Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Jes-ka! is here

(The picture is actually from Labor Day 2007 - the last time I saw Jes-ka! when she came to hang out and go to the corn dinner.)

Yeah! Jes-ka! got in yesterday afternoon. She's off on a grand adventure being yacht (I guess I need to learn how to SPELL that...) crew but right now her boat is being ferried to Mallorca in Spain so she's got 3+ weeks vacation.

She drove in yesterday afternoon so we could spend a few days together. She'll actually be taking me to the airport tomorrow to catch my flight to Vegas. Today, we're basically bumming around Prescott -- I've got some errands to do and I feel the need for a bit of shopping. Then, we're going to use my Olive Garden gift card for dinner.

There has been a rumor of Ice Cream, Red Barn, a haircut, and Barnes & Noble in this afternoon's future.

IN OTHER NEWS...

Dad says the Enrolled Agent conference is going well; passing out lots of information , white papers about Identity Theft, and magazines. Today, he's planning on getting some people actually enrolled. Which is EXCELLENT -- we need the player's club points.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

I'm Printing!

It's a BEAUTIFUL Saturday morning, but I'm at the MDI office, printing literally THOUSANDS of brochures for the Super Seminar next week.

I've got:
  • My show flyer that explains why you should be an Associate (1,100 - in color)
  • The 12-page, double-sided (so 6 pages) White Paper: "Identity Theft and Your Tax Practice" which includes answers to the quiz (500 copies)
  • Trickle out day one: a double sided article excerpt about Identity Theft from 'Premier Business Magazine' (1,100 pages, double sided)
  • Trickle out day two: What's You Identity Theft IQ Quiz Is your business a target? (1,100 - single sided)
  • Trickle out day three: Last Chance to win a brand-new $100 bill! (1,100 - single sided)
Yeah, so I could SERIOUSLY be here all day, just printing. Luckily, I remembered to call the copy guys and have them service the machines so they're in good working order for all this. Now, I'm just hoping I have enough staples!

The goal for this show is 100 new Associates. Mom thinks we can easily get 300. I like 300!

Wish me luck!

Friday, May 16, 2008

Getting Close!


I'm really really close to having everything done and ready to print for this year's EA Super Seminar in Las Vegas! I've got three different "trickle out" pages that will be placed on the chairs of the attendees each morning. They're each designed to get them to come by the booth, pick up some information about Identity Theft, and enter the raffle.

This year, we're raffling off a CRISP $100 bill; one for each session. And, we'll be giving it away AT the conference so that should really get a lot more people entering the drawing and create some excitement.

Last year we had, I think 12 or 15 people sign up at the conference and I'm hoping to double that or better. It's really exciting and it should create some GREAT Player's Club points for us both.

Speaking of Player's Club, I'd better get on the stick. Here is is the 15th already and I have a whole ONE point being processed. For the big trip, I'll need to average at least 16 points per month. Hurry! Hurry!

But, Jes-ka! is coming to visit me on Monday. I can't wait. Of course, that means that it's limiting to my players club points early in the week so I'd better stay focused until then. The last week in May will be full of Finals for Spanish class, millions of phone calls for Pre-Paid and getting the garden in the ground.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Junk on the Forum

So, after I sent out my newsletter yesterday, I got an email about PORN on my forum. Convinced that there was no way that anything nasty could be on MY forum, I went and looked.

Yes! Lots of nasty NASTY. And then, I couldn't make heads or tails of how to get it cleaned up and then the Database crashed.

To solve the problem, I just loaded an index.html file to the root directory that redirects people to a "JOIN" page. Which is ridiculous on the MEMBERS-ONLY site, but it was the best I could do. The forum thing was a bust anyway and was coming down but still!

How gross can you get.

I'm so glad somebody pointed it out to me. Sicko!

Monday, May 12, 2008

We're back up and working!

We're Back Up & Running!


After nearly a week without the ability to log into the Members-Only website of EatStayPlay.com, we're back up and running! There were several problems:

1. Messages about "renewal" were going out. There's no need to renew your FREE membership. There's no payment required now or ever.



2. Nobody could log into the Members-Only website. This caused a ton of emails and phone calls. It took a lot of work, but it's fixed now.



3. People were registering several times and that was flooding the database with false queries. (That's techno-babble for "Please don't register more than once!")




All right: if you are already a member of EatStayPlay.com, you can log in at:



http://www.Members-EatStayPlay.com



I have your information as:



[fname]



[state]



[email]



If that is not correct, please login and update it at: www.regonline.com/63335_127235J and click on "Existing Member" after you enter your details.



(Or, you can send me an email!)



If you've forgotten your password, send me an email and I'll reset it for you. The link to request your password still doesn't work but I don't want to delay having you enroll for your membership.




If you weren't able to become a member, you can do that now at:


http://www.EatStayPlay.com/Join



If you are already in the database, [fname] Please PLEASE don't re-register. It costs EatStayPlay.com money for every free registration; I don't charge you it but it does cost me. To that end:



Go to the EatStayPlay.com store and pick up a tee shirt for Father's Day and support EatStayPlay.com and keep this great website free!



http://www.cafepress.com/EatStayPlay





Enjoy!




Friday, May 09, 2008

EatStayPlay.com Is Fixed!

After a TON of searching, we figured out how the login to Members-EatStayPlay.com became broken and how to get it fixed.

Turns out, I was setting up a new computer at home over the weekend and I couldn't remember my password to the Admin console. So, I followed the link that said "email password"


RIGHT!

It said EMAIL password; it meant RESET.

Turns out that my Admin password is part of the ping-program that verifies a valid name-email-registration match for EatStayPlay.com. I had no idea that I'd unintentionally caused this break.

Of course, I think that the link needs to be updated OR add the ability to actually email me the password. Not sure if I should have to pay for the duplicate registrations that occurred during this "broken" period.

We're back up and working though. Yeah! I'll send out an email blast to everybody to let them know as well.

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Post Cards Went Out!


Yeah! The post cards were mailed out today. All 966 of them to EAs across the state. Now, we'll get these EAs in as Pre-Paid Legal Associates and start helping to protect thousands of families across the country.

Tomorrow, I'll be at the Chino Valley Health & Business Expo with a booth about Identity Theft as well. Wish me luck in collecting tons of leads.

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Broken!

Okay, so my login for EatStayPlay.com is broken. I'm rerouting EVERYTHING to sign up for the Pitch Your Tent/Set Your Hook newsletter.

Now is NOT the time to be broken. I know it's not on my end, but it still might take a while to get it all fixed. I had to re-do all the Join pages and while I was at it I put Google AdWords up on it. It took a while to get them to display, but they ARE working. Finally!





Friday, May 02, 2008

Prom


Okay, this is just the picture of Alvin and I before the prom. It was a TON of fun but I don't have time to talk about it now!

Thursday, May 01, 2008

To Mail or Not To Mail

So, Dad & I are taking Pre-Paid on the road to help enroll Enrolled Agents as Pre-Paid Legal Associates. There will be (tentative) 966 attendees at the Super Seminar in Las Vegas March 19 - 24.


Here's the biggest question:

Should we invest another $430 to send them a pre-show mailed postcard that tells them to drop by the booth? What's another $430 against the $5k we've ALREADY invested in the show, right? When you look at it one way, it's just another 3 membership sales...


When you look at it the other way, it's ANOTHER $430 dollars!

I'm so sorely tempted though. I really want this show to be amazing and I think that if we TELL them that we will be there and if we TELL them we can help protect their clients and if the TELL them they can make more money then they'll be more likely to COME BY. Or at least remember us!

What to do, what to do!

I've got to wait another :20 until Dad comes back so I can run my thoughts by him.