ShareThis Until alternate forms of energy become inexpensive and widely available, heating and cooling costs are going to continue eating up a large portion of our monthly budgets.
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Landscaping for Energy Conservation
There are three movements, societal and cultural, that seem to overlap: frugal living, simple living and green living. And a common question that often pops up in discussions in each movement is the idea of ‘How Much is Too Much?’. Of course each group will have a slightly different bent on the idea
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Tell Us Tuesday: How Much is Too Much?
We all want to have a job that we love — something that would get us excited about getting up and going to work in the morning…right?
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Turn Your Passion Into A Living
I don’t know about you, but for me, spring brings out the worst in my ability to focus. When the weather turns sunny all I want to do is be outside. My basement renovation project gets pushed aside for garden work
Originally posted here:
Stay Focused: 300+ Tips for Staying Focused
So I just got done reading “Crush It!” by Gary Vaynerchuk and boy was it a great read! To sum it up, Gary talks about cashing in on your passion: the who, why, how, when, and where! Really it was an incredible and inspirational read that I would highly recommend to anyone: if you have been a CEO in the Business world for 50 years or if you are a teenager that has an entrepreneurial drive – this book is for you!
Well Gary Vaynerchuk is a public-made leader in social media. I say public-made because he has “made it big” due to the technology of social media who’s value is placed in the hands of the public. Essential Gary is someone who has always had drive to be the best and “hustle” if you will – make money by doing what he loves! While he was a kid he started a very successful Baseball Card Trading business; as a well-establsihed business man he has taken his parents liqour store, Shopper’s Discount Liquors, and building it into the $50 Million Dollar a year business now known as WineLibrary. He did this by utilizing social networks such as Twitter and Facebook in combination with his Video Blog (http://tv.winelibrary.com/) and has creating an amazing product! He is the epitome of success and has vast amounts of wisdom for those who are venturing into new business ventures.
Basically Gary is using this book to to show people why he was successful and that with a little lots of hard work everyone out their can cash in on their passion like he has. The book chapter titles do a great job of summing it up:
It boils down to your passion: do what you are passionate about and make it profitable for you. No one has any excuse in this internet age for not cashing in on their passion and enjoying their job.
Everyone has their own version of “success” inside of them ready to come out. Your success will be different than “that guy’s” success and that is ok. Just be true to yourself and you will be ok in the end.
Everyone now has a personal brand, whether good, bad or indifferent. You have to make sure that your personal brand (what people think of you out on the internet) is positive. Be transparent and build that trust with the community.
The internet has changed the game. Not changing – it changed it. Some industries are taking longer to feel the affects of the internet but the world has been altered forever because of it.
To build your brand you need a good product and good content. The content is what builds the trust to make people want to buy from you. Great content is created by knowing your industry/field, telling a great story, and being real.
There are many different platforms on which to build your band: Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Tumblr, Flickr, Ustream.tv and Youtube are just a few. You have to determine which will be the best for the product and brand you are offering the world.
Be authentic in your interactions with your audience/community. Be true to yourself. To dominate the market your passion needs to come from your hear – not you need to make money. Work hard and be patient and you will reap reward.
Make it as easy as possible for people to share your brand, talk about your brand, and talk with your brand. Be reachable and help to build community between your brand and its consumers as well as between your individual consumers
CARE. That’s it. Chapter 9 is done. Caring about your consumers/community is the best way to get their attention.
Get your website up and start scouring the web for places with similar interests. Help build community on their sites and in turn those users will come and help build your own community.
User advertising on your site – but stay away from Google Adwords. Become an expert in your industry and work on speaking engagements. Utilize affiliate programs on your website. Create a product to sell on your website. Write articles for other blogs in your industry. Create a seminar. Write a book or get on TV. Become a consultant for other people in your industry.
Be ready to adapt to changes and put out fires. Shape your story as you go. Be a trend-spotter and ride those waves.
Always be concerned with the value of your Legacy over the value of money. Be the type of person that leaves a lasting legacy of greatness versus someone who was great for a while then sold out.
Overall this book was amazing. It’s only about 140 pages and it is a small sized book – so it was a quick read. It’s also number 415 on Amazon’s list which means it is doing VERY well in the sales arena. But seriously if you are thinking about changing jobs or looking to supplement your job with something that you are passionate about… THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU.
If you are interested in getting the book, check out the link below:
Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion
So I have decided to become completely transparent with the internet world when it comes to my finances. Some people might think it weird for me to post this information out there, but I want to be transparent and allow the community to see my successes (and occasional failures) for what they are – decisions that affect my bottom line. So below you will see a table that shows where my finances currently stand for this month as well as my projected and actual incomes for this entire year.
Gabe’s Golden Guru’s (Robert Kyosaki, Suze Orman, Dave Ramsey) always talk about the necessity to have a savings account and right now mine is next to nothing. Ramsey always tells the students in his Financial Peace University Seminars and Classes to raise get that initial $1000 into your savings as fast as you can. This is for little emergencies that might pop up, usually sooner rather than later. My goal for this $1000 in savings is May 21, 2010.
I HATE CREDIT CARDS! UG! I only have one, but the interest rate is like 20-something percent – this month I got charged almost $50 in Finance charges! So I have GOT to get this paid off ASAP and stop paying them $50 per month ($600 per year) on that stupid thing!
Gabe’s Golden Guru’s (Robert Kyosaki, Suze Orman, Dave Ramsey) also say that it is best to have about 5-6 months of expenses in savings if for some reason you find yourself without an income. Currently my expenses run about $900 per month so I figure that $6000 would be a great initial amount to get into my savings account for my six month emergency fund. Now I am sure that this number will grow as my expenses grow, but right now this is a good number.
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Welcome to Wise Bread’s Best Money Tips roundup. Today, we share financial wisdom from Yoda himself, tips for making the best baked beans, and a quick hack for a space-saving clothesline! Top 5 Articles Wisdom of Yoda: Personal Finance Lessons — These are precious, entertaining teachings for Star Wars fans and non-fans! Christian PF The Best Baked Beans Recipes Ever — These recipes for dried beans are super-frugal (and delish!).
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Best Money Tips: Wisdom of Yoda
I recently discovered a neat — and free — online tool that will help you estimate, budget, and track your expenses for your next vacation.
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How to Budget and Track Expenses for Your Next Vacation
