Happy New Year everyone!

Sorry for not blogging as much as I’ve wanted to and I’ve resolved to change that for 2013. Things have been extremely busy for me lately as I just got back from CES 2013 in Las Vegas just over a week ago and there’s a ton of follow up to do with all the companies I visited for Futurelooks and MEGATechNews. We also did some amazing coverage so you can check that out over here (Futurelooks CES 2013 Coverage) and here (MEGATechNews CES 2013 Coverage) if you’re into computers, gadgets and other techie stuff.

Like any business, there are periods of the year where things seem to die down quite a bit. In some cases it can be so slow that it can be quite terrifying for businesses that rely on more regular business. If you’re wondering what that looks like, just look at the picture above, courtesy of Michael Kwan. In fact, that’s what I look like this time of year because even my business goes through this slump around the January and February periods where advertisers start to cut back to reset themselves for Q2 when things start to pick up again. After the busy holiday season, people just don’t seem to want to look at stuff that they might want to buy, possibly putting them into further debt, which I totally understand.

If you do have a business that has a dip sometime during the year, it’s important to take some extra measures to ensure that it’s business as usual. And this might involve spending dollars that you might otherwise keep saved, in exchange for the potential pay off of more business down the road.

While cost cutting for those lean times is an effective means of riding it out, sometimes a bit of out of the box thinking is needed to stand out from the crowd. Let’s face it. Email blasts only go so far, especially with SPAM filters set to kill these days. Here are three good ways that might help your business out.

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For our end of August getaway we decided to take a short ferry trip across the islands starting on the Sunshine Coast. Although I’ve been keeping my Twitter lit up with where I’ve been, I thought I’d take a little more time to tell you about this great place to stay called the Powell River harbour Guesthouse and Hostel.

Located in the heart of Powell River, near the ferry terminal to Comox (our next stop), and attached to the local Thai Restaurant (Thaidal Wave) this hostel is actually better than I had expected. When you think of hostels, you really lower your expectations. But based on the cleanliness, it really does seem more like a hotel in this respect. Where the Hostel aspect comes into play is with the amenities.

You have a common kitchen and dining area and a fridge/freeze. There is even a sitting area with hanging chairs, a breakfast nook (complete with a guitar if you want to jam out some tunes) and lounge/TV area where you can also find a computer if you need one. All of these areas where clean, tidy, and really made you feel at home. Towels are available if you are travelling light, there are two bathrooms (one with a tub), which are as clean and well kept as the rest of the property.

If you choose not to cook here, the Thai Restaurant just out front has some of the best Thai cuisine I’ve had in a while. There’s also a couple of greasy spoons within walking distance but I didn’t visit either one so can’t comment on them. But the area looks to be very safe and friendly so do go out and explore a bit.

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I had to push all the stuff that’s over a year old off the front page so I figured I’d use the last spot to let you know about an amazing contest. The top prize is one of GIGABYTE’s G1.Killer Assassin2 motherboards valued at $399 US!

Futurelooks and MEGATechNews have teamed up with GIGABYTE Technology to give away their flagship INTEL X79 motherboard. This board is aimed directly at hardcore gamers looking for an easy to setup, reliable, and purpose oriented board for their pwning needs. With enhanced networking, audio, and the ability to run up to three high end graphics cards, this board is an easy choice for a very high end gaming system build. It’ll be even better if you win it.

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