How To Find The Perfect New Or Used Vehicle

Today's conversation is sponsored and all opinions are mine.

Looking for a new or used car can often times be one of those dreaded tasks, but is a must for most of us. It’s even harder when you are doing it for the first time. Narrowing down what style, make, model, and specific features you are looking for is the first step. There is a ton of research involved to ensure you get the perfect vehicle to fit your needs. 

The nice thing about living in this time is that nifty thing we call the internet. You can hop on to Cars.com and browse any type of car/truck/SUV whether new or used, and find what is available right in your area. If you already have car you would like to use as a trade, you can use their online estimator to see what your car is valued at. It took me about 3 minutes to fill out the short form and the results were instant. 

I was looking at used SUVs in a 40 mile range from my location and was really impressed with how many dealers came up in my area. I was able to set the price that worked for my budget as well as the distance I was willing to travel if I was interested in that particular one. It's nice to be able to see the specifics of each vehicle to help make narrowing down my choices easier. 

Some vehicles have many photos to show interior, trunk, backseat, front/rear end, and more. If you get your choices down, you can plan your visits to visit the dealer lot or showroom for a closer look and test drive. It's like a search engine just for automobiles. You can even save your searches and read reviews from other customers. We will be purchasing a family vehicle in the Fall and will utilize Cars.com as a resource to point us in the right direction.

Whether you are looking for a standard car, minivan, truck, SUV, or even a swanky sports car, Cars.com is a great starting place. You can browse the huge selection on their website and make sure you stay connected on Facebook and Twitter.

3 Internet Marketing Ideas for Tech Companies

Have your marketing brainstorming sessions hit a dead end? Are your current strategies to market your technology falling short of set goals? Here you will find some unique marketing strategies and ideas that will help boost your online visibility and presence, attracting the right potential leads.

Why Should a Tech Company Market Itself?

No matter the niche, every organization needs marketing. Marketing is the fuel that drives more traffic to your organization’s website, staying at the front in your customers’ minds, creating new subscribers, leads and customers. Without an Internet marketing strategy, potential customers may not even know you exist, even as they look for products and services you offer.

With great marketing, a tech organization like yours will reach more potential customers, educate the leads on why they should take on your services and create long-lasting, mutually beneficial business relationships. Of course, the main challenge is finding out what online marketing ideas will take your tech organization to the next level.

1. Exchange Your Best Content for Email Addresses

If you do not want to offer your most valuable content to people free, you really do not have to. Instead, consider sending your content by selectively choosing emails or requiring email addresses first in exchange for the content. This strategy will prove valuable in the end.

For example, if your organization has a cloud application that integrates merchant credit services for small businesses, you can have a detailed guide to using the application. Restrict access to the guide until visitors to your website enter their name, company name, email address, or any other information you want. Many users  don’t like to enter a long list of information to get your  content, so  be selective in what you request.After entering the information, the visitor is automatically subscribed to your mailing list or you can channel them to a specific email campaign depending on their niche market.

2. On-Site Forms for Leads

However, you do not need to rely on a single contact form, email address or phone number to attract leads. You can use many alternate methods to convert potential subscribers or customers into leads. Pop-ups are great because they are attention grabbing; unfortunately, few Internet users like them.

If you are not a fan of pop-ups and do not want them on your website, consider adding a Contact Us box on virtually every page on your website. The contact box allows potential leads to have a method of contacting you whenever and wherever they are on your website.

3. Create and Publish Educational Content

If you have not started, this is the best time to start producing content for your website in the form of videos, guides, whitepapers, or posts. Whether you are providing software or hardware solutions, there is a lot to benefit from content that educates customers. The content you post or send to your customers should answer their questions and help them make smarter buying decisions.


Content should not be hyper-focused on your organization’s products and services, it should be relevant to your niche and, most importantly, what your leads are interested in. For example, if you produce networking hardware, you can provide content that will be most helpful to individuals looking for networking solutions. Some of the topics you could focus on include guiding on how to set up networks, blog posts on wireless network security, a video on how to install the equipment or a review of time-tracking software like Clockspot.

Typically, the content should not push visitors into buying your product, but should help you to rank high in search engines and attracting more customers. In fact, 37 percent of marketers agree that blogs on business websites are most valuable in content marketing. This means that you should post your content on a regular basis for the campaign to be successful.

Tips for maximizing space in the home

Do you ever feel like you do not utilize the space in your home properly, leaving a feeling of clutter and crowding? Here are some simple tips for maximizing space in the most common area in your home.

1. The Kitchen 
To maximize your work space in the kitchen, it's important to be imaginative and invest in clever, space-saving storage ideas. A great idea to save space is to invest in integrated appliances - appliances that fit seamlessly into cupboards, therefore saving space around the kitchen. Integrated appliances can be expensive to be and often require a full kitchen re-do, but you may be able to place your appliances into existing cupboards to save money and space. The thought of hanging your pans and utensils from hooks around the kitchen may strike you as being a tad old fashioned, but it's an excellent way to save space; pans take up a lot of cupboard space, so by hanging them up, you'll be able to save yourself an entire cupboard for additional storage.

2. The living room
A great way to save space in the living room is to do away completely with hefty TV stands and install your TV on the wall. Corner sofas are another great space saving techniques; they make use of corners that would otherwise be left bare and unused.

3. The bathroom
Saving space in the bathroom can be tricky; after all, there are a lot of essential items - such as baths, sinks, showers, and toilets (check out this Toilet Review Guide) - to fit in and finding additional space to use can be a challenge. Corner sinks and vanity units are an excellent idea to save space; they are specifically designed to sit in bathroom corners that would otherwise go on used and are a great space saving technique, you can take a look at some examples here. Rounded bathroom furniture is another good thing to invest in; unlike convention, rectangular shaped furniture, rounded furniture has softer edges, and is usually slightly smaller in size than other types of furniture. The softer edging helps to create the illusion of more space, and the rounded edging fits in better with smaller bathroom styles. Shower curtains are another clever storage area.

If you have a combination bath-and-shower (a great space saving solution in itself), a shower curtain is definitely better than a glass door; they're easier to move, and can be pushed back to create the illusion of space around the bath area. Glass doors are more fixed, and can look clunky and in the way. Shower curtains can now be bought with pockets in them, giving you handy storage space for items such as sponges and shower gels; you can use it to store bath items that would otherwise be kept in messy rows around the bath, thereby freeing-up space around the bath.

4. The bedroom
Considering all the things we have to find room for in our bedrooms, it's a good thing that there are some clever storage techniques out there. If you aren't fortunate enough to have a bed that comes complete with storage drawers, you can improvise by investing in a sliding shelf for under your bed to store bed linen and other items. Under-bed storage items are a great way to save space, and help you to utilize room that you already have in your room, but otherwise go unused. If you store items under your bed anyway, an under-bed storage unit can help to make your room look tidier by hiding items that may otherwise poke out from under the bed.

How Much is Too Much Salt

Powered by Learn about life

Have you ever wondered how much salt is too much? Check out the health quiz below to help you understand more, and perhaps find out if you are overdoing it yourself. 

About Health IQ:
HealthIQ's mission is to improve the health of the world. In pursuit of this mission, they've created over 1,000 health-related quizzes and worked with innovative insurance companies to create financial rewards for health conscious people. To date, Health IQ has helped over ten thousand triathletes, vegans, runners, and other health conscious people secure billions in life insurance coverage, and they hope to expand to other financial rewards in the near future.

Top 5 Celebrities Who Look Great Over Age 45 Expert Plastic Surgeon Weighs In on Their Instagram Photos

There are celebrities who seem to get better with age and maintain their looks while others seem to be at war with aging. From lip injections and fillers that make faces look oddly distorted; to full face lifts that lead to slanted eyes and an expression-less appearance, we can’t help to notice when celebrities get it so wrong. In a sea of over-the-top plastic surgery, there are many celebrities who may have had a procedure or four, but managed to preserve the integrity of their faces. Dr. Kirk Brandow, founder and director of the Brandow Clinic for Cosmetic Surgery in Philadelphia; who has appeared on national programs such as Good Morning America and 20/20, shared his list of the top 5 celebrities who look great over age 45 and explains why.

The best part, these images are from the Instagram accounts of these gorgeous ladies so the photos are current and in many cases, unretouched. Let’s begin.

1. Salma Hayek, age 50. Latin women with olive complexions age very well and Salma certainly fits into this category. She was gorgeous at 30 and she’s stunning still. “She looks incredible. She doesn’t appear to have had anything done. Amazing!” says Dr. Brandow. “For women looking to achieve this look there are simple things such as Botox to the forehead to prevent eyes from falling and to keep eyebrows in their natural position,” he adds. “You want to maintain your natural features and knowing the right moisturizer, make-up, plus sticking to a healthy diet, helps to maintain a youthful glow from the inside out. To achieve a look like Salma’s, most women would have to go the route of a mini face lift in their 40’s which offers a more natural look for 6-10 years without the distortion of excessive fillers,” he adds. 

2. Kris Jenner, age 61. 

While the Power “Momager” admits to having cosmetic procedures, she’s transformed herself into an elegant, age appropriate grandmother. Kris Jenner is on record saying she’s had a facelift, uses fillers yet, her look is sophisticated and not at all scary. “She looks great at 61. Her skin is radiant, her face has expression, there’s great symmetry and her features are soft.  She is an excellent example of someone who has embraced surgery to improve her eyelids with blephorplasty, her face with a facelift, and fillers in a very conservative fashion to get a nice, natural, ageless look.” explains Dr. Brandow. 

3. Cindy Crawford, age 51. Cindy Crawford’s look is iconic. She knows this and makes sure she keeps things as authentic as possible. “With Cindy, it’s all about those classic eyebrows and lips. Both have been beautifully maintained. Her eyebrows aren’t freakishly high. They look the same as they did in the 90’s. Her lips aren’t any different either. A lot of women over inject their lips distorting their shape and lose their uniqueness. The idea is to preserve, not change,” suggests Dr. Brandow. “Again, women often go too far with fillers leading to a puffy look when they can achieve a more natural look with a mini facelift which lessens the need for the fillers making the mini facelift a more cost-effective option over time,” he adds.

4. Jennifer Lopez, age 47. Jennifer Lopez is another Latina who looks at father time and gives him a wink. Her body is amazing and you can tell she has a healthy lifestyle. “I have patients in their 30’s saying they hope they look like J-Lo when they reach their late 40’s which is why they are getting procedures now. Jennifer Lopez is truly the hardest working woman in show biz who looks like she sleeps full 8 hours every night a very important part of the anti-aging regimen,” Dr. Brandow advises. It is possible that she does minimal things such as Botox or fillers, but in a very conservative way.”

5. Jennifer Anniston, age 48. When you see re-runs of the hit 90’s TV show Friend’s, you can easily compare a 26-year-old Anniston in her role as Rachel Greene, to how she looks two decades later.  You immediately can see how Jennifer Anniston has aged with grace. “She is another laid-back celebrity who ages with elegance. Her body is toned and strong and her face looks fresh and natural. As women age they lose volume in their lips. So, it is important to keep lip injections subtle and factor the overall shape of the mouth,” advises Dr. Brandow. 

About Dr. Kirk Brandow

Dr. Kirk Brandow, founder and director of the Brandow Clinic for Cosmetic Surgery is a plastic surgeon with 2 locations in the Philadelphia metro area and a 3rd one at the jersey shore. Named a “Top Doc” in Plastic Surgery by Philadelphia Magazine as well as nationally recognized for one of America’s “Best Plastic Surgeons” of this decade, Dr. Brandow is a trusted expert who has developed many innovative, minimally invasive procedures for the face, body and skin. He has been featured on local, national and international television programs including 20/20, CNN’s Headline News, Good Morning America.