Archive for February, 2010

Google Adsense = ASSCLOWNS! I switched to Bing as my main search engine!

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

I started actively pursuing my dream of an active website that makes a little bit of money from people visiting the site and clicking on a few ads. I was a member of google adsense since roughly 2007 and had never really done anything to foster any traffic to my website let alone click on any ads. Well the minute I started getting some clicks on my ads google adsense in there ignorant wisdom decided to permanently suspend my membership. They claimed that I was dangerous to their advertisers. Well, now i am because any time I see a google ad I click on all of them. They even denied my appeals after giving them what I think was a pretty solid reason to why the clicks had increased suddenly.

This brings me along to Bing. I have found everything I need using Bing’s search engine plus the mypoints search which by the way is a great way to get yourself some great gift cards if you don’t mind clicking ads and shop at their sponsored sites to accrue points.

Google is getting too big for their own good. They do not care about protecting the interests of publishers. All they care about is coveting their slice of the almighty advertising dollars floating around out there. I personally steer clear of anything I can that has anything to do with google now. As a matter of fact I will not even capitalize their name out of disrespect for them. Have a great day all and steer clear of google!
Rich

Posted in General Rants and Updates | No Comments »

NBC Should not have exclusive rights to ANY sporting event again!

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

After NBC ran the biggest hockey game so far on MSNBC where most people in the world cannot watch it without some form of either cable or satellite I believe that they should not have exclusive rights to ANY sporting event, ever again! It wasn’t bad enough that they denied Pittsburgh Penguin fans the ability to sit outside the Mellon Arena and watch the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2009. Now they are totally ruining the Olympic coverage by having the more popular events on channels that no one can find.

I believe such a large event should be divided up amongst all the major networks. By lottery for event coverage to keep it fair to all the networks involved. That way one network would not monopolize all the good events. Truth is the sponsors are all the same no matter what network you watch. You see the same commercials over and over.

If you live in the United States apparently you cannot even watch streaming video of the Canadian coverages. For whatever reason (and I am tech savvy) I could not get the streaming to work for the hockey games at www.nbcolympics.com. I can only imagine someone that is not tech savvy trying to get it working.

NBC needs to be more spectator sensitive and less selfish with their dire quest for rating numbers. They very well could have done a head count of all the people outside Mellon Arena last year to compile their numbers if it was that important. Hockey is a great sport and needs the best exposure possible to increase it’s popularity. NBC is hurting it, not helping it by stifling their coverage of the hockey events.
Rich

Posted in Sports | 1 Comment »

Winter Olympics Vancouver 2010: Cross Country Skiing

Monday, February 15th, 2010

I watched a couple of really exciting cross country skiing events. What is so exciting about it you ask? I own a pair of cross country skis. They are very old and very dusty. It always seems like there is either too little or too much snow. Last year was the closest I came to actually getting out. They were out of the attic and moved into the closet at my apartment. I was ready to head out the following morning when a disaster ice storm ruined any possibility of getting them out that weekend. I was only hours away from redemption and the exhilaration of trekking out the Butler/Freeport trail for great run.

Watching these athletes go nine miles in around 35 minutes was very humbling to say the least. I feel pretty good biking 12 miles in roughly an hour so you know how impressive it is for someone to ski nine in half that time. The women were just as impressive going nearly six miles in slightly less time. I am really enjoying seeing all the nations represented whether they have a snowball’s chance in hell of doing anything other than finishing. I was really impressed with the enthusiasm that the crowd that cheered the non ranked end finishers to their finish line of the race. My thought is along the lines of what I think, I can relate to these that are just happy to be there participating.
Rich

Posted in Sports | No Comments »

Winter Olympics Vancouver 2010: Technology

Monday, February 15th, 2010

Isn’t it so amazing how far the technology in covering the Olympics. High speed rail cameras, sky cameras, etc. to cover the action making you feel like you are a part of it all. The amazing clarity and lighting features.

The special effects for the opening ceremonies absolutely took my breath away. The amazing choreography of the story and the incredible projector effects that appeared so real that you thought the actors were really jumping across water gaps to ice flows. Whales that appeared to swim right across your screen spouting water as they went. Just to poin out a few of my faves.

I have never been unemployed this long to have the opportunity to behold these amazing athletes and hear their stories. I have never really been able to sit and watch the Olympics in their entirety until this year because of work constraints. I can’t even imagine how many camera and technical people it takes to cover such a huge event. I hope to report more here over the next two weeks. Hoping that you get to enjoy this special event as much as you can!
Rich

Posted in Sports | No Comments »

Owning A Business: I Don’t Like Sales

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

So many times I have run across people that tell me they want to own their own business. The funny thing is when I ask them what they are going to sell, their eyes glaze over and they say “I don’t like sales”. Well, the hard lesson that everyone has to learn is if you are going to own your own business is you ARE going to have to sell something. It will either have to be a product, a service or yourself! There is no way around it.

There are a lot of different types of businesses out there. Most of them either sell a product they make (manufacturer, distribute a product someone else makes (retail or grocery store), or provide a service or a combination of products and services on that product (plumber, electrician, carpenter).

Like it or not, if you are considering owning a business you are going to have to sell something. Call it marketing if it makes your head feel better but it is sales none the less. Do not let this discourage you. Think about it, every day you have to sell your number one asset if you have a job. That asset is Y.O.U. You sell yourself every day, hours of your life for dollars that your employer gives you in return for that. We will cover the freedom that owning your own business gives you in another post. For right now just focus on the fact that every human being is a salesperson, every day of their life. Would you rather be selling for yourself or for someone else. Hope this gives you the courage you need to get out there and start your own business!
Have a great day,
Rich

Posted in Income Generation | No Comments »

How Residual Income Works In Multilevel Marketing

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

Multilevel marketing, how does it create residual income? You find other people like yourself that want to own their own business. You share the opportunity for them to be self employed, for that you receive a small share of the sales that move through them and the people that they share the opportunity. This is referred to as “sponsoring”. “Sounds like a pyramid” you say. NO, your job is a pyramid! Only the people at the top are making any money. “Isn’t that the same in multilevel”? Again, the answer is emphatically, NO! It is a little complex as to how the structuring works but there are ways to do it properly and other ways to do it improperly that affect the income dramatically.

An example of the right way would be to sponsor a lot of people directly at your level. If you do that properly you will make a fair amount of money. If you only sponsor a few people at your level then most of that income can stay below you. Hence the people you sponsored can actually make more money than you do being quote, unquote “above you”. You will not very often see that in a corporate environment where the boss make less than an employee below them. It happens but not often at all.

There is a lot more to the puzzle involving multilevel marketing and it’s strategies. If you are looking into multilevel marketing business do yourself a favor and make sure you do your due diligence in researching the parent company as well as the organization that your sponsor belongs. Companies like Amway, Avon, and Melaleuca have been around a long time. Hope this clears up a few misconceptions about how multilevel marketing works.

Oh yeah, big information, the FTC requires multilevel marketing companies to provide a potential earning disclosure sheet. Make sure you get one from the person that showed you the opportunity.
Have a great day!
Rich

Posted in Income Generation | No Comments »

Weather: Another Snow Day! A Butt Load of Them!

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

We are well on our way to through another snow storm that has pretty much shut the city of Pittsburgh and the surrounding communities down. There are many cities that are in the same situation. After today this could be a record breaking month for snowfall amounts ever.

How many of you out there are asking yourself “where is the global warming they are talking about?”. I know I have. What are your thoughts on that? Is all this snow actually caused by the global warming like the movie “Day After Tomorrow”? Is this a way for the earth to heal itself after the abuse we throw at it day after day? Love to hear your thoughts.
Rich

Posted in Current World Events | No Comments »

Residual Income: What is it?

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

I was in a multi-level marketing group back in the early 90s called Amway. Some years ago it became Quixtar, now you have seen commercials for Amway Global. They taught me a money making philosophy that I will never forget. It is called “residual income.” What is residual income you ask? It is income that you do the work once and receive income long after the work has been done. Insurance agents, real estate investors and multi-level marketing groups are the main way to achieve this type of income. I am sure that there are other ways. Making a website that receives a steady stream of sales traffic could be considered another way if you wanted. I would love to hear some other people’s input on other ways to create residual income.

Why would you want residual income? WHY NOT!?!? If you could do your current job for a week then get paid for it the rest of your life, would that be a good deal? You bet it would! I still to this day meet people that do not grasp this concept, therefore they still amble aimlessly along in an eight hour a day job or worse a sixty hour a week go nowhere job.

What happens if you lose your ability to work now? Your income stops! Well, maybe you are smart and you signed up for AFLAC then you will be receiving at least a little bit of income until you can go back to work or go on permanent disability.

What is my story? A few years ago I dated a great gal that is still a close friend today. She had her ducks in a row. She bought a run down building, borrowed some money to fix it up, and rented out the whole upper floor while she lives in the whole downstairs. She even found a government program for urban renewal to get “free’ money to fix it up. She only has to pay it back if she sells the building. That is for a separate entry. Yes, to answer your question I do own a building of my own and continue to look for another that is as good of a deal as my first one.

I will be posting articles on the main site regarding how to start a business, buy a building, or what to look for in a multi-level marketing group.
Have a great day!
Rich

Posted in Lifes Lessons | No Comments »