Author Archives: admin

Armed Exterminators: Putting People First

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By MJ PLaster

On a beautiful California afternoon, you might find Dale Rodgers, owner of Armed Exterminators (www.armedexterminators.com), taking an occasional walk along the beach in Malibu. Those who rise with the chickens can catch him swimming laps at the YMCA most mornings. If you were to connect the dots between these two data points, you might conclude he lives a life of leisure. But things are not always as they seem.

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Internet Security : Creating Secure Passwords

metal security lock with password on computer keyboard

By Jurissa Ayala

In our day and age, we have the amazing ability to be hooked up to the Internet and perform our business, our banking, schooling and communication from anywhere we want. However, our security online depends greatly on our ability to protect our personal accounts from unauthorized access, as malicious users try to break into other people’s accounts thousands of times every day. Passwords are the linchpin in our security, and it is vital that we create strong passwords to protect our accounts and our identities.

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The First Thing We Do, Let’s Kill All the Hackers

Large group of people that are seeking security protection , internet , identity theft , home protection concept.

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By MJ Plaster

You know the line from King Henry the Sixth even if you’ve never read a word of Shakespeare: “First thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” Here we’re talking about black hat hackers, the ones that wreak havoc with computer networks and Internet sites around the world. I’m probably next on their list after that headline, but how else can I tempt you to read vital information that could save your business?

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The Sharing Economy: Renting Luxury

beauty rich brunette woman in luxury interior near empty frames, vintage elegance, gold close up

By Jurissa Ayala

Many women would die to reach into their closets and pull out a new designer garment for every day of the week. But considering today’s unstable economy and the exorbitant prices demanded by high-end brands, this is unrealistic. Luckily, businesses are capitalizing on the public’s desire for luxury apparel. America’s new approach to a sharing economy is via rental.

Eager fashionistas now flock to various websites to borrow high-priced handbags, jewelry, and gowns for a fraction of the retail cost. Each lender comes with its own unique system and policy, but all in all, fashion-hungry women are making out like bandits as they sell, borrow, and buy some of the most coveted pre-used luxury pieces on the market.

Here’s a spotlight on some of the most Continue reading

The Ins and Outs of Outsourcing

Businessman sitting at white table with hand drawn business concept background

By MJ Plaster

Before you leap into outsourcing, consider how it could affect established relationships with current employees and customers? It’s one thing to save money, but you don’t want to lose key employees or have customers run for the exit.

What Is Outsourcing?

The term “outsource” has two meanings:

  • To contract with a person or business to provide talent that doesn’t reside within your workforce. The talent you hire is “work for hire” or sometimes hired on retainer and must fall within IRS guidelines for contractors.
  • To offshore work to a country with cheaper labor.

Both forms of outsourcing provide a service that’s cheaper than hiring an employee when you consider employee overhead.

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AMS: The Magic of a Winning Corporate Culture

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By MJ Plaster

When you click “Buy Now” on the Internet, you trust the retailer to deliver your package on time and in perfect condition—and that usually happens. But did you know that a third-party fulfillment company is often the invisible partner that handles all the pesky details to make it happen?

AMS Fulfillment (AMS), a privately owned business based in Valencia, California, provides a seamless end-to-end delivery system to retail partners who choose not to run their own warehouses. The company accepts delivery from the manufacturer, unpacks and inspects the merchandise to ensure quality control, repackages it for the end consumer, ships and tracks the delivery, allowing clients to share the HR resources at AMS.

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Is Facebook Making you more Vulnerable to a Grandparent Scam?

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The grandparent scam has been around a few years, according to the FBI, but numbers have increased dramatically as seniors become more active online and with social media. A typical grandparent scheme involves a phone or email; someone identifying themselves as one of your grandkids will claim to be in trouble and need immediate financial help. Continue reading