This article was authored by Stand Out Online Member Chantil Minton, Chantil with LuxRally Travel

If you're planning a trip in the next 6 months, consider this carefully.

The best prices are not online. And the best service is absolutely not coming from a call center.

Booking on your own is selling yourself short — and most travelers don't realize it until something goes wrong at 11pm in a foreign city with a 1-800 number that puts them on hold for 45 minutes.

Here's what the major booking platforms don't tell you: hotels do not publish every rate online. Many of their most competitive rates are distributed privately through agency networks, wholesalers, and consortia agreements that exist entirely outside of what the public can access.

Those rates never appear on Expedia, Hotels.com, or anywhere else you're used to checking. They are only available to professionals who are connected to the …

This article is brought to you by Stand Out Online Member Gwendolen Wilder, Girls Trip to Peace™

Have you ever had that quiet moment…where everything in your life looks right but, something inside you feels off?

Like…“Is this really it?” I’ve been there sis.

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My life looked like success; I was the woman people looked at and said: “She made it.” Certified business strategist. $5M joint venture contract. $20K private coaching clients. Guest speaks with city officials. Featured by 8 Figure Moguls Christina Rowe, Carrie Green, book deals and more television appearances than fingers.

I knew how to help female entrepreneurs turn paint points into positive profitable biz opportunities. And I was good at it. But here’s what nobody saw.

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Behind the scenes, I was navigating real life, love and biz struggles. I was creating consistent money-making viral posts and at the same time dealing with grief from lo…

This article is brought to you by Stand Out Online Member Denisa Pop, Bitdefender

Bad payments rarely happen when you’re sitting calmly at your desk with a coffee next to you. They happen on the move, in those small in-between moments when you’re trying to be efficient and solve one more thing before the day runs away from you.

Maybe you’re in the car waiting for your child to finish practice, or between meetings. You’re replying to messages while walking the dog because that’s when you finally have ten quiet minutes to clear your inbox.

A message arrives that appears to come from your accountant, a long-term supplier, or someone in a position of authority who wouldn’t normally get it wrong. The amount makes sense, so you approve the payment directly from your phone, sometimes through your banking app, Apple Pay, Google Pay, or a quick SMS verification code.

On a small screen, nothing looks obviously …

This article is brought to you by Stand Out Online Member Denisa Pop, Bitdefender

Small Business Security Starter Kit: The Tools You Need and Why

Starting a small business usually begins with excitement and ideas, but also with a long list of things to figure out, constant time pressure, and more stress than most people expect.

Before choosing invoicing software, marketing tools, apps, or website hosting services, there are a few realities worth accepting early on. You’ll probably use your personal laptop and phone for work, at least in the beginning. You’ll create a lot of online accounts in a short amount of time. You’ll manage emails, payments, files, client data, and logins on your own, without an IT team watching over things. And no matter how careful you are, you won’t recognize every scam on the first try.

That’s part of being a small business owner.

So the question is what to protect…

This article is authored by Stand Out Online Member, Coach Dr. Ann Hester, Inspire Health, LLC

It’s almost impossible to turn on the news—or even scroll through social media—without being smacked in the face by another story about skyrocketing health insurance premiums. The man who can’t afford his life-saving medication. The woman juggling two jobs who has to choose between rent and a doctor’s visit. The stories are endless—and heartbreaking.

But here’s the thing: while we can’t singlehandedly fix the healthcare system, we can fix how we prioritize our own health.

That’s where Lifestyle Medicine comes in—a science-based approach built on six powerful pillars: Nutrition, Physical Activity, Restorative Sleep, Stress Management, Positive Social Connection, and Avoidance of Risky Substances.

Each pillar plays a crucial role in helping us prevent, treat, or even reverse many chronic diseases. But, like ea…

This article is authored by Stand Out Online Member Denisa Pop, Bitdefender

Ramon Ray: "Today Is the Best Time to Start a Business". Read this interview and take one idea that will make you wake up inspired and excited tomorrow. 

Ramon Ray is an entrepreneur, bestselling author, small business expert and unapologetically positive. He's the founder of multiple companies, a sought-after speaker, and the creator of Zone of Genius, where he helps entrepreneurs grow through community and authenticity.

Ramon is also a Bitdefender Ultimate Small Business Security Ambassador, helping business owners protect what they're building while chasing their biggest dreams.

We asked him a few key questions to make the most of this collaboration and to help you move forward safely with confidence and optimism. See the video below: 

https://youtu.be/H6KA8v9txvA

Bitdefende…

This article is authored by Stand Out Online Member Denisa Pop, Bitdefender

You answered a spam call because it had your area code, and you assumed it was a client. Now you get up to a dozen scam calls and texts every day. You keep blocking them, but they always come from new numbers and it’s driving you insane.

 Sound familiar?

If it happened to you, know you haven’t done anything wrong. Scammers buy, sell, and trade phone numbers like currency. All it takes is one answered call for your number to be marked as “active” and passed around.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ranks phone calls as the second-most-common contact method for fraud in 2024. Even worse, these scams had the highest per-person financial loss, with a median of $1,500 per victim.

As a small business owner, you use your phone for sales, schedu…

This article is authored by Stand Out Online Member Denisa Pop, Bitdefender

How Scammers Use Small Business Names to Send Fake PayPal Invoices 

In Connecticut, a vintage furniture shop called Palomino Bazaar discovered its name on more than 200 fake PayPal invoices sent to people across the U.S. The owner, Kate Ferguson, wasn’t chasing payments—her business was inactive. But her inbox and phone lit up anyway: confused strangers, even a whole school district in Pennsylvania, asking about “their” bill.

The invoices looked real and demanded about a thousand dollars. Instead of a normal PayPal button, the message told recipients to call a phone number to “fix the problem.” That number belonged to the scammers. Kate reported the scam to the Better Business Bureau and closed the PayPal account in question. She suspects the email tied to that old account—using the same password as PayPal—was compromised. The fall…

This article is brought to you by Stand Out Online Member Lynnette LaRoche, RISE Reinvent

Have you felt it? That quiet, persistent question echoing in your mind—"Is this it?" that hits you at midlife without warning? You recall the decades of your life and wonder how you got here and why you feel disconnected from who you truly are or had planned to be.

I’ve been there. You’re not alone. There are millions of us!Here are four powerful reasons women feel stuck in midlife—and what you can begin to do to shift to your true self.

1. Living by Everyone Else’s RulesLet’s face it, many of us from a young age were conditioned to please. Family, friends, society—we learned to contort ourselves to fit others’ expectations. What does that look like? Choosing a career to make our parents proud, staying in a relationship to keep the peace, having children as expected by culture, or simply saying yes when we wanted to say no…

This article is authored by Stand Out Online Member Denisa Pop, Bitdefender

What Small Business Owners Wish They Knew Before Starting Out, According to a Survey 

Starting a business takes more than passion. Many new small business owners and freelancers run into obstacles they didn't see coming—from working long hours to getting burned by vendors or underestimating costs. A recent survey of 1,000 small business owners conducted by Talker Research on behalf of HP reveals some of the most common struggles they faced at the beginning—and what they wish they'd known from day one.

The biggest challenges new small business owners face

Every business has its bumps in the road—but knowing what's likely to come up can help you prepare and avoid some common headaches. If you're just starting out, being aware of these challenges could make your first steps a lot smoothe…