“When we develop patience, we find that we develop a reserve of calm and tranquility.”
– His Holiness Dalai Lama XIV
The goal is peace. To rest easy, knowing all is well. That’s why we work, to rest easy that the families we support will remain supported. To help our customers rest easy, knowing that we’re taking care of our part of their business so they can focus on supporting their families.
Peace requires patience. But the more patience you have, the more calm and tranquility you have, too. So says the Dalai Lama – and he might just know.
When you seek tranquility, find patience first. When you seek calm, go to the MASSAGESMITH, Eric Smith.
Eric recently rebranded his successful massage practice. He’s a great local businessman we’ve worked with for a couple of years now. Another customer we love to refer and we’re pleased to help.
And when I’m looking for more patience, I think of Eric’s calm demeanor and giving mentality. He’s one of the good eggs. Naturally, the oasis he provides, whether in his office or in his patients’ home, is one of peace, calm, and tranquility.
Try as we might, everything is not always tranquil. It’s a goal – a journey. And on all of our journeys, at times there is a rocky road. But that is our goal, both for ourselves and for the customers we serve.
When things get rough, I think of the Dalai Lama’s words. I try to increase my patience and empathy for others who have a difficult time. I try to think of how I can help their situation, and I act on it.
We all do here. It is our goal to bring tranquility to our customers, that we might bask in some of that, too.
Eric Smith, the head massage therapist and owner of MASSAGESMITH, goes out of his way to bring you tranquility. Massage therapy is about relaxing sore, tired muscles, and giving them space to heal. Smith provides the environment necessary to bring about that relaxation and healing, whether you go to his office in Torrance, CA, or he comes to your home.
“Massage therapy is about relaxing sore, tired muscles, and giving them space to heal. MASSAGESMITH provides the environment necessary to bring about that relaxation and healing…”
During COVID-19, he has exceeded all safe practices to keep both himself and his clientele safe. He goes the extra step to ensure you feel relaxed and ready for a tranquil oasis away from hectic and stressful life.
Beyond that, his demeanor is one of calm and peace. He is a kind man, happily married with a great life. He’s somewhat new to Torrance, and fitting in well. He also engages in a large number of community activities through his Rotary Club and other philanthropic activities.
We’ve worked with Eric Smith a few times over the past couple of years, most recently to give his business a boost through Search Advertising. Using a modest budget, we’re driving more traffic to his website, and getting him more appointments.
And it’s a good feeling to help a local businessman! It’s a good feeling to help him feel more tranquil when he works so hard for others to revel in the tranquility he brings them.
Marketing is daunting. It’s also mission critical. When other businesses are pulling back, it’s time to double down. Like Baron Rothschild said, “The time to buy is when there’s blood in the streets.” Well, there’s blood in the streets. If you’re able, you should be spending now. Buying your competitors.
I know, I know, the dog eat dog world is hardly a tranquil one. But you can scale back, or you can double down, and set yourself up for the next decade. Of course, it’s your choice.
Not sure where to start? No worries. We are. We’ll evaluate your situation and give you multiple options for the perfect digital marketing plan within your budget. Not sure what your budget should be? No problem, we’ll help you get results within your comfort zone.
This is what we do. Trust us. Trust the process. We’ll help you get where you want to go.
Interfanatic: Bringing you Tranquil
What can we do to bring you tranquility? We will do that. It is what we do.
This week’s image: Interfanatic‘s founder, Ryan Delane, takes or creates every image you see in our social feed.
Tranquility, an Interfanatic Quality. Interfanatic Digital Marketing founder Ryan Delane takes or creates every image you see in our social feed.
A beautiful day with friends near a calm mountain lake. All that could have made it better was Yo-yo Ma on his cello. Or Eric Smith handing out free massages! Ooh, I like that idea. I’ll keep it in mind for our next vacation.
Unfortunately, things are not as severe as they’ll get. Remembering family, we’re in for tumultuous times, not tranquil ones.
If we could relax, perhaps we could improve things. But we can’t. Everything continues to get worse. And it will keep going that way, it seems. There is no tranquility when things continue to get worse because there cannot be. We must push forward to improve.
It would be a lovely thing to return to some semblance of tranquility. But that won’t happen. The same people who were insistent upon throwing us into chaos four years ago appear to have done it again. Last time, only 100,000 people died before their time (and growing.) What will it be this time?
We now know the cost of 100,000 lives. It is a tax cut for the ultra-wealthy. It is further dependence on foreign governments as we continue to go further and further into debt. Apparently, 100,000 American lives aren’t worth that much. Apparently, a strong and independent America isn’t worth that much, so long as the wealthy continue to get wealthier.
So when we seek respite in tranquility, it’s not going to be there. We continue to be weakened.
Our adversaries are winning. So much winning.
But when I think of tranquility, I think of the cool calm of Charmy Harker, The Penny Lady®.
Tranquility: An Interfanatic Quality
At a given coin show, it can be very irritating to be coin dealer. I’ve been on both sides of the table, and I know how wonderful customers can be – and what a pain in the neck. And I’ve been both! I’ve been both a great customer and a pain in the neck. So I know what I’m talking about.
Charmy is great. She will happily discuss coins with you, but she doesn’t suffer fools. She has a very clinical manner with people she feels is wasting her time, but she’s also a terribly warm person when you get to know her and do business with her regularly.
At the end of the day, her tranquil manner is what is required to maintain sanity and decorum. Some find her fantastic, but I’ve heard that some find her cold. She’s not cold. Charmy is awesome. She’s a coin show veteran. She knows her stuff. And she works with all kinds of great customers – big spenders and small fish alike. She just loves coins and loves sharing her love of coins.
And she’s a great client. 2020 has been okay for some and horrific for others. Through it all, she keeps an even keel and things rolling, sensibly. In a tranquil way.
You know what a great time is, to a coin collector? Checking out Charmy’s site. Her coins are beautiful. It’s relaxing to review the collectible coins on her website and just enjoy them. You can look at her collection (not for sale) or see the beautiful coins she has on offer. For a coin collector, it’s all a good, peaceful time.
For me, it’s fun to look at both. I’m not actively collecting anything right now, but I very much enjoy viewing her coins, and do so regularly.
The Penny Lady®, A Tranquil Repose for Collectors Online
If you don’t know anything about collecting coins, there are a couple of things you need to understand:
#1) Condition is everything.
You can have a Lincoln wheat cent in your pocket that to the untrained eye looks like one of Charmy’s very expensive examples. Maybe the year is not the same or the mint mark is different, or maybe it even looks exactly the same to you. The chances of you having a $500 coin in your pocket are lottery-chances slim. Of course it’s possible, but your penny has to be spectacular or spectacularly rare (odds are worse for you than one in a billion) for it to be worth money. And what looks perfect to you may not at all be perfect to an expert who eats, drinks, and breathes coins.
#2) Certification helps.
All of Charmy’s coins have been expertly certified to be what she says they are. Not only does she know what she’s looking at, she’s had an expert panel review the coins and independently come up with a condition description. This expert panel belongs to what we call a Third-Party Grading company. All they do – and I mean all – is sit and look at coins all day long to determine their condition. And their condition, combined with the other characteristics of the coin – the date, mint mark, and error or or other outside factors – determine the pricing. They look at literally tens of thousands of collectible coins per day.
And even then, many of the coins Charmy deals in are even more special, so they’re more valuable than the available price guides. She knows this because she’s spent years as a dealer going to coin shows. She spends her life buying and selling coins. So she knows what they’re really worth to a collector – sometimes better then the price guides say.
I haven’t geeked out on coins in too long. So let’s have a look at a few of my favorites on her site right now.
Look, there are hundreds of coins for sale on her site. So look for yourself. I picked these out from the home page to highlight because they are to my taste.
All photographs are Charmy’s. She retains copyrights, et cetera.
This is a pretty coin. This is a relatively common coin. There are literally billions of 1942 cents worth no more than $0.01. But this one, even as “rare coins” go, is relatively common in the grade of Mint State 65 Red-Brown. There are many much nicer coins. And they’re all more expensive than this one.
What I like about this one is it doesn’t look common. It has interesting color (we call it toning). The obverse, or head’s side has iridescent pinks and oranges, and the reverse is heavily iridescent yellow-green. This is just not a coin you see every day. And it’s a cool coin, and it can be yours for under a couple hundred dollars.
This is a really cool coin. It’s got a really cool price, too. I used to prowl eBay for unnoticed raw 8/7s. It’s not an easy thing to do – there are lots of collectors doing the same. What’s cool about this coin is, …well, where do I start? First, it’s a Flying Eagle. The mint only made these for a couple of years (three if you count the king 1856). It’s a neat design. While this coin doesn’t ooze eye appeal, it’s still a solid coin because it has all of the diagnotistics of the 8/7 in full view. And it’s a friendly grade of Almost Uncirculated 58, meaning the graders see it as very close to mint state, uncirculated. Philadelphia Mint struck this coin weakly, which is why to some it looks worn. But it’s not. And it’s got the CAC green bean that means not only did the experts look it over and determine it was a 58, more experts reviewed the experts’ work and affirmed they were right.
I love me some purple pennies. I had one years ago that I sold and I still kick myself for it. This one is kinda like the ’42 Wheat – an 1890 Indian is a relatively common coin. Mint State 65 is a great grade – it’s the bottom of what some call “gem”. MS 65 is the lowest grade you want if you want (and can afford) a “nice” uncirc coin. Don’t get me wrong, there are “nice” 62s and “nice” 68s, but in general, 65 is a great collector grade. And this coin is PRETTY. I’d love to see it in hand, with the flashes of mint red coming through blue and purple hues.
“And if you’re in need of a new hobby during quarantine, drag out the old box o’ coins from the attic and start learning about them.”
See, this, for me, is tranquility. I can’t afford any of these coins right now, but I can afford to window shop online. For a coin geek, that’s as relaxing as listening to Clair de Lune.
And if you’re in need of a new hobby during quarantine, drag out the old box o’ coins from the attic and start learning about them. They’re a window into the past; a vessel of art and time.
It would be my pleasure to discuss coins with you any time. So long as I’m not too busy getting stressed out with work.
Even ol’ Trumpkin got hacked. Which just proves that if the crooks want to get in badly enough, they’ll find a way to get past the lock.
There’s really nothing anybody can do to keep a determined hacker out. But we can do the basics to keep most out. Just like your house: if you leave the door unlocked and you live in a neighborhood where such action is not advised, you’re inviting the hoodlems. But if you at least lock your door, would-be thieves are more likely to move on to the next place to see if they forgot. You’re better off locking your door.
What we do, it’s a little bit more than that. It’s not full-proof, but it’s practical and it works almost all the time. We’ve been through getting hacked. We’ve learned the hard way. So we apply those lessons learned and our customers are much, much safer than they used to be.
Interfanatic: Keeping it Tranquilo
Let’s all just chill. Don’t let the orange motormouth angrifier get under your skin. Wouldn’t it be a much nicer place if we could just ignore him because everything he says is unimportant again?
This week’s image: Interfanatic‘s founder, Ryan Delane, takes or creates every image you see in our social feed.
Tranquility, an Interfanatic Quality. Interfanatic Digital Marketing founder Ryan Delane takes or creates every image you see in our social feed.
I did what was right. I voted. In doing so, I expressed my opinion, I flexed what little muscle I have. Was it enough? Probably not. I could have done more.
Also, I gotta mention, the ’31-D that was on Charmy’s site, the one I used for this week’s social – it’s already gone. I hope you’re the lucky new owner!
“…it is neither wealth nor splendor, but tranquility and occupation that give happiness.”
– Thomas Jefferson
Tranquility gives happiness. Of course it does; the opposite of tranquility (whether it be good or bad) doesn’t let the mind rest.
We chose this quote as it’s a good reminder to let competent professionals take care of their parts of your business for you, so you don’t have to worry about it.
This Jefferson quote, from a letter to his newlywed sister, is actually kinda funny when taken in context. He’s almost making excuses for her new husband, allowing as how he doesn’t know the man to be great, but he will do for her. He’ll keep her happy through tranquility. Not through acts of greatness, but by keeping things calm and being occupied. It’s like he’s telling his sister, “Anna, I don’t this guy that well, but I’m sure he’ll be just fine.” Hardly the glowing platitudes you would hope for.
Ah, older brother looking out for his sister.
But the point of all of this is: Isn’t it better to not be stressed out? Yes, of course it is. So let Interfanatic do our job for you so you can focus on your greatness.
Tranquility: An Interfanatic Quality
In a crisis scenario, it’s easy to get excited. A website goes down, a credit card API breaks, a home page stops showing up in search results – these are all things that can stress a business owner out.
We don’t like being stressed out, either.
That’s why we have systems and procedures in place to make sure these bad things don’t happen often, and when they do, we fix them quickly. We keep this stuff from happening. Of course, stuff happens – you can’t always keep it from happening. But our policies and procedures help everyone keep a cool head and we minimize the impact to the businesses we work with so they don’t have to stress about them.
And that’s how tranquility is a quality and a virtue that we strive for. To keep things calm on our end so you can focus on other things. (It helps us keep our sanity, too!) There’s a reason there aren’t many businesses around like ours after twenty years. And there’s a reason we still are.
Thus, we think of Ron and Vincent at Palos Verdes Coin Exchange. They’re coin dealers in Palos Verdes who know how to instill tranquility in transactions.
People go to coin dealers for a few reasons. The most popular are:
Somebody they know has passed on, and that person had a coin collection.
They found something in their pocket they think could be valuable and are hoping they won the lottery.
None of these mindsets is tranquil. When you lose a loved one, it’s stressful. No matter the situation, settling an estate is stressful.
Shopping for coins is stressful. You don’t know if the dealer is being fair or if you can really afford to spend this much money on your collection even though you really want to.
Thinking you won the lottery is stressful – it’s exciting, and can be fun. But it’s still an experience outside the norm, and therefore, stressful.
Ron and Vincent know this – indeed they carry wisdom beyond their years. They look young, but the fact is – THEY KNOW THEIR STUFF.
I’ve known Ron for a long time. When I worked at PCGS, when I worked at a coin shop, when I used to collect, Ron always impressed me. Vincent has learned everything from Ron, and he knows his stuff, too. Ron knows how to buy coins and how to sell them. He’s settled plenty of estate coin collections, he deals with dealers and collectors daily, and he knows what coins are valuable and which ones are not, even as they confuse experienced and amateur collectors alike.
That all comes from years of experience.
So, it’s with great tranquility that those of us who know Ron and Vincent deal with Ron and Vincent. We know they’re pros. Their offers are fair. Their prices are fair. When we buy or sell coins, we know we’re getting a square deal – maybe better. And I always think of Palos Verdes Coin Exchange when I make a referral to a local. The other “dealers” around here who deal with the public don’t get my referral. (Shapiro is great, but he doesn’t have a public storefront.)
“…it’s with great tranquility that those of us who know [Palos Verdes Coin Exchange] deal with [them].“
I never hesitate to send collectors, estate settlers, and other professional dealers to Ron and Vincent at Palos Verdes Coin Exchange. We know the transaction will go as well as it can go.
When I found out Palos Verdes Coin Exchange had expanded into a storefront, I was thrilled and proud. Interfanatic does not help them with their website for now, but we are handling a modest digital advertising campaign for them, and it’s going extremely well. It is our great pleasure to deal with Ron, Vince, and PVCE, and to aid them in their success.
One of those niggling things business owners have to deal with is their domain name. Keeping hold of your domain name is absolutely critical. A missed payment, or a payment to the wrong company can spell disaster. There are so many fraudulent practices out there, stealing, hijacking and holding hostage domain names.
That’s why it’s a valuable service we’re happy to provide for many customers. We know what’s real and what’s fake because we do this every day, and we know how to take care of domain names. We have hundreds in our accounts.
So, take a step toward tranquility for you and your business. Let us handle your domain names so you don’t have to worry. That’s what Interfanatic The Works Domain Concierge is all about.
Interfanatic and Tranquility
Jefferson is such an interesting character of his time. Many love, some loathe, but none rightly protest the idea that he was a man of action. Aside from being a President of this country, a revolutionary, and a Statesmen, he was a creative visionary. And yeah, he was other, not-so-positive things. But one thing he sought – not for himself, but for the people of his country (whether he considered them all or not) – was tranquility.
Today, we read his words, “…that all men are created equal…”, and I, for one, choose to interpret that phrase to say that “…all humankind are created equal…” A lofty ideal, which we take to be self-evident. Not everyone was or is treated equal, but it’s something to strive after. And I know not everyone shares that aspiration when they read Jefferson and Franklin’s Declaration. But that’s how I choose to view it. And for me, working for true equality among all people will create a great, global tranquility. It’s an idealistic, perhaps naive vision. But the work is worth it.
This week’s image: Interfanatic‘s founder, Ryan Delane, takes or creates every image you see in our social feed.
This was a fun, old-timey still life I created for this week’s social. We see the Sea of Tranquility. Some old coins. Old stamps. When there was no TV, and when a radio in a household was yet a novelty, coin collecting was a great American pastime.
“The poor long for riches, the rich long for heaven, but the wise long for a state of tranquility.”
– Swami Rama
Good words; insightful.
When serial entrepreneur Tom Malloy wanted to create a haven for motorsports enthusiasts like himself, a great many people felt threatened. Nearby race courses, mostly. So they fought.
They organized a group that insisted that race cars kill poppies. Of course, if race cars drive over poppies, they don’t do anything for the gentle flowers’ long-term health.
The California Poppy Reserve was many miles from the planned operations. There was no way you would hear the cars from the distance, especially given the facility was nestled in a valley. But that didn’t get people up in arms.
So in the end, a fun business idea for the high desert of California had to be abandoned. Tom sought tranquility rather than fight.
And a solar power generating company became interested in the lands and Tom did quite well.
Tom sought tranquility in dealing with his digital marketing, also. Which is why he employed us to create a website. It was forthcoming with information for detractors and proponents alike.
By seeking tranquility in business rather than dealing with the ridiculousness, Malloy came out on top.
