In this day and age we count on our mobile phones to stay connected with friends and family. But their cost in both time and money can be high.
I’ve got a secret stash of info and shortcuts to optimize your usage and save you time and money.
Send texts via e-mail
Does your phone not support multimedia messaging? Maybe you nearing your monthly text-messaging limit? Simply send your photo or text message via e-mail.
Just open a new e-mail message. In the To: field, enter the 10-digit telephone number (without dashes). Then enter the appropriate domain name for the recipient’s carrier.
AT&T: @txt.att.net
Sprint: @messaging.sprintpcs.com
T-Mobile: @tmomail.net
Verizon: @vtext.com
Standard charges apply for the recipient. If you’re e-mailing from a cellphone, you’ll pay for data usage.
Block messages
Perhaps you don’t like text messaging. So why pay to receive unwanted texts? You can either block texts or set up filters.
AT&T users must register for Message Preferences at mymessages.wireless.att.com. Sign in and you’re given options to block specific types of messages. You can also allow and block messages from specific numbers.
Sprint lets you block messages from specific numbers. Log in to your account online. Click My Sprint, then My Online Tools. Under Communication Tools, select Block Text Messages.
Some plans may not provide this option. Or, you may want to block all billable messages. In that case, call *2 for customer service.
T-Mobile lets you block messages based on type. Log in to your account online and click My Account, then Change services. Select the blocking features you would like. Click Change Services.
For Verizon, log in to your online account. Select Preferences and choose Text Blocking. Block specific addresses or types of messages.
Skip the formalities
Hate listening to your friend’s obnoxious voice mail greeting? Then skip it. When the greeting starts, enter the appropriate code for the recipient’s carrier.
AT&T: #
Sprint: 1
T-Mobile: #
Verizon: *
Check your account
Don’t know if you used your monthly minutes? Unsure how many text messages you have left? A quick call will tell you. Just use these shortcuts.
AT&T
*MIN# (*646#) for minutes used
*DATA# (*3282#) for text usage
*BAL# (*225#) for account balance
*PAY (*729) to make a payment
Sprint
*4 for billing information
*3 to make a payment
T-Mobile
#MIN# (#646#) for minutes used
#MSG# (#674#) for text usage
#BAL# (#225#) for account balance
Verizon
#MIN (#646) for minutes used
#DATA (#3282) for text usage
#BAL (#225) for account balance
#PMT (#768) to make a payment
Navigate your voice mail
Checking your voice mail can be a chore. My shortcuts will help you out when you’re listening to a message. Speed it up, slow it down, save it and more.
AT&T
1: Rewind
2: Pause
3: Fast forward
4: Slower
5: Message date and time
6: Faster
7: Delete
9: Save
0: Help
(#): Skip
(*): Exit
Sprint
1: Message date and time
2: Reply
3: Fast forward
4: Replay
5: Rewind
6: Forward message
7: Delete
8: Call back
9: Save
0: Help
(#): Skip
(*): Cancel
Verizon
1: Rewind
11: Replay
2: Pause
3: Fast Forward
33: End of message
4: Slow
5: Message date and time
6: Speed
7: Delete
9: Save
0: Help
(*): Exit
(#): Skip
T-Mobile
1: Rewind
11: Replay
2: Pause
3: Fast forward
33: End
44: Slower
66: Faster
7: Delete
9: Save
(#): Skip
Text a landline
Both Sprint and Verizon provide text-to-landline services. Your text message is converted to a voice message and delivered. Simply enter the landline number as you would a mobile number.
Sprint provides this service at no charge; the message counts the same as any other. Verizon however charges 25 cents per message. There is no charge to message recipients.
11 Really Cool iPhone Keypad Codes
Your iPhone can browse the net, play myriad games, play YouTube videos and more but there are also some nifty tricks you can use to find out some great information about your phone and run it more smoothly.
In essence, there are a bunch of iPhone keypad codes that you can type in and get back specific information about/from your mobile carrier, phone and billing details.
When you want to use any one of these codes, open your iPhone’s “phone app” and make sure that the keypad button is selected in the bottom menu. Next, type in any code from the list below and press call.
iPhone Codes: Network & Phone Information
*3001#12345#*– Opens up the “Field Test” settings on your iPhone, which allows you to see many, many advanced network settings on your phone including cell site information and more.
*#06# – Displays your iPhone’s International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number (this code also works on many other phones).
*#21# – Displays any call forwarding settings enabled on your iPhone.
*#43# – Shows you if call waiting for various parts of your phone are either enabled or disabled.
*#30# – Shows you if you have the call presentation (to see who is calling you) setting enabled or disabled.
*#33# – Displays call barring settings for your iPhone, and weather they are enabled or disabled.
iPhone Codes: Carrier & Billing Information
*646# -View available minutes on your AT&T plan (*min#).
*777#- View available minutes on your AT&T pre-paid plan (if you get the “Account Not Found” error, you do not have a pre-paid account and you should try the code just above this one for postpaid accounts).
*3282# – View wireless data usage statistics (also *data#).
*225# – Check the bill balance on your AT&T account (also *bll#).
*729 – Makes a call to AT&T to pay your wireless bill.
Do you have any other iPhone keypad codes / shortcuts to share? Let me know in the comments section or feel free to email me or hit me up on twitter.
#thriveorsurvive.
Thoughts? Concerns?
Questions? Think I’m wrong?
Let’s chat.
Need ideas?
Want to learn how to invite?
Let’s chat.
Want a mentor or maybe the guy who will bounce ideas back and forth with you?
Let’s chat-
Tony@Changeinadvance.com
@changeinadvance
http://www.changeinadvance.com
Or simply reply to this article.
The Mayans Were Wrong But The Fiscal Cliff was only Postponed
We went over the cliff- technically. Accept it. Don’t buy the news channel shenanigans. Everyone breathed relief for about 5 minutes then went back to their favorite tv show. Not to malign the masses but if we don’t look out for our well being who will. I don’t care if you are a dem, rep, con, gop, etc, etc. You can never trust anyone to make your life better than you can.
In the gym I won’t ask for a spot from a weaker guy/gal. Also I won’t ask for a spot if I’m not reasonably sure I can lift the weight.
Lesson here: you don’t go heavy if you can’t go heavy. Its that simple. The treasury, The Fed, everyone wielding power has a vested interest in winning. Don’t you too?
We ALL do.
However most people are concerned with the Kardashians and or the sports page.
So back to the cliff. We have about 2 months. Roughly 60 days to get to a place where we all win. But that won’t happen.
Does anyone realize that our taxes have gone up from obamacare?
Everyone’s, in every brackets.
Then the social security went up. Its been down for a few years but this was bad. We got a few hundred bucks per person every check- but that money wasn’t meant for now. It was meant to hold social security up. Now some people will sell social security as an entitlement but if you look it up- you paid into it. It is your money.. I’m not anti government- by no means.
I love our country. I love the last three presidents. But we have to be personally responsible. We have to vote and invest from that mindset. I don’t plan to rely on social security- but I know millions do.
That being said many are about to get hit every check. I won’t blame Obama. But I will challenge you to do more. To be more.
Knowing your expenditures are going up no matter what you cut- do you have a plan?
You should.
I do. I’ve cut expenses and even moved in the last year in anticipation of being ready for all the tax raises I might face. I own my own business but still want to maximize my deductions while increasing my income.
Do you see how that can help?
Spending less while making more will lead to a future you can embrace if not beat.
Meet me at the top my friends- we are all we have.
#thriveorsurvive.
“A big part of financial freedom is having your heart and mind free from worry about the what-ifs of life.” -Suze Orman
“Your net worth to the world is usually determined by what remains after your bad habits are subtracted from your good ones.”
-Benjamin Franklin
Thoughts? Concerns?
Questions? Think I’m wrong?
Let’s chat.
Need ideas?
Want to learn how to invite?
Let’s chat.
Want a mentor or maybe the guy who will bounce ideas back and forth with you?
Let’s chat-
Tony@Changeinadvance.com
@changeinadvance
http://www.changeinadvance.com
Or simply reply to this article.
The Power In Setting Goals
Setting Goals is perhaps the single most powerful thing you can do to change your business for the better. And Now. Setting Goals is an immediate process if you choose it to be.
Going with the flow is too easy.
Stop following the status quo. Be an originator. Don’t hang with your friends. Don’t do the bosses laundry all your life.
Set a goal for yourself to be the best. As in expect the most from yourself. When you have large goals, medium goals, and small
goals you have established you end up with a framework for greatness. This let’s you reach a higher caliber exponentially. It isn’t always about having easy and hard tasks. Its the aforementioned framework you have created that will catapult you to greatness.
So when friends and coworkers have a plan that involves fun, or goofing off- say bye. Don’t be a jerk- by all means be well mannered- but the time management set into the framework (see how key it is?) of your goals must be followed.
Stop Making Excuses and Start Making Decisions.
Every day of your life you make decisions- what paths you take truly are up to you. When you decide to be nothing you are nothing. When you decide to stop your current modus operandi and move towards success- guess what happens?
YOU BECOME SUCCESFUL.
Every action has a reaction so if you don’t choose to control the former you run the risk of being at the mercy of the latter.
While being incredibly fair and equal most people don’t see it that way. They blame the company, the wife, the weather. Anything. However I can attest to this-
As long as I work harder I earn harder.
As long as I put my business first it grows first.
A key correlation: when I don’t blog consistently- I lose major traffic. Now for my secondary blog its about quality content. I will miss many days without question. But it becomes irrelevant. With this blog I have to hit hard and often. People come to me for answers and I in turn provide said answers or go get them. That is the decision I made. And it has paid off grandly.
What decisions are you making?
What will you give up to be great?
What trade off is worth true greatness?
Only you know.
Be great.
Remember every goal….
Every goal costs you something. Even freedom isn’t free. The price you pay is letting go of who you are to be who you imagine. To accomplish a goal the first thing you must. sacrifice is your right to make excuses. I keep learning that when you want something bad enough, you’ll find a way and when you don’t you’ll find an excuse.
#thriveorsurvive.
“Whoever renders service to many puts himself in line for greatness – great wealth, great return, great satisfaction, great reputation, and great joy.” -Jim Rohn
Thoughts? Concerns?
Questions? Think I’m wrong?
Let’s chat.
Need ideas?
Want to learn how to invite?
Let’s chat.
Want a mentor or maybe the guy who will bounce ideas back and forth with you?
Let’s chat-
Tony@Changeinadvance.com
@changeinadvance
http://www.changeinadvance.com
Or simply reply to this article.
3 Things Really Smart People Do
You want to be the King. The Boss. The Best. Well it takes steps. And we have discussed the need for discipline and practice before so today we are going to come at being brutally efficient- aka the Boss from a different angle.
Start Early.
Even kings rise with the roosters. Why? You can’t conquer the day starting at noon.
My job starts at 7:45am and I liked getting up at 7am. And I can do it, no question. But it stinks. I’m rushing and have to move fast. Ugh. I know get up about 15 minutes earlier and in 2 weeks it will be about 30 minutes earlier. The goal is to get up at 6:15am. Why?
-So I have extra time for responding to emails and opt-ins.
-So I’m not rushing.
-So I can get everything ready for my family with a leisurely pace. How you start is how you end. Imagine starting your day with prayer, meditation, yoga, or a quick read- sounds like heaven. And I’m not trying to push any religion or mindsets on you but getting in to a calm, cool, collected groove benefits everyone.
As to why I’m upping the time in increments- easy. It makes sense. When you bite off more than you can chew you quit sooner. I set 3 day goals for myself mostly. Not 30 days. Why you ask again? It takes the pressure off. And builds small successes.
Look at football, they play to control yards. Then quarters of the game. Everything on the path to success revolves around small ‘focus-centric’ steps.
Do what you hate most, FIRST.
I hate returning phone calls. Hate it.
And I’m a people person!
So what do I do first chance? Call the people I’m supposed to. Con Edison, Cable, opt-ins, new team members, the irs- doesn’t matter. I make the calls as early as possible.
If you hate the doctor’s office go as soon as the new year begins. Make it your mission to begin new with conquering. Make it synonymous. If you start your day with whatever you dislike you can not only breath a sigh of relief but build on your successes faster. Also if that which you dread is done first the rest of the day can be spent on growth and or business building.
Exercise and Sleep.
Everyone needs a lot of both. How can you push your body to its limit without exercise?
You can’t leverage your health if its irrelevant to you. Build your body with the fervor of building your contact list. You can’t do marathon meetings if your body won’t run the marathon.
Next sleep folks- a lot. 8 hours is a minimum. Not a maximum. Rest helps you think clearer, function better, and burn more calories. So that image you guard is winning too. Also the reason to work harder is to have more. Well you can’t do more with less so have enough sleep to get it all done. Now at times you may lose sleep. But when you lose sleep for television, booze, or video games- you dishonor yourself. Your body is a temple. Treat it as such.
#thriveorsurvive.
“Mastering others is strength.
Mastering yourself is true power.”
Lao Tzu.
Thoughts? Concerns?
Questions? Think I’m wrong?
Let’s chat.
Need ideas?
Want to learn how to invite?
Let’s chat.
Want a mentor or maybe the guy who will bounce ideas back and forth with you?
Let’s chat-
Tony@Changeinadvance.com
@changeinadvance
http://www.changeinadvance.com
Or simply reply to this article.
Is Your Price Point killing Sales?
Sales are the heart of your business 9 out of 10 times. Bloggers and a few other specific businesses may sell indirectly or not at all. So working from this premise we can assume that you want to sell product consistently and repetitively (we all want customers to come back).
Assuming you want long term cash flow and growth and you aren’t looking for a one hit wonder.
We will also assume your product is killer, has good branding, marketing, and social media presence.
So all of those factors being declared let’s look at a factor a lot of up and coming entrepreneurs overlook, the price point.
A quality product or service has to have a proper price point as well or you risk eroding your profits.
Priced too high.
When you price your product too high you may miss your target audience. Indeed the very people you want to buy or benefit from what you offer may not be participants. This is where knowing your key demographics comes in handy. Data is always your best friend even if its implications appear negative. Let’s say guy X wants his tee shirt line to sell for 35 dollars a piece. Now data shows us people pay way more, 5 times as much in some cases. However you have to have the immersion, the marketing, and PR to make it work. Not to mention the distribution channels and so forth.
Guy Y on the other hand only wants a small profit and undercuts guy X by 10-15 dollars a tee shirt. In this economy especially he may beat guy X. Also at that price point people may buy 2 for 1 which is only a few bucks more. His lower price point has created new price points and may yield greater sales. If 5 dollars more buys an additional tee many people will opt for that deal. Have we not doubled sales on average? I’d say that all factors being equal we probably have.
If we look at the Kardashians we see proof of this. Their mainstream line is at sears and priced to sell. It is not on rodeo drive or 5th Avenue. This is simply to maximize profits. When you appeal to the mainstream you open yourself up to a greater amount of potential clients.
Priced too low.
The opposite can be said as well my friends. If Honda dropped their flagship Accord Model 13,000 dollars people would stop and think. Most would worry. As an Accord owner twice over I know that I pay a premium for value. The Honda brand is synonymous with quality and reliability. To under price that would gut their brand. It all comes down to value. You have to offer it to get fans and customers. But you have to value what you offer and what you create. Establish this before you go to print or sign deals.
Often we get what we expect and if you expect too little you will be little
#thriveorsurvive.
“High achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectation.”
-Charles Kettering
Thoughts? Concerns?
Questions? Think I’m wrong?
Let’s chat.
Need ideas?
Want to learn how to invite?
Let’s chat.
Want a mentor or maybe the guy who will bounce ideas back and forth with you?
Let’s chat-
Tony@Changeinadvance.com
@changeinadvance
http://www.changeinadvance.com
Or simply reply to this article.
4 Elements to Greatness
It’s 2013, everyone is making goals and becoming a new person. And for many its the same goals as last year. Tenacity is good no question- but its time to skew focus.
There are 4 key ingredients to true greatness and for 2013 I want us all to embrace them even before setting a goal. Set your goals? No prob- just take this is first.
Belief
Nothing great is done without belief. If you don’t believe in your cause or goal you have no power. You will not move forward. You may not even tread water. When you aren’t confident- LIE. Even to yourself. Belief comes from within and from previous successes. See what you have done and believe you Will do more.
Belief in U.
If you don’t believe you can do it- you can’t. when you do it know it is all you. No one helps you. When I’m in the gym I have to lift off the weight. I work by the motto that if you can’t take it off the rack you don’t deserve to lift it. Right there I force my belief to grow. I literally put my mind into the muscle and shape my results thru my belief. Do you see how simple that is? How we can all do it. I bench press into the 300s. I get help. But I do it. No one lifts, they just make sure I don’t die. Get there.
Consistency
Without consistency you can’t do anything. You are recruiting to build your team?
You have to work the system everyday.
You blog? blog daily.. There is no blog if you don’t blog a lot. Blog often. And keep blogging. That may not have been said eloquently but you get the point. You have to work at what you do religiously.
Michael Jordan worked at being great. He was consistent with his gym time. He practiced. And practiced. And practiced. You have to work at it over and over. There are no breaks until you reach the mountain top.
I love the quote ‘I’ll sleep when I’m dead,’ as it shows the level of dedication needed.
Discipline
To get to the top you have to be great. And the way to greatness lies in discipline. What you do daily is what you become. Let’s look at the meriam webster definition:
Definition of DISCIPLINE
1: punishment.
2: instruction.
3: a field of study.
4: training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character.
5a : control gained by enforcing obedience or order.
5b : orderly or prescribed conduct or pattern of behavior.
c : self-control.
6: a rule or system of rules governing conduct or activity.
Discipline is almost in its simplest form taking the other three elements and combining them simultaneously.
Loving what you do, and doing it consistently is discipline. Belief that you can and will do it is derived from discipline. When you make it your mission to live disciplined you will see greatness invariably.
Loving what you do
You’re wasting your time if your heart isn’t there. You have to love what you do. It has to be synonymous with you. I have a day job. Love it too folks. I have a business. Love that too. However when I stumbled onto Ray Higdon and how I could blog to build an empire I was astounded. And as he said, if he could do it so could anyone. And once I started this blog it was over. I’ve come to love the blogging and guest editorials I’ve been blessed to write. It has been an honor. You see writing was my first love. I’ve written stories, raps, songs, poetry, editorials, and now blogs. But my true love was always present- The Writing.
When you love what you do you already feel successful. However this feeling will grow and will lead to external success if not worldwide success.
See you at the top.
#thriveorsurvive.
“What we face may look insurmountable. But I learned something from all those years of training and competing. I learned something from all those sets and reps when I didn’t think I could lift another ounce of weight. What I learned is that we are always stronger than we know.”
-Arnold Schwarzenegger
Thoughts? Concerns?
Questions? Think I’m wrong?
Let’s chat.
Need ideas?
Want to learn how to invite?
Let’s chat.
Want a mentor or maybe the guy who will bounce ideas back and forth with you?
Let’s chat-
Tony@Changeinadvance.com
@changeinadvance
http://www.changeinadvance.com
Or simply reply to this article.
Changeinadvance 