It was a summer storm.

It was severe. It was quick and violent.

High winds, horizontal rain, and hail. Almost a tornado.

The next morning it was clear there was roof damage. Damage from the hail? Perhaps. Windswept shingles in the yard confirmed the need for the roof's repair.

I walked around the house. We have several mature trees native to Michigan where we live.

I made it to the backyard. I noticed a thick branch on the large Maple tree cracked where it connects to the trunk. Then my eyes followed the broken branch to it's tip. The majority of the broken branch had crashed into the roof in the back of our house.

Roof damage, for sure.

I didn't hesitate. I immediately began searching the internet for quality local roofing contractors in Canton, Michigan.

I found Tittle Brothers Construction. A family owned and operated general contractor with plenty of residential and commercial roofing experience.

From the moment I contacted Tittle Brothers I felt respected. They explained their process, and were happy to provide a free estimate.

The roof got repaired quickly. The quality was excellent.

Now, I just hope the forecast remains sunny and 70 the rest of the summer.

You just moved to Downriver, Michigan.

You don’t know the area well yet, but you have found the nearest grocery store, pharmacy, and even a few restaurants you like.

Considering your rookie status to the area, when your home’s drains seemed clogged you weren’t sure exactly who to call.

You did a search or two online for Sewer Downriver Michigan and soon found PlumbersDownriver.com.

From what you could tell online they provide quality, professional plumbing services, both residentially and commercially.

You then decided to ask your neighbor if she could recommend a plumber in the area. She immediately asked if you had checked out PlumbersDownriver.com yet.

That was positive validation, so you called, recived prompt quality service and now have your plumbing fixed like new.
​
Now, you can check off knowing your local area plumber on your path to becoming a neighborhood veteran resident.

You’ve spent the last few years establishing this area as your home.

Meanwhile, you’ve been saving every extra penny available for a down payment on the purchase of your own home.

Afterall, homeownership is the American Dream. It’s been a goal you’ve been working towards for some time now. Plus, it represents the opportunity to begin building equity for yourself – a worthwhile investment.

You envision your children growing up in your home, holidays and birthdays spent together in small piece of the world that you can call your own.

Since recently learning about the Maricopa County “Home in 5” program, which extends help to creditworthy individuals to buy homes and rebuild neighborhoods affected by foreclosures, you’re financially ready to begin shopping for your first home.

As you chat with other friends who have made the leap from apartment living to their own home, only one residential real estate agency keeps coming up. That’s Century 21 Citywide.

Beyond the fact that Century 21 Citywide is knowledgeable and compassionate to their clients’ unique home buying needs, they are also experts on the “Home in 5” assistence program.

This makes your decision to partner with Century 21 Citywide for your first home one of the easiest decisions you’ve had to make about home buying.
​
Now, to decide exactly which house you like best, that’s the hard part.

It’s not always easy to figure out the best option to handle your roof repairs or a new roof installation for your home or your business.

However, you want to ensure whoever you hire is a professional.

That said, if you need roofing in Dearborn, Michigan you’ll want to check out RoofingDearborn.com and contact the professionals of All Point Construction there.

All Point is a reputable local roofing company who takes pride in providing quality work, done right.

All Point Construction only uses the highest quality materials and is a fully licensed, bonded and insured, family-owned roofing contractor. All Point will treat you how they would want to be treated – with dignity, respect and compassion.

There are several reasons to choose All Point Construction for your residential or commercial roofing needs including the fact that they work directly with lenders to help you save thousands on financing.

​That, coupled with exceptional workmanship and an A+ Better Business Bureau rating makes for a winning combination you can trust.

Plus, All Point will provide a free quote on your roof project, which makes your decision to learn more even easier. 

Check out All Point Construction at:
Roofing Dearborn
3200 Greenfield Road
Suite 300
Dearborn, MI 48120

Ever since I got my first smartphone, I've been taking pictures everywhere.

I love that I always have a camera in my pocket any time a good photo op arises.

The problem is, I have tons of photos and some are saved in the cloud, some I've downloaded to my computer, and others are simply still sitting on my phone.

I recently went back to look at some photos I had taken that were stored on my computer and had completely forgotten about many of them.

That experience frustrated me. I no longer want to forget about my photos, but I needed a better way to organize them.

Then I found the ImageRanger software, which is designed to quickly and easily organize all my photos in one place.

ImageRanger is great. I can easily organize my photos into a folder structure how I want -- by year and city. It removes duplicates images, and I can even sort on all the portrait style photos in my collection. This is great when I'm trying to locate pictures I've taken of my friends. 

ImageRanger also has advanced features for professional photographers. A few of my pro photographer friends will love this.

​If you haven't already, check out ImageRanger.com.

It's spring, the rainy season in Midwestern states like, Michigan.

Finally, the snow of winter is subsiding, but that precipitation has now thawed enough to just be wet, rather than more solid and ice cold.

As you sit through another storm on Friday night watching a movie you hear your sump pump kick on. Ah, that gives you peace of mind as you depend on that pump to keep your basement dry during such a rain storm.

Unfortunately, sometime in the middle of the night while you were sleeping the sump pump stopped working, but the rain kept pouring down.

The next day, instead of enjoying a nice Saturday morning breakfast with your family, you're bailing out water in the basement because the sump pump failed.

From your initial look at the pump nothing seems out of the ordinary or broken, however you spot some raw sewage, which could mean the sewer line is plugged causing the flooding in your basement.

The good news is that you know exactly who to call for a sewer inspection in Downriver, Michigan:  Downriver Plumbers.

Downriver Plumbers offers fast, 24/7 emergency service with detailed estimates from their licensed master plumbers. 

And your life can get back to normal as quickly as possible.

Photo credit:  Pexels

It's my pleasure to introduce Lucy Reed, creator of GigMine, as today's guest post author.
-Nick Venturella
owner, tinycareer.com

I’m Lucy Reed and I’ve been starting businesses since I was a kid, from the lemonade stand I opened in my parent’s driveway at age 10 to the dog walking business I started while in college. I created GigMine because I was inspired by the growth of the sharing economy and wanted to make it easier for entrepreneurial individuals like myself to find gig opportunities in different areas.
 
Not too long ago, people dreamed of having a job that combined a flexible schedule with income opportunity. Traditional careers usually require working at an office, where you are rewarded more for your attendance than productivity. Those who wanted to be their own boss were often met with the sobering reality of business startup expenses and the enormous risk of striking out on their own.
 
Then, over the past decade, a revolution swept over the way people find jobs and perform work. Technology and innovations in how people collaborate and connect also facilitated this change. The resulting gig economy allows people to work when and where they want in ways that were unthinkable just a short while ago. Now, over 34 percent of workers in the United States are part of this gig economy, which includes freelancers, remote contract workers, and others with relaxed work schedules. This number is poised to grow close to 50 percent over the next few years.
 
What does it take to earn money in the gig economy? Is it a viable career choice for everyone? Answering these questions requires an analysis of worker personalities and skill sets.
 
The Mind of a Freelancer
 
Success in the gig economy is much like success as an entrepreneur, only potentially easier depending on your field. To start your own business, you need startup capital, living expenses for a certain period of time, and a source of customers. The gig economy reduces or eliminates most of these barriers. While freelance positions lack the stability of a full-time job, some will say that employment stability is an illusion. People are laid off all the time, even from well-performing companies such as Amazon and General Electric. A successful freelancer recognizes the presence of risk in everyday life and views this uncertainty as opportunity.
 
Success in the gig economy requires embracing risk, but it also calls for high-level organizational and sales skills. You need to be able to manage your workflow on your own. And drumming up clients is, for the most part, completely on your plate. Apps and websites can reduce the pitching burden by providing streamlined opportunities for jobs, but sustained success requires stepping beyond these services.
 
Small Business Sense
 
In addition to managing assignments and projects, a freelancer has to run the administrative side of their business. Tracking expenses, handling small business tax matters, and cutting paychecks are all part of the freelancer’s job. So is marketing, ordering supplies, and handling countless other tasks that might be handled by bosses or coworkers in traditional employment.
 
Home-Life Separation
 
Working in the gig economy also requires an ability to work productively from home, and not everyone is adept at doing so. Some tips to create a balance between work and non-work is to create a home office that is separate from the rest of your living area. While it might seem relaxed to work from your kitchen table, the fun ends when the inevitable interruptions begin. If you have a separate room in your house, make it an office. It’ll serve as a work sanctuary that you can walk away from, and you may be entitled to a tax write off if the room is separate.
 
Stay Connected
 
Some freelancers fizzle out when they realize they miss having coworkers. The gig economy presents several replacements for office banter. From freelance discussion boards to meetup groups to traditional networking methods, you can enjoy camaraderie of other professionals.
 
Freelancing in the gig economy presents real opportunities to pave your own way on your terms. The extra work may not be right for everyone, but for those looking for a challenge, self-employment has never been easier.

These days there are a growing number of women role models for other women. 

However, there are not enough, which is why it's my pleasure to introduce The Goalden Lady.

The Goalden Lady is a website and blog geared toward the ongoing growth of women of any age.

The idea is to provide useful, practical and positive content that helps empower, motivate and inspire women to live the life they want no matter what their current situation.

This concept takes shape by encouraging site visitors to begin their 'goalden' journey from where ever they currently are with whatever resources are currently available. Read the site’s content, take action, join the email list and be a part of a larger group of women taking charge of their lives to live on their terms.

I encourage you to check out The Goalden Lady (TGL) website. Here are TGL guidelines to give you a preview of your future empowerment.

1.  No excuses
   
2. Keep it moving
   
3. No complaining
   
4. Accept responsibility for everything you do
   
5. Only compare yourself to who you were yesterday
   
6. Avoid distractions
   
7. Know your money
   
8. No worrying – do something about it
   
9. Think for yourself
   
10. Help somebody

posted by: Nick Venturella

When Michigan's weather warms up, that's when exterior home repairs and improvements start to become top of mind.

Those first few nice weather days of spring and summer when you're outside doing some light yard work, cleaning out the garage and summer-izing the snowblower to ready it for next winter is often when you notice things about the exterior of your home.

You notice the shutters on either side of the windows are drastically sun faded. In fact, the siding in the entire front of the house is sun faded compared to the side of the house. The front of your home is south-facing so it gets a lot of direct sunlight, and over the years that sunlight will fade your siding and shutters.

So you come to the realization that it's time to replace your home's siding and shutters, but you're not sure where to start in terms of finding a local contractor to do the work.

You hop online and head over to DownriverRoofers.com where you find All Point Construction who are fully licensed and insured contractors for siding installation in Downriver, Michigan.

Unfortunately, there are many unscrupulous roofing contractors out there.

These are people with fly-by-night operations that prey on home owners who don't understand enough about the work and/or repairs needed for their home, so it's easy for some less-than-honest contractor to take advantage of them.  

The shady contractors do this by providing a great price and getting the work done in no time, yet the quality lacks. However, by the time you are aware of the quality issues your roof has already started shedding shingles and the contractor and his company are no longer available or even around.

To make matters worse, often the roof that was installed needs to be drastically repaired or even replaced because of the poor quality work done in the first place. As a home owner, you're now paying substantially more money for the total overall cost of your entire roofing project.

If you need a new roof for your home, the better route is to simply hire a legitimate, licensed and insured roofing contractor who does quality work, in the first place. And when you live in the Great Lakes State you want the best roofing contractor in Troy, Michigan.

Check out TroyRoofingPros.com to get started.