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Family Business Secrets 5 Strategic Fall Business Tips

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As a longtime business consultant, I talk to business owners each day. Key ideas for remaining vital come up all the time when I am conversing with clients and employees. Here are just five I would like to share as we prepare for falls traditional uptick in the marketplace.

Host an Event

Open your office for a networking opportunity, a business briefing or a breakfast. Get clients and prospects through the door. If your budget is lean, partner with a complementing business. For example, if you are a real estate broker hosting first-time home buyers, allow a mortgage company to provide catered food and coffee.

Meet with Advisors in Person

Ask your A-Team (think your lawyer, CPA, benefits consultant) to meet face-to-face. Discuss changes in your operations, ask for discounted fees or propose performance-based billing in exchange for a renewed commitment to do business together.

Conduct Informational Interviews

Some genuine stars, the best and brightest managers, salespeople, financial planners and artistic professionals are seeking work right now. So, too, are high-energy college graduates. Meet with themeven if you do not have a job opening. Fifteen minutes may inspire a job seeker to share industry insights. It also may inspire you to bring on a consultant until a full-time position is available.

Sharpen Your Sword

So you have sold widgets for 15 years by doing X, Y and Z for five hours a day. You are still doing X, Y and Z, but your sales are down by 50 percent. Stay sharp. Take classes online, listen to training experts and shake off old habits that no longer yield results. A new economy requires fresh tactics in every industry. Moreover, what worked during exponential growth in the Valley may not guarantee success in todays conditions.

Target International Clients

Our city is on the map, so think globally. Equip your office with web conferencing technology, attend seminars on international outreach and etiquette, discuss foreign currency billing with your aforementioned A-Team and track headlines. Create a customized approach for non-U.S. markets seeking a presence here. If you do not, your competitor down the street will.

Dealing With Difficult People And Family Members Who Stop Communicating

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Dealing with difficult people goes beyond working with difficult people but often means trying to handle frustrating and distressing family members. In recent consultations with clients here is an example of a typical experience when dealing with difficult people who are family members.

AN EXAMPLE OF FAMILY MEMBER CONFLICT

Here’s what one client explained. I thank you for your suggestions on coping with difficult people. But what I’ve seen is that in dealing with difficult people at work it’s simple as compared to family members. I’ve changed the way I am communicating with family members and they are being very stubborn trying to keeps everything the same.

CHANGING THE COMMUNICATION RULES WITH OTHERS

When I started setting limits, setting boundaries and speaking out about how I truly feel there was a backlash. As other family members have continued to try and stick their nose into my personal space I have been very strong to keep reminding them about my personal boundaries. However, a close family member has stopped talking to me altogether and cut off all communication.

DEALING WITH DIFFICULT PEOPLE AND NOTHING NEW

This response from other people is nothing new. This occurs when dealing with difficult people at work and personal experience. When you alter your communication patterns with someone, their first response is to keep working harder to keep the communication the same. When you still persist to change your communication, they often respond by cutting off their communication.

FAMILY SYSTEMS AND COPING WITH DIFFICULT PEOPLE

Dealing with difficult people who are family members is often much more complex than dealing with difficult people at work. This is because family members often know the behavior of each other so well. There have been years and years of dysfunctional communication patterns happening in the family system. When one family member attempts to change the way they communicate, the reaction of others is way over the top. Family members often react with a greater degree of resistance to these long held communication patterns. Going to extremes of becoming even more negative in their communication or refusing to communicate.

COMMUNICATION HAS STOPPED – WHAT DOES THIS MEAN

There’s many ways to handle things when a member of the family cuts off communication with you. But the most vital point for you to remember in dealing with difficult people in any situation is this.

YOU ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANOTHER PERSON

Here it is. In the end other people must take responsibility. You can attempt to work through the issues with them. But ultimately, it’s their decision whether or not they cut off all communication with you.

DEALING WITH DIFFICULT PEOPLE AND LETTING GO

You have to be aware that no matter how you attempt to handle the situation, sometimes family members decide to ‘cut all ties’ and no longer communicate with you. You need to recognize that in the end it is their decision to behave in this way. You have to actually respect their decision and let go in dealing with difficult people. Let go, give them the space they have demanded and get on with living your life.

DEALING WITH PEOPLE FINDING MORE IDEAS

In further articles we’ll look at other methods of dealing with people who cut of communication with you. But now stop the guilt. Remember that the decisions adults make are their own choices. Dealing with difficult people in the family means understanding, as you do in dealing with difficult people at work, that everybody makes their own decisions about their lives.

What Constitutes family Law

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Family law. It’s a term you may have heard thrown around in the past, one associated primarily with divorce in the minds of the masses. The term encompasses a number of issues surrounding marriage and divorce, however, all of which have legal ramifications that have the potential to adversely affect your future. These issues, which range from child custody and child support to spousal maintenance, annulment and more, shine a light on the importance of having an experienced divorce lawyer as your advocate. The Arizona law firm of McGuire Gardner, P.L.L.C. can make certain your rights are protected, and work toward the fair and equitable outcome you desire in your family law case.

An experienced and qualified family law attorney can and will educate you as to applicable law in cases involving:

* Divorce
* Legal separation
* Annulment
* Child support
* Child custody
* Alimony
* Spousal maintenance

* Adoption
* Parental rights
* Adoption
* Paternity cases
* Pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements

Should you be confronted with any of these issues, the first thing you should know is that the laws governing these issues are complex. You can’t be expected to know the law on your own, but you can depend on someone who does. Most family law firms will offer you a free initial consultation, which can be an invaluable resource in terms of gaining valuable information. A sit-down with an experienced attorney can bring a sense of order to what may seem like a chaotic situation. In the process you’ll gain valuable insight and begin the process of protecting your rights.

In Arizona, McGuire and Gardner, P.L.L.C. will schedule your free initial consultation immediately after you contact them by phone or by email, provide maps or driving directions to an office in your community, and assist you in scheduling a time to meet with an attorney at your convenience.

A divorce, particularly one that includes custody and financial issues, can make for one of life’s most stressful occurrences. The issues involved in family law cases carry with them a great deal of emotion for all parties involved. In such times, the worst possible option is going it alone. Put your case in the hands of an experienced family law attorney, and put yourself on a path toward the outcome you desire.

Comparing Hard Core Rap Groups Like Dayton Family To Horror Rap Groups Like Dark Lotus

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This best way to demonstrate the difference between hard core rap and horror rap groups would be to compare different lyrical samplings of each side by side. However, its smarter to start with the difference in backgrounds and mentalities of hard core rap groups like Dayton Family and horror rap groups like Dark Lotus.

Dayton Family is a hard core rap group from Flint, Michigan, who named their group after one of the most crime-ridden streets in their crime-ridden city, Dayton street. That should say enough about the attitude of these hard core rappers. Its not often that an environment such as the one Dayton Family originates from breeds anything other than gritty, honest, street-heavy rap. You wont hear anything lighthearted in Dayton Familys rhymes, and when they talk tough, theyre not kidding around.

If there was ever any doubt about Dayton Familys cred, said doubt vanished once founding members Bootleg (Ira Dorsey) and Backstabba (Matt Hinkle) were each incarcerated separately during the turning point in the bands short career. These two imprisonments undoubtedly hindered the quality and quantity Dayton Family was able to produce as a hard core rap group throughout its career.

Now Dark Lotus, on the other hand, is different in many respects. For one, Dark Lotus is a horror rap super group, so each one of Dark Lotuss members was an established horror rap artist in his own right before joining up with Dark Lotus. That said, the themes present in Dark Lotuss horror rap music really is not far off each of its individual members own horror rap music.

For those unfamiliar, horror rap themes usually include but are not limited to death, suicide, murder, violence, Satanism, and other terrifying themes. Unlike Dayton Family, you will not see Dark Lotus rapping about the hood, drug dealing on street corners, or about cops in a derogatory fashion (at least not often).

Dark Lotuss horror rap, in contrary, is much more personal, introspective, and spiritual. Often times you can find Dark Lotuss horror rap artists bemoaning the fact that they are still alive and wishing to die, thoughts that often travel into the supernatural with talk of souls traveling to different destinations.

One common link between Dayton Familys hard core rap music and Dark Lotuss horror rap music is their origin. Members in both groups come from impoverished, street-centric adolescences, and thus have much of the same fodder for their rhymes. Though they may approach these topics from two different angles in horror rap and hard core rap, when you boil it down, Dark Lotus and Dayton Family are the way they are for very similar reasons!

Resource Box
The Dayton Family, one of hard core raps most notorious Midwestern groups, and Dark Lotus, arguably the largest horror rap super group of its kind in the world (definitely in the Midwest), may write different styles of music, but they come from similar backgrounds. To learn more about Dark Lotus and their music, please visit http://hatchetgear.com/bands/darklotus.html.

Keeping The House Rules When Adult Children Return To The Blended Family

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Even adult children returning home to a blended family benefit from some rules and boundaries. Adult stepchildren graduating from college today face a tough job market in which to succeed. College kids are returning home, for a place to stay until they can launch their careers. Even tougher, are the kids who return to a blended family, one with a new step parent and step siblings.

Boundaries and rules established and agreed upon, before adult stepchildren return to the nest, are essential for the successful blended family. Adult stepchildren can function well living at home with stepparents when presented with clear expectations.

Focus on the positive in your blended family
Focus on the positive when adult children ask to return home. Adult children, in most cases, don’t want to ask biological parents if they can move in with a stepfamily, and you might consider it a compliment to your successful remarriage when they do. Clearly, your adult child feels comfortable living with the stepparent, and that is flattering. Stepmom or stepdad needs to acknowledge the compliment, and make sure to let the adult stepchild know you are eager to spend more time with him.

As well, after the biological parent and stepparent agree upon a set of rules and boundaries, biological parents should lead a discussion about them with the adult stepchild in advance of the move-in date. Adult stepchildren are often willing to comply with rules when they know biological parents and stepparents are happy to have them around.

Rules and boundaries should be reasonable and consistent
Adult stepchildren are, technically, adults, and should be treated as such. However, the adult stepchild who has returned home and is dependent upon the biological parent and stepmom or stepdad, should obey and respect parental authority. Rules and boundaries agreed upon in advance could include guidelines for
o dining and laundry
o a discussion of career plans
o an agreement to actively search and find a job by within a set period
o housekeeping chores
o an agreement to pay rent after six months
o an agreement to a raise in rent after 12 months
o guidelines for guests
o an expectation of quiet after a designated time or else a curfew will be established
o and an expectation that adults will be treated with respect.

Other discussion topics could include the use of an auto as well as guidelines for gas, insurance, and upkeep; smoking, drinking and girlfriend or boyfriend visits; as well as private time for parent and stepparent. Adult stepchildren who bend or even break established rules should be held accountable with another scheduled family meeting.

Road to independence should be paved with love and encouragement for your adult child
Adult stepchildren moving home is not unusual in light of the job market, and he or she should not be made to feel as if they have failed at adulthood. This won’t help a stepchild and it certainly won’t bode well for the blended family. Once rules and boundaries have been agreed upon in a stepfamily, welcome and encourage your adult stepchild into the remarriage. Make sure he spends individual time with his biological parent and offer positive support in his job search.

Stepchildren, especially adult stepchildren, need their own space, and should be afforded privacy and respect of their belongings by other stepkids. Adult stepchildren who return to the home may need extra help on the road to independence; stepmoms and stepdads who are part of that journey pave the way to a smooth stepfamily existence.

Adult stepchildren who return home are an unfortunate result of the economic downturn, but it doesn’t have to be a miserable experience. Biological and stepparents have to discuss and agree upon rules, before the adult stepchild moves in. An adult stepchild is usually amenable to parental guidelines when the discussion is led by the biological parent and assisted by the stepparent.

Adult children who return home to a blended family can find success and independence within a remarriage when expectations are clear and rules are well planned.