I’m not the poster child of an entrepreneur.
I’m a pretty bad candidate for running a business. That’s where the internet comes in.
There’s information all over the place. Have a question? Google it or tweet it and you’ll get an answer.
Here are 3 things that I attribute to my ability to work for myself and make more money than I’ve ever made at a “job”. Read More
One of the most difficult yet rewarding times in my life occurred when I went to work four months after my first child was born in January 2006. I had accepted a job as an accountant and was trying to finish the last part of my MBA. Thus, in March 2006, in the midst of tax season, I managed to complete my MBA program.
The summer of 2006 was equally eventful. My husband and I decided to move to Tennessee and I discovered that I was pregnant with our second child. I discovered the pregnancy after I had accepted a new job offer. This time, instead of completing an MBA during tax season, I was going to give birth. Read More
We recently kicked off #YakChat on Twitter a couple weeks ago and it was so much fun! Given most of us work and/or have families, we’ve chosen 6pm PST / 9pm EST every second and fourth Wednesday of the month to engage. With a spacing of every two weeks, the idea is to give the Yakezie Community a chance to connect, discuss something educational, and promote and welcome an expert in the field of discussion.
At the end of each hour long #YakChat, we’ll highlight some of the things we’ve learned in a post like I’m writing today. Knowledge is power, and I’m convinced that the more we know, the wealthier and happier we’ll be. Each #YakChat will have Yakezie Member act as the main moderator who will be responsible for gathering pertinent questions, connecting with an expert, and if possible finding a sponsor as a bonus. The host of a particular #YakChat session will then type up his or her notes in a post and publish for all to read. Thanks to Daniel from Sweating The Big Stuff for kicking off the initiative and hosting the first round!
UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL LENDING IN A WORLD FULL OF INVESTMENT LANDMINES Read More
Barbara Friedberg, MBA, MS is editor-in-chief of BarbaraFriedberg Personal Finance.com where she writes to educate, inspire, and motivate for wealth in money and life. Learn about personal finance from a real life Portfolio Manager & MBA professor! Stop by the website and download a valuable free eBook, 20 Minute Guide to Investing.
Last February, my husband accepted a new job across the country. After a four year search, he finally found the right match. In April, we visited our new land and in one day, after previewing about 10 properties, bid on a short sale condo. We were warned that purchasing a short sale property was fraught with problems, but we just could not pass up the price!
Although the new job officially started September 1, my hubby decided to leave his current job on June 10th. Due to some side hustle income, a nice savings account, and my income (at least for awhile), we prepared for the hiatus from the daily grind.
A benefit of arduous saving and planning is the opportunity for the long break from paid work!
Our plan was this:
As a web designer—someone who designs and writes code for a living—I tend to get caught up in the technical parts of the business of content. I think about servers, browsers, and code all day long, so when new technologies come down the pike like HTML5 and CSS3, I get really excited. I mean who wouldn’t….right?
As it turns out, most people, including those who make their living producing content on the web don’t care at all about HTML and CSS, not matter what version happens to be in use. As a blogger, you want the tool that you are using to work, and be a simple as possible. And I agree, on some level, that that is exactly how it should be. But, the shift to HTML5 is such a major evolution for the web that will impact you in many ways that you may not even realize yet. So, with the goal in mind to help prepare you for the future, this article is simply an explanation of what this new language is, and, more importantly, why you should care about it.
Hi everybody. I’m Matt from the Living In Financial Excellence blog. I’m super excited to be here and [finally] writing my member post.
I’d always considered myself to be good with money.
But I was also doing some dumb things with money. I had car payments when I got older. I spent money when I felt like it and often bought at full price. Even though I was investing, I was only putting away $50 a month, as opposed to my $400 car payments. As soon as we paid off our car, we went and got another car payment.
Pretty stupid behaviors if you ask me now, but back then it seemed perfectly fine because everyone I knew had a car payment, etc. so I figured it must just be a way of life. As long as I was doing better than my broke friends, I felt pretty good about our finances.
SOMETHING CLICKED WHEN I HIT MY 30’s Read More
When I first started blogging, oh how I dreamed of being a full-time blogger. You know, kicking back in your pajamas, checking e-mails and interacting with folks online all day. However, after passing the two year mark, I’m not so sure. The reason why vacations are so enjoyable is partly because of work. While the reason why success is so gratifying is because of countless failures.
Blogging is 100% a hobby of mine where there is little pressure to succeed. There are no posting schedules to upkeep and there are no advertising commitments to fulfill. If only a dollar of online income comes one month, I don’t sweat it because I don’t blog for the money. Money is a byproduct of doing something consistent. Writing and interacting with the community are simply some of the most fun things I’ve ever done. And yes, I admit I am a blogging addict.
So what would happen if I suddenly had no job and had to rely on only blogging for income. Oh my, I must believe my stress level would shoot through the roof as I wonder how to live off under $200,000 a year in San Francisco! I’m being facetious about the $200,000 figure, as even in an expensive place like San Francisco, you can live quit well off much less and not just have to eat ramen!
If I couldn’t get my old job back after a couple years of trying, I’d probably sell 90% of my assets and relocate to somewhere cheaper. The problem with that strategy is that I love it in San Francisco, and don’t want to leave, unless it’s to Hawaii! Let’s discover some of the downsides and upsides of being a professional blogger shall we?
DOWNSIDES OF TURNING YOUR HOBBY INTO A FULL-TIME JOB Read More
Just because you’re a blogging purist doesn’t mean you can’t make money from your site. You can blog for fun, to educate the troops, or gain a sense of community and still monetize your blog without being considered a sellout. Once you develop a trusting relationship with your readers, you can subtly offer them value added services that help solve their problems. But the key guideline to prevent your blog from turning into an infomercial is to only advocate products you would actually use yourself.
I know that sounds simple, but I’ll say it again, endorse products you would actually use that provide a clear benefit to your reader. I’m mainly talking about affiliate marketing here since you have full control over what you promote. CPC (Cost-Per-Click) advertising like Google AdSense is a little different since you don’t have too much say over which products are displayed on your site. There’s nothing wrong with a little CPC, but I’ll leave it out of this discussion since you cannot promote it (that’s almost always against the terms and conditions). However, you can promote affiliate products and services on your site. Read More
Untemplater: Congrats on getting so many consecutive features on Google News! That’s phenomenal! Writing on...Untemplater: You nailed it. I also believe great marketing is very helpful in the beginning but it’s really...
Jamie: Awesome insights thanks! I’ve been a big fan of Sam’s for years. Really exciting that he’s...Untemplater: There are so many overpriced ecourses online it’s crazy. They use very aggressive marketing tactics to...
Andy: Thousand-dollar e-courses are a total scam. You can learn everything online for free. Shame on people who sell...Untemplater: There are a lot of bloggers out there who focus on small stuff like should you or should you not spend...
Derek: It’s fascinating how some bloggers continue to just mindlessly pump out affiliate content. It’s clear they are...Untemplater: Lots of valid points! So true that bloggers are a minority of overall readership, so blogging to much...
Bingo: You are spot on. Most of our bloggers are white people living on the coasts, where half the population of...
Financial Samurai: Hi Jim – Nice to hear from you. It was too much work running Yakezie. Too many people wanted...
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