Personal Pest Applicators License

I took Pest Management this quarter. At the end we had to take the Washington State Department of Agriculture's Personal Pest Applicators License exam. I STRESSED over this test. We spent the quarter going over the WSU manual as prep for the test. As a study guide we were encouraged to do the post test in this guide with the comment that if we did well on the post test, we'd do fine on the state's test. I did not do well on the post test. I scored a 96% on the state test. Now I have a license that will allow me to can Terminex as I can buy the rat bait box material myself and save a cool 4-500 bucks a year. Other than that, I don't see using this license at all. Unless someone wants to hire me to run their grounds on their swanky estate... Even then we'll head for Integrated Pest Management before whipping out the card that allows me to buy the cool chemicals.

Social Media

I understand how social media reaches out and connects you and your business with the world at large, especially with folks who are not yet old enough to be grandparents. At this time I am launching this blog, a Facebook page and a website, www.heronandcrowgardens.com. It has the potential to take up an amazing amount of time and then you have to work each day as well as do the books and advertise/network with customers who do not do social media. It strikes me as important to mull over the following when considering how to leverage social media:

• No one potential client who will find their way to you, or keep up with you via social media will necessarily do so through your favored social media genre. My favorite genre is the web. However, I stand to lose out with a huge set of people if I choose to scoff at Facebook. 
• A website and Facebook, while both electronic are hugely different experiences for the user. I like a well done website for its content and researchability (is that a word?). I like Facebook because I can get a snapshot of what my friends are doing all at once. My potential 27 year old client may far prefer to look at my portfolio on Facebook because that's where she happens to be anyway rather then navigate to yet another website etc... 
• If I want to be competitive from a communications point of view, I need to make it easy and comfortable for my customers and potential customers to both keep in touch with me and view my work. The blog is for die hards!!

Finding a tool that one could post to all three sites (blog, web & Facebook)at the same time, or would make it easier would be fabulous! How about from my phone? Too much to ask? Probably not, but I'm actually old enough to be a grandparent so the social media thing does have a bit of a learning curve <;-).

Three quarters down, four to go.

I'm in the 9th of 10 weeks of my 3rd quarter of an ATA degree program. While in the greater scheme of things, this is easy stuff for me, I feel like I'm about to hit a wall. Every spare minute of my time is filled. Filled with things that I, for the most part, really enjoy doing yet there's almost no downtime. Relaxation has taken on a new definition: Gardening, working on the website, this blog, photoshop etc. Yes, there's family time but it's rarer these days. I keep telling my husband I miss him and we live at the same address! Thank goodness there's a cooking daughter still living at home until she moves half way across the country, that is. I see a lot more Costco chicken in our future!! The kale needs Sluggo (approved organic treatment of our robust NW mollusks). Ta.