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Website of the Month

Websites of the Month: Community Schemes – “CSOS Connect” Services Going Live

By | Property, Website of the Month

If you are in a Community Scheme such as a Sectional Title development or a residential complex with a Homeowners Association (HOA), keep an eye on the “Shared Living” magazine from the CSOS (Community Schemes Ombud Service) on its Newsletter page. Most of the articles are clearly aimed at Bodies Corporate, HOAs and Managing Agents, but owners and tenants will also find value in many of the topics covered.

Click on Issue 19 (October – December) here and go to page 7 for a short presentation (keep your speakers on) on CSOS Connect’s online services. As at date of writing, only some services are already live, with a full roll-out planned for early 2023. Hopefully interacting with CSOS is about to become a lot better and easier!

Disclaimer: The information provided herein should not be used or relied on as professional advice. No liability can be accepted for any errors or omissions nor for any loss or damage arising from reliance upon any information herein. Always contact your professional adviser for specific and detailed advice.

© LawDotNews

Website of the Month: Don’t Stress this Silly Season!

By | Website of the Month

“You can tell a lot about a person by the way they handle three things: a rainy day, lost luggage and tangled Christmas tree lights.” (Maya Angelou)

December holidays are a time for winding down, recharging your batteries and sharing some quality family time. But it can also be stressful. There’s a reason we often talk about the “Silly Season”.

Don’t let the pressure get to you! Relax, take a deep breath, and read “10 tips to reduce festive season stress” on the Lionesses of Africa website.

Whatever else you do, enjoy your break!

Disclaimer: The information provided herein should not be used or relied on as professional advice. No liability can be accepted for any errors or omissions nor for any loss or damage arising from reliance upon any information herein. Always contact your professional adviser for specific and detailed advice.

© LawDotNews

Website of the Month: Turn Customer Complaints into Compliments with the HEART System

By | Website of the Month

No matter how good your product and your service levels, the hard reality in business is that customer issues will arise. Perhaps they will be genuine problems or perhaps they are just misperceptions, but either way you need to act quickly and effectively to resolve them. Particularly in these times of online reviews making or breaking reputations so quickly and easily.

Here’s a tried and tested method to boost customer satisfaction generally, to change complaints into compliments, and to resolve all forms of conflict (it is equally useful for workplace and personal issues) with kindness and respect.

Read “How to Use the HEART Method to Improve Customer Satisfaction” on The Real Time Report’s website.

Disclaimer: The information provided herein should not be used or relied on as professional advice. No liability can be accepted for any errors or omissions nor for any loss or damage arising from reliance upon any information herein. Always contact your professional adviser for specific and detailed advice.

© LawDotNews

Website of the Month: Four Key Areas in Your Strategic Planning

By | Business, Website of the Month
“Strategy is the art of carefully selecting where a business applies its focus and resources in order to achieve its ultimate aim. A large part of the work is in selecting what not to do rather than what’s to be added.”
Strategic planning is an essential part of optimising your business for success. Without it you will drift rudderless, unfocused and wasting effort and resources with no clear destination in mind. Jon Cherry’s article “The Four Strategies” on his Cherryflava website lists four key areas to consider – in combination, they will help drive your business forward, inspiring all the work, and the people, that hold your “North Star” vision close. Disclaimer: The information provided herein should not be used or relied on as professional advice. No liability can be accepted for any errors or omissions nor for any loss or damage arising from reliance upon any information herein. Always contact your professional adviser for specific and detailed advice.

© LawDotNews

Website of the Month: Seven Steps to Becoming a Successful Landlord

By | Property, Website of the Month
“Landlords grow rich in their sleep” (John Stuart Mill)
Earning passive income as a landlord is an attractive proposition which can generate substantial wealth, but before you rush into anything be sure to know exactly what you are doing. “From homeowner to landlord: how to make it work” on Tech4Law shares six important steps on ensuring that you get the most out of your new venture. We’ll add a seventh (critical) step – the earlier on in the process you ask your lawyer for advice, the better. No one is better placed to explain the legalities, to make sure you have all the right paperwork, to help you maximise the benefits, and to protect you from the risks. Disclaimer: The information provided herein should not be used or relied on as professional advice. No liability can be accepted for any errors or omissions nor for any loss or damage arising from reliance upon any information herein. Always contact your professional adviser for specific and detailed advice.

© LawDotNews

Website of the Month: Solar Power and the Insurance Risk

By | Property, Website of the Month
With our loadshedding woes unlikely to go anywhere soon, more and more property owners are looking to solar power as an alternative to relying on Eskom. Just be careful that you don’t fall foul of your insurers in the process. “Rules homeowners should know before installing solar power” on MyBroadband lists four technical regulations to be particularly aware of. For some practical advice on deciding whether or not to go the solar route in the first place, and if so how, read another MyBroadband article “What you should know before installing solar panels and batteries at your home” here.  Keep an eye also on the developing story around proposed new Eskom tariffs and “feed-in” tariffs. Disclaimer: The information provided herein should not be used or relied on as professional advice. No liability can be accepted for any errors or omissions nor for any loss or damage arising from reliance upon any information herein. Always contact your professional adviser for specific and detailed advice.

© LawDotNews

Website of the Month: Don’t Let Hybrid Work Break Your Company Culture!

By | Website of the Month
As pandemic restrictions ease around the world, many businesses forced by lockdown to “go remote” are torn between returning to office and keeping everyone working remotely. An increasing number are opting for one or other hybrid model, which can come with major benefits but also major challenges. One of those challenges is the risk of losing a cohesive company culture built up over years and perhaps decades of in-office teamwork. Have a read of PwC’s “Three ways to prevent hybrid work from breaking your company culture” here for some ideas on mitigating that risk. Disclaimer: The information provided herein should not be used or relied on as professional advice. No liability can be accepted for any errors or omissions nor for any loss or damage arising from reliance upon any information herein. Always contact your professional adviser for specific and detailed advice.

© LawDotNews

Website of the Month: Are Your Passwords in the Green?

By | Website of the Month
We all know how vital it is to use strong passwords online, but for a sobering look at just how quickly the “average” cybercriminal can hack any that aren’t up to scratch, go to Hive Systems’ article “Are your passwords in the Green?” here. Their “Time it takes a hacker to brute force your password in 2022” infographic provides a strong visualization of the weakness and strength of various lengths and types of passwords. Also read the warnings and infographic in the section halfway down the article “What about the elephant in the room; what if my password has been previously stolen, uses simple words, or I reuse it between sites?” Essential knowledge in these days of soaring online crime! Disclaimer: The information provided herein should not be used or relied on as professional advice. No liability can be accepted for any errors or omissions nor for any loss or damage arising from reliance upon any information herein. Always contact your professional adviser for specific and detailed advice.

© LawDotNews

Website of the Month: 3 Things the Most Productive People Do Every Day

By | Website of the Month
“Here’s how to expand your mind’s abilities to get more done”
Boosting productivity is one of the fundamentals of success in both our personal and our professional lives. “Get more done in less time” is the perfect strategy for making the most of everything we do, but how to go about it in practice? Our challenge in the Online Age is being swamped by productivity tips of every shape and size – so how do we cut through the noise and get to the nub of what will work for us and what won’t? For a quick and easy summary of three tried-and-tested ideas on cutting through to the essentials, read “3 Things the Most Productive People Do Every Day” on the Barking Up the Wrong Tree website. Disclaimer: The information provided herein should not be used or relied on as professional advice. No liability can be accepted for any errors or omissions nor for any loss or damage arising from reliance upon any information herein. Always contact your professional adviser for specific and detailed advice.

© LawDotNews

Your Website of the Month: How to Avoid Falling Victim to a “Tinder Swindler”

By | General Interest, Website of the Month
“But love is blind, and lovers cannot see” (Shakespeare)
Note: Please think of sharing this article with any family member, friend or colleague who might benefit from knowing which “red flags” to watch for when using dating apps and social media. Even if you haven’t yet watched the hit Netflix film “The Tinder Swindler”, you will know of the huge problem worldwide of swindlers using dating apps and social media to part victims from substantial amounts of money. Hearts are broken, lives ruined, savings lost, huge and unrepayable debts incurred. It’s easy to think “I would never fall for that” but the reality is that everyone is vulnerable – these “romantic fraud” swindlers are masters at using powerful social engineering techniques to identify suitable victims, draw them in, and fleece them of everything. Norton Security provide a wealth of information to help you navigate these shark-infested waters safely in their article “Romance scams in 2022: What you need to know + online dating scam statistics” here. If you read nothing else, have a look at the ones we’ve highlighted for you –
  • “What is a romance scam?” (With a list of 7 common ones)
  • “How romance scams work” (with Infographic)
  • “Warning signs: Lies romance scammers tell” (6 red flags with Infographic “Is Your Cyber Sweetheart Swindling You?”)
  • “10 tips to avoid romance scammers and protect yourself” (with a long list of Do’s and Don’ts)
  • “How to report an online dating scam”
  • “20+ online dating scam statistics” (Infographic “Heartbreaking Statistics”) [The problem’s huge – victims lost around $304 million in 2020 alone]
  • “Romance scams on the rise”
  • “The real price tags of online dating”
  • “Online dating scams and older adults”
  • “Who’s most susceptible to romance scams”
  • “Stalker ware is trending up”
  • “How a romance scam works” (Infographic)
  • “Online Dating Advice” (Infographic)
If you aren’t sure that your online Prince (or Princess) Charming is 100% legitimate, ask someone you trust for objective advice before you find yourself in a hole you can’t escape from. And if you do find yourself one of the many victims, call in professional advice – the sooner you do, the quicker you can start extracting yourself from your nightmare situation. Disclaimer: The information provided herein should not be used or relied on as professional advice. No liability can be accepted for any errors or omissions nor for any loss or damage arising from reliance upon any information herein. Always contact your professional adviser for specific and detailed advice.

© LawDotNews