My wife and I have been victims of identity theft.

It’s a sad story.

If things had gone the way we planned, right now, my wife and I would be planning a move into a new condo.

The time was just right. We had saved up the money for a good down payment. My income was finally firming up. Interest rates are fairly low. Prices on the condos we wanted are currently falling like a lead balloon. We could afford exactly what we wanted.

We have been watching and waiting for the right place.

We fell in love with a particular place a few years ago. I am not much of a fan of condos, but this was better than anything I have seen anywhere. Unfortunately, besides not having the money for it, units in the complex were not often available. Especially the size we wanted. All that has changed in the last few months. It looked like this was going to be our chance to find a nearly perfect place and price. We were ready to start looking at mortgages.

We also had kept looking at other places.

We were checking all the homes for sale in the area. Calling the hotlines to see if there were any other better options than what we were thinking about. We found a few other options in homes that we were thinking about. When the time came to sign, we wanted to know we were satisified we had found the best place for us. Things were looking very good and very affordable right now.

All that changed with a call  to my cell phone from a collection agency looking for my wife.

Now, my wife and I do not have any debts. Our cars are paid off. We have no loans. We use credit cards, but pay the balance off in full every month. The only time I have ever missed a payment was once I tried to schedule a payment to pay while I was on vacation. The credit card company counted as two payments for the preceding month (even though that had been paid full before it was due) instead of counting it the month I thought.

We should have had an excellent credit rating.

We should have gotten excellent interest rates. We should have had our choice of mortgages to choose from. We both have never been late or missed a payment even before we were married. My wife was even better at paying them off monthly than I was.

What happened to our credit rating?

The call from the collection agency was just the tip of the iceberg. While I will not go into details, we had to pay the card off immediately. I then ordered credit histories for myself and my wife. Mine was very good. My wife’s was a different story.

Unknown to us, my wife’s credit history had years of bad credit card payments.

It was even worse. There were three more cards in her name that were overdue and nearly into collection also. She had no knowledge of those cards. Again, I cannot go into the details, but we cannot just claim fraud even though we were not responsible for the cards or the debt. While definitely victims of identity theft, we are still stuck with the ruined credit history and the debts in it. We do not have a real choice.

It will be two years before we can even think about applying for a mortgage now.

We used more than we were planning to use for a down payment to pay off the credit cards in my wife’s name. So now we also have no downpayment. It was a devasting blow to go from finding what you want, to being in worse shape than when you began saving in the first place.

I find most people think identity theft comes from using your credit card online.

I think that this is truly a rare occurrence. Most identity theft happens by far more older traditional methods. Those “pre-approved” credit card applications are just one source. There are many ways it can happen. Let’s face it, how many times this year have you needed to provide personal information for a legitimate reason? How do you know that your information is not getting stolen from those you need to give it to? Major retailers have admitted to losing customer data. Many large employers have had employee data lost or stolen. Even our blessed US Government has had entire hard drives lost with personal data of citizens on them.

For me, I have always thought I would get identity theft protection sometime in the future.

Maybe I thought I needed to make more money first. Maybe I thought the chances of it happening to me were too slim. I have known about Lifelock and their identity theft service for a long time and just simply put it off too long. I even had a very good reason sign up last August (a great company I work with announced a special Lifelock offer to members). Had we gotten Lifelock then, we may have been able to save our credit rating. We would have avoided the situation completely if we had signed up with Lifelock a few years ago when I first though it looked like a good idea.

We could have avoided the whole mess with Lifelock.

Credit card accounts in our name could not have been opened without our knowledge. We would have known about accounts wrongly attached to our credit history. We would have regularly seen our credit history – I put that off too long also. We also would have had the million dollar insurance to clean up the mess.

Some of what Lifelock does you can do yourself.

For free. You are entitled to a free copy of your credit history from each of the credit burau . You can request that credit card companies stop sending you applications by mail. Lifelock does this for you though, and keeps it all up to date. Many of these things need to be kept updated or you get put back on the list after a few months. Lifelock takes care of that for you and gives you a one stop source for starting and keeping it up to date.

You need to take steps to protect yourself from identity theft now!

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Either take action yourself, or get Lifelock. Start immediately. Time can truly make a difference. I know this post sound like a commecial for Lifelock. In a way, it is. I do get a commission if you choose to buy from my links. Lifelock is also a service I personally now use and recommend to friends and family. I once thought I would wait a bit or that I did not yet make enough for the cost to be worth it – I was wrong. Nearly anyone can afford what Lifelock charges a month and you’ll sleep better. It is simply good and inexpensive insurance. If you do not go the Lifelock route, you need to start taking serious steps to prevent identity theft yourself, starting today.

Not taking action cost my wife and I our dream home.

It cost us our credit rating. It cost us our entire downpayment that we had saved and then some. We may get the money back someday (while possible it won’t happen anytime soon), but we may be losing the best chance on a great deal on the place we wanted. It is difficult to put a price on what the cost has truly been to my wife and I. It has been devastating and I know the hurt feeling my wife has everytime we pass a home for sale now. We do not even have a reason to look anymore.

The AdSense Program is Free!

This is almost unbelievable!

A few weeks ago the Inside AdSense blog had a post about people thinking they had paid to join the AdSense program.

The complaint they had is that they had been rejected after paying. In some cases, the purchase was for a CD.

I am not even sure this is a scam or just outright stupidity.

When I first read the post, the idea of one company charging someone to join a program run by another program seemed like an outright scam. It is. After reading some of the comments left on the post over the past weeks, I begin to wonder if these people (those who were scammed) really just paid money and never read what they were doing. I would like to see one of these sites.

Some of the comments on the Inside AdSense blog were jaw-dropping.

• One person did not even seem to read the post. He was still confused because he had read you needed to by a CD that came with a free Website.
• One person wanted to know how to blog and advertise.
• One person had gotten an AdSense account but still did not know how he was supposed to make money.

There was a point that some of the programs the post was referring to used AdWords to Advertise.

This commenter wondered if Google was partially responsible. Maybe just a bit, but I would hate to see Google trying to check all the AdSense ads under this kind of scrutiny. It would take forever for ads to be approved and we would not have as many advertisers using the AdSense program. Not because they are bad, just because of the extended hassle advertisers would face.

It does not cost anything to join the AdSense program.

You do not need to buy a CD. You do not go through another company. You only work with Google. You will need a Website that they will approve I believe, but that is all. If you do not have a Website, you have no way of using AdSense. You can make a free Blogger blog and get into the AdSense program with that, but you need to actually have created content first.

If you blog, create Websites, or do Internet Marketing the Inside AdSense blog is a must subscribe.

It is a good source of information on many topics you need to be familiar with, including AdSense. Even if you are not in the AdSense program. It is also good for entertainment as well. I find it amazing that John Chow has more subscribers than Inside AdSense.

Check out the Inside AdSense post below.

What do you think? Are some people just too stupid? Were they looking for instant money? Was this an outright scam? Was it totally misleading? Were these people purchasing a Website and thinking they were purchasing the right to the AdSense program? Do you think Google shares in the responsibility?

Inside AdSense: A word of caution A word of caution Of late, we’ve received a few emails from new AdSense applicants about not being accepted into the program despite paying a specific amount of money or buying a CD package. We’d like to take this opportunity to state that we’re not affiliated with any third-parties that solicit payment to join the AdSense program or that sell CDs with money-back guarantee offers. AdSense is a free product offered to publishers by Google Inc., and there’s no cost or obligation involved. As a result, we recommend that prospective publishers exercise caution when presented with such offers.

 Let me know what you think about the AdSense scam.

Should you have Ads on your blog?

If so, what should they be?

What are your opinions on ads? How do you feel about affiliate links where the blogger makes money recommending a product? What do you think is an appropriate ad or form of monetization for a blog. Do you feel a make money online blog should be treated the same as another niche? I’d like to know how you feel about these questions.

Courtney Tuttle asked the question in a recent post "Is selling ads evil?"

This is in response to some bloggers who do not have ads on their blogs and do not plan to. The comments on the post also go into not only having ads, but what is really appropriate for a blog, especially in the make money online blogging niche. I really suggest you read his post and the comments as the bloggers in question made comments also.

Is Selling Ads Evil? | Internet Marketing | Strategy & Services To me, in a perfect world, we would all only make money through affiliate offers of products and services we have tried and endorse ourselves on all of our sites. I would like to hope that people trust me even though I sell ads, I certainly would never point you guys in a post toward a product that I didn’t use

Do you think running ads on a blog is appropriate?

I would like to say that I agree with Court’s point that having ads is not evil. I also agree that I would much rather see ads than see a blog end because the owner loses interest. If you can make a good income from ads, I would think the interest would last more.

So many of us have been taught that "Money is the root of all evil."

That statement is actually a misquote of the Bible. The truthful term is "The love of money is the root of all evil." Misquoting God is another source of evil. It worked on Eve and seems have continued working on many people today. We pay heavily for listening to those misquotes.

I find that people without money seem to love it more than those who have what they need and want.

They are focused on what they do not have that others have. It can become an obsession. Where am I going to get the rent for next week? How am I going to pay that bill? I deserve that new car as much as he does. Or even worse, "The rich are not paying their fair share." It becomes covetousness. Beware when you start hearing the phrase "It’s not fair!"

So what ads should you have?

One problem with a blog is there is a given endorsement by you just for showing an ad. It can affect the respect people will give you. Take online dating services for example. There are a lot of  sleazy ads and services. I have seen some ads on blogs that make me wonder what kind of ethics the blogger has.

It is worse for the make money online blogging niche.

There are a lot of products out there that are overpriced and over-hyped. There are some outright scams. There are shady practices. This can really have an impact on your name or brand. I think there was a bit of embarrassment from those who promoted the $9.95 Joel Comm product that found their readers felt tricked. This can happen real easy and it may even be out of your control once you have promoted it. Even if it seem like a good product to you.

Should you promote something you have not tried?

This is really the sticky question. If you run AdSense, it would be difficult for you to even try the products (you would even get penalized clicking your links to see what the product was). Yet, for many niches, AdSense on of the best ways to monetize and no one thinks there is anything wrong with using it. There are lots of products that could be advertised that you might not be able to try for several reasons.

Sometimes, you’ll still have problems without making money from a product.

Some people want advice just so they can argue with your suggestions.

I saw this a lot in the photography business.

I hated when someone would ask for advice. It was almost always the same thing. I would be told someone at the counter wanted advice on what camera to buy. I was very busy. We did not sell cameras so there was no financial gain for me (other than being able to show them better pictures when they came in for processing).

I would give the advice asked for, and they would literally argue with me.

My advice was based on what I used. It was bases on seeing millions of photos and finding out what ones were taken with what cameras. Still, these idiots would tell me that this camera had such and such features and so and so said it was good. They wanted to by a camera make I knew was junk (most of those camera makers still make junk). Why, did they ask me then? They asked me, I did not come to them. I had work to do instead of stand there arguing.

I see this happen with bloggers.

They offer advice or help, much of it very good. You will see a comment on how this post was not up to the bloggers normal standards and they are going to unsubscribe, never return, or hack the blog. At least I have not had to face that here yet, I am no expert yet. I have seen it though. I bet a lot more of these types of comments are deleted before we see them.

You may face the same problem of your credibility if you have ads or not.

Anytime you give advice, you put yourself up to criticism. It does not matter if you make money from it or not. I think you might as well make money from your advise. I say put the ad or affiliate link up.

What about products you do not have experience with?

I am planning a post about hosting. While I can speak from experience about the hosts I use, what about hosts others I trust recommend? Should I not even mention or link to them? If I mention them, is it wrong to give an affiliate link and make money from it even though I do not have experience with them? They are going to pay the same if they choose the host from my link or not. What if things change at a host I do recommend from experience and things go bad?

What about generic text ads like AdSense?

Do you feel that there is endorsement by the site they are on? Besides the question of are they ugly or do they disturb the reader or site layout. Do you feel they are dishonest in any way. Do you think the average Internet surfer feels they are part of the site?

I think that there are some differences.

I think there can be a difference between endorsing a product and showing an ad for it. I also think that the blogger or Internet marketer also needs to look at each situation and make sure that he is not misleading readers into thinking an ad or link is an endorsement when it is not. I think an endorsement is something that takes even more care than an ad. It is a personal recommendation. It should be treated like advice to a friend.

What are your opinions?

No arguments please.:)

Choose the right domain name for your online business!

How do you know you have chosen the right domain name for your blog or website?

There are a few good rules you should always follow. There are also lots of examples of successful blogs or websites that break those rules. Still, following the rules will help make things easier for you to get your site to rank well in the search engines. Keep in mind that even when I give examples of rule breaking domains, these are the exceptions and you will be better off following the rules.

Let’s get started.

Always, always get a .com domain!

This is probably the single most important rule I can think of. Chances are, if you try to work on a non .com domain, all you are doing is advertising for the owner of the .com. You may be tempted to save money with a .info (I was) but after talking to those who have done some research, .info’s seem to rank lower in the SE’s (search engines) than .com’s.

Darren at problogger.net spent years trying to get the .com domain for Problogger. Now that he finally has it, it is not easy to switch the domain over to the .com without taking a hit from the search engines. At least now Darren can redirect the traffic from the .com that he was losing back to his original domain.

An example of another successful non .com domain would be del.icio.us.

del.icio.us is a popular social bookmarking site. Probably one of the few well known .us domains. Of course, if you have the option of a .edu or .gov domain those might make an exception, but most people will automatically put a .com on the end of a domain if they try to type it in. Avoid the chance and stick with a .com over any local or other type of domain.

Try to have a niche related keyword in the domain.

While not as important to SEO anymore, it may still help you rank a bit better if you have a popular keyword for your niche in your title. Also, Google bold faces the keyword if it is in the domain. Also, when someone sees the keyword in the domain itself, they know that site is likely to be about the subject they are searching for. Every little bit helps.

Keep is short and simple.

Shorter will be easier to remember, write down, and spell. Avoid too many words. Avoid words that are easy to misspell. We all want success, but can everyone spell it? Is that with one or two C’s and S’s?

Check your spelling.

I remember a demonstration video where the author did a search for possible domains and purchased a domain before realizing it was misspelled. Double check your spelling before you click the purchase button (triple check if you spell like me). Google is a play on the word googol. Sometimes spelling may not be that important.

Don’t use hyphens or dashes.

These are nearly impossible to tell someone unless they read the domain name. Maybe you will run a radio advertisement or be on a podcast someday. It is really inconvenient to explain dashes by voice. While the dashes or hyphens can make it easier to read the domain in a listing, you are better off just avoiding them.

Avoid trademarked names in your domain.

Even if you are planning to do an affiliate program for a company, avoid using and trademarked names in your domain. Nearly all affiliates will have a list of words that you cannot use in a domain if you wish to advertise their product. Even if you do get permission from someone at the company remember the person that replaces him or her may not feel the same. Don’t become lawyer bait. Find a related generic term. That way if the Zune never takes off your mp3 player site can still talk about iPods.

Avoid using free domain name search tools.

More than once I have read complaints from someone who used one of these services only to find that the domain names they checked were suddenly taken. I understand that there are some sites that apparently use the searches people do to find potential domains to purchase for themselves. Stick with the domain search tools provided by your registrar.

If you have the time and money, a used domain can have advantages.

A domain that has already been used can give your site or blog some advantages from the start. It may already have some page rank associated with it. It may have links pointing to it. It may still have some traffic coming to it. This can help your site hit the ground already running. It could also have been banned or delisted considered spam or associated with bad subject material that will prevent the domain from becoming successful at any level. If you go this route, be careful and check everything you can about the domain first.

Stick with well-known reliable domain registrars.

It will do you no good to save a few dollars on your domain if you cannot renew it because the registrar is messed up. This has happened to me. I also know someone who lost hundreds of domains and thousands of dollars in monthly income after a registrar failed to renew domains that he had renewed.

There are 3 registrars that I trust.

GoDaddy.com , eNom, and NameCheap. GoDaddy is the best known. Avoid purchasing anything other than the domain and whois protection. They will try to sell you everything under the sun. Also, I rarely hear good things about their hosting. I find eNom expensive. I do recommend NameCheap. They have been reliable and very affordable. The GoDaddy link is an affiliate link. This site is registered with GoDaddy, I have one or two with eNom and the rest are now with NameCheap. Personally, I find NameCheap to be much easier to buy from than GoDaddy.

The most important rule is to get your own domain.

Any domain is better than no domain. Use your name (unless your last name is difficult to spell like mine). If you are putting your traditional business online, using the company’s name would be good, or using part of the company’s name.

There are lots of examples of very successful blogs and sites that do not necessarily follow the rules I have given. Many popular blogs are on domain names of the author’s name. There is whatever.com that has become a million dollar business for a teenage girl. However, these recommendations should help your site get more traffic from the SE’s.

Google Introduced AdSense For Conversation Today.

This could be a fantastic way to profit and shorten even those unwanted conversations.

Imagine, you see that dweeb approaching and think:

"Not him again! I wasted my lunch break yesterday while he told be all about his 10 year old’s potty training from the weekend."

Well, now you can simple click the ad that appears and go on to some more interesting but related topic. Or, maybe he will see the ad for that potty training for 10 year olds and leave you alone.

Think of the possibilities for AdSense for Conversation arbitrage.

You can now use and advertisement close at hand to start a money making conversation. You don’t even need to own the other advertisment, just stand near a sign and start a conversation with a passer-by. Once the conversation starts, Google’s algorithms will find ads matching the conversation for your mark to click on.

My only fear is that all the above will really create made for AdSense conversations of low quality.

I am sure Google will insure this does not happen. Probably penalizing speakers that do not use proper grammar or are paid speakers. One question is how this will affect political speakers and conversation. With the coming elections, this is sure to be a hot niche that will be abused.

AdSense for conversation looks to be one of the most profitable and easy to use AdSense programs.

For more information, check the post at the AdSense blog below.

Inside AdSense: Introducing AdSense for conversations

Introducing AdSense for conversations We’re happy to announce the launch of AdSense for conversations, a new type of monetization solution that "puts the ‘context’ in contextual advertising". Now, in just a few simple steps, you can begin displaying ads that are relevant to the topics you’re discussing — in an unobtrusive screen above your head.

I thought this was a  much better announcement than the Gmail announcement today.

The single most important investment in your blog or website is your domain name.

While it will not be the first decision you make about your blog or Internet marketing business, it will be the basis for your business. Obviously, one of the decisions you need to make before the domain name is the subject or niche the blog or site will be in. That will affect your choice of domain name. Still, the domain name is the most important part of your internet business that you will have to invest money in, even though the money is extremely small.

Here are three reasons your domain name is important to your online income.

It can give your internet business equity, first of all.

Your domain name is your property. Just like a brick and mortar business that owns it’s own land and building. Even if the business closes or fails, the property can still be sold. Without the domain name, you really do not have any online business that is yours and yours alone to sell.

As you build on your domain, you will actually be improving its value, just like improving any property. Sometimes, just buying a domain name can increase its value. There are domain for sale that have not even been used but have value now that they have been discovered.

Location, location, location is the second reason.

Just as the right location can make or break a traditional business, a good domain can help your online business. Your domain is your address on the internet. It is how people will get to your blog or site. Without it your business is homeless.

Unlike a bad traditional business location, a bad domain name can be overcome with work. You still need to have the location in the first place.

Third, it gives your internet business or blog Independence.

If you are using a Blogger domain, you are at the mercy of Blogger. If for some reason they decide to close your account, your business is dead. You have nothing. Even if you have backups of all the content, no one has a place to find it anymore.

With your own domain, you are free from interference and problems with your host. If you have a dispute, you can move your content and business to another host and still have the address and URL that all the links point to. In effect, you are free from censorship. If you run a spam site, all you need is to find hosting that does not mind. You can always move if you discover they in fact, do. While most of us (myself included) have no plans on anything that would need to be censored, it is nice to know you can voice your own thought without losing your business.

Let’s face it, we do not always agree with Google.

Why would you also let them decide if what you want to do with your site should even be online? Post too regularly and resemble automatic content? Your blogger account could be suspended. Along with your income from it. I know, it has happened to me. No big deal, I asked for them to recheck it, and after looking at it, they agreed it was not spam. Still, had I relied on that site for income, I would have been out the income for the several days it took to go through the process. Avoid at least this risk with a domain that will allow you to move and keep your blog or site up.

The cost of a domain name is small.

As little as $10 can get you an online property that can increase in value. It is a small risk to pay for the advantages. Even if you want to keep Blogger for your hosting and blog platform, your own domain can increase the potential for your income. Yes, you can be successful without a domain name, but you can be more successful with one.

Coming soon, how to choose the right domain name.

Get it right the first time.

Do you know of any other advantages to your own domain name I haven’t given?

Comment and share it with others.

There are lots of reasons for wanting to work from home or make money online.

One of my main personal reasons for wanting to be self-employed is from an incident that is very personal to me. Something happened while I was in high school that made a profound impression on my life and what I want to do for employment.

I will be naming the company involved. However, if I could remember some of those who were supposed to be leaders of the respective parties involved, I would. I have little respect for those involved on both sides. While the company, and those in charge of it, I feel is worthy of my disdain, I believe the leaders of the opposing side are also self-serving scumbags.

I will also be naming a well known national politician that also tried to use the situation for his own personal advancement.

I hope that those of you who are probably thinking of supporting the presidential nominee his party will be proposing this fall will take notice. Nearly all the promises (or even day to day statements) made by any politician of his party are not only the same, but made with the same self-serving interests at heart. It makes my stomach retch every time I hear these people talk.

Now, on to the story that drives me to be self-employed.

While I was growing up, my father worked for the Patrick Cudahy meat processing company.

That is the company involved. My father worked as a foreman. He was a dedicated employee. He had an excellent attendance record. He had even received several mugs for perfect attendance. The only time I remember him needing to miss any work was when he had needed an operation on his thumb. The operation was to fix a nerve in his thumb which had been cut with a blade at Patrick Cudahy. As a foreman, my dad was sometimes not paid as much as the union workers he was overseeing.

Before I get nasty, I must tell you that I have no complaints with union workers in general.

My Grandfather was a union worker at Patrick Cudahy before my dad worked there. We had many personal friends that worked for the union at Patrick Cudahy. They were hard working folks that were trying to provide for their families. At the same time, my dad needed to work extra hard as some workers did not earn their pay and he was responsible to see the work was done. But not even that is the cause of the situation.

Back in the 80′s, the union and the company started to have some major disagreements.

There were a few small, short strikes but during my senior year at high school things got really out of control. The union leaders claimed they needed more. The company was really beginning to threaten to simple close the plant and move. The city of Cudahy is named after Patrick Cudahy just like the company.

A long strike began.

During this strike, I even went through the strike lines a few times to pick up my dad from work. Why they feel the need for strike workers to march around a Mazda GLC at 10:00pm at night as you enter and leave is beyond me. I really wondered how intelligent the strikers were calling anyone going through a “Scab” when they called me one and I was not doing much more than the bus driver down the street. That is one of the better terms they used. Of course, some of these honest workers had been throwing rocks and eggs at vehicles going through at times.

I have not gotten to the ugly part of the situation yet.

The union leaders were really good at convincing their workers how “unfair” their wages and benefits were. The company was the great evil capitalist and they should let themselves be taken advantage of. So, the workers striked. For months. For a strike pay in the tens of dollars per week. Probably close to an hour or two’s wages. This went on for months. I can see why they would be grouchy on the picket line. I still don’t understand how they think this was helping them.

During this time, the union leadership really failed to represent them.

There were several meetings where the union leaders failed to show up at all. I wish I could remember the moron’s name. I guess he was just to busy making a slide show he was supposed to be creating on the Civil War or something else to represent those guys on the picket line properly. Maybe, he didn’t really feel that he had any responsibility to do his best for them. His failure to show alone added weeks to the strike.

For those union supporters out there, stick around, I’ll get to the company also.

I have noticed a real lack of responsibility for the workers by a lot of union leadership in this country. So many times,  you see union workers forced to strike by the union for nothing that will profit them. More often than not, I see union leadership just increasing its own control of power. I have my own beefs about how Wal-Mart does business, but the hypocrisy of the way the unions hire picketers is almost comical. Union leaders are very much guilty of convincing workers to strike for reasons that mostly profit union leaders and increase their control over the workers. Union workers nearly always seem to lose far more than they gain. Kinda like voting for a politician that is going to tax “the rich” and give the money to “help the poor and needy.” It is all for the better good of all.

That brings us to none other than the Reverend Jesse Jackson.

Yes, he was trying to be nominated for president at this time. The Reverend Jesse Jackson came to show his support for the union strike. He even came to one striker’s home. Now, I do remember this workers name and am not going to give it out. Nice guy, but he really fell for Jesse Jackson’s speil. The man was a very active union supporter and was sure in the rightness of his cause and the strike. For those who listen to those who are always ready to hold out and keep a strike going longer just to let the company know who is in charge, this man had a successful side business. A business that, by the way, was at least partially enhanced by government grants. He could afford to strike a bit and still by fun toys like new cameras while some of our personal friends were having problems with groceries.

Back to the Reverend Jesse Jackson.

I despise politicians that make claims about how  “unfair” businesses are to workers. Jesse Jackson came to town for a day or two made his speeches for the media and left. I doubt he even remembers how to pronounce Cudahy (cud-a-hay). It was simply a chance for him to claim he was supporting union workers. It is the same story with nearly (but not entirely) all the members his party. Claims to provide more education, health care, fair income, equal rights, save the environment, legal justice, lower crime, and even rights to free speech almost always means that they end up with more control and you end up with less control, money, rights and freedom. Sexual harassment is terrible, but not if it is Bill Clinton. We need socialized health care, but Hillary’s last plan excluded much of those in government while giving us no choice (I believe her current plan is not too different). The environment need to be saved, but don’t inconvenience Al Gore’s luggage or think that his mansion uses too much electricity while the rest of us are forced to use CFL bulbs. Then again, there is Obama’s house (both the empty lot and the interesting loan) and his wife’s Ivy league education and cushy legal profession and claims of how terrible life is the United States (all OK now that her husband is near nomination). Jesse and all his kind always make these claims, but they never seem to pay the price they want the rest of us to.

If I haven’t made an enemy of you yet, just wait.

In a long strike like the one that occurred at Patrick Cudahy, no one really wins. Everyone loses.

When it ended, the union did not gain much if anything. Most of those that needed the job most had need to find another job to make ends meet. Some needed to move to other parts of the country. The company soon moved many of the jobs out anyway. Some out of the country. The plant ended up having a fraction of the jobs it used to have. The jobs were lost to the community along with the income they provided.

The City of Cudahy is a ghost of what it used to be.

The strip mall that used to have a Gimble’s, JCPenny, and a Sears. Now it has a dollar store and discount liquidator. Many of the once thriving small businesses down the main street are gone. I watched two resale shops fail in one year near our business. The bakery they replaced had been there all my life. Where there were local owned shops, national chain stores now take the profits elsewhere. Not even the Kmart is doing well.

I have given you a reason why I might not want to work with a union, now for the company.

I’m sure you union people will like this.

Like I said, my dad was a foreman for the company. He worked just as hard or harder than anyone that was in the union. He endured the picket lines, and even  the slight danger passing through them (the local police also belong to unions, adding someone else for me to anger with this post).

He worked all through the strike. I mentioned picking him up during the strike, passing the picket lines. For all this, and his years of loyalty, he was shortly rewarded.

A few months after the strike ended, my dad came home and told us his job had been terminated.

Just like that. I still do not understand a company that would do this even as they were still claiming the strikers were welcome back. But Patrick Cudahy was not done yet.

A year later, they offered to hire my dad back at minimum wage as a security guard!

To me, this was a real insult. Oh yes, we fired a loyal employee like you a year ago. However, if you want, we will hire you at a fraction of what you used to make. Honesty, my dad was tempted because it did include heath insurance.

I have no respect for Patrick Cudahy or the jerks that run it. So now, I will let the rest of the world something that will make them sick.

I was once in the plant a few years later, I witnessed something that should make you a bit sick next time you eat ham or bacon from them.

*I have decided to remove the incident, besides, I still like Patrick Cudahy ham.*

I will do all I can to never be reliant on someone else for my income.

While I may have a job from time to time, my goal is a steady income I can rely on working for myself. I don’t want to be at the mercy of self-serving union leaders. I do not believe there is job security from working for a company any more. I most of all do not want politicans deciding how much I should be making and deciding how to spend my money to buy themselves votes and power with it.

I want to create my own wealth.

I’ll make money online or make money offline with a home-based business. I don’t care. I’ll find a way to be successful and help as many others become successful too. I believe that wealth can be shared with as many as want to create it. The only ones that steal wealth are those that think it is a limited commodity.

No matter what you do, you have some investment in business.

Are you investing smartly?

I wrote this post after having someone literally hang up on me as I mentioned that there would be a financial investment in starting a business.

I didn’t even get to the numbers before the line went dead. What kind of mindset does a person have with no plans to invest in their own business at all? In fact, the numbers I would have told her are almost ridiculously low and even refundable, but just the mention of money turned her off. This is someone who asked for information about from home because she could no longer do her former work due to a back operation that work had caused. She had risked her time and health and lost. She will lose more because she has not learned be informed before making her decision. Any financial investment or even risk would be small compared to what she already risked and lost.

Even if you are working a traditional job, you are invested in it and you have risk.

You invest your time. Your pay is the reward for the investment of your time. You also have a risk with that investment. Your risks could actually be just as much as a stockholder of the company you work for. After all, if the company fails, you lose your income. A stockholder loses money only if he invests in stock that is overpriced or if the company fails. Your investment of time is also at risk of the whim of your boss firing you, or you becoming unable to fulfil your job duties. Maybe, this make the risk of a traditional job holder even greater than that of a stockholder.

The investment in an online business or a home business can be very low, yet many don’t want to invest.

Starting a website or blog can cost as little as a domain and hosting for a year. That would an investment of well under $150. You may need to invest in some software or training. That may mean an investment of money or an investment of time. After that, much of your investment may be time. Again, you will be investing time in the business. The financial investment is low but the time investment can be high. The risk is dependent on your ability to succeed. Risking $500 or even $1000 total to start an online business is not a large investment. It is a small percentage of what a traditional brick and mortar business would cost. You would most likely pay $1000 for a month’s rent just as a start.

Yet, I see so many who are willing to risk the time investment but completely unwilling to risk any monetary investment even a small one.

In the long run, I see this as a setup for losing much of the investment in time. A domain name is cheap. Often less than $10 a year from GoDaddy or Namecheap (I use Namecheap now for most domain names). Yet, so many start a blog without a domain. I fail to see why this is a step so many skip. Meanwhile, domainers are out there just investing in domain names alone for their potential value in a few years.

I find that many people think that there is money to be made with no financial investment.

There is. It is called a job. I already talked about your risk a little bit. Your job comes with perks like a boss and workers you cannot stand, following the same rat race every day, and the knowledge that job security doesn’t exist like it did for your grandfather.

So many people refuse to make any financial investment in themselves.

They seem to be afraid they will get scammed or ripped off. It is true there are many scams. There are many ideas for making money that require you to invest money in them that do not work. I think a lot of the eBay businesses and online store products are a bad way to invest your money in an online business. Why? Simple. They want you to sell the same piece of junk that 10,000 other people are selling and it’s junk no one really uses anyway. So, yes, there are bad ways to invest your money to build a business.

The point is to make a wise, informed decision on what to invest in and how much of an investment is needed.

Buying a McDonald’s franchise can be a wise investment, but it is a significant financial investment. Few of us have the spare million dollars that would take. Not to mention, you are also going to have a significant time investment in that McDonald’s. There are other businesses that have a very low financial investment and can make you just as much money.

I am not saying you should not be skeptical.

You should be informed before you invest. You should make a wise decision. Just do not let the fact that it may cost a little bit and have a tiny financial risk be the reason.

Sometimes, that financial investment is the motivation to use the time investment wisely.

Jim Kukral is demonstrating some great internet marketing ideas on his blog.

In fact, he has a video on his blog that he could use to market 3 different products effectively in one video.

Take a look at Jim Kukral’s blog and watch the video about Somethingstore

Can you identify the 3 products that he is selling in the video?

Actually, I think he is only promoting 2. The subject of the video, Somethingstore.com, is just being reviewed and I didn’t spot any affiliate to it. I could be wrong, but you could substitute any product and use an affiiate link.

The real products are the Flip camera and Scratchback.

The video is shot using the Flip video camera.

This is a product that Jim used to test the effectiveness of Scratchback for marketing products. A test that was profitable for him also. My only suggestion is that on the page with the video, there is no real link to buy the camera. A shame, since he does such a great job of demonstrating how useful it can be.

The other product Jim is marketing is a link in the Scratchback list next to the video.

Notice how he uses the graphic of the video to point to Scratchback. While no mention of Scratchback is made, you will notice it. This would be a great place for Somethingstore or any business featured in the video to purchase a link on Scratchback. If you are a truly evil internet marketer,  a great place for a link to a direct competitor to Somethingstore. You could also simple take advantage of traffic to the page and place any link there.

This is an excellent example of internet marketing to follow.

I’ve added Jim Kukral’s blog to my reader list. He has many great ideas for marketing that are simple and easy to follow.

Internet marketing is more than just getting traffic.

Once you get someone to your page, you need to monetize the traffic you have. Otherwise, you will be working for free. While it’s nice to enjoy your work, you will enjoy it a lot more if you make money so you can keep enjoying it. Jim is showing how to get traffic and how to monetize effectively. Here we also see an example of using graphics effectively.

I would suggest you subscribe to Jim Kukral’s blog.

If you are a ScratchBack user, the Scratchback blog would also be a good read. ScratchBack is one of Jim Kukral’s ideas and there are some good things to learn about using ScratchBack there. You will not find the attitude you see on many interenet marketing blogs. Just simple, good ideas and how to use them.

A wish to all for a Merry Christmas!

While it is easy to get focused on making money online during the Christmas season, I hope it does not make you forget the reason we celebrate Christmas.

For some, it is a reason to be with family. For others, it is just a reason to make merry.

For me, the first reason to celebrate Christmas will always be to remember the birth of Christ.

While in some ways, being with family and friends is also a way of remembering that birth, I feel it is important to remember that first and foremost. To keep it in mind.

That is the cure for those who find themselves depressed or disappointed during this season.

Maybe business was not as good as you hoped or needed it to be. Maybe you are unable to be with loved ones this Christmas. Perhaps you just were unable to celebrate Christmas the way you would like.

Realize that all those extra things are nice, but they do not make Christmas what it is.

At Christmas, we celebrate the Only Begotten Son of God coming to earth as a baby. He took on the form of man, so that years later, he could pay the penalty for our sins. That is what Christmas is about.

It is not about a fat elf named Santa.

It is not about trees. It is not about family. It is not about lights. It is not even about being nice to your fellow man.

It is about a baby.

All those other things are nice, but focus on what were the true "Good tidings of great joy."

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

That, my friends, is the secret to a very Merry Christmas.