Small Businesses I Recommend to Shop For Christmas Gifts In 2021

This year I chose to feature small businesses for gift-buying and giving instead of actual gift recommendations.

Let’s face it 2021 has been a strange year.   Businesses are still in comeback mode after all the shutdowns from 2020.

Apex QC Fans is owned and operated by Jack and Elaine Williamson and it is located in Parker, Colorado.  They serve the South East Metro area; as well as Parker, Castle Rock, and other areas. 

Apex QC Fans is A Premier Colorado Platinum QC Dealer!   They’re native Colorado-based whole house fan and attic fan experts. BPI certified licensed residential contractor with over 30 years experience in the whole house and attic fan knowledge, and a Quietcool dealer.

Now is your chance to get a Quiet Cool Whole House Fan Systems installed and save up to $550.00 on a new system. They also provide attic fans, solar roof vents, UVAIRx, and Puraclenz advanced air and decontamination systems. They offer Military, Law Enforcement, and 55 discounts. They serve the South East Metro area; as well as Parker, Castle Rock, and other areas. 

Annas Attic is owned and operated by Anna Locy and is located in Colorado. Anna takes fabric that once belonged to loved ones, and creates a tangible memory. With dignity and respect, she transforms sentimental materials into a lasting keepsake. Please visit her site and see what she can make for you or someone you know.

Grazing Upscale is owned and operated by Lindsay Giles and she is located in Aurora, Colorado. She is a mom, a wife, and a prior Army service member. She creates grazing boxes for any occasion and creates grazing tables for special events. She takes pride in each order she receives and makes all of them with love. These would make excellent Christmas gifts!

Janae Gibson is a Color Street Consultant. She is located in Aurora, Colorado. Color Street makes and sells gorgeous, customizable manicures with no dry time and for a fraction of what you would pay at the salon! I wish I was coordinated enough to use them. I tried and failed miserably at it. She has a special going on right now. French nails are buy 1 get 1 free, and the rest are buy 3 get 1 free. Please visit her site today.

I am so excited to introduce you to Odde’s Music Grill owned and operated by Chris Odde. Located in Westminster, Colorado. The OMG is your neighborhood bar, restaurant, and local music venue to sit down, relax and enjoy a great atmosphere with your friends, family, and co-workers.

Taunya Tobias Stillman is a Scentsy Consultant and is located in Bailey, Colorado. Scentsy is a family-based company that offers safe scent-based Products. Scentsy started with Wax and Warmers and has evolved over the years into a Fragrance company. Their Christmas line is here and cute too. Please visit her site today.

My wish for you this holiday season is that you and yours be healthy, happy, and blessed.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to one and all!

Gain The Advantage,

Alicia Osmera

5 Comfort Christmas Gifts For 2020

2020! I thought about what this year has been like for most of the world. A crazy pandemic kicked it off along with people being told to stay at home, work from home if they could. Our children were rooted up from their known comforts of school playgrounds, socializing with other children, and having their own time away from family.

2020 has brought a chance to look back at what brings us comfort in all the craziness. This year I decided to focus on my top 5 comfort picks for gifts. Not just to buy at the holidays but any day.

Number 5

The Brentwood Quesada Maker

I find food can be very comforting. What’s better than making quesadillas? It sells on Amazon for $24.66.

Number 4

JML 10 Piece Microfiber Bedding Comforter Set

It comes in a variety of colors and looks very cozy. You can find it on Slickdeals.com for just $59.99.

Number 3

Let’s not forget our pooches!

Bark Bones Barktique

This home-based business is owned by Rachael Wood.

Each dog treat is homemade with quality ingredients. She also has collars and leashes available for a great price. Log onto her website Bare Bones Barktique today and order your furry friends something comforting.

Prices range from 12.00 and up.

Number 2

31 Comfort and Cozy Gift Ideas That Keep You Warm

While surfing the world wide web I came across 31 different comforting and cozy gifts for every member of the family, friends, and even coworkers.

The Spoonful Of Comfort website has everything from weighted blankets, making smores, Jammies, Teas, Winterwear to anything you’re looking for.

Prices range anywhere from $20.00 on up.

Sign up today and receive 10% off your order.

Lastly, NUMBER 1

I couldn’t decide on just one thing. I’m adding the link to an article I wrote a few years ago titled, My Top 5 Unique Gifts To Give For Christmas. My favorite one is the fruit-infused ice balls.

Here’s to wishing you and yours and very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Gain The Advantage,

Alicia Osmera

20 Profitable Small Business Ideas for Women With SproutMentor

As I was browsing through my Pinterest account

I came across this pin

20 Profitable Business Ideas for Women in 2019 by Hildha Mewend, owner of Sprout Mentor.

She offers great tips and resources if you’re searching for a way to make a more of a passive income.

From my Instagram account at connectwithalicia, (just scan the nametag below to find my account).

A new feature is titled, Ways To Work From Home.

After stumbling on her article I just knew it needed to be shared with my readers.

Please leave a comment.

Gain The Advantage,

Alicia Osmera

Irritated!

Are you as bombarded with bogus inquiries on line about your ‘business opportunity”?

Sometimes I think people are just board on the internet and this is the new; “ring the doorbell and run” prank that we used to play as kids to homeowners.

Sometimes you can tell when there is a fake lead from your auto responder and sometimes you can’t. (Example, Name: OJ Huxtable, Phone: 888-515-5555, Email wantoj@gmail.com). Now really is this for real? I think not. I wouldn’t even attempt to waste my time or energy to even pursue this as a credible business partner let alone a lead!

Let’s discuss what makes a credible lead? Name, Phone Number, Email all these can be fake, phony, no good, and so on. How do you tell if it is credible?

The best advice I can give:

What about the name. Does it seem somewhat normal? (Joe, Jim, Candy, Amanda) I think you get the picture.

What about the phone number?

If you have a list of area codes for the United States that’s not to hard to figure out. A great site for information is All Area Codes.com ( All Area Codes. Com ).

What about the email address?

Bogus email addresses are used more then they are less and with identity theft as big as it is; people are scared to even leave a good email address to contact them at. Are you protecting your identity? Do you use a system such as Legal Shield’s Identity Theft Program? Contact Anita Corrigan at Anita Corrigan Legal Shield. Or do you use Life Lock? Life Lock Of course there are other’s but these are the only two the are recommended by Donald Trump!! (No politics here but he is a great business man).

Well than what’s the answer?

Be wise and go with your “gut” instincts. The gut never lies! It’s pretty easy to tell a real serious interested client than someone just playing jokes on you. Is there a simple solution to the problem? YES!

Protect Yourself

  • Encrypt a current email address: Another way to protect your email privacy is to use Thunderbird with Enigmail; Mac Mail with GPGTools; Outlook with GPG4Win. These tools allow you to encrypt a current email address and offer a suite of security enhancements to ensure that your data is being protected. Warning: these tools require some tech-savvy and can be tough to figure out.
  • Use a secure email provider! There are a number of email providers that have a model for providing top-notch security for free or for a nominal fee. The following tools provide a secure VPN for all internet browsing, a USB-key necessary email entry, and free email protection for your smartphone (iOS or Android) respectively: Unspyable, Countermail, stop spam email and Shazzle.
  • Filter your spam (and keep your favorite inbox) If you are one of the many email users who doesn’t enjoy having a full inbox, especially one chock full of spam, you can create various filters to put particular emails into different inboxes. According to The Online Privacy Blog The Online Privacy Blog (In our survey, 39% of people say they set up filters in their email to automatically delete and stop spam.This technique is not only helpful for keeping spam out, but also keeping track of important emails (like bills). Most times, the ability to create filters is located in your email client’s “settings” menu, and the filters can be created based on specific words, addresses, subject lines, groups of people, and many other criteria. This is a nice stop gap solution to stop spam from getting to your inbox. )
  • Unsubscribe Even if the techniques above seem like too much effort, at the very least, unsubscribe from the emails that simply stuff your inbox. Most marketing emails that you find are just sent far too frequently will have an option at the bottom saying something like “Unsubscribe” or “Remove Me.”Clicking “Unsubscribe” usually takes you to an external website that lets you unsubscribe from receiving any further email from that particular sender. Make sure you click the option that completely removes you and doesn’t just limit emails.

Unsubscribing is one of the easiest ways to cut down the amount of spam entering your inbox on a daily basis, and over half of those we surveyed–51%–report unsubscribing to deal with spam.

Irritating as it may be solutions to the problems always exists.

As Always,

Gain The Advantage!

Alicia Osmera

footnotes: Email data is from The Online Privacy Blog The Only Privacy Blog