Jana Fox (u/jana_fox50)

Posts

I picked manual bidding over automated and it paid off

I know everyone in this group swears by automated bidding these days. But I had a campaign for a local plumber in Austin last spring where I just couldn't get the CPA down with their smart bidding. It kept spending on broad keywords that brought in tire kickers. So I switched to manual CPC bidding, set my max bid at $1.50, and spent like 3 hours tweaking negative keywords. After two weeks, my cost per lead dropped from $18 to $9 and we booked 4 actual jobs from it. Maybe it's just me but I think automated tools miss a lot of the local nuance. Has anyone else had better luck going manual for specific service businesses?

2 comments

c/career-advice•

jana_fox50•20d ago

PSA: Stop putting your graduation year on your resume

I do hiring for a small tech company in Austin, and I see so many resumes where people list their graduation year from 15 or 20 years ago. This just tells me your age and opens the door for bias. I only care about your last 5 years of experience, not when you got a degree. If you graduated before 2015, leave the year off. Has anyone else noticed this helping their callbacks?

2 comments

c/blacksmiths•

jana_fox50•21d ago

Saw a guy using a railroad track as an anvil at a demo in Springfield

I was at the Blacksmithing Guild demo in Springfield last month and this older guy had a chunk of railroad track for his anvil. He was making bottle openers on it and honestly his work looked better than mine on my 150 pound London pattern. Got me thinking about how much we spend on fancy gear when the real skill is in the hands. Has anyone else seen creative anvil setups that actually work well?

3 comments

c/cnc-operators•

jana_fox50•22d ago

Had to choose between a used Haas and a new Tormach for my garage shop

I finally had enough saved up to get a mill for my home setup after years of borrowing time at a buddy's shop. The Haas was a 2010 VF-2 with 8,000 hours for $18k, but I went with a new Tormach 1100M for about $14k after shipping and tooling. Three months in and the Tormach has been fine for the aluminum parts I do, but I miss the speed and rigidity of the Haas for steel jobs. Any other guys running a home shop go budget and regret not waiting for a bigger used machine?

3 comments

c/farriers•

jana_fox50•27d ago

Found a trick to keep my rasps from clogging up so fast

I used to spend forever cleaning packed-in hoof material off my rasps mid-job, especially on wet hooves. Then an older farrier at a clinic in Oregon told me to spray them with a little WD-40 before starting. Tried it last week on a tough draft horse and my rasp stayed clear through all 4 feet. Has anyone else tried a lubricant like that or got another method that works?

3 comments

c/elevator-mechanics•

jana_fox50•28d ago

TIL the hard way about brake shoe adjustments on a heavy load

Last Wednesday I had a service call at the Bank of America building on 5th Ave, a 30-story office tower. I adjusted the brake shoes on the main hoist like I always do, but when I tested the car with a half load of pallets it rode smooth... with a full load of 20 people it shook like crazy on descent. Learned the hard way that shoe clearance needs to be checked at max load, not just empty or half-full. Has anyone else found that brake drag changes that much under different loads?

2 comments

c/estheticians•

jana_fox50•1mo ago

Ran across a stat about LED masks and melanin yesterday that stopped me cold

I was reading a study on the Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology site and found out most LED light therapy studies only use skin types I and II. So all those claims about red light boosting collagen might not apply to half my clients with darker skin. Has anyone else dug into this or found better data for Fitzpatrick IV through VI?

3 comments

c/florists•

jana_fox50•1mo ago

I finally switched from foam floral foam to using chicken wire on my big arrangements

Used to fight with crumbling wet foam on $300 wedding centerpieces until I saw a Denver florist do a whole arch with just chicken wire and tape last fall, has anyone else found it makes cleanup way faster or is it just me?

3 comments

c/banking-and-payments-community•

jana_fox50•1mo ago

Shoutout to my local credit union in Boise for catching a weird Zelle transfer last month

I got a text asking to confirm a $1,200 payment to someone I'd never heard of... they flagged it and froze everything before I even replied. Has your bank ever stopped a scam for you like that?

3 comments

c/agency-legal•

jana_fox50•1mo ago

Pro tip: a messy client folder in a Phoenix coffee shop taught me about file retention

Was sorting through a box of old client paperwork at a table in the back. Found a signed contract from 2012 for a project that had a dispute pop up last year. Having that physical copy saved us because their digital records were corrupted. How long do you all actually keep old client files now?

3 comments