Posted 7.30.07
If you find something you like here, please pass our URL along to someone else and invite them to come visit any time that’s convenient. We’re here 24/7 - just patiently awaiting someone’s arrival on our viral portal doorstep.
By the way, I noticed that YOU didn’t come by last week! What’s YOUR excuse this time?!
www.DAXRICH.com
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A DAX ‘SMUCKLE:’
Mother Superior called all of the nuns together and said to them: ‘’I must tell you all something. We have a case of gonorrhea in the convent,'’
‘’Thank God,'’ said an elderly nun at the back of the room, ‘’I'm so tired of the chardonnay.'’
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In last week’s edition we asked ‘’In what motion picture was the phrase ‘’We’ll always have Paris'’ uttered and BY whom and TO whom? The answer of course, is the 1942 film Casablanca, and it was Rick (Humphrey Bogart) who directed that famous phrase to Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman).
A shiny new gold ‘n’ silver men’s calendar Faux Rolex wristwatch has been dispatched to - not Paris - but Stuttgart (Germany), to Fritz Mueller who says he was sitting at his computer the instant the fresh DAXRICH.com post went up last Monday at 10:03 GMT (which was, I believe, 4:03 est here in the good ol’ U.S. of A.!)
Are we having any fun yet?!
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-THIS WEEK’S CONTENT-
DEAN’S RANT: In Today’s News . . .
HEALTH BOOSTERS: Spare Me The Pain Of It all!
MONEY-MAKING: How To Really Clean Up the $$ Big-Time!
WATCH YOUR BACK: GoDaddy . . . Just Go AWAY, DADDY! (And Quit Molesting Your Precious Customers!)
SHORT TAKES: Need Some Money?
DAX-YAX: What’s All That Talk About A Big, Long Fence?
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DEAN’S RANT: In Today’s News . . .
My late friend, Hameed, not unlike yours truly, was a bit quirky about any number of things.
He refused to eat in any restaurant where he had to go get his own food and bring it back to the table. He would circumvent the downtown streets of East Lansing whenever MSU was in session - refusing to kowtow to errant, careless and often mindless students who cross without even bothering to look for oncoming traffic.
Many such idiots still bollix up traffic occasionally, and one or two will get wiped out by a motorist now and then who thinks that HE ‘’owns the road'’ more than said miscreant, inasmuch as HE pays the big taxes there - whilst the student gets a free ride! Oh well . . . nature does have a way of weeding out the worthless, eh wot?!
And . . . Hameed steadfastly refused to watch television news. He considered it all unnecessary and mostly upsetting, as well: Wars, crime, crooked politicians and lawyers doing ANYTHING, the vagaries of the stock market, economy, etc.
Often, nowadays, as I’m watching yet another iteration of the very same news story that’s been put out there for the umpteenth time that day - I think, ‘”’Yep, Hameed, you were right!'’
But, you may say, ‘’It is important for us to keep abreast of what’s going on in the world about us - to be a good citizen, we must be informed.'’
Well, it certainly is a good idea to be cognizant of our surroundings, but it is not at all necessary to be a slave to either the electronic or print media. Why?
Because you may rest assured, anything worth your truly knowing will be passed along to you by somebody - just as quickly as the cotton-pickin’ commercial entities: Friends, relatives, neighbors - someone will tell you about all the really important stuff - whether you want to hear it or not:
‘’Our national nightmare has finally ended! Paris Hilton has been released from jail!'’
‘’Some wrestler killed his wife, his stepson and then hanged himself. Probably was on drugs.'’
‘’Rosie O’Donnell will NOT be taking over for the retiring Bob Barker on ‘’The Price Is Right.'’ (Must be the price was WRONG . . . I imagine the show’s producers found her as wholly distasteful as the rest of us do!)
I have proof of my theorem, by the way - about there being no genuine need to waste time remote-clicking from CNN to MSNBC to FOX, all day:
We live smack-dab in the middle of Amish country here at BLUE HERON POINTE and the Amish do not listen to the radio, go on-line, watch the teevee or otherwise engage in any other modern means of mass communication as the rest of us ‘’English'’ do.
However, at any time, you can chat with an Amish man or woman and they will know - very thoroughly - all about the truly important world events. No, most will NOT be aware - or care - about the likes of Rosie O’Donnell, Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, Hillary Clinton or others of their dubious ilk.
But they WILL know chapter and verse about SuEllen’s local millage issue coming up for a crucial vote on August 7th - because it affects THEM. They can cite chapter and verse about what tomorrow’s weather has in store for us all. as it is of significant importance. They will also be savvy about President Bush’s latest actions - IF it affects them directly or indirectly.
Bottomline: It is possible to by-pass the 24-hour news cycle reportage of all things - even the ‘’important stuff,'’ ’cause someone will just be totally unable to hold back and will gladly fill you in . . . guaranteed!
But You Know What?
It MIGHT be fun to speculate as to what the next week’s news cycle will present to us! Here are some pretty sure bets:
Another blonde bimbo school teacher somewhere will be arrested for having sex with one or more of her teenage students. (Where WERE those hot babes when I was in school? Heck, I may have not have quit two years early if they had THAT sort of action going! But noooooo . . . all I remember are Mrs. Brokaw, Mrs. Watson and Mrs. Sites . . . egads, I think my memory smells Ben-Gay!)
Somewhere there will be reports about devastating fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, floods or, at the very least, a gruesome multiple murder, and when interviewed, some first-responder will surely say, ‘’Well, I’ve been doing this for 32 years and NEVER have I seen such a gruesome scene as this!'’
A dozen or so of our young American men and women will be slaughtered - NEEDLESSLY - in Iraq and/or Afghanistan.
-Dean
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HEALTH BOOSTERS: Spare Me The Pain Of It all!
If your teeth are as sensitive as mine, even a routine cleaning at your hygienist’s brings out the hyperdermics to inject some mouth-numbing relief. I have one area where a previous dentist (Reid H. Olds) really screwed up by grinding supports for a new bridge too far down and sometimes, I’ll need a half dozen or more shots to quell the pain from that dang explorer they use to scrape plaque away.
But for less serious pain that you experience when the hygienist starts a-scrapin’ away - there’s a product which is pretty effective in quelling the pain. I volunteered as a guinea pig to try the stuff when my dentist got his first supply. Called ORAQIX, it is a numbing agent (gel) that is injected around the gums of a sore tooth, but is NOT injected into the body in any way. In short, no pain in getting TO no pain!
And it works quite well, lasting only about ten minutes, so that when you leave the office you won’t be drooling all over yourself as happens when your mouth is normally numbed up for a couple hours. A company by the name of DENTSPLY markets the product, so ask your dentist. It makes his or her job much easier and your experience far less uncomfortable!
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MONEY-MAKING: How To Really Clean Up the $$ Big-Time!
We’ve received excellent and positive feedback on past articles focusing on standard biz ventures - with fresh DAX twists. As one DAX-DOER writes, ‘’Nice to see some good ideas for the common man - those of us who can’t write books, trade stocks or wheel and deal!'’
Well, okay - but yours truly here is surely, if nothing else, a ‘’common man,'’ as well! (Just so you know, however: I do NOT put my pants on one leg at a time! I learned years ago to save time by sitting on the end of the bed and sticking BOTH legs in there at the same time - HA!)
I have successfully executed many if not all of the many DAX MONEY-MAKERS™ that we report on - both for the common and not so common! This month is a prime example of that - the house-cleaning business. In my own case, it was actually the daily (make that nightly) cleaning of commercial places - factories, restaurants, bars, offices, etc.
But in the case at hand we’re covering only the domestic scene as it presents a much easier field to enter, yet provides an extraordinary profit potential. As proof of that, the following is based on the actual experience of a youngish middle-age lady, divorced with two teen-age daughters who, with their assistance, has managed to create a multi-million dollar business empire - within 7 short years!
WHO CAN DO IT?
Normally, one thinks of just women as ‘’house cleaners'’ and indeed, those we’ve hired over the years for our own purposes have been women. (This is true: Had a German wife once who hired two German women to come once a week to clean MOTH MANOR. The interesting bit: Wife would first clean the house herself so that the other women would not think she was a dirty housekeeper!)
BUT, more and more these days you’ll find men entering the field, because it is highly lucrative. Indeed, decades ago, when I was involved with the business two professional men started, owned and operated the company. One was an accountant - the other an Allstate insurance agent. Again, they focused on commercial buildings, but any man with a keen interest in a residential cleaning business could succeed.
EQUIPMENT NEEDED
Very basic items - just what you would expect: Vacuum cleaners (basic upright plus a smaller hand-held model), various cleaning supplies, brushes, mops, scrapers, etc., - and of course, a nice compact means of transporting all the small stuff. Hint: Those old wire milk bottle carriers work great - and nowadays, you’ll find fancier versions coated in plastic - which averts rusting.
INSURANCE/LICENSES
You should check with a local lawyer as well as the powers-that-be at City hall or the County Court house. Generally, you should have no high hoops to jump through, BUT it is always best to make certain that you are complying with all rules and regulations that may govern your activities.
Ditto for liability insurance and BONDING. Bonds are just insurance policies that protect your customer in the event you or one of your employees steals something. They are generally very inexpensive to obtain (unless one has a ‘’bad record!'’) and a bond offers a great deal of peace of mind to all concerned. Again, your legal-beagle will be able to recommend what you need.
GETTING STARTED
You should not need any formal office or other building - as even the cleaning supplies (all of which you’ll want to buy in bulk - saving gobs of $$) can be stored in a shed or the garage. Detergents, ammonia, bleach, glass cleaners, etc. - all can be had in large containers at a remarkably small cost from your nearest wholesale cleaning supply vendor.
No need to run out and blow a wad on new vacuums or other tools that you’ll need - assuming you have such in your own home now - or can borrow the same. Also, GOODWILL-type stores offer good, used machines for pennies on the dollar.
A telephone will be a necessity to enable customers and potential ones to reach you and vice-versey. You’ll want a notebook or just gather some sheets of paper on which you can write your appointments - and you’re pretty much ‘’in business!'’
TO GET BUSINESS . . .
First, understand that for many homeowners (and that especially includes apartment dwellers) having one’s home cleaned by ‘’professionals'’ is either an absolute necessity (in the case of folks who are already overworked and busy at their own jobs) or a nice luxury (in the case of bored middle-aged housewives who love to brag (and complain) to their friends about ‘’their cleaning lady!'’)
Yes, ’tis definitely a snob thing with some - but who cares? YOU are the one who reaps the profits! And in time., perhaps you can have that nice young fellow park your Jaguar at the Country Club and have lunch with the girls and brag about YOUR cleaning ladies - you know, the ones who are making you wealthy!
Reliable, honest, hard-working and thorough cleaning people are very hard to find nowadays, thus, once word is spread that you are offering your super-duper home-cleaning business you will probably be swamped with new clients. Until that happens, you need to hustle a bit!
Make up some flyers on your computer - or use the one (for free) at places like Kinkos or CopyMax or your local library. Distribute the flyers all over town - in the areas where your prospects will see them: At Supermarkets, libraries, spas, weight-loss meetings, etc. Use your imagination: Man or woman, you know where to find your best prospects, to be sure!
WRITING YOUR ADVERTISEMENT
This is quite easy - but if you have any probelms, enlist the help of friends or relatives. Essentially, you just want to ‘’tell your story'’ and inform as to what you are offering, such as:
HOME AND APARTMENT CLEANING SERVICE (at a price so low you would be foolish to continue doing it yourself!) You might continue with copy that touts how much extra time your prospect will have to play golf, tennis, relax, visit with friends or whatever.
Stress the types of things that you will do and especially, if you DO windows, say that loud and clear:
‘’YES! We DO windows!'’
Try listing your pricing schedule in the flyer - and try it without. I personally feel it would be better to NOT give any money-data in the ad but instead, be a bit nebulous with wording such as ‘’fair fees,'’ ‘’nominal cost,'’ ‘’your time is far more valuable than the small price we charge!'’ - or similar wording.
Provide your phone number (and specify times when YOU will be there to answer the phone - no one else - especially, an annoying 4 year old kid who will really screw up your entire business plan!)
HOW MUCH $$ TO CHARGE!
Every area is different from another, so do not take the following as gospel! On average, you should be able to skillfully and quickly clean a home for a one-time fee of between $75.00 and $100.00.
Better still, try to establish a weekly or monthly contract (best to refer to it as an ‘’agreement'’) whereby you and or your crew will come by at a designated time (from which YOU never deviate - although, the client may need to from time to time).
You could charge much more on a monthly basis, yet it would seem far less to the client. Let’s say you offer to do the place once every week for a flat fee of $275.00 per month. That would help you add to your ‘’established client base'’ and offer the customer a set fee she knows will cover her on a continuing basis - so that she no longer has to concern herself with either doing the chores or finding someone else to do it.
Naturally, there will always be instances when each customer will want you to do extra work - just before a big party (or probably, AFTER said party!) She may be a traditionalist and request a Spring or Fall cleaning . . . that’s EXTRA. That brings to mind a possible advertising gimmick for you: Maybe, ballyhoo your services AS a ‘’Thorough Spring Cleaning - Every week!'’
Look, I can vamp here all day long - but in the end it comes down to this: People need to clean their home and apartment one way or another. Many get sick and tired of doing it themselves and will gladly hire someone else to do it. YOU could be the person they hire - that many people hire.
The business requires a minimal amount of experience or equipment - just dedication to doing the job right - on schedule - plus, lining up customers and helpers if you wish to have others help you.
In the end, this is a business with vast potential and you are looking at upwards of $100,000.00 per year with just a bit of hired help - and they can be part-timers.
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WATCH YOUR BACK: GoDaddy . . . Just Go AWAY, DADDY! (And Quit Molesting Your Precious . . . Customers!)
Recently, we offered for sale, SuEllen’s website, http://www.NiftyStuff4U.com
As we told you then, with her new 24/7 position as the Director of a major state of Michigan governmental authority, she simply has NO time for much of anything else.
Somehow, she HAS managed to fit in two daily insulin injections for our oldest cat, Pinky, who has diabetes from maybe yes, maybe no, that Chinese-tainted kitty food a few months back!)
Anyway, no one made a serious commitment to buy the entire site, replete with all the good stuff that’s in stock and illustrated on the site.
So . . . I decided to auction off just the site’s URL - the name, in other words, which is duly registered and prevents all others from using it. It’s a GREAT name for that particular site, as it tells the visitor pretty much what to expect even before they get there, eh wot?
I went to GoDaddy which offers both an appraisal service plus an actual subsequent auction of the URL. Registered, jumped all the hoops and as I was taken from one page to the next, the ONLY thing that was presented were tons and tons of advertising trying to upgrade, induce, and just plain sell a whole bunch of extra stuff that was of NO interest and only clouded the issue further. Just kept clicking, ‘’no thanks'’ ‘’proceed to check-out,'’ etc.
Once there, it was obvious to me that the object of my purchase, i.e., an appraisal of one of the MANY URLs that we own - was not addressed - and would not be. Thus, I stopped the ordering process and emailed GoDaddy and explained my concern: That I would end up getting charged for the service - yet, there would be no way to follow up and specify WHICH URL I was interested in having appraised, auctioned off, etc.
Got an email back fairly soon from a ‘’Luke S.'’ (Bastard didn’t even show his full last name!) who assured me, ‘’no problem.'’
Okay. I went back, jumped the dang hoops all over again, allowed them to charge my account and as I suspected . . . NOTHING! No further data telling me how to specify the URL I wanted them to address, etc. Zero. Zilch. Emailed them again, and this time told them on no uncertain terms that I wanted them to ‘’CANCEL THE DAMN TRANSACTION - YOU IDIOTS!'’
Heard back - said okay, but first I’d have to tell them to CANCEL THE TRANSACTION! Uh . . . that’s what I just DID in my last email, sport! Further, this nincompoop actually said, ‘’Well, we cannot cancel the charge IF an appraisal for the website is already in progress.'’ HUH? How would they be able to do that as the entire bone of contention in this fiasco was the fact that THEY failed to provide a place for me to SPECIFY which URL that would be!
I told him, ‘’must you continue to show the world how stupid you are?'’ Yep, I guess so. Finally, I told him what WAS going to happen if they failed to cancel the transaction and properly credit my chargecard. I then modified my statement to inform him that whatever - whether he credited my account or not (which he eventually DID!) - everything I told him was going to happen WILL happen. And it has. And it ain’t pretty. Stupid, friggin’ ne’er-do-wells!
Another VERY annoying thing that GoDaddy does: They send out VERY regular emails pushing something - anything - but always, nothing you want to hear about! We have always told them, we do NOT want to receive spam from them, but they send it anyway. Finally, had to place a block on their emails! We call that ‘’molestation by my GoDaddy!'’
STAY AWAY FROM THESE MALCONTENTS! They were originally brought to our attention by Jason, our first (of two) gone-all-wrong tekkies. Should have expected as much, I suppose . . .
Footnote: Go to http://www.NiftyStuff4U.com and IF you’d like to own that name - and the site itself - one thousand bux and it’s yours - all yours. If you would also like all the merchandise that’s presented there - we can chat about that and come to a price point you cannot refuse.
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SHORT TAKES: Need Some Money?
$$$: If you find that you need to borrow some money (and if you’ve been a DAXER for ANY length of time, you know that we totally advise AGAINST doing so!) you may be considering borrowing online. These days, it is not quite so perilous as in the past and here are some sites where you may find the $$ you need:
Each of these sites MUST follow your state’s lending laws in order to business with you, and they are scrutinized rather well, we are told.
The best thing is: You should be able to borrow funds at a significantly LOWER rate than from local lenders, as the online folks have very little overhead.
$$$: ’tis summer and unless you’re fortunate enough to live at BLUE HERON POINTE where we have absolutely NO mosquitos whatsoever (why, we are not sure!) I would ask this:
If you DO live here - where are you? I’ve never seen you! And why don’t YOU start fixing breakfast and feed the cats once in awhile, anyway?!
What I was going to say was: The best quick fix for a mosquito bite is to dab some roll-on deodorant on it. Pain and itch instantly disappear! Apparently, just as YOU have managed to do if you do live here . . . I mean, how could you be living here all this time and we don’t even know about it?!
Who are you, anyway? I’m going to charge you rent when I find out! And finally, if you do live here - then, you don’t have to worry about mosquito bites in the first place so, why are you wasting my time?!
$$$: A few smart credit card tips. We all use ‘em: Whilst not really a necessity, credit cards do come in handy now and then, right? Here’s how to mitigate both aggravation and cost:
Use your cards ONLY to charge amounts that can be paid at the end of the month - when the bill arrives. Never pay that usuary-type interest that most cards sock you with! Keep a running record of when and where you used the chargecard. When the bill arrives, check it against your own list. You might be amazed at the inaccuracies that occur over the course of just one year!
Pare down the number of cards that you carry! On average, each American has at least 8 different chargecards. One or two at the most is all that any one family really needs. When you have more, you are apt to use (and abuse) them! Pay ‘em off, cut ‘em up and carry only one or two.
Finally, heed the specific instructions that we have given in these pages in the past as regards the ways you can not just save big bux from your credit cards - but also, how you can actually EARN $300.00 - $400.00 from them!
Get a copy of our popular report, ‘’Besting The Bankers: Beat The Banks At Their Own Game!'’ There, you will find everything you need to know to give you the winning edge over those blood-thirsty low-lifes! Go to:
http://www.daxrich.daxfax.com/store/index.php?productID=136
$$$: There are two theories about how to successfully argue with a woman. Neither one works.
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DAX-YAX: What’s All That Talk About A Big, Long Fence?
José and Carlos are panhandling on the street.
José drives a brand new Mercedes, lives in a luxurious mortgage-free house and always has lots of money to spend.
Contrarily, Carlos brings in only 2 to 3 dollars a day.
Carlos asks, ‘’José, how can you take in a suitcase full of ten-dollar bills every day?'’
José says, ‘’ Well Carlos, look at your sign: It says ‘I have no work, a wife and 6 kids to support.”’
‘’Look at MY sign. It says, ‘I only need another $10.00 to move back to Mexico.”’
-30-
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