Chasov Blog - Your World Insight

How to Deal With Debt Collectors

2009-09-09T09:40:00.001-07:00

Receiving intimidating letters from debt collectors and having them ring your phone off the hook day in and day out can frazzle anyone's nerves. But dealing with debt collectors is easier than you think because you have various forms of protection and many techniques available at your disposal.

Fortunately for the consumer the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act sets some guidelines for what debt collectors may or may not legally do when attempting to collect a debt. For example, they can't call before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., or threaten to garnish wages in states in which it's illegal. They also cannot harass you with continual phone calls if you tell them to stop.

[For the full text, see: http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/fdcpact.htm#801]

You have several options when dealing with the debt collectors. For one you can simply refuse to take the call. Most answering machines allow screening your call before picking up and if you have caller ID/call blocking you may be able to filter the call out entirely.

If you do choose to pick up insist that they don’t contact you anymore. If you sent them a ‘cease and desist’ letter they will be legally obligated to stop calling. Of course, legal action of that kind can be expensive, so you may want to employ other techniques first.

Before trying any techniques on the debt collectors, you should consider actually paying the debt, if you can and if you actually owe it. After all you took out that debt, and the creditor is entitled to be paid. However, if you are seriously short of funds, you can couple this with negotiating for a reduced rate.

All you will have to do is follow up on your commitment and the phone calls will stop. Bill collectors, as unpleasant as they might be, are just performing a service for which they get paid. Once an agreement is in place, they will happily move on to others.

If you do make any agreements with the bill collectors make sure you get that in writing from them or at least record them over the phone. Read or listen to the agreement carefully and make sure everything is stated as you have agreed over the phone.

Note, if you've insisted that the debt collection agency stop calling you, especially if you've been called at work, you can tape the call if that's legal in your state. (Sometimes it requires notifying the other party that you are doing so.) If the debt collectors know they’re being recorded they will not make any statements that are out of line. Everything you record can be especially important when you have negotiated a reduction in debt and need to prove that the debt collectors agreed to your terms.

Majority of debt collectors have the authority to accept substantially less than they're asking for. But, since they get paid a percentage of what they collect, they're going to try to keep the amount as close to the original as possible. However, they will accept less if you continue on pressuring them. They know that 50% of $500 is better than 100% of nothing.

In making any agreement the debt collectors should agree not to put any black marks (beyond what may already be there) onto your credit report. You should take that one step further and insist they report quickly any payments you do make and to adjust any amount owed.

Get it in writing before you send anything more than a token of good faith payment. Sending some money to demonstrate the sincerity of your commitment to the agreement might be ok, but sending too much can have the bill collectors break the agreement. If they see that you can easily be manipulated this will give them little incentive to make the effort to comply with the binding terms of the agreement you both established.

In order to effectively negotiate with the credit collection agency maintain your calm, patience and realism when discussing all the terms. Doing so will make an inherently unpleasant situation less stressful and help you deal with your debt problems much easier.

Increase Your Chances of Business Success by Developing a Niche Marketing Strategy

2009-06-18T22:15:00.000-07:00

Developing a niche marketing strategy may sound foreign to some business owners. This is probably because we tend to think the more people we can reach with our product, the higher the chances we have to sell our product or services. Now while this may sound good, it actually defeats your marketing efforts and can result in lost money.

To help you better understand how you can increase your chances of business success by developing a niche marketing strategy, let me explain the concept further. Let’s use the example of expensive skin care products.

You may think that marketing your product to every single woman is going to help sell more products. This in fact is in correct. You’ll spend many hours and lots of money marketing to an enormous group of people who don’t have the kind of money necessary to purchase your skin care products. Wouldn’t that time and money be better spent on those who CAN afford it?

When you spend less hours and time marketing to women in the corporate world or in the professional world (to give you a few examples) who have the money to spend on your skin care product, you’re chances of selling to them increase dramatically.

This is what is known as niche marketing. You find your little niche and focus your marketing efforts on that group of people. As you can see in the above example, your chances of business success increase dramatically by developing a niche marketing strategy to reach the people who want and need your product. Not to mention, if you can spend less time and make more money it’s bound to be positive, right?

The key to developing a niche marketing strategy is to find the people who have the money to buy your product, need your product and are willing to buy it. You may have to do a little research at first in order to find these people, but once you do, you’ll be able to market directly to them, increasing your chances of increased profits.

Now, you might be asking yourself “That’s great but what if my product will work for a larger audience? Why limit myself?”

You may be right. Your product may be something you can offer various groups (niches) of people. If so, that’s wonderful, but I still suggest you focus on the niche that has the highest probability of purchasing from you first. Here’s why.

Once you’ve made some money using your niche marketing strategy, then you can begin marketing to a larger group of people followed by an even larger group. After a while, you might find yourself marketing to the entire country and then the world, but now you can do it on a budget you can afford without sacrificing all of your time and money.

So, next time you think that niche marketing isn’t going to help lead you down the path to business success, think again. Just like anything else, start small and work your way up for the best results. You’ll be glad you did in the end.

Debt Consolidation Scams

2009-04-03T09:42:00.000-07:00

Debt is a very real problem today and people are looking for answers to their problem. In answer to that outcry, debt consolidation companies have made it their business to swoop in and help their fellow man. Sometimes they swoop in like vultures. Before you look into debt consolidation make sure the company you find is not a scam artist.

Since independent debt consolidation agencies became mainstreamed, the business has attracted many scam artists. Whenever something good comes along there is always a downside. Crooks have found a way to turn your desperation into big bucks.

First, know that every letter or advertisement that claims to want to help you does not. Ask a few questions of these people before you decide to do business with them.

Let us imagine for a moment that there is a man who has a measurable debt. He wants to get out from under so he seeks help from one of the debt consolidation companies that calls his house. They tell him that they can get his debt settled for a fraction of what he actually owes.

The man decides to work with them and enrolls in the debt consolidation program. According to the company, his creditors agreed to one-third of the price paid over a six month span. The man makes his payments starting with a lump sum at the beginning.

He thinks everything is fine until he starts getting calls from the credit card companies. They want their money. The man is confused because he’s been making payments to this agency. When he calls the toll-free number for the agency all he gets is an answering machine.

Don’t let this be you. If you need help and are serious about working to lower and eliminate your debt ask these questions:

1. Tell me about your company and what you can do to help? Any company representative that is not willing to give you thorough information about what they do is a glaring red flag. Any company that wants to do honest business shouldn’t mind telling you what you want to know. Also, if they imply that they can get information removed from your credit report, slam the door. It’s a lie.

2. How much are your services? There will be a charge but not a substantial one. The initial consultation is usually free or a low fee. Beware of hidden fees for processing and other things that can be tacked on.

3. What are your options for handling debt? Any company that only pushes debt management programs in lieu of credit counseling or payment plans could be up to something. Maybe they are getting money to push that program. You don’t want that.

Don’t believe the hype. Check with the Better Business Bureau to see if that particular company has been investigated. Also, anyone that guarantees a debt reduction or help with your credit report is out for your money and should be avoided like the plague.

The Buy Now, Pay Later Trap

2009-02-21T13:43:00.000-08:00

Don’t you love those commercials that advertise no payments for two years on purchases made today? They sound like a good deal, but beware. You could be setting yourself up for trouble down the road.

No one wants to window shop forever. You see something that you wish you had and there’s a sign hanging saying no payments until 2009. What could be better? You sit down and sign a contract. Two years later you find out that the price you thought you were paying has in fact doubled.

During the time that you are enjoying your purchase payment free, the interest is accruing on the items. Depending on the cost of the item (most likely a furniture or appliance purchase) this could add up to a lot of money. Some contracts specify that it has to be a purchase over a certain amount in order to qualify for the special offer and that amount isn’t normally cheap.

Did you read the contract? The interest rate that is accruing can be phenomenal. Think about a 23% interest rate on your purchase accruing monthly. That’s not so great a deal after all, is it?

Consumers that do not read the fine print can find themselves in a bind. They think that after two years they start making payments and all is well. For one thing, most people don’t try to put aside some money for the payment each month. The payment is forgotten until the first bill arrives.

The first bill can be a shocker. There is the high interest rate and the amount of the accrued interest added to the bill. Did I forget to tell you? More often than not, if the purchaser does not make a payment in full when the two years are up, the interest is tacked on to the purchase price. Surprise! You now have a bill that is substantially more than it was in the beginning.

When used wisely, buying now and paying later can work. People, who are trying to build credit, can start by purchasing items like furniture or appliances and paying on time. You will still need to make a lump payment to avoid paying the interest. Better still is forgoing the special deal and making payments each month from the beginning. In two years, the furniture will be paid off and you will have established a good payment record to boost your credit.

Making a Budget

2009-02-21T13:22:00.000-08:00

When the new fiscal year is close at hand, companies and other organizations work on their budget for the coming year. They give themselves plenty of time to get it done, reviewed, edited, and ready for final approval by the board. You may not represent a major corporation, but you do represent your family. It could be a family of one or a family of five. Either way, a budget would let everyone know where the money is actually going and make it easier to plan for future expenses.

Creating a budget is a time-consuming task. It you’ve never done one before you are in for a real treat. To make the job a little less painful, enlist the aid of the entire family. The good thing about a budget is that once all of the initial details are hammered out, it will never be as difficult again.

Start with where your money is going right now. You have to start somewhere and the best place to begin is to find out exactly where your money goes each month.

Make a list of the bills that are paid every month. If they are bills where the amount doesn’t change from month to month, this part of creating a budget will be fairly simple. The main bills for most families include: rent/mortgage, utilities, car insurance, car payment, and groceries. There are incidentals like credit card payments. If the payment is made each month, include these payments in your budget as well.

The grocery bill will have the most variability. Most families buy many of the same things each month but at certain times of the year, such as during holidays, many households tend to purchase more food more often. If you know what you spend on groceries this month, multiply that amount by twelve. This is roughly what you will spend per year on groceries if the family doesn’t get any bigger during the upcoming year.

Next, subtract the monthly salaries of the money contributors in the household from the regular monthly bill amount, including the grocery bill we figured above. How much do you have left? This dollar amount should be used for savings and extras.

Savings are important to include in a family budget. Each month you will want to put aside some money in a separate account. In a perfect world, having a savings amount equal to three times your salary would be ideal, but most people don’t have the luxury of saving that much. When determining how much to put into savings each month, be sure to take into consideration things such as the amount you have available and remember - life happens quite often. If you can’t put away as much as you’d like to each month, that’s ok. Just make sure you are growing your savings, even if only by a little bit each and every month in order to help when those unexpected expenses come up.

Software like Quicken or Microsoft Money can help those with computers to create a workable budget. The software allows you to add dollar amounts to different categories. Subcategory headings can also be used. As money is subtracted, you can check to see how much is left in that category for the month. These programs also allow the user to create reports that show how money is spent.

In the age of ATM’s, it is easy to spend without thinking. Remember to keep all receipts and subtract the amounts from your electronic or paper ledger. Money machines are a major source of missing cash that ruins a budget. Visit the ATM once a week and take out the money that will be needed for any budgeted expenses only. This way, you can keep account of what is spent without spending foolishly and regretting it later.

Though not always easy to start, budgets are a necessary part of maintaining the family finances. So, take the time to create a family budget for your household today in order to find out where your money is actually going. This will help to plug any leaks in your spending and save some of your hard earned green too.

Is Direct Sales’ Leadership For You?

2009-02-19T21:41:00.000-08:00

If you are reading this, chances are you are not a natural born leader. Most natural born leaders know they are leaders and have what it takes and don’t need to read an article on leadership, and probably won’t. It’s already in their personality.

So, if you’re not a natural born leader how do you know if you have what it takes to be a good leader? Leadership can be taught. Trust me. I’m not a natural born leader, I’ve had to learn what it means to be a leader and I’ve had to grow in some areas so that those things are natural for me now. If I can do it, so can you.

I’m going to show you some of the things I’ve done to increase my leadership ability. These things do take time, effort and even some money. I believe there is no better investment than helping others. When you are in a leadership position that is what you should be doing, helping others. If you are going into leadership for any other reason, say for the glory, credit or recognition, then you are going in for the wrong reason. In addition, you probably won’t be a leader very long if you are in it only for yourself.

The first thing you should do is examine yourself. Ask yourself some questions like:

• What areas am I strong in? Am I naturally social or am I more reserved and shy? If you are naturally social, then you won’t have a problem talking to people. However if you are naturally shy, then you will need to work on this. I recommend you take some classes or read some books on growing your self confidence.

• Am I organized and do I know how to prioritize my time? If you aren’t a naturally organized person, practice being organized. How do you do that? Watch some TV shows on organization or get some DVD’s that teach you how to organize. You can learn to be organized. If you’re horrible at prioritizing your time, you can learn that too. Take some time management classes or have your up line teach you!

• Am I an available leader? Will I make time for my clients and recruits? Or do I get annoyed if they call at an unscheduled time with an urgent matter or emergency? Your recruit might be in the middle of a class and need an answer to a question right away that may make or break a sale. How will you handle that? You will need patience and understanding. Yes, you can learn to be patient, but you have to practice patience to learn it.

• How’s my attitude? Am I haughty or do I have a better than thou attitude? Or do I know that I make mistakes and so does everyone else? Do I quickly learn from my mistakes or do I let them get me down? If you allow your mistakes or the mistakes of others for that matter, bring you down and you have a defeatist attitude all the time, you won’t be a successful leader. There will always be someone somewhere that is going to point out your mistakes. It’s best to get over it, learn from it and move on. Don’t let a mistake stop you from reaching your goals.

Good leadership takes patience, strength, perseverance and a good attitude. When you have all of those traits combined you have what it takes to be a good leader. These tips, coupled with the reading of books on leadership and/or attending a leadership conference or workshop, you too can learn to be a good leader.

Identity Theft and the Economy

2009-02-19T21:22:00.000-08:00

The economy is in an economic downturn. When that happens, it brings about other consequences in our society. For one, crime increases. Protect yourself from identity thieves who want to separate you from your money.

On average, identity thieves use high tech methods to find ways of defrauding innocent people. They come up with telephone scams, Internet website scams, email scams and other ingenious plans like taking photos of your card with a cell phone camera. When times are hard, these same thieves could resort to less sophisticated ways of stealing.

Consumers have gotten smarter in order to outsmart identity thieves. You read articles and booklets on how to protect yourself from these criminals. That includes shredding mail, being careful when shopping online, paying bills online and getting an annual credit report. Using reputable identity protection programs also helps you stay safe from the prying eyes of others.

You should be in the clear now, right? Think again. When people are faced with losing their homes and the ability to provide for their families, all sorts of ideas fill their heads. It isn’t just the chic criminal you need to watch out for but the desperate identity thief as well. Who are they? They could be anyone: your next door neighbor, a relative down on his or her luck, a coworker or someone you wouldn’t even suspect like a professional doctor or lawyer. And, the regular purse snatcher or carjacker falls into this category as well. A poor economy brings out the violent thief as well.

It sounds like a scene from The X-Files but “trust no one.” You can protect your identity by being street smart and savvy in your dealings with other people. Resist the urge to order items over the telephone at work or in a public area. You might think you are whispering but someone is hearing you.

Still follow the same precautions that you did when identity thieves swiped purses and wallets to get their information:

1. Don’t leave your purse in the car or your mail on the seat in full view. Lock your car doors even in your own driveway.

2. Use ATM machines at banks and during the day. At night, thieves can assault you for your card, money and your car.

3. Be aware of your surroundings. It is harder for a thief to sneak up on you if you are looking them right in the eye.

4. Don’t give out any personal or financial information over the telephone for any reason.

Identity thieves are still active in these tough economic times and they are returning to some tried and true methods to get your information. Protect yourself in every way so you don’t become a victim.

How to Build Your Business with Twitter Hashtags

2009-02-05T22:08:00.000-08:00

If you have been on Twitter for any length of time, you have noticed people often use a # symbol at the end of their messages. This is known as a hashtag. Hashtags are commonly used as a symbol to send out messages pertaining to a certain event. These symbols were actually made popular during the San Diego fires in 2007 as a way to group news messages.

Today, just about any subject you can think of uses hashtags in order to follow a particular stream of tweeted data. They are used for promotions and contests, as well as groups of people communicating together. One common hashtag seen on Twitter is #gno, which is Girls Night Out. This group is growing every week and you can join in the fun simply by searching Twitter for #gno.

Your business can also utilize this nifty symbol in order to announce new products or projects, keep customers informed of current events going on throughout your company. You can even build your business by providing clients with a useful way to keep track of you and your brand.

By grouping messages together and providing a common thread to search upon, you and your customers will be able to track any announcements put out by your business on Twitter with ease. Hashtags also force you to keep certain key words (such as #SEO or other searchable keywords) your business might be working to develop as optimized search terms in your text. Since all Twitter messages can be indexed by Google, the use of these key words will also help your business in developing their search engine rankings.

Here are a few things to remember when creating hashtags for Twitter.

Availability – Check places like www.hashtags.org to see if the hashtag you want is already in use. If your tem is available, make sure you are following @hashtags and just input the hashtag you wish to use preceded by the # mark, of course.

Relevancy – Make sure your hashtag is relevant to what you are trying to track. For instance, do not use #newyork if you are trying to sell watches in the New York area. Use something a little more specific to your business such as #FossilNY.

Memorable – Keep your hashtags memorable so customers can find them easily. Large acronyms and heavy abbreviations detract from keyword usage and they are difficult to remember. Remember, the longer your hashtag, the fewer characters you will have to use in your actual text. Keep it short, simple and to the point.

Branding – Use your hashtags to help develop a business brand. By using your tags to enhance your search engine optimization terms, your brand will be more visible to customers searching for what you offer. Remember to keep your hashtag in line with your business and business goals.

As you can see, hashtags are a great way to help build your business. Give them a shot and let your customers know you are using them too. The easiest hashtag to use is your business name. If you tell your customers to search for your hashtag they are guaranteed to have the most up-to-date information about what is going on with your business. Happy hashtagging!

Exercising at Home: Using your Body Weight

2009-01-22T19:45:00.000-08:00

When do most people join a gym? It’s during the beginning of the year. If you are trying to begin the year with a healthy exercise regimen and save money on membership fees, consider a homemade workout where you are the only piece of equipment.

Advertisers sure know their job. They could sell ice cubes to Eskimos if they had a mind to. Instead, they spend their time selling us on the latest exercise equipment. Two hundred dollars later, you have no room in your house for whatever you bought and you are still no closer to starting your exercise program.

Whether you are busy or just out of other options for a workout, try creating your own workout that requires nothing other than yourself. It is not as hard as it sounds to do. Each muscle group can become strong and toned with consistent exercise sessions.

Suggestions for Exercises

1. Pushups – No one likes these but they are quite effective. Pushups work the triceps, chest, and abs. Begin with your knees on the floor until your arms gets strong enough to perform pushups on your toes.

2. Crunches – Crunches are more effective than sit ups because they reduce strain on the neck and lower back. Simply push your lower back into the floor and curl up about 45 degrees. Crunches can be done with a twist towards the outside of the body to work the oblique muscles. Holding the upper body stationary and lifting the hips works the lower abdominal area.

3. Walking – It’s one of the best exercises for people of all fitness levels. You can take brisk walk through your neighborhood for 30 to 60 minutes most days of the week for a great cardiovascular workout.

4. Jumping jacks – Everyone used to do jumping jacks in gym class as a kid. Performing jumping jacks for even five or ten minutes at a time is an intense cardio workout. Exercise is cumulative—even shorter workouts throughout the day add up. Try doing jumping jacks during commercials for a quick pick me up.

5. Jumping rope – When it’s raining out and you can’t go for a walk, try jumping rope indoors. Jumping rope will get that heart rate up fast and keep it there. Alternate jumping rope with other weight exercises for an interval workout.

6. Lunges and squats – Both of these moves work the lower body muscle groups. For thinner thighs and a toned butt, perform these exercises every other day, twice a week.

Any exercise that uses your own body weight will build muscle. As you lose weight, you may have to add hand weights to get the same intensity but that’s okay. Remember to warm up and cool down before and after your workout, respectively. Vary your exercise routine with cardio and weight-bearing elements.

Do You Have What it Takes to be a Good Direct Sales Team Leader?

2009-01-14T22:16:00.000-08:00

You’ve proven you’ve got what it takes to make sells and run a successful direct sales business. Your next step is to recruit your first person. You’re excited and realize that once you get someone on your team, you can continually grow your business and stop working quite so hard – or can you?

Once you become a team leader, you’ll need to share your efforts on some different areas of the business. You still need to work your own business, but now you are responsible for others as well. What can you do to be successful as a team leader? Here are some tips and suggestions that will go a long way in making you a team leader anyone would be proud to work under.

• Put others first. Any good team leader will realize it’s no longer only about themselves and their business. They will put the needs of their down line above their own. Success will happen for your recruits, which in turn means you too.

• Learn to prioritize. You must be able to put things in order of importance as a team leader. By doing this you will be better organized and show your team members how to do the same.

• Walk the walk. As a leader you must lead by example. You can’t tell your team to do something and expect them to follow you if you’re not doing it too. So, go ahead and talk the talk, but only if you can walk the walk too.

• Overcoming obstacles. You know how to work past any objection in this business. You know your product or service well enough to know what possible reasons people have for not wanting to purchase and have answers available to prevail over them.

• Perseverance – You know that you’ll receive a lot of no responses in this business, but you stay positive and also know you will get the answer your looking for. You stick with it when things are slow an don’t let rejection get you down.

• Creates a working system. You are organized and have a system that gets results. You also realize that organization is different for everyone, but you know yours and are willing to help your team find their perfect system too.

• You motivate, encourage and lift up your team. You have to be A good leader is the cheerleader for the team. The leader is the motivator, the optimistic no matter what comes your way.

• Set goals. You not only have to set goals for yourself, but your team as well. Know what an achievable goal is and what is out of reach. Be able to help others reach their goals by breaking them up into manageable steps.

• Consistency is important. You must hold regular meetings and reward your team members for a job well done frequently. Your recruits want and need you to be consistent with their training. A good leader attends the Annual Conference or Seminar and encourages their team to do the same. The Annual Conference is the best place to be built up, encouraged and motivated!

• You’re not in this just to make money. Know your product, use your product and like it! You must believe in what you sell and only sign up those who do it too – they make the best sales people.

Above and beyond these tips, you can also learn to become a great leader by apply the principles it takes to do so. Watch videos, listen to CDs, read books and attend conferences that will help you become the leader you want to be. These things will make a difference in your business and your life too.

Why Saving For Retirement Is Important

2008-12-14T23:16:00.001-08:00

Whether you are 20, 30, 40, 50, or 60 years of age, are you planning for retirement? If not, you should be. Unfortunately, many individuals do not understand the importance of planning for retirement. If you are one of those individuals, please continue reading on for information that will likely change your outlook on planning and preparing for your retirement.

The greatest reason why you should save for retirement is because it is your life. The amount of money that you save for retirement will have a profound impact on how your life is lived. Do you have any dreams or goals? Typically, retirement is the best time to meet your goals and transform your dreams into reality, but you can only do so if you are financially prepared. If you are not, you may be worried about where you will live or where your next meal will come from, as opposed to wondering when the best time to take a vacation is.

Another important reason why you should start saving for retirement and early is for your children. Even if you are twenty years old and single, remember that there may come a point in your life when you have a family. Those who do not properly plan and save for retirement put a huge burden on their families. As a parent, it is your job to protect your children, not cause them to face their own financial difficulties because they must pay for your retirement expenses.

Saving for retirement can also help to ensure that you are well cared for. This is important in terms of health. There comes a point in everyone’s life when his or her health starts to worsen with age. While you may be able to live on your own and care for yourself when you first enter into retirement, there may come a point in time when you can no longer do so. If and when that time comes, are you financially prepared? Can you afford the cost of long-term care? The cost of long-term can be expensive and it should be included in the cost of your retirement; therefore, you should start saving now.

Another one of the many reasons why you will want to start saving for your retirement is because you won’t want to keep on working. Those who are unprepared for retirement often keep on working or later return to the workforce. Is this really something that you want to do? Also, remember your age and your health. It is highly unlikely that you will be ale to work until you die. That is why you should start saving for retirement, as you cannot generate income for yourself forever.

Finally, social security benefits are nice, but they will not cover all of your retirement living expenses. Many financial advisors state you will need around 70% of your current income to live comfortably in retirement. Unfortunately, most individuals only receive about 40% of that from social security benefits. Depending on how much you contributed through the payment of taxes, that amount may be lower. Since you cannot rely on social security benefits to survive, you need to start saving for retirement.

As highlighted above, there are a number of reasons why you should save for retirement. Your life is in your own hands, so start saving today.

How Web 2.0 and Social Networking Go Hand in Hand

2008-12-13T10:41:00.000-08:00

It sounds like a new type of software for the computer. Web 2.0 has become the buzz word of the moment. Even as popular as the term, there are many people who want to know exactly what Web 2.0 really is. If you’re one of them, read on to find out.

The phrase was coined by a man named Tim O'Reilly at a conference. It seemed to take off and morph into a new idea for the advancement of social networking sites on the Internet. So, Web 2.0 is actually a type of platform that supports and brings more to these social networking sites.

The idea of social networking begins with the individual model. Individuals meet other individuals and form connections. This concept would be physically demonstrated by balls and sticks like the blocks we used to play with as kids. Without the sticks to connect the balls, they wouldn’t have a connection.

Web 2.0 provides the base where these interactions occur. It also defines the way in which the interactions can occur. Individuals create profiles that can stand alone and meet new people through those profiles. Other features of the platform like news feeds, multimedia content, blogs, instant messages, social groups, audio and video, and message boards are also a huge part of Web 2.0. In this way, the connection of one individual grows and develops into an entire network of others.

There are several social networking sites that use Web 2.0 as their basis. Including some you may have heard of:

• Facebook
• YouTube
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Wikipedia
• MySpace
• WordPress
• Blogger
• Flickr

There are many more, but you get the idea from the partial list. If you belong to any of these social networking sites, you have sampled a Web 2.0 platform. Each site utilizes user-generated content that is ranked by the search engines. Good content is found and the content producer gains a following that can be used to gain popularity on the web or increased visibility for a business.

Web 2.0 platforms are used by businesses, universities, and families. It is a way to keep in touch with easy to use and manageable applications. One useful application is the RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed which automatically updates subscribers when changes occur to your page. This is specific application is frequently used on blogs and news sites to save readers time. They no longer have to check their favorite websites daily for updates. Instead they receive a notice via email or in their feed reader when something new has been posted.
Companies can use Web 2.0 technology through Google Groups and Yahoo Groups. Employees can sign up and become a part of groups to receive important information about company projects or social agendas. Anyone can form a group on Google or Yahoo for business or social reasons.

Web 2.0 provides several tools for the business user and the purely personal social networker. Driving traffic to a blog, website, or other piece of information has never been more convenient than with the rise of Web 2.0 and social networking sites.

Types of Mortgages

2008-12-11T10:56:00.001-08:00

You are ready to buy a house. You have saved some money for a down payment. The next step is to find a way to finance the home that you have been dreaming about. Below is a list of several mortgage loan types to help you decide which is right for your situation.

Fixed Rate Mortgage - A fixed rate mortgage loan is one where the payment does not change during the life of the loan. Fixed rate loans tend to have a slightly higher interest rate, but the rate remains the same even if the market rate goes up. Borrowers with excellent credit often qualify for a loan of this type.

Fixed rate mortgages come in 50-, 40-, 30-, 20-, 15, and 10-year terms. Thirty-year mortgage loans are the standard, but more and more, homeowners are opting for early payoff of their home loans. Someone who wants to pay off their home loan in half the time would choose a 15-year mortgage loan.

Adjustable Rate Mortgage - This type of mortgage is abbreviated and more commonly known as “ARM”. An adjustable rate mortgage starts at one point, but can go up or down each time the interest rate adjusts. Borrowers can specify if they want to have the option of an adjustment each year, every three years, every five years, twice a year, and so forth.

The thing about this loan type is that each percentage that it goes up increases your monthly mortgage payment. For the sake of finances, a 5-year ARM guarantees your interest rate for the longest time without any changes. By the same token, if the interest rates drop within that period, you could miss out on lower payments so definitely take into consideration the market not only at the time you purchase your home, but also what it may be like years down the road.

Balloon Mortgages - You’ve heard of balloon payments? A balloon mortgage has a set interest rate just like the fixed rate mortgage loan. After that time, the rest of the loan comes due in one “balloon” payment, hence the name of the mortgage loan. Whilst not for the average mortgage loan shopper, this type of loan works for buyers that expect a short turnaround time before they sell the property.

FHA Mortgage Loans - This is a government insured loan program that helps buyers with less than perfect credit and first-time buyers to finance a new home. The amount of the loan differs depending on where you live, but the down payment for an FHA loan is as little as three percent at closing. For a family trying to afford their first home, this helps to save money for things like home furnishings and any improvements they may want to do on their new house.

VA Loan - This loan is offered to veterans of the Armed Forces. Veterans that meet the requirements can qualify for loan to finance their new home. There is no down payment on this loan in most cases.

Two-Step Mortgage - A mortgage of this type comes in two phases. The first phase consists of a fixed interest rate for a specified period of time. After the time elapses, the rate of the loan adjusts to an interest rate where it will remain for the rest of the loan period. The amount of the adjustment depends on the particulars of the individual loan.

There are also many variations of the above mentioned loans, so talk to a reputable lender for further options before deciding which is best for you. Even if your credit is not the best, you can still get a manageable loan that puts you in the home you want.

Refinancing a Home to Cover Credit Card Debt

2008-12-05T21:40:00.000-08:00

The majority of the American public has been in or is experiencing credit card debt. They have high interest credit cards that they can’t pay off. Taking out a home equity loan is an option, but one should think through doing so in advance so that the financial situation doesn’t go from bad to worse.

What about the credit card debt? This occurs when people charge more than they can pay off. Monthly payments increase when you continue to charge and run up the balance on the credit card.

A home equity loan is a quick solution to the problem but not a permanent one. The only permanent solution is debt counseling and cutting those credit cards in half. As soon as you pay off those balances with the loan money what happens? The credit card companies send more offers to get more credit cards. It’s a vicious cycle that won’t stop unless you learn to get a handle on the spending.

The amount of a home equity loan is based on the amount of money that you have paid into your home. You are building equity each year that you make payments on your house. Borrowing against this equity increases your house payment.

A home equity loan can be used for anything. Many homeowners use equity to make home improvements. Improvements can increase the value of your home so that you can get a better price when it is time to sell. They are putting the money back into their home.

Unlike home improvements, when the money is used for credit card repayment, there is nothing physical to show for it. Many times the purchases made with the credit card are more than likely gone, especially if it was food or entertainment. It may seem like all you are left with is a higher house payment. You are paying off debt, which in the long run will be a good thing, even if it doesn’t seem like you have any concrete evidence for the higher payments.

Credit card debt can also be reduced through other means. One way is to talk to the creditors. Many will work out a deal to make payments on the balance. You may have to stretch yourself thin for a few months to make lump sum payments, but at least you will still have your home and its equity, leaving that money to be used for emergency needs if such a situation presents itself.

Credit card debt can and will resurface if the underlying causes of debt are not dealt with. Home refinancing for debt payments is a stop gap measure that, if not done for the right reasons and with the discipline to avoid the same situation down the road, can leave the homeowner with a worse financial picture than before. Be sure to research all the options and choose wisely when it comes to digging out of credit card debt.

Busting 5 Myths and Bringing Home the Truth about Affiliate Marketing

2008-11-30T21:02:00.000-08:00

Affiliate marketing is a business that one can sell other people’s products and earn commissions from them. The sales are tracked through special links that are provided to the affiliate marketer which they place on their site to sell those items from.

Affiliate Marketing has gotten a bad rap in years past, so it’s time to educate aspiring business owners about the truth behind this legitimate business. Let’s bust those myths and bring forth the truth about this potential money maker!

Myth #1 - It’s just another get rich quick scheme.

Truth - This myth probably originated around the time Internet frauds and scams hit an all time high. Most people aren’t aware of what affiliate marketing is and probably heard others who’ve said they made a lot of money from it, so they assumed it fell into the scam category. The truth is that it’s a legitimate business that you could make money from, but you will not get rich quick. It takes a lot of time and work to make it a success.

Myth #2 - It’s a waste of time. No one will want the junk you would be selling anyway.

Truth - First of all, you aren’t selling junk. You pick the items yourself and research them to see whether or not they’re worth the effort. When you find good quality products and work hard selling them, you will earn some decent commissions, so the time would not be wasted. You get out of it, what you put into it.

Myth #3 - Affiliate Marketing sites sell themselves.

Truth - The only way these sites will actually sell themselves is if you work hard to provide the best possible site and use the best possible marketing methods. You will still need to bust your rump to get those results through, so technically the sites don’t sell themselves.

Myth #4 - You can make money overnight!

Truth - Most affiliate marketers would love it if this were true. But, alas, it’s not. It will take quite a bit of time to get the ball rolling for you to find what works and doesn’t work. When you finally get on your feet and know how the process works effectively, then you can start earning more money. It won’t come overnight.

That being said, once you discover how to make that money, then yes, it is possible to go to sleep one night with X amount of dollars in your PayPal account and wake up to more. That’s where making money overnight comes into play, but that doesn’t mean you just throw a link on your site one day and wake up the next with a hefty account balance.

Myths #5 - Just build a website. Your customers will find you.

Truth - This holds some truth to it, but it’s lacking some details. You will need a website to sell affiliate products from, but customers aren’t going to find you unless you market, market and market some more. Just because you publish a site on the World Wide Web, does not guarantee everyone out there is going to stumble upon your site. You need to get your site out there and let it find them!
Affiliate marketing is a legitimate business that you can make money from. It’s like any other small business. You have to work hard at making it a success. The rewards of your hard work and dedication can be great once you get your business gets up and running.

Now that the affiliate marketing myths have been busted, and the truth is out, you are well informed that affiliate marketing is not a fly by night scheme to make quick money. It’s a business like any other and should rightfully be thought of as such.

Too Revealing? Its All About Mutual Funds

2008-11-08T13:45:00.000-08:00

Funds of fund - which spread their investment dollars across other mutual funds rather than stocks or bonds - having gained a significant following in recent years. Lifestyle funds and targeted maturity funds in particular have been popping up in retirement accounts from coast to coast.

But in the name of transparency, an SEC rule that went into effect July 31, 2006, threatens to put the brakes on that growth. The new rule mandates that starting in 2008, fund companies must include in their expense ratios not only their top-line management fees, but also underlying costs of the funds in which they invest. In other words, the (fictional) Generic Fund might charge you 1.5 percent in expenses to assemble a portfolio of other funds. And that's all it would have listed in the expense ratio last year. But this year, Generic Fund will also have to break out the expense ratios of the funds in which it invests your dollars, which might bump the total up to 4 percent. Even though nothing about the fund management changed, it looks more expensive on paper.

Heavies like Fidelity Investments, T. Rowe Price and Vanguard can rig the system by investing only in their own funds and waving management fees - so their funds of funds look (and, in fact, are) cheaper than competitors' offerings. But your boutique fund's all-in-one asset allocation doesn't really cost you more than last year, despite appearances to the contrary.

So if the higher expense ration makes you squirm, you probably shouldn't have invested there in the first place.

U.S. Stocks End Sharply Down As Economy Overshadows Election

2008-11-05T23:04:00.001-08:00

U.S. stocks hastened their sharp declines, erasing the largest Election Day gains in more than two decades, as investors pondered the task ahead for President-elect Barack Obama in confronting the poor shape of the economy.

"Obama's honeymoon with the markets was a short one as stocks unwound their Election-Day relief rally... as the credit and financial mountain remains a tall one to climb," said analysts at Action Economics.

The potential for a deep U.S. recession and the worst global financial crisis since the Great Depression gives Obama little time to bask in the afterglow of his victory, economists said. .

"Yesterday's market action was in anticipation of an Obama victory -- it looks like more of a landslide -- now we're down to business and the market is going to wait until he talks about an economic plan," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Avalon Partners.

Stocks quickened the pace of their losses in afternoon trade, with financial shares hammered the hardest.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 500 points. The blue-chip index ended at 9,139.27, off 486.01 points, or 5.1%.

The blue-chip index had gained 3.3% the prior session, topping the 1.2% advance tallied in 1984 when Ronald Reagan won a second term.

On Wednesday, all of the Dow's 30 components posted late-session declines, with the losses led by Citigroup Inc., off 14%, and Bank of America Corporation, down 11.3%.

General Motors Corporation erased earlier gains, off 2.8%. The Detroit News cited an internal GM memo in reporting that the automaker would announce "important changes" to its operation when it releases third-quarter results on Friday.

The S&P 500 Index declined 52.98 points, or 5.2%, to 958.00, and the Nasdaq Composite Index shed 98.48 points, or 5.5%, to 1,681.64.

Financials, materials and consumer discretionary shares fronted the losses in the S&P's 10 industry groups.

Volume proved exceedingly light, with 1.3 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, where four stocks were on the decline for every one on the rise. On the Nasdaq, 902 million shares traded, and decliners surpassed advancing stocks, also by a roughly 10-to-3 margin.

In economic data, the ADP index of private employment showed companies shed 157,000 jobs in October, with the report seen as a preview of sorts of Friday's non-farm payrolls for the month.

The Institute for Supply Management reported non-manufacturing sectors of the U.S. economy contracted sharply in October, with its index falling to 44.4% from 50.2% in September.

The U.S. dollar posted mild gains, with the dollar index, a measure of the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of six currencies, climbing to 84.79 from 84.533 in North American trade late Tuesday.

Crude fell, with oil futures for December delivery off $5.23 to finish at $65.3 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Gold futures fell, snapping a two-day winning streak, down $14.9 to close at $742.40 an ounce.

Treasury prices gained, with 10-year note yields lately down 6 basis points to 3.671%.

Wednesday's earnings had Time Warner Inc. reporting a third-quarter profit slide of 1.7%, with the New York media giant cutting its estimate of full-year earnings from continuing operations. The company's shares fell 5.4%.

In developments in the technology sector, Google Inc. said it would no longer pursue a proposed advertising deal with Yahoo Inc., citing resistance from regulators and some advertisers. Yahoo confirmed the deal's demise.

Overseas, shares in London snapped a six-session winning streak.

In Asia, most markets ended higher.

Recession Looms as Market Takes A Roller Coaster Ride

2008-11-04T22:10:00.000-08:00

Day after day we see worse and worse economic data coming out from all sectors of American and global economies. Majority of companies around the world are experiencing lower earnings and announcing hundreds of thousands of layoffs further adding to the already high unemployment rate in the United States.

For those who haven't heard or haven't believed it yet, the recession is here and its in full swing.

The unemployment rate is constantly rising and currently stands at a high of 6.2%, definitely not a positive number for the economy and overall financial outlook for majority of working families in the United States.

The sobering economic data and weak earnings of many companies over the last quarter saw a major sell off in the stock market. Selling also spread throughout the rest of the world affecting all countries and major global financial indexes.

The U.K.'s third quarter gross domestic product fell 0.5%, the first decline in 16 years, putting the country straight into a recession.

U.S. stock market recently hit its lowest levels in more than five years on the belief that a punishing economic recession is at hand. Since mid September the U.S. stock market has erased more than $8.8 trillion of shareholder value, obliterating wealth for millions of Americans. The market itself has been riding a roller coaster swinging each day from highs of as much as +1000 to lows as much as -800. Each day brings unexpected news and sends the markets into a further decline even if it manages to recover in prior trading sessions. The outlook about overall economy and financial credit markets is growing more negative with each day.

Such a negative outlook makes it clear that the world economy is headed for a severe downturn even as governments race to revive credit markets on the hope that a return of more normal lending levels by banks and other financial houses will fan economic activity.

In all this economic and financial calamity the main concern is about all the lower and middle class working families not only in America but also around the world; families that have to bear most of the burden of these hard economic times. The only hope and wish that everyone can make here is for this recession not to become something more disastrous and catastrophic than it already is.

Is It A Smart Idea To Buy Templates From Joel Comm?

2008-11-04T21:52:00.000-08:00

Should you purchase Joel Comm's Adsense templates? Is it a smart idea and a good investment?

Who's Joel Comm?

Joel Comm is a guy who has made a name for himself as one of the many "make money online gurus", with a specialty on Google AdSense. In fact, here's how he describes himself on one of his own websites...

"Joel is considered to be the world's foremost expert on the subject of making money with Google AdSense. He's written the all-time best selling ebook on the topic, and his recent book The AdSense Code topped at #1 on the Amazon marketplace, and became a New York Times best seller."

Comm goes on to say that he receives big, fat paychecks from Google AdSense. Whenever anyone speaks about making AdSense fortunes Joel Comm's name always comes up and so does his reputation for being the best of the best in the online world.

He's known for selling "AdSense templates", which I have never personally purchased or seen. However after studying Joel Comm and his template selling business I will make a quick analysis about whether or not you should invest in his templates and if its a smart idea.

If Joel Comm is the undisputed king of making money from AdSense, then it stands to reason that you can visit any of his websites to see what kind of "template" he's using.

Just go to his blog: http://www.joelcomm.com

If he makes big fat paychecks from AdSense, then all you need to do is copy his blog design. You don't even really need to buy his AdSense templates.

But hey, the blog designs I make use of don't mimic his designs. So why don't I follow his design?

Well, placement of AdSense advertisements does make a big difference, but only so far as it can be seen by everyone visiting within 5-10 seconds of viewing your website. What matters after that is if the ads are readable, relevant and interesting to the people visiting your site.

Based on my analysis I could not find out or know for sure if Joel Comm is truly making five-figure checks from AdSense as he claims he does (packaged in a UPS envelope). Only himself, his bank, and the people at AdSense know for sure. But as I look at his claims of being the best at AdSense I'm confident I'm just as much an AdSense expert as he is, maybe even more. What I am not, however, is a skilled salesman nor copywriter. That's what Joel Comm is.

Let's pause for a second and face the facts, there's no way to go from making a couple of dollars a day with AdSense to thousands of dollars a day, just by changing the placement and colors of your advertisements. If Joel Comm makes five-figure AdSense checks it has more to do with his traffic volume than his knowledge of AdSense.

Anyone driving massive amounts of traffic to their website can make incredible money with AdSense even if the actual content of the website is not that great. That's the secret Joel Comm doesn't tell you about.

One thing for certain, Joel Comm has made a name for himself as an AdSense god, if anything, he's just really good at making you believe it.

So is purchasing Joel Comm's AdSense templates a smart idea and a good investment?

You make the call.

Taken for a Ride

2008-10-12T21:18:00.000-07:00

Floating a taxpayer-backed "credit-line" to a private company is simply wrong. However, there will always be those who rationalize the need for the government to provide credit assistance to business in the instance of a "market failure" or a "compelling public interest." They often cite the success of the Chrysler Loan Guarantee Act which gave the almost-bankrupt carmaker $1.2 billion in 1980.

Within three years, Chrysler was financially stable and had paid off its loan. But Professors Walter Adams and James W. Brock understand the financial and social consequences created by the Chrysler precedent: "The political economy of big business thus revolutionizes an ostensibly free enterprise society in a subtle but profoundly radical way. It privatizes profit while socializing losses--provided the latter are large enough. It thereby erodes the social role (and justification) of profit as an inducement for sound decision-making in the public interest. It is thus tantamount to socialism for the big and powerful."

In an open economy, the market decides winners and losers. DM&E wants to tap into the lucrative Powder River Basin, but the private sector weighed the risk and chose not to invest. The federal government should not be the fall-back lender for a business that can't succeed in the real world. DM&E and its appeal for a federal loan is just another case of corporate welfare aided by high-level connections in which the American taxpayer is taken for a ride.

On the Dole

2008-10-08T20:19:00.001-07:00

In August both houses of Congress voted by clear majorities to extend for another five years the so-called State Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP). This program had originally granted free health insurance to the children of "poor working families"- defined as those earning up to 200% of the poverty level.

As well as extending S-CHIP's life, however, the House bill expanded the definition of poor working families to include those earning up to 400% of the poverty level. Thus, children in families where annual income is as high as $82,000 will become eligible for free health insurance. Since an estimated 77% of children living between 200% and 300% of the poverty level - and 89% of those between 300% and 400% - already have private health insurance, this extension will push them from private into state health insurance. It will, in a word "socialize" their health insurance. According to the non-partisan Government Accountability Office, 2 million Americans will go from private to state insurance - not all of them "children" as conventionally understood. The rules in 14 states allow children as old as 25 to enroll in S-CHIP. That kind of thing could give "bracket creep" a bad name

Gray Skies

2008-10-05T00:55:00.001-07:00

In 1995 when the FAA placed commuter airlines under the same rules as major ones, it allowed about 200 pilots over age 60 to keep flying. The result of this little experiment? "There were no medical events, no safety events, nothing to show the group couldn't fly about age 60," said FAA Administrator Marion Blakey. But "there's a heck of a lot of experience behind those captain stripes, and we shouldn't have to lose it as early as we do."

An obvious reason for keeping the old rule is that it's popular with younger pilots, whose career ascent can be stalled by colleagues, withe greater seniority. That helps explain why pilot unions oppose a change. The proposal to raise the mandatory retirement age to 65 could also complicate management of major airlines, because older pilots generally get higher pay. But while those considerations are important for union and management policy, they shouldn't govern public policy. Neither factor is justification for keeping an anachronistic rule that junks valuable skills and hinders flexibility in airline operations. Changes in nutrition, medicine and social customs have reshaped our perception of when old age begins and what it means.

"Free" Speech

2008-10-03T23:51:00.000-07:00

The great folly of campaign finance reform is the ill -conceived belief government can control the flow of money into elections without also substantially dictating winners and losers. Rather than purging politics of big money, these laws have muted the voice of democracy and threatened its very foundation.

The truth is that Free Speech is not free. Without money, candidates are speechless. During the 2008 presidential primary process we certainly have seen otherwise well-qualified candidates drop out for lack of money. In fact, because of the severe contribution restrictions, many contenders have never even tried.

Theoretically, presidential primaries are national debates about important public policy issues. But it takes money to participate. By elevating both personal wealth and mass fundraising prowess as the most important credentials in the presidential nomination process, the anomalies of campaign finance reform narrowed the field and silenced many contenders.

Shake, Rattle and Roll

2008-10-03T19:29:00.000-07:00

Two years ago the future of tiny technology company Immersion Corp. in San Jose, California looke murky. Chief Victor Viegas had sued both Microsoft and Sony, alleging the tech titans had infringed on Immersion's patents for "force-feedback" technology, which made the Xbox and PlayStation 2 game controllers rattle and shake in the hands for an extra dose of realism. Microsoft had settled for a one time $20 million license fee and another $6 million in preferred stock, but SOny was holding out. The air has finally cleared for Immersion. In March Sony agreed to poay $97.2 million in damages and another $22.5 million in ongoing licensing fees. Stock in Immersion, which also uses technology in surgical simulators and other eltronic interfaces, is up 18% on the news.

Attention Getting

2008-10-02T22:43:00.000-07:00

A year ago New River Pharmaceuticals thought it had something special with its first drug, a stimulant designed to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. It wasn't wrong. In February Shire Plc. agreed to buy New River for $2.6 billion. Three days later New River's drug Vyvanse won Food & Drug Administration approval. The sale is a rich payback for New River's founder, Randal Kirk, who started the company with $20 million of his own money and owned half of New River shares. One disappointment for Shire: The FDA has made a preliminary recommendation that the drug be labeled in the same category as other potentially addictive amphetamine-based drugs, which could hurt sales.

Best in Stowe

2008-10-02T21:00:00.000-07:00

- With Spruce Peak at Stowe, Vermont's classic all-season getaway gets a $400-million tune-up -

Surprising fact: Stowe's busiest tourist season is the summer. Credit prime hiking, biking, fly-fishing and golf. Credit also Vermonters' well known antipathy to growth, which has preserved the quaintness of this mountain town, its tidy B&Bs and inns, and its relatively few, modestly scaled resorts.

Starting this summer, however, Stowe will become a little less modest. As part of the ongoing $400-million Spruce Peak at Stowe development by Stowe Mountain Resort owner AIG, an 18-hole "wilderness" golf course opens in June. It will join a new string of slopeside mountain cabins, a condo-hotel, a pedestrian mall, performing arts center, spa and skating rink, all the base of Stowe's Spruce Peak.

Here's another surprise: The locals are pretty much on board. On a recent visit, when I asked one craggy Stowe old-timer about Stowe Mountain Lodge, the centerpiece 139-room luxury condo-hotel, he shrugged. He said he wished the mountain could remain unchanged but he was realistic. AIG had put $40 million of their total investment into new snowmaking equipment, lifts and other slope improvements. The company needed to get something back. "So I'm okay with it," he said.

Considering the source, that's a ringing endorsement. It's also hard-won. AIG spent five years convincing 33 local and environmental groups -everyone from the Vermont Natural Resources Council to the Mr. Mansfield Ski Club- to approve its vision for Stowe. In a make-or-break business climate for Norhteast skiing (several ailing Vermont ski areas, including Killington, recently went on the block), AIG's strategy is to up the ante: Grow to compete with the bigger resorts in the West, bud do it in a relatively restrained and environmentally friendly way.

For wintertime visitors, all the growth has already resulted in easier access from Mt. Mansfield and its famous Front Four double diamond slopes to the gentler (though plenty interesting) runs on Spruce Peak. Skiers used to have to take a shuttle bus between the two; today, a new $4-million transfer lifts whisks them across in 90 seconds. Soon they'll also have the benefit of Stowe Mountain Lodge's hotel rooms, the first ski-in, ski-out guest quarters on the mountain, and its 21,000-square-foot spa, designed to hold its own against popular competitor at nearby Topnotch Resort. (In response Topnotch is planning a $70-million renovation and addition over the next two years.)

But the real boon here is the property buyers who want to come to Stowe year-round. Low to nonexistent development in this closely regulated area has created, according to Neal Rubin of Lowe Destination Development, "a pent-up desire to buy at Stowe." Since Lowe (contracted by AIG) started selling in 2004, the mountain cabins and empty homesites at Spruce Peak have moved quickly. A handful of cabins remain in the $2.4- to $3-million range. In the Lodge, a dozen whole-ownership studio and three-bedroom condominiums are still up for grabs. The widest availability now may be found in the fractional Fron Four Residences club on the top floor of the Lodge. Buying a one-eighth interest in a two-, three- or four-bedroom condo (price $349,000 to $449,000 per share) entitles you to four weeks a year (two in summer, two in winter), a dedicated concierge with ski valet services and access to the Bob Cupp -designed golf course.

That new course brings the number of golfing venue in the town of Stowe to two (the other is at Stowe Country Club). Built to Audubon International guidelines, it is surrounded by 2,000 acres of conservation land, protected habitat for black bear, moose and deer. Native grasses have been used in the landscaping, and a 110-million-gallon pond gathers storm water runoff for snow making and irrigating. In a very Vermont touch, no homes or condos will ever be built along its greens and fairways.

Here's evidence that Spruce Peak development at Stpwe has struck a happy balance: AIG promises to put all proceeds from real estate sales back into mountain improvements. According to Rubin, the pledge has convinced Vermonters and New Englanders with a longstanding affection for this mountain to buy. They know better than anyone that Stowe is one of the state's treasures, and they'd like to keep it that way. "As buyers they're contributing to the sustainability of the mountain itself," says Rubin, a sentiment that might make even the craggiest local smile.

Sex, Pranks and Reality

2008-09-26T12:06:00.000-07:00

- Second Life's virtual Web world can be a weird chancy place for real-life brands -

In April a helicopter crashed into a Nissan building, starting a fire that left a couple of dead bodies. The explosion took place on Altima Island in Second Life, a Web fantasy world where users create customized, cartoon like characters called avatars. The crash, whether an accident or an intentional prank, wasn't exactly an image-enhancing moment for a car maker. Nissan's online reps cleaned up the virtual mess, coffins and all.

Marketers have flocked to Second Life since it went live in 2003. Coca-Cola, H&R Block, IBM and Toyota are among 80 companies that have set up virtual presence there to capture eyeballs-Second Life boasts a population of 7.1 million registered users-and experiment with online branding. It's cheap: Linden Lab, the site's creator, charges $1,675 plus $295 a month to occupy an island. Visitors pay nothing.

But this leasehold doesn't fence out troublemakers. It turns out that avatars seem more interested in having sex and hatching pranks than spending time warming up to real-world brands. "There is nothing to do in Second Life except, pardon my bluntness, try to get laid," blogged David Churbuck, Web-marketing vice president for computer maker Lenovo.

Earlier this year an S&M sex parlor, opened by a naughty Second Life visitor, carried the NBC Universal name. Around the same time political bloggers caught "Bush '08" -tag- wearing vandals defacing former senator John Edwards' Second Life headquarters with excrement and covering his photo in blackface.

And there is still a twittering among online gawkers about the flying penises that interrupted a virtual interview between ad CNET reporter and Anshe Chung, the Second Life name for Ailin Graef, who buys and sells Second Life real estate on the site. Such antics are called "griefing" in Second Life parlance.

"If brands go into a space like this they have to go in with their eyes open about the hazards they might have to deal with," says Gregory Verdino, vice president of emerging channels at Digitas, an online agency.

Some marketers are disappointed that there aren't as many people cruising the site as they'd expected. The number of residents who logged in over a recent seven-day period is 360,000. At any given time it's more like 30,000. Starwood Hotels & Resorts considered hotel-design feedback from Second Lifers when it launched the virtual prototype of its Aloft chain last fall. (It's adding radios to guest-room showers at Second Lifers' suggestions.) Now focused on getting Aloft launched in the real world, Starwood plans to hand over its Second life real estate to another user. "We need a compelling reason for people to stop by-that's hard to keep coming up with," says Brian McGuinness, an Aloft vice president.

American Apparel, the first retailer to set up a virtual store on the site, in June 2006, is all but shuttering its Second Life shop, which attracted more critics than shoppers.
Not long after it opened, a group called the Second Life Liberation Army-its members are grumpy about commercialization on Second Life, among other things-shot American Apparel customers with virtual guns. Rasmus Shionning, Web director for the company says the retailer is disappointed by "insignificant" sales from the site.

The anything-goes nature of Second Life makes it unique, says Catherine Smith, Linden Lab's marketing director. "If you're worried about relinquishing a little control, then Second Life's probably not for you," she says. Indeed, mayhem like a helicopter crash doesn't scare Nissan. "This is a virtual world-it's the people who control what happens in it," shrugs Stephen Kerho, its North America director for interactive media.

Wells Fargo stopped using Linden Lab's clunky technology to run the financial company's virtual Stagecoach Island (from its own Web site) four months after setting it up in September 2005. It no longer has any connection with Second Life. Laughs Erik Hauser, creative director of Swivel Media, Wells Fargo's digital agency: "Going into Second Life now is the equivalent of running a field marketing program in Iraq."

Playing With Matches

2008-09-25T19:44:00.000-07:00

- The Bush Administration is hoping to fight the fires of protectionism by lighting a few fires of its own -

The Commerce Department has slapped tariffs on high quality paper from China because the stuff is allegedly subsidized by the Chinese government. The basis for these duties is dubious. The U.S. has traditionally refrained from imposing duties on supposedly subsidized imports from non market economies because it's so difficult to break out what the actual subsidies are for each company and industry.

While the Commerce Department's reasoning may be shaky, the impetus behind this moves is crystal clear: The Bush Administration hopes to appease congressional protectionists, thereby helping to win approval for free-trade agreements (FTAs) with Colombia, Peru, Panama and South Korea. The White House also hopes to renew the President's fast-track trade negotiating authority, which expires this summer. Under that authority any trade agreement the U.S. negotiates must be voted up or down without amendments by Congress. If this authority is not renewed, the current Doha round, which is already in trouble, will grind to a halt. No nation will make concessions if it knows the U.S. Congress is able to pass amendments that may undo U.S. concessions. This also explains why the White House is initiating actions against China with the World Trade Organization, charging that Beijing has been insufficiently protecting intellectual property rights, as well as committing other trade violations.

Regardless of China's howls, it knew we were going to make these moves on the trade front. And our initiatives may give Beijing the necessary political cover to continue its current-and unpublicized-course of curbing abuses.

Alas, given President Bush's current unpopularity, American protectionists, like sharks scenting blood, will take the Commerce Department move as a signal to demand more. Numerous industries and companies impacted by Chinese imports will demand relief with "countervailing duties" on products from China. The South Korea FTA, for instance, is already attracting opposition, even though it's a fantastic deal for U.S. exporters. Senator Max Baucus (D-Mont.) whines that the agreement doesn't go far enough in allowing U.S. beef imports into South Korea.

And the WTO moves won't appease protectionists one iota.

Thankfully, key Republican presidential candidates are firm free-traders. And, despite all the noise and very real angst over ability to compete in this fast-changing world, so are most Americans.

The Little Airline That Could

2008-09-25T19:14:00.000-07:00

Poor Pan Am. The iconic American airline collapsed in 1991 under the pressures of deregulation and high oil prices, resurfacing a few years later only to fail again. And now? It's sort of a Thomas the Tank Engine.

The brand once an American emblem to legions of foreign travelers, was called Guilford Transportation, owned mostly by aviation enthusiast Timothy Mellon. The company started a largely on-demand new airline, again called Pan Am, that flies from airports on the fringes of big cities, like those in New Haven, Conn. and Trenton, N.J. But most recently Guildford has repainted 260 boxcars, which haul paper and chemicals, with Pan Am's familiar blue-and-white logo. The company's new name: Pan Am Systems.

Robert Culliford, the company's senior vice president, insists the brand, bankruptcies and all, still resonates, reminding shippers that the railroad can send their freight anywhere in the country. Customers "love the logo and the way it looks on the boxcars," he says. ("This is like slapping 'Pan Am' on your kid's toy wagon," harrumphs Gary Singer, chief strategy officer at branding consultancy Interbrand.)

Guilford is so pleased with the brand's appeal that by this fall it's rolling out a new line of flight bags and apparel emblazoned with the Pan Am logo. Among the items are reproductions of the classic Pan Am flight bag that John F. Kennedy carried when he traveled overseas. The brand's mystique got a kick in 2002 when the film Catch Me If You Can showed a svelte Leonardo DiCaprio posing as a Pan Am pilot, surrounded by beautiful women.

Trains and baggage may be just the beginning of the brand's resurrection. Roland Moore, an aviation attorney in Miami, has put a group of folks together to explore licensing the name for a new airline operating internationally. He's optimistic that Pan Am's name recognition overseas remains bankable.
"You could fly a Pan Am airplane into Frankfurt Airport, and people would say, 'Oh my God, Pan Am is back!' It would be like the glory days all over again," he says. I think I can, I think I can...

Peer-to-peer lending prospers in a bad economy

2008-09-15T16:17:00.000-07:00

The current credit crisis has meant that many deserving consumers, who once qualified for home equity or personal loans, are being turned away by banks or offered loans that cost too much. On the other hand, the effort to fix the credit crunch is leaving many savers with miserly interest rates. Put these two groups of unhappy people together and they just might do business.

P2P, an abbreviation of peer-to-peer or person-to-person online lending, has been around since 2005, but it's getting a boost from the current economic environment. There are three main P2P companies in the U.S.: Prosper, Zopa and Lending Club. (The latter is partially sitting on the sidelines as it deals with regulatory issues.) Combined, these outfits expect to originate $100 million in loans this year as an increasing number of people circumvent banks and take this alternate route to get an unsecured loan financed or to earn better yields on cash.

"Home equity used to be the cash management tool for the credit-worthy borrower, and that has really, really dried up," says Chris Larsen, CEO at Prosper. "In many ways, Prosper's three-year, $25,000 loan is a pretty good proxy for what people were using home equity for -- improving their home, starting a sole proprietorship, college costs and certainly for replacing credit card debt.

"On the return side, people that are getting 3 percent if they're lucky (can find) it's pretty easy to get returns that might range from 5 percent to 11 percent (on Prosper)."

Mark Schwanhausser, a financial services analyst at Javelin Strategy & Research, says their study shows that credit card debt is the main reason people want to engage in P2P lending. "We're forecasting that P2P lending specifically for credit card balances will grow from $38 billion in 2007 to $159 billion by 2012."

Douglas Dolton, CEO at Zopa, says they expect to also see growth in student loans. "The most popular loans are home improvement and debt consolidation -- the elimination of credit card debt. But education loans, I think, will be very large this summer as the rest of the student loan business sort of falls on itself. Car loans in the U.K. are very popular and we've seen a fair number of them in the U.S." Another company called Fynanz just launched and specifically focuses its peer-to-peer business on financing student loans. They are structured a bit different than other peer-to-peer companies in that they guarantee a percentage of the loan value in case the borrower defaults.

Growth of P2P

In 2005 Prosper (www.prosper.com), which considers itself an eBay-style marketplace, was the only option for U.S. consumers to do peer-to-peer lending. CircleLending, now called Virgin Money US, existed, but it was set up to manage loans between family and friends. Zopa, a U.K. outfit, hadn't yet launched its stateside operation.

Today, Zopa is available in the U.S.; Fynanz is available as a student loan marketplace, and Loanio says it's coming soon. In Canada, CommunityLend is available in beta launch, and IOU Central is partially shut down due to regulatory matters. But, as mentioned, the big three in America are Prosper, Zopa and Lending Club, the latter of which is not accepting new lender registrations or allowing current lenders to loan additional money. Lending Club's Web site says it's because the firm is registering with securities authorities to offer promissory notes.

Tackling the regulatory issues

Regulatory issues have been proven to be a complex landscape for P2P companies to navigate. Zopa's U.S. debut was delayed considerably as the company hashed out through regulatory issues.

"Making a loan requires pretty much a bank license," Dolton says. "You've seen both Prosper and Lending Club change their models because of that issue; they both now use Web Bank to make loans. But then on the other side, you have lenders investing. Our read on the U.S. regulatory situation was that it was a security. We couldn't see any way around it. You needed to be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and all of the issues that brings on."

Zopa solved the issue by teaming up with a half-dozen credit unions. Borrowers and lenders become a member of one of the partner credit unions. Zopa services the loans to the borrowers and the payments to the lenders. Lenders purchase what's called a Zopa CD, which insures their deposit but limits the interest they can earn to, currently, 3.75 percent. At Prosper and Lending Club, lenders' money is at risk of default and so they're able to earn much higher rates.

Increasing Demand

Despite regulatory issues and whatever other risks may exist, industry analysts say they expect P2P companies to experience strong growth in the near future.

"In April 2007, a half-million people visited Prosper's Web site; in April 2008 it was close to 800,000," says Michael Perlman, director of financial services at Compete Inc. "I don't think these numbers will go down. Over time, these P2P lenders will gain in volume as the trust around the whole model of lending to strangers gains more credibility. The younger generation is very comfortable with interacting their entire life online and communicating with strangers. As they grow up, there's an opportunity for this to enter into their financial lives as well."

Lending Club's CEO, Renaud Laplanche, says the industry is becoming much more mainstream. "We've been growing 100 percent month-to-month for the last six months. If we continue at this growth rate, if Prosper continues to do well, and if Zopa really emerges, that would give birth to a really credible industry this year. When you look at $100 million, it may look tiny, but it's more than PayPal moved in the first year."

Prospective borrowers and lenders would do well to thoroughly research P2P companies before jumping at the chance for a lower rate on a loan or a higher return on an investment. Most companies keep current data on defaults and other important statistics. Most also provide detailed Q&A sections and step-by-step instructions of how borrowing and lending work.

New Industry

P2P lending is a fairly new industry that continues to grow at extraordinary pace. If you are interested in finding out more about P2P industry visit each respective website and read up about their companies.

Thanks you for reading and happy borrowing/lending.

**Disclaimer - some excerpts in this post have been borrowed from articles at bankrate.com website.

Building strength and muscle the right way

2008-08-01T20:15:00.000-07:00

We constantly hear on the news about another professional athlete or bodybuilder using steroids. For athletes and health fanatics it seems that they are willing to do whatever is necessary in order to achieve quick results in order to build strength and muscle, often times ignoring the real risks in using illegal substances.

I myself am a very health conscious guy and have been working out for a plethora of years now. I began to workout regularly when I first went to college and during all this time I have tried numerous supplements to help myself excel physically and build a better body. It is important to note that I have never used any illegal substances and always stayed away as far as possible because the risks are just to great for me and I would rather prefer to build my body through lots of hard work in a natural way.

According to studies and research, using anabolic steroids merely inflates your muscles and does not provide permanent results, still want to take all the risks? The most harmful side effects of steroids are diabetes, aggression, rage, uncontrollable mood swings and variety of other changes not natural in a human body.

The risks are great so it only makes sense to stay away from using steroids, but by all means go ahead and use natural supplements to help you progress with your health goals faster. One such supplement that I can personally recommend for any bodybuilders and/or professional athletes is Endothil CR. Endothil CR is a 100% natural supplement created several years ago by Dr. David Summers. This supplement helps builders and athletes to build muscle mass and sustain optimal strength.

When interviewed about his product Endothil CR, Dr. Summers stated "I have spent the last two years on my newest formulation and next generation natural fitness supplement for both men and women called Stemulite. It is a stronger formulation than Endothil and now has seven key all-natural ingredients of very effective and targeted natural proteins, enzymes and amino acids, including a stem cell agonist and a trace mineral called indium."

Stemulite, the core muscle building ingredient, is a natural dietary adult stem cell agonist. When working out and pushing our bodies, our muscles and ligaments become torn, creating the soreness from exercise. Stemulite works by quickly recruiting the sleeping adult stem cells in our bodies and starts building new muscle. Keep in mind that this is completely new muscle, not the temporary enlarged effect that anabolic steroids create.

I have used Stemulite for a couple of months now and can honestly say that its one of the best muscle building supplements out there. While using Stemulite I have experienced consistent and congruent results, including:

- Dramatic increase in strength and improved endurance
- More repetitions during workouts
- Greater muscle definition
- Higher sustained energy and more consistent energy throughout the day
- Finally, improved rest and sleep

Stemulite definitely works and helps when you are serious about being healthy and creating a better body. The following website www.PoweredByStemulite.com has more information about this product and its benefits.

Economy in Serious Trouble

2008-08-01T19:47:00.000-07:00

Over the past two years the health of the economy has become a top concern for the public and by extension politicians including candidates vying for the White House. The second quarter economic results that came out a couple of days ago weren't as robust as economists had hoped for. They were forecasting that the economy will increase by 2.4%, instead it came in at 1.9%. This economic pickup, while welcome, is not a significant indicator that the fragile economy is becoming healthier. Many people fear that when the impact of the tax rebates fade, the economy could enter a serious recession, perhaps even a depression.

In the last three months of 2007 the GDP contracted by 0.2%, on an annualized basis, according to the reports released by the government. This contraction reflects the deepest cuts in 26 years from house builders, which have been deeply effected by the continuous housing slump as well as cautious spending by consumers.

The current state of economy is comparable to the economy of 2001, when it was last in recession. Although no one is willing to admit that we might already be in recession, I think its safe to say that we are and a pretty serious one at that.

The inflation is getting to be really high and its affecting everyone in the United States. Given mounting inflation fears, the Fed in June halted a nearly yearlong campaign of rate cuts to shore up the economy. The Fed is expected to hold rates steady again next week. Boosting them too soon to fend off inflation could hurt the economy and the already crippled housing market.

There are three major sectors that have badly damaged the current economy: housing, credit and financial. In response to the poor economy employers cut jobs for six months in a row, bringing total job losses this year to almost half a million, 5.7% of the population, the highest unemployment rate in 40 years.

The wages have only increased modestly at 0.7% due to a faltering labor market. According to the labor department this wage increase is the lowest in almost two years and is not in pace with the inflation, which keeps climbing higher and higher. If there are more job cuts in July in coming months consumers will sharply reduce their spending and will definitely send this economy into a deep recession if not a depression.

What is coming? Only a regularly scheduled recession or another great depression?

With the slumping housing market, numerous lay offs across all job sectors, banks going under, stock market plunging more and more day by day, low consumer spending and confidence you be the judge of how our economy is currently doing.

Freebie Force - Get Everything for Free

2008-07-21T19:55:00.000-07:00

I would like to take some time here and post a review about an amazing company called Freebie Force . Freebie Force provides its members with an informative list of places where they can get FREE products. Once someone becomes a member they will have access to hundreds of sources of FREE products. 95% of these products are 100% FREE and do not require you to sign up for anything, just fill in your shipping address and you will get your product in a couple of weeks. The Freebie Force website is updated every single day to constantly supply its members with new FREE product offers.

Here is the complete list of all the categories in which you can get FREE products:

- Travel
- Electronics
- Food and Drink
- Health and Beauty
- Jewelry
- Clothing and Fashion
- Free Money
- Entertainment
- Software
- Miscellaneous

95% of products in these categories are 100% free, all you need to do is provide shipping information. The other 5% are either mail in rebates (you pay for the product upfront and then get all your money back via a rebate, usually applies to electronics), requires you to pay a couple of dollars for shipping and handling or requires you to sign up for some kind of free or paid service.

The membership service of Freebie Force costs just $9.95/month and is well worth this small price. The Freebie Force team works very hard to bring the best FREE offers to its members and keep the website up to date.

I have been a member of Freebie Force for a few months now and usually only get the 100% free products. So far I've got a FREE DVD player, numerous T-Shirts, colognes and deodorants (at least $100.00 worth), nutritional supplements (I love to work out and these can get quiet expensive), bluetooth headset, computer microphone headset, movie DVDs, digital camera (although not a very good one), numerous household cleaning products, 1 free airline ticket, web camera, and numerous face care products. Overall I've received well over $800.00 worth of products in the couple of months I have been a member so far. By receiving so many FREE products I've easily covered the cost of my membership for the next few years. I can even cancel my membership and keep all the products.

So if you want to start receiving all kinds of FREE products visit and join Freebie Force now. To join please click here.

Fynanz to tackle peer to peer student loan niche

2008-07-11T20:17:00.000-07:00

Chirag Chaman left his position as CEO of KobeMail a year ago to build Fynanz, a peer to peer lending site for student loans. Fynanz describes their service as "an innovative marketplace where students can get one of the most competitive rates on private student loans. Students apply for a loan and it is funded by individual lenders – friends, family, alumni and others who believe what we believe – Education is the Best Investment!" Chaman took some time out of their aggressive schedule to talk to PLR about the service they will be launching soon.

What is your background and what inspired Fynanz?

I graduated with a double major in Mathematics and Computer Science, but was always drawn towards business and finance. I started off my career as a software engineer working for Oracle in the Bay Area, and it did not take long to realize that I would be happier on Wall Street. I moved to New York and worked for Salomon Smith Barney/Citigroup in their Investment Banking Division focusing on financial institutions. These institutions were in the business of making student loans, and my job was to securitize these loans (sell bonds to investors against them). The institutions we worked with were primarily making loans under the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP). Private or alternative student loans were not very common back then. Business was always good for our group regardless of how Wall Street did. After all, nearly every student took out loans and education was only getting more and more expensive each year. Coming from a technology background, I was a little bothered by the lack of technological and procedural advancements over the years in this industry. Frankly, I don't blame the financial institutions, the schools, the federal/state agencies, or anyone else, as I believe they all have the best interest of the student at heart. There are a lot of moving parts to the Federal loan program which made this process hard to change. What did bother me a lot was when private loans became more and more prominent, there was little done to improve the process. The institutions simply rolled out the new private loan train on the "old FFELP tracks". And why not, it made it virtually free to get the process started. It might have made good business sense at that time, but it did not bring in savings to the students and today when Private loans are more and more in demand, this lack of initial investment to improve the process means students are not getting the best deal. No! I did not do anything about it back then. I caught the Internet bug in Web 1.0 days and started a venture backed company. It was not until 2006 when I saw an article about Zopa, did I start to connect the dots. So here I am, 10 years later back in the Student Loan industry.

Where did you get the name for Fynanz?

We initially called this "Project BlueNote" and starting asking students in college and recent grads who they have their student loans from. Would you believe it if I told you less than 20% actually knew who their lender was? When we asked them what razor they use or who makes their cell phone, over 90% knew the answer. We realized there was a big branding opportunity, but for it to work, we had to come up with a name that students would relate to. Hence we went back to them with a few ideas. Amongst us In the office and a few parents liked conservative names with "Education" , "Academic" or "Lending" in the name as it portrayed experience & trust, but it was nixed by students (our primary target). I can clearly remember a guy from Hunter college telling me with a look on his face as if I was an idiot - "Do you really think I'll put THAT name on my facebook?" One day a friend, who was a recent grad herself and was helping us with student surveys sent me a text referring to the company as "fynanz idea". Soon a couple more used it and it stuck! (Apparently, thumb-typing Fynanz is easier than Finance as the keys are closer)

How long have you been working on the project?

Initially we thought it would take us 6-8 months. We soon realized that putting "new train tracks" in place is not an easy task. It took us about 8 months to plan the process and understand the legalities. In late 2006 we stared the planning phase -- so just over a year.

Tell us about the team. How did you bring everyone together? And who is responsible for those cool drawings on the site?

Okay, this is by far the most important aspect about any company. Fynanz will be my third venture and looking back I can say the times it worked and the times it did not, had little to do with the idea and more to do with the people who executed the idea. I am fortunate to have a team that has known each other a few years and work extremely well together. Everyone checks their egos at the door on the way in and goes about their business. In a startup you're working 12-14 hours a day very closely with people and it not always easy. I cannot stress how important team spirit is -- A team comprised of 5 average people will out-execute 10 very bright individuals every time! Drawings may not be all original, but modified to suit our needs. The graphic design was done by the fine folks at Design'N Print.

You encourage students to exhaust all federal loan options before using your service? Do you think that will hurt business?

It depends on what our business is and what we believe in. We're in the business of making sure students get a competitive student loan and we believe that Education is the best investment! If students can't afford to go to school, they are not making this investment in themselves. So, while it may see that sending students towards Federal loans is bad for our business, it's actually good for our business over the long term. See it this way:- Federal loans reduce the overall burden for the student as their combined (Private and Federal loan) interest expense will be a lower. More students can afford to go to school and get jobs...jobs help borrowers to pay off their loans, reducing the default rate on student loans...thereby making these loans a good investment for lenders as well. More lenders means competition and a lower interest rate for the student. Similarly, Fynanz will advocate only taking out what you need right now and will be putting checks and balances in place to ensure that a student is not over-extending. Part of the reason we are in the current credit crisis is because a few mortgage lenders made it easier for borrowers to over-extend. Might have been a good short-term strategy which hurt them (and a whole lot of others) in the end.

How will Fynanz be different than Prosper, LendingClub and other P2P lending sites?

Do we need to be different? I see us all as retail stores, with a slight difference in what we have on our shelves. Our focus is just student loans -- which is a very different loan product. Our borrowers are students looking to pay their education expenses. If they wanted money to pay-off their credit card or to take a spring-break trip, we just might send them Prosper's way. However, the big difference lies in the lenders of our community. We expect the goal of our lenders not to get the maximum interest from a loan, but balance an attractive return with the satisfaction of knowing that they are building a student's future.

What have been your biggest challenges as you prepare to launch a new company?

In a startup, I don't think there is a biggest challenge. Most things will end up being a challenge and once it gets resolved you realize "Wow, that was simple to work through", and you're on to your next biggest challenge. It's only a challenge until you learn or come up with a creative way to overcome it, and 99% of the time you do. So I guess the biggest challenge has more to do with your mindset and attitude, and less to do with aptitude. That said, I think the real challenges are those that are outside your control, even if it's the simplest thing and you know the process. My biggest challenge right now is finding great Ruby on Rails engineers to join the team.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Did I mention we're looking for Rails engineers? Oh, and a couple of business development and operations folks with student loan experience.

To find out more visit Fynanz Website here.

Tips on getting many referrals for Yuwie or any other MLM program.

2008-06-20T11:29:00.000-07:00

Lately many people have been asking me how I am able to generate so many referrals in so little time. There really is no secret formula for getting many referrals, just plain old advertising methods that anyone can do (no spamming of course). Before I give you all the tips that you can use to advertise Yuwie effectively let me mention that I am a very seasoned internet marketer and have been promoting numerous MLM and affiliate programs such as GDI (Global Domains International), Direct Matches, Google AdWords and Commission Junction just to name a few. I have been able to refer thousands upon thousands of people into all of these programs and let me mention that these programs are not FREE, there is usually a cost associated with most of them. I also run a couple of successful online businesses (eBook stores) and have thousands of subscribers to my newsletters which makes it very easy for me to promote any new program through the newsletters without spamming. So now that you know a little bit about my experiences lets get on with some great tips on building large Yuwie downlines.

1. Google and Yahoo AdWords - This is by far the most effective way to get referrals for any program, especially Yuwie because its FREE. There are tens of millions of searches that are done through Google and Yahoo everyday and chances are a lot of those searches are for new social networking sites such as Yuwie. Before you say anything, I know that it costs money to advertise this way, but what doesn't these days. If you have a budget of just $50 you can probably get a handful of good referrals using Google and Yahoo AdWords. As your Yuwie income picks up you can increase your budget and get more referrals.

2. Blog - Set up a FREE blog at blogger.com or word press and write about different things every few days. Write about your hobbies, about life, about people, anything you want, just make it meaningful, insightful and useful so people will come and read. Post your Yuwie referral links and banners throughout the blog, write a comprehensive review of Yuwie and invite people to join. Also join Google AdSense and post a few ads so you can collect additional revenue once people begin to visit your blog. You can even join a Pay Per Post site, review different products in your blog and get paid for each post. Not only will you have meaningful and informative posts for your readers, you will also make money from writing your posts. Some people make thousands just writing these posts to their blogs. Setting up your FREE blog is an excellent way to generate a steady stream of new Yuwie referrals as well as get paid a little bit of money on the side. Look at one my blogs that I recently created to get a sense of what type of blog you can create for yourself.

3. eMail Signature - Include your Yuwie referral link as a signature at the bottom of every eMail you send out. Think of how many eMails you send out and how many people read them. You can include a signature such as this one "I socialize online, its fun and I even get paid for it, click here (your personal referral link) to join me". This will generate a few interested people. People that are attentive will usually read all the way to the bottom of your eMail and if this is the case they are most likely will be active Yuwie users and also will get many referrals for you.

4. Forums - Join some forums and be very active on them. Whenever you write a post leave a signature with your Yuwie referral link. People will become curious and click on the link potentially becoming your referrals.

5. Business Cards - Business cards are very cheap to make or even FREE in some cases, I believe Vista Print gives you some FREE business cards, but I am not 100% sure because I get premium high quality cards from Staples and they are pretty costly (I make a great income online so its well worth it to me). On one side of the card say Yuwie - it pays to socialize. Join FREE and on the other include your personal referral link. Pass these cards whenever you go and to whoever you meet. Also include one card in every piece of mail you send out be it bills, thank you letters or even any packages that you might send. Think about it, someone, somewhere is opening and looking through that bill statement and low and behold they find a Yuwie card. What do you think the chances are that they will join? Well I can tell you from personal experience its about 70% and you know why? Because its FREE and people always like things that are FREE. Create a trackable referral link and see just how exactly effective this marketing campaign is.

6. Bumper Sticker - Order a bumper sticker and place it on your car. How many hours do you spend driving everyday and how many people see your car. Make sure that the link that you create is easy to remember otherwise people are not going to come.

7. Traffic Exchanges - Join various traffic exchange sites if you have time on your hands. There are many traffic exchange sites that you can join and drive traffic to your Yuwie page for FREE.

8. Paid Traffic - Find a reputable company that focuses on driving traffic to your site and pay for traffic (if you need recommendations on good companies ask me). When I first began running my businesses I got very few people visiting my site, so I invested some money into buying traffic and that boosted my sales. Whatever money I spent was well worth it because it paid off ten fold in the long run.

9. Link Bid Directories - Submit your Yuwie link to bid link directories. Basically you pay a dollar or so to have your website included in the directories. This is a great way to have your link be seen by many people.

10. Paid Ads - Take out a small, cheap add in your local paper (or if your budget allows a huge, expensive add in national newspaper) and write the following Do you YUWIE? Join us, socialize, make friends GET PAID!!! Your referral link - everyone is welcomed.

11. Create Your Own Site - This is a huge way to generate numerous and continuous referrals. Get your own website hosted online. You can get a cheap website hosting package for just $4 per month (see below for web hosting recommendation). It will most likely come with website building tools so you don't need to know HTML or all the fancy JAVA and PHP languages. Make the website about easy ways to make money and mention that Yuwie is an honest company that really pays its users, include check images if possible. You can make the site about anything you like just remember to include Yuwie links and banners in a few visible places. Get traffic to your site by putting it on a few traffic exchanges or linkreferral.com where you can get quality traffic in less time. Put a few Google AdSense ads on your site to generate extra income from visitors. On your own website suggest to your visitors that you can meet them on Yuwie to get more help. This way you will have interested referrals which most likely will become active once they join you.

Web hosting recommendation

You can get a comprehensive web hosting package for just $10 a month that includes a site builder with many site building tools as well as extensive marketing tools you can use to advertise your site and drive traffic. To sign up for this package follow this link. Besides having a web hosting package with this site you can also make an extra income on the side, click for details.

12. House Banner - This might not be for everyone, but can be really effective in most cases. If your house is located on a busy street and many people pass it everyday then consider making a large banner with your Yuwie referral link and hanging it up on the most visible side of the house. When I was starting my businesses and my sites weren't getting enough visitors and sales I hung up a huge banner on my house advertising my websites. My house stands on the corner of main street in my town so it is passed by many people throughout the day. If your house is not seen by many people then this might not be effective at all. However, in most cases this is a very effective marketing tool and will definitely bring you referrals. Just think about all those people going to and from work everyday, passing your house and seeing your banner over and over again, they will most definitely become curious in finding out what this Yuwie stuff is all about and will become referrals 90% of the time.

13. Flyers - You've probably heard that this is an old and outdated advertising technique and doesn't work. Well it is true that this is an old advertising technique and its true that it doesn't work. The reason that it doesn't work is because people use flyers to advertise programs and products that require money and as soon as people find out there is a cost involved they don't sign up or buy the product. Yuwie is free and I can guarantee you that passing out flyers will get you numerous referrals. Use your home printer to print a few thousand flyers. Put the print quality on low so you won't use much ink and write the following message: YUWIE - FREE to join, socialize, make friends, and even get paid. Its just like MySpace, but better. Join now its FREE (your referral link). Go to the busy shopping mall parking lot on the weekends and pass out all the flyers. Do this a few times and you will immediately see a surge in your referrals, I personally guarantee it.

14. Write an eBook - This is the best tip that I can give you in this blog post. Sit down and write an eBook about Yuwie describing all different aspects of the site, explaining how social networking works, how to get referrals, tips and tricks and other interesting information that will be captivating to the reader. Write your eBook in word document and use a free eBook compiler to package it together or even better just make it in Adobe PDF format to have more easy of accessibility and higher security. The power of having an eBook is just so incredible.
If you have a website publish your eBook on your site and sell it for a couple of dollars or even better give it away for FREE. Make sure that you provide your referral link everywhere throughout the eBook and also provide personal contact information such as your email so the readers can reach you for support. Mention in your eBook that its important to join under you because you will provide them with guidance, crucial support and all the help they can get all for FREE, but only if they are in your referral tree. Offer the eBook with full distribution rights and it will spread like wild fire over the internet. I can not stress this enough but the power of an eBook is so amazing and will bring you referrals for years to come.

On the side note guess what I am doing right now, I am writing a comprehensive 200 page eBook about Yuwie and will place it in my online library for everyone to download. I will most likely charge a few dollars for it, but only because I know I can generate sales and customers that buy from my site know that they always get quality and extremely useful information.

Final Tip - There is no secret marketing formula. What has worked 40 years ago still works today. Of course there are many new ways to advertise, but mostly advertising methods haven't changed much over the years. Don't listen to all the marketing gurus claiming that they can reveal the most advanced marketing system in the world, they simply don't have it and just want to make a few bucks off of you. If you take a marketing course in college they will teach you the very same methods presented here and I don't think they would be teaching you these methods if they weren't effective. After all you are paying thousands of dollars for that course and it is in their best interest to educated you as best as possible.

The marketing methods that I outlined here have been used by a plethora of successful companies throughout history. These methods have helped small, one person companies grow into international mega corporations and you know why? Because they work! They worked 50 years ago, 30 years ago, 10 years ago, last year, and they STILL WORK TODAY! These advertising techniques are proven to work and they will work for you if you use them. A lot of them are free and some require just a little bit of money, but it is well worth the investment in order to achieve tremendous results.

Also remember to create separate trackable links for each individual advertising method in order to see which works best. After some time eliminate those methods that don't work and leave the ones that do. This way you will create the most perfect marketing campaign for yourself.

Well this is a pretty comprehensive list of extremely useful tips that anyone can use with a very little advertising budget and get amazing results getting referrals in short periods of time. Thank you for reading and good luck to you all.

For more information about Yuwie and/or to join click here

Obama Wins The Democratic Nomination! (analysis)

2008-06-04T21:23:00.000-07:00

|
Well it looks like Barack Obama has clinched the democratic nomination and became the presidential nominee for the Democratic party. It has indeed been a long primary season for the Democrats. As you may already know I am very involved in politics and a very active member of the Republican party, so I try not to get myself too concerned what's going on with the Democrats. But what can I say, its been extremely fun to watch the Democrats fight for the nominee, while the Republican presidential nominee John McCain stood on the sidelines watching as well. I should say that the real winner in this primary election is John McCain. All this time while Hillary and Barack were fighting savagely for the nomination, John McCain had plenty of time to relax, travel, get acquainted with many Americans, let them see who he really is and what he stands for and convince them to help him win the election in November. He also had plenty of time to save up all the funds needed to battle the left Democratic machine in the general election.

I truly believe that Democrats have nominated a really flawed candidate. Barack Obama is associated with numerous left wing nuts, terrorists and people who are radically different from regular Americans. He is really inexperienced in all areas that are crucial to be a president of such a powerful country as the United States. Of course he has numerous speeches of bringing about change, but those are just words, he does not have the record to show for it. John McCain on the other hand is a way superior candidate with numerous years of experience and can lead this country into times of peace and prosperity by using all his knowledge and experience. He clearly has a proven track record of doing a plethora of great things for this country and bringing about real change. Come November this should be an easy battle for McCain to win, while for Obama it will be a mount everest to climb if he even stands the slightest chance of becoming the president of the United States.

So there you go this is my short analysis of the Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama and what I believe are his chances of winning in November. More discussion and analysis will be coming soon. Please comments and lets keep the discussion going as always.

Home Brew for the Car, Not the Beer Cup

2008-05-12T00:11:00.000-07:00

- Thought this was pretty interesting and decided to repost for the readers -

WHAT if you could make fuel for your car in your backyard for less than you pay at the pump? Would you?

The first question has driven Floyd S. Butterfield for more than two decades. Mr. Butterfield, 52, is something of a legend for people who make their own ethanol. In 1982, he won a California Department of Food and Agriculture contest for best design of an ethanol still, albeit one that he could not market profitably at the time.

Now he thinks that he can, thanks to his partnership with the Silicon Valley entrepreneur Thomas J. Quinn. The two have started the E-Fuel Corporation, which soon will announce its home ethanol system, the E-Fuel 100 MicroFueler. It will be about as large as a stackable washer-dryer, sell for $9,995 and ship before year-end.

The net cost to consumers could drop by half after government incentives for alternate fuels, like tax credits, are applied.

The MicroFueler will use sugar as its main fuel source, or feedstock, along with a specially packaged time-release yeast the company has developed. Depending on the cost of sugar, plus water and electricity, the company says it could cost as little as a dollar a gallon to make ethanol. In fact, Mr. Quinn sometimes collects left-over alcohol from bars and restaurants in Los Gatos, Calif., where he lives, and turns it into ethanol; the only cost is for the electricity used in processing.

In general, he says, burning a gallon of ethanol made by his system will produce one-eighth the carbon of the same amount of gasoline.

“It’s going to cause havoc in the market and cause great financial stress in the oil industry,” Mr. Quinn boasts.

He may well turn out to be right. But brewing ethanol in the backyard isn’t as easy as barbecuing hamburgers. Distilling large quantities of ethanol typically has required a lot of equipment, says Daniel M. Kammen, director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley. In addition, he says that quality control and efficiency of home brew usually pale compared with those of commercial refineries. “There’s a lot of hurdles you have to overcome. It’s entirely possible that they’ve done it, but skepticism is a virtue,” Mr. Kammen says.

To be sure, Mr. Quinn, 53, has been involved with successful innovations before. For instance, he patented the motion sensor technology used in Nintendo’s wildly popular Wii gaming system.

More to the point, he was the product marketing manager for Alan F. Shugart’s pioneering hard disk drive when the personal computer was shifting from a hobbyists’ niche to a major industry. “I remember people laughing at us and saying what a stupid idea it was to do that disk drive,” Mr. Quinn says.

Mr. Butterfield thinks that the MicroFueler is as much a game changer as the personal computer. He says that working with Mr. Quinn’s microelectronics experts — E-Fuel now employs 15 people — has led to breakthroughs that have cut the energy requirements of making ethanol in half. One such advance is a membrane distiller, which, Mr. Quinn says, uses extremely fine filters to separate water from alcohol at lower heat and in fewer steps than in conventional ethanol refining. Using sugar as a feedstock means that there is virtually no smell, and its water byproduct will be drinkable.

E-Fuel has bold plans: It intends to operate internationally from the start, with production of the MicroFueler in China and Britain as well as the United States. And Mr. Butterfield is already at work on a version for commercial use, as well as systems that will use feedstocks other than sugar.

Ethanol has long had home brewers, and permits are available through the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. (You must be a property owner and agree to make your ethanol outdoors.) But there are plenty of reasons to question whether personal fueling systems will become the fuel industry’s version of the personal computer.

For starters, sugar-based ethanol doesn’t look much cheaper than gas. It takes 10 to 14 pounds of sugar to make a gallon of ethanol, and raw sugar sells in the United States for about 20 cents a pound, says Michael E. Salassi, a professor in the department of agricultural economics at Louisiana State University. But Mr. Quinn says that as of January this year, under the North American Free Trade Agreement, he can buy inedible sugar from Mexico for as little as 2.5 cents a pound, which puts the math in his favor. While this type of sugar has not been sold to consumers, E-Fuel says it is developing a distribution network for it.

In addition, it’s illegal in the United States to operate a car on 100 percent ethanol, with exceptions for off-road vehicles like Indy cars and farm equipment. Mr. Quinn has a federal permit to make his own fuel, and believes that if MicroFuelers start popping up like swimming pools, regulators will adapt by certifying pure ethanol for cars.

Despite all the hurdles, Mr. Quinn and Mr. Butterfield may be on to something. There are plenty of consumers who want to reduce their carbon footprint and are willing to make an upfront investment to do it — consider the success of the Prius.

And if oil prices continue to rise, the economics of buying a MicroFueler will become only better and better.

Original article by Michael Fitzgerald.

Become a MOOLA Champion

2008-05-04T15:16:00.001-07:00

Ever thought of ways to win money online? Winning money online or winning any game in life for that matter often requires mental strength. In addition to mental strength you need a good strategy. If I said you can win money online for free, you wouldn’t believe me. To win money online you have to potentially loose your own money. Agree?

Wrong.

Have you ever heard of the game moola? It is an ingenious online game that took 5 years to develop. In brief, sponsors pay to be on the moola website, the website gives registered users a small amount of money. You then play against other users in really simple games like rock-paper-scissors. You absolutely have no risk to yourself or your own money. However, you have a potential to win different amounts of money, or even the jackpot.

If you are like me and often loose playing online poker etc, then you need to adjust how you think. I know it is my mental edge that looses me the games, my concentration and strategy.

Now back to the game of Moola, strategy is key. A team of professional Moola players have created a website called MOOLA Champion. They are not offering the usual promises of how to win money online, or millions of it. Moolachampion.com founders are smart individuals and their website was setup because of their knowledge and love for moola. The MOOLA Champion website offers you proven Moola Strategies, ones they have succeeded with, also, general moola tips on becoming a MOOLA Champion. The founders of MOOLA Champion have bachelor’s degrees in fields of Business and Masters in Psychology/human behavior. This certainly helps them understand people and predict their gaming habits. As I have said they aren’t saying their strategies will make you millions, but they will give you invaluable Moola Tips. On average these moola strategies earns them between $50 - $300 during an average 3 hours of playing.

As mentioned above, Moola is free and simple to play, you can win money online without loosing in your pocket. However, you do need a Moola Strategy. For the very small price of only $2.95 (yes, two dollars ninety five cent) you can get a basic guide offering moola tips, moola strategies and general moola successful playing skills. For only $7.95 you can get a comprehensive guide. However, for me, the small price of $11.95 gets you the ultimate guide to moola strategy. This is a very small price to pay to help you on your way to becoming a Moola Champion and the thought of the moola jackpot.

We believe this is a must have guide to moola. Visit www.moolachampion.com, your fastest way and maybe only way to becoming a moola champion. Get Moola Tips, learn moola discipline and succeed with proven Moola Strategies.

Gas Prices Will Hit $6 by The End Of Summer

2008-05-01T01:52:00.000-07:00

I was working out in the gym today, doing my regular routine and as always chatting with my workout buddies. We started talking politics for a little bit before the conversation turned over to the economy and gas prices. We all got into an argument of where the gas prices will be in the next few months. One of my friends told me that they will come down after the election which he believes will be won by the democrats. My other friend stood strong behind the believe that gas prices will hit $4.00 a gallon and stay there for at least a year. I however look at things realistically and think that $6.00 per gallon by the end of summer is not such a far fetched idea. The average price per gallon of regular unleaded gas in my area is already $3.84, so $6.00 is not that far ahead.

The simple arithmetic behind my logic is that the demand will greatly outpace supply this summer and crude oil will keep hitting new highs, making gas prices soar ever higher. This of course is not all that bad. If you trade commodities get ready to be taken for the ride of your life as you buy options for higher oil prices. Many people will be frustrated and angry by the high gas prices and the draining of their wallets into their gas tanks, but you my friend could be the one who is pumping your bank account and making your wallet fatter.

Lets continue this discussion. Please leave your comments or opinions about sky high gas prices.

Why You Shouldn’t Cheat AdSense

2008-04-29T14:36:00.000-07:00

If you applied for AdSense account with intention to cheat and earn fast bucks, I hope by now you have understood that you shouldn’t.

Why? You say. Google is so rich, losing some pennies won’t hurt.

Well. Probably. But when I say you shouldn’t, trust me. You really shouldn’t. These are just some reasons:

1. You can’t cheat Google

Every once in while, someone will comes out with ingenious idea of how to get more money from AdSense in less than honorable ways. He will announce to the whole world, posting in every forum and tell people how smart he is. His idea is always untraceable by Google, it is always original, and it always gives easy money.

What he doesn’t know is, few months after that, he will get caught by Google, always. And his AdSense account will be disabled. Always. And he is banned from ever applying for AdSense account again. Always.

Google is a giant, with 2005 revenue of almost US$ 10 billions, and profits of more than US$ 1 billion. A large chunk of this comes from Adwords / AdSense advertisements.

More click fraud means less trust, less advertisers and less money, to the extent that if unsolved it will bring collapse to pay-per-click advertisement business. Now. Do you think Google will let you jeopardize their billion dollar business model?

They have money and ability to bring together many of the the smartest and brightest engineers and scientists on earth, has been doing that and will continue to do so. How smart do you think you are that you can outsmart collaborative effort of the brightest brains?

You might be able to pull through for two or three months, but eventually the fraud detection algorithm will catch up and you are caught. And you get banned from Google AdSense, among other things.

2. Cheating = stealing

No matter how you want to justify, face it, cheating is stealing. You are not only stealing from Google, but also from AdWords publishers. Majority of these are are not big companies, but small webmasters depending on Internet to make a living.

Moreover, even if your morality (or lack thereof) permits stealing from your own fellow, bear in mind that stealing is illegal. Regardless of whether it is done offline or online, a crime is a crime. You might get jailed for that.

In fact, Google has started to bring AdSense fraudsters to court a few months ago. Some were jailed, and some others were fined heavily.

3. It is just too easy to earn more, legally

Let’s say you managed to cheat AdSense undetected. You don’t use clickbot or proxy or click-ring or paid clickers. You managed to somehow get the clicks from distributed IP. You don’t use pop-ups, spyware, adware. You are careful that your CTR does not exceed 10%. Still, your earning is limited. There is a cap you can’t cross, else you will invite unwanted attention to your account.

With so much effort to cover your traces, actually you will get better result if you concentrate your effort to improve the website.

Write more contents, submit articles, improve on your search engine optimization, improve AdSense placement, and you can get the same earning or even more. Sure it will take some time, but this is legitimate.

Design Your Business Ads Effectively

2008-04-29T11:39:00.000-07:00

After you’re finished with your research on your target market’s technical know-how, you have determined the kind of technology you will use for your banner ads and other promotional materials over the internet. This is certainly a great start but you need to consider their “sensibilities” as well. For example, it is up to you to find out what kind of words, colors, and graphics will appeal to your visitors so that you can achieve a high visual impact the first time they look into your ads. Some people are actually attracted to hard-sell antics, but there are also those who are instantly turned off by them. So what exactly should you do to achieve great visual impact? Well, start with the hard facts:

Use Internal Data

If your business already has an advertising history, use it as a reference to know which ads appeal to your target market and which ones don’t. Even if the materials you used aren’t tested online, there is a good chance that it will be successful if it was successful offline.

Use External Data

Gathering external data is not as complicated as it seems. You just need to develop rudimentary questionnaires about your banner design and look for a sample group and effectively represents your target audience. To know their sensibilities, show them existing ads and use their feedback to guide your future design.

Test Your Ad

Finally, testing your ad will help you asses the preferences of your target audience and know its technical effectiveness. You will be able to find out which ads are actually usable in the real marketplace.

contact

2008-04-21T20:05:00.000-07:00

Please use the following form to contact us with any questions, comments or problems:

copyright notice

2008-04-21T17:55:00.000-07:00

Copyright © 2008 - 2010 Chasov Blog and its contributors. The material in this Blog is protected by International Copyright Legislation. All rights, including copyright, in the content of the Chasov Blog web pages are wholly owned or controlled for these purposes by the Chasov Media, Inc.

You are permitted to copy, broadcast, download, store (in any medium), transmit, show or play in public the selected content (such as articles, personal opinions, stories and/or comments) of these pages as long as you give proper credit to its writers/creators whenever appropriate.

Select content may be copied for free distribution and non commercial use. Content that is copyrighted may not be changed in any way for any purpose whatsoever without the prior written permission of Chasov Blog owners.

Content that is copyrighted and cannot be copied will be clearly marked. For any further questions feel free to contact us below:

advertise

2008-04-21T17:52:00.000-07:00

With over 1,000 individual readers per month and growing, we are ranked high among the Blogs on the Internet.

We give you a chance to advertise anywhere on our Blog and receive greater exposure for your business, website or product.

We have the most cost effective way to advertise than anyone else on the Internet.Our advertising and SEO plans are very cost competitive in the market.

Choose below

Any ads ordered in bulk will receive a discount of 30% on the entire orderTo get a quote for multiple ads please contact us.

Text Link AdvertisementSide Blog placement - 3 lines, 100 characters max, 2 URLs

1 month - $10.00
3 months - $24.00
6 months - $32.00
9 months - $40.00
12 months - $46.00

Performancing Ads - Banner Ads

This option will be coming soon.

Article Writing - SEO Optimization

One of the most basic and essential forms of search engine content creation. Our content is written in professional and grammatically correct English. Our content is optimized for customer-specific keywords.All content created is researched, proofread, and then forwarded to the client for perusal. Chasov Blog has professional writers that are former journalists of New York Sun and Washington Post with numerous years of article and literature writing experience. Our content writers are SEO experts and know exactly how to write content for search engine optimization.We will have a professional writer examine your website, write a comprehensive article and permanently post it on our Blog. The article can contain anywhere between 2-5 links. Plus as a bonus we will include one Blog side placement 12 months text link ad

Article with 2 links (plus 12 months text link ad) - $30.00
Article with 3 links (plus 12 months text link ad) - $42.00
Article with 4 links (plus 12 months text link ad) - $52.00
Article with 5 links (plus 12 months text link ad) - $61.00

If you need any other form of advertising please feel free to contact us

For any special requests or requirements please use our contact form

about

2008-04-20T17:40:00.000-07:00

Chasov Blog is wholly owned and operated by Chasov Media, Inc.

Chasov Blog originated in 2008 and has since grown as one of the top Blogs on the Internet. With over 1,000 individual readers every month, Chasov Blog is becoming very popular among readers of all ages and genders. Not only do our authors deliver quality content to our readers on a daily basis, they also engage in stimulating conversation over controversial and important topics.

Chasov Blog publishes professional and quality content discussing a wide variety of subjects and providing contrasting points of view on different subject matters. Some topics of interest include business creation, network marketing, life events, relationships, money, banking, news, television, movies, travel, education, biking, gardening, fitness and a variety of others. Majority of topics are focused on breaking news and politics.

Chasov Blog is referred to as Your World Insight because it provides interesting articles and objective points of view on various topics that engage and captivate audience from all spheres of life.Our mission is to consistently deliver the most professional, quality and informative content about all topics that deal with life and various events around the world.

Chasov Blog currently has a total of two authors; one dedicated and one contributing. The contributing authors are professional writers and former journalists of New York Sun.We welcome you to subscribe to Chasov Blog and read our daily posts. We will continue to strive to deliver the best and most captivating content possible.If you have any questions or comments/suggestions please feel free to use our contact form.

Please subscribe to Chasov Blog by clicking here and selecting a channel on the right hand side via which you would like to subscribe.

Your Name :
Your e-Mail :
Subject :
Message :
Image (case-sensitive):

Your Name :
Your e-Mail :
Subject :
Message :
Image (case-sensitive):