Million Dollar PortfolioReal Strategies for Making Money Online

When it comes to information on the internet, for some reason there is an inherent assumption that all information should be free. In fact, when most people try and charge for their information, they are scoffed at. The truth is, information is valuable and not everything is, nor should it be, free. If I told you that you could spend less than $10 today that could potentially save you thousands of dollars over the next 6 weeks, would you think that was a good deal? Isn’t that kind of information worth paying for?

When it comes to information, I don’t mind paying for quality. In fact, I prefer that when I do pay for something that I’m not just buying fluff or something I can find all over the internet for free. Tools, Information, and Services should have something of value whether or not you pay for them because anything else is just a waste of time.

To that end, I truly believe it is in your best interest to buy this book I am about to mention. Tell you what, instead of buying lunch tomorrow, brown bag it and use that $10 toward this book. You can’t afford NOT to own this book and you can buy it for your kindle as well. You even get free shipping.

I’m talking about I Will Teach You To Be Rich. On monday this book was number 1 on Amazon.com and for good reason. Ramit Senthil, the author knows his stuff. Let me be clear that this is not some get rich quick book. This book is a 6 week program to achieving financial success. It’s about focus and drive and taking care of your finances so you can get on with enjoying your life.

I paid $11 for this book but right now, you can get it for less than $8 with free shipping! To be honest, if you just read that sentence and balked at the idea of spending $8 on a book, then you shouldn’t be reading this blog and you shouldn’t be trying to make money online either because you are going to fail. I don’t believe the moniker “It takes money to make money” but what it does take is knowledge, patience and planning, and yes, sometimes a little investment. Consider this book and the $8 an investment in your future.

I hope you take this opportunity to educate yourself and I wish you only the best in your success. If you do buy the book, come back here and post some comments and your thoughts on it. I’d like to hear how you have implemented the strategies laid out in it.

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Popularity: 12% [?]

Earlier this year, as any regular reader of this blog knows, I become diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. Commonly referred to as hypothyroidism, this is a disease in which the immune system suddenly attacks the thyroid gland as if it were a foreign body. My body’s T-cells have decided that I don’t need my thyroid gland but I do.

Your body’s thyroid gland is responsible for managing your metabolism and secretes two hormones for this process. One hormone triggers metabolic processes and the other tells the pituitary gland to start/stop producing the first hormone. My doctor all said I have high cholesterol (high sugar in my blood) or as my friend calls it, “Chubby Blood”.

I found all this out because of a blood test several months ago. I’ve now been on medication for almost 3 months and tomorrow have another blood test to see if the medication is working or if adjustments to the dosage need to be made.

Along with beginning this medication I began tracking my food intake on LiveStrong.com and trying to keep under 1,900 calories a day which was really hard at first but i’ve grown accustomed to it now. Part of the plan also included cutting out my beer/alcohol consumption dramatically. While I don’t consider myself a heavy drinker by any stretch, I would have about 6-8 beers on a friday or saturday night which really isn’t healthy anyway. I would usually have a few during the rest of the week as well. I’ve been able to cut that down to 2 or 3 on a weekend and I think that’s contributed to my weight loss so far.

I don’t have a scale so I don’t check my progress solely by weight. When I weigh in at the doctors office, I consider that official weight. After that i’ll also check my measurements again. Keeping track of where you are losing weight can tell you a lot about whether or not what you are doing is successful. Fat loss and muscle loss are very different and you want to make sure you are losing fat, not muscle. Muscle loss can be very counterproductive and can actually lead to weight gain since your body doesn’t have an efficient way of burning fat without large muscles.

So, once I find out where I am, I can then adjust my caloric intake and exercise regime to figure out my next step. It takes about a day for the lipid panel test to come back and then i have to meet with the doctor to discuss my progress. I’ll fill you in with all the details once I know. For now, I have to begin my 12 hour fast for the test tomorrow.

If you are struggling with weight loss, you might consider Acai Berry Blast. It’s been proven to contribute to rapid, healthy weight loss without drastic changes to your existing diet and exercise program. It’s recommended you get at least an hour a day but even 30 minutes of walking is enough to keep your metabolism revving high.

How are your efforts going? I’d like to hear your comments and your successes or failures, so join in on the conversation and comment on this post.

Popularity: 15% [?]

If you are anything like me, and I know you are because you are reading this post, you have probably filled up your hard drive with all kinds of stuff like games, videos, movies, pictures or any number of documents that clutter up your precious disk space.

You could back up a lot of those photos and videos to an external hard drive manually, or you could leave it to Drobo. Drobo is a device manufactured by Data Robotics (Get it? Data ROBOtics) that enables you to have nearly infinite storage for your files via an external box. Find out more about DROBO here.

I, for one could really use a lot of space for my photos and videos these days. To that end, I want to win one and you can try and win one also.

There’s two ways to do this. The first way is to link to http://mydl.me/2009/03/want-to-win-a-free-drobo/ which will automatically get you an entry into their giveaway.

The second way to enter is to follow Scott Bourne on Twitter at http://twitter.com/scottbourne. He’s giving them away pretty frequently and there’s only 6 more left to win.

Maybe I’ll get really lucky and win 2 and then I can give one away.

Popularity: 13% [?]

by: Jason Kay

Whether you are planning to start a brand-new business, expand an existing company, or get financing for a business venture, you will need to write a business plan. A business plan not only lends your business a sense of credibility, but also helps you to cover all your bases, increasing your chances of success.

Although writing a business plan can be a lengthy, intimidating project, it is not necessarily difficult. Here is an overview of how to write a successful business plan.

What to Include in Your Business Plan

Your business plan needs to demonstrate that you have thoroughly considered all aspects of running your business. To that end, the standard business plan has nine major sections, covering everything from your business’s mission statement to a detailed financial analysis.

Executive Summary

The first – and most important – section of your business plan is the executive summary. This section is so important that it should literally be the first thing the reader sees – even before the table of contents! However, it should also be written last, as you’ll have a better understanding of the overall message of your business plan after you’ve researched and written the other sections.

One of the most important parts of the executive summary is the mission statement. The mission statement is only three or four sentences long, but it should pack the most punch out of everything else in your business plan: Those four sentences are responsible for not only defining your business, but also capturing the interest of your reader.

The rest of your executive summary should fill in the important details that the mission statement glosses over. For instance, your executive summary should include a short history of the business, including founder profiles and start date; a current snapshot, listing locations, numbers of employees, and products or services offered; and a summary of future plans and goals.

This section is a candidate for a bulleted format, which allows you to list main points in a manner that is easy to scan. Avoid using too much detail – remember, this section is a summary. A page or two is usually sufficient for an executive summary.

Market Analysis

The next section of your business plan focuses on market analysis. In order to show that your business has a reasonable chance for success, you will need to thoroughly research the industry and the market you intend to sell to. No bank or investor is going to back a doomed venture, so this section is sure to fall under especially close scrutiny if you are looking for financing.

Your market analysis should describe your industry, including the size, growth rate, and trends that could affect the industry. This section should also describe your target market – that is, the type or group of customers that your company intends to serve. The description of your target market should include detail such as:

• Distinguishing characteristics
• The needs your company or product line will meet
• What media and/or marketing methods you’ll use to reach them
• What percentage of your target market you expect to be able to wrest away from your competitors

In addition, your market analysis should include the results of any market tests you have done, and an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors.

Company Description

After your market analysis, your business plan will need to include a description of your company. This section should describe:

• The nature of your business
• The needs of the market
• How your business will meet these needs
• Your target market, including specific individuals and/or organizations
• The factors that set you apart from your competition and make you likely to succeed

Although some of these things overlap with the previous section, they are still necessary parts of your company description. Each section of your business plan should have the ability to stand on its own if need be. In other words, the company description should thoroughly describe your company, even if certain aspects are covered in other sections.

Organization and Management

Once you have described the nature and purpose of your company, you will need to explain your staff setup. This section should include:

• The division of labor – how company processes are divided among the staff
• The management hierarchy
• Profiles of the company’s owner(s), management personnel, and the Board of Directors
• Employee incentives, such as salary, benefits packages, and bonuses

This goal of this section is to demonstrate not only good organization within the company, but also the ability to create loyalty in your employees. Long-term employees minimize human resource costs and increase a business’s chances for success, so banks and investors will want to see that you have an effective system in place for maintaining your staff.

Marketing and Sales Management

The purpose of the marketing and sales section of your business plan is to outline your strategies for marketing your products or services. This section also plans for company growth by describing how the growth could take place.

The section should describe your company’s:

• Marketing methods
• Distributions methods
• Type of sales force
• Sales activities
• Growth strategies

Product or Services

Following the marketing section of your business plan, you will need a section focusing on the product or services your business offers. This is more than a simple description of your product or services, though. You will also need to include:

• The specific benefits your product or service offers customers
• The specific needs of the market, and how your product will meet them
• The advantages your product has over your competitors
• Any copyright, trade secret, or patent information pertaining to your product
• Where any new products or services are in the research and development process
• Current industry research that you could use in the development of products and services

Funding Request

Only once you have described your business from head to toe are you ready to detail your funding needs. This section should include everything a bank or investor needs in order to understand what type of funding you want:

• How much money you need now
• How much money you think you will need over the next five years
• How the money you borrow will be used
• How long you will need funding
• What type of funding you want (i.e. loans, investors, etc.)
• Any other terms you want the funding arrangement to include

Financials

The financials section in your business plan supports your request for outside funding. This section provides an analysis of your company’s prospective financial success. The section also details your company’s financial track record for the past three to five years, unless you are seeking financing for a startup business.

The financials section should include:

• Company income statements for prior years
• Balance sheets for prior years
• Cash flow statements for prior years
• Forecasted company income statements
• Forecasted balance sheets
• Forecasted cash flow statements
• Projections for the next five years – every month or quarter for the first year, with longer intervals for the remaining years
• Collateral you can use to secure a loan

The financials section is a great place to include visuals such as graphs, particularly if you predict a positive trend in your projected financials. A graph allows the reader to quickly take in this information, and may do a better job of encouraging a bank or investor to finance your business. However, be sure that the amount of financing you are requesting is in keeping with your projected financials – no matter how impressive your projections are, if you are asking for more money than is warranted, no bank or investor will give it to you.

Appendices

The appendix is the final section in your business plan. Essentially, this is where you put all of the information that doesn’t fit in the other eight sections, but that someone – particularly a bank or investor – might need to see.

For instance, the market analysis section of your business plan may list the results of market studies you have done as part of your market research. Rather than listing the details of the studies in that section, where they will appear cumbersome and detract from the flow of your business plan, you can provide this information in an appendix.

Other information that should be relegated to an appendix includes:

• Credit histories for both you and your business
• Letters of reference
• References that have bearing on your company and your product or service, such as magazines or books on the topic
• Company licenses and patents
• Copies of contracts, leases, and other legal documents
• Resumes of your top managers
• Names of business consultants, such as your accountant and attorney

Writing a Successful Business Plan

Despite the quantity of information contained in your business plan, it should be laid out in a format that is easy to read. Just like with any piece of business writing, it is important to craft your business plan with your intended audience in mind – and the bankers, investors, and other busy professionals who will read your business plan almost certainly won’t have time to read a tedious document with long-winded paragraphs and large blocks of text.

Business plans for startup companies and company expansions are typically between twenty to forty pages long, but formatting actually accounts for a lot of this length. A strong business plan uses bullet points throughout to break up long sections and highlight its main points. Visuals such as tables and charts are also used to quickly relay specific information, such as trends in sales and other financial information. These techniques ensure that the reader can skim the business plan quickly and efficiently.

Think of your audience as only having fifteen minutes to spend on each business plan that comes across their desks. In that fifteen minutes, you not only have to relay your most important points, but also convince the reader that your business venture merits a financial investment. Your best bet is a well-researched business plan, with an organized, easy-to-read format and clear, confident prose.

About The Author

Jason Kay is a former professional business plan writer and provides business start up advice. He contributes to business magazines and websites such as http://BudgetBusinessPlans.com, which provides business plan writing services and business plan samples.

Popularity: 14% [?]

Normally in this place you would find an earnings report but I’m starting to feel like this is unnecessary. Though in the past I have recieved some comments on these posts, it doesn’t seem like most people are interested in hearing about it.

The main point of posts like these earnings reports is to illustrate that literally anyone can make money online and it doesn’t have to be limited to placing advertisements that are gaudy and distractive.

In fact, to that end I eliminated much of those kinds of ads on The Proficient Investor because after upgrading to a new format and new blog design, the ads were just getting in the way. I may eliminate the 125×125 ads you see on this blog in the sidebar as well because they just don’t seem to be performing like I would like to see.

I read an article a few weeks ago about how this magazine columnist attempted to prove that you can make money online. He proceeded to register a domain and began prolificly writing about everything he could think of. He wrote several articles a day and added some Google Adsense blocks in “high visibility” areas. After a month he had made only a couple dollars from the Adsense ads and tried out another ad platform only to be disappointed with the results and subsequently decided it wasn’t likely anyone could make money blogging and that only the rare exception (noting bloggers John Chow and Darren Rowse) could really make it.

I won’t give you the link to this article because it was crap.

First of all, let me tell you why this guy failed and why you shouldn’t follow his example in any fashion.

The most successful forms of media always stem from one thing. Passion. Writers who are successful become so because they are truly passionate about their craft. Every film, book, television show, newspaper, magazine, web site or blog that became successful happened because the person or people behind it truly care and are passionate about it. They eat, sleep, live and breathe their creation.

If your only goal for doing something is to make money, then I guarantee you are going to fail. 9 out of 10 businesses that start up fail in the first year. You know why? They fail because the owner gets bored or because they chose something they aren’t really into but picked because it seemed like a good idea. Or maybe, there just isn’t a market for that particular product or service.

With blogging it is only slightly different. You don’t have the same overhead as a traditional brick and mortar business but you also don’t have the same kind of public exposure so marketing yourself can be a little tougher. Kevin Rose has a great post on his blog about how to market yourself and I try to do every one of the 10 steps he talks about. It comes down to your ability to sell yourself whenever and wherever possible.

Making money from blogging shouldn’t be your primary concern. You first need to generate quality content based on something you actually know about and then drive traffic to that content. When that is working, you can implement some kind of money making strategy if you so choose but your primary purpose is to write. I do this because i love it. I love sharing ideas and writing about what I know. I also do a podcast about topics I am passionate about. Maybe that will turn into something that makes money and maybe it won’t but it isn’t going to stop me from doing it.

So, I hope this post has been helpful to you even though It’s not really about the money I made in February which was to be honest, less than $200 but Text-link-ads revenue was up as my ad spots filled up on The Proficient Investor and I sold a few new ad spots on this blog. If you haven’t done so already, you really should sign up. It’s free and all you need is quality content and a lot of traffic and TLA will sell itself.

PepperJam Network paid out $30 last month in referral fees which was very nice. I run PepperJam ads in the sidebar of this blog as well as some ppc campaigns. I’d like to see more revenue from PPJ but it’s hard finding the right products to promote and I won’t promote something I wouldn’t actually use myself.

I won’t even talk about Google Adsense. It’s been a terrible performer for over a year and I barely put any effort into it anymore. I’ve found that the quality of ads placed on my blogs just aren’t very good but at least they don’t cost me anything in the process.

I’d like to hear about your blog success. Comment on this or any other related post and join in the conversation. I read every single comment and respond when appropriate.

Popularity: 14% [?]