From Taekwondo Patterns to the Breast Stroke: 5 Activities for a Healthy Winter

Harsh winters can be the death of a healthy lifestyle. Once the snow’s on the ground the fireplace is on, the hot chocolate comes out and everyone settles in for a nice lethargic winter. By the time the snow clears the kids can’t remember how to tie their shoes, let alone work up a sweat. Even when the temperatures drop, kids need activities to keep their little bodies moving and their blood pumping. Building snow forts and bringing Frosty to life are fun, but 3 feet of snow and /or frigid temperatures might deter them from too many jaunts into the backyard. Even particularly harsh winters (Canada – I’m looking at you!) can send the most avid skiers and snowboarders running for the duvet. Instead of risking frostbite, why not choose an activity that allows your children to have the best of both worlds… making snow angels when it’s tolerable and taekwondo patterns at night? They’ll stay warm, fit and have fun– winter never looked so good.

Taekwondo
Patterns and sparring aside, this sport is hours of sweaty, intense fun for little ones. It ensures discipline, skill and confidence and kids have fun while they’re doing it. Although taekwondo schools are generally more expensive than other activities, the level of instruction is much higher than other sports and you can bet on an experience that’s worth your cash. Children learn that the harder they work, the more they are rewarded- earning a new belt isn’t easy but when they achieve it, all of the effort is worth it. Many taekwondo schools even offer before and after school care so kids can have some activity every day, instead of sitting on their rumps at daycare; it’s a great way to wind down the day. Parents of preschoolers don’t despair; most schools have programs for kids as young as three years old. 

Indoor Soccer
Soccer is one of the most popular kids’ sports right now – who says the fun has to stop when the snow hits the ground! Children who enjoy this high energy sport can participate all year-round. Many community soccer clubs offer the opportunity to bring the cleats indoors during the winter months, with just as much excitement and a little less mosquito action! Teaching kids coordination and teamwork, soccer is a great option for those who are on a budget as well – generally this sport is not nearly as expensive as others, yet offers the same health benefits and age-appropriate skill levels as other activities.

Swimming
Not for landlubbers, swimming is a great, low-impact activity that keeps children moving all winter long. Year-round swimming lessons are not only cheap, but are offered at the majority of community leisure centres, along with competitive swimming options for those children who excel at this sport. Swimming in general is an individual activity and offers a challenge to kids to pass each level during the allotted time period (usually about 6 weeks). Kids have fun splashing around, while also learning invaluable water safety lessons and confidence in the water. Offered for kids as young as six months old (parented), these courses are sure to keep your little mermaid (or merman) happy.

Climbing
Rock climbing is not your average kids’ activity; it requires focus, determination and the ability to support your lower body with what seems like brute strength. This sport is not for the faint of heart and is best suited to those kids who like being challenged. Indoor climbing facilities offer stat-of-the-art rock walls, safety gear and instruction. Starting as young as five years old, little ones can learn the basics of scaling rock walls and focusing on a goal. This is an intense activity that offers stellar health benefits and a lot of old fashioned fun. As a higher priced activity, these 10-week courses are worth the price, but make sure your nearest facility has at least a partial refund policy just in case little Aidan or Emma decides scaling pretend mountains isn’t “da bomb”.

Hockey
Hockey is one of the most traditional winter sports, and one of the most popular. Once an activity only for boys, little girls are now excelling on mixed (and female) teams as well. This sport is an obvious choice and teaches teamwork, coordination and true grit. It is however one of the most expensive sports to take part in (due to equipment, tournaments and community fees) and requires a huge time commitment as well. If your little one can handle 2-3 practices a week at higher levels, and is adept at skating, then this is the sport to choose. It is a high-energy, fun filled game which many kids enjoy, and which can open many doors for truly skilled players.

So no matter which winter activity you and your children choose, it’s likely that your tots will greet the spring with renewed confidence, skill and a healthy outlook on what could have been the long, cold, grey days of winter.

Lilly Gordon is a freelance writer and web publisher. She is a Mom of two and is currently researching children’s’ activities and before and after school care for kids.

Simple Marketing for Small Businesses

As a small business owner who probably struggles with the everyday operations of business and overhead, marketing can sometimes become a secondary concern. This is a mistake that many people make due to lack of experience, budget and marketing know-how. Many businesses fail, not because of profit margins, but because their product or service is not marketed correctly. Marketing can seem unnecessary, expensive and complicated to many but the reality is that it is indispensible, affordable and very easy- if you have the right tools. Simple marketing for small businesses is all around us.

Planning
The first thing any small business needs is a marketing plan. This is similar to a business plan but instead outlines marketing tools and techniques for an organization. A basic marketing plan should include:

Executive Summary or Overview: What is the marketing plan about? Your company’s overall strategy? Or a component / product /service? Include an overview of your objectives, goals and timelines.

S.W.O.T. Analysis: the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for a business.

Goals: What do you want to accomplish with your marketing efforts?

Message: what will be the message (s) you send to your target audience?

Marketing Strategies: What strategies best fit with what you are marketing?

Timeline: Create a time period in which you will be implementing your strategies

Budget: how much can you spend?

Evaluation: How will you evaluate your success? (ROI, analytics, newsletter subscribers, etc.)

Strategies
There are two categories of marketing methods; those we consider “Traditional” and Online.

Traditional:

Print: Including dailies and weeklies – paid and free. These marketing tools are valuable sources for news and advertising for your target market. The price varies greatly with these types of advertising with the weeklies and free local papers generally being the cheapest.

Television and Radio: These are not usually popular marketing tools for small businesses due to the cost and the ability of the masses to fast forward through commercials and receive satellite radio now. For larger companies they are essential.

Outdoor: Billboards can be very cost effective with the number of impressions they make. However, small business advertising can get somewhat lost with this platform if not done with a smaller local company.

Online

A relatively new venue for marketing tools, it is now becoming essential for every business to have an online presence. It is cheaper, can be more targeted and offers stellar market research that can open many new doors for a company. 

Website: A must for small businesses. This can represent a source of information for your audience, or it can represent a store location, providing online shoppers the option of shopping from home rather than visiting a physical location.

Social Media: This is a rapidly growing marketing tool that almost every company can take advantage of. It encompasses companies and platforms such as: Blogs, Facebook, Youtube and Twitter (among many others) and is a free tool. It also provides the opportunity for invaluable customer feedback and interaction.

Pay-Per-Click Advertising and Search Engine Optimization: Bucking against the norm of paying for an ad and hoping your target market will see it, PPC follows a bit of a different path. Company owners pay each time their ad is clicked on. This offers a much more targeted path to the company’s website, product pages or social media page. Search Engine Optimization offers keyword-enriched search data for websites, ads, social media and more; trying to ensure that the right people see your online profile.

To be truly effective, smaller companies need to combine both traditional and online marketing tools; however, starting out with the online portion is usually more budget-friendly for smaller organizations. Each method and platform should be chose]n based on the target markets’ preferences and tendencies (marketing a home for the elderly may not fare to well on Twitter, etc.)

No matter the method, budget, timeline or size of the company marketing will play a necessary and essential part of every company’s success. By following these simple marketing steps, any company can maximize not only their visibility, but also their profit.

Lilly Gordon is a freelance writer and web publisher. She is marketing professional and is currently researching Advertising in Edmonton, Alberta and local communities, where she currently resides.

Maximize Your Message: The 3 Top (Paid) Methods of Local Small Business Advertising

Marketing and advertising encompass many different ideas, methods and motives. But when small businesses start to strategize about where the most “bang for their bucks” are, there’s no question that there are three main types of advertising that will deliver their message precisely and effectively. Print, Outdoor Digital and Online advertising are by far the best investments for smaller companies due to their cost effectiveness and targeted delivery, among other advantages. 

Print
Effective small business advertising depends on one thing: ROI. What’s coming in versus what’s going out is the main concern and traditional print advertising is in no way a great example of an exciting (or even visible) ROI. However, there are several ways to make print work for your company in a big way. Instead of larger local dailies, seek out smaller weeklies or dailies that are locally owned and produced. Every major Canadian city has dozens of smaller papers targeted to not only the mass public, but also to smaller sectors of your audience. Generally these organizations are much more likely to give you a deal on a bigger spot or a package for return customers as well. One big advantage of print as well is that paper tends to stick around a little longer.

Outdoor Digital Advertising
Long thought of as terribly expensive and only for larger companies, today’s digital outdoor advertising companies are breaking off into smaller, locally owned business ready to help other locally owned companies make their mark on the town. Digital advertising is the most effective out-of-home advertising platform; LED technology can rotate the images so quickly that the drive-time audiences have no choice but to take a gander at companies’ larger-than-life graphics. And contrary to popular opinion, this form of advertising can be much cheaper that many others, including print. The key to hitting it big with this platform is finding a smaller company with stellar locations around the city.

Online Advertising
Quickly becoming the marketing darling of local business marketing, online ads are fast proving their worth in regards to cost and ROI. Online giants like Google offer quick, free keyword research tools and a cheap extremely target way to reach target audiences. Using previously stored information about everyone and anyone who has used their search engine services, these companies know exactly who to flash a company’s ad to. Other organizations and online platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have followed suit complimenting their free services with paid, pay-per-click ads. Companies only pay when an ad has been “clicked” or followed to the exact path the has been strategically optimized for potential customers. ( An important note here is to have a fantastic landing point for those who are clicking on the ads – your website should be a virtual sales tool, and how!)

Advertising tools and marketing for small business shouldn’t have to be hit or miss – the methods are there, the costs can be low while the impact colossal. Smaller companies need to squeeze the life out of every marketing and advertising dollar and these three platforms are the best and most successful way to do so.

Lilly Gordon is a freelance writer and web publisher. She is marketing professional and is currently researching Advertising in Edmonton, Alberta and local communities, where she currently resides.

The Secret to Selling Your Auto: Repair, Revamp & Research

The time has come to sell your car and you’re not quite sure where to start. Don’t despair, help is here. The trick to selling your auto: repair, revamp and research. Slapping a classified ad up may get some quick responses, but putting a little elbow grease in will have that vehicle backing out of your driveway in no time.

Repair
before listing your vehicle, take a trip down to the ole’ auto mechanic shop and get your car tuned-up. The extent to which you fix it up should depend on the cost and the return on your investment; how much will the fix add to your sale price. If you want top dollar when you sell, there are some must-fix items:

• Oil change
• Fluid top-up
• Minor dent repair
• Minor windshield repair
• Brakes (consider)
• Repair or replace old wipers and/or headlights
• Overall inspection

Having a clean “bill of health” will entice buyers to actually take the vehicle on a test drive!  If any major fixes are needed, discuss them with your auto service shop and figure out whether they are necessary and cost effective.

Revamp
Whether you have a family vehicle or not, you’ve most likely “personalized” your vehicle a bit while you’ve owned it. Sure, you may not mind the crumbs, wrappers and road maps shoved into the driver’s side door, but chances are the first impression potential buyers get won’t be stellar. A revamp is needed to make sure that your vehicle sparkles as much as possible.  Vacuuming and cleaning the interior are no-brainers, but you can take it a step further by steam cleaning the upholstery or having the car detailed. Get rid of all stains, dirt, muck and grime – inside and out.

Research
Before placing that classified ad, take a good look at your car. Make a mental note of the positives and negatives and then check out the Kelly Blue Book online for your vehicles estimated worth. Then do some researching in the classifieds to find out what the average price is for vehicles that are the same year, make and model. Note the condition of the vehicles and compare to your own. Finding the average is a good starting price. Also take in to consideration the timing of your sale – if it’s winter in Canada and you’re trying to sell a convertible, you may not get top dollar! Above all, take off the rose coloured glasses and look at your vehicle through the eyes of a potential buyer; what will he or she see as advantages and flaws? 

Final Tips
After you’ve done some research, gotten your car all dolled up, it’s time to sell, sell, sell! Here are some final tips:

• For a fast sale, price your car at the lower end of the spectrum.
• Place ads everywhere! Free online classifieds work well - think free social media sites as well - (kijiji and facebook, youtube), as do vehicle specific papers. Put a “For Sale” sign in your car’s window.
• Have your manual, service receipts and final report for your mechanic ready for buyers.
• Be honest with potential customers about your vehicle’s flaws.
• Ride with people during test drives – at the very least take their license and insurance before they go.
• Only accept cash or a cashier’s cheque.
• Don’t forget to remove your license plates!
• Sign over your registration.

Now it’s time for some car shopping of your own…!

Lilly Gordon is a freelance writer and web publisher. She is a Mom of two and is currently researching used vehicles and auto repair in Edmonton.

How to Avoid Buying a Lemon! Tips & Tricks from Auto Mechanics

Aah, the dreaded lemon! Cartoons and movies warn against the horrors of purchasing what looks to be a souped-up vintage beauty, only to find that the car has no transmission. While this may not be the normal scenario, there are so many run down vehicles out there that consumers need to be wary. Car experts and auto mechanics alike share their secrets for a no-fail approach when looking for your next vehicle.

The first decision is based on budget. How much are you willing to spend on a vehicle, and where will you find the financing? Be sure to factor in the trade-in or sale values of your current vehicle. Once your budget is set, stick to it and be realistic; a $6000 isn’t going to get you a sparkly SUV. One of the biggest challenges shoppers make is having eyes bigger than their wallets, so to speak.

After setting a budget, start doing some online research. Both classified sites (like kijiji.ca) and car dealerships have a wide variety of cars, trucks, vans, etc. for every need and every dollar amount. Dealerships and car lots are usually more expensive, but also more likely to move on the sticker price. Private owners are more personally attached to their vehicles and less likely to budge on the price unless they are desperate! Also, be aware that if you decide to look at privately owned vehicles, you will not be able to use your vehicle for trade-in and you will need the total amount in cash.

Once you know which type of vehicle you have your eye on, look for the average price of the vehicle online. You can go through the Kelly Blue Book, and then start looking at the prices of vehicles to see if they are around the average price listed. 

When you have found a car you are considering, don’t be afraid to inspect every inch of it! First, compare the price to the overall package. Is the vehicle you’re looking at look like it’s worth the asking price? Start by inspecting body damage. Rust is a huge factor in the general “health” of the vehicle. Rust, corrosion and major body damage are usually not worth the trouble or the dollars it takes to fix the problem. Also, if there is any rust under the hood, walk away quickly! Inspect the trunk for damage as well – a normally used vehicle shouldn’t have damage in the trunk.

Next, check the odometer; what is the mileage, and how does it compare to the age and condition of the auto? The average mileage driven in a year is about 10,000-15,000 km. If this seems to be out of whack, it may be due to hard, highway driving or odometer tampering – both of which are deal breakers. (You can check for odometer tampering by searching for damage to the outer plastic of the instrument; scratches are a warning sign, as are improperly lined up numbers.)

• Take a look under the hood and check for rust and corrosion.
• What colour is the oil – it should be thick and brown.
• What colour is the coolant? It should not be rust coloured.
• Are the hoses and pipes cracked?

Next, get into the car and check out the aesthetics. Check for damage to the upholstery on the seacts and the floor mats. Family vehicles will be more “well-used” obviously. Also, make sure you make note of any strange smells – sometimes smells are impossible to get rid of! Also, check the windows, sunroof and locks for any stickiness or impaired function.

• Does the stereo work?
• Are the speakers blown?
• Turn the heater and air conditioning on and off to test them.

You should always test drive the vehicle – when you start it, listen for odd sounds. Rattling, cracking, clunking and backfiring are not good sounds to hear. When driving, make sure you test the brakes thoroughly and listen for squealing, grinding etc.

If the owner is agreeable, you should take the prospective car to your auto mechanic and have a checkup done. This will ensure that all of the most important functions of the engine, transmission are in great working order. If you are purchasing a car from a lot or dealership, they may have their own certified mechanic to check things out for you.

Ask the seller what work has been done in the past on this car. Also, ask for any receipts they have collected from the auto repair and service shop.

• Has there been any major service – if so, what?
• When was the last tune-up?
• The last oil change?
• Has the car been in any major accidents?

If everything checks out with the car’s history, the owner or dealer’s price, the auto mechanic’s check up and your own gut feeling, it’s time to buy that used vehicle! 

Lilly Gordon is a freelance writer and web publisher. She is a Mom of two and is currently researching used vehicles and auto repair in Edmonton.