Getting a virtual assistant was a big decision for me because of the cost, the time to train and show her what to do, and just wondering whether getting a virtual assistant would be value-added. Now, after having a virtual assistant for over 3 months, I'm a big believer in the value of her. If you're undecided about whether a virtual assistant can help you, here are they key ways that my virtual assistant has helped me. They may not apply to you, especially if you're not building a business as an income stream, but for many who are, these tips may be very value-added. Focus on What Matters This has been my core theme of 2013, but it really started back in 2012. Building a business, even an online business, requires you to … [Read more...]
Building an Investing Income Stream
One of the most common questions asked of me throughout 2012 was how I built my investing income stream and how does it generate so much income for me? If you look through my Income Reports, you'll see that I made over $15,000 investing last year - $8,200 with dividends and $6,800 with capital gains on positions I sold. So how did I build this awesome income stream? Here is what I've done to build a (almost) passive investing income. Stash it Away! One of the coolest comments I got this past year was from a reader who thought I had a huge portfolio and was earning just 1% on it - so my $8,000 in dividends meant I had an $800,000 portfolio. While I wish I did, I'm definitely not there yet. For this my multiple income stream … [Read more...]
Getting Injured at a Store – Now Dealing With It
Last year, my wife was injured at a nationwide retail store. The injury was completely the store's fault - they didn't secure a shelf and when my wife removed an item from it, the entire shelf collapsed on her. Her saving grace was that she was able to turn around and cover her head, but the entire contents of the shelf (and the shelf itself) all fell on her back. As a result, her entire back was cut and bruised, and she was sore for months! Now, here we are six months later, and we still haven't received anything from the company, except for more questions...even after they admitted being negligent in writing to us! Filing the Claim First off, when my wife was injured, nobody really came to help her. An employee heard the … [Read more...]
What Tasks Should You Outsource to a Virtual Assistant?
As I mentioned last year, I decided that it was time that I get a virtual assistant. A lot of people over the last few months have been asking me about my virtual assistant and what she does for me, so I decided to put together a list of things that you can outsource to a virtual assistant. I know that when I was doing my research before getting a virtual assistant, there were a lot of vague responses to this question, so I hope that I can put together a solid resource for you on what you can do with your virtual assistant and how it can make your life easier. I'm also writing several follow-up posts on the whole process of finding and onboarding a virtual assistant, so stay tuned over the next several weeks if this is a subject that … [Read more...]
Do You Have a Hobby Business or a Real Business?
With tax time right around the corner, it is important that you ask yourself the following very important question: do you just have a hobby business or have you turned it into a real business? For many people, developing multiple income streams and side incomes starts as a hobby business. For a few, these hobby businesses turn into real businesses. Why does this matter? Well, it matters because the IRS taxes business income and hobby income slightly differently, and it is important that you know the differences so you don't get audited, owe penalties, and more. Do I Have a Hobby Business or Real Business? Generally, an activity qualifies as a business if there is a reasonable expectation of earning a profit. In order to make … [Read more...]
Money’s Fun, but Time is Better: Why I’m Quitting Freelance Writing
A big part of the new year for me is about focusing on my new goals - which is re-focusing my sights on the two goals I discussed in my annual income stream report: Get 1,000,0000 unique visitors to my sites Make $100,000 As part of my re-focus though, I'm going to quit freelance writing. That may sound odd, especially considering that I made over $10,000 as a freelance writer last year, but it is the right decision for me. I thought about it long and hard, but two thoughts really drove me over the edge in making the decision to not freelance write, and instead focus on my content. Quit Freelance Writing - Get More Time One of the biggest factors that influenced my decision to stop freelance writing was the time commitment … [Read more...]
6 Financial Tips for the End of the Year
2012 definitely seemed like it flew by quickly. Hopefully it did not seem to escape you as quickly as it seemed to escape me. With the end of the year quickly approaching, there are many personal finance money moves that you might want to do or try in order to fully maximize the year. This is so that you can plan more realistically for 2013, and to also see how you truly did in the year of 2012. There are probably hundreds of other things on your to-do list in December, but your financial well-being is also very important. Wrapping up your year by reviewing how you did financially can be beneficial and also refreshing to see how you did. We like to do many of these things at the end of the year so that we start out well in 2013. We also … [Read more...]
The Most Comprehensive Affiliate Marketing Program List
If you run a website, there is a high likelihood that you are also in the business of monetizing that website. The most common way to monetize a website is to join an affiliate network, which gives you access to advertisers that you can post on your site. This is an easy way to get access to a bunch of different advertisers, and most networks make it easy to ad the necessary code to your website. Types of Affiliate Advertising Programs Affiliate networks or programs have several different ways that they pay: - Pay-per-click: As it sounds, you are paid every time someone clicks on a link or ad. The most popular pay-per-click affiliate network is Google Adsense. - Pay-per-lead: This option is for advertisers that are … [Read more...]
Becoming a One Income Family
What we're currently working on in our family is living off of one income. Yes, there's only two of us, so it's not as hard as if we had a family with children, but it is still not the easiest. We're working on paying off student loans and then our mortgage, and would like them all gone within the next couple of years. And this is why we are working on living off of less than 50% of our incomes (this includes our expenses and our minimum monthly mortgage payment of $970 and minimum student loans of around $300 per month). The rest of our monthly income is getting thrown like crazy towards our debt as extra debt payments. Yes, we could continue living the way that we used to and pay off our debt slowly, but we hardly notice a difference … [Read more...]
5 Tips on How to be a Better Negotiator
I don't know if you're like me, but the thought of negotiating makes me nervous. I don't want to offend the person who I am dealing with, but then I also do not want to get a bad deal at the same time. I hate to mention it, but I also don't want to look cheap. I'm guessing other people are like this also, or there would be more negotiating in the world! But in reality, you don't always look cheap. If you truly think the item is worth less, or that you can get a better price, then haggle! In today's economy, there is room for haggling at many stores. Not every store and place allows haggling and negotiating on their prices, but trying to negotiate won't hurt either. Trying because there might be something wrong with the items, when there … [Read more...]
