Back in South Carolina - Happy New Year 2010!

Hello everyone!

I'm back in South Carolina - this time in Myrtle Beach (versus Cherry Grove where we were last winter). We were encouraged by the locals who all said that last winter was the coldest in years.

Hmm. Today, it is about 40 - not too bad. But yesterday's wind chills were COLD!

Glad I brought my long-johns! :) We do wish we had come back earlier - we had to be plowed 8 times before we left New Hampshire on December 29th. That's a LOT of plowing - even by New Hampshire standards.

Anyway, I realize that I've been "gone" for quite a while - We've been caught up in beginning to get the house up in NH ready to sell, staying caught up with the summer and fall Portable Garages and Shelters sales, and then sneaking away for a couple of weeks to St. Maarten.

(Ahem... Note to self: NEVER schedule a vacation during the high season for Portable Garage sales. We had scheduled the St. Maarten trip earlier last year, and honestly did not know that November was still a busy time of year for Portable Garage sales. We won't make that mistake again! BUSINESS TIP OF THE DAY: It is a BAD IDEA to leave a busy store unattended.)

So, here I am, settled into our winter quarters high above the gorgeous sands of Myrtle Beach. I have my computer set up, files organized, pencils sharpened, and a refreshed sense of humor.

Time to get back to work! In the coming days and weeks, I'll be writing and posting numerous articles and (yes!) some YouTube videos from some of our trips over the last year. Hopefully they will give viewers and potential travelers some insights into where we've been.

I'll keep you posted! In the meantime, I wish all of you a happy, healthy, safe, and prosperous year ahead.

Selling Our House in Randolph NH (White Mountains)

Hi folks!
I've been a bit "absent" this summer on my blogs since returning from South Carolina, and I apologize for not writing as much lately.

It seems that as soon as we returned, it was time to begin planning once again to leave! Renewing our passports, planning for our upcoming St. Martin vacation in November, working on the house, working on our Portable Garages and Shelters, Discount Kids Clothes, and Fine Resort Vacation websites, welcoming new Global Resort Network team members, and preparing to go back to South Carolina for the winter (we miss all of you guys down there, and cannot wait to see you again!) - all those things seemed to make this summer go by in the quickest blink of an eye.

Plus, to top it off, we have made the very difficult decision to sell our White Mountains (Randolph NH) home after being in this peaceful paradise for more than 9 years. Actually, we have been in Randolph for much longer - John, for nearly 30 years, and I, for 20.

But, after doing a lot of soul-searching and realistically looking at our goals and dreams, it makes sense for us to move on. So, this is another reason for my writing having taken a bit of a back seat for the time being.

For right now, we have placed a complete listing for the Randolph NH house on our Fine Resort Vacation site here => www.FineResortVacation.com/RandolphHouseForSale.

I promise to get back to regular posts as soon as possible! Thanks for your patience!

A Little Review: Five Guys Burgers and Fries in North Myrtle Beach

Occasionally, I am moved to write about a business that stands above others. Since I like to write about truth and integrity in business and life, I thought that I would share my thoughts about a little restaurant I visited today.

What We're Working On...
If you have been reading my blog, you may know that John, my husband and I have been spending the winter in the Cherry Grove Beach section of North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It has been a great place to get move forward on our online businesses - whether it's updating our Save On Kidswear discount children's clothing website, our Portable Garages and Shelters website, the marketing system for our Global Resorts Network business and Luxury Vacation Travel memberships, our latest site to go live.

Bicycle Riding is GREAT in North Myrtle Beach
One of the nice things about this area is that it is very conducive to bicycle riding. Today, John had the car and so I took the bike into town to get the mail and then go over to the bank a few miles away. Riding a bike in the brisk spring air tends to work up an appetite, and I had a hankering for a burger. For at least the second time, someone mentioned Five Guys Burgers and Fries as a place we just had to visit.

Geno's Pizza - Gator Hole Plaza in North Myrtle Beach
Since it was only a few blocks further, I took the recommendation and ambled over to the restaurant. I should also mention that one of the folks who recommended Five Guys happens to be another restaurant owner. The folks at Geno's New York Pizza (located in the Gator Hole Plaza on Highway 17 in North Myrtle Beach) told us that if we wanted REAL fries, then we needed to go over to Five Guys. How's that for a recommendation!

By the way, Geno's is excellent, as well. We've been back several times. Another easy bike ride! So, please, visit Geno's too (I'd give you their website, but they don't appear to have or need one - the place is always filled with locals)!

Back to Five Guys...
So, as I walked into Five Guys, I immediately noticed that, like Geno's Pizza, it was filled with locals. I also noticed that it was spotlessly clean. There was what appeared to be a pallet of hundreds and hundreds of pounds of fresh potatoes ready to be cut into fries. This was a good sign! I have since learned that Five Guys is a private franchise with about 300 restaurants, but you'd never get that impression since it has the appearance of a home town place.

On the advice of one of the folks at the bank, I went with the "Little" burger as opposed to the "Regular" burger. I also ordered "Regular" versus "Large" fries. This was a combined wise move. I barely made a dent in my fries - which are wonderful! I packed the leftovers into my backpack and brought them home for John. Definitely reminiscent of the "Pier Fries" that we indulge in every time we go to Old Orchard Beach in Maine, which is the closest beach to our place in northern New Hampshire.

John will be very pleased at this little snack that awaits him when he gets home this afternoon!

The burger was excellent - freshly cooked. If I had attempted to load my burger with the 15 different free toppings offered at Five Guys, I never would have been able to take a bite - it would have been huge!

For once I was glad to ride back home into a stiff breeze - it made me pedal harder, so it helped to work off at least some of the meal!

The menu is simple. Burgers, Hot Dogs, Grilled Cheese, French Fries, and Soft Drinks. Great value, friendly staff, the ever present crowd of locals, cleanliness, and their honest menu give Five Guys Burgers and Fries my vote. They obviously run the show based on truth and integrity.

So, if you find yourself in North Myrtle Beach, SC, and have a craving for a burger and fries, stop by Five Guys - they are the corner of 2nd Ave North and Highway 17 - the northbound side, in the Lowes Home Store plaza. A jillion locals can't be wrong!

Ok... Back to work on the websites! Have a great day!

Blog now on Portable Garages And Shelters website

The art of business blogging was something we didn't completely understand a year and a half ago when we opened the doors to our Portable Garages and Shelters business.

In fact, had you told me that I would become a "blogger" a year and a half ago, I would have thought you were nuts.

But, those of you who have been reading my blog here know that I've become passionate about blogging, writing ezine articles, and seeing websites and businesses build and prosper - not just my own, but those of others as well. It's a lot of fun to see people doing well!

So, now I have added the blog to my Portable Garages and Shelters website. It's not an interactive one, because I haven't quite figured out how to allow comments in that website's particular template, but perhaps down the line I'll get it. For now, it will remain just one more tool to help potential customers see that there is a real person behind the site.

We're having fun now!

From my First YouTube Video to "Video Marketing Queen!"

Ok, I admit it. I'm now thoroughly hooked on YouTube.

After last week's post (see last post), wherein I DID NOT QUIT and successfully uploaded my very first YouTube video (about assembly a Party Tent), I got to thinking about Video Marketing.

Turns out that Video Marketing is big. And, I need to begin using this fascinating medium. It's one of the things that I have been learning as part of the strategies taught by the folks at Mike Dillard's place, which is a great learning platform for online marketing.

During the week (in which most of it was spent indoors since it was freezing down here at Cherry Grove Beach - no, it really WAS freezing - in the 20's and 30's) I had time to think about how I could begin using video marketing as a tool to drive more traffic to my website.

I knew it works, because the other day, I had a call from some guy out of the blue who saw my video on YouTube, and he was looking for a specific portable shelter from my Portable Garages and Shelters website.

Who would have thought that someone would find me that way?

I learned how to embed the video from YouTube into my website, and now someone can watch the assembly demonstration.

Today, I experimented further, and came up with YouTube video number 2, which primarily introduces the viewer to my Portable Garages website, and encourages them to visit. We really do have some great deals, and I am so fond of the folks up at the MDM Rhino Shelter warehouse in Milford, CT, that I just want to bring in more orders. The customer wins by getting a good deal, I win by getting an order, and MDM Rhino wins by getting the order through me.

So, by tomorrow, my home page at Portable Garages and Shelters will feature my latest YouTube creation, and customers will see the actual face behind the site.

I got to thinking even more... As my regular readers know, I'm hooked on entrepreneurial pursuits. I love working from home - actually, let me rephrase that: I love working from home ONLINE - because it is that "working from home" and "internet based business" stuff that has enabled us to be here in this magnificent beach community for the winter.

So, why not start doing some short YouTube videos to promote my other online business opportunities? I can introduce myself briefly - again, so people can see that there is a real person behind the site and opportunity - and offer little training segments, as well as words of inspiration and motivation.

This is getting more exciting by the minute, and again - I'm glad I didn't give up! :)