1. Use WordPress: All in all, the options are endless with WordPress hosting. You get a fairly seamless user experience, and unlimited customization based on your theme choice. Google is your best friend when building out your first blog – any question you have will have an answer living somewhere on the internet.

2. Don’t Get Hung Up On Design: I could spend HOURS re-tooling my site, and certainly did. That said, once you have something functional and somewhat aesthetically pleasing, it’s far more important to focus on your content and iterate on design down the line.

3. Post New and Relevant Content: Don’t constantly talk about the same stuff over and over – that certainly won’t give your readers any reason to come back. Find your focus, but make sure you diversify.

4. Be Consistent: There’s nothing worse than an  ‘occasional’ blogger. As a reader, it’s easy to get frustrated and give up, or even forget about a blog if they aren’t posting regularly. Make your mark, and keep contributing to your audience!

5. Stick It Out: Consistent blog traffic is never built in a day. Sometimes it can take years to attract the kind of desirable traffic you’re after – so keep at it. The reality is, blogging should be something you’re passionate about – as with anything in life, if you’re passionate: success will follow.

Do you have any tips for bloggers starting out? Share them in the comments!

What are your thoughts? Are you shocked by any of this info? Is there anything you didn’t know?

Imagine a system where if a product scans with an incorrect price at the cashier’s till, it becomes FREE! Well, guess what? I’m here to tell you that this imaginary system is actually a reality, and it’s called the “Scanner Price Accuracy Voluntary Code”.

There’s a few minor stipulations:

“If the scanned price of a non-price ticketed item is higher than the shelf price or any other displayed price, the customer is entitled to receive the item free, up to a $10 maximum. When the item has a price tagged, the lowest price applies. When identical items are incorrectly priced, the second one will be sold at the correct price.” (Source: http://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca)

Who Participates?

The Canadian Association of Chain Drug Stores (CACDS)
Shoppers Drug Mart
The Groupe Jean Coutu (NB and Ont only)
Lawton Drug Stores
London Drugs
Lovell Drugs
Pharma-save (BC and Sask)

The Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors (CCGD)
Canada Safeway Limited
The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company of Canada Limited
Loblaw Companies Limited
Sobeys Inc.
Metro Inc.
Thrifty Foods
Costco Wholesale Canada Ltd.
Co-op Atlantic
Federated Co-operatives Limited

The Retail Council of Canada (RCC)
Costco Wholesale Canada Ltd.
The Home Depot Canada
Canadian Tire Corporation Ltd.
Toys r Us
Shoppers Drug Mart
Wal*Mart Canada Corp.
Giant Tiger Stores Ltd.
The North West Company
Best Buy/Future Shop ( in implementation stage)
2 Home Hardware franchisees

The Federation of Independent Grocers (FIC)
Thrifty Foods
Overwaitea Food Group
The Harry Watson Group
Longos Brothers Fruit Markets

As well as over 1000 independent locations

So next time you’re at the cash register, keep your eyes peeled! The sale price that you thought was FANTASTIC could end up being better than you think!

Want more info? Click here.

Have a story about redeeming this policy? Share it in the comments!

Chances are: a curse word followed by a swift move to pick up the umbrella on your way out the door are in your near future. Here’s the thing you may be missing -  40% chance of rain actually means 60% of sunshine. Refreshing, right?

This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t be taking your umbrella out with you in the morning – but also, properly look at the information in front of you, and choose your perspective.

We’ve all heard the familiar ‘glass half full’ analogies, and I can honestly admit that I sometimes find them incredibly annoying – particularly when the timing is off. I’ll admit: I spend a majority of my life planning for the worst. I find that there’s great benefits from always expecting the outcome will turn out sour. It prepares your mind in advance of bad news, and if by chance it all goes well – you’re pleasantly surprised.

All of that said, there’s one important concept that can easily be forgotten. You can prepare yourself without allowing negativity or fear to take over. It’s easy to let little things distract you in life, but with a proper perspective – you can be fully prepared to embrace disruption.

When you encounter situations that you find challenging or even a test of your patience, there’s a few questions you can ask yourself to get in the right mindset.

• Can I change the outcome of the situation? If not, accept it and make the best – sweating small stuff isn’t worth the heart attack.

• How can I prepare myself? Think about what you can do to limit the amount of negativity in the situation, and brace yourself for the unexpected.

• Will this matter a year from now? If not, try to figure out how to deal with the situation, and realize that the outcome won’t last forever

• Will it reflect badly on me if I’m resistant to the situation? Chances are, the people who have positive and open mindsets are viewed as more evolved and progressive human beings.

Believe me, I know how tempting it can be to fly off the handle or jump to negative thinking. We’re all guilty of it – we’re human. Hopefully this post can help you work towards seeing the 60% chance of sunshine on the horizon, while still keeping an umbrella in your back pocket (just incase).

I’m here to tell you right now – that a simple cut and paste job into your status will NOT automatically re-instate your rights, or any other objective you have in your head. This paragraph is not legally binding and frankly, the fact that Facebook has gone public is completely unrelated to the privacy of your content.

The fact is: social networks are not made for private storage. What this means for you? That regardless of privacy settings, personal preferences and the like: you should treat every photo, sentence and your shared content as though your grandmother/mother/employer/future employer CAN and WILL see everything.

In light of this, here’s a few things you can do to clean up any questionable stuff you may have lying around in your past:

1. Delete Questionable Photos: If you’re emotionally attached to them, save them somewhere. Regardless of the privacy settings- there are several ways these can be accessed (including by that person who just interviewed you for your dream job).

2. Censor Yourself: Obviously these networks are all made for you to express yourself, but keep in mind that it’s possible that everything you say online can be publicly retrieved. Keep your controversial conversations to ‘in-person’ – it could be the difference between scoring a potential job, client or even a relationship.

3. Download Your Facebook History: This is easy to do by going to your general settings menu (see picture). Sometimes we forget just exactly what we have listed online, and this is a resource to really go back and decipher what should be edited or deleted.

4. Everyone and Everything Is A Brand: Everything you say, everything you do, and everything you endorse is a reflection of yourself online. Put thought into the future when posting in the present – you never know what tomorrow brings.

Do you have additional tips or suggestions to avoid unnecessary disruption? Share them in the comments!

This brings me to a recent encounter with an acquaintance of mine. She… well,  let’s call her ‘Margarita’ for writing’s sake. Margarita had reached a point in her early twenties where she had just graduated school and had no idea what to do with herself. Parents experience empty nest syndrome after youth leave the home, and it’s my firm belief that youth have a similar sort of symptom soon after graduation. This was certainly the case for good old Marg. You see, Margarita has worked the odd job, and even has some fantastic opportunities on the horizon. Her problem? She wasn’t sure if the path she’d paved so far was one she wanted to continue on.

I think this happens to many of us early on in discovering what the world has in store for us. I jumped from job to job for many years – in fact, I can probably walk the streets of Toronto and recall a place of employment within each kilometre of travel. The truth is, everyone moves at their own pace when trying to get from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’. The important thing to remember is: the alphabet has 26 letters, and it’s ok if ‘A to B’ becomes ‘A to Z’.

If there’s any advice I’d be able to give to people in this situation, I think it would be this:

We constantly think that we’re in a race. A race against our peers, our family, and ourselves. We make these master plans that map out exactly how we’re going to accomplish the aspirations we have in life, yet we rarely are actually able to follow these detailed scripts. Take your time, make mistakes, and have some fun – opportunity is always around the corner but don’t just jump into it because you think you HAVE to. It’s ok to take a step back, wait tables, bartend, or work in retail for awhile just until you get things figured out. Sometimes you just have to live life until the right opportunity presents itself.

Please don’t interpret any of this as an encouragement to lose your ambition and drive, because by no means do I think that people should become complacent or simply settle. This is directed at those who know they’re destined for greatness in the world – but have yet to figure out how to unleash their strengths. Have a plan, but don’t beat yourself up if it doesn’t materialize in the time period you sought out. Practise and patience mixed with progressive behaviour and positivity will take you to your destination. Many of the most successful people I know have arrived where they are after something that wasn’t in their ‘plan’ somehow bumped them off course. As it turns out, sometimes a detour is the faster way to get to your destination.

As for Margarita? I poured her another cocktail, and told her to follow her gut.