I spoke at my LeTip networking group today about throwing darts at the Yellow Pages. What I mean by this is opening Big Yellow and picking a contractor or service provider without knowing much about them. A better resource is AngiesList.com where one can get reviews on service providers from their clients. It is similar to reading reviews on Amazon about books or Consumer reports about products. Better yet, you can hire someone like myself to hire and supervise work being done. As a homeowner I understand that it is overwhelming to try to get references and research the best contractors. I actually had to drywall my home office twice as the first person i hired did a lousy job. I didn't like having to have another person in to correct the issues and I wouldn't want my client to have to suffer through a similar experience. It's always nicer to let the mistakes belong to other people and their homes then to you and your wallet and your sanity.

This past week i had a client who wanted GFCI outlets and a new garbage disposal installed. I purchased the disposal and the outlets and scheduled my electrician / handyman. My contractor discovered that there were some wiring problems so after speaking to my client I am scheduling a second session with the electrician to correct this situation and also to change out a portion of the sink drain pipe as it is showing signs of corrosion. The electrician was referred to me by a technology expert who has used him for a number of projects.

I also assisted another client with a basement clean-out. Another client of mine raved about a clean and haul person who she had used so I knew that he was my man for this job. I scheduled the appointment for the client and met both at the client's location. Once I was comfortable that all was proceeding smoothly I departed to take care of other business.

It is wonderful to get paid to help people which is how i see my 'job'.