 Che boludos, getting to a B2 level of Spanish in 3 months and enjoying every moment of it. I usually don't write review posts but El Pasaje Spanish School in Buenos Aires was such a great experience. I've been to MANY language schools and i've had MANY private lessons, and I can honestly say this is the best i've experienced. The day i stepped into El Pasaje I knew not one word of the Spanish language and by the end of a Two and a half month lesson plan I could express myself clearly and freely, Make toasts at weddings (something i'm horrible at in English) and have a spanish speaking novia. The classes are more than reasonably priced , about $9 dollars and hour if you sign up for a month in advance. They don't try to fit as many students in class that they can, and if you need extra help they will evaluate you and hold you back or even move you forward, paying attention to your needs. My group class typically had 3 or 4 people in it never more. My average day started at 2PM and ended at 630PM. It sounds like a lot everyday but it went so fast I normally left wanting more and followed it up with homework. All lesson plans are taught in Spanish and they encourage you to make a fool of yourself. While you're there they will send you emails with job opening for your native language or Spanish , I received one that led to a TV interview. Every week or so they will invite the school out for a drink or dinner, the whole staff will show up because they actually want to get to know you. So no more bull@#$% . If you want to learn spanish and you're a terrible self studier as I am get your ass to Buenos Aires and take your classes here. I promise you will not regret it. DALE! Here is me speaking Spanish after classes: Spanish 3 Months
Time to write a bit about an experience I had last week with Salmonella and Buenos Aires public healthcare. From dehydration and sharting the bed to falling asleep on the toilet, it was a good one for sure. ( Please note this was my experience and I'm sure many will be thinking I just had a bad one, maybe but here it is) Just a bit of a rant that i had to get it out.
Career is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a person's "course or progress through life (or a distinct portion of life)". It is usually considered to pertain to remunerative work (and sometimes also formal education). Why many people think entrepreneurship isn't a career is beyond me. My theory is Entrepreneurship as a career usually starts around the age of 10. It starts when you sell your first bicycle or skateboard or something as simple as trading playing cards. From this moment on your work experience has started and puts you on a track towards your long and exciting career. There are a ton of similarities between a "normal" career path and that of an entrepreneur. The problem is entrepreneurs don't see them, causing them to get frustrated quit and start a "normal" life. If they had just known that having their 2 year in the making business or idea fail was just a fast track path to their goal. Entrepreneurship has never been so easily accessible as it is today. With the internet booming and constantly changing these are exciting times and those who take advantage of it will prevail. So let's make an example of the "Normal Career Plan" NCP and that of the entrepreneur. "NCP"1. Go to school, get good grades.2. Maybe after school have a job, but nothing to serious because your parents wouldn't want it to interfere with your studies.3. Apply for expensive school's so you can study what you think you want to do incredibly knowing only 4 years after hitting puberty. 4. Go to school party, learn your "passion" get out and get your dream job. 5. Realize it took 2 years to get a job and it's not even closely related to what you studied or a lower level job making you "over qualified". 6. Having this job for 10 years working your way up building your "resume" AKA credited knowledge that people determine solely on references, AKA network.7. Get fired or quit to have your mid life crisis, where shortly after you start a new life, another job. Now the way things are today these steps may move much much faster. I honestly believe that people will hold jobs for a maximum of 5-10 years before switching. Entrepreneur1. Go to school day dream get good enough grades to get through and possibly do very well in a few subjects that are of interest to you.2. While going to school have a job or small business where most of your focus is. 3. Leave high school and think why would i want to go to college when I'm already making money? 4. Realize that college is a great business as people are applying.5. Think your going to start a business and be a millionaire straight out.6. Realize it's much more difficult than you assumed and take 2 years of trying different ideas for one to gain traction.7. Think you have it all figured out to find yourself 1-3 years later 'getting fired" or failing.8. Step and repeat. Now entrepreneurship and the "normal" career path both have similar qualities in that both have huge misconceptions and both are very difficult. When the entrepreneur fails the NCP gets fired. They must learn from this and try to find another job. When one idea sticks for the entrepreneur the NCP gets a raise. When the entrepreneur gets a write up in the newspaper the NCP gets a promotion. So on and so on. The point of this is don't look at you career as an entrepreneur as a chance to break out of your 9-5 and make a million dollars on your own watch. It's not that rebellious. Delayed gratification will pay off as much as it would for the the NCP employee. Stop looking at each business as the be all end all because you may just be working at the deli stage of an NCP. When your idea gains traction DO NOT think it's over because you may have just got a job as an NCP. Do you see where i'm going with this? There should never be a time in an entrepreneurs life when he says "i guess i'm going to have to get a JOB like everyone else". Wrong you just have to move forward and look for a new idea like an NCP would look for a new job. Entrepreneurship is NOT a hobby and should be taught to students in high school as an option to the NCP.So the next time you make it or break it as an Entrepreneur just remember it's just a chapter in the book of your long career. Slow down learn from your mistakes and you will move forward. Most importantly if your do not START any projects you will be EXACTLY like an NCP that doesn't look for a new job.So get that "deli job" and get the ball moving.
How I implemented text messaging into Comeclean.it , and how at first was a convenience that turned into the core of the business. Comeclean.it was a laundry delivery business I had started November 2010 in Brooklyn. When I had started I was on a shoe string budget and was acting as a independent contractor for a local laundromat. Having no real laundry or delivery experience I knew I had to base the business on what I knew. People.
I knew I needed to build the brand around customer service after having previously seen the Yelp reviews from my competitors. Most of them had bad reviews for lack of communication and hidden fee's. So how could I communicate with these people in an effective way that will really open their arms to my brand. So I thought how can I make this as painless as possible for people and how do they communicate normally with friends not business' ?....Text messaging!
Now, I'm not talking about mass texting your client base like some text happy club promoter shoving the message down their throat. No, more of a casual customer service tool to gain feedback and spread the word like wild fire.
When I first started implementing txt I have to admit my expectations weren't to spread the word but more to care for and engage in real conversation with my customer's. My client base was still small at this point and I thought anything could help separate me from the competition.
After about two weeks of texting pick up confirmations ect. I received my first Yelp review, and it stated :
" Last Night, 6pm, having cocktails in the village with friends.
Friends: Faye who are you texting??
Faye: Oh, just Gary- my laundry guy. Totally normal.
Yes, Gary, my laundry guy, was texting me to let me know my dry cleaning was ready and we were discussing when I'd be home to receive it."
That was it! Texting gave her trust in me by genuinely engaging her in a manner that only friends and family would do before. I am now her friend, not Facebook friend or Linkedin friend, but a friend she could casually ask questions to with prompt response.
After further analyzing it I realized how this could also spread the word faster then any cut throat ad could ever. Now the 5 people that she was sitting around having cocktails with were also instantly interested in what she was doing with her phone and what the heck she could possibly be talking about with her laundry delivery man.
Now knowing this I targeted my text messages for confirmation and such for a time I thought my customers were more likely to be around their friends and family. From 5-7 pm most of my text messaging was done . Asking my new customers how they heard about me I realized my conversion rate for every 5 conversation's I would get a new customer. Simply amazing.
As time went on my client base got much much larger. Now it was time for the naive customer service fanatic to scale his doings in a structured and similar manner, keeping up what he started. It wasn't easy i'll tell you that, averaging 2600 business related text messages a month was no small task and for sure was 90% of my work.
End conclusion really caring is scalable and now in all of my future endeavors an absolute necessity. I parted ways with Comeclean.it in the end of september this year.
For anyone looking for an edge in a competitive market in an extremely competitive time. Don't rule out Text messaging or any other means of building real relationship's with your customer base on a genuine level, because thats all it was genuine.
http://www.vagablogging.net/vagabonding-case-study-gary-misner.html
Age: 24
Hometown: Long Island, NY
Quote: “Vagabonding taught me how to act, gave me an open mind to expect the unexpected.”
How did you find out about Vagabonding, and how did you find it useful before and during the trip? I first heard about Vagabonding while on a trip in Puerto Rico, I met a man who was a vagabond all his life an found him interesting. He suggested i should read it and i did, shortly after i was on my first “real” trip using references from the book along the way. Most importantly it taught me how to act, gave me an open mind to expect the unexpected.
How long were you on the road? About a year and a half on and off.
Where all did you go? Went through eastern europe, around the USA , Central America.
To Read More Click the Link Above Thanks!
Hi everybody, if you haven't met me yet my name is Gary Misner and I'm your laundry delivery man. Some of you may be saying "okay so why would i want to read about you?". The answer to that i do not know, but if your interested in me as i am interested in all of you, let me tell you a little about how Comeclean.it came about and what my feeling are about it thus far. About 3 months ago I decided to open a web-based laundry pick up and delivery service. I figured it would bring more laundry to the new family laundromat "Spin City", and would give me something to do in the mean time. I love business and even more building them. So i built a business model bought a website and boom comeclean.it was started. How is it a business you ask. "Aren't you just like the chinese delivery guys". Well on the surface it may seem that way. "How is it a business, what is your product?". My answer: customer service, period. I am set out to make doing laundry the easiest. That is by catering to everyones needs. Let's call it a "laundrierge" service. I admit when I first started this business it was about money, and yes i still have to pay rent but quickly i'm realizing this is turning into something much deeper. Comeclean.it gives me the opportunity to meet new people everyday, and i can honestly say thus far all of my customers are great ones and have a sort of bond with each and every one. In fact if one of them called me at 2 in the morning and asked me to come pick them up from the bar so they didn't have to drive, i would be there in a second. So is comeclean.it a business or culture slowly developing in Williamsburg for people who don't have time or interest in doing their own laundry. Time will tell but I think this year is going to be a good one. As for my customer base now you guys rock! I look forward to getting to know everyone.
Thanks!
Gary
Finding myself in an awkward situation i didn't know why or what it was about the beautiful read head in the corner of the room, i just knew it wasn't right...(Back Left Under Exit Sign)
Recently I moved to Brooklyn,NY. As the bills pile up from the once cheap place to live my wheels start turning. As i woke up one morning and went around the corner to get my daily coffee I returned to find a homeless man sitting on our bench in front of the apartment. I had recently been researching places in the area that I can take language lessons and kept coming up short. For private lessons in french it is 75 dollars an hour. For private lessons in spanish 45 dollars an hour. So thinking about this i sat next to the homeless man and proceeded to drink my coffee.
He said good day i replied, but i had noticed he had an accent so i asked. "What language do you speek he told me 6, Georgian , French , Arabic , English, German and russian". This homeless man now had my attention maybe I can get lessons from him in the park right in front of my house, it would be perfect for both of us, i learn he makes money it's a win win. So I finished my coffee and returned upstairs. Still thinking if i should ask him for lessons. The next day i woke up and got my coffee, there he was again. So i asked "TJ" hey do you remember me from yesterday, in his shape you never know. Sure goodmorning gary he said, i said hey last night i went home and i was thinking maybe in exchange for some money you can teach me arabic.
I had already had a notebook and pen with me . Sure he said he told me he's here everyday anyway and told his story how he is trying to get back to his farm in georgia and how he ended up on the street. So i began to learn now about culture aswel. Now im hooked i sat and spoke with TJ for 2 hours it felt like minutes, and after took me to the local deli where his friends speak arabic and he put me to work. After the lesson i asked him if he wanted a beer so i bought 2 and gave them both to him. His eyes lit up and he told me that beer will do just fine instead of money.
He told me he would spend the money i gave him on it anyway ill just save him the trip. Okay so this man has a problem and im supporting it for language lessons. What can you do!?!?! So i thanked him and now when i want some lessons i go to his home under the BQE and give him a shout and we sit in the park, not to close and he proceeds to give me knowledge that is priceless. When people say they don't have the money or time to do something like learn a language, the time might be right under your nose, just hope it smells better then the one i've found.
I'll keep you all updated, and get some pictures.
Thank's TJ.
"بعض سيضحك العديد من اتبع"
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