting a unified brand narrative and implementing effective online and offline strategies, companies can enhance their market presence and drive success in the competitive interior product industry.    Here are some scenarios that indicate your company might be a good fit for Thrive In Design's services:   Scenario 1: Established interior product companies that previously focused on custom products and are adding a collection to their line.  Scenario 2: Companies with strong leadership and skills but who need someone with a business-oriented mindset. This includes understanding different U.S. markets, identifying the best market focus, and developing effective strategies for each. Scenario 3: Established interior product companies from other countries seeking to expand into the U.S. market. Scenario 4: Companies relying on outdated sales methods.   In this episode, Nicole discusses these scenarios and explains why now is the time to focus on storytelling (and hire Thrive In Design). She discusses how to leverage both online and offline strategies effectively.    Let's jump in!   Key Highlights from the Episode: [00:01] Episode intro and a bit about our previous discussions of the season [02:26] Notable 2023 milestones to finding the right niche at Thrive In Design  [03:20] Scenarios of interior product companies that work with Thrive In Design [03:38] Companies that are pivoting from custom products to collections  [04:52] Companies in need of someone with a business and strategic mindset [06:10] International companies with a desire for US expansion [07:07] Companies with an old-school way of selling [09:02] Why you must understand Thrive In Design's beliefs before working with the team [10:09] What to consider before launching a successful interior product company in the US [14:33] A quick story of case study  [18:00] Why your marketing strategy should not be theoretical, but from research [21:10] The bottom line of expected ROI [23:06] Episode wrap-up and calls to action Notable Quotes:  Research is the cornerstone of all your work as an interior designer.  Your marketing strategy for an interior product company should not be theoretical but should come from your research.  Your ROI in business is linked to your sales strategies. Learn more about Thrive In Design:  Website: https://www.thriveindesign.co/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thriveindesign/ Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/thriveindesign/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thriveindesign/   Register for the next Thrive In Design live training here: https://training.thriveindesign.co/   Get your copy of "The Ultimate Guide to A&D Sales": https://www.thriveindesign.co/brand-reps.

I've invested well north of $250K in coaching & mentorship over the past 7 years (hard to believe, but true). Some of the things I invested in were disappointing.  But I ALWAYS made sure to get what I came for - ie, to get a positive ROI from the money and time invested. Listen as I impart why (and HOW) you need to show up to each investment - whether a course, program, mastermind, mentorship, etc. - in order to maximize YOUR ROI, including: - why your belief in what's possible is vitally important - the difference between showing up ready to do the work (ie, empowered) v. hesitant, feeling 'behind' or unworthy of the room - how to powerfully identify and pose questions (and questions NOT to ask) - the importance of setting a specific intention from the beginning AND so much more..... (Be sure to listen to Episode 323: Get an Exponential ROI - a beautiful 'sister' episode to this one) If you enjoyed the episode, leave a review -- it means the world to me & helps the show reach more people!  Let's support each other! ______________________________________ Ready to Generate 100s of Qualified Leads & Sign Clients Every Week? Grab your FREE ticket to our upcoming Joyful Business Workshop:  https://www.judyweber.co/joyfulbusiness Determined to make your first $100K? Join the  Joyful 6 Figures Accelerator to curate, market & sell an irresistible higher-ticket offer, as you become a faith-fueled CEO! Is 2024 the year you scale from 6 to 7 figures? Join the Joyful Scaling Mastermind and master Advanced Marketing, Selling & Operations strategies to 2x your profit, while reducing your workweek by 20% Submit your business-growth questions to hello@judyweber.co; you may WIN a ‘hot seat' with Judy to be heard on the Joyful Scaling Podcast Connect with Judy: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/judyweberco/ Instagram: https://www.judyweber.co/instagram Learn how to work with Judy: www.judyweber.co Get text updates by texting COMMUNITY to 610-638-2310 (you'll snag a FREE biz-building resource just for joining)

I know you enjoy speaking - AND you want to make sure you're getting an ROI from it. Your ROI can come from getting paid to speak and/or from getting leads and clients from your presentations. If you don't consistently get leads from your presentations, there are a few things you can do to make that more likely to happen. You may think your audience doesn't want to be sold to, but that may not be the case. You also may not be sure how to go about letting event organizers know that you have a speaker fee. In this episode, I share with you: 3 ways to increase leads from your presentations What to do even when conferences say “no selling from the stage” The one thing to do that is GOLD 3 things to do to get paid to speak Why many speakers don't charge or don't charge enough Examples to inspire you About Us: The Speaking Your Brand podcast is hosted by Carol Cox. At Speaking Your Brand, we help women entrepreneurs and professionals clarify their brand message and story, create their signature talks, and develop their thought leadership platforms. Our mission is to get more women in positions of influence and power because it's through women's stories, voices, and visibility that we challenge the status quo and change existing systems. Check out our coaching programs at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com.    Links: Show notes at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/344/  Download example feedback form (no opt-in needed): https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/7scnmn11eqpfeh863i878/Speaking-Your-Brand-Example-Worksheet-FeedbackForm.pdf?rlkey=bmqkj2pzyjewmrg8r0smml2vu&dl=0  Discover your Speaker Archetype by taking our free quiz at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/quiz/ Enroll in our Thought Leader Academy: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/academy/  Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolcox Related Podcast Episodes: Episode 290: [Coaching] Get More Leads from Your Presentations with Monica Young Episode 289: Less Free, More Paid: How to Increase Your Speaker Fees with Carol Cox Episode 288: A Framework for Creating a Signature Talk for Income and Impact with Carol Cox  

Get the Rules of Engagement For When She's Cheating, Says She Doesn't Love You, or Filed for Divorce - https://training.empoweredman.co/30dvslyt?el=podcastJoin the Empowered Man 5-Day Challenge! - https://www.empoweredman.co/5d-challenge?el=podcastIn this episode, Mark and Joey dive into the complexities of post-divorce dynamics and personal growth. Discover the significance of identity, hidden beliefs, and boundaries in moving forward. Listen in as they provide insights into healthy communication, avoiding manipulation, and defining new relationships. Learn how investing in self-improvement and addressing past wounds can lead to authentic transformation.Episode Summary:Intro to this episode. 0:03Mark is excited to introduce the next level of this podcast, Empowered AF 2.0, and what it means to be an empowered man in his most advanced form.Your ROI is commensurate to the investments.The importance of knowing who you are. 1:40Joe was at a conference for salespeople this past weekend. He went there to invest in himself and get something out of it. He got some gold nuggets and found some good salespeople to work for him.Hanging out after divorce is not normal. It stifles the healing process.The advanced use of neutral warming and its benefits. 3:45Lance talks about the advanced use of different levels of neutral warming and how it has progressed over time.Lance shares his thoughts on boundaries and his relationship with his wife.Setting boundaries and positive communication. 5:40The neutral woman technique, making a lot of boundaries and positive communication.The next level is missing something in the next step of making communications work better.What is the problem? 7:49What is it that you feel you need to accomplish that is causing you to feel like you are missing a step?Define what you want your relationship with your ex wife to look like.The problem with getting sucked back into the relationship. 10:03You can easily put yourself in a precarious position if you are not careful. It is easy to get sucked back in.Being honest with yourself about what you ultimately want.Letting things happen naturally. 11:45He was trying to make things happen, but he was not doing it in a healthy way. He wants healthy progression and family interactions.He wants to be able to let things happen naturally.Stripping off the old identity.

Bob and Amas discuss how you should prepare for CCaas:   Three out of four contact centers today have not yet made the move. Every vendor is telling companies to make this move. The improvements are happening in their new cloud system. We're getting close to the point where this would be a baseline requirement. CCaaS allows agents to use all of their channels in one interface. It adds some user capabilities for the agent. That makes their life a little bit easier. Is this something that's going to change my life at all? - CCaaS projects thus far has been a little case of over promise under deliver. Lots of people have gone down this road, have said, Gosh, I like the new system, but they don't consider it a success in terms of ROI. -: The vendors are saying that the ROI is better than it could possibly be. He says a 20% reduction in handle time is just not realistic.  Your ROI has to get a lot more creative and more thoughtful than that. It's about improving the agent experience and the customer experience.   "Data Center. That there is a refrigerator size box or there is a stack of servers. I probably just dated myself with the refrigerator size box."  Bob    "I'm gonna go to an old reliable Seneca today.  This quote is we are more often frightened than hurt and we suffer more in imagination than in reality." - Amas

This Podcast Is Episode Number 517, And It's About How To Weigh ROI Vs Cost When Making A Business Purchase Deciding to purchase something to help your construction business is a big decision. It can be challenging to part with hard-earned money, especially in the early days. To understand the right time to invest by purchasing something for your business, you must calculate whether the Return on Investment (ROI) would be profitable. The cost is the money you spend making the purchase plus any indirect costs (such as training costs) related to the purchase. The ROI is a calculation of financial gains or benefits that you obtain due to that cost. To determine ROI profitability, there is a simple formula you can use. If the purchase yields a positive return, it can be considered profitable. However, if the purchase does not earn back the money it costs, it would be considered a negative return on investment.   Return on Investment Formula Using a formula to calculate the ROI only offers a rough initial estimate. Other factors might come into play, such as future work you will get because of the new asset or unforeseen expenses. The formula to determine ROI is: ROI = (Net Profit / Cost of Investment) x 100 Let's see an example: Suppose you run a spec home building company. Three employees spend their time in the field gathering data and taking stock of how a proposed development project would affect the landscape. Vegetation, waterways, animals – everything is taken into consideration. You have one client who would like you to survey very rugged terrain. They would pay $2500 if you could complete this work, but covering the landscape would be difficult and take time. The only way to do it effectively would be to purchase a drone for $1000. It would cost $200 to train each employee how to use the drone. The new equipment would make taking on this work possible and save many hours spent physically in the field. Additionally, having a drone would mean you could offer your new aerial surveying services to other clients who are undertaking more large-scale or complex projects. Calculating the ROI of obtaining new equipment for this project: First, you would tally your total expenses and expected revenue to decide whether this purchase would be profitable. Expected Revenue = $2500 Total Expenses = $1000 + ($200 x 3) = $1600 Then, you would subtract the expenses from your expected revenue to determine the net profit. Net Profit = $2500 – $1600 = $900 To calculate the expected return on investment, you would divide the net profit by the cost of the investment and multiply that number by 100. ROI = ($900 / $1600) x 100 = 56.25% Your return on investment would be 56.25%, a positive return. Not only that, but your new equipment may allow you to gain more work in the future, making your ROI even better. What happens when you don't put your investment to work What if you purchase the drone but find the learning curve overwhelming, and it collects dust in a corner? In this case, your client may not hire you, or the hours required to do the work on foot may make taking on the project cost prohibitive. Your ROI would be zero, plus you would be down $1600 from the initial expense and training. This would result in a negative return on investment, mainly if you have already performed the employee training. On the other hand, how many places can you find with a strong chance Of 100% Return on Investment? Let me say - If something seems too good to be true, it probably is, and you should stay far away from it. We Do Like Managed Risks This is anything we can control the input and have a more remarkable than the breakeven chance of making a profit. We pay close attention to the higher levels of math and how it is used to predict probable outcomes accurately. Decision Modeling Decision modeling uses reliable QuickBooks reports to generate predictions of profit and loss based upon re-allocating resources and aligning your Business Process Management system processes to present to you a variety of possible outcomes. It offers you a way to attach knowledge, expertise, and analytic insights. As possible results are analyzed, decisions become easy because the goals, processes, and data come together. As contractors like you move away from gut-level decisions and begin relying on your construction accounting systems to provide helpful financial and job costing reports, it will open a treasure chest busting at the seams with practical knowledge which can lead you to earn massive profits and, by extension, increase your wealth exponentially. Knowledge Leads To Profits And Cash Flow What Makes Knowledge Powerful? Use Of Knowledge! If you could harness and truly understand even half of the information in your existing QuickBooks company file and truly understand it, you could quickly become wealthy, debt free, and live the lifestyle you deserve in five years or less. Final thoughts While making a large purchase to benefit your business can be daunting, significant rewards often come with taking the plunge. Do your research, calculate if the investment is worth it, and then move ahead confidently. If you calculate correctly, you will find that your purchase takes your construction business to new heights. About The Author: Sharie DeHart, QPA, is the co-founder of Business Consulting And Accounting in Lynnwood, Washington. She is the leading expert in managing outsourced construction bookkeeping and accounting services companies and cash management accounting for small construction companies across the USA. She encourages Contractors and Construction Company Owners to stay current on their tax obligations and offers insights on managing the remaining cash flow to operate and grow their construction company sales and profits so they can put more money in the bank. Call 1-800-361-1770 or sharie@fasteasyaccounting.com  

In today's episode, Jose tackles the 4 best angles you can take to create clear, unique value for your best target customers. Jose covers the 4 pitches of: - Your ROI story - Making a time-saving impact - Removing their hassle - Being a risk mitigator If you can sharpen any one of these angles, you can unlock the accelerated customer growth you have been looking for. Equipped with an articulate value prop, your ideal customers will find a faster, clearer answer to the question, "Why you?"

"Your ROI is really important because it allows you to see if you're investing in things that will bring you a return." In this episode of Marketing Tips With Meliss, I'm talking about ROI, or return on investment: -What does ROI stand for, and why is it important? -How can you track your ROI? -Different ways to look at your ROI. Connect with Meliss Jakubovic: Join the free community: Spiritual Women Entrepreneurs spiritualwomenentrepreneurs.com Get Clients Sales Sprint: getclientssalessprint.com The Spiritual Entrepreneur's Affirmation Deck go.melissmarketing.com/affirm-deck Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meliss.jakubovic Follow Meliss: @meliss_marketing www.instagram.com/meliss_marketing Learn more about how Meliss helps Coaches and Healers add $10K+ to their monthly revenue at melissmarketing.com

Most distributors we talk to are disappointed in the ROI of their ecommerce investments. When we dig into their complaints, we find that while they know their expenses, the sales attributed to their websites are way off because they only look at shopping-cart revenue. But the shopping cart is usually the smallest part of the direct revenue generated by your website. Customers must use purchase orders, so instead of checking out, they shop on your website and then buy through other channels – including “lights out” methods like email, EDI and punchout. Listen now as Distribution Strategy Group co-founders Ian Heller and Jonathan Bein, Ph.D., reveal how you can build a better website that drives more revenues and how you can do a better job measuring the return on your current investment. Your ROI is probably much better than you think, and we can show you how to increase it even more.

How Much Should I Spend on Dental Marketing? Episode #348 with Xaña Winans There is no magic formula for marketing. But there are ways to make good investments. And to help you figure out how much and where to spend on dental marketing, Kirk Behrendt brings back Xaña Winans, founder and CEO of Golden Proportions Marketing, for a guideline to better marketing decisions. If you want to invest in your own success and get ahead of your competition, listen to Episode 348 of The Best Practices Show! Main Takeaways: 55% of dentists are spending a minimum of $1,000 a month on marketing. A quarter of practices are spending over $5,000 a month on marketing. Lead generation is one area where you will see results. Invest in digital, such as SEO, paid search, and online reviews. Tracking is the only way you'll know whether you're getting a return. Recording calls is the best way to see if your marketing budget works. Your marketing needs to be consistent, and you need to give it time. There needs to be commitment from dentists and their practices for results. Quotes: “[Determining a marketing budget is] important because money is a driving factor for everybody. It's determining, ‘How do I spend enough money to get the results that I want, but I don't waste money that I could be taking home to my family?' So, if you are just guessing how much money to spend, it's going to constantly make you stressed and wonder if you're doing the right thing, ‘Am I spending it in the right places?'” (06:14—06:37) “[Jim Du Molin] did a huge survey to find out what doctors were spending. And over 55% of doctors are spending a minimum of $1,000 a month, which doesn't sound like that much. But what was interesting to me, just about a quarter of practices are spending over $5,000 a month on marketing, which is way more than I think most dentists would expect. They think, ‘I can just rely on referrals and internal marketing, absolutely free.' But I'd tell you what, if your practice isn't growing, that's probably why, because your competition is outspending you. They're getting brand awareness that you just don't have.” (07:55—08:30) “Once you're up and established, if you are cruising, you're a full practice, you've got tons of referrals coming in, you're still going to want to spend at least 2% to 3% of your gross collections every single month, if only because 8% of the American population moves every single year. You're going to, just by sheer people moving out of the area, lose some of your patients, so you have to keep investing.” (09:13—09:41) “Anything you spend on, you should be able to measure it and make sure it has a good ROI.” (10:39—10:44) “Your ROI is really going to depend on what you're measuring. There are actually five different places where your marketing money goes, and you have to measure ROI based on where it's spending. The first thing is foundational stuff. And it's really difficult to measure an ROI on things like designing a new logo, building a new website, doing a setup for SEO or paid search. Those are things you have to have, but they're usually one-time or one every couple of years expenses. So, that, don't expect ROI. It's just an expense. That's foundational stuff.” (11:34—12:10) “You're going to spend money on things called subscriptions. When you have Weave and LocalMed and RevenueWell and Swell, and some of these other review sources and online scheduling, they're still marketing expenses. You have to count that in your marketing budget. The ROI for those can also be really difficult to measure because they're more like internal marketing tools. They're things that you need to keep patients engaged, so I wouldn't be looking for a big ROI there either.” (12:12—12:44) “Where you're really going to see [results] is when you're spending money on lead generation. So, paid search, SEO, direct mail — if it's relevant in your market, television — if it's appropriate in your area, or radio, that is where the money

When you invest in the team of people you work with, it can make everything run smoother and even help grow your business. Today Matt and Garrett discuss what it means to build your team, grow your team, and invest in your people. You can do this monetarily by providing training and education for your employees, but you can also invest in them internally by building connections and taking the time to understand their goals and what they're hoping to accomplish. When you hire a new person, you're not just paying them to do a job - you're giving them an opportunity to achieve their hopes and dreams. Creating connections makes people excited to work with you, and want to go above and beyond to help the business succeed. Our hosts share their favorite examples of team-building rituals and activities that help colleagues relate on a deeper level, allow their personalities to shine through, and create an atmosphere of fun together. These experiences can also help people tap into skills they didn't even know were there. Matt and Garrett talk about having the “Magic Wand” conversation with your people, how truly knowing them can enhance your client experience as well, and why investing even a little bit of time and money into your team can go a long way and motivate top producers to stick around long-term. This isn't an expense - it's an investment. And if people perform better because they love being part of your team, that is absolutely an investment you want to double down on. Join the Ninja Selling Podcast group on Facebook at www.facebook.com/groups/theninjasellingpodcast, where you can ask questions, give advice, and connect with other Ninjas. If you have not been accepted to the group yet, please check your messages for a follow-up from Matt. You can also leave a voicemail with your direct feedback at 208 MY-NINJA. And visit NinjaSelling.com/events for more information about upcoming open installations.   Episode Highlights:  As the Ninja coaches and instructors have gotten together recently, they've been talking a lot about what it means to build your team, grow a team, and invest in your people It's important to invest in the team of people you work with because it helps everything work better and grow your business This might be your assistant, transaction coordinator, and vendors like photographers or contractors It's an important topic for people who are looking to build a team, and also for managing brokers/owners It's not enough to just pay people well You're not just hiring people to do a job, but you're also giving people an opportunity to achieve their hopes and dreams Matt loves to hear when agents hire someone new, and they feel excited to send them to a Ninja Installation so they can learn all the tools and systems they'll need for success Investing in people can show up in a lot of different ways - you can invest in tools and training, but also take the time to get to know them, build connection Examples of team building rituals at The Group (Susie Ewing's office in Fort Collins, Colorado), and Matt and Garrett's experience at a cooking class These activities help people connect on a deeper level, see each other's personalities, and create an atmosphere of fun together You need to look at these expenses as investments - if people perform better because they love being part of the team, that is absolutely something you want to double down on Take the mentality of creating relationships with your clients and apply that to your team Have the “Magic Wand” conversation with your people to help uncover their goals Knowing other agents and working together also ensures that your clients will be well taken care of if something comes up that may not be in your wheelhouse Invest in the mindset of your people (e.g., mindset of abundance) Invest in education within your business and beyond  (e.g., starting a book club) This creates a ripple effect in job performance and happiness Example of The Group helping employees with investments and setting them up for financial wealth Investing even a little bit of time and money goes a long way - it doesn't have to be expensive This goes for top producers as well - they may not need your help selling real estate, but are you investing energy into their other goals? You need to always ask yourself whether you are investing in your people to make their world, their job, their experience better and show that you care about them This will make your team want to work together and stick around long-term It's much better to invest in the people you have now than to continually hire new people   Quotes: “As we coach people, and as we work with them, we watch them bring team members and we watch them grow.” “Whether it's just an assistant, a transaction coordinator, or whatnot - even all of your vendors that you work with...photographers to contractors to home inspectors - all of these pieces, we need to invest in them. And we need to help grow because it helps everything work better.” “When I look at investing in your people, I look at the same way we look at our clients, when we're helping people buy and sell, we ask a lot of questions, we talk about what their dreams are, what they would like to accomplish. And that's missed out a lot when you look at companies and teams.” “You're not just hiring somebody to do a job. Yes, on paper, that's what it is...But you're also providing, as an employer, so to speak, an opportunity for this person to achieve their hopes and dreams.” “Investing can show up a lot of different ways.” “These are team building investments that take time and energy, there's some money involved. But it's that thing that brings that group closer together. It's what makes people fight to want to be in the Mulberry office, because it brings in a group of people that are all like-minded, having a good time, enjoying this business. And that's what you want.” “It was hysterical. Every coach walked out of that room saying this was an incredible way of seeing each other's personalities.” “That's the beauty with building a team, is when you do something like that, you're going to watch skills come out of people that you didn't realize were there, or they were stronger than what you thought, by creating that environment.” “If you have somebody who can perform better, because they love being a part of the team, that is an investment that we need to double down on.” “Making sure that you all understand who each other is really opens a lot of doors.” “This goes beyond job roles as well. If you're investing in the education, development of your assistant, of your team, members of your staff - if you're an owner, these things can have a ripple effect in terms of their performance and their happiness.” “When you're not giving in and investing, those people don't want to show up for work in the long run. They don't want to step up and go above and beyond, to go do something outside the box for the sake of the company… You can very clearly see a company where they have not invested in their people.” “As a business owner, take a look around at who your people are, pay attention to them and figure out - What is the best thing I can do to invest into them to make their world, their business, their career, whatever it is, better? You will have longer standing employees and partners in this business.” “There's a whole financial component to this, to the cost of hiring new people… It's way better to invest in the people that you have.” “Your ROI on the investment into your current people is going to be way bigger than finding new people.”   Links: www.TheNinjaSellingPodcast.com Email us at    TSW@TheNinjaSellingPodcast.com Leave a voicemail at (208) MY-NINJA   Ninja Selling www.NinjaSelling.com @ninjasellingofficial Ninja Coaching: www.NinjaCoaching.com @ninja.coaching Ninja Events www.NinjaSelling.com/Events  Garrett garrett@ninjacoaching.com @ninjaredding Matt matt@ninjacoaching.com @matthewjbonelli   The Ninja Selling Podcast Facebook Group

In every investment we make, we often have high expectations of getting something back in return. It may be in the form of a physical or mental breakthrough that manifests in our capability to attract our ideal clients and run a profitable business, to name a few. Now an important lesson that every business owner should learn is to have a profound understanding of what you signed up for. Joining multiple courses or programs without a clear intention in mind doesn't really align with the core meaning of investing.In today's episode, we'll look into the key points that you should note before finally saying YES to investing in yourself. Follow these preparatory steps and start committing your time & money to a particular program that will make a difference to your life, career, or business.--- Want to receive weekly affirmations to continue that 1% compounding effect? Text ABUNDANCE to (310) 388-8603You can also click here to text me https://my.community.com/doctortk  Podcast Goals:  Learn how to be well-prepared before taking future investments Episode Timeline:Investment is the action or process of investing to receive something back. It is parallel to the laws of reciprocity and attraction. (02:10)Throughout life, people invested time and money in areas fundamental for their personal well-being, career, and business. But most of them do not align with the actual definition of investment. (04:54)A tip for the question "Do you read and explain confidentiality to clients?" is to inform your clients of your processes and policies during a consultation or on the first session. Most clients don't bother reading consent or policy forms because they focus on getting the urgent care they need. (11:22)Your ROI is not only measured based on physical but also mental. Examples would be having an increased level of confidence or taking on a biz owner mindset (13:00)Rule 1: Understand what it is that you want in your life, not just your business. Determine the type of person who will guide you to that goal. And when you are consistent with educating yourself and implementing what you learned, you will see the results being compounded at a later time. (17:29)Rule 2: Engage with the people who have what you need. Evaluate their teaching style by following them on the platforms they're in. (23:09)Rule 3: Make the decision to invest in yourself. Once you've recognized rules 1 and 2, look at the possibilities of what you can get back from the investments you'll make. (24:52)Rule 4: Focus on desire vs lack. Make sure you align your energy with positivity. (28:49)Rule 5: Look at your finances. The rule of thumb is to allocate money for a forthcoming event (30:43) Standout Quotes from Doctor TK:"The one biggest lesson I hope that you learn in terms of business is that you never sign your name on something and you don't understand what you just signed." (06:54)"You cannot expect— if we're looking at laws of attraction, reciprocity, and the definition of investment— for clients to pay you $1,000/hr when you know your value, you know your worth, you're licensed, you've been in the field for how many years, BUT you haven't invested anything beyond your degree..." (09:57)"A lot of clinicians in my Dope Therapist Academy within the first few weeks, they recognize that they've been seeing themselves as less than

In every investment we make, we often have high expectations of getting something back in return. It may be in the form of a physical or mental breakthrough that manifests in our capability to attract our ideal clients and run a profitable business, to name a few. Now an important lesson that every business owner should learn is to have a profound understanding of what you signed up for. Joining multiple courses or programs without a clear intention in mind doesn't really align with the core meaning of investing.In today's episode, we'll look into the key points that you should note before finally saying YES to investing in yourself. Follow these preparatory steps and start committing your time & money to a particular program that will make a difference to your life, career, or business.--- Want to receive weekly affirmations to continue that 1% compounding effect? Text ABUNDANCE to (310) 388-8603You can also click here to text me https://my.community.com/doctortk Podcast Goals: Learn how to be well-prepared before taking future investments Episode Timeline:Investment is the action or process of investing to receive something back. It is parallel to the laws of reciprocity and attraction. (02:10)Throughout life, people invested time and money in areas fundamental for their personal well-being, career, and business. But most of them do not align with the actual definition of investment. (04:54)A tip for the question "Do you read and explain confidentiality to clients?" is to inform your clients of your processes and policies during a consultation or on the first session. Most clients don't bother reading consent or policy forms because they focus on getting the urgent care they need. (11:22)Your ROI is not only measured based on physical but also mental. Examples would be having an increased level of confidence or taking on a biz owner mindset (13:00)Rule 1: Understand what it is that you want in your life, not just your business. Determine the type of person who will guide you to that goal. And when you are consistent with educating yourself and implementing what you learned, you will see the results being compounded at a later time. (17:29)Rule 2: Engage with the people who have what you need. Evaluate their teaching style by following them on the platforms they're in. (23:09)Rule 3: Make the decision to invest in yourself. Once you've recognized rules 1 and 2, look at the possibilities of what you can get back from the investments you'll make. (24:52)Rule 4: Focus on desire vs lack. Make sure you align your energy with positivity. (28:49)Rule 5: Look at your finances. The rule of thumb is to allocate money for a forthcoming event (30:43) Standout Quotes from Doctor TK:"The one biggest lesson I hope that you learn in terms of business is that you never sign your name on something and you don't understand what you just signed." (06:54)"You cannot expect— if we're looking at laws of attraction, reciprocity, and the definition of investment— for clients to pay you $1,000/hr when you know your value, you know your worth, you're licensed, you've been in the field for how many years, BUT you haven't invested anything beyond your degree..." (09:57)"A lot of clinicians in my Dope Therapist Academy within the first few weeks, they recognize that they've been seeing themselves as less thanConnect: Find | Doctor TK On Instagram: instagram.com/doctortkpsych On Facebook: facebook.com/DoctorTKPsych On Pinterest: pinterest.com/DoctorTKPsych On Youtube: youtube.com/c/DoctorTK SUBSCRIBE & RATE On Apple Podcast On Google Podcasts On Spotify

In every investment we make, we often have high expectations of getting something back in return. It may be in the form of a physical or mental breakthrough that manifests in our capability to attract our ideal clients and run a profitable business, to name a few. Now an important lesson that every business owner should learn is to have a profound understanding of what you signed up for. Joining multiple courses or programs without a clear intention in mind doesn't really align with the core meaning of investing. In today's episode, we'll look into the key points that you should note before finally saying YES to investing in yourself. Follow these preparatory steps and start committing your time & money to a particular program that will make a difference to your life, career, or business. --- Want to receive weekly affirmations to continue that 1% compounding effect? Text ABUNDANCE to (310) 388-8603 You can also click here to text me https://my.community.com/doctortk Podcast Goals: Learn how to be well-prepared before taking future investments Episode Timeline: Investment is the action or process of investing to receive something back. It is parallel to the laws of reciprocity and attraction. (02:10) Throughout life, people invested time and money in areas fundamental for their personal well-being, career, and business. But most of them do not align with the actual definition of investment. (04:54) A tip for the question "Do you read and explain confidentiality to clients?" is to inform your clients of your processes and policies during a consultation or on the first session. Most clients don't bother reading consent or policy forms because they focus on getting the urgent care they need. (11:22) Your ROI is not only measured based on physical but also mental. Examples would be having an increased level of confidence or taking on a biz owner mindset (13:00) Rule 1: Understand what it is that you want in your life, not just your business. Determine the type of person who will guide you to that goal. And when you are consistent with educating yourself and implementing what you learned, you will see the results being compounded at a later time. (17:29) Rule 2: Engage with the people who have what you need. Evaluate their teaching style by following them on the platforms they're in. (23:09) Rule 3: Make the decision to invest in yourself. Once you've recognized rules 1 and 2, look at the possibilities of what you can get back from the investments you'll make. (24:52) Rule 4: Focus on desire vs lack. Make sure you align your energy with positivity. (28:49) Rule 5: Look at your finances. The rule of thumb is to allocate money for a forthcoming event (30:43) Standout Quotes from Doctor TK: "The one biggest lesson I hope that you learn in terms of business is that you never sign your name on something and you don't understand what you just signed." (06:54) "You cannot expect— if we're looking at laws of attraction, reciprocity, and the definition of investment— for clients to pay you $1,000/hr when you know your value, you know your worth, you're licensed, you've been in the field for how many years, BUT you haven't invested anything beyond your degree..." (09:57) "A lot of clinicians in my Dope Therapist Academy within the first few weeks, they recognize that they've been seeing themselves as less than in terms of a biz owner. They walk around saying, I'm a boss. I'm an entrepreneur. But my question back to them is, are you a biz owner? Because if you have a business entity— even if it's a W9, DBA— you are a biz owner. Not just a little baby boss. So what you put out there to other people is known as your brand. And if you choose to continue to state in public that, oh I'm just a therapist, that's exactly how people are gonna treat you..." (13:33) Resources Mentioned: Listen to episodes on the Abundance Series Connect: Find | Doctor TK On Instagram: @DoctorTKPsych On Facebook: @DoctorTKPsych On Pinterest: @DoctorTKPsych On Youtube: @Doctor TK SUBSCRIBE & RATE On Apple Podcast On Google Podcasts On Spotify On Audible

In every investment we make, we often have high expectations of getting something back in return. It may be in the form of a physical or mental breakthrough that manifests in our capability to attract our ideal clients and run a profitable business, to name a few. Now an important lesson that every business owner should learn is to have a profound understanding of what you signed up for. Joining multiple courses or programs without a clear intention in mind doesn't really align with the core meaning of investing. In today's episode, we'll look into the key points that you should note before finally saying YES to investing in yourself. Follow these preparatory steps and start committing your time & money to a particular program that will make a difference to your life, career, or business. ---  Want to receive weekly affirmations to continue that 1% compounding effect? Text ABUNDANCE to (310) 388-8603 You can also click here to text me https://my.community.com/doctortk    Podcast Goals:   Learn how to be well-prepared before taking future investments   Episode Timeline: Investment is the action or process of investing to receive something back. It is parallel to the laws of reciprocity and attraction. (02:10) Throughout life, people invested time and money in areas fundamental for their personal well-being, career, and business. But most of them do not align with the actual definition of investment. (04:54) A tip for the question "Do you read and explain confidentiality to clients?" is to inform your clients of your processes and policies during a consultation or on the first session. Most clients don't bother reading consent or policy forms because they focus on getting the urgent care they need. (11:22) Your ROI is not only measured based on physical but also mental. Examples would be having an increased level of confidence or taking on a biz owner mindset (13:00) Rule 1: Understand what it is that you want in your life, not just your business. Determine the type of person who will guide you to that goal. And when you are consistent with educating yourself and implementing what you learned, you will see the results being compounded at a later time. (17:29) Rule 2: Engage with the people who have what you need. Evaluate their teaching style by following them on the platforms they're in. (23:09) Rule 3: Make the decision to invest in yourself. Once you've recognized rules 1 and 2, look at the possibilities of what you can get back from the investments you'll make. (24:52) Rule 4: Focus on desire vs lack. Make sure you align your energy with positivity. (28:49) Rule 5: Look at your finances. The rule of thumb is to allocate money for a forthcoming event (30:43)   Standout Quotes from Doctor TK: "The one biggest lesson I hope that you learn in terms of business is that you never sign your name on something and you don't understand what you just signed." (06:54) "You cannot expect— if we're looking at laws of attraction, reciprocity, and the definition of investment— for clients to pay you $1,000/hr when you know your value, you know your worth, you're licensed, you've been in the field for how many years, BUT you haven't invested anything beyond your degree..." (09:57) "A lot of clinicians in my Dope Therapist Academy within the first few weeks, they recognize that they've been seeing themselves as less than in terms of a biz owner. They walk around saying, I'm a boss. I'm an entrepreneur. But my question back to them is, are you a biz owner? Because if you have a business entity— even if it's a W9, DBA— you are a biz owner. Not just a little baby boss. So what you put out there to other people is known as your brand. And if you choose to continue to state in public that, oh I'm just a therapist, that's exactly how people are gonna treat you..." (13:33)   Resources Mentioned: Listen to episodes on the Abundance Series   Connect: Find | Doctor TK  On Instagram: @DoctorTKPsych On Facebook: @DoctorTKPsych On Pinterest: @DoctorTKPsych On Youtube: @Doctor TK   SUBSCRIBE & RATE On Apple Podcast  On Google Podcasts On Spotify On Audible

Ed Finkler, Founder of OSMIHELP.ORG, joins us for this episode to talk about what may be the most important bug we have to smash on a regular basis. Burnout is far more serious than we tend to think, until we're going through it ourselves! In fact, with the unique challenges that ecommerce developers face on a daily basis, it is almost guaranteed that each one of us will experience burnout at some point in our careers. The battle for your own mind is worth fighting. -- KEY TAKEAWAYS [coming soon: full show notes at SwiftOtter.com] “Burnout” isn't a technical diagnosis. Unfortunately, when people experience burnout, their mental condition may even worsen due to the perception that nobody else identifies with their situation or understands the personal challenges it presents every day. Burnout is uniquely identified by the inability to manage stress levels properly, enjoy tasks that were once enjoyable, feel like progress is being made when tasks are completed, or even have a confident “sense of agency”, which is the conscious recognition that one has power over their own situation. Programming is certainly a difficult job, but an ecommerce developer is the creator, ongoing maintenance provider and solution designer for online merchants who often demand a lot from them. The action really never dies down with how many different things developers have on their plates. Because of the way professionals must operate in this career, experiencing burnout is almost guaranteed to happen at some point. Ed revealed to us the reality that “burnout” is really just a euphemism for “episodic depression” and that it's important to understand that everyone goes through this in different ways and for different reasons. Burnout cannot be remedied with more money, easier projects or the occasional pizza party. The sense that one's peers truly care about them and desire to see them succeed is an incredible antidote. One's greatest asset is their mind, so how come it doesn't seem important to take care of that thing? Visit Ed's website at osmihelp.org and for additional resources, check out helpguide.org Are you dealing with burnout or "episodic depression"? Do you feel that your coworkers and/or managers don't understand the importance of mental health? We'd love for you to post a comment here or drop us a line at Joseph@swiftotter.com. We're happy to be a listening ear and an encouragement to you! In addition to that, please feel encouraged to join our Slack community where over 1200 developers are collaborating and encouraging one another on a daily basis! Email us or connect with us on social media and we will happily share an invitation link with you. -- Do YOU have an incredible debugging story to share? Send your story to logan@swiftotter.com and you might be our next podcast guest! This podcast exists to inspire, educate and entertain ecommerce developers who are serious about improving their skills and advancing their careers! The Art of Ecommerce Debugging, your complete guide to becoming an expert debugger, is NOW AVAILABLE at SwiftOtter.com! Claim your copy right here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/ The information contained in this book is your pathway to becoming an incredible developer. In fact, veteran developers from all over the world are reporting that they learned valuable new tricks from this book. Your ROI on this inexpensive tool will be immediate and through the roof! Get your copy here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/ (Theme music courtesy of Trending Audio)

Are you interested in moving up as a developer? Or, maybe you just aren't happy where you're at and you're curious what an interview looks like at a healthy, growing agency? On episode 18 of Smash the Bug, Joseph is in the hot seat for an intense technical interview! Whether you are going to be interviewing for a new position or interviewing others, be inspired and motivated by this example of a successful technical interview! -- KEY TAKEAWAYS Joseph's early career, key advances, and what has mostly gotten him to where he is now. Where Joseph believes he still needs the most growth and the tools he wants to learn more about. What Joseph's first moves are when he is faced with a "brick wall" situation (an agent problem in need of solving). Joseph's most recent accomplishment that led him to feel satisfied and confident with the end results. *Rapid fire questions!* Differences between production and developer mode What is a repository? What is the difference between a router and a controller? What is the difference between "bundled" and "grouped" products? Someone wants to print an admin order, but the page looks terrible. It has menu and action buttons still on it. How would you fix it? Jesse has great feedback for Joseph's answers to these rapid fire questions! -- Do YOU have an interesting experience with debugging? Send your story to logan@swiftotter.com and you might be our next podcast guest! This podcast exists to inspire, educate and entertain ecommerce developers who are serious about improving their skills and advancing their careers! The Art of Ecommerce Debugging, your complete guide to becoming an expert debugger, is NOW AVAILABLE at SwiftOtter.com! Claim your copy right here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/ The information contained in this book is your pathway to becoming an incredible developer. In fact, veteran developers from all over the world are reporting that they learned valuable new tricks from this book. Your ROI on this inexpensive tool will be immediate and through the roof! Get your copy here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/ (Theme music courtesy of Trending Audio)

On this episode of Smash the Bug, Joseph had the opportunity to chat with Max Chadwick, Back-End Tech Lead at Rightpoint (formerly Something Digital). Max has been around the block as an ecommerce developer and, as a Tech Lead at a large agency, finds himself at the helm of the ship whenever one of their clients has an urgent problem to address. His experience has led him to pinpoint the key differentiators between a novice developer and a seasoned professional, and subsequently, what makes for a high-functioning team. In this episode, we get a SMALL chunk of his wisdom. What do you want to hear from Max next time? Post a comment and let us know! -- KEY TAKEAWAYS Max figured out a while back that finding the real root of an issue and documenting your entire process is the way to achieve excellence, not just seeking out a quick (and likely temporary) fix to a problem. Maxchadwick.xyz is Max's public blog where he documents his processes, from taking the initial call from a merchant in distress to informing them that the issue has been handled. You might want to go bookmark that right now before you forget, cause that could be a huge help to you when you're in a bind! “Debugging can kind of feel like a bottomless pit at some times, and you can feel like you're just throwing stuff at a wall” - Max Why is blogging such a powerful tool? Long story short: making sure that you know how to explain your process to someone else will solidify the process in your own mind. Max has been creating blog posts about his debugging experiences for more than eight years and continues to see blogging as a necessary part of his daily work. Max argues that a spreadsheet can come in handy when debugging, to help you categorize where and when you're seeing these “cases” and he's even been able to use the statistics from his data-gathering to shorten the problem-solving process. n98-Magerun2's dev:console is a little-known resource and should be in your tool box, just in case you run into production issues and you need a way to evaluate the issue without interrupting it. Consider the Bug Bounty program if you want to sharpen your skills AND contribute to an excellent cause at the same time. Max continues to participate on a regular basis! Max's Blog: https://maxchadwick.xyz/blog/ Max's Article about the dev:console: https://maxchadwick.xyz/blog/n98-magerun2-dev-console-magento-cloud Bug Bounty: https://www.bugcrowd.com/bug-bounty-list/ -- Do YOU have an interesting experience with debugging? Send your story to logan@swiftotter.com and you might be our next podcast guest! This podcast exists to inspire, educate and entertain ecommerce developers who are serious about improving their skills and advancing their careers. The Art of Ecommerce Debugging, your complete guide to becoming an expert debugger, is NOW AVAILABLE at SwiftOtter.com! Claim your copy right here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/ The information contained in this book is your pathway to becoming an incredible developer. In fact, veteran developers from all over the world are reporting that they learned valuable new tricks from this book. Your ROI on this inexpensive tool will be immediate and through the roof! Get your copy here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/ (Theme music courtesy of Trending Audio)

On this episode of Smash the Bug, the one and only Phillip Jackson, Chief Commerce Officer at Rightpoint and industry mentor is here to discuss the process of going from Junior to Master Developer. Phillip started as a developer and has certainly grown into an attractive role in the community! There are tons of golden nuggets in this episode so grab a seat! -- KEY TAKEAWAYS Phillip's story from being a young child, interested in computers and point-of-sale systems, to overcoming the odds and proving a lot of people wrong. He "fought and clawed" his way into the career he wanted and you can do it too. He "decided" that this was the career he wanted, and he had "the grit" to accomplish his goal, all while he didn't even understand what the potential was with computers. Writing code on a graphing calculator?! The connection between Phillip's initial determination and the quality of his work as a developer. Your mindset is key to transforming your career. *Phillip built his first website as payment for a new computer at Best Buy (he had never built a website before...) "We are at the cutting edge of things that are happening" in the ecommerce world and "we are constantly forging new ground" as developers. If you can be "comfortable being uncomfortable" you are going to do very well in this industry. *The 3 traits a developer needs in order to be excellent and have a positive impact on those around them. An important look at the content available at Future Commerce and why developers should occasionally consume content that is merchant-focused in order to blaze a better trail for their future work. Why is being a "lazy developer" a good thing sometimes? (yes, it's a trick question) *Phillip's bug-squashing story: "the way we were going to get paid is to hit some pretty unreasonable goals". The final comment from Phillip on how to become an irreplaceable developer: seek to inspire, instruct and build those around you up. If you focus on others, every project you touch will benefit from your involvement. -- Do YOU have an interesting experience with debugging? Send your story to logan@swiftotter.com and you might be our next podcast guest! This podcast exists to inspire, educate and entertain eCommerce developers who are serious about improving their skills and advancing their careers! The Art of Ecommerce Debugging, your complete guide to becoming an expert debugger, is NOW AVAILABLE at SwiftOtter.com! Claim your copy right here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/ The information contained in this book is your pathway to becoming an incredible developer. In fact, veteran developers from all over the world are reporting that they learned valuable new tricks from this book. Your ROI on this inexpensive tool will be immediate and through the roof! Get your copy here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/ (Theme music courtesy of Trending Audio)

On this episode of Smash the Bug, Joseph and Jesse talk about burnout, or more creatively put, "debugging the person". Sometimes the problems we face aren't with the code, but with ourselves, and we need to be open about these challenges so that we can help each other out. -- KEY TAKEAWAYS What does burnout actually look like and how can we identify when it is starting to become an issue? Can we possibly identify how many hours we are productive and set healthy boundaries for how much we are working? Drawing an arbitrary line in the sand isn't the answer. Some people work 12 hour days and love their work, while others hit their limit faster. Instead of being willing to step back and re-evaluate a project we are working on, we often look to just "get it done" instead of doing it right, which is often both a contributor to and a result of burnout. Beginning every day, week and project with a fine-tuned "big picture perspective" can help you stay on course. " One of the most demoralizing things I can do is throw code away" - Jesse Jesse confesses that he struggles a lot when the requirements for a project change. Starting with a "big picture perspective", making sure the requirements are well laid out in the first place, and preparing for those struggles help to prevent demoralizing emotional situations. Maybe sometimes you just need to clean the junk off of your glasses and you'll be as good as new! (joking, of course) After discussing burnout with a dentist, Jesse learned that the feeling of burnout that comes from doing repetitive and boring tasks can be remedied by seeking to learn new approaches and creative solutions for the project. Trying a new approach might take you longer, but it will help you to learn and explore. When you make creativity a priority, you can get into a routine of making mundane tasks seem fresh again. If you're struggling with burnout, email Joseph@swiftotter.com or Jesse@swiftotter.com. While everyone's situation is unique, we've most certainly been through similar challenges and would be happy to lend a listening ear! -- Do YOU have an interesting experience with debugging? Send your story to logan@swiftotter.com and you might be our next podcast guest! This podcast exists to inspire, educate and entertain eCommerce developers who are serious about improving their skills and advancing their careers! The Art of Ecommerce Debugging, your complete guide to becoming an expert debugger, is NOW AVAILABLE at SwiftOtter.com! Claim your copy right here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/ The information contained in this book is your pathway to becoming an incredible developer. In fact, veteran developers from all over the world are reporting that they learned valuable new tricks from this book. Your ROI on this inexpensive tool will be immediate and through the roof! Get your copy here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/ (Theme music courtesy of Trending Audio)

In this episode, we talk about the real estate bubble. Is it real, or is it just the made-up theory that the experts were trying to scare people with? Also, we ask, when is the right time to buy investment real estate?  Is the real estate bubble real? Let's start off with the real estate bubble. I get this question a lot. So there's this bubble that we keep hearing about and all the experts talk about the real estate bubble. Now, there is a bubble, but in the conversations I'm having people are asking me is this another 2008? are we going to see a collapse? Though I don't have a master's in economics, I believe the driving force behind the collapse in 2008 was bad loans backed by the federal government in the multiples of millions. These were loans that were backed as stated income loans, where people just said, hey, I make $300,000 a year, and they just wrote you a loan if you pulse; if your heart was beating you got the money. This bubble, that's come, is nowhere near gonna be as catastrophic as 2008. So everybody just needs to calm down and relax about the bubble. Memphis has been ridiculous the last three or four months with people buying property as if they're about to put a moratorium on buying homes, period, and that you'll never be able to buy another house until the end of time. Buyers are paying 20, 30, 40 thousand dollars over market, so yes, there is a bubble, and it's going to correct.   When is the right time to buy real estate? I'm baffled by this every year. Come mid-March, the phone starts ringing off the hook, and property investors are calling us from around the world and all across the country wanting to buy, they get hot and heavy, and they start throwing money around buying real estate as fast as we can get it.  I encourage many investors to walk away from deals because I don't think it makes financial sense. Some go for it. Some don't. It's not my job to make that decision, but rather it's my job to guide them and give them my best advice. What I don't understand is that investors want to buy up everything they get their hands on between March and August and, come the end of August, then they just go silent. I say October through February is the best time to buy investment real estate, and here's why. In the Fall, the market has cooled off and there are fewer buyers than properties, so you can get better deals on properties. Your ROI on your investments is going to be a better deal versus going on and competing against 30 other investors when the real estate market is HOT, and maybe 20 homeowners are competing and you end up overpaying for something that you could have got for a lower price if you'd just waited.   If you'd like to learn more about real estate investor services from EPM Real Estate, Enterprise Property Management's real estate division, please visit us at epmrealestate.com. Call EPM Real Estate at 901.671.1015 Subscribe to this investment property podcast at: http://BehindTheCurtainPodcast.com Facebook: https://facebook.com/EPMRealEstate Twitter: @EPMRealEstate

On this episode of Smash the Bug, TJ Gamble, Owner and CEO of Jamersan and the one and only Ecommerce Aholic on YouTube is here to discuss what makes a developer irreplaceable and how to think about your journey as an Ecommerce professional. -- KEY TAKEAWAYS Why is understanding the business of Ecommerce important for developers? How can agencies and their developers differentiate themselves in the marketplace as the best at building and maintaining sites, but also partnering with the merchant and educating them? Merchants need to know that you are their PARTNER, not just their emergency help in distress. After all, the more successful and profitable that merchant becomes, the more they need your agency in order to continue that growth process and increase their marketshare! Agencies want someone who doesn't have an ago, who can communicate well and employ a high level of emotional intelligence, and who shows a certain level of curiosity. Curiosity, in this industry, proves that a developer enjoys their work, wants to grow and improve, and is going to do a thorough job when given a difficult and/or obscure project. Curiosity can even be regarded as a dying quality in today's world, since we are constantly being influenced towards speed and objectivity, which naturally surpasses the ability to be curious. TJ believes that developers who are busy with side jobs and creative hobbies make for some of the best developers, and it all contributes to that idea of "curiosity". Good communication doesn't mean more communication, but mores being able to listen well and explain information in simple, clear terms. A good developer is able to communicate the same information to a merchant that he or she would be communicating to a manger or co-worker, in different ways that apply better to the person he is speaking to. Merchants don't want to work with a team that won't slow down and try to help them understand what is going on. You may not be an account manager or regularly interfacing with merchants, but learning to communicate effectively will serve you well in your career. It will certainly help you land that promotion or job that you've been working towards! -- Check out TJ Gamble / Ecommerce Aholic right here: https://www.youtube.com/c/eCommerceAholic/videos Do YOU have an interesting experience with debugging? Send your story to logan@swiftotter.com and you might be our next podcast guest! This podcast exists to inspire, educate and entertain eCommerce developers who are serious about improving their skills and advancing their careers! The Art of Ecommerce Debugging, your complete guide to becoming an expert debugger, is NOW AVAILABLE at SwiftOtter.com! Claim your copy right here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/ The information contained in this book is your pathway to becoming an incredible developer. In fact, veteran developers from all over the world are reporting that they learned valuable new tricks from this book. Your ROI on this inexpensive tool will be immediate and through the roof! Get your copy here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/ (Theme music courtesy of Trending Audio)

On this episode of Smash the Bug, Oscar Merida, Editor in Chief at php[architect] (phparch.com) is here to give us the "PHP pro tools" and remind us of some very useful resources we should be utilizing. The reality is that most developers only understand "the bare minimum" when it comes to PHP and there is a whole world of resources we can tap into to sharpen our knowledge. -- KEY TAKEAWAYS Underused features in PHP: For language syntax, there is a whole suite of functional array support that makes everything more efficient. The biggest complaint about these array functions - is it legitimate or just a misunderstanding? Developer experience vs actual functional quality. In a practical sense, what does a generator actually do and how can it optimize performance? Built-in developer web server - a quick way to stand up a local website to hack on ("quick and dirty dev environment"). SPL Library for working with files.   Best resources out there for PHP: "We know what the platform requires of us, but it's hard for us to look outside of that" php.net docs for practical day-to-day stuff. phptherightway.com - actual advice on how to work with databases (and more). Your local user group - listen and share! Go to php.ug to find a local group, or nomadphp.com to get involved. For helpful php tips and info, php[architect] (phparch.com) is a solid resource. It's an actual magazine that gets shipped to you, which will help you learn while getting away from your screen for a while. With your subscription, you'll gain access to the php[architect] discord community where you can ask questions and seek advice from others like yourself! -- Do YOU have an interesting experience with debugging? Send your story to logan@swiftotter.com and you might be our next podcast guest! This podcast exists to inspire, educate and entertain eCommerce developers who are serious about improving their skills and advancing their careers!   The Art of Ecommerce Debugging, your complete guide to becoming an expert debugger, is NOW AVAILABLE at SwiftOtter.com! Claim your copy right here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/ The information contained in this book is your pathway to becoming an incredible developer. In fact, veteran developers from all over the world are reporting that they learned valuable new tricks from this book. Your ROI on this inexpensive tool will be immediate and through the roof! Get your copy here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/ (Theme music courtesy of Trending Audio)

On this episode of Smash the Bug, Chris Anderson, Tech Lead at BORN Group talks about a difficult integration project and how developers really should be learning how to use RabbitMQ! -- KEY TAKEAWAYS Using Magento in the "best way possible" and avoiding over-customization away from the Magento core. Why RabbitMQ isn't more widely used, and why you should start learning about it. When a client was trying to onboard multiple sites to Magento and have it communicate with their SSO, RabbitMQ was a uniquely perfect solution, which made Chris the "RabbitMQ guy" at his company after he learned how to use it specifically for this project. The importance of not letting yourself stop learning - you never know when you'll be faced with a task that could take 100 hours or 1 hour, depending on how wide your knowledge base is. A simple communication error can wreak havoc on an entire system, and being able to spot it requires the desire to learn more than you think you "need" to know. -- Do YOU have an interesting experience with debugging? Send your story to logan@swiftotter.com and you might be our next podcast guest! This podcast exists to inspire, educate and entertain eCommerce developers who are serious about improving their skills and advancing their careers! The Art of Ecommerce Debugging, your complete guide to becoming an expert debugger, is NOW AVAILABLE at SwiftOtter.com! Claim your copy right here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/ The information contained in this book is your pathway to becoming an incredible developer. In fact, veteran developers from all over the world are reporting that they learned valuable new tricks from this book. Your ROI on this inexpensive tool will be immediate and through the roof! Get your copy here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/

On this episode of Smash the Bug, Simon Frost gives us a sneak peek at his upcoming book on the Magento 2 admin panel, outlines his debugging process and explains what it takes to become a "power user"! -- KEY TAKEAWAYS Brief overview of Simon's upcoming book on the Magento 2 admin panel and why it will be useful for tons of developers. What it takes to become a "power user" and what that means. The importance of a "personal solutions log" and how to start one. Admin action logs as a great start to evidence gathering. "Created at" and "updated at" - approaching a bug like a forensic investigator. Why Simon tries to avoid firing up Xdebug until he knows it's time. Simon's "comparison technique". Skilled debugging is more than compiling a bunch of different tools, but more importantly, choosing the right one. "If everything seems to be working properly, challenge your assumptions".   -- Do YOU have an interesting experience with debugging? Send your story to logan@swiftotter.com and you might be our next podcast guest! This podcast exists to inspire, educate and entertain eCommerce developers who are serious about improving their skills and advancing their careers! The Art of Ecommerce Debugging, your complete guide to becoming an expert debugger, is NOW AVAILABLE at SwiftOtter.com! Claim your copy right here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/ The information contained in this book is your pathway to becoming an incredible developer. In fact, veteran developers from all over the world are reporting that they learned valuable new tricks from this book. Your ROI on this inexpensive tool will be immediate and through the roof! Get your copy here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/

On this episode of Smash the Bug, Joseph and Jesse talk about the importance of resetting even before a problem is solved, a deep Xdebug stack trace, and the importance of visualizing data in the right ways. -- KEY TAKEAWAYS Why are we on a dock at the lake? The importance of clearing your mind and resetting, even when deadlines are approaching. The light bulb moment (it's not what you think). Amending the discussion on "views" from Episode 8 Products not loading into a quote item , a deep Xdebug stack trace with a fix in under an hour, and the value of teamwork and collaboration. Price re-calculation/updating not happening (logging is so important!) and how visualizing data in the right ways gets you far. The ultimate value of becoming an amazing problem solver.   -- Do YOU have an interesting experience with debugging? Send your story to logan@swiftotter.com and you might be our next podcast guest! This podcast exists to inspire, educate and entertain eCommerce developers who are serious about improving their skills and advancing their careers! Don't forget to check out SwiftOtter's brand new FREE COURSE, "Mastering Xdebug"! Go to SwiftOtter.com/MasteringXdebug to enroll! The Art of Ecommerce Debugging, your complete guide to becoming an expert debugger, is NOW AVAILABLE at SwiftOtter.com! Claim your copy right here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/ The information contained in this book is your pathway to becoming an incredible developer. In fact, veteran developers from all over the world are reporting that they learned valuable new tricks from this book. Your ROI on this inexpensive tool will be immediate and through the roof! Get your copy here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/

On this episode of Smash the Bug, Robert Rand of JetRails discusses with Joseph the current state of the Magento (or Adobe Commerce) ecosystem after the Adobe Summit, and gives some helpful tips on agency communication. -- KEY TAKEAWAYS The current state of the Magento (Adobe Commerce) ecosystem after the Adobe Summit. Is open source going to go away now that Magento is Adobe Commerce and things are evolving? How do agencies often fail to keep merchants and how can these issues be avoided? What impact does a developer have on the merchant/agency relationship? What communication strategies are key to the merchant/agency relationship? -- Do YOU have an interesting experience with debugging? Send your story to logan@swiftotter.com and you might be our next podcast guest! This podcast exists to inspire, educate and entertain eCommerce developers who are serious about improving their skills and advancing their careers! The Art of Ecommerce Debugging, your complete guide to becoming an expert debugger, is NOW AVAILABLE at SwiftOtter.com! Claim your copy right here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/ The information contained in this book is your pathway to becoming an incredible developer. In fact, veteran developers from all over the world are reporting that they learned valuable new tricks from this book. Your ROI on this inexpensive tool will be immediate and through the roof! Get your copy here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/

On this episode of Smash the Bug, Joseph and Jesse (the dream team at SwiftOtter Solutions) talk about Hyva, BugUFO.com, and helpful strategies for debugging! -- KEY TAKEAWAYS -News & updates- What is Hyva and how can it be used in Magento 2? Is BugUFO.com going to be a valuable resource in addition to Stack Overflow?   -Experiences, Tips & Hacks- Over and over again, we think we know what we are working on and the kind of bug we are fixing, but the finished product is very different from what we set out to accomplish. Join filters and working with statuses. Is this a "plug the hole" situation or time to build a real fix? DocBlock issues and a broken URL When to go local and replicate outside the staging environment. Performance improvements: indexing and small vs big improvements -- Do YOU have an interesting experience with debugging? Send your story to logan@swiftotter.com and you might be our next podcast guest! This podcast exists to inspire, educate and entertain eCommerce developers who are serious about improving their skills and advancing their careers! The Art of Ecommerce Debugging, your complete guide to becoming an expert debugger, is NOW AVAILABLE at SwiftOtter.com! Claim your copy right here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/ The information contained in this book is your pathway to becoming an incredible developer. In fact, veteran developers from all over the world are reporting that they learned valuable new tricks from this book. Your ROI on this inexpensive tool will be immediate and through the roof! Get your copy here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/

On this episode of Smash the Bug, Dan Andrei talks about his experience dealing with a massive eCommerce store that wasn't functioning well on Magento 2.3.6! -- KEY TAKEAWAYS Client with massive store and too many customizable products for Magento 2.3.6. Product page was crashing. Comparing configurable products led to narrowing down the issue, finding what was crashing the page and then formulating an actionable solution (with multiple components). Keys for success: getting thrown in the deep end and having to learn things mostly on your own with some help from peers. Getting creative when coming up with solutions and thinking dynamically when complex issues come up. Tool of choice: PhpStorm Plugin of choice: Magicento Machine of choice: Linux (without a doubt!) -- Do YOU have an interesting (and 100% true) experience with debugging? Send your story to logan@swiftotter.com and you might be our next podcast guest! This podcast exists to inspire, educate and entertain eCommerce developers who are serious about improving their skills and advancing their careers! The Art of Ecommerce Debugging, your complete guide to becoming an expert debugger, is NOW AVAILABLE at SwiftOtter.com! Claim your copy right here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/ The information contained in this book is your pathway to becoming an incredible developer. In fact, veteran developers from all over the world are reporting that they learned valuable new tricks from this book. Your ROI on this inexpensive tool will be immediate and through the roof! Get your copy here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/

On this episode of Smash the Bug, Joseph and Jesse (the dream team at SwiftOtter Solutions) talk about news from the Adobe Summit and the many common production challenges that agencies experience. -- KEY TAKEAWAYS -News & Updates- Adobe Commerce Payments: is Adobe fixing a pain point by "componentizing" payments? Adobe Commerce Search: will it be a step up, or even be able to keep up with Algolia? The Art of eCommerce Debugging - July 1st is a date you will want to write down!   -Experiences, Tips & Hacks- Production problems: the monster in the closet. When things check out on local and dev, then we have a mystery bug. Lessons on what changes you should and shouldn't be making in the production stage. The better way to communicate apologies to clients and move forward after a big setback. -- Do YOU have an interesting experience with debugging? Send your story to logan@swiftotter.com and you might be our next podcast guest! This podcast exists to inspire, educate and entertain eCommerce developers who are serious about improving their skills and advancing their careers! The Art of Ecommerce Debugging, your complete guide to becoming an expert debugger, is NOW AVAILABLE at SwiftOtter.com! Claim your copy right here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/ The information contained in this book is your pathway to becoming an incredible developer. In fact, veteran developers from all over the world are reporting that they learned valuable new tricks from this book. Your ROI on this inexpensive tool will be immediate and through the roof! Get your copy here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/

On this episode of Smash the Bug, Sarvagya Pandey talks about his experience with MSI and the difficult hurdles he has crossed in his career! -- KEY TAKEAWAYS First challenge: Needed to map the project and define MSI, dive into the code and connect the merchant's needs with what Magento could offer. Second challenge: MSI wasn't in use in a lot of cases, so information was hard to find on stack exchanges and in community forums. "Regardless of what feature we are working, we have to see that the particular change should not break Magento or Magento functionality when we upgrade or make other changes". Get information and user flows, understand the Magento code, and use your tools. Understand all of the locations where the functionality is present - sometimes you can adjust the same function in multiple places. One of the most overlooked tools is the code itself - rehearsing what is happening and where it is happening. Perspective: "I want to learn as I work" Being embarrassed while reviewing your code from six months ago is GOOD and it means you're growing. Concept: the importance of community and always thinking like a junior developer. Gaining awareness is the starting point (credit to Ben Marks). -- Do YOU have an interesting (and 100% true) experience with debugging? Send your story to logan@swiftotter.com and you might be our next podcast guest! This podcast exists to inspire, educate and entertain eCommerce developers who are serious about improving their skills and advancing their careers. The Art of Ecommerce Debugging, your complete guide to becoming an expert debugger, is NOW AVAILABLE at SwiftOtter.com! Claim your copy right here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/ The information contained in this book is your pathway to becoming an incredible developer. In fact, veteran developers from all over the world are reporting that they learned valuable new tricks from this book. Your ROI on this inexpensive tool will be immediate and through the roof! Get your copy here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/  

On today's episode of the Forever Cash Life Real Estate Podcast, my wife, Michelle Bosch, shares some valuable principles that will help you scale your business quickly and bring the right people on board.  Whether you're running a land flipping business, or something else entirely, you'll find these principles to be timeless and important. Michelle and I have followed them the past 18 years with great success. You'll Never Know Freedom Without Hiring a Team Building a team that's bigger than you will give you the opportunity to enjoy the four freedoms of money, time, relationships, and purpose. When you're just starting out, all these things depend on YOU:  Bringing in leads Getting offers Sales happening Moving deals through the pipeline Checks coming into the bank But this is unsustainable, and you can't scale your business If everything depends on you alone. These freedoms will never be yours. Your Employees Need to Share Your Core Values In the beginning, when you're first hiring, you might start small with a VA or independent contractor, someone who can start taking non-critical activities off your hands. Eventually, you want to pivot into thinking about a team where you are all in on them and they are all in on you. Your ROI (return on involvement) is way superior with an employee than with someone who is doing 5-10 hours for you here and there and not fully committed to you and your business. You'll want to bring people on board who embody your core values, who become like family, who see opportunities for personal and career development, and who are truly excited about the dynamic growth of the company. You need to be clear on your core values so you can magnetize the right people. Collapse Time with This Hiring Practice One thing Michelle and I have found over the years is that we can collapse time by hiring two or three people at a time for one position. When it comes to our sales team, we'll onboard these people at the same time, train them at the same time, and then let them fight for a spot on our rocketship. When you give two or three people the same resources, one of them is going to rise to the top. When we do it this way, our new hires have extra motivation to succeed, and we aren't wasting time training someone who turns out not to be a great fit for our team.  Train Your Employees With a Purpose You will be tempted to dump all your unwanted tasks onto your new hire and let them figure it out, but you need to think long-term. You need to train them, explain the purpose of each task, show them how each task fits into the context of the business, and the impact it has on the company as a whole.  Give them a list of criteria.  Break down the steps/chunks/milestones.  Have a rhythm for supervising and checking in.  Offer regular feedback and constructive criticism.  Catch mistakes immediately to save time and effort. Don't just teach them steps and methodology. Give them a sense of purpose. Put in the time and energy at the beginning, and your return on involvement will be exponential.  Utilize Technology to Simplify the Onboarding Process We have so much access to technology these days. Make the most of it. Record what you do with new employees, so you can use it again in the future with your next hire. You're not abdicating the whole onboarding process to videos, but they'll be there for your team to watch, listen to, and reference again and again.  You can actually provide your entire team with a valuable library of resources that will save you so much time and money over the long haul. Recognize Your Value as CEO When you start out as a business owner, you can get hit by impostor syndrome and think, “Oh my god, who am I to be demanding an all-in mindset from my employees?” We don't automatically have that assertiveness and confidence to recognize the incredible value we bring to the marketplace. You need to step into this power and attract the right people who recognize it as well. You need to understand that you are offering an amazing opportunity to someone. It's a privilege and an honor to align themselves with a CEO like you, someone with integrity and excellence, who is making people's dreams come true. There are very few people out there operating at this level, in a way that's not transactional, but transformational. You are a freaking big deal. Don't bring just anybody on board with you. Make sure they embody your core values, and that they're excited to use the velocity of the growth of your business to meet their personal growth goals as well. Your business, with their help, will spit out the cash flow. And you, as CEO, will be flowing in the freedoms of money, time, relationships, and purpose. What's Inside:  The key characteristics to look for in a new employee How hiring 2-3 people at once to compete for a role collapses time How to leverage technology to simplify the onboarding/training process Mentioned in this episode: Join our next FREE 5-day Land Flipping Masterclass starting on May 10.

On this episode of Smash the Bug, Joseph and Jesse (the dream team at SwiftOtter Solutions) talk about some big Magento/Adobe news that is going to have a potentially large impact on the community, developer efficiency hacks and how to become a better problem solver in your daily operations. -- KEY TAKEAWAYS -News & Updates- “Magento” to “Adobe Commerce”? How will this effect the community? “It's [Magento] been a daily part of my vocabulary for ten years” – Joseph How will open-source look? Will a name change effect anything operationally?   -Experiences, Tips & Hacks- Glitch in new feature – pull request links and code examination “It just reminded me of the importance of putting that issue number in”   Experienced developers need to think like young developers when they create “The time you invest now, or the little bit of thought that you invest now, will save you probably double that, if you ever need to touch that in the future”   Reviewing the tenses of commit messages “Describing the code as it is right now”   When products weren't saving, specifically through the API “This is where thoughtful debugging makes a huge difference”   Integer or string, product ID or SKU “We were not expecting SKUs”   Taking the time to create a full local replication and evaluate the big picture   Intro to the “TAD” debugging framework -- Do YOU have an interesting (and 100% true) experience with debugging? Send your story to logan@swiftotter.com and you might be our next podcast guest! This podcast exists to inspire, educate and entertain eCommerce developers who are serious about improving their skills and advancing their careers!   The Art of Ecommerce Debugging, your complete guide to becoming an expert debugger, is NOW AVAILABLE at SwiftOtter.com! Claim your copy right here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/ The information contained in this book is your pathway to becoming an incredible developer. In fact, veteran developers from all over the world are reporting that they learned valuable new tricks from this book. Your ROI on this inexpensive tool will be immediate and through the roof! Get your copy here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/

On this episode of Smash the Bug, Ruggero Landolina shares his story about having to completely rebuild a Magento 2 website for a merchant with only 20 days to make it happen. We get a glimpse into his thought process and how he worked through this mountain of a task!   Do YOU have an interesting (and 100% true) experience with debugging? Send your story to logan@swiftotter.com and you might be our next podcast guest!   This podcast exists to inspire, educate and entertain eCommerce developers who are serious about improving their skills and advancing their careers!   The Art of Ecommerce Debugging, your complete guide to becoming an expert debugger, is NOW AVAILABLE at SwiftOtter.com! Claim your copy right here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/ The information contained in this book is your pathway to becoming an incredible developer. In fact, veteran developers from all over the world are reporting that they learned valuable new tricks from this book. Your ROI on this inexpensive tool will be immediate and through the roof! Get your copy here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/

On this episode of Smash the Bug, Joris Hart, CTO at ATI4 GROUP explains a major issue he had to work through with uiComponents and custom product options in Magento.  -- KEY TAKEAWAYS "When you think that it will be too easy, it never is" Check the little things before starting down the long road (class names, store config). The value in "rubber ducking" and explaining things to a non-developer who might have a valuable perspective. Be a learner. Don't let seniority cause you to stagnate! -- Do YOU have an interesting (and 100% true) experience with debugging? Send your story to logan@swiftotter.com and you might be our next podcast guest! This podcast exists to inspire, educate and entertain eCommerce developers who are serious about improving their skills and advancing their careers!   The Art of Ecommerce Debugging, your complete guide to becoming an expert debugger, is NOW AVAILABLE at SwiftOtter.com! Claim your copy right here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/ The information contained in this book is your pathway to becoming an incredible developer. In fact, veteran developers from all over the world are reporting that they learned valuable new tricks from this book. Your ROI on this inexpensive tool will be immediate and through the roof! Get your copy here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/

On this first episode of Smash the Bug, Wahid Nory, an experienced developer out of The Netherlands explains a difficult challenge he faced with a merchant's shopping cart redirection. -- KEY TAKEAWAYS For most developers, checkout is a constant pain point. Recurring order functions are a whole new world of difficulty, especially with an external payment processor messing things up. "Many payment provider modules are just not well built" and do not integrate well. Persistence is often more important than actual skill level. When under pressure, determination and level of care will overshadow your experience level. -- Do YOU have an interesting (and 100% true) experience with debugging? Send your story to logan@swiftotter.com and you might be our next guest! This podcast exists to inspire, educate and entertain eCommerce developers who are serious about improving their skills and advancing their careers! The Art of Ecommerce Debugging, your complete guide to becoming an expert debugger, is NOW AVAILABLE at SwiftOtter.com! Claim your copy right here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/ The information contained in this book is your pathway to becoming an incredible developer. In fact, veteran developers from all over the world are reporting that they learned valuable new tricks from this book. Your ROI on this inexpensive tool will be immediate and through the roof! Get your copy here: https://swiftotter.com/art-of-debugging#/  

Resource Links:CaseFuel Website (http://casefuel.com/)Get your copy of “Legal Marketing Fastlane” (https://www.amazon.com/Legal-Marketing-Fastlane-Roadmap-Generating-ebook/dp/B06X9B76QX)Great by Choice book by Jim Collins (https://www.amazon.com/Great-Choice-Uncertainty-Luck-Why-Despite/dp/0062120999)In my first-ever sales job, my sales manager used to tell me, “Never use the word cost.” Instead he told me to always say “investment.” Cost essentially became a dirty word. I didn’t think too much into it at the time - it seemed like a small distinction. All I knew is that it seemed to work in my sales calls.But looking back, it had more to do with my success in business than I ever imaginedMany law firms try and fail to get their first ROI on marketing. Unfortunately, many firms view marketing with a cost mentality. And these are the ones that don’t see a return. I see this failure as less of a coincidence and more of cause and effect relationship.In today’s episode, we explore how your choice of words can have a big impact on your mindset. And when it comes to achieving ROI, your mindset is everything...In this week’s podcast, Jan Roos, founder of Casefuel, argues that treating your marketing dollars as a cost — and not an investment — sets your firm up for failure. Jan breaks down these two mindsets and highlights the importance of adopting the right one for increased ROI.We’ll be talking about:Unpacking and defining cost and investment [01:32]Your success depends on how you judge cost between investment [2:59]Treating investment as a cost sets you up to lose [05:43]The weird metaphor of “The Battle of Stalingrad” [06:04]The casualties of running an under resourced firm [07:14] The cost mindset vs. investment mindset in marketing investment [07:32]A closer look at the cost approach [08:16]A closer look at the investment approach [09:16]Your ROI in marketing [12:00]Looking at a past investment as a cost is rare [12:09]The postulate of not investing in things that are unproven [13:18]You’re not gonna move forward if you’re waiting for an irrefutable proof [13:41]How lose as little as possible to find out the wins [14:24]You always get to choose what success is defined as [15:32]About Our Jan:Jan Roos is the CEO of CaseFuel agency, helping law firms generate revenue through pay per click advertising. He is a legal marketing expert and is the author of the bestselling book, “Legal Marketing Fastlane.” It talks about PPC lead generation, a technique used to generate client leads for big and small practicesIf you liked this episode, please don’t forget to subscribe, tune in, and share this podcast. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Why Does This Information Help You: Writing a compelling instagram caption helps give necessary information that is not present in the visual content. Your CTA's will be completed Your ROI on any investments will be returned. Improves your content strategy. What's inside this Podcast: Explanation as to why a good instagram caption is needed. Tips on how to improve your Instagram Caption. Problems that are solved from this skill. Information on where you can go to get more details on this topic. Your Host and Creator: Trae Wilkerson Other social media networks: Instagram: @trae.wilkerson Twitter: @trae_wilkerson Facebook: @thetraebrand Tiktok: @traewilkerson Donations: If you would like to give back through a donation, that would be very helpful and appreciated. All donations go to making better content for you to enjoy. -Bite Size Branding --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bitesizebranding/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bitesizebranding/support

When you try to start a journey on something new, there are lots of things going on. In real estate, you need a roadmap towards a clear vision on what you have and your ability to push past fear. In this episode, Corey Peterson will guide you to an overall knowledge of this multifamily game in real estate, how it is played and how it works.   Topics on Today’s Episode: Understanding Time and Money Power of velocity and compounding effort Exponential curve about Life and Money How do you leverage money, time, people and process in your life? What is Rule of 72? Believe in yourself Your ROI matters more than you think Know your financial statement to determine where you are at now Mapping out your vision Time cost vs. Ongoing cost What is financial freedom? Rules for creating a clear vision   Links and Resources Mentioned:   Robert Kiosaki’s RichDad Poor Dad Rule of 72 by AlbertEinstein Kahuna Boardroom Kahuna HQ Multifamily Legacy Podcast on YouTube Multifamily Legacy Podcast on Facebook   Quotes: “You have to believe in it to achieve it. It doesn’t happen overnight” - Corey Peterson “It’s the little things that matter” - Corey Peterson “Focus on your goal, otherwise it’s going to leave you behind” – Corey Peterson “Before you do anything with business, you put your life out and put it first” - Corey Peterson “Knowledge breathes confidence” – Corey Peterson     Don’t forget to download my Free Workshop Quick Start Video Series, and if you like what you have heard please leave a review on iTunes. Text the word MONEY to 408-500-1127 to get my free private money program and credibility kit for single family.  

On this episode of BUZZ, we discuss the importance of strategy when planning your Dental video marketing campaigns. Your ROI from your Dental Practice's video marketing depends largely on what your desired results are and how effectively you craft content for that purpose.   Show Produced by Dentainment Dentainment is a Leading Digital Marketing Agency for the Dental Community. This Referral Based and Boutique Agency focuses on Social Media Management, Website Design and Development, Video Production, Marketing Consulting, Google AdWords, Local Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Email Newsletter Campaigns, and more. https://dentainment.com/ Sponsored by Waymark We’re making it radically simple for your Dental Practice to make your own commercials. Our premium video templates and easy-to-use editing tools mean that TV-quality videos are now accessible to anyone with an internet connection. To learn more, please visit: https://www.waymark.com/dental

On today’s episode we have a copywriting expert, Dani Paige is a launch copywriter for lady launchers. This means a few things... 1. Your ROI is her #1 priority 2. She focuses on the copy and strategy for every moving part in your funnel to help you get the best opportunity for higher conversion. 3. She writes copy that connects because that’s the kind of copy that converts. In this episode Dani will share some amazing tips so you too can start writing copy that converts! Hope you enjoy today’s episode and learn some great tips about how to use conversational copy to increase your conversion rate! Connect with Dani on her website @ Dani Paige | Launch Copywriter for Lady Launchers _____________________

To calculate the property’s ROI: Divide the annual return ($9,600) by the amount of the total investment or $110,000. ROI = $9,600 ÷ $110,000 = 0.087 or 8.7%. Your ROI was 8.7%. Calculating the ROI on financed transactions is more involved. The down payment needed for the mortgage was 20% of the purchase price of $20,000 ($100,000 sales price x 20%). Closing costs were higher, which is typical for a mortgage, totaling $2,500 upfront. You paid $9,000 for remodeling. Your total out-of-pocket expenses were $31,500 ($20,000 + $2,500 + $9,000). There are also ongoing costs with a mortgage: Let's assume you took out a 30-year loan with a fixed 4% interest rate. On the borrowed $80,000 ($100,000 sales price minus the $20,000 down payment), the monthly principal and interest payment would be $381.93. We’ll add the same $200 a month to cover water, taxes, and insurance, making your total monthly payment $581.93. Rental income of $1,000 per month totals $12,000 for the year. Your monthly cash flow was $418.07 monthly ($1,000 rent - $581.93 mortgage payment). #ROI #RealEstate #Underwriting Watch this episode on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EH5CsDgAEU&t=9s --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/reallysocialestate/message

  Jeff Moore – Moore Tires (5 Store) Rock Falls, IL The story of Moore Tires started in 1991 when Jeff & Angie Moore moved to Rock Falls with nothing more than determination and a vision. They opened up their humble two-bay garage, took up residence in the apartment above the shop, and got to work serving the community’s tire and automotive needs. With a foundation built upon exceptional customer service, the original location has now expanded to an 11-bay building with room to accommodate 16 cars and two semis at the same time! With the tremendous help of our partners, Brock Rude and Greg Woessner, Moore Tires has now grown to include four convenient new locations in Mendota, Kewanee, Monmouth, and Macomb, all opening with the mission of connecting more people to a rewarding tire and automotive experience. At Moore Tires, the customer is always the highest priority as we strive to go above and beyond to meet all your vehicular needs quickly and efficiently.  Valuing transparency and honesty, we always offer an estimated time of completion and complimentary inspections to ensure your vehicle is getting the specific care it needs. With no appointments necessary, swing by any of our 5 convenient locations for us to exemplify how Moore Tires has been setting the standard in automotive excellence for nearly 30 years! Austin Miller – Tire Star (3 Store) Wolcottville, IN Tire Star opened the doors in 2011 in the back part of a grain elevator warehouse. Austin Miller started the business with the goal of providing trustworthy automotive repair at a fair price and timely manner. Since then Tire Star has grown to 3 locations and 40+ employees. This growth was made possible by employees willing to go the extra mile to provide a great customer experience. Austin is an ASE L1 Master Certified Technician and has received an ASE technician of the year award. Although he is not turning a wrench most days Austin is still very involved in learning about new technology and ensuring his staff gets the training they need to be successful. Key Talking Points: There is a misconception if you are doing great with your first store, your second store will be just as good. Many factors are at work. People, Money, Processes, Culture If you do not have store number one running with a strong net profit do not take on store number two … and so it goes Branch or not, you must constantly be working on refining your processes and procedures Jeff admits his first-ever branch lost him $250K in five years. It took him too long to close it. He learned a big lesson and decided to only have one store. He now has five. The first (base store) must be a profitable store Do not look to grow if your base operation isn’t strong, that includes profits, processes, culture, and people. You will always use the base store to shore up the new ‘child’ The acquisition of a going business is an option. Your ROI depends on the strength of the going new branch. Moving to the second store without well-refined processes will put immense pressure on the new store and the base store Groom staff in a current store before you close on your new location Jeff’s growth strategy includes partnering with two key employees in an LLC. It is like having golden handcuffs by giving equity in a new venture. The main store is the proving ground You may have a strong talent you do not want to lose which could entice you to find another store to promote staff. This reason alone is not a good reason to grow, but the people factor is solved as a qualification to add another store Never rob Peter to pay Paul. Each store needs to pay its own way. Austin would jump in to do whatever needed to be done. He now realizes that move was wrong You must realize that you must lead the entire operation and lock yourself into a fallback role in the bays or on the counter. Those are not the CEO’s...

Let’s Meet Origins Media Haus While at the Futurist19 in Toronto, Ontario. I met up with Origins Media Haus I got a chance to do a video interview with them. To let them tell more about their amazing Business. Here is more about Origins Media Haus Origins Media takes podcast and video production to the next level by creating meaningful connections with your customers. We’re not your traditional agency - we make sh*t happen, every single time. Our narrative is simple - we accelerate your business growth by getting you in front of the right people, with the right message. We love heavy lifting. All you need to do is tell us who you’re targeting. Your ROI is our number one priority. Our content is fully measurable and our analytics are easy to digest. It's time to turn the lights back on. We will show you exactly how your audience is engaging with what we’ve created. How To Find Origins Media Haus Name: Origins Media Haus Website: www.originsmediahaus.com Twitter: @originsmedia Instagram: @originsmediahaus Facebook: /originsmediahaus LinkedIN /origins-media-haus Email: alison@originsmediahaus.com Email: info@originsmediahaus.com Be Sure To Check Out Origins Media Haus ________________________________________________________________ How To Reach Exciting World Cryptos Connect with Exciting World Cryptos on Social Media! Check Out My Website: www.excitingWC.com Follow us on Twitter @ExcitingWorld32 Contact With Me At Email: exciting@excitingWC.com Big Thanks To All My Followers, Subscribers and everyone else.

Learn some of Catherine's pro tips on how to effectively cross-sell your other procedures, treatments and products that compliment your patient's current purchases. A great way to effortlessly boost your sales like magic! This is mandatory listening for increased revenue with little to no expense! Your ROI can go through the roof if you simply follow Catherine's easy-to-implement strategies!   Click to Schedule a FREE call with Catherine and learn how she can take your practice to the next level   Click to get FREE practice-building content for surgeons and staff   Click for the Complete transcript

I met Eric when pitching Vermont Chalky Paint at the Vermont Barn Pitch in my friends, Trish Sears and Steve Mason's barn. Eric came roaring in on a motorbike along with 15-20 other investors all with shiny BMWs glistening in the sun on a hot summer's day. I didn't win the first pitch, but I did win the second year and went onto the statewide competion. Eric was razor-sharp in helping me hone my messaging from Entrepreneur (Unicorn) speak (I want this money because it's a REALLY cool idea...) to Investor Speak (It costs x to make this product, burn rate of 1-3 years, and ROI of $X in 3-5 years.) In other words, I wanted to exchange my Unicorn for Secretariat... Eric offers great ideas for getting your head around focusing your company not only for investors, but more importantly, for YOUR ROI. A really valuable listen for those of us who like to manifest our dreams into tangible dollars and sense... (mis-spelling intended.) P.S. My apologies for the recording being a bit sketchy - I promise, the content is SOLID. Eric even offers his contact info at the end. PLEASE take him up on his offer - it'll be time well spent. See our Guest Offerings at SelfTalkRadioShow.com --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Welcome back! In prior episodes, we have explored how to determine whether or not a speaking engagement is worth saying “yes” to. Agreeing to a speaking engagement is so much more than the idea of how much fun or a good opportunity it might be. A key piece of this decision-making criteria should be what the Return On Investment (ROI) looks like. Before we agree to any speaking opportunity, we really need to do our due diligence and run some numbers to make sure that this speaking engagement is going to be a good fit for us financially. Today's episode is all about factors to consider to effectively calculate your ROI for a speaking engagement. If you loved this episode and it motivated you to add speaking to your business, I'd love for you to leave me some positive feedback on iTunes and tell me about your biggest takeaway. Take a screenshot of you listening on your device, post it to your Instagram Stories and tag us @thecreativespeakerpodcast.   Episode takeaways you don't want to miss: Know your numbers! You can't effectively calculate ROI without knowing them. The expenses associated with attending a speaking engagement can add up very quickly and need to be considered in great detail Child care, lodging, airfare, time away from work, dog walker, eating out, time associated with planning logistics, wardrobe Calculating the revenue/benefit of speaking at a particular event can be a bit more obscure, but is still absolutely essential There will be unmeasurable metrics (hard to measure the return on exposure) Exposure doesn't pay the bills so tread lightly here Your ROI for a specific speaking engagement can change a year after you've given your talk. It might take that long to convert a new lead you gained from a conference you spoke at Do NOT just wing what the outcome of an event is going to be! Set clear/definable/measurable goals and objectives. The lifetime return on a speaking engagement should be high (and measurable) but constantly grows, but a near-term calculation on a speaking engagement ROI should be based on something measurable. Selling copies of your book Future speaking engagements Growing your email list Use a specific opt-in or freebie that is measurable Sell course content Have a unique code or link to track how many sales came from a specific event Growing social media following In order to use social media growth to compute ROI, you need to assign a value to each follower. Some followings convert more than others. Be honest with yourself and have a value established for them. It very well can make more sense to run an ad campaign on facebook to get these followers than paying the out of pocket costs to travel out of state. Don't focus on the objectives of others or on objectives that don't move the needle for you. Really focus on measuring objectives and goals that can be both quantified and make you money Craft your talk around the goals you've set out to achieve at a specific speaking engagement For full show notes and links, visit: http://www.thepublicspeakingstrategist.com/shownotes/058

#204: Your real estate ROI could be a billion dollars. Even if your property never appreciates nor pays you the other four ways, I discuss a little-considered way where you’re STILL profiting. Real estate price and value are different. “Return ON Equity” vs. “Return FROM Equity” discussed. Are you leveraging appreciation or leveraging inflation? Inflation assists leveraged real estate investors 3 ways: asset inflation, debt debasement, and higher cash flows. Real estate flipping vs. investing is discussed with Matt Theriault. Matt and I discuss the mindsets around passive income vs. active income. The importance of markets and teams. __________________ Want more wealth? 1) Grab my free E-book and Newsletter at: GetRichEducation.com/Book 2) Actionable turnkey real estate investing opportunity: GREturnkey.com 3) Read my best-selling paperback: getbook.at/7moneymyths __________________ Listen to this week’s show and learn: 02:13 Your ROI. 03:54 If your property never appreciates or pays you, here’s how you profit. 07:08 Leveraging inflation, not appreciation. 13:10 Cleveland cash-flowing property. 15:33 Matt Theriault joins us. 22:25 Retirement. Piles vs. streams of income. 29:12 Flipping vs. Investing. 31:08 Markets and teams. 35:42 You must act. Resources Mentioned: Warren Buffett Quote Matt Theriault Website Cleveland Turnkey Real Estate Mortgage Loans: RidgeLendingGroup.com Cash Flow Banking: ProducersWealth.com Turnkey RE: NoradaRealEstate.com QRP: TotalControlFinancial.com Find Properties: GREturnkey.com GRE Book: GetRichEducation.com/Book

Most of us are attracted to real estate because we want to help people buy and sell their homes, not because we are interested in accounting or tracking ROI. But if you want to build a thriving business as an agent, a certain level of business management and financial literacy goes a long way in […] The post Your ROI is Everything with John Moscillo appeared first on Real Estate Marketing Dude.

Most of us are attracted to real estate because we want to help people buy and sell their homes, not because we are interested in accounting or tracking ROI. But if you want to build a thriving business as an agent, a certain level of business management and financial literacy goes a long way in […] The post Your ROI is Everything with John Moscillo appeared first on Real Estate Marketing Dude.

Daily EDGE- What's Your ROI?

In today’s episode, I’m sharing stories of money-less returns ultimately paid The moral of each story is this… YOUR ROI is as valuable as you make it. There is no such thing as “doing something for FREE”. Make a point of entering into deals that are mutually beneficial, then leverage the value to make you […] The post ROI: 3 Money-less Returns that Made Me Money appeared first on .

Michael: Hello everybody. This is Michael Gross of OptionSellers.com. I’m here with head trader James Cordier of OptionSellers.com with your February Option Seller Radio Show. James, welcome to the show this month. James: Thank you, Michael. As always, enjoy doing these and brining more and more information and educating investors out there to what we do. Michael: Excellent. We’re going to start off this month, to all of you listening, we’re going to answer some common questions we get through the blog or online. One of the most common questions people ask us is “I really like your stuff. Is there a way I can sign up for your course? Do you offer seminars I can attend? If I pay you, can you coach me how to do this?” … or various forms of that question. We get so many of those and we wanted to answer that question today and maybe shed some light on that for you as a listener. James, do you want to go ahead and maybe take a stab at answering that? James: You know, what’s interesting, Michael, we definitely enjoy getting feedback from everyone listening to this podcast each month. Please continue asking questions and any feedback is always accepted and we enjoy receiving that. Primarily, we don’t mind and enjoy educating the public. So often, investors are looking for alternative ways to take care of their nest egg or try and build the one that they’re trying to create. Basically, there’s a few investments out there. There’s being long in the stock market, there’s buying real estate, and as long as both of those are going up I think they’re very sound, great investments. But for people looking out 5, 10, and 15 years to expect everything to keep rallying indefinitely certainly is not the way. Educating yourself as to how to help manage your own portfolio, I think, is a great idea. We continue to give information and help teach people how to sell options and take in premium and, hopefully, make really good returns each year whether we’re in a bull or bear market. However, the majority of our clients and the most of the work that we enjoy doing is taking and investing with high-net-worth capitalized investors. That is our niche. That is what we do. The fact that we are a relatively small company and we don’t have thousands of clients, we’re able to be more nimble getting in and out of the market for some of these high-net-worth investors. As far as anyone wanting to follow along with what we do, educate themselves to selling options and taking in premium as we do, we’re going to continue educating people and allow them to do that on their own, if they wish. For the investors who are more apt to hire a manager to do it, certainly, that is our bread and butter and that’s what we’re doing here. Michael: It’s a good point, James. To shorten what James said a little bit and maybe sum it up a little bit is yeah, we do appreciate those offers and we do appreciate your questions, but we’re not in the education business here. We are money managers. That is the service we provide. We do provide a lot of educational material to anyone, the general public. We like to make it as high quality as we can. I think some of the things you’ll find on our website or that we send out to prospective investors is comparable to what you might pay thousands for in a course somewhere. That is something we provide for free. We enjoy that, we enjoy brining that message to the public and helping people understand this investment, because there really isn’t a lot of information out there on selling options in general but, especially, selling options in commodities. We’re simply out to help people understand that better and get more people involved in this because it can be a great investment if you understand how to do it. James, let’s move on a little into our main discussion here this month. We’re going to address what’s going on in the stock market because all investor’s eyes are on stocks now. They’ve been soaring. Some people are calling it still a post-Trump surge, but we’ve got some grayer clouds on the horizon. We’ve got North Korea and Iran shooting missiles off, we’ve got a lot of discord here in the United States. What’s your take on what’s going on right now in stocks? How do you feel about the market? James: Michael, I think that a lot of investors have just been waiting for the greatest country in the world to be run like a company and not like a politically correct viewpoint. Lowering corporate taxes, bringing money back to the United States, lowering personal income taxes, de-regulation, making it easier for companies to hire and re-invest, and it’s simply a near perfect platform right now for economic growth here in the United States. If you look at some of the European countries, they are starting to finally lift off. PMI numbers today out of Europe was some of the best in over a handful of years. We are certainly the boat that everyone follows. As the tide comes up, it comes up for everybody. People are extremely optimistic about the U.S. economy right now. Usually, the stock market is 6-12 months ahead and right now the stock market is telling us that the U.S. economy is about to start improving more than a 2% GDP… maybe a 3-4% GDP. So many people have been waiting for an economically friendly environment. Right now we have one and people are voting with their pocketbook. Michael: So, are you concerned at all about the lofty levels that we’re at? On Barron’s last week, Kopin Tan was talking about 76% of world stock markets are now over-bought. Does that concern you at all? James: You know, it’s interesting, Michael, overbought doesn’t mean over. I could see this exuberance probably lasting for a period of time. Right now, investors, I think, are so excited about getting into the market. Will profits match the soaring stock prices? That remains to be seen. There definitely needs to be some catch up. The market is either ahead of itself or very close to that; however, I think investors have been waiting for this for a long time. I could see 2017 probably being a decent return on the stock market, but there is no question that second or third quarter of this year a few people start taking profits and then all of the sudden there’s no one left to buy. For us to get a 5-10% correction on the stock market at some point this year is probably quite likely. Michael: Thus the need for sound diversification and that’s what we’re going to be talking about next here. James, we’re going to talk about one of your favorite markets next which is the gold market. You have a nice commentary this month on your bi-weekly videos where you’re talking about gold and a strategy investors can use right now in that market. Let’s talk a little bit about gold, what you like about it right now, and why you think that’s such a cash cow for investors. James: It really is. We have been following the gold market for a couple decades. It seems to be such a mystery as to what the value of gold should be. Sometimes it trades like a currency, sometimes it’s flocking to gold because of inflation or because of political concerns. It is absolutely, in our opinion, trading right now at fair value and yet there are so many questions about gold. “What will higher interest rates in the United States do? Will that push gold back down? I heard that there might be some inflation”, an investor might say. “That’s usually bullish for gold.” Talk about a goldilocks environment right now for gold. We have a stronger U.S. economy, which should provide some inflation, and yet we are definitely, in the United States, looking straight at at least 2, if not 3, interest rate hikes. That should keep the dollar firm. So we have people just absolutely wondering how high gold might go and you have an equal number of people saying, “With higher interest rates, gold is going to go down.” That uncertainty is the bread and butter of selling options. Gold right now, trading around $12.50 an ounce, there are people very interested in buying calls 50% above the market right now. Similar interest in people buying puts, believe it or not, 30-40% below the market. If you add up those two percentages, you’re talking about practically 100% strangle around the value of gold and, in my mind, trading gold now for some 25 years, that is about the best trade on the board. We think that’s going to probably carry on into 2018, as well. We’re just really happy about the enthusiasm that people have buying options on both sides and we’re going to take advantage of that. Michael: So, a lot of this political turmoil in the news right now is really helping that trade is what you’re saying, because that’s really bringing the public in. Gold is a great market to speculate in for the general public. When you get news of things that make people uneasy, when you see Iran shooting off missiles, when you get the daily news, people don’t agree with what Donald Trump’s doing sometimes, those are the type of things that can bring a lot of investor interest into a market like gold, and that’s why you get these wide strikes. That’s what James is explaining. If you’d like to learn more about the strategy of strangling the market, The Complete Guide to Option Selling gives a thorough explanation. That is the Third Edition. You can get that on our website- www.optionsellers.com/book. You’ll get it at a little bit of a discount there than if you get it at the bookstore or at amazon. James, let’s move on here to our next market this month, that’s the natural gas market. As most of you listeners know, we due follow seasonals very closely here. If you’re trading options in commodities, seasonals are a prime thing you want to look at first, especially in cyclical markets like natural gas. James, you want to take us through where we are with natural gas here in late February 2017 and what tends to happen there cyclically in that market over the next 30-60 days? James: Michael, natural gas is probably the most interesting of all the seasonals, I think, that we follow. Generally speaking, the investor public comes into natural gas to buy it for possible cold winter, they buy natural gas and natural gas calls in November and December. For those who are our clients or listen to some of the recommendations we made, generally speaking, you do the exact opposite. You fade what the public is doing. They’re buying calls, they’re buying natural gas going into winter season. We did that again this year. We saw about a 1 cent spike in natural gas prices. Natural gas generally tops out in December with cold temperatures going through the Northeast and the Midwest, only to come back down in February and March as the winter never seems to be quite as severe as they thought. Then, investors will think, “Well, if the market didn’t rally in this winter then it’s probably going to go down some more in the spring.” That’s just the opposite of what the seasonality is. Generally speaking, supplies of natural gas are their smallest as we come out of the winter heating season, then they start to build supplies and purchases need to be made and natural gas prices normally start heading up in March, April, and May. That is what we’re going to take advantage of the next week or two, is we will be selling put premium below the natural gas levels that we’re hitting right now. We’ve had an extremely mild February, probably March as well. We’re looking at very low prices right now for natural gas and we see the chance for 10, 15, 20% rally in prices starting in March and April. We’re going to be positioning in the coming weeks getting long this market. Seasonally it goes up in spring and we’re going to try and take advantage of just that. Michael: What’s the volatility like there now? Can you sell spreads there or is it primarily naked positions that you’re looking at? James: Well, natural gas used to trade at $10, $12, and $15 per million BTU’s. Now it’s trading around $2.50. It’s so interesting that this is probably the fuel of the future and right now it’s practically being given away. We would be selling naked natural gas puts primarily because the market is so low right now. If the volatility continues, and it has just recently, we’ll be looking at doing credit spreads on the put side, as well. So, basically taking a slightly conservative position and a slightly aggressive position because the market is so weak and so low right now. We’re looking at China’s involvement in natural gas imports for the first time since anyone can recall. At the same time, the U.S. is going to be exporting natural gas for the first time in decades. All of these items are going to be slightly bullish or very bullish for natural gas later this year. We think that’s probably the best seasonal to be getting involved with right now. Michael: Right now, in talking about natural gas, James, about 48% of all U.S. homes use natural gas for heating in the wintertime. Another 37% use electric, which usually comes from power pants fueled by natural gas. So, you do have your peak demand season in the wintertime and what James was just describing is, and we’re going to put a chart up here for you to look at, but gas storage levels tend to hit their lowest levels of the year in March and April. That’s the reason for this. When supplies are lowest, prices tend to get the strongest and they continue to get strong as they rebuild inventory. James, what you were talking about though, selling naked, some people that sell options, some in stock options, they shy away from that; but, in commodities we’re able to sell them so far out-of-the-money that you get a pretty big cushion there and you don’t really have to pick the bottom in the market. You simply sell and even if your timing isn’t right you can still get it. Do you see, if you’re looking at selling naked, what’s your cushion like? Do you still have a pretty good cushion there to give you some leeway if you’re a little early or a little late on the trade? James: Yeah, I think there’s a really good cushion and natural gas is probably one of the more historically volatile markets. When it was trading at $10 and $15, that volatility is still in the market, now it’s trading at $2.50-$2.75. For the spot contracts, we would be looking out September, October, possibly that far out. Those markets are well above $3.00 right now. Might be teetering on that in the week or so to come; however, some 20-25% below the market there’s excellent premium right now. That’s what we’d be looking at taking advantage of. If the market heads a little bit lower, probably selling premium 25-30% below the market. We think that’s an ideal way to get long the market. Natural gas, if you were to buy it at a certain level and fall slightly, that’s one thing. Selling puts some 25% below the market, I think, is an ideal way-- Actually, in my opinion, a conservative way to get into the market. Natural gas over the next several years is going to be in an up-turn based on Chinese demand, Chinese importation, and finally the U.S. getting to export natural gas for the first time in quite some time. Michael: That and even supply right now looking somewhat bullish in natural gas. Supplies this month are 9% below last year at this time… almost 9% below at 8.9%. So, you have a strong seasonal tendency, you have a bullish supply setup, and what you’re saying, James, is you’re able to go 25-30% underneath the market. For an option seller/a put seller to win here, he can take in a premium of what, $500.. $600.. $700? Is that the range you’re typically looking at? Correct? James: Yes. With the recent weakness in natural gas because of some very warm temperatures in the Northeast, yes a lot of options are trading right now between $600-$700 and that is certainly the sweet spot for where we like to write puts, especially in natural gas. Michael: So, what that investor would be saying is that as long as natural gas doesn’t fall another 25-30% at its most bullish time of year with a bullish supply setup, the option is going to expire and he’s going to keep that premium? James: Exactly. In addition, a lot of investors who are familiar with stock options selling and the high margin requirement, natural gas you’re looking at just 2-3 times the premium that you take in for margins. Your ROI looks really good, as well. Needless to say, we don’t know what natural gas is going to do the next 30 days, but we do know what the fundamentals are and the chance for natural gas to get a small or large rally this summer look quite strong to us. Michael: Sounds good, James. For you listeners, I know a lot of you listening have heard us for a while and you know what we’re talking about, you know the strategy, but we are making an attempt to over-simplify things a little bit for our new listeners out there that may be unfamiliar with how commodities options work. So, we want to make sure we hit all the bases for everyone listening. We’re going to take just a minute here and give you a little preview of the upcoming March newsletter. If you are on our mailing list, you can expect this next week first couple days of March. You should also be getting an e-version of that in your e-mail box. We have a pretty full issue coming up. We have a lesson coming up on how to use leverage in commodities. We have a lot of stock options sellers that have never sold commodities options. This is a lesson in the newsletter that’s really going to bring you up to speed on how the leverage works and how to use it to your advantage the correct way. We also have a strategy, it’s another little bit more advanced strategy this month- we’re talking about an options spread. It’s entitled The Crack Squeeze. It is in the energy markets. We’ll have to wait for the newsletter to read that and see one of the strategies we’re employing right now in those markets. Look for that in your mailbox or e-mailbox first week in March. James, talking about energies, let’s move over to the crude market. We have a really interesting situation setting up there between the seasonal and existing fundamentals that often times you don’t see, kind of conflicting things going on there right now. Do you want to talk about that a little bit for our listeners? James: Definitely. Crude oil is certainly one of the most liquid of all commodities as far as volume, open interest, and participation by investors all around. Not everyone is trading pork bellies and potatoes, but a lot of people know what the price of crude oil is. A lot of people bet with their pocketbooks what they think it’s going to do. Generally speaking, crude oil supplies are at their greatest in January and the market starts to rally as we approach driving season. As I think we all know, this year was different. OPEC together, along with non-OPEC nations, put together the first production cuts in over a dozen years and voila, we had a $15 rally. Crude oil is now sitting in the low 50’s to mid 50’s for the later months. I think right now is fully priced. Crude oil supplies in the United States are at all-time record highs. While the OPEC cut took a lot of people by surprise, and there are a lot of bullish factors right now from that, or at least a lot of analysts think so, it really is offering lots of opportunities now and coming up probably in April and May. Generally speaking, there’s a lot of interplay when you talk about energies. Generally speaking, what crude oil supplies and fundamentals might be might be different for heating oil or for gasoline or for natural gas. Probably the next 30-60 days we see crude oil prices very well supported by the idea that a lot of investors are pouring into that market because of OPEC production cuts. Some of the markets like heating oil generally are going to start heading lower after the winter season. So, often you’re going to see March, April, and May crude oil prices inching up while heating oil actually is falling. There is definitely an opportunity involved with that. For our clients, we manage that for them. For the novices, it can be a little bit much, but that’s another reason why you follow seasonality and why you keep well tuned into the market. We think that over the next 60-90 days we’re going to have really long lasting opportunities in energy. I would say in April and May is going to be the biggest one for the year, and that’s in the crude oil market. We’ll wait and see and talk about that when the time comes. Michael: As far as the energy seasonal goes, that is a major seasonal tendency. What James is explaining is being counter-balanced this year by fundamentals. As you mentioned, James, crude stocks at record highs… over 508 million barrels. That’s an all-time high for crude oil stocks, not for this time of year, but forever. That’s the highest it’s ever been. Also, interesting article in the Wall Street Journal today talking about bullish long positions in crude oil. 10 to 1 – is that what we were talking about earlier, James? James: Michael, every morning I have my favorite cup of Joe and I read the Wall Street Journal. This morning I read, and it has been well published recently, but today almost hit a crescendo, that fund traders in the world have amassed the largest long position ever in crude oil. It trumps their short position 10 to 1. That, in my opinion, is the most lop-sided position I’ve ever seen, especially in something as liquid as crude oil. While these speculators have time on their side right now, the months of March, April, and May are generally good demand for oil and smaller inter-production coming out of OPEC. That is definitely a wall that could come crumbling down. I would not want to be the last person to buy in that market and be holding on the last day because for crude oil to trade around $55 a barrel when in the United States, for example Texas, we can produce crude oil for around $15. You know that in many CEO offices right now and on napkins having a cocktail late at night in a bar there are business positions being put together where we’re going to produce oil at $15 and we’re going to sell it on the board of $55. There’s going to be an opportunity probably in April or May to take advantage of what the speculators have pushed up to probably over-valued heights right now. Michael: So, that big long position like that, sooner or later, that’s going to have to be unwound. We’ll see how that plays out. For the time being, you still have that strong seasonal in place that has to be respected, so you may have a little bit of balance there in the near term. That being the case, we have outlined a strategy in the upcoming newsletter called The Crack Squeeze. We’ll show you how you can take advantage of that. The premium available in that market right now, that’s a trade for now and the coming 30-60 days we have one of your favorite trades coming up, James, but we’ll save that for next month. For those of you that are interested in learning more about working directly with us through an account for high-net-worth investors, you can request our investor information discovery pack. You can get that at OptionSellers.com/Discovery. We do have a recommended $1 million account size. If you are interested in something like that, feel free to request our information package. It does come with a DVD. James, let’s move into our final portion of the podcast this month. This is our lesson for investors. We’re going to talk about diversification of asset class this month. In our videos, we talk about two important types of diversification. One is diversification of strategy, which some investors are not familiar with. Then, there’s diversification of asset class, which some investors are familiar with; however, our commodities often are overlooked when it comes to that diversification. We’re going to talk about this month some of the advantages, especially for stock options sellers, who are used to writing options in stocks, you understand how that strategy works, some of the big advantages you have by applying that strategy to commodities. James, maybe you want to cover this first. There’s plenty, there’s a couple right at the top though of most interest. What would you consider the top advantage of a commodities option writer over a stock option writer? James: Well, you know, stock option writers are a lot of our current clients. They eventually were introduced to short options through their stock account writing covered calls and such. A lot of investors started thinking, “Well, why don’t I sell options on stocks? That seems to be my best portfolio gains.” Generally speaking, selling options on stocks you’re selling approximately 5%, sometimes 10%, out-of-the-money, where in commodities when you educate the different ideas of applying short options to different asset classes, investors are absolutely amazed by the fact that you can sell premium 50%, 60%, 70% out-of-the-money. In some of the markets that we sell premiums it’s as high as 100% out-of-the-money with relatively low margin requirements to do so. A lot of investors that study for themselves what to do with their investment and what to do with their nest egg who discover short options, when they stumble across selling options on commodities certainly that is when our phone starts ringing. I think for the fact that we put ourselves out as the premier stock options sellers, rather commodity option sellers, it’s certainly an eye-opener to a lot of people who want to be diversified. Diversification is always the number one goal for a sound investment portfolio. The fact that the stock market right now is in a bull market, it’s at all time highs. At any moment, it can start a 5 year bear market and selling options on commodities allows you to be profitable in bull or bear markets. That’s what’s the real beauty of what we do. Michael: These don’t just come from us. A lot of these come from our readers/prospective clients that repeat this and these are the reasons we hear the most. That’s why we’re repeating them here. As James was saying, the biggest advantages here is, one, you can sell deep, deep out-of-the-money strikes. Two, you get a potentially high RI because the margins are so much lower than they are for stock options. I know the margins, most of the time, we pay are sometimes 100-150% of the premium. So, you sell an option for $700 and maybe you only put up $700 or $1,000 in margin to hold that. Is that what you’re seeing right now, James, in this condition? James: That’s exactly what we have right now. We have some of the lowest margins to hold short options on commodities that I’ve seen since I’ve been doing this. Not all of them are that way, but some of the most lucrative ones like the gold option strangle that we’re doing and the crude oil trade position that’s coming up. I’m looking at that already trying to get our ducks in a row for that. You’re looking at about 150% of the premium that you take in is what’s required for margin. That is really not tying up a lot of money to hopefully have very good results at the end of the year. Michael: We’re talking about selling deep out-of-the-money. That natural gas trade you described earlier, we’re talking about selling 25-30% out-of-the-money. That’s probably about the closest we’ll be to the money when selling options. Would you say that’s a fair assessment? James: Generally so. Any time someone is selling options on commodities on their own or with us, you’ll notice that the calls are always or most often can be further out-of-the-money for a simple reason. A market can only go to zero, it can’t go below that. When natural gas, which used to trade at $10, $15 per million BTU’s, is trading with a two-handle it can only go so low. The fact that we’re 25% below this market currently, I think, that’s way out-of-the-money. If the market inches a little bit lower, we’ll just continue to sell puts on that market. Often, we’re looking at puts some 40-50% below the money. The fact that natural gas is so cheap right now and the fundamentals look anywhere from friendly to bullish later this year, we think that’s selling them quite a bit out-of-the-money. We think that’s going to be a great position for later this year. Michael: Of course, one more thing I want to point out… you mentioned a diversification aspect. Commodities in general tend to be uncorrelated to stocks as a whole, but when you introduce the option selling aspect to it it’s a portfolio that’s completely uncorrelated to anything. It’s not going to correlate to equity, it’s not going to correlate to interest rates, the positions aren’t even going to correlate to each other because a market like silver’s going to have nothing to do with the price of corn and the price of corn will have nothing to do with the price of coffee. So, it’s a completely diversified portfolio that isn’t even going to correlate to the commodities indexes. That’s simply because you have the ability to sell options on either side of it. Those would be the three big benefits for you stock option sellers listening. You’re thinking about giving it a try, giving it a look. Those are the three biggest draws to this type of investment. Of course, they’re described in depth in our book or any of our materials on our website. James, I think we’ve had a pretty full session this month and I do thank you for your insights and your sharing of some of your thoughts on the markets this month. James: My pleasure. Talking about commodities and, not only that, but the approach of selling options on commodities is definitely an eye-opener to many investors and we look forward to doing more so in the future. Michael: Just an announcement here at the end of our podcast, for those of you considering applying for new accounts, we are closed for March. We are fully booked for March. If you are interested in one of our remaining April openings, please contact Rosemary. You can call her at the 800 number… 800-346-1949. You can also, if you’re an international caller, 813-472-5760. You can also e-mail her at office@optionsellers.com. That is to schedule a phone consultation. We do have a few of those left for March and they would be for April openings. Feel free to give her a call if you are interested in discussing one of those remaining openings in April. Everybody have a great month of option selling. We’ll be back here in March and we’ll talk to you then. Thank you.