Sourcing Products to Resell Online for Better Position and Pricing

Sourcing products is probably the most fundamental aspect of successfully competing online. Sure, key words, pictures, descriptions, etc... are important but if you can't compete on price then you have a big problem. You have two options in selling that include brand and price. Many times they go together and how you source these products will make a differences.

If you are a small business it can be extremely difficult to compete. Most things you find in China and the U.S. are priced low but unfortunately there are a lot of other people selling them. They are buying lots of them by the thousands thereby reducing the price to almost half of what you can get it for.

The other option is to source on discount. This means looking in stores and online for things selling under the market, buying them, and reselling them. Not easy as you are going to waste a lot of time finding products that are said to be on discount but are not cheap enough to pay for shipping or making a profit on price competitive Amazon.

You may also want to buy local stuff and resell it online. These are unique things that are not being sold anywhere else. Think of artisan crafts and productions that large producers can't copy. The type of person who buys this will be very different from someone who buys large production for cheap.

The other option is to seek high quality brands that you know will sell. For example, Camelbak is likely to sell more than a cheap off brand. People look for these brands and often type them in by name. The only problem being finding them.

So you have four major options that include bulk, closeout/discount, niche and brand. Each can work in their own way and all can help you earn significant money. That also means you will need to search high and low to find products that fulfill your strategy. Sometimes it is those places others haven't thought about that make the biggest difference.

Poway Polo Club-Learning to Follow

One of the biggest tips in learning to play polo on a team is to ensure that you are able to follow the ball in the proper line. This is something I had some difficulty doing because I was not completely familiar with how all the rules worked and operated. However, by playing up at the Poway Polo Club I was able to pick up a few tips and play better as a team member.

There are lines that must be followed and this is generally in the direction of the ball. Most of the polo players team up with someone and work together in these lines. That is one of the reasons why you often see them following each other.

Follow the Line:

It wouldn't make sense if you are behind someone right? You will find when you follow other players that people often miss the ball, walk over it, and keep on going. You need to follow, or lead them, if you want to hit the ball without creating a violation.

Keep Moving:

If you do miss the ball don't bother stopping. Just keep moving and someone will pass it up to you or you can circle around and follow the line again. Stopping movement can cause all types of problems for both your players and theirs.

Pair Up: Pair up with a member of the other team so you can follow each other. This way you are covered in much the same was as you are in soccer. You will ride next to them and ensure they don't get the ball.

Review of Cocobon Red Blend California-Value Beyond Price

Browsing the grocery store for a good selection of table wine I picked up Cocobon's Red Wine. While it is 50/50 when you randomly grab a wine from the store shelves as to whether you can pallet it, I was more than happy with this purchase. This wine was well made and has a full bodied fruity taste that almost anyone would like thereby making it a good choice for events and parties.

First, let me state that I'm not a wine snob. This means I don't judge the quality and value of the wine based on its prices. As a matter of fact, if you have a cheaper priced wine with exceptional value it therefore has much more value for me!

Yet that unfortunately is not the opinion of many "wine experts". Lots fall into the halo effect category. Price becomes falsely associated with value and taste. The brain plays a trick! You may want to check out this research to see for yourself  https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/08/170814092949.htm

Good wine is good wine regardless of the price and that is what Cocobon offers. It is a full-bodied wine that tastes fruity, wet with a balance aftertaste. I suspect there is some vanilla and cherry in there somewhere. It is choice you would be safe putting on the table.

The wine is smooth so it would likely go with some chicken and lightly seasoned meat. While it is full-bodied, I don't see it as heavy so I wouldn't put it with very high spices like Mediterranean food. It works for most meals that Americans are accustomed with.

I looked up their winery and thought I might want to share. I rank them high even though I wasn't paid for the review or know anyone at the company at the time of writing this. Its just an opinion.
https://www.cocobonwines.com/

Why the Little Things Make Your Business Memorable

 Businesses often run off of the same sort of processes because they are cost effective and create value for customers. Companies in the same genre typically use the same type of processes. While this is great for managing a business it isn't always so great for making memorable businesses. People get used to the same old processes and consumers view the businesses pretty much as the same except for the brand associated with them. How does one break the similarity gridlock that doesn't allow a business to differentiate itself?

Think about the little things your competitors are not thinking about. What does that mean? Well it means creating a theme for your business, offering something small the customers isn't expecting, or going out of your way to do something special for the customer.

It doesn't need to be big or expensive. It could be something simple as bringing extra napkins to kids sitting at a table, or providing an unexpected free desert when the server overhears something about a birthday. It is about doing one, just one, extra thing for the customer they don't expect.

That is the key. Do something they don't expect so they can remember it. Businesses spend a lot of money trying to brand themselves and serve their customers. Yet many don't simply build that one little interesting thing that helps customers return.

You may end up finding that as the positive feelings associated with the extra effort are encoded in the brain with a unique situation the customer is more likely to recall this situation and feeling more readily. That recall and feeling is what creates repeat customers and improves sales. They become attracted to repeating the experience again so make sure you are changing up your approach.

Second Polo-Learning how to Lean for Better Ball Leverage

Speeding horses and leaning over the side is not an intuitive act. You feel as though you are going to bounce off and at the very least change the balance of the horse with a disastrous end. Thus, the practice of learning how to center yourself while giving enough leverage to still hit the ball clear of the horse and other players is a pivotal skill in polo. It may be the one still that separates those who can play from those who can't!

I'm not saying I can play that well yet. However, I am slowly learning how to move my knee into the side of the horse and my other knee to away from the horse in the direction I am going to hit the ball in an effort to give myself enough leverage while still maintaining balance. The knees lock you in place as you lean over keeping you securely mounted.

One of the ways to practice this is to do it right each and every time you hit the ball. Muscle memory is important here. While it may feel awkward eventually your body will get it and it will become a natural movement that you don't need to to think about. That is where you can start to focus on other things.

While I believe that complex sports like this can take time to learn they are based on simple movements and steps that can be learned. It is necessary for any good coach to break these complex movements into simple steps that can be learned. Where there are general deficiencies one can work on improving those as well.

Mathematically Modeling Market Projections

Projecting the market is fantastic when you can do it. Companies spend a lot of time trying to look into the crystal ball and find some future. Using simulation allows businesses to figure out what will happen under different circumstances (Chopra, 2017). The ability of companies to project means they will need a number of different data sets and each variable in the projection should be supported by market information.

This means that each variable needs lots of historical data in order to make a type of prediction of what would happen under specific circumstances. The history of the data will need be collected and analyzed for trends. In turn, those trends will show what might happen under certain circumstances.

It isn't so easy as this though as this can take a long time to collect. One must look to the past, other research, do a lot of calculations to isolate the variable, and sometimes may need to experiment with that variable to see if it changes.

You may also find that multiple variables really increase complexity exponentially. For example, understanding product price under certain market conditions will require some knowledge of multiple market conditions and their impact on price of similar type of products.

In our price example, you may also need to look toward macro economics and how general fluctuations, in combination with specific market influence, lead to price changes. As the general market changes is there a suppression in all prices, only some types of products, etc...?

Therefore, solid projections that can be catered to multiple events are difficult to complete because of the amount of data. The internal, external (micro and macro), as well as government regulations/treaties all need to be taken into account. Despite this, we are in the world of big data and it is now possible to collect that data through multiple streams and create ever increasingly accurate projections. Just don't rule out any outliers...because there always are some.

Chopra, K. (2017). Analysis of the mathematical modeling an simulation of advanced marketing in commerce. Journal of Internet Banking and Commerce, 22 (3).

Protecting the Snorkeling and Diving Tourism of Cabo Through Charter Enforcement

I had the opportunity to travel recently to Cabo and engage in some of the outdoor activities. One of these activities that seem to attract people is snorkeling and diving. You will find boats lined up around famous underwater areas and people swimming back and forth. Reefs and underwater creatures dot the area.

They do a pretty good job at coordinating. The charters have realized that if they damage these precious resources they won't be able to get them back. At the very onset they state that if you see garbage pick it up or tell them about it and they will pick it up.

Likewise, there is some discussion on not touching the reefs as they are not only sharp but also full of life. Disturbing that life could mean the lose of habitat and the creatures that live there.

Ecotourism is likely to grow in the future. As these resources dwindle the few remaining resources will need to be protected. That can't happen without funding and that will come from tourists.

If adventure companies desire to protect these resources and avoid future legislation they will need to work together to coordinate their protective activities. Perhaps panels of interested parties will meet to discuss how best to manage tourist and their activities.

Positive Communication Patterns Can Connect Employees Despite the "Stars"

Negative communication patterns can cause all types of havoc in the workplace and slow dissipate groups. I have seen it over and over. Functioning teams take in a real "go getter" that works like a bullet to get things done. In their goal achievement they begin to be condescending, judgmental, and rude. The team breaks apart but the "star" is not blamed because it isn't something that can be easily calculated or put on paper.

I once read a study on game theory and how people who are rude are eventually punished. As they move from group to group trying to gain resources for themselves they leave a wake of resentful people. People who have the capacity to work together and they in turn refuse to work with that person or share information.

In the end the "star" employee with a bad attitude and poor communication style gets locked out of opportunities and eventually is forced to move onto other organizations. It takes them a long time to get caught because it takes their bosses a long time to see that they were simply telling them what they wanted to hear. The "star" can sometimes be manipulative.

Great organizations are not made from "stars" they are made from everyday workers. When strong teams are built and people can work together the "star's" prowess becomes less toxic and the path forward is based on team collaboration. The "star" becomes a team performer versus a pariah on the good nature of others.

Success comes from hedging the abilities and skills of others and that requires collaboration. Collaboration the selfish are not often willing to make because it requires sharing the spotlight. If the "star" tries to steel it back....the team stops sharing information and the "star" fails.

A true star is one that knows the rules of the game and can raise others while raising themselves. They are capable of not using others but leading others to greater performance through the development of teams that trust and share. Where others have had the folly to promote the selfish it takes the intellectually advanced to see that the way in which a person communicates indicates their thinking patterns and their potential to draw together a community.

Lands End-Pictures of the Last Place on the American Continent

Near Cabos San Lucas are plenty of tours and outdoor adventures. Lands End is the last destination on the West Coast before you reach out into the broad ocean. It is a just a tiny rock that sits out on the point near Lover's Beach. 

The place has some history associated with it. Sailors from around the world, and pirates, have landed on that beach and used Lands End as a signal for safe harbor. They came back many times in order to find fun and protection. 

Of course now it is a tourist destination. Galleons have switched to cruise ships and adult pirates are now replaced by little ones with plastic swords. The history is still alive as people make their way to that beach and hang around. 

I love to travel and see new places. Learn a little of their history and come to understand the people better. It is one of those things that helps me feel connected to different cultures and people around me. Likewise, I feel the adventure of travel and excitement. 

How Mangers Can Damage Innovation Through Discouraging Curiosity

I'm reading through the October version of the Harvard Business Review and I came across two great articles on curiosity and innovation. According to these two articles managers often kill off innovation by discouraging employees from being creative by implicitly giving signals that asking questions is not acceptable. They further push employees to be silent and work toward what makes them look good to people higher up the food chain.

That pushes employees to be quiet, not look for alternatives, review processes, or understand the bigger picture of what is going on within their organizations. Thus, the employee becomes the worker and the boss becomes the gatekeeper to benefits. Strong employees may leave and the weaker one's stay. The entire organization starts to die.

The problem is that bright, intelligent, and capable employees don't rely on their bosses for much other than information. Their boss could easily be replaced as high quality employees work on their own without direction. Micromanaging bosses destroy self-directed creativity, learning and performance. They turn something wonderful into something that is not rewarded within the organization.

Thus such bosses actually suck the life out the organization in the long run. They don't allow cross collaboration, don't allow bright minds to move into new positions and often hamper the whole organization. Innovative companies need a new way of thinking and methods of flattening the road blocks that some bosses put in place.

They don't know this though.  Insight into one's own behavior is very difficult. They can't see that their decisions and constant push on projects that promote themselves slowly take away from the full functioning of their employees and the long-term competitiveness of the organization. Any employee who raises such objectives against task oriented self-gratification is likely to be punished in terms of promotion and opportunities; at the very least by negative feedback.

The near term takes precedence over the long-term, the employee is silent, and leaders are ignorantly happy until it all comes crashing down. Most companies have no clue how their culture and choices of managers improves or hampers their business. Once they start loosing money they begin to hire consultants to tell them things their common sense should have told them a long time ago.

Herein is the biggest crime of all. The smartest, brightest, and most competent are punished by the selfish that regularly choose themselves over the needs of the organization or others. Those employees simply leave instead of having clash after clash with their bosses who have more formal power. Dominant, high quality, employees with the most creative capacity and the highest intelligence do not find paths for success and put their talents to work for people who appreciate them.

Creativity and exploration should be encouraged. Cross collaborative projects are also helpful. Poor bosses should be demoted, removed or counseled. The boss is only an information giver and collector. While they do provide direction for work they are generally information bound on what priorities to work on. These priorities should include the needs of the entire organization beyond their own needs to be promoted. Of course, we know this on a theoretical level but rarely do we find enough insight to implement it in an organization.