Shoe Repairs And Several Other Things When I Was 7

Shoe Repairs And Several Other Things When I Was 7
My Dad repaired most of our shoes believe it or not, I can hardly believe it myself now. With 7 pairs of shoes always needing repairs I think he was quite clever to learn how to “Keep us in shoe Leather” to coin a phrase!

He bought several different sizes of cast iron cobbler’s “lasts”. Last, the old English “Laest” meaning footprint. Lasts were holding devices shaped like a human foot. I have no idea where he would have bought the shoe leather. Only that it was a beautiful creamy, shiny colour and the smell was lovely.

But I do remember our shoes turned upside down on and fitted into these lasts, my Dad cutting the leather around the shape of the shoe, and then hammering nails, into the leather shape. Sometimes we’d feel one or 2 of those nails poking through the insides of our shoes, but our dad always fixed it.

Hiking and Swimming Galas
Dad was a very outdoorsy type, unlike my mother, who was probably too busy indoors. She also enjoyed the peace and quiet when he took us off for the day!

Anyway, he often took us hiking in the mountains where we’d have a picnic of sandwiches and flasks of tea. And more often than not we went by steam train.

We loved poking our heads out of the window until our eyes hurt like mad from a blast of soot blowing back from the engine. But sore, bloodshot eyes never dampened our enthusiasm.

Dad was an avid swimmer and water polo player, and he used to take us to swimming galas, as they were called back then. He often took part in these galas. And again we always travelled by steam train.

Rowing Over To Ireland’s Eye
That’s what we did back then, we had to go by rowboat, the only way to get to Ireland’s eye, which is 15 minutes from mainland Howth. From there we could see Malahide, Lambay Island and Howth Head of course. These days you can take a Round Trip Cruise on a small cruise ship!

But we thoroughly enjoyed rowing and once there we couldn’t wait to climb the rocks, and have a swim. We picnicked and watched the friendly seals doing their thing and showing off.

Not to mention all kinds of birdlife including the Puffin.The Martello Tower was also interesting but a bit dangerous to attempt entering. I’m getting lost in the past as I write, and have to drag myself back to the present.

Fun Outings with The camera Club
Dad was also a very keen amateur photographer, and was a member of a camera Club. There were many Sunday photography outings and along with us came other kids of the members of the club.

And we always had great fun while the adults busied themselves taking photos of everything and anything, it seemed to us. Dad was so serious about his photography that he set up a dark room where he developed and printed his photographs.

All black and white at the time. He and his camera club entered many of their favourites in exhibitions throughout Europe. I’m quite proud to say that many cups and medals were won by Dad. They have been shared amongst all his grandchildren which I find quite special.

He liked taking portraits of us kids too, mostly when we were in a state of untidiness, usually during play. Dad always preferred the natural look of messy hair and clothes in the photos of his children.

The Most Important Five Elements Of Excellent Network Marketing Books

Beginning a Home Based Business using network marketing requires Network Marketing Books. You need good reading material in order to start your new business on the right foot. There are many options from which to choose, and each option often promotes a different strategy as being the best strategy. I wanted to write an article explaining how to make the highest quality Network Marketing Books.These Are My Picks For The Best Things That Should Be Included in Network Marketing Books.The Number One thing is personal branding. Actually, personal branding is the most important thing that should be included in a high quality Network Marketing Book, including the various options available in order for you to brand yourself. Once again, remember that there are many books available for purchase, and many more Network Marketing Companies for you to join. You want to pick the best Network Marketing Books.In order to be successful in Network Marketing, you NEED to comprehend how to brand yourself. In order to get attention from people, you need to stand out from the crowd. People will then see you as being an important resource, a resource which will spark their interest, because they will see your views as a potential new opportunity. Your potential down lines can add a whole new perspective.You need to learn good leadership skills, and how to use them, in order for your team to trust you and respect your knowledge. We will show you a few of the things you will want to teach your team, as well as a few of the other things you can hope to achieve from high quality Network Marketing Books.The Second thing on your list is to evaluate the company and your potential up line. You need to have a strong up line before you can be trusted as a leader for your down line. You won’t be able to learn everything you need to know from books, so you will benefit by joining a strong up line.Your questions about up lining should be answered in a high quality Network Marketing Book. Find your best fit, whether it be a brand new startup company, or a company that has been around for a long time and has a great reputation. Remember that we are discussing Network Marketing. Although the product is important, the most important factor is whether or not you have the potential to become a good networker.Number Three is marketing via YouTube videos and networking via social media sites. SEO will be the next factor to consider. Facebook has millions of people who are logged in at once. A high quality Network Marketing Book should teach you how to create a Facebook fan page and group, plus ways to keep connected with your fans without acting like a pushy sales person. Other social networks include Twitter and MySpace. Since it is a fact that many people have strong social lives online, it is equally important to know how to utilize social media sites.Number Four is a topic I mentioned earlier, and that is SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, which is the method by which you can obtain thousands of free leads. A successful Network Marketer needs to know how SEO works, and be able to implement SEO techniques.It makes sense that a high quality Book would include link building techniques such as Key Word Placement and Key Word Research in order to help you understand your chances at succeeding in getting indexed on the major Search Engines. The general SEO techniques can vary from search engine to search engine, but the basic techniques for Google, MSN or Yahoo are pretty much the same.The Fifth Most Important Thing You Need in A High Quality Network Marketing Book is a good format that will help you manage your time properly. It is always best to know a little about everything in order to be an excellent Networker. When you first begin blogging, it is difficult to ascertain whether or not you are spending too much time blogging. You also need to spend time building links, doing out-sourcing work, building your social networks on Social Media sites, and making your presence known on YouTube. Plus you need to learn basic sales techniques including cold calling, local promotions, Email Campaigns, Google AdSense and Pay Per Click. Plus, aside from marketing techniques, you also need a great team who work well together. A great team can help you to become truly successful.Start with what you know and are good at doing, then learn other Marketing skills so that you will not be confined to one small Niche. Learn a variety of skills. Know how to brand yourself. Study how to be a great leader that your team will respect. A high quality Network Marketing book will offer tips on how to manage your online time.Emails could require 1 or 2 hours per day. Your blog could require at least 3 published blog posts per week. You might want to create 2 YouTube Videos per week. It is best to learn as much as you can in order to be diversified. If you are diversified you will be more skilled at promoting yourself branding.It will help you to learn how to manage your time, marketing and SEO techniques, and, at the very least, offer you general ideas as to how you can brand yourself in your areas of expertise.It is a wise idea to have some great Network Marketing Books available as reference books in your personal library. However, you do not need a book that you will never use. You should make sure that the Network Marketing Books you buy have a minimum of FOUR out of the FIVE factors. I wish you every success.

Business Loans In Canada: Financing Solutions Via Alternative Finance & Traditional Funding

Business loans and finance for a business just may have gotten good again? The pursuit of credit and funding of cash flow solutions for your business often seems like an eternal challenge, even in the best of times, let alone any industry or economic crisis. Let’s dig in.

Since the 2008 financial crisis there’s been a lot of change in finance options from lenders for corporate loans. Canadian business owners and financial managers have excess from everything from peer-to-peer company loans, varied alternative finance solutions, as well of course as the traditional financing offered by Canadian chartered banks.

Those online business loans referenced above are popular and arose out of the merchant cash advance programs in the United States. Loans are based on a percentage of your annual sales, typically in the 15-20% range. The loans are certainly expensive but are viewed as easy to obtain by many small businesses, including retailers who sell on a cash or credit card basis.

Depending on your firm’s circumstances and your ability to truly understand the different choices available to firms searching for SME COMMERCIAL FINANCE options. Those small to medium sized companies ( the definition of ‘ small business ‘ certainly varies as to what is small – often defined as businesses with less than 500 employees! )

How then do we create our road map for external financing techniques and solutions? A simpler way to look at it is to categorize these different financing options under:

Debt / Loans

Asset Based Financing

Alternative Hybrid type solutions

Many top experts maintain that the alternative financing solutions currently available to your firm, in fact are on par with Canadian chartered bank financing when it comes to a full spectrum of funding. The alternative lender is typically a private commercial finance company with a niche in one of the various asset finance areas

If there is one significant trend that’s ‘ sticking ‘it’s Asset Based Finance. The ability of firms to obtain funding via assets such as accounts receivable, inventory and fixed assets with no major emphasis on balance sheet structure and profits and cash flow ( those three elements drive bank financing approval in no small measure ) is the key to success in ABL ( Asset Based Lending ).

Factoring, aka ‘ Receivable Finance ‘ is the other huge driver in trade finance in Canada. In some cases, it’s the only way for firms to be able to sell and finance clients in other geographies/countries.

The rise of ‘ online finance ‘ also can’t be diminished. Whether it’s accessing ‘ crowdfunding’ or sourcing working capital term loans, the technological pace continues at what seems a feverish pace. One only has to read a business daily such as the Globe & Mail or Financial Post to understand the challenge of small business accessing business capital.

Business owners/financial mgrs often find their company at a ‘ turning point ‘ in their history – that time when financing is needed or opportunities and risks can’t be taken. While putting or getting new equity in the business is often impossible, the reality is that the majority of businesses with SME commercial finance needs aren’t, shall we say, ‘ suited’ to this type of funding and capital raising. Business loan interest rates vary with non-traditional financing but offer more flexibility and ease of access to capital.

We’re also the first to remind clients that they should not forget govt solutions in business capital. Two of the best programs are the GovernmentSmall Business Loan Canada (maximum availability = $ 1,000,000.00) as well as the SR&ED program which allows business owners to recapture R&D capital costs. Sred credits can also be financed once they are filed.

Those latter two finance alternatives are often very well suited to business start up loans. We should not forget that asset finance, often called ‘ ABL ‘ by those Bay Street guys, can even be used as a loan to buy a business.

If you’re looking to get the right balance of liquidity and risk coupled with the flexibility to grow your business seek out and speak to a trusted, credible and experienced Canadian business financing advisor with a track record of business finance success who can assist you with your funding needs.