Pricing

Pricing is the most important part, most people are concerned about. An offer of all package forwarders seems to be the same. You are going to pay for shipping via a specific 3rd party carrier, so why you should choose a package forwarder that ships for more than the other, right?

The most important part about pricing is, that you need to find a package forwarder with clear pricing. It’s common, that most of the package forwarders advertise no processing fees, free consolidation, etc. But how can these package forwarders earn money then? It’s simple. They hide all these fees to the shipping costs. So even you find a package forwarder that advertises no fees, it’s not true at all. I recommend choosing a package forwarder with clear pricing, so you can see what you are paying for.

Reviews and Real Experience

This is the most important part. Package forwarder MUST be trustworthy! You are going to send valued packages to a package forwarder, so you must be 100 % sure that packages are going to be handled carefully, professionally, with no delays. There are hundreds of reviews on websites such as Trustpilot, Sitejabber, etc., but the problem is, that most of these reviews are FAKE. If you see a package forwarder with thousands of positive reviews in a short period of time, no activity on social media, choose somebody else. Scammers are everywhere and fake package forwarders are pretty common. On the other hand, if you find a package forwarder with most of the positive reviews, sometimes some neutral review, in a long period of time, you can be almost sure that the package forwarder is legit.

I recommend finding a real experience written by some blogger. For example this review on howitravel.co. It’s a well-known blog written by Jordan Bishop, Forbes contributor, and digital nomad. You can find there a full user experience with one of the best package forwarders (Planet Express), including photos and delivery process.

Summary

Overall, if you want a reliable package forwarding service, search for real user experience, reviews on websites such as Trustpilot, and compare pricing. Last but not least, search ideally for a package forwarder with a sales-tax-free warehouse.

First of all, you need an address in the USA where you can receive packages from Amazon. The ideal solution is a package forwarding address. See my previous tutorial about how to get a US package forwarding address.

Once you have the address ready, just go on Amazon and shop anything you want. Moreover, you can save on sales tax when you use a sales-tax-free warehouse address, for example in Oregon. Once a package forwarder receives your packages, you can forward them worldwide and get truly international shipping when shopping Amazon USA.

The key how to save on international (and domestic too) shipping is called a volume discount. Based on a volume of packages you send, carriers offer volume discount, so more packages you send = better discount you get. If you do not ship much, it is not possible to get any discount and you have to pay the full price. But there is way how to get a volume discount, even you ship just a few packages a year. Just use the package forwarder!

Package forwarding is a service known for years and used especially by international shoppers, who shop in the US and forward packages worldwide.  It works as an advanced email, but instead of emails, you send packages. The best part is, that package forwarders ship a lot of packages, so you can take advantage of their volume discount. See a step by step tutorial on how to use package forwarder to send a package to your friend and save on shipping thanks to the volume discount they offer:

1. register and get a virtual address from a package forwarder
2. drop off the package at their location, or send the package to them
3. send the package worldwide with the best shipping rates

You can also find useful tutorials on how to ship a package to some specific countries below. You can also find there detailed information about import tax and customs clearance.

• shipping from USA to Australia
• shipping from USA to New Zealand
• shipping from USA to UK

Planet Express is Mail and Package Forwarding Service. After sign up you get your own US address where you can ship for example iPhone from Apple store or any other packages from US shops. Then you can just forward your package anywhere in the world with one of shipping methods that Planet Express offers. They have clear pricing without any hidden fees so you can easy calculate if shopping in US shops pays of.

One thing which I like the most is that you can consolidate your packages so if you have for example 4 packages at Planet Express, they consolidate all your packages into one just for $5 and thanks to it you can save a lot of money on shipping. Cool, right? :)

I started many of my businesses by accident. When I look back on how I came up with the ideas I can say there was no major thought process behind any of my business venture. I didn’t even have any substantial experience in those businesses when I started.

I knew I would be moving to Nevada and I tried to think of what I could do there. I knew Nevada was a very popular state for incorporation because of the very friendly business climate. So I figured it might be worthwhile to try an incorporation service. I also started another business in real estate, but I will talk about that later. Let’s go back to the incorporation business.

First, I went to Google trying to find other companies offering an incorporation service. I was trying to figure out how they worked, what was their pricing, if a person needed a lawyer to incorporate a business or if I could do it myself, what were the state fees, what forms must be used, etc.

The next step was to start it. This is the most important step in any venture. Unfortunately, from what I’ve seen around me, most people never do this step! I decided to offer just one service: Nevada corporation. I didn’t want to start by offering all kinds of company structures and additional services. Honestly, it was too much information at that time so I wanted to keep it as simple as possible so I could handle it. So one service was complicated enough at the time.

After that I decided to create a website. I forgot to tell you that I was really cheap (“didn’t have too much money to spend”) so I designed the site myself. I am not a webmaster or graphic designer. I know very basic HTML so I could do basic table designs or forms which people could fill out and send to my email. That was all that I needed for making my first website. You can see it here in the Internet Archive:

At the start I even used free web hosting. Later, when I received my first order I paid the cheapest hosting company I could find at $25 per year. That didn’t work well so I upgraded to $50 per year when the money started flowing in. The most important lesson was that I tried to do it the simplest way possible. Do you see some genius idea behind this business? Being realistic, these were very amateur web pages done by an amateur who tried to start something.

This beginning led to a business which is processing over 500 orders every month and is one of the top five incorporators in the state of Nevada with sales of two million dollars per year. I added step by step small improvements over time. Today, we have a very unique business with great ideas our competition doesn’t have. But most of the suggestions came from our customers or from what I learned along the way in terms of what needed to be improved.

So if someone tells me that they want to start a new business and the only thing they are missing is a great idea, I just have to say that it is nonsense. No great ideas are necessary. I think the most important thing is to find a way how to start very simply and improve on that way. Instead of writing business plans or doing market research just do what I did. Find a way how to start very simply and don’t invest too much money. You are not risking almost anything just a little bit of your time, but the reward can be great.

Back in elementary school I was in a class in which we did a study on dreams. Not just meanings of dreams and facts and the like, but actually ways to remember them. Not only was it pretty sweet to be able to wake up and remember a lot of the stuff you just dreamed, but it was cool to go back months later and check out the dream journal we kept and right then, vividly remember the dreams I had months before.

Hopefully something I’ll be able to do here on a monthly basis is post an “assignment” of sorts. An activity for you to do that will, in some way, provide a better understanding of yourself or your surroundings.

So this months assignment is to remember your dreams.

“How the flip flop do I do that Josh?” Ah, good question. Yes, there really is a methodology to this and yes, if done correctly, it will work.

Step 1.
When you lay down to go to sleep say out loud “Remember your dreams.” repeatedly. Say it atleast 10-20 times. The key here is “out loud.” Doing this trains your brain/memory to do just that…remember your dreams. All dreams are in some way affected by day-to-day thoughts/activities/etc and audibly saying “Remember your dreams.” puts the action into your brain.

Step 2.
After audibly saying “Remember your dreams.”, say it to yourself another 10-20 times. The same reason as Step 1 applies to this.

Step 3.
Make sure you have a notepad right beside your bed and the second you wake up, roll over and start writing. Write as many details about your dreams as you can.

Step 4.
There is no step 4.

That’s all there is to it. Yes, you might feel like an idiot saying “Remember your dreams” out loud, but that’s a HUGE key to this working. It might take a few nights for things to get moving with this and for you to vividly remember your dreams, but after getting in a habit of it you’ll train your brain to do it automatically.

Our dreams are some of the most creative things our brains throw together and being able to remember them can be extremely rewarding.

Good luck and sweet dreams!

Many people forget how routine their lives are. While this is especially true for those, like me, who have a regular 9-5 job, freelancers often get into their own routines, even while being less constrained by hours and location.

Doing the same thing over, day after day, contributes to creative blocks. Some might work through these blocks temporarily (by visiting sites such as this one), but it neglects the root cause of what got them into the block in the first place: routine.

I schedule a day out for myself as often as possible. I don’t call it a day off because those are usually taken for a specific purpose: a trip, work around the house, etc. For me, a day out is a way to temporarily break out of my routine. In the process, I usually get a boost of creativity.

My rules for taking a day out include:

• I take a long walk. Sometimes, walking is my only mode of transportation on a day out. You observe much more during a walk than any other form of transportation. It reduces stress and feels good.
• I go to a different neighborhood. Rather than going to the same comfortable cafes and coffeeshops, I visit a different neighborhood or small town. If I’ve visited all the ones within walking distance, I might drive to others and spend time walking around to get a feel for where I want to eat, sit, write, etc.
• I take extra time to observe. While walking, I’ll often stop and look around or sit on a bench for several minutes to watch people. I rarely get a chance to do this during my routine. It sometimes feels odd allowing myself time to just observe the flow of life.
• I never have an agenda. I don’t take a day out with any goal in mind (except perhaps to have fun and reduce stress).
• I pack lightly. I read a quote recently that said the less you pack, the more you experience. I usually take a notebook and a pen. Anything else, especially gadgets, will be a distraction.
• I try to talk to people. I take the time to engage store owners and others in friendly conversation. I might ask a specific question about the neighborhood (or small town) since I am new to the area. I usually learn something new, often about myself.

At one point in my life, I took a day out on a weekly basis. Now, I’m lucky to do it once every two months. I plan to take a week out every year to visit a new city by myself, so if you see a short guy with glasses wandering around your neighborhood, say hello.

So a couple of weeks ago I posed the question asking when (or if) you showered. The response was absolutely stellar with over 130 responses. So huge thanks for that.

Here are the results:
54% of you shower in the morning
24% of you shower in both the morning and evening
22% of you shower only in the evening

Now for my answer.

I shower twice a day. I shower at night immediately before I go to bed and in the morning soon after I wake up. Why? It ultimately goes back to getting a good nights rest.

I didn’t start showering in the evening until I wrote the first post about this, but I’ve been doing it since then and can’t believe I hadn’t started sooner.

It perviously took me 30 minutes to an hour to go to sleep every single night for as long as I can remember. Since showering at night, I’m out of it within a matter of minutes.

Like others who shower at night, I find it helps totally relax me. I turn the water on as hot as I can bear it and just stand there for about 10 minutes. I’ll then do a fairly quick bathe and from there go directly to bed. It usually helps to get your hair as dry as you can with a towel, but a little dampness will help you feel refreshed when you lie down.

So my suggestion? Shower at night right before you go to bed and shower again when you wake up. Try if for atleast one week. If you don’t get to sleep faster and sleep better…you can kick me in the shins.

It is hard, but it is possible to be close to 100% effective in all areas of your life. Being 100% (let’s call it 95% — no one is perfect, so they say) effective can be done by focusing on one area at a time – usually by concentrating on one “project” at a time. In addition, you do it by only concentrating on one task at a time on each project. Finally, the whole time you have to work hard at staying motivated – a challenge in itself.

h3. It Is Hard

In today’s world of fast personal computers, stable operating systems, and fast information delivery (Blogs, The Web, E-mails, IM), people feel like and are forced to attempt to multi-task just like those fast personal computers. Last year, Bill Gates wrote the following in his Executive E-Mail column:

A recent study showed that 56 percent of workers are overwhelmed by multiple simultaneous projects and interrupted too often; one-third say that multi-tasking and distractions are keeping them from stepping back to process and reflect on the work they’re doing. In the United Kingdom, it’s estimated that stress accounts for nearly one-third of absenteeism and sick leave.
(Source: http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/execmail/2005/05-19newworldofwork.asp)

That stress factor shows that multitasking like that is not how our brains work, or should be asked to work. (Side note: I am not a psychology major, nor have I studied such. This is strictly a personal opinion I am expressing.)

h3. But It Can Be Done

Awhile back, I had a conversation with a good friend of mine. He said “It is so <insert your own expletive here> hard to be 100%effective in all areas of my life at once. It is easy to get one or two areas working well at any given time, but not ALL at the same time.” I reminded him that one of our favorite motivational speakers, Joel Weldon, coaches us to “just keep improving everyday.” Also, I was about to write “Do you want us to rip your proverbial engine open and install a cam to make all the cylinders fire in 100% perfect timing?” when I realized that maybe that is the “improving” we can work on – getting our “timing” right. You do not have to be 100% perfect in all areas of your life at that one particular moment. You just need to focus on, as David Allen says, the "next action," or in other words the very next step, and only the next step, you can take on the project. Then, when that next action is completed, fire “cylinder number 2” and move on to the next action (or switch to another project if it has a higher priority).  Using this focused mentality will let you stay 100% (well, again, let’s say 95%) effective in all areas of your life, but, it takes motivation.

h3. Staying Motivated

You have to stay motivated to be effective. It is hard; we all know that. Sometimes all of your work is overwhelming. Sometimes it is all just very boring. However, you have to just suck it up and stay on track. One way to do this is to remind yourself why you are staying motivated.
Tom Peters provided a good example of this in his blog awhile back:

This may be day 45 and mile 76,000 for me, but for the Client it is D-Day for an Important Event (often their year’s #1 event, for God’s sake); hence my exhaustion and accompanying short temper must be thrust aside … and downright cheeriness and spirited engagement must become the invariant orders of the day. Besides, such cheeriness, even if feigned, cheers me up first and foremost!
(Source: http://www.tompeters.com/entries.php?note=008294.php)

Another quote I personally use is one from Will Smith in the movie Hitch“Wake up every day, as if it was on purpose!” Saying this to myself after clicking “Ok” to the alarm from my Palm usually is the difference between getting up and snoozing five more times!

h3. “You Can Do It!”

Like that goofy guy on the Geico Car Insurance commercials says, “You can do it!!” (Who is that guy anyway?) It is hard, but, effectiveness is achievable – even though it feels out of reach as you pop open that To Do list and stare at an average of 150 items. It just takes constant work and some self-motivation. In the end, however, the feeling of being that effective is oh so worth it.

h3. About Jeffrey W. Cox

Jeffrey Cox is an entrepreneur who lives in Phoenix Arizona, his adopted home state. He has been a recognized and successful IT consultant for over 20 years. Last year, he made a shift to focus on his passion, personal productivity and organization, by starting Foresight. Foresight is a company with a mission to help people get their To Do lists done by being more successful with their lists, projects and goals. You can sign up today for his insightful newsletter as well as stay informed about Foresight’s forth-coming product launch – an add-in for Microsoft Outlook that will truly let you focus on getting the right things done.

Jeffrey can be contacted at jeffrey@FixYourToDoList.com and blogs at
http://www.FixYourToDoList.com/blog

Start your own business. Incorporation services. Nevada, Florida, Texas or any U.S. State.

This post is me gathering some info for a future post…a survey, if you will.

Basically what I’d like to know is if you shower in the evening, before you go to bed, or in the morning before you go to work…and why.

I’ll refrain from what I do and why until the next post.