5 Reasons Why Relocating Your Wills Lawyer Offices Can Boost Its Revenue

5 Reasons Why Relocating Your Wills Lawyer Offices Can Boost Its Revenue

Healthy HomesMarketing Advice, Relocating

If you own or manage a wills lawyer business, such as www.perthwillslawyer.com.au, the premises you operate from can play a huge role in the success of that business. Whether it provides an excellent working environment for your staff or gives prospective clients who visit a positive impression, your business premises can be more influential than many give them credit for.

It could be that you have never really given your premises much thought previously, but we encourage you to do so. More than that you should actively reflect upon whether or not your current business premises have a positive impact on your business, or a negative one. Even if you consider your current premises to be ‘ok’, it may be time to ask yourself whether relocating your wills lawyer business to new premises could give it an advantage.

Many business owners, in a vast array of sectors, have found that relocating their business has transformed its performance dramatically. The question is, why that might be the case, and so we are going to answer that question by exploring some of the reasons why relocating a business can bring rewards.

Your Business Is Closer To Its Client Base

Assuming your wills lawyer business is one that works on behalf of local clients, it must surely make sense that the closer you are in relation to where those clients might live, the better. Often, the reason that a business is not performing as well as it might, is that its location means it is further away from its client base than most of its competitors. Relocating to an office closer to your clients and where it is easy for them to travel to has to be a means of securing more of those clients.

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3 Tips To Strategically Get Rid Of The Bugs That Attack Your Landscape Garden

Healthy HomesGardens, Property Maintenance

No matter whether you work on a large landscaping project, or simply have a garden at home which you love tending, there is one thing that will you unite you, and that is your hatred of bugs, especially those which attack your plants and flowers.

For many home owners, property maintenance professionals and gardeners, dealing with a bug problem is something which is not especially enjoyable, but should they ever get fed up with it and leave the bugs to do their worst, all their hard work will have been for nothing. Pretty soon, plants and flowers will be attacked, devoured, and ultimately killed by those tiny pests.

However, it need not be that way, as there are several ways in which you can deal with, and in many cases, eradicate bugs from your garden. Doing so requires you to take several actions, and this does not involve simply spraying everything in sight randomly.

You need to approach the problem of bugs strategically, in much the same way an army general would if they were planning an attack on an enemy. So, if you see bugs as the enemy of you, your landscape garden, and all the plants and flowers in there, then here is an approach you should take.

Know Your Enemy

As with any scenario where you have an opponent, the more you know about them, the better your chances are of defeating them. This applies to military conflict, sporting competitions, political contests, and in trying to rid your garden of bugs.

For this, you need to have a full and clear understanding of the bugs you are up against, as this will differ depending on where you are located, the sorts of plants you have in your garden, and even the time of year.

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Sustainability Business Efficiency

How Sustainability Can Increase the Efficiency of Your Business

Healthy HomesSustainability

Many city based businesses such as a web design company are using the fact that they follow sustainability guidelines in their offices as a marketing angle in the hope of attracting like minded clients. In fact, they are successful at this in most cases, since people now realise the importance of doing their small bit to help save the earth’s resources by reducing their carbon footprint.

Such practices don’t even take much effort and many actually save you money, so it’s worthwhile to find out what you can do and implementing some, if not all the strategies. For instance, if your small office needs a new printer, you might consider getting one that will do more than one job. Or you might want to look at the specifications to see whether there is a toner or ink saver mode.

If all offices were to do this, the whole mounts up and saves in several ways –

  • The business saves on the cost of ink or toner
  • Using a multifunction printer can save on space in the office
  • There is less rubbish going into landfill
  • There are fewer resources being used to replace products and accessories.

Another way to save is simply to make sure you choose a printer – or other product – that is suitable for your output. If you choose a cheap printer that is slow to print one page, the power used in printing is excessive when you need to have at least 20 pages printed in a day. But if your printer’s output is 20 pages per minute, the device is only working for one minute – unless you want more pages than that.

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Reduce Your Environmental Footprint

6 Ways to Reduce Your Environmental Footprint

Healthy HomesSustainability

People in the modern world are becoming increasingly aware of their environmental impact and the way their actions affect parts of the planet thousands of kilometres away. Small business owners across the country – from digital marketing agencies to family-owned grocery stores – are modifying their workplace practices to minimize their environmental footprint, and you should be doing the same.

I’ve spent some time researching the topic to bring you the following six ways to reduce your office’s environmental footprint. Remember, every business is different, so you won’t necessarily have to focus on every one of these. Nevertheless, they are still very useful.

  1. Recycle as Much as Possible

Recycling is one of the best ways to reduce your office’s carbon footprint. One thing a lot of people don’t realise is that pretty much everything can be recycled if you look hard enough. Old electronics can be taken to specified disposal points, furniture can be donated to op shops or repurposed, and even single-use plastics can be recycled if you try hard enough.

  1. Reduce Paper Usage

A major issue in many offices is excessive paper usage. You can make your business more environmentally friendly by spending some time analyzing your paper use and reducing where possible. For example, only print where necessary, reuse old printing as scrap paper for note taking, and reduce paper communication.

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Concrete Pool Remodelling Versus Replacement

Concrete Pool Remodelling Versus Replacement

Healthy HomesRenovating

If you have a concrete pool within your property, and it is looking less than 100%, with possibly even some damage, or if you are unhappy with the design, then the decision has to be made as to whether you are going to remodel the pool, or completely replace it with a new one.

This throws up a number of questions in addition to the primary one of whether to remodel or renew. There is the question of what size of budget you are to need for either option, what design ideas are going to work in either case, and whether you and your family are prepared for the upheaval that the likes of the pool being removed and replaced are going to create.

Often the first option that most people consider is the remodelling one for a number of reasons. The most obvious one is related to budget with the fact that having a concrete swimming pool remodelled is going to cost a whole lot less than having one removed, and a completely new one installed by an expert.

That is not to say that remodelling a concrete pool is a cheap exercise, as it will still require a five-figure dollar amount, but it can often work out to be around 50% of the cost of the removal and replacement of a concrete pool.

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Commercial Concrete Floor Coatings

Advantages Of Commercial Concrete Floor Coatings For Offices

Healthy HomesFlooring

It is true that many offices have plush carpets but what about those offices that have a concrete floor, and where using a carpet would not be suitable or appropriate? The answer is to either use concrete floor coatings or concrete paint which can provide a superb finish when done by concrete floor coatings professionals, which in most cases is even safer than the use of carpet.

In fact, using concrete floor coatings to refinish a concrete floor in an office setting has many advantages for the business that does so, and for those who work in that office.

Durability

One of the top reasons that a business will choose to have its concrete office floors refinished using special concrete floor coating is that it will greatly prolong the life of that floor. Obviously concrete is a relatively robust material, however, it can deteriorate, and get damaged.

Rather than having the upheaval of closing the office every time when repairs are needed due to a problem with, or damage to, the concrete floor, with a coating protecting it there is little chance of any remedial work ever being needed.

Safer And Healthier Working Environment

Offices are not the first workplace that would normally come to mind when thinking about accidents at work, however, they can, and most certainly, do, happen there. Concrete floor coatings are non-slip so even if someone is rushing to the photo copier, they should have a secure grip underfoot.

Concrete floor coatings are also healthier in the sense that unlike carpets and other soft floor coverings, they do not attract and retain bacteria and other undesirables, such as allergens.

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How to Get Rid of Bad Smells Lingering in Your Home

Healthy HomesA Healthy Home Environment, Property Maintenance

There’s nothing quite like coming home to the beautiful smell of dinner wafting out from the kitchen, or bread baking in the bread maker. But what about those smells you don’t want? There’s nothing quite like them either, but for an altogether different reason. When it comes to bad smells lingering in your home, getting to the source, and cleaning them is of the utmost importance. Read on to learn what it takes to say goodbye to them for good.

Identify What the Smell Is  

There’s no point rushing to the supermarket to pick up deodorisers, sprays, and candles if you don’t know what is causing the bad smell. By doing so, you’re masking it, rather than removing the source. Even though it’s not going to be pleasing to your senses to sniff around for the odour, it’s the only option you have to find it.

What does it smell like? Could it be dangerous? Is it stronger when you’re in a particular area of your home? Has it come on suddenly, or has it been getting worse? Identification is key to then moving on to getting rid of it.

Mould

If your home has a unique, musty odour, then there’s every reason to believe that mould could be to blame. Mold and mildew can smell like old mothballs or even wet cardboard and is quite distinctive.

It’s also more common around parts of your home prone to moisture, such as bathrooms. The first step to removing mould in your home is correcting the problem. If it’s caused by a leak in your bathroom, for example, then fixing that leak can stop the production of mould in its tracks.

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Benefits of Landscaping

The Benefits of Good Landscaping

Healthy HomesRenovating

Many people are purchasing fix-me-up properties to not only make their mark but make a profit. They will take a home that no one put a lot of time into, add their stamp, improve it, then sell it off to someone who wants a home already finished. Others will buy a standard property then enhance its overall look and landscaping so that they can live in it comfortably.

In many cases, people who buy property don’t put as much passion or love into the landscaping as they do the interior of the house. If you ask Intreeg Landscapes, they say the landscape is more valuable than you think, and here’s why.

It Adds Value
If you spend time and money on good landscape design, you are more than likely going to see it back in your hand when the time comes to sell. The average percentage increase of value that landscaping brings can be between 5-12 percent and depends on whether you’ve had an expert’s touch – which is recommended – and the overall value of the property as well.

If you are looking for a quick flick on a property, then dedicate a few extra days to your yard. You’d be surprised at the difference a little bit of weeding, gardening, and landscaping can make.

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Landscape with Pets

How to Landscape with Pets in Mind

Healthy HomesGardens

Did you know there are 20 dogs for every 100 people in Australia? That’s nearly five million dogs in a country of dog lovers. Divine Landscapes advise that if you have one or more, then you’ll likely want to think of ways to make your yard not only beautiful but more appealing to your furry friend as well. Landscape design can be more than merely appealing to adults, so here’s how to achieve the best of both worlds.

Add a Pond
Water features such as ponds and waterfalls can be beneficial for your mental health. However, they can also be a reason for wagging tails. Dogs love to drink fresh water, so why not create a safe and flowing pond or waterfall that’s welcoming for your dog? For safety reasons, ensure there is a safe area for them to access the water, such as a gentle slope. If you’re not sure how to pull it off, consult a landscape design expert.

Full Fencing

Around nine dogs from every 1,000 resi   dents are picked up by dog control in Australia every year. While many of those dogs are strays and require rehoming, many escape their owners’ poorly fenced properties. If you are going to incorporate your dog’s needs into your landscape design, then fencing should be your first priority.

Choose the appropriate fence sizing based on how much of an escape artist your dog is. As a rule of thumb, the bigger your dog, the taller the fence you need. If you’re not sure how to achieve function and beauty with your landscape design, a landscaping expert in your area can help.

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Glass Pool Fence

Top Tips For Maintaining Your Glass Pool Fence

Healthy HomesGardens

With the rise in popularity of glass pool fencing, it’s important to make sure that people know how to look after and maintain their glass fences. Other forms of pool fencing – such as the metal tubular style – have traditionally been designed to hide dirt and to require little maintenance.

Unfortunately, according to property maintenance experts Complete Projects, this isn’t the case with glass fencing. Glass shows even the smallest specks of dirt, and will even appear ‘dirty’ if it’s not dried after being wet. It can therefore appear hard to maintain glass fences, but it’s really not if you know what you’re doing.

Below you will find a list of our top tips to keep your glass pool fence looking as good as new for years to come:

  1. Make Sure You Clean Regularly

Regular cleaning is one of the most important things when it comes to keeping your glass pool fence in good condition. However, it’s very important to make sure that you clean your fence properly. Avoid harsh abrasives and chemicals, and try not to scratch or otherwise damage your glass while you’re cleaning.

Exactly how often you clean your fence will depend on you and how motivated you are, but you should try and clean it at least every 2-4 weeks if you live in a harsh environment. Examples of harsh environments include near the ocean or in areas where mineral rich bore water is used.

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Landscaping Ideas

Prevent Flooding with These Landscaping Ideas

Healthy HomesGardens

Depending on where you live in Australia, flooding may or may not be a problem for you. However, if it rains more often than not, you might need to get creative with your landscaping options. Failure to take care of flooding and water flow can result in a soggy yard that you use less than you would like.

Check out this helpful advice, we put together with Wild Realtor, below

Locate the Problem

Before you go and buy everything you need for your landscaping task, find out why and how you have a problem with flooding in the first place. Typically, flooding occurs when the earth can’t absorb any more water, with nowhere to drain. It then moves to the lowest point in your property – the place where you need to install drainage. Sometimes, flooding can occur with heavy rain in a short space of time. It falls quicker than your soil can absorb it.

Find Out if Your Property is Prone

Flooding can be a once-off occurrence, or your property could be prone to it.  Common signs your property is likely to flood are include a sloping lawn, stains around your home’s cladding, a missing top gutter system, and water pooling on your driveway.

Divert Water

When you begin to alter your landscaping, think about where water typically floods and take action. The last thing you want is for it to end up right in the area you’ve just turned into a barbecue nook! Install a spouting system that helps to divert the water away from your house. You may also like to include downspout extenders to draw it away.

Use It To Your Advantage

Does your property flood in the same place all the time? If you can’t fix it, work with it. Create a rain garden in this area. Add flood-proof plants, dig out the turf, install an overflow and berm, and add mulch with native grasses. Before you know it, your previously-flooded lawn is a beautiful rain garden that looks the part.

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Commercial Cleaner

3 Tips For Finding The Perfect Commercial Cleaner

Healthy HomesProperty Maintenance

Finding a commercial cleaner to look after your business or commercial building can be difficult. The options are seemingly endless, and it can be tiring reading through a whole lot of different websites to choose the best cleaner.

Luckily for you, there are a few telltale signs that you can look for that will help you identify the best commercial cleaners for your business. Some things will allow you to eliminate some cleaners immediately, while others will help you build a shortlist of suitable contractors for your business. Our top three tips for finding the perfect commercial cleaner include:

  1. Find Someone Who Is Qualified And Experienced

The first thing that you should look for when it comes to choosing the perfect cleaning company for your commercial needs is their qualifications and experience. While cleaning isn’t necessarily a job which requires a lot of qualifications, they certainly help, and they can provide proof that the cleaner in question is well equipped to handle your work.

Where possible, you should always work with commercial cleaners who have a well established company and who have been in the business for a decent amount of time. Find someone who has qualifications relating to the type of building you have – commercial, residential or industrial – and who has decent cleaning equipment and materials.

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Financial Planner

How A Financial Planner Can Help With Home Renovation

Healthy HomesRenovating

If you are thinking about doing any type of home and garden renovation your list of experts to help you might include an electrician, an architect or a landscape gardener. However, have you thought to include a financial planner on your list? It is likely not, as most people think financial planners are only for sorting out investments and pensions. On the contrary, they can assist with any project which requires financing and home renovation is one of them.

There are countless examples of homeowners embarking on a home renovation project, and seeing the whole thing grind to a halt because the project was not planned properly with regards to financing it. The costs might have spiralled out of control, or an expected bill which caused them to reach their credit card limit are just two of the dramas that may have befallen them.

Assuming you don’t want the same to happen to you, the sensible option is to employ the services of a financial planner so that any concerns you may have for your home renovation project are allayed with regards to money and financing.

In practical terms, there are several ways a financial planner can assist you when planning any kind of home or garden renovation. Firstly, they can look at your overall financial health, and suggest ways you might be able to improve your financial situation to make the project more affordable.

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Common Fire Types

Common Fire Types And How They Should Be Treated

Healthy HomesProperty Maintenance

When it comes to office and business safety, fire is a very important consideration. Sure, it’s rare to have a fire in your building, but it is very important to understand that when you do, it isn’t always as simple as grabbing the nearest fire extinguishers and putting it out.

A report out today from Integral Fire Protection, says there are a number of different fires which all behave differently. Obviously, the standard wood or flammable solid based fire is the most common, and is probably the one which we are all familiar with. However, there are at least four other types of fires – classified by the fuel they burn – which should be treated differently to maximise your chance of extinguishing them safely. They are:

Class A Fires – General Combustibles

These are the fires which we are all familiar with. They are fuelled by oxygen, and generally involve common materials like paper, wood, plastic or fabrics burning. They are easily managed, and can usually be controlled by dousing with water, using an appropriate fire extinguisher or covering with sand or a fire blanket.

Class B Fires – Flammable Liquids

Flammable liquids, such as petrol or oil, behave differently to solids when they burn. Since liquids can flow, it is extremely important to never throw water on a liquid fire. The water will sink below the flammable liquid in most cases, evaporating and causing an explosion. Make sure that you use an appropriate fire extinguisher – such as a dry powder or CO2 one – to minimise the risk of making the fire worse.

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Outdoor Living

The Health Benefits of Spending Time Outdoors

Healthy HomesRenovating

As a resident of Perth, Australia, you can appreciate the weather as for most of the year it is more than pleasant. The city has heat, and heat waves, but apart from the excessively hot days, people aren’t caged inside like you would be if it was bitterly cold. There are more than 260 sunny days in Perth annually and that makes activities outdoors common for most people. Spending time in your garden that has had the benefit of a nice landscape design can be surprisingly good for you.

What is probably not known is that there are benefits to being outdoors that have been scientifically proven.

FACTS

Being outside improves short term memory.

A study by a US university found that test subjects got 20% better scores on tests they were given after a short walk through trees and outside in sunshine. Similar studies found that depressed individuals increased their working memory after a short walk outside.

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Good Fencing

The Good Side of the Fence

Healthy HomesProperty Maintenance

Getting new fencing is not simply choosing what you want and building it, or having it built. What about the neighbours? If the local council regulations allow the type of fence you want, you probably feel like it’s okay to build it. Unfortunately, while the fence might be in your yard, or more likely on the boundary, the neighbours will be seeing one side of it every day. Like everything else, there is etiquette involved before you get all enthusiastic and start putting up that fence.

Common Boundaries

Even if you are replacing an existent fence, you need to have the property line checked again.

Your land titles should clearly indicate where everything starts and stops with regard to boundaries, but make sure. Get a surveyor to stake the property again so the fence goes in exactly the right position. Additionally, a surveyor can place stakes along the boundary, giving you a clearer idea of exactly where your fence can go.

Communication with the Neighbour

You cannot erect a fence in this country without having the neighbour agree to the design and cost, particularly as they are usually liable for half the cost anyway. Maybe the neighbour was considering a new fence anyway. It’s just common courtesy to have a nice neighbourly chat about it.

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Landscape Design

The Importance of Edging in Landscape Design

Healthy HomesGardens

The landscape design process is often prepared with a variety of special accents that can make any garden look attractive. A professional team can assist you with getting a quality edge ready around your garden to make it look more distinctive and unique.

The kind of edging you chose is important in order to establish the way you want your garden and landscaped area to look and what your lifestyle needs are.

  • It adds an ornamental look to your landscape in general.
  • It also works as a border for the entire space.
  • You could even add edges to separate individual spots around your landscape. This is for areas where there are lots of plants that need to be contained in some way to make them more attractive.

As you plan to get an edging ready, a landscaper will be able to advise you on the best kinds to suit your garden and give the kind of look you are aiming for. This could include a review of how well the edging is to be made and where it should be placed for the best effect. A proper diagram should be made with professional ideas for what can be done to help you get the most out of whatever you plan on adding to your garden.

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Shades or Sails

The Fine Print for Shade Sail Purchase

Healthy HomesRoofing

Purchasing a shade sail for your business from Shade Sails Perth is a great idea. It shows your care about the comfort and well-being of your customers when you provide shade for them to sit in while they are at your establishment. But before you sign on the dotted line, it’s a good idea to read all the fine print to ensure you are getting what you really need.

The fine print should contain the following information: –

  • Durability of the product. You’ll want to know exactly how long you can expect the sail to last so you can calculate the overall cost for that number of years.
  • Strength – this is not the same as durability. Some things last a long time but are not that strong in some ways. Strength means that the shade sail, posts and fittings should be strong enough to withstand a reasonable amount of adverse weather and the sail itself should not tear in the wind, or due to being over-tensioned.
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Home Design Ideas

10 Home Design Ideas to Make Your Small Space Look Bigger

Healthy HomesInterior Design

Affordable homes are often smaller than more costly ones, but that doesn’t mean the owners can’t truly enjoy living in them. In fact, a smaller home design often creates a warm, intimate atmosphere that can be missing in a larger one.  There are many different ways to make your smaller home look larger so you don’t feel like you’re living in a box. Here are some of them.

  • Know your limits. When space is limited, don’t stuff it with lots of furniture. For instance, rather than having the traditional sofa, 2 lounge chairs and a coffee table set-up in the living room, limit it to just the sofa. Or you could find a lounge suite that is smaller than most, with narrower arms and a low back. Comfortable easy chairs take up less space than the kind of lounge chairs that match the sofa.
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healthy living

9 Simple Tips for Healthy Living

Healthy HomesHealthy Living

Healthy living doesn’t usually come naturally because there are many temptations that lead to bad habits and after that, to bad health. While it is fatally easy to get into those bad habits, it seems somewhat harder to establish the good ones, mostly because they are the opposite of what we’ve become used to.  However, if you do a thing for 30 days, experts tell us it becomes a habit, so try following one or more of these simple tips for a month and see what happens.

  • Drink more water. Water helps to flush the toxins out of the body and cleans the kidneys, one of our waste disposal units. Water keeps your body hydrated and helps to carry nutrients and oxygen around our body. It also helps to keep the skin looking young and fresh and helps you to lose weight. What’s not to like about that?
  • Eat a healthy diet including fresh fruit and vegetables. Don’t overcook food as that destroys the nutrients in it. Have raw or lightly steamed vegetables for the most nutrients. Brightly coloured foods generally have a lot of antioxidants to keep you healthier.
  • Have plenty of sleep. If you are constantly tired you become bad-tempered. You’ll also gain weight, since your body craves food to compensate for that tired feeling. Lack of sleep will make you age more quickly, since when you sleep your body restores itself.
  • Find time to relax and live in the moment. In other words, stop and smell the roses so your stress levels are reduced and you feel calmer. Stress that goes on for too long contributes significantly to many serious diseases.
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