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Online Business Coach – The Top 3 Traits to Look For in a Coach For Your Online Business

Could you imagine a football team without a coach? How about a student without a teacher? Maybe a business owner with no training? Of course not! The team, the student, and the business would all fail. But so many people start their online business with no training, no support, and no encouragement. That is why the great majority of online businesses fail. When you start to look for someone to coach you in your online business, what should you look for in that person?

#1: Someone Who Started Where You Are

The online business coach you choose should be able to relate to you. If he or she cannot relate to you and where you are in life, then you will have a hard time applying their advice because they don’t know where you are coming from. For example, if you don’t have a lot of money to spend on your business, you need to find a coach that started their business with little money. Using an online business coach that started with 2-3 financial backers is not going to help you much.

Trait #2: Someone Who Wants To Help You

All right, let’s not fool ourselves here. Any online business coach is going to charge money for their coaching. It is how they make their living. But you should find a coach that not only wants to make a living, but also wants to help you. It is easy to spot the difference.

Take for example the coach of a high-school team. You don’t have to be around a coach very long to determine if he or she is interested in helping the. If the coach is yelling, berating, and downgrading the players and talking about how tough his job is, chances are good that the coach is in it for himself. But if the coach has patience, helps the kids, and congratulates them on a good job, then the coach’s true desire is to help.

The same is true for an online business coach. If someone wants you to pay them before they help you at all, they are in it for themselves. If they are willing to listen to you and your needs before they ask for money, then you have found a winner.

Trait #3: Someone Who Actually Teaches

Many online business coaches talk a big game, but when it comes to actually showing you what to do and how to do it, they get lost. They can speak from a theoretical point of view, but since they have never started an online business from scratch, they don’t know the nitty-gritty details. Stay away from this type of coach – they can’t help you.

The proper online business coach can help you tremendously. Since the online business market is so ultra-competitive, many people are turning to a coach for online business success. Be sure you get the right kind of coach, and do your research before you pay them a dime.

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In an Economy Rocked by a Downturn, What’s a Parent of a College Student to Do?

So What’s a Parent of a College Student to Do?

You still have Five Choices.

Most of us that got caught in the crunch of the recent economic nose dive have adjusted to the loss by settling in to wait for the market to recover. So, we wait for the next up swing bit we are talking several years.

If you are the parent of a college student or a high school junior or senior, you are probably scrambling trying to figure out what you are going to do. This is not how you planned it and your student is not going to want to wait a couple years.

Parents have been squirreling away money, investing in their child’s future by saving for their college education. In a short amount of time, the nest egg shrank.

These are the options that I see:

1. Community College. This is the best option. The student can always transfer later to the Ivy League School or the Big Name University after earning their required courses at the community college. The student will be more mature. They will learn all their lessons about attending class and being responsible without burning through a lot of money. The student can also live at home. Living expenses are 50% of the college expenses.

2. Trade Schools. Learn skills that can combine well with a college degree later. Your student may have a talent that can be developed quickly. I have known kids that went through a Beauty Academy and then cut hair when they went away to school. Boys that got apprenticeships in construction and then later got their engineering degree.

3. The student can work. College may look different but the degree is the same and the student will actually have more marketable skills when they graduate. They were entrepreneurial. Some kids do laundry for students; they baby-sit for professional families in the community. If they want the degree, they will find a way.

4. Join the Military. The military still remains a good option for some students. The experience and the maturity that a young adult has when they complete their military career is real. The benefits are great for pursuing education and skills training.

5. You can pretend that everything is okay and miss the opportunity to teach your child that there are always ups and downs. This is an important life skill. We always need a plan B.

Do not lose site of the goal. If your child wants that college degree, they will get it. Parents do a disservice by not being completely honest with their children. The depression happened. 9/11 happened. None of us plan for these kinds of events but we always survive them and come out stronger.

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Choosing Elementary School Photographers – Part I

If you look on the wall of any mother’s home you will find cherished memories framed for every year. No matter how silly the photo, school photographs are remembered for a lifetime. Like most things that have a deep rooted tradition, technology has made elementary school pictures much more exciting. Many schools go with the traditional school pose for their fall program. But did you know a lot of schools use spring pictures as a fundraiser and have fun doing it?

Things to Consider when Choosing an Elementary School Photographer

Before you can think about how school photography can be a great fundraiser, you first have to choose the right photographer. For school photographers in San Diego, most decisions are made by the administrative staff, while others are left to the PTO or PTA. However, with school staffs being spread so thin these days, many schools are leaving the decision to the PTO.

There are so many school photographers available today that the decision to choose a school photographer can be a difficult one. A school photographer in San Diego is going to have a different program than a local company in a small town.

Listen to word of mouth. Good school photographers will have people talking about them. They will also have a good selection of experienced, professional school photographers to run your school picture day. It is always good to take a look at the company’s website to see their overall philosophy.

Something else to consider when choosing a photographer is who is actually taking the school pictures. You might want to ask for sample pictures taken by the actual photographers who will be at your school picture day. Many schools ask to meet the photographers who will be working at their school, which isn’t a bad idea. You want a photographer who will allow the kids to relax, because when kids are relaxed they take better pictures. This in turn leads to parents who are satisfied with their school pictures.

Another consideration when selecting a photography company is how much work will be required of the school. Many companies provide all the staff needed for picture day and require no volunteers from the school. When a company takes most of the work off of the school they are well valued.

Other photographers prefer teacher and parent volunteer involvement on picture day. There is a rational explanation for this, that the parents and staff know the students better. However, if your photographer is experienced in taking elementary school pictures, the kids will warm up to them very quickly. Plus, parents are not experienced in running a school picture day, that should be the job of the school photographer.