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Thursday, November 11, 2010

Washington – Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele is finding himself under increasing pressure to step aside when his term ends in January 2011. Fox News has learned a small group within Steele's inner circle has warned ...

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 10th, 2010 at 3:31 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. ...

Bad news from Jesse Jackson: Repealing ObamaCare would mean ...

Bad news from Jesse Jackson: Repealing ObamaCare would mean “creeping genocide”

eric seiger

eric seiger

Steele Under Increasing Pressure to Step Aside in 2011 | Foxnews.com

DC Universe: The Source » Blog Archive » BREAKING NEWS: SUPERMAN ...

Bad news from Jesse Jackson: Repealing ObamaCare would mean ...

Bad news from Jesse Jackson: Repealing ObamaCare would mean “creeping genocide”

eric seiger

eric seiger

eric seiger

Steele Under Increasing Pressure to Step Aside in 2011 | Foxnews.com

DC Universe: The Source » Blog Archive » BREAKING NEWS: SUPERMAN ...

Bad news from Jesse Jackson: Repealing ObamaCare would mean ...

Bad news from Jesse Jackson: Repealing ObamaCare would mean “creeping genocide”

eric seiger

eric seiger

eric seiger

Steele Under Increasing Pressure to Step Aside in 2011 | Foxnews.com

DC Universe: The Source » Blog Archive » BREAKING NEWS: SUPERMAN ...

Bad news from Jesse Jackson: Repealing ObamaCare would mean ...

Bad news from Jesse Jackson: Repealing ObamaCare would mean “creeping genocide”

eric seiger

Steele Under Increasing Pressure to Step Aside in 2011 | Foxnews.com

DC Universe: The Source » Blog Archive » BREAKING NEWS: SUPERMAN ...

Bad news from Jesse Jackson: Repealing ObamaCare would mean ...

Bad news from Jesse Jackson: Repealing ObamaCare would mean “creeping genocide”

eric seiger

Steele Under Increasing Pressure to Step Aside in 2011 | Foxnews.com

DC Universe: The Source » Blog Archive » BREAKING NEWS: SUPERMAN ...

Bad news from Jesse Jackson: Repealing ObamaCare would mean ...

Bad news from Jesse Jackson: Repealing ObamaCare would mean “creeping genocide”

eric seiger

Steele Under Increasing Pressure to Step Aside in 2011 | Foxnews.com

DC Universe: The Source » Blog Archive » BREAKING NEWS: SUPERMAN ...

Bad news from Jesse Jackson: Repealing ObamaCare would mean ...

Bad news from Jesse Jackson: Repealing ObamaCare would mean “creeping genocide”

eric seiger eric seiger
eric seiger

eric seiger
eric seiger

Steele Under Increasing Pressure to Step Aside in 2011 | Foxnews.com

DC Universe: The Source » Blog Archive » BREAKING NEWS: SUPERMAN ...

Bad news from Jesse Jackson: Repealing ObamaCare would mean ...

Bad news from Jesse Jackson: Repealing ObamaCare would mean “creeping genocide”

Back when I first delved into the world of blogging and online writing, I didn't even know folks made much -- if any -- money from it.

Boy have times changed.

The money is starting to roll in fast - the Lord delights in the prosperity of his servants! - and from so many different sources, I figured it was time to chronicle it all.

So I tallied up everything I've earned so far thru my online activities to help me and my readers figure out what vehicles pay the best online. And I also included which ones pay the worst, others that rejected me -- and still others I'm just beginning to mine.

These numbers represent what I earned from each venue since I signed up with them, all with varying start dates and levels of activity, from the most money to least.

Going forward I will begin to track my earnings monthly, and update the list to let you all know the success or failure I've had with other money-making online vehicles, so make sure to subscribe to my blog for daily updates by email so you won't miss the future postings of my revenue.

Here's how I made $4,375.75 online...

Click the hyperlinked titles below to join (or pitch that market!) so you can start making money too:

1 - Cleveland/Akron Family Magazines Earnings-to-Date: $1,230.00

Now don't get discouraged by this first one, a local freebie monthly print mag who also prints my essays online. I was amazed, and sad to say a bit unappreciative at first when I got this gig.

As a condition of my unemployment, I diligently looked for a job weekly. I emailed editors my writing samples and half-heartedly asked for staff writing positions. One editor from Cleveland/Akron family mags called me back and hired me to write six or seven 800-word essays yearly, each earning $100, with the occasional extra piece thrown in.

How you can do it: Don't be afraid to pitch your local newspaper and magazine editors with your best stuff. You might very well end up with a well-paying online column!

2 - Associated Content Earnings-to-Date:$1,111.05

I first joined old AC back in August 2006. Despite a hulabaloo of complaints from some disgrunted CPs, AC holds a soft spot in my heart. They pay varying amounts per article.

To tell you the truth, I haven't submitted an article for payment on AC in a long time -- I many times publish for free just to get exposure for my blog -- but it might be time for me to try my hand at it again. I've made $4 - $50 per piece for them here and there, and they paid me $100 per month for news stories as part of their Beta News Team for a while, but that ended. Now approved news stories pay $5 per piece, AND they get listed in Google News, a high-profile place to pitch your own blog.

How you can do it: Join Associated Content if you haven't already, and if you have but went astray, think about publishing there again. They've instituted a new performance bonus program currently paying $1.50 for every 1,000 page views. For example 20,000 pageviews x $1.50 = $30.00 bonus.

I was on my knees thanking God for the unexpected payouts that ended up in my PayPal account based on pageviews from popular stories I wrote a while ago. They also have a referral program, which I saw another mommy blogger was earning money from, so I'll follow-up on how much that pays me.

AC is growing smarter, realizing that it's only fair that writers share in the ad revenue by instituting that bonus program. So I feel good encourage all my readers to join for free and write, write, write!

3 - Amazon Associates Earnings-to-Date:$573.47

Leading readers to good Amazon products is definitely a good money-maker. I kinda cringe when I see bloggers working so hard to recommend great books and stuff but don't get any cut of the action they deserve because they haven't joined Amazon Associates program. This photo gives you the breakdown of the percentages that Amazon pays its associates for products purchased thru the blogger's site. For example, just the other day someone bought a Nintendo Wii thru my blog I earned 25 bucks!

I don't think Amazon Associates has a referral program -- but I know folks also earn much money thru their aStore that I haven't fully explored yet -- please let me know your experiences with these factors!

How you can do it: Join Amazon Associates and read up on the program. And don't just throw some banners ads on your blog and forget them, but also add Omakase Links that scan your content to figure out what products your readers might buy -- like in my current blog's header. And add an Amazon search box, so people can find their own products and you can still get paid.

Keep your ear to the TV for products that you feel comfortable pitching -- and always check Amazon first to make sure they carry it, then incorporate the product link smoothly in your blog post. Sell them softly, if people want to buy it, they will. Tell the truth - I still blogged about products I hadn't purchased, and asked my readers who purchased them for feedback.

I've had the most success by blogging about new items that went viral. The top-earner is an expensive product, so my cut is nice and high. You may as well get paid for all your hard work finding information for people who don't have the time or skills to do so online. You're making their job easier...

4 - Google Adsense Earnings-to-date: $302.96

Google Adsense is a program that lets you display relevant ads on your blog. When people click on them, Google tallies up an amount -- how they calcuate this amount is the secret of long-ago mysteries -- but they pay you monthly via check, PayPal or bank account.

How you can do it: Join Google Adsense and experiment with the variety of ads: image, text,links and videos. Set up channels so you know the specific ad location your readers have clicked on, so you can learn what they like. Read up on how successful bloggers have pitched their referral products (which pay when someone takes an action, e.g., getting $1 whenever someone downloads Google Pack, etc.) and placed their ads within posts like mine.

Study how I've pitched mine in my sidebar, but follow only at your own risk. I believe the jury is still out over whether or not Google approves of placing pics next to their ads and products like I've done, but Google themselves are starting to test images next to their ads, so I figure we should be allowed to as well. If they ban me, I don't really care because then I can join another ad network that pays more.

5 - Ghost Blogging Earnings-to-date: $250.00

I write a blog for my dad's tax business and he pays me.

How you can do it: If you're up for it and have the time, consider ghost-blogging for people who don't know how and make money promoting their businesses or ideas...

6 - ReviewMe Earnings-to-date: $225.00

Advertisers pay you thru ReviewMe to blog about their product or service. Payment paid out on a monthly basis, no later than the 4th, sent via PayPal or check.

How you can do it: Sign up on ReviewMe and submit up to six blogs for consideration, but don't get discouraged if your blog is rejected at first. Mine was. Just keep up the quality blogging and praying for approval!

7 - PayPerPost Earnings-to-date: $169.50

Not only do you get paid per post based on your blog's popularity, they also have a new referral program that pays you $15.00 when people sign up to PayPerPost thru your referral link and the referees first blog posting is accepted.

Also, when someone clicks on this badge and signs up with PayPerPost, a special opportunity is created just for them to review your blog and you each receive $7.50 for your efforts.

How you can do it: Look for the "Get paid to blog about the things you love" box in my sidebar -- I hate when I can't change those banner pictures! -- and click on it to join PayPerPost. Again, don't be discouraged if they reject you at first. Make sure your blog is at least 90 days old with at least 20 posts -- and make sure you haven't skipped a whole month of blogging like I did when I rushed and first applied to PayPerPost.

Eventually, you'll probably get approved and can become a postie, too. Then add the PayPerPost banner and "Review This Blog" PPP image at the end of each of your posts, and watch that PPP dough start rolling in!

8 - Writer's Digest Contest Earnings-to-date: $156.25

One Holy-Spirit filled night I wrote and submitted our "Looking for Mr. Byline" essay. It won Writer's Digest free 'Chronicle' competion, plus was later reprinted in the print mag.

How you can do it: Check out Writer's Digest list of contests and see if any float your boat. Or seek out other valid online writing contests and try your hand at winning.

9 - Swag I've Received Value-to-date: $162.65

If popular blogger John Chow can include all the free stuff people send him -- commonly known as swag -- in his revenue numbers, so can I! And so can you...

Once you become a blogger who proves they can bring in readers, companies will be chomping at the bit to send you free stuff, in hopes that you'll blog about it. This is what happened when Ted Demopoulos read my post called Paula Mooney: Wondering What to Buy a Blogger for Christmas?, which included a mention of his book Blogging for Business: Everything You Need to Know and Why You Should Care.

Ted sent me a free signed copy of his new book, What No One Ever Tells You About Blogging and Podcasting: Real-Life Advice from 101 People Who Successfully Leverage the Power of the Blogosphere (What No One Ever Tells You About...), and I really liked it. That was valued at $18.95

Then HarperCollins sent me 4 copies of Babyproofing Your Marriage: How to Laugh More, Argue Less, and Communicate Better as Your Family Grows valued at $24.95, and later 2 copies of Good Kids, Bad Habits: The RealAge Guide to Raising Healthy Children priced at $21.95 each.

How you can do it: The only set formula I can give you on getting swag to come to you is to just keep blogging about good stuff, and the swag will come. After all, you never know who could be reading your blog...

10 - SponsoredReviews Earnings-to-date: $65.00

This puppy just launched and I jumped in feet first with my first post, SponsoredReviews.com Launch - How Much Money Can You Make? -- which garnered me a cool $16.25 bucks for writing it. Tomorrow's post that I plan to publish about The Secret will pay me $48.75 for my cut.

How you can do it: I like that Sponsored Reviews pays bloggers bi-weekly (instead of monthly) via PayPal. And I also like that you can haggle over your own price and advertisers accept or reject your bid. I don't like that Sponsored Reviews doesn't yet have a referral program, but their CEO Jarrod Hunt promises me that one is coming soon.

"Depending on the size of your readership and the quality of your blog posts, you can earn anywhere from $10 to $1000 per review," says the Sponsored Reviews site. "If you are a major site, you might be able to get even more." So sign up with Sponsored Reviews and tell me how much money you've made!

11 - Blogsvertise Earnings-to-date: $35.00

Blogsvertise pays bloggers via PayPal 30 days after your post is accepted, approximately $5 to $10 per post. I'm pretty sure I read that a revenue sharing program is coming, which is what would make me return to this one and make it a lot more worthwhile.

How you can do it: Sign up with Blogsvertise and see if any of their available posting opportunites strike your fancy. Then plop a link and pic on your blog and "refer new advertisers to blogsvertise and earn even more income," says their pitch. Their "advertiser referral program pays you 20% of what advertisers you refer spend on advertising with blogsvertise. For example if an advertiser you refer spends $500, you will receive $100 of this transaction."

12 - Text Link Ads Earnings-to-date: $25.00

Make money with text link ads three ways: 1) Selling ad space, 2) Monetizing your feed, 3) Become a text link ad affiliate.

Initially rejected for blog ads, I was sent this nice email: "Paula, we recheck sites every other month so hopefully you will receive an email from us soon, thx!", better than the "This domain has been previously submitted to our publisher program and has not been approved yet. Please note that we re-evaluate all submissions monthly and you will receive an email as soon as your submission has been approved. You do not need to submit your site again. Thank you." response I get online every time I type in my URL anxiously.

And in typing this post I just learned that you need to install a WordPress plugin in order to take advantage of their "FREE Feedvertising technology to run text link ads in your RSS feed" program, so guess I'll do that once I get a WP blog going.

How you can do it: Don't know who you have to kiss to get approved, but you can start earning $25 a pop per referral that you send on over to Text Link Ads. That's how I just earned my first 25 bucks with them -- thank you Fredric Mitchell! -- so sign up with Text Link Ads right now and study my sidebar to see how I've pitched their program so you can do the same!

13 - Swag Blogging Earnings-to-date: $20.00

Harper Collins agreed to pay me $20 for my post called No Sex After Having Kids? Try Babyproofing Your Marriage about the new Babyproofing Your Marriage: How to Laugh More, Argue Less, and Communicate Better as Your Family Grows book.

How you can do it: Agree to set terms up front regarding blogging about swag, then meet the deadline they set for you. And follow-up -- which reminds me, it's about time for me to shoot someone an email about my promised check...

14 - creamAID Earnings-to-date: $16.00

I earned my first relatively easy and fun 10 bucks from creamAID for this post called I'm lovin' it too much...

I loved that I could take my kids with me to snap the pic of McDonalds, and I love that creamAid had the money in my PayPal account within 24 hours after they accepted my post, like they promised. (Just post your blog entry using theirinstructions, and they'll automatically know that you've got that widget on a post. This confused me at first.)

My next post for them was This is me and my energy... and it got me another 6 bucks.

How you can do it: Sign up for creamAID and "receive email when a new conversation begins, participate, and if your post is selected, the money will be sent to your PayPal account within 24 hours," they honestly promise. "Receive referral fee when people who click on your widget has their CreamAid post accepted."

I like creamAID's nifty widget, but lately a lot of scuzzier sponsors with a lot less deep pockets have been participating. As soon as I get the email and click on someone's widget to participate, all the slots are already full. And they usually pay a lot less than 10 bucks, with only 1 or 2 or 3 bucks for the payment, so the only reason I might return to a post or two for them would be to gain blog traffic.

15 - Blogitive Earnings-to-date: $15.00

Underwent a rehaul, site still seems a bit amateurish with no revenue sharing, so not much to keep me coming back till they do, not even the couple of blogging jobs listed on their job board right now.

How you can do it: Sign up for Blogitive if you wish. I've got a $5 offer out there right now about gold coins that I need to decide to accept or reject. This site doesn't hold much promise for me.

16 - LoudLaunch Earnings-to-date: $10.00

When LoudLaunch launched, I wrote LoudLaunch.com Launches...and I'm Sure the Blogging-Purists Will be Up in Arms... and they paid me 10 bucks for it. And maybe the disgruntled commenter who had a bad LoudLaunch experience soured me against them. Since then I've logged on and haven't seen many advertisers I've wanted to write about. Mostly plastic surgery stuff...

How you can do it: Sign up and submit your blog(s) to LoudLaunch for approval, then get paid via PayPal agreed upon amount. There's no referral program from what I've found -- a big turn-off! -- so I just emailed Chris at LoudLaunch to ask if he'd be creating one. I'll update you all if they do...

17 - AdBrite Earnings-to-date: $5.45

I had the AdBrite ad code on my blog for a little while, but took it down since I didn't want to crowd it even more, and thought it was earning too slowly. But I really like AdBrite InVideo concept that I blogged about in my post called AdBrite InVideo Ads: Raising my $5.45 AdBrite Balance and really really REALLY tried to get it working this weekend but got errors.

I tried BlipTV, but to no avail. I believe it will be a great money maker, so I just shot the DB guy who left a comment about AdBrite an email. Hopefully it will work soon...

How you can do it: Once again, sign up for AdBrite and at least build a campaign and give their ads a shot. At the very least, refer people to AdBrite and earn "On all buying and selling activity referred by your site, you earn 50% of AdBrite's profits for the first 3 months, 10% of AdBrite's profit for the next 9 months," says AdBrite.

I'll let you know how much more I make once the video deal is resolved and more referrals sign up.

18 - AuctionAds Earnings-to-date: $3.42

This is an exciting new ShoeMoney venture that pays bloggers monthly via PayPal to display eBay ads. "When your site's visitors click on an Auction Ad listing and take an action on eBay you earn cash," explains the site. "Actions are defined as a Winning Bid, a Buy-it-Now or a confirmed user registration."

"There is no need to sign up for our affiliate program because our affiliate program is built right into the ads you display!" their site claims. "If a user clicks on the "Ads by AuctionAds" that is displayed and signs up for our service you earn a bonus 2% of all revenue generated by that user for the 6 months."

How you can do it: Get in on the Auction Ads deal and create a campaign to display some eBay items like the ones shown in my sidebar. I used the term "clean" in my campaign because I wanted clean ads, but it turns out lots of seller list their products as clean, so I have a nice rotating, differing stream of products. Take that tip, run with it...

19 - Orble.com Earnings: Zilch

Lured by the possibility of a $40 per week blogging scholarship, I joined Orble. Supposedly they share a 50% split ad revenue once bloggers enter their Google Adsense IDs and blog. Couldn't find any earnings anywhere, I ended up parking my pages.

20 - Chitika eMiniMalls Nothing...yet...just added the code

A good money-maker for bloggers like Darren Rowse, Chitika holds promise. "You'll earn 10% of what your referrals earn -the more friends you refer, the more you make!" they say with exclaimed excitement!

How you can do it: After joining Chitika eMiniMalls and promoting your referral links as much as I am right now (HINT, HINT!), "you're eligible to earn commissions for each referral for 15 months following each referral's approval date," they say. "Chitika will pay you 30 days following the end of the month that your commissions are earned provided that your total revenue has exceeded $10 (for PayPal) and $50 (for check where PayPal is not available).

Chitika ad units can be used along side Google Adsense.

21 - AzooleAds Earnings: Nothing yet...rejected because...

"Your Affiliate Website and Affiliate E-mails must each be represented by a legitimate second-level domain name (e.g. yoursite.com is acceptable; however, a shared server, e.g., sharedsite.com/yoursite, is not acceptable)"

Are they saying I gotta ditch the blogspot? I'm going to try and reapply with a plain old dot com I have some day...

22 - ClickbankEarnings-to-date: A big fat goose egg...

I've only promoted a couple of products like Day Job Killer: Who is Chris McNeeney and Should I Give him $77? post thru ClickBank, and obviously not well enough to sell anything yet. But I'm still learning and growing...

How you can do it: Sign up for FREE with Clickbank, and once people you refer choose to activate their account, you'll "Earn 20% of the $49.95 activation charge when your referred publisher activates their account," says ClickBank. I'm assuming the people paying the $49.95 are the ones who have a product to sell therein.

"Additionally, earn 5% of ClickBank's typical markup of each sale that your recruited publisher makes for one calendar year. ClickBank's typical markup on every sale is $1 + 7.5% of the sale price, so you earn about $0.09 to $0.99 on every sale.

23 - Yahoo Publishers Network Earnings: Nada! Rejected because...

..."Thank you for applying for the Yahoo! Publisher Network beta program. It is currently in beta and we are accepting a very limited number of new publishers, but we will let you know when we launch to the general public or if we are able to invite you to join the beta before then. To maximize your chances for approval, please make sure:

* You have a valid U.S. Social Security or Tax ID number, and web site content that is predominately in English and targeted at a U.S. user base.

* Your site provides a good user experience. Please see our complete list of guidelines for a positive user experience here: https://publisher.yahoo.com/legal/prog_policy.php .

* Your site does not contain problematic content. Please see our guidelines for displaying our ad results here: https://publisher.yahoo.com/legal/prog_policy.php .

Don't know if I'm supposed to ditch AdSense before I apply for this puppy, but will let you know when I find out...

24 - AGLOCO Earnings-to-date: $0.00 (I just joined...)

The company rhetoric says, "AGLOCO collects money from those companies on behalf of its members. (For example, Google currently pays AOL 10 cents for every Google search by an AOL user. And Google still has enough profit to pay $1.6 billion dollars for YouTube, an 18-month old site full of content that YouTube's users did not get paid for! AGLOCO will work to get its Members their share of this and more.

How you can do it: I don't fully understand it, but join AGLOCO for free and let's see togetherif they pay!

25 - Performics Earnings: $0.00 (Haven't used it much...)

26 - Burst Media Earnings-to-date: Nothing...rejected...for now...

"Thank you for your application to join the Burst Media network. We regret to inform you that after our review, we have rejected your request for membership. Our sales efforts are not extended to sites hosted on free page providers.

Please refer to https://www.burstmedia.com/publisher/index.asp?page=eligibility for more information regarding our current eligibility requirements.Please feel free to reapply when your site complies with Burst's requirements."

One more reason for me to get that other dot com up and running well!

27 - AdVolcano Earnings-to-date: $0...on the way to more...

"Set your own prices," goes the schtick. "Unlike other networks, AdVolcano allows you to set your own pricing. After all, it is your website...Control all aspets of your ads and seamlessly integrate them into your website...AdVolcano pays a generous 75% revenue-share on a NET 15 basis. Receive your checks on time, all the time."

Advertiser Screening - Protect your brand and audience by controling which advertisers run on your site at all times.

Signed up, then got this email and never called him, "Thanks for signing up to the AdVolcano network! I'd love to hear more about your website and business goals. Feel free to contact me directly so we can talk about moving forward." Just placed ad space at the bottom of my blog today, selling a 7-day ad for 50 bucks. No referral program found yet.

All in all...$4,375.75 worth on online income!

Whew! That ought to get you some money by Christmas, and be enough to get the folks started who ask me, "How do I make money blogging?"

I've learned that making money online can happen, but it might take time to build up good revenue streams going. It helps to diversify. Don't put all your hope in one Google Adsense basket -- you might be disappointed with the slow growth.

Instead, take advantage of the programs I've listed here, and let me know of others that you use to make money!

And please subscribe to my blog for daily email updates about not only making money blogging, but how I pitch my products and also to see how I get the search-engine traffic that like to buy and click on stuff!

Be blessed and prosperous, Paula

eric seiger

Steele Under Increasing Pressure to Step Aside in 2011 | Foxnews.com

DC Universe: The Source » Blog Archive » BREAKING NEWS: SUPERMAN ...

Bad news from Jesse Jackson: Repealing ObamaCare would mean ...

Bad news from Jesse Jackson: Repealing ObamaCare would mean “creeping genocide”

eric seiger

Steele Under Increasing Pressure to Step Aside in 2011 | Foxnews.com

DC Universe: The Source » Blog Archive » BREAKING NEWS: SUPERMAN ...

Bad news from Jesse Jackson: Repealing ObamaCare would mean ...

Bad news from Jesse Jackson: Repealing ObamaCare would mean “creeping genocide”

eric seiger

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

foreclosure homes

Weekly Audit: Foreclosuregate Hits Home

by Lindsay Beyerstein, Media Consortium blogger

Earlier this month, Bank of America (BOA), the country's largest bank, announced a moratorium on foreclosures in all 50 states.

The bank promised not to sell any foreclosed homes or take any more delinquent borrowers to court until it had reviewed its potentially defective foreclosure process. Other major lenders soon announced that they too were suspending foreclosures in dozens of states. Why are the biggest banks in the country voluntarily calling for a time-out? It's a hint that we're facing a huge problem: The banks aren't sure if they have the legal right to foreclose on millions of homes.

Here's what's new in foreclosuregate since the Audit took up the story last week. The Bank of America announced that it would resume some foreclosures on Oct. 25, having deemed its own methods sound. The stock market begged to differ. BOA's stock fell over 5% on Thursday and other bank stocks also took a beating, as did mortgage bonds. This pattern indicates that investors are very worried about the effect of the foreclosure crisis on the health of the banks.

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) is calling for a foreclosure moratorium under the new Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), as Ellen Brown reports for Truthout. The FSOC has the power to preemptively break up any large financial institution that threatens U.S. economic security. Grayson wants a moratorium on all mortgages securitized between 2005 and 2008 until the FSOC can determine which foreclosures are valid and which are bogus.

The missing link

So, what kind of "defects" in the foreclosure process are we talking about? Fraud, basically.

Zach Carter of the Campaign for America's Future explains to Chris Hayes of the Nation why Bank of America and other major lenders are in so much trouble: They are just administering loans for other lenders. You make your check out to the Bank of America, but the bank is just babysitting after the loan for the bondholders.

The real creditors are the investors who own bonds made up of pieces of many different mortgages, including yours. The bond gives the bondholder a share of the money that you and other borrowers pay each month. If you don't pay, BOA initiates foreclosure. If you're late, BOA charges you fees.

However, the bank can't just hire a foreclosure company to take your home away on a whim. The bank must first show proof that it is entitled to foreclose because you've defaulted on your mortgage in the form of a mortgage note. If you hold one of those toxic asset mortgages, there's a good chance the bank doesn't have the note.

As Dean Baker explains in Truthout, in many, if not most, cases, "liar loans" (mortgages issued with no proof of income or assets) have become given way to "liar liens" (foreclosures with no proof of default).

According to Carter, all the big banks have been hiring foreclosure mills to rubber-stamp their claims without checking. Unscrupulous foreclosure companies are admitting to "robo-signing," i.e., foreclosing without even checking whether the bank's claims were legit.

Foreclosuregate

According to Andy Kroll of Mother Jones, the Bank of America stands to lose up to $70 billion over what's come to be known as "foreclosuregate." A mortgage starts out with an originator, typically a bank or a mortgage broker. In the heyday of mortgage-backed securities, investment banks were buying up hundreds of thousands of mortgages, making them into mortgage-backed bonds, and selling them to investors.

Unfortunately, if the bank doesn't have the note, who does? The mortgage originator may have gone bankrupt, many were fly-by-night operators that folded when the housing bubble burst. Many mortgages were bought and resold more than once before they found their way into a mortgage-backed bond.

So, the question is whether the bank really owned the mortgages it made into mortgage backed-securities and sold to individuals, pension funds, and other institutions. If not, the banks stand could be on the hook for selling assets they didn't actually own to investors.

Moratorium now

The scandal affects so many mortgages that some lawmakers are calling for a nationwide moratorium on foreclosures until investigators can sort out who owns what once and for all. Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY) told Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! that Congress needs to stop banks from putting people out on the street until there is some way to differentiate between fraudulent foreclosures and justified ones:

And so, I just think that people who are saying that this is going to hurt--I think that it's going to help, because once people gain confidence in the fact that they're being treated fairly and that there's no discrepancies in the records, then people will feel very comfortable in terms of trying to move forward. But until that happens, you're always going to have these comments about the fact that that was not done right, it was done unfairly. And, of course, I think there's enough here for us to stop and to pause and to say, let's take a look here before we move forward. So a moratorium is definitely in order.

The Obama administration opposes the moratorium on the grounds that it would hurt the housing market and thereby slow the economy. Towns counters that what would really be bad for the economy is letting banks take people's homes away without any semblance of due process. If the government doesn't act to protect the innocent, foreclosuregate could shatter the confidence of potential home buyers. Would you want to invest in a house if you were afraid the bank could just take it away from you?

In AlterNet, Mike Lux argues that fraudulent foreclosures are one more assault on poor and middle class Americans. He argues that the banks are so used to being coddled by Washington that they're counting on legislators to retroactively change the rules to protect them from the consequences of their own devious behavior.

At this point we don't know what percentage of foreclosed-upon homes have simply been stolen by banks to pay bondholders, but we do know the problem is vast and systemic. The Obama administration is content to let the banks seize private property first and ask questions later. We need a moratorium to take stock and restore the rule of law.

This post features links to the best independent, progressive reporting about the economy by members of The Media Consortium. It is free to reprint. Visit the Audit for a complete list of articles on economic issues, or follow us on Twitter. And for the best progressive reporting on critical economy, environment, health care and immigration issues, check out The Mulch, The Pulse and The Diaspora. This is a project of The Media Consortium, a network of leading independent media outlets.

New fronts are opening in the foreclosure mess.

A lot of people have wondered why no one has gone to jail over what by commonsense standards is fraudulent activity. The possibility that the violations were indeed criminal is finally being investigated. From the Washington Post:

Federal law enforcement officials are investigating possible criminal violations in connection with the national foreclosure crisis, examining whether financial firms broke federal laws when they filed fraudulent court documents to seize people’s homes, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Obama administration’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force is in the early stages of an investigation into whether banks and other companies that submitted flawed paperwork in state foreclosure proceedings may also have misled federal housing agencies, which now own or insure a majority of home loans, according to these sources.

The task force, which includes investigators from the Justice Department, Department of Housing and Urban Development and other agencies, is also looking into whether the submission of flawed paperwork during the foreclosure process violated mail or wire fraud laws. Financial fraud cases often involve these statutes.

Yves here. On the one hand, I would not underestimate the ability of Team Obama to give the banking industry a free pass when tough action is warranted. On the other hand, there is a proud tradition of the Federal government rousing itself when measure by the states run the risk of showing it to have been complacent to the point of negligence (one well known example is when state securities law suits force the generally lapdog SEC to take swing into gear). So if state or even private lawsuits expose enough damaging material, it will be hard for this task force to sit on its hands.

On another front, the ACLU is starting to obtain information to determine whether foreclosures in Florida (the so called rocket docket) violated Constitutional “due process” requirements:

The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Florida today filed public records requests with judicial officials in Florida to determine whether homeowners are having their constitutional rights violated during foreclosure proceedings and being unlawfully removed from their homes.

In Florida, where almost half a million foreclosure cases are pending, the state legislature recently spent over $9 million to create special foreclosure courts, staffed by retired judges, with the intent of speeding through the state’s backlog of such cases. But recent media reports in Florida and around the country, which reveal rampant error and fraud in the foreclosure process, have shown that courts should take particular care with foreclosure cases. Instead, in the rush to push foreclosure cases through the courts, Florida may be taking shortcuts and, in the process, forsaking constitutionally-required due process protections….

Filed with the Office of the State Court Administrator and the chief judges of all 20 of Florida’s circuit courts, the requests seek access to, among other things, all documents related to special court systems created to dispose of foreclosure cases and the rules and procedures in place that govern those systems…

Copies of the ACLU’s public records requests are available online at: www.aclu.org/racial-justice/aclu-seeks-information-about-constitutionality-florida-foreclosure-courts

Yves here. These initiatives are only in the early stages, but both show that the foreclosure crisis is moving from narrow legal issues to much bigger ones.

eric seiger

Small Business News: It's About The People!

Astoundingly, with the coming of social media and all that it implies for small business, there are still people who don't quite understand yet that it's all.

Cee-Lo Green sings 'Fox News' on 'Colbert Report' - The Dish Rag ...

With William Shatner and possibly Gwyneth Paltrow taking a stab at “F*** You,” Cee-Lo Green shows them how it's done.The musician appears on Comedy Central's...

Michael Jackson's 'Breaking News' Saga Continues With Tweets ...

"Regarding the song 'Breaking News' I am so sorry you have to deal with this. My uncle loved you so much and would not want it this way," Jackson's nephew Taryll tweeted. There are songs that are my uncle singing on the upcoming album ...

eric seiger

Weekly Audit: Foreclosuregate Hits Home

by Lindsay Beyerstein, Media Consortium blogger

Earlier this month, Bank of America (BOA), the country's largest bank, announced a moratorium on foreclosures in all 50 states.

The missing link

So, what kind of "defects" in the foreclosure process are we talking about? Fraud, basically.

Foreclosuregate

Moratorium now

And so, I just think that people who are saying that this is going to hurt--I think that it's going to help, because once people gain confidence in the fact that they're being treated fairly and that there's no discrepancies in the records, then people will feel very comfortable in terms of trying to move forward. But until that happens, you're always going to have these comments about the fact that that was not done right, it was done unfairly. And, of course, I think there's enough here for us to stop and to pause and to say, let's take a look here before we move forward. So a moratorium is definitely in order.

New fronts are opening in the foreclosure mess.

Federal law enforcement officials are investigating possible criminal violations in connection with the national foreclosure crisis, examining whether financial firms broke federal laws when they filed fraudulent court documents to seize people’s homes, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Obama administration’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force is in the early stages of an investigation into whether banks and other companies that submitted flawed paperwork in state foreclosure proceedings may also have misled federal housing agencies, which now own or insure a majority of home loans, according to these sources.

The task force, which includes investigators from the Justice Department, Department of Housing and Urban Development and other agencies, is also looking into whether the submission of flawed paperwork during the foreclosure process violated mail or wire fraud laws. Financial fraud cases often involve these statutes.

On another front, the ACLU is starting to obtain information to determine whether foreclosures in Florida (the so called rocket docket) violated Constitutional “due process” requirements:

The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Florida today filed public records requests with judicial officials in Florida to determine whether homeowners are having their constitutional rights violated during foreclosure proceedings and being unlawfully removed from their homes.

In Florida, where almost half a million foreclosure cases are pending, the state legislature recently spent over $9 million to create special foreclosure courts, staffed by retired judges, with the intent of speeding through the state’s backlog of such cases. But recent media reports in Florida and around the country, which reveal rampant error and fraud in the foreclosure process, have shown that courts should take particular care with foreclosure cases. Instead, in the rush to push foreclosure cases through the courts, Florida may be taking shortcuts and, in the process, forsaking constitutionally-required due process protections….

Filed with the Office of the State Court Administrator and the chief judges of all 20 of Florida’s circuit courts, the requests seek access to, among other things, all documents related to special court systems created to dispose of foreclosure cases and the rules and procedures in place that govern those systems…

Copies of the ACLU’s public records requests are available online at: www.aclu.org/racial-justice/aclu-seeks-information-about-constitutionality-florida-foreclosure-courts

Yves here. These initiatives are only in the early stages, but both show that the foreclosure crisis is moving from narrow legal issues to much bigger ones.

eric seiger

Small Business News: It's About The People!

Astoundingly, with the coming of social media and all that it implies for small business, there are still people who don't quite understand yet that it's all.

Cee-Lo Green sings 'Fox News' on 'Colbert Report' - The Dish Rag ...

With William Shatner and possibly Gwyneth Paltrow taking a stab at “F*** You,” Cee-Lo Green shows them how it's done.The musician appears on Comedy Central's...

Michael Jackson's 'Breaking News' Saga Continues With Tweets ...

eric seiger

eric seiger

eric seiger

Small Business News: It's About The People!

Astoundingly, with the coming of social media and all that it implies for small business, there are still people who don't quite understand yet that it's all.

Cee-Lo Green sings 'Fox News' on 'Colbert Report' - The Dish Rag ...

With William Shatner and possibly Gwyneth Paltrow taking a stab at “F*** You,” Cee-Lo Green shows them how it's done.The musician appears on Comedy Central's...

Michael Jackson's 'Breaking News' Saga Continues With Tweets ...

eric seiger

Weekly Audit: Foreclosuregate Hits Home

by Lindsay Beyerstein, Media Consortium blogger

Earlier this month, Bank of America (BOA), the country's largest bank, announced a moratorium on foreclosures in all 50 states.

The missing link

So, what kind of "defects" in the foreclosure process are we talking about? Fraud, basically.

Foreclosuregate

Moratorium now

And so, I just think that people who are saying that this is going to hurt--I think that it's going to help, because once people gain confidence in the fact that they're being treated fairly and that there's no discrepancies in the records, then people will feel very comfortable in terms of trying to move forward. But until that happens, you're always going to have these comments about the fact that that was not done right, it was done unfairly. And, of course, I think there's enough here for us to stop and to pause and to say, let's take a look here before we move forward. So a moratorium is definitely in order.

New fronts are opening in the foreclosure mess.

Federal law enforcement officials are investigating possible criminal violations in connection with the national foreclosure crisis, examining whether financial firms broke federal laws when they filed fraudulent court documents to seize people’s homes, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Obama administration’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force is in the early stages of an investigation into whether banks and other companies that submitted flawed paperwork in state foreclosure proceedings may also have misled federal housing agencies, which now own or insure a majority of home loans, according to these sources.

The task force, which includes investigators from the Justice Department, Department of Housing and Urban Development and other agencies, is also looking into whether the submission of flawed paperwork during the foreclosure process violated mail or wire fraud laws. Financial fraud cases often involve these statutes.

On another front, the ACLU is starting to obtain information to determine whether foreclosures in Florida (the so called rocket docket) violated Constitutional “due process” requirements:

The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Florida today filed public records requests with judicial officials in Florida to determine whether homeowners are having their constitutional rights violated during foreclosure proceedings and being unlawfully removed from their homes.

In Florida, where almost half a million foreclosure cases are pending, the state legislature recently spent over $9 million to create special foreclosure courts, staffed by retired judges, with the intent of speeding through the state’s backlog of such cases. But recent media reports in Florida and around the country, which reveal rampant error and fraud in the foreclosure process, have shown that courts should take particular care with foreclosure cases. Instead, in the rush to push foreclosure cases through the courts, Florida may be taking shortcuts and, in the process, forsaking constitutionally-required due process protections….

Filed with the Office of the State Court Administrator and the chief judges of all 20 of Florida’s circuit courts, the requests seek access to, among other things, all documents related to special court systems created to dispose of foreclosure cases and the rules and procedures in place that govern those systems…

Copies of the ACLU’s public records requests are available online at: www.aclu.org/racial-justice/aclu-seeks-information-about-constitutionality-florida-foreclosure-courts

Yves here. These initiatives are only in the early stages, but both show that the foreclosure crisis is moving from narrow legal issues to much bigger ones.

eric seiger

Small Business News: It's About The People!

Astoundingly, with the coming of social media and all that it implies for small business, there are still people who don't quite understand yet that it's all.

Cee-Lo Green sings 'Fox News' on 'Colbert Report' - The Dish Rag ...

With William Shatner and possibly Gwyneth Paltrow taking a stab at “F*** You,” Cee-Lo Green shows them how it's done.The musician appears on Comedy Central's...

Michael Jackson's 'Breaking News' Saga Continues With Tweets ...

eric seiger

Small Business News: It's About The People!

Astoundingly, with the coming of social media and all that it implies for small business, there are still people who don't quite understand yet that it's all.

Cee-Lo Green sings 'Fox News' on 'Colbert Report' - The Dish Rag ...

With William Shatner and possibly Gwyneth Paltrow taking a stab at “F*** You,” Cee-Lo Green shows them how it's done.The musician appears on Comedy Central's...

Michael Jackson's 'Breaking News' Saga Continues With Tweets ...

eric seiger

Small Business News: It's About The People!

Astoundingly, with the coming of social media and all that it implies for small business, there are still people who don't quite understand yet that it's all.

Cee-Lo Green sings 'Fox News' on 'Colbert Report' - The Dish Rag ...

With William Shatner and possibly Gwyneth Paltrow taking a stab at “F*** You,” Cee-Lo Green shows them how it's done.The musician appears on Comedy Central's...

Michael Jackson's 'Breaking News' Saga Continues With Tweets ...

eric seiger

Small Business News: It's About The People!

Astoundingly, with the coming of social media and all that it implies for small business, there are still people who don't quite understand yet that it's all.

Cee-Lo Green sings 'Fox News' on 'Colbert Report' - The Dish Rag ...

With William Shatner and possibly Gwyneth Paltrow taking a stab at “F*** You,” Cee-Lo Green shows them how it's done.The musician appears on Comedy Central's...

Michael Jackson's 'Breaking News' Saga Continues With Tweets ...

eric seiger eric seiger
eric seiger

eric seiger
eric seiger

Small Business News: It's About The People!

Astoundingly, with the coming of social media and all that it implies for small business, there are still people who don't quite understand yet that it's all.

Cee-Lo Green sings 'Fox News' on 'Colbert Report' - The Dish Rag ...

With William Shatner and possibly Gwyneth Paltrow taking a stab at “F*** You,” Cee-Lo Green shows them how it's done.The musician appears on Comedy Central's...

Michael Jackson's 'Breaking News' Saga Continues With Tweets ...

Offering homes for rent is becoming a popular choice amongst real estate investors. Rental properties allow investors to generate positive cash flow and may lead to the eventual sale of the rental home. In fact, many investors specialize in offering rentals with the option to buy.

Some investors offer homes for rent in trendy vacation locales such as beach homes and mountain retreats. Others specialize in offering luxury rentals or affordable housing. One popular niche is Section 8 rental homes which provide investors with guaranteed rent payments through the government.

The rental home market has exploded in recent years; primarily due to the number of foreclosed homeowners. Since property owners can no longer qualify for bank financing they are in need of homes for rent. Offering creative finance terms such as owner will carry or lease purchase option agreements allows investors to retain long-term tenants while generating positive cash flow for investment properties.

To achieve success in the rental market, investors need to be aware of tenant needs and wants. Most renters are looking for affordable homes in safe neighborhoods. They prefer easy access to shopping and interstate systems. Tenants with school-aged children desire rental homes in areas with good school districts.

To obtain maximum profits while offering affordable rental rates requires careful consideration when buying real estate. Many investors are seeking out foreclosure and bank owned properties, as this type of real estate is often listed 20- to 30-percent below market value.

Fannie Mae's Home Path Mortgage program is becoming a favorite source for buying bank foreclosures. Investors can purchase up to five Fannie Mae homepath properties. Many of the homes for sale qualify for HUDs Neighborhood Stabilization Program grants. NSP grants are public funds used to rehab properties in areas where foreclosure rates are high.

Most of the major banks list foreclosure homes for sale via company websites. Bank owned real estate consists of properties that did not sell through public auction. When banks take possession they remove attached liens and judgments in order to sell the property with a clean title. While bank owned homes are priced higher than properties sold through auction, all the time-consuming tasks normally associated with auction foreclosures have been taken care of.

Offering lease-to-own contracts can further maximize rental property profits. Lease options can create a win-win situation when properly constructed. Tenants provide a down payment to secure the property. Investors contribute a portion of rent money toward the purchase price.

Paying rent on time helps tenants improve credit scores so they can qualify for a mortgage loan and purchase the property within a few years. Lease purchase option agreements can be a good choice for buyers with bad credit and individuals who lost their home to foreclosure. However, tenants must commit to clearing their credit. Otherwise, they could lose all vested funds if they cannot qualify for a loan when the lease option expires.

Investors must carefully evaluate market conditions before entering into lease-to-own agreements. Perhaps the most difficult decision is determining if locking in the purchase price when lease contracts are drafted, or selling the property at fair market value when the contract expires will yield the highest profits.

These are just a few ways to profit from homes for rent. Investors unfamiliar with the rental market should consider joining real estate clubs or online networking groups. The Internet is also a good source for staying abreast of market conditions and scouting out investment properties.

eric seiger

Small Business News: It's About The People!

Astoundingly, with the coming of social media and all that it implies for small business, there are still people who don't quite understand yet that it's all.

Cee-Lo Green sings 'Fox News' on 'Colbert Report' - The Dish Rag ...

With William Shatner and possibly Gwyneth Paltrow taking a stab at “F*** You,” Cee-Lo Green shows them how it's done.The musician appears on Comedy Central's...

Michael Jackson's 'Breaking News' Saga Continues With Tweets ...

eric seiger

Small Business News: It's About The People!

Astoundingly, with the coming of social media and all that it implies for small business, there are still people who don't quite understand yet that it's all.

Cee-Lo Green sings 'Fox News' on 'Colbert Report' - The Dish Rag ...

With William Shatner and possibly Gwyneth Paltrow taking a stab at “F*** You,” Cee-Lo Green shows them how it's done.The musician appears on Comedy Central's...

Michael Jackson's 'Breaking News' Saga Continues With Tweets ...

eric seiger

Friday, November 5, 2010

personal finance books

Everywhere you turn these days, some bigwig policymaker is talking about the importance of financial literacy education. Here’s Ben Bernanke doing it. And there’s Tim Geithner and Arne Duncan. Even the President. It’s easy to understand why we feel like we need this, what with all the bad financial decision-making of recent years. The only problem is, there’s a fair amount of evidence that a lot of what we do to teach better financial habits, like courses in high school, doesn’t work. Some research has shown that financial education is more likely to stick if it’s focused on one topic and comes right before a person makes a related decision—learning about mortgages as you’re house shopping, say, or getting a lesson in compounding interest along with your credit card.

But maybe there’s a simpler approach. Maybe we should ignore real-world complexity altogether and just teach people financial rules of thumb.

A presentation at that microfinance conference last week got me going on this train of thought (although I’m by no means the first to ride it). In this experiment, researchers taught one group of small-time entrepreneurs in the Dominican Republic formal accounting, including double-entry bookkeeping, cash and working capital management and investment decision-making. Another group was taught simple rules of thumb, like “keep personal and business accounts separate” and “write everything down.” The results:

People who were offered rule-of-thumb based training showed significant improvements in the way they managed their finances as a result of the training relative to the control group which was not offered training. They were more likely to keep accounting records, calculate monthly revenues and separate their books for the business and the home. Improvements along these dimensions are on the order of a 10% increase. In contrast, we did not find any significant changes for the people in the basic accounting training. It appears that in this context, the rule-of-thumb training is more likely to be implemented by the clients than the basic accounting training.

When I caught up with Greg Fischer to ask what the U.S. consumer-class take-away might be, he was appropriately modest about his findings and hesitated to draw any universal conclusions. I lack such compunction, so let me say that I think this result contains a very important piece of wisdom. People live complicated, busy lives and the learning they are most likely to put to use is that which is simple to remember and implement. In Fischer’s study, some microentrepreneurs received follow-up training at their place of business: an educator stopped by to reinforce concepts and to answer questions. Once this happened, the group that received the formal accounting training applied what they had learned. But unless we want to set up a system in which your high school consumer finance teacher pops back up just in time for your first mortgage, rules of thumb might be the way to go.

And, actually, we already have many them. We just need to dig them out of the dustbin we tossed them into during the free-money euphoria. For example, don’t spend more than 2 1/2 times your annual salary on a house. And don’t take out more student loan debt than you expect to earn in your first year on the job (assuming you have the option). As Jack Bogle once said: ”Your bond position should equal your age. I won’t tell you this is the best investment advice you’ll ever get, but the number of pieces of advice that are worse is infinite.” It’s not terribly complicated to figure out what we need to teach. We just need to jump to it.

Are you an entrepreneur, solo business owner or freelancer? Are you keen to get regular business advice but don’t have the time to work out which blogs to subscribe to? Well, we’ve done the research for you.

Here’s a collection of business blogs aimed at entrepreneurs and small businesses. These have been chosen for their insights, advice, presentation and overall appeal to business people. Hopefully you’ll find these blogs cover all the business management advice and business trends analysis for your needs.

id="more-56526">

1. Harvard Business Review

Harvard Business Review is a staple in any entrepreneur blog collection. The blog delivers timely business analysis and professional management advice.

style="text-align: center;">

2. Young Entrepreneur

When you’re just starting our with your business venture, things can be a little tough. Young Entrepreneur focuses on the things you’ll need to know – financing, bootstrapping, identifying opportunities and making sales.

style="text-align: center;">

3. 64 Notes

64 Notes gets straight to the nuggets of gold by bypassing straightforward management tips and filling each post with those eye-opening things that change your business from alright to amazing. They also write a lot about how to avoid being the start-up that failed.

style="text-align: center;">

4. The Personal MBA

The Personal MBA is a blog dedicated to teaching all the tips and tricks you would have learned if you had done a degree in business. It recommends books, summarises books and draws on advice given freely by great minds in business. If you follow this blog you will learn a great deal about managing your business.

style="text-align: center;">

5. Instigator Blog

Instigator Blog is a very insightful blog, mainly discussing thoughts relevant to small business and entrepreneurs, written by an entrepreneur as he works on his business.

style="text-align: center;">

6. Fast Company

Fast Company is a major business blog, covering business news and trends. It’s vital information if you want to know where business is heading.

style="text-align: center;">

7. Entrepreneur Blog

Entrepreneur Blog is a site dedicated to providing business insights to entrepreneurs. It will analyse business failures, successes and trends, while offering sensible advice for any business owner.

style="text-align: center;">

8. The Entrepreneurial Mind

The Entrepreneurial Mind is a business blog written by a Belmont University professor of Entrepreneurship. His academic insight into the world of the entrepreneur is a great balance to the news and trends offered by other blogs.

style="text-align: center;">

9. Creative Web Biz

Creative Web Biz is a great blog for all the artistic entrepreneurs out there. This is a place for those people who are entrepreneurs, but don’t much care for all the business management advice and trends. This blog is entirely focused on how to get that art out there and sold. Highly recommended for musicians, artists, and makers of other crafts.

style="text-align: center;">

10. Work Happy

Work Happy is a blog offering advice for anyone in business for themselves. It’s useful for freelancers, small business owners and entrepreneurs alike. It features a lot of video presentations from entrepreneurs to keep things interesting.

style="text-align: center;">

Bonus: Entrepreneurship Interviews

Entrepreneurship Interviews added itself on to the list by being a wealth of information in the form of interviews with entrepreneurs. It’s not much to look at, but there is a lot to be gained by listening to what other entrepreneurs say candidly about their own business ventures.

More Blogs

If you’re keen to see some more great blog lists from MakeUseOf, read on:

Four Best Inspiring Blogs Every Life Hacker Should Subscribe To
3 Personal Finance Blogs That Will Get You Out Of Debt
The 10 Most Stunning Photo Blogs
6 Best Web Design Blogs To Follow
The 6 Best Blogs For Architectural & Interior Design Ideas

If you know of other great blogs for business people, let us know in the comments!

Image Credit: Shutterstock

eric seiger

Keith Olbermann suspended after donating to Democrats - Simmi ...

Olbermann has been suspending indefinitely after violating NBC's ethics policies.

Small Business News: Building Your Small Business Empire

Thinking big in your small business will stop you from ignoring potential markets, and allow you to try those super cool ideas you might think your business is.

U.S. News & World Report to Cease Printing, Become Online Only ...

US News & World Report, the magazine that in recent years has gone from a weekly, to a bi-monthly to a monthly, will no longer exist in the printed form.

eric seiger

But maybe there’s a simpler approach. Maybe we should ignore real-world complexity altogether and just teach people financial rules of thumb.

People who were offered rule-of-thumb based training showed significant improvements in the way they managed their finances as a result of the training relative to the control group which was not offered training. They were more likely to keep accounting records, calculate monthly revenues and separate their books for the business and the home. Improvements along these dimensions are on the order of a 10% increase. In contrast, we did not find any significant changes for the people in the basic accounting training. It appears that in this context, the rule-of-thumb training is more likely to be implemented by the clients than the basic accounting training.

id="more-56526">

1. Harvard Business Review

Harvard Business Review is a staple in any entrepreneur blog collection. The blog delivers timely business analysis and professional management advice.

style="text-align: center;">

2. Young Entrepreneur

style="text-align: center;">

3. 64 Notes

style="text-align: center;">

4. The Personal MBA

style="text-align: center;">

5. Instigator Blog

Instigator Blog is a very insightful blog, mainly discussing thoughts relevant to small business and entrepreneurs, written by an entrepreneur as he works on his business.

style="text-align: center;">

6. Fast Company

Fast Company is a major business blog, covering business news and trends. It’s vital information if you want to know where business is heading.

style="text-align: center;">

7. Entrepreneur Blog

Entrepreneur Blog is a site dedicated to providing business insights to entrepreneurs. It will analyse business failures, successes and trends, while offering sensible advice for any business owner.

style="text-align: center;">

8. The Entrepreneurial Mind

style="text-align: center;">

9. Creative Web Biz

style="text-align: center;">

10. Work Happy

style="text-align: center;">

Bonus: Entrepreneurship Interviews

More Blogs

If you’re keen to see some more great blog lists from MakeUseOf, read on:

Four Best Inspiring Blogs Every Life Hacker Should Subscribe To
3 Personal Finance Blogs That Will Get You Out Of Debt
The 10 Most Stunning Photo Blogs
6 Best Web Design Blogs To Follow
The 6 Best Blogs For Architectural & Interior Design Ideas

If you know of other great blogs for business people, let us know in the comments!

Image Credit: Shutterstock

eric seiger

Keith Olbermann suspended after donating to Democrats - Simmi ...

Olbermann has been suspending indefinitely after violating NBC's ethics policies.

Small Business News: Building Your Small Business Empire

Thinking big in your small business will stop you from ignoring potential markets, and allow you to try those super cool ideas you might think your business is.

U.S. News & World Report to Cease Printing, Become Online Only ...

US News & World Report, the magazine that in recent years has gone from a weekly, to a bi-monthly to a monthly, will no longer exist in the printed form.

eric seiger

eric seiger

eric seiger

Keith Olbermann suspended after donating to Democrats - Simmi ...

Olbermann has been suspending indefinitely after violating NBC's ethics policies.

Small Business News: Building Your Small Business Empire

Thinking big in your small business will stop you from ignoring potential markets, and allow you to try those super cool ideas you might think your business is.

U.S. News & World Report to Cease Printing, Become Online Only ...

US News & World Report, the magazine that in recent years has gone from a weekly, to a bi-monthly to a monthly, will no longer exist in the printed form.

eric seiger

But maybe there’s a simpler approach. Maybe we should ignore real-world complexity altogether and just teach people financial rules of thumb.

People who were offered rule-of-thumb based training showed significant improvements in the way they managed their finances as a result of the training relative to the control group which was not offered training. They were more likely to keep accounting records, calculate monthly revenues and separate their books for the business and the home. Improvements along these dimensions are on the order of a 10% increase. In contrast, we did not find any significant changes for the people in the basic accounting training. It appears that in this context, the rule-of-thumb training is more likely to be implemented by the clients than the basic accounting training.

id="more-56526">

1. Harvard Business Review

Harvard Business Review is a staple in any entrepreneur blog collection. The blog delivers timely business analysis and professional management advice.

style="text-align: center;">

2. Young Entrepreneur

style="text-align: center;">

3. 64 Notes

style="text-align: center;">

4. The Personal MBA

style="text-align: center;">

5. Instigator Blog

Instigator Blog is a very insightful blog, mainly discussing thoughts relevant to small business and entrepreneurs, written by an entrepreneur as he works on his business.

style="text-align: center;">

6. Fast Company

Fast Company is a major business blog, covering business news and trends. It’s vital information if you want to know where business is heading.

style="text-align: center;">

7. Entrepreneur Blog

Entrepreneur Blog is a site dedicated to providing business insights to entrepreneurs. It will analyse business failures, successes and trends, while offering sensible advice for any business owner.

style="text-align: center;">

8. The Entrepreneurial Mind

style="text-align: center;">

9. Creative Web Biz

style="text-align: center;">

10. Work Happy

style="text-align: center;">

Bonus: Entrepreneurship Interviews

More Blogs

If you’re keen to see some more great blog lists from MakeUseOf, read on:

Four Best Inspiring Blogs Every Life Hacker Should Subscribe To
3 Personal Finance Blogs That Will Get You Out Of Debt
The 10 Most Stunning Photo Blogs
6 Best Web Design Blogs To Follow
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eric seiger

eric seiger

Keith Olbermann suspended after donating to Democrats - Simmi ...

Olbermann has been suspending indefinitely after violating NBC's ethics policies.

Small Business News: Building Your Small Business Empire

Thinking big in your small business will stop you from ignoring potential markets, and allow you to try those super cool ideas you might think your business is.

U.S. News & World Report to Cease Printing, Become Online Only ...

US News & World Report, the magazine that in recent years has gone from a weekly, to a bi-monthly to a monthly, will no longer exist in the printed form.

eric seiger

eric seiger

Keith Olbermann suspended after donating to Democrats - Simmi ...

Olbermann has been suspending indefinitely after violating NBC's ethics policies.

Small Business News: Building Your Small Business Empire

Thinking big in your small business will stop you from ignoring potential markets, and allow you to try those super cool ideas you might think your business is.

U.S. News & World Report to Cease Printing, Become Online Only ...

US News & World Report, the magazine that in recent years has gone from a weekly, to a bi-monthly to a monthly, will no longer exist in the printed form.

eric seiger

Keith Olbermann suspended after donating to Democrats - Simmi ...

Olbermann has been suspending indefinitely after violating NBC's ethics policies.

Small Business News: Building Your Small Business Empire

Thinking big in your small business will stop you from ignoring potential markets, and allow you to try those super cool ideas you might think your business is.

U.S. News & World Report to Cease Printing, Become Online Only ...

US News & World Report, the magazine that in recent years has gone from a weekly, to a bi-monthly to a monthly, will no longer exist in the printed form.

eric seiger

Keith Olbermann suspended after donating to Democrats - Simmi ...

Olbermann has been suspending indefinitely after violating NBC's ethics policies.

Small Business News: Building Your Small Business Empire

Thinking big in your small business will stop you from ignoring potential markets, and allow you to try those super cool ideas you might think your business is.

U.S. News & World Report to Cease Printing, Become Online Only ...

US News & World Report, the magazine that in recent years has gone from a weekly, to a bi-monthly to a monthly, will no longer exist in the printed form.

eric seiger eric seiger
eric seiger

eric seiger
eric seiger

Keith Olbermann suspended after donating to Democrats - Simmi ...

Olbermann has been suspending indefinitely after violating NBC's ethics policies.

Small Business News: Building Your Small Business Empire

Thinking big in your small business will stop you from ignoring potential markets, and allow you to try those super cool ideas you might think your business is.

U.S. News & World Report to Cease Printing, Become Online Only ...

US News & World Report, the magazine that in recent years has gone from a weekly, to a bi-monthly to a monthly, will no longer exist in the printed form.

big seminar 14

We live in a country where millions of citizens have found themselves in overwhelming amounts of debt. Students have been taught throughout their lives about math. science, history, English, health and countless other subjects. Most students are required to be taught basic sewing and cooking, foreign languages, woodworking, and even welding. Yet there is no mandatory class to teach them about the importance of managing their income, expenses and debt. This seems like a gross oversight to me.

Even the elective classes which do cover some business and economics have rarely discussed personal finance at length. The extent of their discussions are usually how to balance a checkbook, and/or how to follow the stock market.

There are people who would argue that personal finance is the sort of subject that is traditionally left to the parents to teach their children. The primary purpose of schooling is and has always been to prepare students, both mentally and socially, for the rigors of their adult lives. 50 years ago, their influence may have been limited to traditional subjects, but today's school system is involved in many aspects of a young adults life. Moreover, the rules which govern personal finance are not subjective. They are systematic and beneficial to everyone.

Most of the students in recent generations have followed a similar, destructive path in their personal finances. After receiving a weekly allowance, perhaps working a part-time job while in high school, they are set loose in college to manage their expenses. While they were in high school they bought CDs, went out with their friends, and went to special events with their money. In college, they find that they must pay for food, housing, books, supplies, and transit costs. Even if they work while going to school, and even if their schooling is fully funded, there are unexpected costs that inevitably occur the first time away from home.

More to the point, the student has already become accustomed to being able to spend their money on non-essentials. They have begun to feel entitled to these essentials ("I earned it, after all") whether or not these costs are covered. Add to this the extensive presence of credit card and 'private student loan' companies on college campuses, and you have a recipe for disaster. They have not been taught to be wary of the buy now, pay later mentality.

If the student does not go to college, or has the luxury of having their expenses paid for, they will still suffer when they inevitably must manage their own finances in their adult life.

It is not a coincidence that so many adults in their early 20s make financial mistakes, which they will pay for for many years to come. It is simply a product of the system we have put into place. High school students must be taught the basics of personal finance if they are to thrive in today's economic world.

eric seiger