3 Tips if You Find Mold in Your Home

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What to do if you Find Mold in Your Home

Finding mold in your home can be scary, especially if you have heard of the negative effects it can have on your health. Wellbeing aside, large infestations can also cause huge damage to the structure of your home and run up thousands of dollars in remediation costs if they are widespread enough. In this post we will discuss three tips for you to follow if you are unfortunate enough to find that you have a mold infestation.

Call a Professional Mold Inspector

While many people think the first thing to do when they have a mold problem is call someone to get rid of it, this is not entirely accurate. There are thousands of different types of mold, and each has a unique way of spreading and effecting the health of the people exposed. Since all mold spreads via invisible spores that are carried through the air, it is important to find out what type of mold you are dealing with first, before making the initial reaction to get it removed. We spoke with a homeowner who had discovered he had mold in his basement and opted to call the Buffalo mold remediation & testing company before a removal expert. The company was able to conduct air quality tests and determined that the mold had also spread into the central air ducts, and was being dispersed throughout the entire home. This is a perfect example of why you should always call an inspector first, because had the homeowner not done so, the rest of the house would have remained contaminated.

Hire a Removal Specialist Based on the Inspection Results

The mold inspector will be able to tell you what type of mold you have, how far it has spread, and the extent of the damage. This will leave you open to making an informed decision on how to proceed. In almost every case, mold remediation or removal will be necessary to ensure the building is decontaminated and the infestation is eradicated. At this point, you should call up a mold removal company to come in and take care of the remediation process. Depending on the extent of the growth however, you may also want to consider getting a damage estimate, which will help you determine the estimated renovation and demolition costs associated with remediation. This is only needed when the mold is so widespread that the remediation team will need to alter the structure of the building to effectively complete their job.

Determine the Cause and Fix that as well

Determining the cause of mold growth is just as important as eliminating the mold itself. Mold thrives in dark, damp, and oftentimes difficult to access places such as basements, attics, inside of walls, in vents, and under floor panels. If you do not effectively determine the cause of mold growth, chances are incredibly high that it will come back in full force. The remediation company used in step 2 should take care of this for you, but it is important to mention so that you know that it is a step that needs to be taken.

Tips for Working Mothers

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Becoming a new mother can be possibly one of the best experiences of a woman’s life however, it can also come with complications. Unlike the early 50s and 60s, more women have full time jobs and are sometimes even the primary breadwinners of their households. This means that taking time off for childbirth and childcare thereafter is not an option for many, and can lead to complicated financial and even legal situations with their employers. In this post, we will cover some tips for working mothers who are expecting, and what they can do to minimize conflict with their job. Please note this post is not to be taken as legal advice, and is solely the opinion of the author.

Navigating Maternity Leave

While many states have experienced great progression in the realm of maternity leave and female employee rights, many still lack benefits that some may consider right (or even constitutional). New York is one state that is far and beyond more progressive in this area, with maternity leave that is covered by insurance. Read more on New York leave right here. Paid maternity leave is crucial to financial stability throughout pregnancy and childbirth, and is something many mothers rely heavily on. It is important however to communicate with your employer and notify them that you will need maternity leave and, if possible, estimated dates that you will be out. This will allow them to efficiently cover your position until you are back at work, and ensure a smooth transition. Some employers however are not as open as many would hope, and there have even been cases of women being fired because they were pregnant. If you find yourself in this type of situation, contact a women’s rights lawyer immediately and bring the responsible party to court (it’s you right!).

Informational Video on Maternity Leave in the United States

Breast Pumping at Work

As of 2010, a federal law called the Break Time for Nursing Mothers Law ensures that employers allow employees not only a private spot to pump milk or breastfeed, but also a break to do it. This milestone legislation is ideal for mothers who are returning from maternity leave and need to pump milk at work. The type of breast pump used does not matter, but it is ideal to get something quiet so as not to disrupt the workplace (you can find a highly recommended one here: Your Breast Pump Reviews – Spectra S1). Having a pump that is too loud may give your employer grounds to send you home citing workplace disruption, which is not what anyone wants. Special tip: mothers who need a breast pump for work can check out this list of 2017 breast pump comparisons.

Bringing a Child to Work

Rules about bringing a child to work can differ based on the workplace environment. The biggest concern here is safety. If you work in a factory or an environment that a child could get into dangerous situations, it may be best to find a daycare. However, if you work in an office, you can talk with your employer about bringing in your child. Something else to note however, is that it may not be wise from an insurance standpoint. For example, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) finds numerous examples where having a child in the workplace can be both dangerous and an insurance liability. This is an area that your employer will have to work with you on, and you should consult them.

Resources Used

http://www.yourbreastpumpreviews.com/

http://www.disabilitysecrets.com/

Tips for Getting Rid of Nuisance Wildlife

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What is Nuisance Wildlife?

Nuisance wildlife can be a title given to any pest (excluding bugs) that have become acclimated to human presence and begin causing property damage, leaving droppings, or infesting structures. The species of pest can vary depending on where you are geographically located, but common nuisance wildlife species are deer, bats, birds, and mice. Many of these pests can carry contagious diseases and often cause extensive damage to property. Unsurprisingly, getting rid of nuisance wildlife is something that virtually every homeowner who encounters them will want to do, but it is important to know how to do it properly. Below we will discuss some tips for homeowners who have a wildlife problem.

nuisancewildlifemap

Hire a Professional Wildlife Removal Company

Normally we would suggest various ways a homeowner can take care of an issue by themselves without having to hire outside help. A wildlife problem is a situation where you will absolutely want to hire a professional wildlife removal company to take care of the problem for you. Simply put, wildlife exclusion experts know what they are doing, and will be able to ensure the pest is not only excluded from the property, but also make sure it cannot re-enter. Re-entry is the major problem with a pest, as many will remember how they got in and return in the months following removal. A specialist will also be well versed on the different types of pests that can be found in a persons home, as well as the specifics on how to deal with each different kind. This knowledge can be absolutely crucial, and be the difference between a solution and a recurring problem.

How to Find a Professional

There are wildlife removal professionals in just about every city in the United States, the trouble is finding ones that are qualified and able to help you with your problem. There are a number of resources (including things like maps of animal control companies) that can help, but you should really know the different types of licensing and qualifications that a qualified professional should have. Each state has different requirements for wildlife removal companies, and you should familiarize yourself with the qualifications in your state. There are also specialized certificates for different types of pests, so if you know what your pest is, check up on those as well.
Information Resources

JacopilleBornheimer LLC  Wildlife Removal

Intrepid Wildlife Removal

AAA Animal Control

3 Marketing Tips for Local Locksmiths

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3 Marketing Ideas for Locksmiths

Why Locksmiths?

Locksmiths are unique in the digital marketing world because of their somewhat checkered past (particularly in the search engines). Nobody seems to agree exactly how or why it started, but in the past (and even today) fake locksmith listings have been put on Google and replaced real businesses. This shady practice has led to customers calling the scam artists, who promptly send out an untrained and unprofessional technician to service the client. Unfortunately, it kept getting worse, as the “locksmith” would then up the cost of the service by over 200% in some cases leading to very unhappy customers.

In this article, we are going to cover how to market your business if you are a legitimate locksmith tired of getting your brand/business besmirched by frauds.

1. Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization is the art of making a website show up first in Google when someone types in a particular keyword. For example, if you are a locksmith based in Rochester, NY, you would want to appear when someone types in any combination of those words, so they can find your business. Unfortunately, SEO can take a long time to learn, and there is a lot that go wrong. Fortunately however, there are other options like locksmith directories that are already appearing very well for so called money keywords. Getting your business listed on one of these directories will give you a page dedicated to your business (like this one: findlocksmiths.org/locksmith-buffalo-ny) which has the possibility of generating a good amount of traffic. Another option is to actually learn to implement some of the more basic local SEO techniques so that you can work on making your website appear yourself.

2. Pay Per Click

Pay per click (PPC) is a system by which you have your advertisement displayed on a media platform, and pay each time someone clicks on it. The most popular PPC programs are Google Adwords and Facebook Advertising. For local locksmiths Adwords is recommended, for the simple fact that someone locked out of their house will not be likely to go on Facebook, but would probably look up a locksmith in their area via Google. Another great thing about Google Adwords is that the top ads appear above even the local map result (the very top of the page). That means your ad will be the first thing someone sees when they make a search. However, a thing called banner blindness means that the clicks to advertisements only account for about 10% of the search volume. What this means is that if your term get 100 searches per month, your advertisement will only ever generate 10 clicks over the course of the month, while appearing #1 in the organic search through SEO will generate about 30 clicks (#1 gets about 30% of the clicks).

3. Social Media Promotion/Brand Building

This will be a two part section talking about social media and brand building. Social media is booming, and this technique will likely not bring in customers right at the get go, but will build a list of people who will have you in mind when they need your services. Essentially it centers around building up as much of a social media presence as possible. Building up sales videos, and other promotional material is important. Investing in a clean and high quality website, as well as a great and memorable logo is also essential when it comes to having people remember you and your business.

Bonus Tip

Build an email list and offer promotions to your customers. This is invaluable, and having a list of people you can push promotions to will ensure that you are at the top of their mind when they need you. While the difference in calls cannot be measured in terms of clicks to a website, it will make a difference if you take it seriously and is possibly one of the most valuable marketing tactics to date. For more on the importance of list building, refer to the video below.

The Business of Ebooks

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How Ebooks Are Becoming Big Business

Selling eBooks is, without doubt, one of the most viable and legitimate means of making good money online. However, it often necessitates a lot of hard work as well as plenty of dedication to succeed, and can sometimes take prospective entrepreneurs years to be successful. When all is said and done however, the potential ROI (return on investment) you can obtain will definitely be worth be it. Typically, everything that is published online is automatically copyrighted, so you will never have to worry about missing out on any royalties you earn. You should however be aware of the fact that the internet is akin to the Wild Wild West in that anything you publish that is of any value will likely be ripped off regardless of any laws in place. To combat this, it is advisable to brand everything you create (some authors even use watermarks) so that any theft and unauthorized distribution will be like free publicity for your brand.

Lead capture technique vs. direct eBook selling

Generally speaking, there are two main options when it comes to promoting and selling your eBooks online. These are lead capture and direct selling. In the lead capture model, you will either have to invest in a 3rd party online marketing tool and set up a lead capture web page, or build the page and capture yourself. The latter will provide details on the products you are selling to entice them to prospective buyers to fill a form with their contacts. Once they do so, they will download a free teaser, which will motivate them to buy the entire book. To promote your lead capture page, you can utilize PPC ads, banner ads, email marketing or even social media networks. Alternatively, you can opt to sell your eBooks directly through outlets such Amazon KDP, Clickbank or even off your own website using a service like PayHip. In this given strategy, you may need to set up a blog, and grow your following to market your products. You can also do the same on social media in relevant niche pages.

What Else do I need to be Successful?

Whichever model you decide to go with, you will need to establish a brand. To do this, you will need to build up your social profiles around the product, brand, or company you want to promote/sell. You will also need to find a website and website template (there are even templates for Ebook sellers). A how-to guide for WordPress will be posted below. After this is complete and you have your site built, you will need to write your ebook and find a high quality ebook cover design to use. In order to write your ebook, you will of course need a topic. This can be the most difficult part for a marketer, because what on earth could you possible write about that someone would buy? Quite a bit as it turns out.

WordPress Setup Guide

We know, you are anxious to get into the meat and potatoes of how to get started, but we felt those were some things you needed to know first. Next we will discuss what categories to get into that are the most profitable for many.

What are the Best Categories to Get Into?

Naturally, there are some bestselling categories (referred to as “niches”) that tend to earn massive amounts to those who can market to their audiences successfully. These niches tend to be the most popular but also have the most competition, as everyone is vying for a piece of the pie.

Recipes

Recipes are certainly winners, and can allow successful cookbook ebook sellers to rake in a consistent and regular income over time. Nowadays most individuals prefer having a recipe close at hand as they cook, and an eReader is much more convenient than using a hard copy cookbook. If you are good at making excellent recipes, you can definitely make a good business here. This niche also works great with the lead generation model of the ebook business (more on that below).

How-Tos & Self Improvement

People always need solutions to the various issues or predicaments they may be experiencing. Additionally, newer technologies are constantly emerging, not to mention new products and discoveries. Because of this, there is a never ending stream of questions asked online. It is your job, as the marketer, to find the ones that people will pay to know the answer to. For example, “how make money online” is a huge niche that gets thousands of searches per month. Making an ebook about how to make money online and marketing it correctly would almost guarantee you a massive revenue stream.

Health & Fitness

Virtually everyone is obsessed with their health and fitness, and this eBook niche is always in high demand. It is also one of the most competitive niches to get into, and is not recommended for a beginner. Sellers in this industry have massive budgets, and typically an ebook would be used as a lure to get people to opt in and give out their email address or other contact details so they could be sold to further.

Lifestyle & Home Improvement

This is another bestselling eBook category. Styles, designs and trends are always evolving, and many people who live in commonplace homes are always keen on improving them and their surroundings on the cheap. A good place to market something like this would be on Pinterest, where people who enjoy trendy, artistic, and lifestyle niches congregate and are highly active.

 

Internet Based Jobs and What They’re all About

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What Has Been Happening With Online Jobs?

With the rise of the internet over the past year, the necessity for internet-based jobs has exploded. From Internet Security, to Digital Marketing, to Brand Management, businesses are finding holes in their employment roster that need filling with the times, and savvy job-seekers are finding themselves suddenly very much in demand.

Internet Security

Internet security (infosec) has been thrust into the limelight over the past couple of years, but has actually been around since the 90’s. Glorified by movies like Hackers and The Matrix, the shadowy world of Information Security is not quite as thrilling as it sounds in the movies, but can be very exciting (and profitable) none the less. information securityRecently, attacks like the hack of Sony  have highlighted how vulnerable even large companies (and governments) are to online criminals and ill-doers. To save themselves from the embarrassment of being hacked, companies have been scrambling to hire Information Security Professionals in droves. Because of the high demand and relative scarcity of qualified professionals, an information security analyst can make upwards of $78,000 per year, which is not bad for a beginning position. Some companies have chosen to outsource their infosec to firms which have begun springing up to fill the job spaces, and it is therefore important to know what the best information security firms of 2016 are. We will not write them all down so you can just click that link to find them.

Digital Marketing

With over 85% of the worlds population shopping online, it is not a surprise that internet marketers have been raking in cash in the droves. Companies have also been rapidly switching to online marketing to coincide with their physical stores and keep up with their competition. This has created huge competition in the online market, which has in turned spawned SEO’s (search engine optimization experts) who are experts at ranking websites in Google. Obviously this gives the recipient a huge advantage, because they appear first for things their potential clients are looking for already.SEO Typically, internet marketers make around $65,000 per year, but the industry is growing rapidly, as more and more businesses see the demand for this very specific profession. Like information security, specialized SEO companies like apacheseo.com are springing up everywhere. They typically provide clients with ranking solutions and other optimization and marketing options (pay per click, email marketing, and media management).

Brand/Reputation Management

Brand management goes hand-in-hand with SEO, but differs in the fact that it is more about managing the online reputation of a client. These services are somewhat less known, but are becoming increasingly popular with the creation of sites for scam reports and negative comments about businesses. Some might wonder if reputation management is worth it, but as we will explain, it is better to pay in most cases then to let it sit.

Normally these review sites would seem like a good idea, but competitors are increasingly trying to get an unfair advantage by slandering their competitions name. In these cases, a bad review or negative comment can impact a business extensively, and it is therefore important for the effected business to hire a professional reputation management service to take care of it. These professionals will outrank, or just get rid of the listing all together, restoring the companies name in the eyes of the public. This can make the difference between 100’s of thousands of dollars in income in some cases, so it is not surprising that reputation management can cost between $2,000 and $20,000 per month depending on the severity of the case.

The Progression of Technology in the Home

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The History of Home Automation

Technology in the home (hereafter referred to as home automation) has its roots in “building automation“, which was the practice of automating a commercial buildings heating, air conditioning, lighting, alarm system, and even different types of water filter systems. The purpose of such systems was to ensure the comfort of the occupants, reduce energy costs, streamline systems to make them function better together, and simply make things more efficient. These systems were typically controlled by one or two command centers, which were hooked up to web servers which were then attached to everything from lights to alarm systems. This interlinking meant that an operator could control all of the buildings critical systems from one central location, making things much easier to handle and effective in their operation.

It is unsurprising then that these automation systems soon caught the eye of the wealthy, who desired a little more flare and technological advancement in their homes. By the early 2000’s more and more households were starting to install home automation systems in one form or another.

Types of Home Automation Systems

Home automation can range from a full-house system, to simple things like automated door locks. Below we will discuss everything from the simple, to the massively complex.

A simple home automation system can be as cheap as $80 and come ready to plug and play. This means you can go down to your local Walmart or Target and pick up an automated locking system, take it out, install it, and be operational within an hour. These types of systems are good for those who want something on the more cost effective side, while still being effective enough to do what it is supposed to do. Typically these types of systems are controlled via a smartphone app that you install from the manufacturer. Some cons of these systems are unreliability due to lower cost, security vulnerabilities, and potential for malfunction. Most (if not all) of these can be avoided by purchasing a more expensive system, with the obvious downside being that it is a more expensive system.

Example of a high end home automation system

A high end home automation system can cost you in excess of $100,000 depending which one you decide to buy. These will almost always involve having a technician come to your house and do the install manually. These systems also usually include full services. For example, a television that rises from the floor, lighting controlled by your smartphone, automated house-wide speaker system controlled from an iPad built into the wall, and much more. Unsurprisingly, the cost of these systems goes hand in hand with their reliability and security. In most cases, providers will offer warranties and come repair whatever breaks free of charge, offer free upgrades, and give 24/hour customer support. The higher end systems are typically for larger scale homes (because they will usually install miniature data centers right in your home) and will obviously be quite pricey. But what if you want something more than a cheap out-of-the-box system and do not have $100k laying around?


Medium-range home automation systems fall around $4,000-$5,000 depending on who you go to. They will include less than a full-scale high end system, but obviously much more than a modified doorknob in a box. The medium systems will typically include air, light, alarm, heat, and lock controls both through your smartphone and through a device hardwired inside of your house itself. These systems are great for those who are away from home frequently, as you can be alerted via phone message of intruders, fire, or other issues that may arise in your home wherever you are. You can then take the appropriate course of action from your phone. For example, in the case of a fire, you can turn on your sprinklers and alert the first department all at the push of  a button. This could potentially save you much more in damages than the system itself cost, making it a worthy investment.

homeautomation

No matter how you decide to go, or what system you decide to go with, it is important to look at your needs and budget before making a choice. Full scale systems are about as much to uninstall as they are to install, so be sure you want it if you decide to go with that option. We recommend going with the medium systems to start with, as they are right in the middle and you can easily go up or down if you so choose.