Deprecated: str_replace(): Passing null to parameter #3 ($subject) of type array|string is deprecated in /home2/inminute/public_html/wordpress/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 3911

Deprecated: str_replace(): Passing null to parameter #3 ($subject) of type array|string is deprecated in /home2/inminute/public_html/wordpress/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 3911
Skip to main content
Nov 14
Love1

New Title: Home Buying In 30 Minutes

By News

Home Buying In 30 MinutesPublisher i30 Media today launched Home Buying In 30 Minutes: Build your team, get your mortgage, and close the deal. The quick guide to doing real estate right (ISBN: 978-1-64188-025-1). If you are buying a house, condo, or multifamily property, housing expert Jim Morrison lays out you what you need to know before making one of the most important purchases of your lifetime.

In the book, Morrison explains how to hire a real estate team, secure financing, evaluate properties, and close the deal. Find out how to handle bidding wars and negotiations, and what red flags to watch out for when touring any property. This quick guide uses plain-English explanations and examples from the author’s decades of experience as a home inspector and award-winning journalist reporting on the housing sector.

Home Buying In 30 Minutes also covers the following topics:

  • Best practices for building a professional real estate team
  • How to determine how much home you can afford  
  • Mortgages and down payments, and how to get the lowest mortgage rates
  • Tips for making an offer on a house
  • When to waive real estate contingencies   
  • What to watch out for when touring homes
  • How to work with home inspectors
  • How defects impact negotiations

More information about Home Buying In 30 Minutes as well as online ordering options can be found on the companion website, homes.in30minutes.com. The site also includes a home buying blog and other resources for readers. The paperback retail price is $11.99, while the ebook edition is available on the Amazon Kindle and other devices for $7.99. A hardcover edition costs $19.99.

About the author

Jim Morrison is a former home inspector and award-winning reporter whose writing has appeared in The Boston Globe, Banker & Tradesman, and Forbes.com. Growing up just north of Boston, Morrison joined his father’s home inspection business the day after he graduated high school. He eventually took over the business and wrote about inspections and construction for his local newspaper.

After 25 years of inspections and a short stint as a rental agent and home inspector in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Morrison returned to the Boston area and launched a full-time writing career. He is married with three children and his work has appeared in hundreds of publications in the United States and overseas.

He won a 2014 New England Newspaper and Press Association (NENPA) health reporting award and was part of a team that won the 2016 NENPA Distinguished Newspaper Award. He is a member of Investigative Reporters and Editors (www.ire.org) and the Society of Professional Journalists (www.spj.org). He is also a past president of the New England Chapter if the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI). Follow him on Twitter @JimNewsMorrison.

About In 30 Minutes guides

i30 Media is the publisher of IN 30 MINUTES guides – “Quick guides for a complex world.” Thousands of readers turn to IN 30 MINUTES guides to understand mildly complex topics, ranging from home-buying to social media. The tone is friendly and easy to understand, with step-by-step instructions and lots of examples. Top-selling titles include Google Drive & Docs In 30 Minutes, Twitter In 30 Minutes, and LinkedIn In 30 Minutes. For more information about the series, visit in30minutes.com.

Sep 23
Love0

How to use the iPhone Do Not Disturb feature

By Tips

Raise your hand if you’ve ever been jolted awake by a late night phone call. Raise your other hand if it’s been a wrong number, robocall, or crank call.

You can lower your hands now, and consider the options. To avoid these nuisances, some people power down their iPhones or turn off their ringers before they go to sleep. But what if you want to keep the phone on to respond to family or work emergencies?

Do Not Disturb has your back. This feature, available via Settings > Do Not Disturb as well as the quick options panel (swipe up from the bottom of the screen), lets you silence incoming phone calls and alerts. You can manually activate it when you need it, or you can schedule it to run for a set period every day.

Do Not Disturb also lets you allow calls from people on your contacts, or contacts marked as Favorites. There is even a setting that allows repeated calls to get through, which might be useful if someone is urgently trying to get through to you from a number not on your contact list.

There are some missing features, however, such as the ability to have different Do Not Disturb schedules for different days of the week—I like to sleep in on Saturdays! In such cases, the easiest workaround is to turn off the ringer, using the Ring/Silent switch on the edge of the iPhone.

iPhone do not disturb

Jun 23
Love2

How to turn off iPhone notifications

By Tips

Imagine if your bedside alarm clock suddenly began to go off at random times, sometimes dozens of times per day.
That’s basically the way iPhone Notifications work. A few can be tolerated, but if you turn your back, they’ll take over your iPhone, creating a seemingly endless stream of alerts, reminders, and promotions. It’s distracting and irritating.

Accessed via Settings > Notifications or when apps are first installed, notifications can make sounds or create short messages that appear on your iPhone’s lock screen or on a small banner at the top of the screen while the device is on. There is also a Notifications screen, accessed by swiping down from the top of the screen from the Home screen or lock screen (if you see the calendar view, swipe to the right to see recent notifications):

Turn off iPhone notifications

iPhone Notifications can apply to:

  • Incoming emails, calls, and messages.
  • Activity on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks.
  • News, weather, and stock updates.
  • Game activity and special offers.
  • Bank, credit card, and Apple Pay transactions.
  • Flight status and other travel alerts.

In theory, notifications alert you to information that matters. Practically speaking, many notifications range from useless to downright irritating. Remember, app developers generally want you to use their apps as often as possible, so notifications are designed to bring you back. Games and social media are the worst, with some apps issuing multiple alerts per day for the most banal reasons (I’m looking at you, Plants vs. Zombies 2!)

How to turn off iPhone notifications

Fortunately, the iOS operating system in your iPhone as well as many popular apps have ways of controlling what comes to you. If you find that a certain app is sending too many alerts, open the app and check the settings (look for a gear icon or three horizontal bars) to see if certain types of iPhone notifications can be turned off. For instance, some Facebook notifications are useful, such as when someone mentions you in a comment. Others are unnecessary or distracting, such as birthday reminders for all of your friends. Turn off the ones you don’t need.

A second way to turn off iPhone notifications is via Settings > Notifications. Here you can manage the way you are notified (via a message on the Lock screen, a sound, or change to the app icon) as well as turn off all notifications for a particular app or feature. Be careful here—while it may be tempting to turn off everything, you don’t want to silence critical features such as incoming phone calls or alerts from your banking app.

I also recommend turning on the iPhone’s Government Alerts, if available—these can contain critical notifications, such as extreme weather warnings or Amber Alerts.

This post was excerpted from an IN 30 MINUTES guide. To learn more, see our catalog.

Jun 22
Love2

As a small business owner, this is what I fear post-South Dakota vs. Wayfair

By Blog

As the owner of a small business that will be impacted by the recent Supreme Court decision on online purchases and local tax collection (South Dakota vs. Wayfair), I hope the resulting outcry will be a catalyst for streamlining tax payments to local authorities across the country. But I’m not holding my breath.

In a perfect world, states would make things easier for out-of-state small businesses to pay taxes. Changes could include:

  • Ending registration requirements at the state level
  • Only taking annual filings instead of demanding monthly or quarterly filings
  • Using a 1-page form for submitting taxes
  • Accepting digital submissions & payments

But these are old-school state governments we’re talking about. Many are stuck in the past, or are restricted in their ways of thinking about the future.

And then there is the ugly fact that some bureaucrats and legislators LOVE to stick it to outsiders. Example: New Hampshire toll booths strategically placed along the Massachusetts border to collect money from vacationers and commuters using small stretches of state or interstate highways. Or, state-level protectionism for local businesses. I’ve encountered this trying to sell books and educational aids to local school districts in the South. Either you can’t sell, or the paperwork requirements are astounding. These aren’t taxes, but they illustrate the mindsets of many state legislatures and bureaucracies when it comes to dealing with out-of-staters.

When it comes time for state lawmakers and officials to craft tax laws for out-of-state small businesses post-#SDvWayfair, they won’t necessarily be thinking of making it easier to file. They’ll think: Why not adapt existing frameworks/processes, with a dollop of extra red tape on top?

Mass Department of Revenue taxes South Dakota vs. WayfairRegarding technology such as digital submissions of tax data and easy online payments: If the Massachusetts Department of Revenue (the agency my Massachusetts corporation deals with) is anything to go by, small businesses will basically be dealing with tech that’s 10 years out of date in terms of functionality, and twice as difficult to use as commercial platforms.

Monumental changes in the nation’s legal framework are often an opportunity to make improvements in the way laws are implemented. But when it comes to the South Dakota vs. Wayfair Supreme Court ruling, I fear they’ve just given 50 state governments and assorted territories an excuse to screw the little guy.

Jun 19
Love2

Announcing Free Radio & Podcast Marketing In 30 Minutes

By News

Newton, Mass., June 19 — Publisher i30 Media today released Free Radio & Podcast Marketing In 30 Minutes: Fire your publicist and leverage free radio and podcasting to market your business, brand, or idea (ISBN: 978-1-64188-020-6). In the book, authors Jim Beach and Rachel Lewyn demonstrate how practically anyone can get on the air, whether it’s via a niche podcast with an audience of just a few hundred people or a national radio program that reaches millions.

“No matter your company’s niche, no matter the nature of your product, the tactics in our book can deliver real results, whether it’s sales, awareness of an issue, or some other benefit,” Beach says. “With 93% of Americans listening to terrestrial radio on a regular basis, radio has the broadest reach of any media platform, more than TV or smartphones or other devices.”

“Prospective guests can spend thousands of dollars on publicists to pitch to radio and podcast producers,” Lewyn adds. “Doing it on your own can not only save a lot of money, it can also deliver better results — if you take the approach that we outline in the book.”     

Drawing upon their extensive entrepreneurial and broadcasting experience, Beach and Lewyn have prepared practical advice and tips for business owners, inventors, authors, and other experts. Topics include:

  • How free radio marketing can save thousands of dollars in advertising and publicist fees
  • Building credibility and showcasing expertise
  • How find the most suitable radio programs and podcasts
  • Crafting the perfect pitch and an irresistible hook
  • Best practices for reaching out via email, phone, and snail mail
  • Leveraging news and current events
  • Working with hosts, producers, and audiences
  • How to use sample questions and anecdotes in interviews  
  • Tips to sound great on the air
  • Using radio and podcast appearances to boost SEO and discoverability

The radio and podcast marketing book is written in plain English, and is filled with examples that can help readers prepare to get on their air. The ultimate goal is to make it easy and affordable for anyone to promote a business, product, brand, or idea using free radio and podcast appearances.

More information about Free Radio & Podcast Marketing In 30 Minutes as well as online ordering options can be found on schoolforstartupsradio.com, in30minutes.com, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other book retailers. The retail price is $14.99 for the paperback edition, and $7.99 for the ebook editions. A hardcover edition is also available.

Praise for Free Radio & Podcast Marketing In 30 Minutes

“No matter what you sell, getting PR is critical for spreading the word. Today podcasts are as important as radio and this book is the best I’ve seen that handles both.”

—Martin Yate, author, New York Times bestseller
Knock ‘em Dead: The Ultimate Job Search Guide

“Jim has given you the keys to the kingdom with this book! He breaks down the branding and booking process into easily accomplishable steps that can help almost anyone get booked on radio and podcasts. I hope my clients never see this book!”

—Wendy Guarisco, founder, Guarisco Group PR Agency

“If anybody knows about how to turn a radio show into revenue for your business, it’s Jim Beach. This book shares the secrets he’s learned by doing this for his own business over a decade. Pure gold.”

—Jamie Turner, author, speaker, and CEO, 60SecondMarketer.com

“Jim’s book is packed with nuggets on how to secure radio or podcast interviews to market your business. I’ve used many of his strategies in the past and they have worked well for me. I highly recommend checking it out—you’ll get a very good ROI on your investment.”

—Jason Treu, executive coach and #1 best-selling author, Social Wealth

About the authors

Jim Beach is an experienced author, broadcaster, educator, and entrepreneur. Jim’s first book, “School for Startups” (McGraw-Hill, 2011) was a top-ten title on Amazon. His small business radio show, School for Startups Radio, airs on 16 AM/FM stations across the United States and online.

At the age of 25, Jim started the American Computer Experience and grew the company with no capital infusion to $12 million in annual revenue and more than 700 employees. After the business was acquired in 2001 for $200 million, Jim taught at Georgia State University and was the top-ranked business school instructor for 12 consecutive semesters.

In addition to hosting his own radio show, Jim has also appeared on the other side of the microphone as a frequent media guest and commentator. Dubbed the “Simon Cowell of venture capital” by CNN, he has been interviewed by NPR, MSNBC, and the New York Times.

Rachel Lewyn studies anthropology at Emory University in her hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. A former producer for School for Startups Radio, she handled all aspects of screening potential guests and coordinating interviews. As a contributing writer for FanBolt.com, Rachel was responsible for creating search-optimized news articles about cinema, television, and pop music.  

About In 30 Minutes guides

i30 Media is the publisher of In 30 Minutes guides – “Quick guides for a complex world.” Thousands of readers turn to In 30 Minutes guides to understand mildly complex topics, ranging from genealogy to software. The tone is friendly and easy to understand, with step-by-step instructions and lots of examples. Top-selling titles include Google Drive & Docs In 30 Minutes, Twitter In 30 Minutes, and LinkedIn In 30 Minutes. For more information about the series, visit in30minutes.com

PUBLISHER CONTACT: info@in30minutes.com, +1 (617) 213-0811