I was looking up some websites for a vertical market that I was thinking of pursuing for my web design business. I came across a website that offers web design for this particular market and I was absolutely appalled.

Besides the fact that the website was very unprofessional the two photos that they used were obviously stolen from an online stock photography site.  They still had the watermark that is placed on photos so that people DON’T steal them.  The only way to get rid of the watermark is to purchase the rights to the photos.

What concerns me is if they are willing to steal a photo that they could get for $1.52 how do they treat their clients?  What kind of excess fees do they charge their clients and what kind of BS stories do they tell their clients just to get more money out of them?

I can’t emphasize this enough make sure you KNOW who you are dealing with when you hire somebody online, before you hand over your hard earned money.

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Recently I had a problem with Dish Network and their billing practices.  To make a long story short, I had three months worth of free HBO/Showtime coming to me from December 3, 2009 to March 3, 2010.  After March 3, 2010 they would bill me for the channels if I didn’t cancel them.  I got my bill for February service and they charged me for HBO/Showtime.  I questioned them and they told me there was a glitch in their system for the previous month and I received the three credits on that bill instead of them breaking it down to two credits last month and one credit this month so I have to eat that cost because I only paid what my bill from last month said I had to. During the whole ordeal that I faced with Dish Network they turned it around to make it seem as if it was my fault because I paid the amount my bill said last month. Needless to say, I was infuriated by this whole scheme. I felt as if I was being scammed and there was nothing I could do about it and I felt betrayed by a fellow business.

As a business owner, you have to take responsibility for your billing practices.  If that means that your billing system had some glitches in it and a client was under charged, then it is your responsibility to get in touch with that client and explain the situation.  Most of them will be very understanding.  They will appreciate the fact that you made the effort to inform them of your mistake so that they are not in for a shock when they get their next bill.

Those who get upset with you and refuse to pay it, then you may just have to eat that cost. After all, it was your mistake.  It is unethical to just spring an additional charge on a client without informing them because you made a mistake.  Sure the mistake may cost you a lot of money but I guarantee that mistake wouldn’t happen again.

A consumer has the RIGHT to expect that the charges their bill states are the correct charges.  It IS the responsibility of the consumer to make sure the bill is correct. But it is the responsibility of the business to make it right if errors are pointed out. Mistakes happen – we know that. But good businesses take the responsibility instead of trying to push it off onto the customer.

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Recently I had the unfortunate experience of having 3 family members rushed to the hospital in one day on unrelated problems. This wasn’t due to a car accident or any other natural disaster. Each person had their own medical problems. They were all doing fine 24-48 hours before.  In fact one was bowling just two days before she went to the hospital and now she is just fighting to stay alive.

When one person goes into the hospital it’s upsetting but you can handle it and you still think that you are invincible that it would never happen to you and you go about your business normally (maybe with just a little bit more stress) but when you have three that go in at the same time when they were just fine right before, it makes you stop and think.
You still have that feeling that wow this sucks but I’m healthy so I don’t need to change my habits and I can go about my daily life normally because this won’t happen to me.  Then someplace deep inside your mind and your soul you have your doubts that you are still invincible.  I’m going through that right now.

I know I need to change things but change is difficult. In our lives we have gotten so content on the way things are and the way we do things and after all we have been living this long so why do we need to change anything. Yes, it’s true that with the advancement of medical technology people are living longer every day but do you want to put your family through the worry and the stress of the medical problems that may arise 10 or 20 years down the road?

Even with all this talk of changing your lifestyle and habits believe it or not there is something much more important than that. That is your family.  I have always said that my family comes first.  It comes before my business and I still continue to live by that principle. In fact, just the other day I was telling a friend and colleague of mine that I want my business to be successful but I don’t want my business to be so successful that I don’t have time for my family.

My mother has told me that my life is my kids and that isn’t healthy.  Here’s the thing, my kids are only little once and if I can spend my time with my kids that’s great.  My oldest is 8 and my youngest is 5.  In 10 years my oldest will be moving out, going to college, making his own decisions and he won’t be needing his parents that much anymore.  In 10 years my daughter will be 15 and she will be into herself, her friends, and her boyfriends as she tries to find herself in this world and she will gradually no longer be needing me.  That breaks my heart but that is the cycle of being a parent.

Sure there may be some regrets but one regret that I know I will not have is not spending enough time with my children and wondering if my children know that I love them.  At this time in my life, my children are my life and I am loving every minute (well for the most part).

So before you leave this life, ask yourself a few questions.  What will I leave behind in this life?  Will it be positive or negative?  Will I regret the time I didn’t spend with my family because I was too busy?

Society puts so much emphasis on money and success and while you do need money for the basics, you can’t take that to your grave.  But you can take your memories and know that you left some kind of legacy behind.

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We are excited to announce that we have completely redesigned our website and in honor of this exciting transformation, we are offering $100 off ALL our full service website packages (ends April 30, 2010)

We are also excited to announce that we are now offering collaborative websites.  Basically we handle all the technical stuff (design and configuration) and you handle the rest.

Visit our website at Fabulous Frugal Websites for more information.

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Yesterday I was working with a software program that I have been working with for 6 months now and I felt pretty confident that I knew everything about it.  I found out there are always little things that surprise you. 
 
I was trying to change a color on the template I was making and couldn’t find the setting.  I finally tried a setting that according to it’s description had nothing to do with the color I was trying to change, and voila it worked.  Now I no longer had an awful green color or yellow color within a blue, purple and gray site.
 
Glad I was able to change it because the green looked just AWFUL and clashed really bad with the site.

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