Category: Markethive

Say Goodnight Gracie. Burns and Allen.

 

George Burns and Gracie Allen were a successful American comedy act for over forty years. Over the years, their talents extended from comedy to vaudeville to radio to film, and television. Part of Burns and Allen’s charm was that they were a married couple in real life as well as in many of their acts. The pair met in 1922 and were married in 1926. Throughout nearly all of their entertainment ventures, Burns always played the “straight man,” and Allen his foolish, silly wife. 

The couple’s first performance as a duo was at the Hill Street Theatre in Newark, New Jersey, and afterward, they brought their vaudeville act to other small town theaters.  They continued their signature roles, which at the time were known as a “Dumb Dora” stereotype. While they were best known for Allen as the foolish wife and Burns as the straight man, originally, the roles were reversed. For whatever reason, audiences seemed to find Gracie to be more humorous, so they switched the roles and relied on them for the next several decades. 

Burns’ and Allen’s careers truly took off when they began making movies. At the time, movie studios hired vaudeville actors to film short acts. As Burns and Allen had developed a reputation for being able to fill in for sick or absent performers, their big break came when they were able to fill in for Fred Allen’s act in the 1929 film Lambchop. Subsequent movies featuring the twosome included The Big Broadcast (1932) and its two sequels, A Damsel in Distress (1937), and Honolulu (1939), among other films. 

Their couple’s longest-running act became their radio show. While they appeared for the first time on the radio on the BBC in 1929, they wouldn’t begin their own show until 1934. Burns and Allen did experience minor setbacks, including a failed audition with NBC in 1930. Their luck turned in 1932 when they became regulars on The Guy Lombardo Show. 

When Guy Lombardo switched networks, Burns and Allen were able to take his time slot with their own show, The Adventures of Gracie. In 1936, the show was renamed The Burns and Allen Show. For a time, the show took the name of its sponsor, which was common at the time. Thus, from 1945-1949, it was known as Maxwell House Coffee Time. Over the years, the program was broadcast on both NBC and CBS. The radio show was extremely popular, and was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1994. Ultimately, it ran from 1934-1950.

On air, Burns and Allen once again became known for their gags and jokes, as was their specialty. One favorite running gag involved Gracie hunting for her lost brother, and she’d even end up on shows on other networks, looking for him. Gracie was known for other stunts such as running for president on a fully nonsensical “Surprise” platform, which resulted in her receiving actual write-in votes on election day.

After years on air, the end of the radio show brought the beginning of a popular television show called  The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show which was also known as The Burns and Allen Show. The CBS television show was broadcast from 1950-1958. The half-hour show was a situation comedy and was extremely successful, receiving eleven Primetime nominations for Emmys. TV Guide ranked one episode of the show number 56 on its list of the 100 greatest episodes of all time (published in 1997).

The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show was initially filmed live, but eventually began being filmed in advance to increase efficiency. Over the eight years that it was broadcast, the show had four different producers and directors: Ralph Levy, Frederick de Cordova, and Rod Amateau. While the actors remained for the most part consistent, the husband of Bea Benaderet’s Blanche Morton (who was also featured on the Burns and Allen radio show) was ultimately played by four different actors.

The show handled this inconsistency of actors in an upfront manner. When actor Fred Clark left the show, mid-episode, his replacement, Larry Keating, was brought on stage and introduced to Bea Benaderet as her new husband. After the two exchanged pleasantries and small talk in keeping with that of two people who have just met, Larry Keating resumed the role of her husband Harry throughout the rest of the episode, and nothing more was said on the matter. Such antics were in keeping with the show’s humor and charm. Other characters on the show included Burns and Allen’s real-life children, Ronnie and Sandra, who were adopted by the couple in 1935 and 1934.

As in their vaudeville act and radio show, Gracie played the zany wife to George’s strait-laced demeanor, and the show thus featured a number of their signature running gags. For example, the couple’s home features a closet full of hats, as guests were constantly rushing out their door and leaving their accessories behind in order to get away from Gracie’s antics. The show was also unique in that George himself would watch the show take place, either from outside (in the live episodes) or on the TV in his study (in the later seasons). He would even break the fourth wall and address the viewer directly in order to comment on the show’s happenings The sets for the show looked similar to Burns’ & Allen’s real-life residence on Maple Drive in Beverly Hills, California. Fans of the show can drive past and see that house today, as it still exists. Burns himself was a resident of the home until 1996, when he died at age 100. 

After decades of success entertaining fans live, on the radio, in the movies, and on television, Burns and Allen retired from their television show in 1958. Gracie Allen embraced retirement and became a gardener and housewife and, as Burns is quoted as saying, “She deserved a rest.” 

George Burns was able to keep acting for one more year on his own program, The George Burns Show until he, too, retired in 1959. Though this last venture lasted only one year, Burns and Allen will be fondly remembered for over forty years of entertainment, an accomplishment of which few can boast.

 

Please visit our Facebook page Good Old Days  for more memories.

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Do You Really Want Outside Investors Involved in Your Dream Startup Business?

If you are starting out in a new business venture, there is every chance you will need some form of funding.
…but before you start, do you really want outside investors involved in your dream?

You may prefer to bootstrap your business. Bootstrapping is a term for starting a business without any external capital investment. The development of such startups is funded through internal cash flow and, as a consequence, the owners of such a company will need to be cautious with their expenses.

However, if you think having external investors is the only option, you must consider the following.

If you do not already have some experience in starting a business, then it will be very difficult to secure any form of investment. If you have a great idea but no business experience, then you should consider having someone on your team who does have business startup experience.

Investors will not be investing in your business just for the fun of it. They will want to own a part of the company which obviously means you will no longer be 100% in control of your company.

Investors will no doubt want to have a say in how the company is run. When you have investors on board, relations with them are of paramount importance.
You will need to answer to them and keep them informed of developments on a regular basis.
…and if you make a hash of the business, you will hurt these people.
So you must think carefully if you are the sort of person who can accept input from others, or whether you are the sort who needs to make all the decisions.

Valuation of a startup company can be difficult. The idea may be worth millions in theory but it all has to be put into practice. If you tell an investor your company is potentially worth $10 million and you are seeking $1 million to get started, then in simple terms, you are offering 10% of your company. An investor prepared to offer $1 million may want more than 10%. After all, it is their money at risk.
Although not every business owner runs to a tight business plan, the more detailed information that investors have about the potential of the business, the more accurately they can put a value on their investment.

Although investors in startups may be interested in a long term view with dividends being paid out by the company, their main priority will be to see a see a return on investment as soon as possible. Investors will want to know of exit strategies.
There are many articles that can be read on exit strategies.

Your business will need to be scalable to attract large investment….
…but investors are not likely to be interested if the only way to double your sales is by doubling the amount of customers.

Anyone can say "If we have one million customers paying $10 per month, we will have $10 million per month coming in; and if we increase that to two million customers, we will then have $20 million per month coming in."

You will need to prove to an investor how you are going to attract more customers; but also how you are going to offer more services to existing customers.

There may be exceptions to how an investor sees the potential growth of a business.
For example, a website with free membership (eg Facebook) may not double its sales if the membership doubles but if the overall running costs of the business remain the same even with an increase in membership numbers, and a significant increase in revenue is attained, then the business can still be viable.

The easier it is to copy your business, the less likely you will find a willing investor. You should ideally have specialized knowledge that few others have. It is useful to own patents where necessary (although that could be open to debate), protect your trade name and so on.

If you still think external funding is the only way forward for your business, you must choose carefully which investors you approach.

Some may be very helpful and become collaborative partners; maybe even mentors.
Others may be too critical and be more of a hindrance to the business.

Whatever you decide, Good Luck in your Startup venture.

 

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Green Fire On The Blockchain

Green Fire On The Blockchain

Green Fire has decided to change the world as you know it. We are moving together onto the blockchain. We have chosen “Green Fire Gold” (GFG) as the blockchain application name. GFG will be the first to take landfill mining and reclamation on to the blockchain.

GFG is designed with next generation high load blockchain protocols, utilizing a blockchain design that improves functionality with each additional user, maximizing scalability and load performance.

GFG includes your own private universal wallet that allows for immediate trading and exchange between all currencies and investment markets.

The GFG blockchain is designed by the best in cryptocurrency development to create a coin and mainstream payment network usable by everyone in the world.

The GFG universal wallet/coin combo can be used to manage your entire life and assets. Inside are a Universal Dapp store (decentralized application store), micro-services, micro-payments, smart contracts, universal exchange, universal payment system, and custom template decentralized app building, just to name a few.

Understanding blockchain

The Blockchain has become the default backbone for most new financial and business development.

In essence, blockchain is a distributed database, or "timestamp server," as it was called by the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto in the paper that proposed bitcoin.

The blockchain consists of blocks of data — each block is a timestamped batch of valid individual transactions and the hash of the previous block, creating a link between the two. Because each timestamp includes the previous timestamp in its hash, it forms a chain. Each new transaction must be authenticated across the distributed network of computers that form the blockchain before it can form the next block in the chain.

GFG is developing a fully decentralized, leaderless DAO*, a Decentralized Autonomous Organization, and a fully distributed financial platform, OWNED BY THE PEOPLE WHO USE IT.

GFG is using the MyCryptoWorld development platform to construct the GFG DAO. This platform develops on an advanced Ethereum blockchain.

For the determination phase of implementation an interdisciplinary team of cryptocurrency, marketing and software veterans/enthusiasts around the globe have already started determining the intelligence that operates GFG.

As soon the business determination is finished the whole system will be completely community/user driven and owned. From this point on the further evolution will be in the hands of all owners, using e-Governance/voting and other cutting edge tools to create consensus and run decisions.

The GFG DAO is a digital decentralized autonomous organization and a form of investor-directed venture capital fund.

The GFG DAO has an objective to provide a new decentralized business model for organizing both international commerce and social marketing. It will be on the Ethereum blockchain, and will have no conventional management structure or board of directors.

The GFG DAO is stateless, and not tied to any particular nation state. As a result, many questions of how government regulators would deal with a stateless fund are yet to be dealt with.

The GFG DAO is being crowdfunded via a token sale. A similar crowdfunding campaign in May 2016. It set the record for the largest crowdfunding campaign in history

OWNED BY THE PEOPLE WHO USE IT

The Landfill Pickers and the Women Informal Workers will own GFG. GFG will be governed by consensus.

Consensus in a distributed system is determined by entities checking each other's work and providing a stamp of approval as to transactions and activities allowed. This is accomplished through a distributed network, one might say, a “social neural network”.

Smart Contracts

GFG Blockchain also leverages a technology called "smart contracts," which are bits of executable code that only act when specific conditions within the blockchain are met. This allows a blockchain to automate activity like payment transfers when a task is completed, or even a partial payment when a milestone is achieved.

By providing a way to record transactions as automated trusted activity among digitally networked peers, audit and professional services firm Ernst & Young believes "blockchain technology has the potential to streamline and accelerate business processes, increase cybersecurity and reduce or eliminate the roles of trusted intermediaries (or centralized authorities) in industry after industry."

Blockchains have proven that they reduce cost and increase trust in financial transactions. It is becoming apparent that we can expect financial services firms to abandon existing transaction-processing technologies in favor of blockchain technologies.

We are developing the GFG DAO on the blockchain with a unique crypto token (coin) and its own brand of distributed manufacturing and ecommerce.

Green Fire is taking the Landfill Mining operations and the Children of the Landfill project and wrapping them in a blockchain application.

This will provide these “invisible workers” the very poorest of the poor the most unique democratic environment that is yet to prevail for them. They will be the next global cultural warriors to emerge from the shadows.

Mike Prettyman,
Chief Information Officer at Green Fire Engineered Reclamation
For more information come to the website

Children of the Landfill Project

Green Fire Engineered Reclamation

Join our active groups on Markethive

Children of the Landfill
Green Fire Engineered Reclamation
 

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Cryptocurrency Wallets

CryptoCurrency Wallets

I am continuing my education regarding MyCryptoWorld.

Today I am looking at wallets. Previously I have learn't that Cryptocurrency transactions are protected by military level encryption and physical coins do not exist. So where is the best place to store our Bitcoins or other cryptocurrencies.

There are three types of wallets

  • User controlled wallets
  • Hosted wallets
  • Hardware wallets

Your options. probably  depends on your age and familiarity with using computers and mobile devices and how often or how many coins you have, the choice is very much up to you.

My first choice is a user controlled wallet such as Blockchain, which is web based and also can be used on mobile devices. You have full control over your money, but that comes with its own dangers: you could lose your private keys, your computer could be hacked and the keys could be stolen, or your computer could break, and if you did not keep another record of your keys, you’d be out of luck.

One reason I like Blockchain is because the wallet is built on an HD (or hierarchical deterministic) framework, which has a different method for address generation and management. Each public address your wallet generates stems from your wallet's xPub (or Extended Public Key). Once your public address receives an incoming payment, a new address will automatically be generated and display when you click on receive.

There is a danger If you use the same address every time you receive funds, it becomes easy for anyone to track your entire payment history. This method of address generation improves privacy by automatically presenting you with a new address when you’re expecting payment.

I have also looked at Circle which is a hosted wallet which is more mobile based and very user friendly wallet,which can hold currencies or Bitcoin and you can send and receive either to other people by using email or Bitcoin addresses. However, there are limits which are placed on you initial transactions (0.3329 BTC weekly limit) No need to worry about anything except the limits, Great for day to day use. No need to use Bitcoin exchanges as this is all built in, Conversions are made when you add or remove funds from your wallet. Bitcoin balances in your Circle account, are fully insured against any breach of digital or physical data storage at Circle.

Initially I thought that its security was not up to scratch as I was not required to supply ID information to purchase Bitcoin. When I wanted to send Bitcoin however, I had to supply additional information which delayed the ability to send for 3-5 working days.
 

Hardware wallet is a special type of Bitcoin wallet which stores the user's private keys in a secure hardware device, which might be a usb or other storage device such as a mini computer

They have major advantages over standard software wallets:

  • private keys are often stored in a protected area of a microcontroller, and cannot be transferred out of the device in plain text

  • immune to computer viruses that steal from software wallets

  • can be used securely and interactively, as opposed to a paper wallet which must be imported to software at some point

  • much of the time, the software is open source, allowing a user to validate the entire operation of the device

 

If you want further security you could consider using a Brain Wallet

You might ask why I am providing this information and researching Cryptocurrency, It is because I am involved with the ICO of a new Cryptocoin.

David Ogden
MyCryptoWorld

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Dear Clinton supporters: Recall wont matter

Dear Clinton supporters: Recall wont matter

News that Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein has requested a recount in Wisconsin, and will likely do the same in Michigan and Pennsylvania, has raised faint hopes among Hillary Clinton supporters that somehow Donald Trump will not become the next president of the United States.

Now that Clinton's campaign has said it will participate in the recount efforts, those supporters' hopes have been lifted even higher.

To put the matter bluntly: They should give up that hope.

There is essentially zero chance that the recounts in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania will change Trump's lead, which number in the thousands, not hundreds, in all three states. Trump is winning Wisconsin by a little more than 27,000 votes; his lead in Michigan sits at around 11,000; and his lead in Pennsylvania is insurmountable at over 68,000.

This is not Florida 2000. On Election Night in 2000, George W. Bush held a 1,784 vote lead over Al Gore in Florida's election for president, representing just 0.031 percent of the 5.8 million votes cast in the state. After a recount — which the US Supreme Court halted by a 5-4 vote — Bush ultimately won Florida by 537 votes, securing the presidency. Yet even if the Court had allowed the recount to proceed, the margin would not have swung by much.

This is not Washington 2004, where a recount reversed the result, handing Democrat Christine Gregoire a 129-vote win over Republican Dino Rossi after he initially had a 261-vote lead on election night.

This is not Minnesota 2008, where a recount gave Democrat Al Franken a 225-vote win over Republican Norm Coleman, reversing Coleman's initial lead of 215 votes.

All of these recounts had one significant fact in common: the margin of victory was in the hundreds, not thousands. And the shifts in vote totals after the recounts were very small.

In the past 15 years, a statewide recount has reversed the winner from the election-night tally only three times — in the Washington 2004 governor's race (a 390-vote shift), the 2008 Minnesota US Senate race (a 440-vote shift), and a 2006 election in Vermont for Auditor of Accounts, which initially had a 137-vote margin on election night that changed to a 102-vote win for the other candidate after the recount (a 239-vote change).

FairVote, a nonpartisan organization that advocates for electoral reform, found that from 2000-2012 there were only 22 statewide recounts across the country, and the average shift in those recounts was just 0.026%.

But, a Clinton supporter might say, what if the machines were hacked? What if the election was actually rigged? It is an ironic sentiment given that Trump was the one claiming widespread election rigging before the election and Clinton supporters blasted Trump for refusing to say whether he would honor the results.

Irony aside, there is simply no evidence of election hacking, as Clinton's top lawyer, Marc Elias, himself conceded. Of course, now that Stein has begun the process, it is perfectly reasonable for Clinton and her lawyers to stay involved. But her supporters should not take that fact as a sign that the election is still in question.

Prolonging the campaign by seeking a recount breeds unwarranted doubt about the legitimacy of our elections — without any real evidence to back it up. Our democratic system relies on everyone accepting the result. That legitimacy suffers when mere speculation calls the result into question with little evidence of rigging and Electoral College vote totals that decisively determine a winner.

Moreover, all of this talk of recounts and election rigging obscures the more important fact about our elections: We impose too many obstacles on voters for no good reason. We need to work harder to eliminate onerous voting laws and make voting easier, not focus on long-shot recounts that provide only false hope. For instance, this recount effort does nothing to address issues surrounding Wisconsin's controversial voter ID statute, which improperly prevented some people from voting.

While Stein's futile recount effort should give no solace to Clinton supporters, there is a silver lining to the current debate: It might finally prompt Congress and state legislatures to devote greater resources to election technology.

We desperately need better voting equipment and stronger post-Election Day audits. Going into this election, experts warned about the woefully out-of-date equipment that most states use. Indeed, old machines — especially if they do not allow for a paper trail — raise the possibility, however small, of election hacking. Old machines can lead to long lines, lost votes, and other Election Day problems.

Updated voting technology can increase turnout by making voting easier. As just one example, Doña Ana County, New Mexico uses Voting Convenience Centers instead of precinct-based polling places, meaning that anyone in the county can vote at any of the 40 centers instead of having to go to their assigned home precinct. This makes it easier to vote near work or school and eliminates the possibility of having to vote via a provisional ballot — which could potentially not count — if a voter shows up at the wrong place.

This system shows that improved technology can both enhance the integrity of our election system — a standard Republican talking point — and also make voting more accessible to more people, thereby increasing the electorate — something Democrats usually strive to achieve.

The recounts in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania will do nothing to assuage the fears of Clinton supporters who recoil at the thought of a Trump presidency. But at a minimum, they should force politicians on all sides to re-examine how we run our elections.

Like it or not, Donald Trump will become our next president. Hopefully, when he runs for re-election in four years, we will have a stronger election system that makes voting easier, more convenient and accessible, less susceptible to manipulation, and more easily verifiable. That's the closest to a "win" that Clinton and her supporters can expect.

Reprinted From CNN

Thomas Prendergast
 

 

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Are We Entering The Age of The Cryptocurrency

my cryptocurrencyAre We Entering The Age of The Cryptocurrency

 

I have started taking an interest in Cryptocurrency and the fact that it offers a number of advantages over paper based currencies. Unlike paper currencies, which Governments can print at will, Cryptocurrency is restricted which means that the value of these coins increases.

 

Take Bitcoin, the best known coin, launched in 2008 with a value in 2009 1 BTC = 0.0001 USD and is now currently at $725. Over the years there have been quite large fluctuations :-

  • June 2010 1 BTC = 0.07 USD

  • June 2011 1 BTC = 15 USD

  • June 2012 1 BTC = 7 USD

  • June 2013 1 BTC = 100 USD

  • June 2014 1 BTC = 600 USD

  • June 2015 1 BTC = 220 USD

  • June 2015 1 BTC = 750 USD

It is interesting to note anyone who has held Bitcoin since the early days has seen a great increase in his asset.. I first came across Bitcoin when I moved to Cyprus in 2013. the Banks shut for days and then restricted both withdrawals and deposit and many people started to use Bitcoin because the banks stole peoples savings. The security with Cryptocurrency protects your holdings and to some extent provides anonymity.

Theft and fraud risks can be quite high when holding Cryptocurrency in online wallets or exchanges and it is recommended that is is best to use mobile wallets or even record you account details on paper. I still have to come to terms with using mobile data and until I learn how to use scan and use QR codes. Individuals cryptocurrencies are digital and cannot be counterfeited or reversed arbitrarily by the sender, as with credit card charge-backs.

One of my pet hates is transaction fees from bank and this is where cryptocurrency comes into its own There aren’t usually transaction fees for cryptocurrency exchanges . Even though there’s no bitcoin/cryptocurrency transaction fee, many expect that most users will engage a third-party service, such as Coinbase, creating and maintaining their bitcoin wallets. These services act like Paypal does for cash or credit card users, providing the online exchange system for bitcoin, and as such, they’re likely to charge fees

Identity theft isa growing concern for example. If you give your credit card to a merchant, you give him or her access to your full credit line, even if the transaction is for a small amount. Credit cards operate on a “pull” basis, where the store initiates the payment and pulls the designated amount from your account. Cryptocurrency uses a “push” mechanism that allows the cryptocurrency holder to send exactly what you wants to the merchant or recipient with no other information.

Decentralization means the network operates on a user-to-user (or peer-to-peer) basis. The forms of mass collaboration this makes possible are just beginning to be investigated.

Since cryptocurrency is not bound by the exchange rates, interest rates, transactions charges or other charges of any country; therefore it can be used at an international level without experiencing any problems. This, in turn, saves lots of time as well as money on the part of any business which is otherwise spent in transferring money from one country to the other. Cryptocurrency operates at the universal level and hence makes transactions quite easy. There is no other electronic cash system in which your account isn’t owned by someone else.

David Ogden

http://information.cryptocoin20.com

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Money Saving Tips

Money Saving Tips

Since my seasonal job is coming to an end I am taking stock of my financial situation and looking for way to reduce my spending. During the past year I have been teaching my wife how to control how she spends the income from her own part time job.

I used to use Quicken but when I changed my operating system to Linux, I was forced to change to Moneydance, both system are fairly similar and provide ways to control budgets and track expenditure by categories. I am generally responsible for all general bills including my car costs, with my wife responsible for her sons expenditure plus supporting her family in the Philippines and her car costs. We both are responsible for saving.

We have a mixture of Joint accounts, a business account and our own savings accounts. This year I opened a number of additional accounts to cover house insurance, car insurance, road tax and property tax in the Philippines. The additional saving accounts provide a way of saving money , rather than paying the services on a monthly basis with includes interest ,we renew on a yearly basis which saves us money for those accounts which do not allow interest free monthly payment.

I have even set up a number of automated bank transfers which distribute our income a couple of days after it is received into our various saving account, they only earn a few pence in interest but the bigger saving is being in a position in future years to pay upfront and not pay interest. With interest rates expected to rise next year, this will save you money.

I have been analysing my business costs which involve purchasing products in $’s and selling in £’s with exchange rates fluctuating due to Brexit and Trump. If I use my UK debit card to purchase products I am faced with an additional charge of £11-12 and an exchange rate that favours the bank.

However if I use the services of Transferwise who I have used for many years to send money to the Philippines the exchange rate cost are more reasonable . For example they would charge £2.28 and a competitive exchange rate saving me about £10 in every transaction.

Now I do operate an account in the USA, which also has a $ debit card, if I do not charge $250 a month to my card the bank will charge me $16 per month as account charges. Now you can perhaps see that with a combination of using my US debit card to purchase products and transferring funds to my USA account I can save £10 + $16 (12.9) or around £22-32 per month.

One other way to earn money we earn money is with a Tesco Club card, collecting points when buying petrol, food, household items and other items online with Tesco direct. We earn £15-20 per month in cash back as well as additional points and offers.

Saving rates are at an all time low at the moment and to be honest its hardly worth leaving it in the bank, which is why I am using some of my savings and pumping it through my business to provide a better return, with the changes I am putting in place from above, my profits are set to grow faster.

David Ogden is an Entrepreneur at MarketHive

 

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Building A business

There is a link between building a business and losing weight.. I wrote a blog yesterday about how effective is your plan, and realised that people starting a business and those attempting to lose weight faced some similar challenges. Namely discipline, action and goal setting.

Now goal setting is pretty obvious and was covered in yesterdays blog. Once you have set up goals then you need to take action and follow a plan, without action, you cannot expect success and your plan will failures

Taking the first step is probably the hardest, but once that is behind you, you need to be disciplined enough to set up a routine. Getting into a regular routine makes things much easier, be it writing a blog, contacting people or remembering to follow your diet plan.

I am a morning person so like to get up around 0500 and in fact my body clock wakes me up at this time, no matter what time I go to bed. For me this is a good time, before the rest of the family get up I have time to check email accounts, my calendar and financial accounts and carry out tasks such as drafting blogs. I am at the moment in a state of change as my summer job is coming to an end and I will be concentrating on building my online business.

Change can be difficult and I know I face challenges until I can settle into a new routine and there is always the temptation to step back into your old ways, which will result in failure. I find that using Google Calendar as a tool, it will send me reminders about when I need to publish blogs or contact people and this has become a vital tool to help me get back on track.

When I was last working online full time I set aside half my day for business from 0500 to midday, during this time I worked in my own office space upstairs and the family knew not to interrupt me. This worked well for me and I was able to publish blogs on a daily basis and keep in regular contact with potential customers. Now my circumstances are slightly different, I live in a smaller house and my office consists of a desk in a corner of a dining room in the centre of our house which is a thoroughfare for my family, which makes it harder to concentrate with the job in hand. The only saving grace is my wife works part time shifts and my son is at school , so I can still work weekday mornings between 0730 to midday.

The secret of building a business or losing weight is to take action on a daily basis, which takes you towards your goal

David Ogden
Healthy Weight Loss
Free Marketing Tools

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Are your Savings Gathering Dust

Make Money GrowThis is the age of the entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs are people who have a dream and are prepared calculated risks to achieve their goals. Interest rates are at an all time low, which makes it a great time to borrow money, however spare a thought for savers, some of whom rely on their saving and try to live on the interest.

I have been looking around on the internet for the best savings rates and the best I can find is 10% per annum, with others around 3-7%, but saver rates are continuing to fall

 

The average UK adult has about £5,500 — 6,000 in saving to meet rainy day, so you can see that even with the best savings rate their saving will only produce an income of £500- 600 per year

If you borrow money you will see offers of interest rates of between 3.1-3.5% APR which on paper could mean that you could borrow money at 3.1% and place it in a saving account at 10% and earn just under 7%. However when you apply for one of these low APR loans the APR Jumps to around 22% if for example you wanted to borrow £1000 for a year. It is only larger sums over longer periods that offer low APR rates and the lender may need more security.

I have been tracking one of my own savings account and seeing interest payments of £1 per month coming in which is not very impressive and wondered if there way another way to use my saving and improve my rate of return.

Entrepreneurs are known for Buying low and selling high and then a friend of mine introduced me to Valentus an MLM company which sells Weight Loss Coffee. MLM’s have a bad reputation for selling over priced products and encouraging you to sell them on to friends and family.

I have lost money with MLM in the past, leaving me with product that I had to sell at a loss. The weight loss coffee is different and you can sell it online and earn a profit. I decided to test the market and used money from my savings and brought 16 boxes of coffee and was some what amazed when they sold online in the first month.

MLM companies offer a number of ways of earning money apart from selling products, although I believe customers are more important. There are additional rewards for introducing like minded people and that is the stage I have now come to. I am reaching out to duplicate my success with other people who want to see their money working for them and producing a return.

No matter your past experience, I am willing to work with you and help you build your future,

just go to Http://seriouswealth.net

I will be in touch with you

David Ogden
Helping People Help Themselves 

 

 

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

The Rise Of the Entrepeneur

 

 

The Age of the Entrepreneur Is truly Here

 

America has spoken and elected a non political businessman to lead their country, this could have great repercussions around the world. As Donald Trump said in his victory speech, “No dream is too big”

Running a country is a big business so it will be interesting to see just how things work out. I am sure we will see many changes, now that Republicans rule the roost at all level of Government, which will allow changes to be made with little opposition.

The UK is also facing changes and it will be interesting to see what changes might occur in the so called special relationship, as both countries set out to build new relationship with countries around the world.

Entrepreneurs are known for their tenacity and this has been proved over the past 18 months when Donald Trump has come from nowhere to become President elect of the USA.

 

Any dreams can be accomplished, if you are prepared to put in the effort and work every day towards achieving your goal. Donald Trump admitted it had been a long hard and sometimes tiring campaign but he kept his faith and concentration when others had doubt.

As this year is coming towards and end and a new dawn is coming it time for everyone to review their hopes and dreams. Do you have a dream to to improve your financial situation, then now is the time to act.

Watch the Video Below

 

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member