Tag Archives: solpreneur

4 Great Lighting Options for that Unexpected Power Outage


4 Great Lighting Options for that Unexpected Power Outage

Total darkness. For miles…

I lived in California for a number of years, experiencing earthquakes both large and small, occasionally resulting in a loss of electricity. I also lived in an apartment where I was guaranteed the power would go out once a week. So, the question is, what do you do when the lights go out?

Let’s say you’re sitting in your home office in the evening, trying to finish a big project, when suddenly you’re cloaked in total darkness. Your natural tendency would be to grab your cell phone and turn on the flashlight so you could assess just how far reaching the outage was. That’s fine for a bit but what do you do when it goes on for hours? How are you prepared?

In case you’re wondering why I’m presenting this topic, I’m following along with my book, Tame Those Pesky Details (TTPD), where I focus on one specific item each month to keep your business in tip top shape. April is the month for Emergency Preparedness. I’ve written at length about backing up your backup, so today I’m addressing a more practical issue.

If you think it’s no big deal to be without lights, you have to realize that if you don’t have lights, you don’t have Internet either. You can get stir crazy pretty quickly. It also means the microwave doesn’t work nor does the hot water heater. But, I digress…

I actually was in this situation a few years ago. When I lived in California, I was diligent about maintaining my earthquake kit as well as having emerging lighting options throughout the house. However, once I moved to Nevada – even though the state is number three in earthquakes behind California and Alaska – I put my kit and lights on a high shelf in the garage. I got lazy.

Then the power went out. I didn’t have my phone at my side, so I banged and felt my way to find it. Then, while on hold with the power company to find out the extent of the outage, I climbed an unopened ladder pushed against a pile of unpacked boxes and managed to grab my Coleman dining lanterns with the end of a broomstick. The power would be out at least till the next morning. I grabbed all my lanterns and turned them on, one of the few houses on the street to have some light.

After that experience, I made sure that every room had a lantern of some sort. I’m never more than a few feet away from a light source. I keep a flashlight in my nightstand and have others sprinkled around the house. And I still want more!

In the photo, I’ve shown some of my favorite emergency light options. You might want to buy a couple to keep handy next time you wind up in the dark.

  1. Brooklyn Lantern. These were advertised on television for months, but I bought mine at Target. You can also find it at Amazon. I really purchased it because the light is supposed to last 10,000 hours or something like that, and it’s dimmable. I only have a couple of these and while not my absolute favorite, they give off a decent amount of light and you shouldn’t need to replace the batteries or bulbs for a while.
  2. Coleman dining lantern. This is my absolute favorite! I’ve had these for years. They don’t have this exact style any more, but I’m tempted to buy some new ones. Just one will really light a room. And, I looked for a long time to find one that uses regular D batteries instead of the lantern battery. I like that it has a hook on the top so you can carry if you need to. Love love love it!
  3. Bell and Howell tactical flashlight. I’d been reading a lot about the benefits of having a tactical flashlight, and this one is great! It’s very bright so it lights a wide area, but you can also focus the light if you need to. It’s a bit heavy, but definitely worth it.
  4. Blocklite. This is another of my absolute favorites. I was reading about this on a blog one day, and just had to get one. You simply attach the light to a 9v battery and you have an instant flashlight! It has two settings, which is nice. I’ve used it to walk out to check the mail at night and to make sure I got everything out of my hamper, which is dark purple and in the corner of my closet. It’s come in handy so many times, I’d buy them as stocking stuffers for all your loves.

I also purchased a hand crank lantern with a USB plug to recharge my phone or any other small device. Oftentimes, we charge our phones at night and you might just need a few extra minutes that the hand crank can provide.

This may not be the most glamorous post, but I’m here to make you ponder what you need to make your life and business more efficient. Preparing for emergencies is part of the responsibilities of you, the CEO of your business. I’ll cover other emergency topics in the future.

If you’d like to follow along through the year, purchase your copy of Tame Those Pesky Details. (link below) 

How have you prepared your business for emergencies?  I’d love to hear! Leave a comment below.

I do hope you’ll enjoy my blog posts, Instagram photos and tweets on Twitter!

Sparkle On!

Aunti Cindi

Are you making money while you sleep?

Are you making money while you sleep?

Cha-ching!

Ah, the joy of waking in the morning to discover that money was deposited into your account while you were off in dream land.

I’m following along with my book, Tame Those Pesky Details (TTPD), where I focus on one specific item each month to keep your business in tip top shape. March is the month for Passive Income, the ability to make money while you sleep. As the Internet pervades our lives more each year, options for passive income become more readily available. Of course, it’s not as easy as waving a magic wand; there is much prep work to be done, but once you’ve put in the effort, you can reap financial rewards for some time to come.

I think it’s the ultimate goal of many online entrepreneurs to be able to work as few hours as possible while making as much money as they can. That’s not the only goal, mind you, but by creating a steady online income, you can do anything from quit your full-time job to plan extravagant vacations or donate to your favorite charity. Even if you have some other source of income that you’re content with, earning extra money online is still a good thing. It’s always great to have multiple streams of income.

So, where do you begin? Here are four options to help you build your bank account in your sleep.

  1. Affiliate links. Everyone has them. Why not you? If you reference any products in your blog posts, YouTube videos or elsewhere, it’s easy to direct people to the item you’re referring to by including an affiliate link. Your commission will vary depending on the agreement the company offers. Be sure to disclose your use of affiliate links, and check for broken links on your site on a regular basis. Broken links result in lost commission and can even impact your search engine ranking.
  2. Books. As a writer, this is one of my favorite ways to find money in my account! With POD (print on demand) and ebooks, there’s no inventory or shipping required. If you have a shop on your site, you can even include the books there, avoiding sharing the commission. Choose a topic – or three – that relate to your business and pound away on the keyboard. Of course, the book will need to be well-written and properly priced, but there are many ways to build a lasting income through the written word.
  3. Classes on demand. If you have an area of expertise, or if you can produce training classes that show how to use your products, then online classes might be a good option for you. You might need some technical guidance to put this all together, but once you’ve mastered the process, you can create one or two new classes each year to build your offerings. I’ve seen classes for free (particularly when purchasing a product) or for a wide variety of prices, from $19 to several hundred dollars.
  4. Online shop. Can you create digital downloads that complement your blog content, books or classes? Post them in your online shop. People are online 24/7 and a digital download is readily accessible with an easy shopping cart. It might even be the way to find customers for your other products – a digital download could lead to a book or class sale. Be sure to have a secure checkout and capture the buyer’s info to build your email list. One thing leads to another…

Don’t feel you have to do everything at once. Choose one method of passive income, make sure it works properly, then add another to the mix. Evaluate your income streams on an annual basis. If it requires too much work to maintain for too little return, consider dropping the stream or item and add or enhance another. Things are constantly changing on the Internet, so what works this year might be passé the next.

If you’d like to follow along through the year, purchase your copy of Tame Those Pesky Details. (link below) Print books will be available soon!

What are your favorite sources of passive income? I’d love to hear! Leave a comment below.

I do hope you’ll enjoy my blog posts, Instagram photos and tweets on Twitter!

Sparkle On!

Aunti Cindi