[Pro Said] Three Easy Ways to Make Your Bed and Breakfast a Success

Anne Marie had always been fond of playing house with her china tea sets and collection of Asian dolls. Her parents were missionaries serving their second term in the Philippines and she loved the people and the culture immensely. She enjoyed going with her mother to the open market in the center of their little village each week where everything from fresh produce to beautiful Asian dinnerware was displayed and offered for sale. Even at a very young age she dreamed of growing older and taking part in a market such as this one. She found it exciting to be in the midst of all of the people with the bustling about and the chatter that accompanied the shopping experience.

After coming home to the states, Anne Marie decided to pursue a career in hospitality management in which she excelled. Her people skills combined with a love of gourmet cooking caused her to consider purchasing a bed and breakfast place that was for sale in a nearby town. Located in a charming little village and surrounded by quaint stores that offered shopping, she felt this was the perfect spot for her to start her business. She was able to get a bank loan for her business start-up and more importantly to her, was able to convince her widowed mother to join her in the venture. Anne Marie correctly sensed that the basic love of all people that her mother had always displayed would shine through in her dealings over the telephone and when people came in to register as guests. Anne Marie would assume the truly physical work of maintaining the rooms and the cooking. She and her mother determined that they would only offer breakfast but it would be very special and truly high quality food.

Next they worked on a marketing strategy to attract potential visitors to their inn by contacting a regional magazine to see if they would be interested in running a story regarding the new way the established business would be run. This turned out to be a very strategic move and when the article was published, it included several large pictures that showed the bed and breakfast to be beautifully furnished and inviting. They also included the breakfast menu with pictures of the prepared dishes being served at the charmingly set tables in the warm and elegant dining room. Both Anne Marie and Marian, her mother, agreed that they were delighted with the way their inn was portrayed in the article as a perfect little romantic retreat.

Three other ways they marketed their inn consisted of:

• Encouraged repeat business by sending letters to former guests and offering them a discounted return visit if they stayed for a minimum of three nights.
• Teamed up with nearby businesses to offer a coupon package of discounts when guests wanted to shop at the local stores.
• Ran an ad in the same regional magazine that had printed the article about them with a complete description of the inn and a beautiful picture to highlight it.

Connor R. Sullivan is very pleased with the Asian dolls he and his wife chose online. His wife found the perfect Asian dinnerware to go in her newly renovated kitchen.

Author: Connor R Sullivan
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Connor_R_Sullivan

[Pro Said] A Career Change - 5 Must Take Steps

Dissatisfaction, boredom, changing life styles and limited advancement or compensation opportunities headline traditional career change lists. But today career change drivers are just as likely to be for non-elective reasons. No matter if your decision is driven by a pursuit for happiness or a pursuit for survival; follow these important rules to insure a smart and lasting career change.

1. Objectively examine the emotional reasons you are changing your career. Pursuing a passion or talent? Seeking a career with meaning? Exiting a dead end job? You'll need to firmly know and understand the real reasons and drivers if you expect to go the distance required in a new career pursuit.

2. Starting a new career is like starting your own business. Make sure you have the capital and the resources to embark on the journey! Doing related volunteer or part-time work while you're researching, preparing, exploring and pursuing your new life will allow you to make important progress while keeping vital financial and emotional safety nets in place.

3. Know what you have to offer. Be able to explain it in 1 minute or less. Your explanation must include new career benefits and needs you'll fill, and a factual reason for why or how you can provide them. Use new career vocabulary and connect "old" words to new ones. If you can't draw those connections, find out how to create them.

4. Create a strategy! Strategy is a backward plan. Where do you want to be in 5 years? Research job descriptions and career profiles and list the requirements. Then, trace back the necessary steps, education and training you'll need to get there. Finally, map out the action steps, job titles and skills you need to pursue and land in the process.

5. You need a marketing plan, not just a new resume. A resume can lock you into talking about the past, and make you sound uncertain about what you want to do. A marketing campaign lays out your strengths, and applies them to the activities and the new direction you're looking for. That marketing "plan" can make for an excellent new cover letter, will help you glide through tough new interviews, and help you reformulate your resume into the tool you need to gain admittance into your new career.

Changing careers requires a job change - a scary proposition. However, with career change training, and good career change advice will help see you through this difficult challenge. Don't let your fear stop you from finding a job you love.

Joblirious is a leading provider of information for job seekers. Joblirious provides information, articles, tools, tips and techniques for online career colleges, career change, job searching, and interviewing.

Author: Jon Ciampi
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jon_Ciampi

[Pro Said That] A Career Shift From LPN Or Paramedic to RN

There are ways to practice a nursing profession: one way is by being a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) or by being a Registered Nurse. If you are already a Licensed Practical Nurse, then you know that a Registered Nurse earns more than what you usually do on a regular basis.

Licensed Practical Nurses often have more workload than that of Registered Nurses. This is because these Registered Nurses are assigned to supervisory work while LPN is more on practical nursing work like bed-making, patient assistance and all that sort of "dirty work" on a relative term.

This is also the same for Paramedics. It is a job that is very tiring and stressful. This is also the reason why most Paramedics and Licensed Practical Nurses would like to have a professional upgrade and be a Registered Nurse to provide themselves better income and career opportunity.

However, the problem of both the Paramedics and the Licensed Practical Nurses is that the hinder of becoming an LPN to RN or a Paramedic to RN is by balancing their time between work and study. Take the Licensed Practical Nurses for example; they are often stuck in the grind that needs to work all the time and does not have the ample time to go back to school.

This kind of problem, fortunately, is no longer a hindrance with the advent of the ladder-like LPN to RN and Paramedic to RN educational programs. This is what the Paramedics and Licensed Practical Nurses have long been waiting for - the easy and convenient way to have that most coveted professional career upgrade.

The advantage about the LPN to RN and the Paramedic to RN educational programs is that they are flexible for working the Licensed Practical Nurses and Paramedics. In short, they will be able to choose their schedule for the program making it convenient for them to balance their time between work and school.

If you're a Paramedic or a Licensed Practical Nurse who wants to have a better opportunity by becoming a Registered Nurse, you just need to check out the LPN to RN and Paramedic to RN educational program which is available in your area or through their websites. LPN to RN and Paramedic to RN educational programs will also provide the students the opportunity to advance even further and obtain a Bachelor of Science Degree using the credits that they have obtained from the Associate Nursing courses.

Having the LPN to RN and Paramedic to RN educational programs is a great help for any Licensed Practical Nurse or Paramedic to provide them a professional career upgrade that they have sought for. It is a great opportunity for them to continue their study and at the same time become Registered Nurses while working.

Getting your education online is a great thing to consider if you're in the health services industry. You can go from an LPN to RN or a paramedic to RN by getting your degree from the comfort of your own home. It's a great solution for people that are already really busy.

Author:Geoff Dalton
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Geoff_Dalton

[Pro Said That] Career Advice - Conquer Fear of Mistakes to Make Career Progress

People losing their jobs; survivors being asked to take on more duties, often with fewer resources; businesses going bankrupt; mortgages being called. These conditions translate in to more tension and apprehension in the workplace. "People are feeling anxious, so they're being short-tempered, passive and unproductive," says Martin Yate, a career adviser at GoSavant.com.

In this environment people tend to hunker down. They spend a lot of time looking over their shoulders, afraid to take chances and assume more responsibility for fear they will make mistakes.

Negative Impact On Careers

The result is that careers are slowed down, even stalled or derailed, because advancements can only come by taking calculated risks and reaching out to take on more responsibility.

"Tough as it is for cautious people like me to accept, if you don't take calculated gambles you won't get ahead as quickly as those who do," declares Alexandra Levit, a columnist for The Wall Street Journal. "You will also never get over your fear of the unknown and life will be predictable and dull."

So, saddle up and go forward with all the vigor you can muster with common sense to take reasonable risks in improving your performance and profitability of the organization that employs you.

Recognize that everyone who successfully travels a rewarding career path makes mistakes at one time or another. The only people who don't make mistakes are those who sit around in isolation contemplating their navels.

Minimize Fallout From Mistakes

Here are eight steps you can take to minimize the fallout from your inevitable mistakes.

1. Don't retreat into a shell of self-denial, hoping the error will correct itself. Chances are it won't. Assess the situation. Get all the facts. Why did the mistake occur? How much damage did it cause? Why did it occur? What lessons can be learned, so as to avoid a repeat performance. What's the worst thing that can happen?

2. Admit your error. If an apology is in order, speak up right away with sincerity. Report the situation, unvarnished, immediately to your boss. Sooner or later your mistake will surface anyway. By stepping up promptly you are in a better position to exercise damage control.

Centuries ago Confucius, the Chinese philosopher, advised, "Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes."

It's natural to feel regret, even humiliation, and try to act as if the incident never happened. Don't go down that path. Your boss and your associates are certain to be ticked off if you seem to not care that you made a mistake.

3. Have a plan to correct the mistake.

4. The first rule of damage control after a mistake is to reveal all of the facts immediately. Unwanted attention on your error is renewed when you dribble out the story bit by bit.

5. Accept responsibility. Don't blame others. It's easy and tempting to get defensive and look for scapegoats. That sort of behavior only exacerbates the problem.

6. Be prepared to receive some criticism from your boss and your associates. Listen carefully. Is it valid? If so, learn from it. Expect that some of the negative feedback will be simply carping, probably from those who envy your courage in stepping up and taking responsibility. Don't even think about retaliating. You'll only make matters worse. Look ahead.

7. It's okay to feel the pain, even to mourn a little, but don't make a hair shirt part of your wardrobe. Get back up, dust yourself off and go back to work full speed.

8. Once you've processed the mistake, learned from the experience and started remedial actions. Then leave the misstep behind.

The only truly unforgivable mistake is to repeat a mistake.

For free career coaching click here: http://www.commonsenseatwork.com. You'll receive The Career Accelerator, Ramon Greenwood's semi-monthly newsletter. You can also visit his Your Blog For Career Advice via this route. Both are free. No cost/no obligation. Greenwood's career advice comes from a world of experience, including serving as Senior Vice President of American Express, an entrepreneur, professional director, career coach and author.

Author: Ramon Greenwood
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ramon_Greenwood

[Pro Said That] Unemployment Benefits Not Always Beneficial

What if the very programs that are supposed to help the unemployed are actually prolonging unemployment? Beyond the staggering cost to the government, there are other implications to extending unemployment benefits. Research strongly suggests that a long stretch of unemployment compensation actually prolongs the high unemployment rate. It is an unfortunate cycle that is likely to continue for awhile.

Unemployment compensation is the kind of governmental compassion that generally has support from both Democrats and Republicans, hence the recent bills that have passed through Congress to extend a variety of unemployment benefits. While it varies from state to state, typical benefits put money in the pockets of the unemployed for 26 weeks, with the possibility of a 13 week extension. But due to legislation passed during the recession, unemployment compensation can now run as long as 99 weeks. (Time)

Take a Central Texas man who was laid off from a semi conductor company in December 2008. He knew the layoff was coming, so he applied for unemployment benefits immediately. Over the months, he applied for the required number of jobs to maintain his compensation. He applied for low-paying daycare positions and competitive prison guard positions--neither of which he was qualified for and neither of which he intended getting. Now he is enrolled in a six month training course for a new career, which is completely paid for by the government. This sounds like a great opportunity, except there is no guarantee of help with job placement when the course is finished. And even once the course is done, his benefits remain for a few more months, giving him no urgency to find a job.

The above example is not everyone's story in this recession, but it is probably more typical than not. Economists like Bruce Meyer and Steven Davis from the University of Chicago agree that unemployment compensation tends to give little incentive to seek employment. Even for the unemployed who have been diligently hitting the pavement to find a job, there are just not enough jobs to go around. As Americans continue to stare ten percent unemployment in the face for yet another month, there are economists who believe that number is far below the reality of the unemployment situation in America.

The ten percent unemployment rate doesn't factor in the unprecedented low of unemployed teenagers, as well as those who have given up the job hunt and those who are working several jobs to make ends meet. For those who are employed, fewer than ever don't have the benefit of job satisfaction. Those saying they feel satisfied with their job is about 45%, an all time low since this survey began in 1987. Unemployment benefits are by no means a cushy deal, compensating most people by about half of their previous income. Maybe the extra time will help some people reassess careers and find a more satisfying job, but unfortunately the benefits will probably not compensate for the overall cost to the country.

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Author: Ki Gray
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ki_Gray