Judy Vorfeld’s Office Support Services

Guest Post by Kyle Sanford]

Consumers in the 45 U.S. states that levy a sales tax may find themselves putting a bit more on their American Express cards when they start their holiday shopping this fall. The Marketplace Fairness Act (MFA), which would create an Internet sales tax, was overwhelmingly passed by the Senate on May 6. If the bill gets through the House of Representatives and land on President Obama’s desk, it would become law just in time for the holidays.

Marketplace Fairness Act (MFA)

Impact on Businesses

Small and medium-sized businesses will be the ones most impacted by this. They will have to implement new software and procedures into their online shopping carts. Since the MFA only targets businesses that do more than $1 million in annual out-of-state sales, it isn’t likely to affect the smallest companies that are run by families and entrepreneurs. Many brick-and-mortar-only businesses are in support of this bill since it will help to even the playing field with online retailers. The bill is also meant to curtail “showrooming,” the practice in which customers go to a store to physically look at an item, then buy it online for a cheaper price.

Most corporations will be unaffected since they already have physical locations in most states. Paul Misener, the VP of global public policy at Amazon, told Wolters Kluwer Law & Business he supports MFA because most state taxes are unconstitutional per the 1992 Supreme Court ruling in Quill v. North Dakota. The decision outlawed “use taxes,” which North Dakota tried to impose on Quill Corporation, even though it had no physical presence in the state.

Impact on Consumers

Current legislation in many states requires consumers to pay taxes on online purchases when they file their tax returns at the end of the year. PC World estimates that 90 percent of consumers are not aware of the laws, or just simply ignore current regulations. Thus proponents of MFA say the bill isn’t a new tax, but a way of enforcing an existing one. The MFA will lessen the price advantages for online retailers, especially when shipping and handling is factored in.

Bottom Line

The MFA still has a ways to go before being enacted. CNN estimates that the earliest it could go into effect is October 2013. If the bill becomes law, states will be required to create and distribute software to companies who are impacted in order for the collection process to go smoothly.

It’s not too late for business owners and consumers to contact their Congressman and voice their opinions.

Kyle Sanford
As a financial advisor and business writer, Kyle shares finance news and strategies that help small businesses improve operations.

I recently learned of a WordPress website tutorial, and finally sat down to watch the entire program, which was around an hour. Very, very good. Informal, very organized, and it puts everything together in a nice way. It even has closed captioning, which is always a good thing.

If you’ve been wondering whether you can do it, and are motivated, you might want to use this video as a springboard for your online adventures. But do remember: I said “MOTIVATED.” Creating any website only works if you are a person who never gives up. Following are a link and the video itself. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAPGp61XY6c

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/national-geographic-channel/all-videos/av-7093-7308/ngc-the-orangutan-and-the-hound.html

Allowing fathers living by the shorelines to dream once more

Guest post by my friend Millie Kilayko

The Peter Project: Defying Logic

It will only happen after investments are made into the manufacturing sector and jobs are created.

For someone who lives in the province and sees the vast expanse of countryside, someone who also sees how vast the field of competition for these manufacturing investments is, I could only shrug my shoulders and say to myself, “How long will it take, really? How many years before I see lives of the poor around me changed?”

The logical answer is, “Patience, girl, it will indeed take a long, long time.”

But having met people who earn only P50 ($1.2) daily as fishermen’s helpers, having met mothers who sweep the ground in the hope of finding a few morsels, having met children who eat a mere few spoonfuls of rice paired with salt for viand, can I be patient?

Having met a man who said that he no longer knows how to dream of a future, because he can hardly survive the present, can I be patient?

To me, a man who has ceased to dream, a man who has ceased to even just imagine that life can someday change for the better, is a man who has ceased to be human. To me, to allow a person to continue to live this way, is one of the greatest sins we can commit against another human being.

Can we defy logic just this once so we need not be patient anymore?

The Miracle Begins

A few months ago, a few men in a shoreline barangay in Negros Occidental were gifted with motorized boats. In the past, these men earned an average of P50 ($1.2) a day (if at all) as fishermen’s helpers. These were the people whose families were:

• Eating rice and salt
• Drinking water from discarded tins
• Sleeping under leaking roofs in homes no bigger than a small apartment’s bathroom

Sadly, these were the men who have ceased to dream.

The Miracle Continues

As new fishermen, they began to earn an average of P150 ($3.60) daily. To a graduating student in Metro Manila, P150 daily is no dream to aspire for. But to these new fishermen, this was triple their original income.

Their wives also had an assurance of real meals for their children who could now eat from their father’s catch. This meant being able to save a little for dreams, small they may be.

This meant being able to dream again!

The Miracle Can Continue

And how much is the cost of this dream? Less than P30,000! P28,660 ($697) to be exact.

• P20,000 will go towards the boat for the fishermen
• P8,660 will go towards a nutrition program for the family’s five children (usual size of their families) for six months, until the father’s income catches up and provides them better food.

That is a fraction of one’s earnings from investments in the stock market. That is only P78.52 daily for a year, and that can be converted to easy little daily sacrifices from those who earn substantially well.

Will you allow us to help people dream once more?

Contact us through The Peter Project: (shared from Facebook post of Millie Kilayko, board president of Negrense Volunteers for Change Foundation)

Negrense Volunteers for Change Foundation, Inc. is a non-stock, non-profit organization registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of the Republic of the Philippines.

It was established by dedicated citizens who believe in creating positive change for the country by harnessing the power of individuals to help effect change in themselves and in their communities.

NVC Foundation also believes in the strength of partnership with government and continually seeks avenues for such alliances.

Here’s the history. This post is to update you on the latest needs and ask for your prayer support.

UPDATE TUESDAY, APRIL 23: ALYSHA IS HOME!

Today we had an appointment with her plastic surgeon, she really likes him :), Her wound on her leg no longer needs dressing changes!! Her skin is healing! We have to keep it moist with Coco Butter on it a lot! New skin is showing on her arm!! The Doc said it looks great! Also she got her last drain tube out! Thank you Jesus!!

When we were checking out and making her apt for next week they told her that her Doc had no openings. SOOO she asked to talk to her doc. He came around the corner and her eyes filled with tears as she told him the situation. He went to the front desk and she has an apt with him. He is planning on taking the staples out. She is a little afraid and wanted only him to do it. I am sorry if this is short but I am so tired! For now things are looking good.

Thank you all you continue prayers and your continued support in all areas!

Thank you for not forgetting her. Ange Raab

==========================================
APRIL 7, 2013

Alysha Raab’s surgery included extensive surgery to move some muscle to cover the area where the tumor in her arm was located. The grafting that took place seemed to go well, but today she had more surgery and they confirmed that the muscle didn’t “take.” There is deep concern that her arm is in jeopardy. Here are excerpts from her mother’s memo this evening:

Today she went in to surgery and the muscle is dead. Tomorrow she goes in for a 2-3 hour surgery starting at 2:00 pm if anyone is available to come pray with us before we would love it.

He will take muscle from her right side and attach it over the metal where her tumor was. Then straight to ICU so the muscle can be checked hourly for viability. Then on Tuesday she will go in to surgery for a skin flap (taking skin from her leg to place over the muscle that was moved). Then to ICU for hourly skin checks for viability.

If all goes good we will back on her regular floor and hopefully home by Saturday. The goal: SAVE HER ARM

Alysha needs lots and lots of prayers for healing, peace, comfort, pain control and to hear Jesus speaking to her through all of this and that she can feel him holding her. Please pray for Dean and I that God gives us wisdom to make the decisions that He wants us to make for His child. Also please pray that we feel God’s peace through it all. Please pray for her sisters who are trying to go to school and yet have all this on their minds and hearts.

* Dean and I have a request: let me explain first. Dean has a work truck and his mom, who lives with us, has a car. Dean’s personal truck is not drivable. Katie’s car is not drivable and as of last night my car is not drivable. Humbly we are asking for help. We don’t have enough cars for the hospital, Katie’s school, and her job and when we get her home we don’t have a car for my job.

We need help. Please let us know if you or someone you know could help us. Please call Dean 623-703-4457.

We thank all of you for your prayers, dinners, visits and everything else you all are doing for us. She won’t be able to have visitors in the next 2 days due to the ICU but when we get back to her regular floor she can. It helps her a lot! PLEASE don’t feel that if you come to visit you do not have to bring her a gift. Just your visit helps her.

We love you all…

Guest post by Carol Durkin, a call center manager and freelance writer

Tech pundits Robert Scoble, Michael Krigsman, and Val Afshar, recently talked about how video chat, mobile and analytic technology are changing the way we navigate through our day-to-day interactions and questioned whether these innovations are helping or hindering customer relations. So far, industries like car dealerships have implemented live chat tools to grab prospective clients who go to their sites. While live text chat is a fairly old technology, it is being used more frequently to close deals and help companies to better serve their clients. Will video chat help companies to achieve the same goal?

Agent Credibility Check

Afshar told Smartplanet.com’s Joe McKendrick that a live chat program that includes options for video chat will allow a customer to watch their agent troubleshoot a problem. If the agent doesn’t know what he’s doing, the customer will know immediately. Customers will know how well agents are trained and that they won’t be able to follow a script to help the customer, he said. On the other hand, this may force companies to invest in hiring agents who are more experienced in areas of communication and technology. Companies will also have to take more time to train their agents to understand the technology that they are offering to clients.

Raising the Bar

One company that is looking into video chat to make connections with customers stronger is CarHistory.com. The site provides vehicle history reports  and tracks whether a car has been in any accidents or has failed emissions. According to Virtual-Strategy.com, the company currently uses live chat to connect its customers with reps for its online service.

Since video chat is not being widely used in customer service yet, CarHistory.com wants to take its time, weighing the pros and cons of this feature. While it is researching the effectiveness of video chat and testing out beta versions for a final product, the company says it will still offer customers 24/7 live chat with customer service and 24/7 call center assistance.

It’s clear that video chat is set to become the new portal for communication between customers and agents. Starbucks is already using this technology in its drive-thru service, allowing customers to communicate their orders to a barista who is smiling and attentively taking their order from a video screen. Joe Satran of the Huffington Post says that Starbucks is trying out the system at a few of their select locations and, depending on its success, will expand the technology to other drive-thru Starbucks restaurants.

Just a reminder to stop and smell the roses. And silently watch and enjoy butterflies as they go about their brief but brilliant lives. In both instances, we are given the gifts of sight and scent that, in part, we may feed our souls. It is in refreshing ourselves with such seemingly simple gifts from God that we can move a bit more easily through life.

When you encounter a challenge that seems impossible, stop. Think what it took to nurture these beautiful, scented flowers…and those delicate butterflies. Many steps. Varied weather. Sun. Rain. In the right amounts. Most things in life are challenging, and I challenge you: never give up if you have a dream that is unfulfilled. Hope sometimes comes with many petals and wings!

Zebra Longwing

Pipevine Swallowtail

White Peacock

Sun City Red Rose

Sun City Golden Rose

Sun City Pale Pink Rose

Thanks to Danny Brown for pointing out this wonderful tutorial on customer service:

http://www.slideshare.net/Desk/deskcoms-principles-of-customer-wow

Flashmob Flash Mob - Ode an die Freude ( Ode to Joy ) Beethoven Symphony No.9 classical music

Published on May 31, 2012
On the 130th anniversary of the founding of Banco Sabadell we wanted to pay homage to our city by means of the campaign “Som Sabadell” (We are Sabadell) . This is the flashmob that we arranged as a final culmination with the participation of 100 people from the Vallès Symphony Orchestra, the Lieder, Amics de l’Òpera and Coral Belles Arts choirs.

En el 130º aniversario de la creación de Banco Sabadell hemos querido rendir un homenaje a nuestra ciudad con la campaña “Som Sabadell”. Esta es la flashmob que realizamos como colofón final con la participación de más de 100 personas de la Orquestra Simfònica del Vallès y los coros Lieder y Amics de l’Òpera y la Coral Belles Arts

This email message was waiting for me when I returned home from having my Soul serviced and washed. The car, that is.

Dear Judith,

The service department at Peoria Kia would personally like to thank you for coming to us to have your vehicle serviced. Our goal is to offer, you, our valued customer, the best possible service in the valley. If for any reason you cannot tell your friends that you were completely satisfied with our service department, please contact myself or Andy Weatherly, our Service Manager. Your business is very important to us and we will do whatever it takes to improve and make you completely satisfied.

Please do not hesitate to call, e-mail , or fax us with any questions or concerns you may have. Thank you for your time and we will see you soon.

Sincerely,

Andy Weatherly
Service Director
Peoria Kia
623-933-6900

I love my Soul!