In my last post, I spoke about how many things were no longer made in the USA. Even though that is the case, it doesn’t mean you can’t find quality merchandise made elsewhere. Over the last few decades, the federal government has been chasing or assisting companies to move manufacturing overseas. In doing so, these countries have been growing as well as improving on things that they make and ship over the the United States. American pride is stronger than ever here. Many people won’t buy things overseas, but let’s be for real, there isn’t much these days that isn’t made overseas. What is still made here is priced quite high because of the labor cost and the taxes imposed on the company by the government.

Let’s look at one of the product lines that I’ve decided to carry for my customers, DuckUSA knives. The name itself is misleading, but I tell all my customers upfront where my products are from. I can not do business properly if I’m going to lie by saying these knives are made in the USA. I looked for information on DuckUSA online, but to no avail, I couldn’t find anything other than the huge amount of people selling DuckUSA on many websites including eBay. What I thought was cool is the fact that every one of these sites are charging 25% or more for the same knives that I sell at retail pricing. My wholesale pricing is even better than that.

What I can tell you about DuckUSA, is the quality of the knives at a good price. I know you can go ahead and spend twice as much for the same type of knife with the name Buck, Cold Steel or even SOG.The question is, Are you really getting the quality of the knife when you pay $100 or more for a spring assist knife? Probably not. I’ve owned many knives over the years and have own high priced name brand knives made in the USA as well as the less expensive ones from overseas, After a few years I haven’t really noticed a difference between the resilience between the two brand. I take pride in what I own and I take care of my equipment. As with anything in life, if you take care of it and maintain it, the tool/equipment will stand up over the years.

DuckUSA makes a quality product and will hold up beautifully over the years if you do what needs to be done to it, just like you would with any other knife. I’m sure you don’t go out and buy the best weapon (pistol or rifle), to not have to maintain it. Don’t you clean and oil your weapons on a regular basis to assure proper working condition? So why wouldn’t you do the same for your knives?

Check out the line of DuckUSA knives I currently carry with more on the way.

I’ve been working hard on finding products of quality at a great price to pass on to my customers. It’s not as easy as one may think when you consider the types of products I supply to them. It’s reached a point where most everything that we consume in America is made overseas. Many of them are of inferior materials and/or assembled poorly.

I supply convenience store, gas stations, and small mom-and-pop business’ with many different products that range from knives and sunglasses to skull caps and caps. Those products are not made in this country any more on a large scale. It’s cheaper to make those products in countries like China, Pakistan and Thailand. As with any product, a big part of the cost is in labor. We all know that workers outside of the United States are paid less than American workers.

But that doesn’t mean that the product is not of good quality. Yes, like I mentioned earlier, many of the products are inferior. That is why I personally inspect and handle any item I consider offering to my customers. Quality assurance is necessary if you want to grow and stay in business. That’s why I’m able to grow my market share. Many of my competitors are not looking at what they provide to their customers. Their concern is how much can they make on each item at that moment. My way of thinking is to increase my revenue over time, not to make a “quick buck”.

I love what I do, if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be doing it. I get to go out and meet people who have a need that I know that I can fulfill. Providing a product that their customers will continue to purchase with confidence. One of the biggest things to do for success is to have you customers trust you and the product/service you provide. I watched many new business’ fail because of failure of doing that exact thing, so why would I follow their lead? I’m in it for the long haul. I want to be able to one day turn the reins over to one or both of my daughters.

One hurdle I find myself jumping lately is the growth of American pride. I see many customers frown on products that are not made in the USA. I think that’s great since I too have a lot of love for this country and it’s people. When I talk to these customers and listen to their concerns about product from overseas, I hear their pride for America come through. Let’s be for real though people. The government isn’t doing the right thing and it’s mostly likely we will never see those “jobs” come back. As for the ones that are still here, I buy from them when I can. Our economy isn’t stable and people are looking to save their hard earned money, if they didn’t, they wouldn’t be shopping in WalMart. We need to find quality product at a fair price, no matter where they are made.

For more information on the products that I can provide for your business and customers, please contact me at billyakerman@yahoo.com. please make sure you write product service in the title of the e-mail.

Time flies so fast and we don’t realize it until it’s too late. One minute we’re young and the next our children are becoming parents. Watching my children grow up has been such a pleasure it’s hard to put into words without tearing up for the joy I recieved from their existance.

I guess one reason why I’ve never taken it for granted that my children are getting older is the fact that when my wife Joanne and I adopted them at the ages of 5,8,10, we felt we already missed out on quite a bit of their lives and wanted to enjoy the time that was still available. Because of that reason, we never over looked our time with them. Yes there were times when I was “too busy” to hang out with them or had “better” things to do, but the truth is that I have the advantage of my daughters being homeschooled.

We started homeschooling them shortly after the adoption was finalized. We figured to make up for some of the bonding time we had missed out on, homeschooling would be a way to do it. Instead of getting up at 6am to get them ready , fed and driven to school, we would take our time sitting down eating a calm meal without the feeling of being rushed. Homeschooling them also gave them more time to talk with us, listen to us or play games with us since there wasn’t any homework to keep them occupied during the afternoon and evening when that time should have been spent bonding as a family.

The most fortunate experience to come out of homeschooling is the great things we get to do together without competing with others trying to do the same thing. When kids are in school, we go to Disney (we have season passes). When kids are doing homework, we get to go to the movies. When kids are out with their parents on the weekend “getting the errands” done, we just relax or ride our bikes in the neighborhood.

Homschooling has been the best thing we’ve done for our kids. They get to grow up in a secure atmosphere without peer pressure or the drama of other teens in the school system. I feel I’ve been able to make up for the time I didn’t have with them in the beginning of their lives. I know them so well and that I’ll never feel like I wished I could have done it over.

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If you’re going to try to make a living building blogs and websites on the internet you have to stay active. Creating a good website isn’t easy, but to do it multiple times is even more difficult. Bringing traffic to your site is the most time consuming part of running a site, especially in the beginning. Setting up the site to be recognized and picked up in the search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing is only one part of the puzzle. You can go ahead and pay for advertisement on other related sites or with the search engines with a program known as “pay-per-click”, but unless you have a ton of money that isn’t going to happen.

So how are you to get the traffic to turn those page loads into revenue? Social networking is probably the best way of doing it without spending your money. Social networking is exactly what is sounds like. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and now Empire Avenue are just a few of the ones out there.

Over the last 3 years since this site was created, I’ve been trying to use this site to grow my presence on the internet. I’ve actually had better success with the social sites than using this site itself. Using the social sites is a great idea to promote your blog or website. I’ve been able to increase traffic to my other sites because of social networking.

Everyone on the internet knows about Twitter and Facebook Most bloggers heard of LinkedIn, but not many use it. As for the latest one Empire Avenue, even less know about it or use it. If you’re one of the many bloggers that don’t know about Empire, it’s time for you to check it out. The free site is designed for bloggers who want to increase their exposure on the internet. At the same time it’s more like trading stocks on Wall Street. Members buy and sell “shares” of each other based on their involvement in the social circles.

Promote your blogs and websites to others. Learn ways to improve your site to get the desired traffic you’re looking for. Share information that you’ve learned over the years to help others. All at the same time while meeting others like you doing the same thing. I joined a week ago and have already seen an improvement of traffic to my site. The more traffic you can bring to your site, it can translate into increased revenue.

I’ve found the site to be exciting and educational at the same time. Because of the fun I’m having on Empire, I’ve made it a point of being more engaged on Twitter and LinkedIn. Since being on the different social websites increases the value of your shares as well as the dividends that are paid out to your “investors”. Have a high enough dividend and you will see others wanting to invest in you and get your name out there.

If your not a member of Empire Avenue, I suggest you give it a try and if your not a blogger, so what try it out. It free.
Click here to try it out.

ROMANCE MATHEMATICS

Smart man + smart woman = romance
Smart man + dumb woman = affair
Dumb man + smart woman = marriage
Dumb man + dumb woman = pregnancy
______________________________

OFFICE ARITHMETIC

Smart boss + smart employee = profit
Smart boss + dumb employee = production
Dumb boss + smart employee = promotion
Dumb boss + dumb employee = overtime
_____________________________

SHOPPING MATH

A man will pay $20 for a $10 item he needs.
A woman will pay $10 for a $20 item
that she doesn’t need.
_____________________________

GENERAL EQUATIONS & STATISTICS

A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband.
A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.
A successful man is one who makes more money
than his wife can spend.
A successful woman is one who can find such a man.
_____________________________

HAPPINESS

To be happy with a man, you must understand
him a lot and love him a little.
To be happy with a woman, you must love her a lot
and not try to understand her at all.
______________________________

LONGEVITY

Married men live longer than single men do,
but married men are a lot more willing to die.
______________________________

PROPENSITY TO CHANGE

A woman marries a man expecting he will change,
but he doesn’t.
A man marries a woman expecting that she won’t change,
and she does.
_____________________________

DISCUSSION TECHNIQUE

A woman has the last word in any argument.
Anything a man says after that is the
beginning of a new argument.

For anyone who has known me for any length of time would know that I have an entrepreneur spirit and mindset. I’m always looking for ways to increase my cash flow and if possible doing it with passive income.

I’ve recently started on a new business venture which is being a wholesale supplier in my area, Ocala Florida. With the unemployment rate as high as it is in the United States people are looking for ways to make money to support themselves and/or their family. I’ve been fortunate to not worry too much about having a “job”, but like I said I’m an entrepreneur and always striving for more in my life.

Becoming a wholesaler wasn’t a hard decision since my work experience mainly was in the retail/sales industry. Just because I’ve gone this route, it doesn’t mean that it’s for everyone. You have to find something that fits your knowledge and experience so you can be successful in your new venture.

The products I carry are mainly for the mom & pop convenience store/gas station industry. I supply many products that can be found in these locations, but I can supply any type of business.

If you have a business in the Ocala/Central Florida area that can make a profit from carrying items that I supply, then please e-mail me at billyakerman@yahoo.com. If you’re thinking of having a party and want to hand out party favors/goodie bags to your guests, I can help you plan something to fit around the event. We can do most of the planning over the phone,e-mail or if you like, I can come to your place of business to discuss it further.

Items I supply, but not limited to are:
Skull caps
Bandanas
Baseball caps
Cowboy hats
Knives
Sunglasses
Costume jewelery

In January of 2008, my wife and I invested time and money into a niche website coaching program with Court Tuttle. My wife had been reading his internet marketing blog for a while and when he created a coaching service, she didn’t hesitate in signing up. He worked one on one with her through a series of telephone conversations and emails over the course of a few months. Our investment was not cheap, but we made it back before the year was out.

Since then, Court and his partner Mark Butler have streamlined their coaching program into a series of videos called The Keyword Crash Course Video Series, a ten lesson, six hour course on how to start a group of profitable niche websites from scratch – everything from choosing the topics to setting up the sites to getting people to actually visit what you’ve created. They also hold webinars to share new information and answer questions.

If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, click the link below for further information.