A twist on words - naturally

Do you ever get sick and tired of advertisers trying to hawk something old with new lingo? Take for example "natural colon cleanse", the only "natural" way I know of to cleanse a colon (give you diarrhea) is prunes. In fact I really dislike the use of the word "natural" as an advertising ploy. They make it sound that something natural is good for you when in fact it is not. Arsenic is natural but I wouldn't ingest it. Mercury is also natural but would you want to have it around you? I think not.

The next time you hear the word natural keep in mind that all things made on this earth originated here as a "natural" substance. Unless the manufacturer claims to be God and just introduced something new to the earth then consider the item already natural.

When will website owners ever learn?

Proper SEO (search engine optimization) techniques are not known by website owners and they should be. As you know I have a blog known as The Playful Pup and it is all about dogs. I get this comment the other day on it about "we have linked to your site and require a reciprocal link back" type of comment. So I checked out the website and found out it was a page of a real estate website in New England. They had lots of Google ads on it and other dog sites listed as well as some sites for exercise and diet pills. It looked like a link farm to me. So thankfully they left an email and I emailed them back and here is my email:


Hi,
The main reason you will not find your link on my site is that I don't link to LINK FARMS which is what your site page appears to be. I only link to other dog related websites and blogs, yours is niether. I will not be linking to your site.

webmaster - blog owner

I was just a tad ticked off since Google would not appreciate seeing a dog website on a Real Estate site because it does not appear to be a "natural" link. My blog would be down graded because of it. I wanted that website to take it (the link to my blog) down - FAST and the only way to do that mention the words LINK FARM. Here is the email I got back from them:


Our site is not by any stretch a link farm, as we have only 10 links per page, and the site has many hundreds of pages of content related to our business, which includes selling farms in RI, PA, MA, and NY.

Never the less, as your attitude indicates you have no need for links to valuable sites, which would help your site, we will delete the link... no problem.

Have a great day!

Best regards,

Hold on there mister! Your website is not valuable, if it was you would not be begging for links. You also linked to me first, I didn't ask for that. Then you insulated me after I stated my opinion of your LINK FARM. Yes that is what it is.

When will those people learn that the only way to do proper SEO is to link to other websites that similar to theirs, not completely different websites. I can see their website business going down the tubes, unless that has not already happened.

Another way to save money

Cutting back is never easy, but when you have to you have to. Here is a short video on how to cut back your grocery bill without pain.

Is the economy getting better?

I have a finger on our local economy and some business owners are reporting an increase in business. One business owner deals with heavy industrial equipment such as backhoes and cement trucks. He buys and sells them. He is reporting a slight increase in sales this month.

Another sector is fast food restaurants. Not only have they seen a local increase in business but 2 more are breaking ground near our Walmart. McDonald's has reported that it plans on opening 1000 new locations this year. The economy must be picking up. If fast food is experiencing an up tick that means that all of the business sectors that support McDonald's will see an increase in business too. Cattle ranchers, farmers, bakeries, trucking lines, restaurant equipment and uniform makers will be the first to see the increase.

Bargaining for the best prices

You remember seeing those ads "if you see a lower price we will match it". Well they are now on the internet too. What those companies want you to do is give them the URL of the item with the lower price and they will match it. I did that on one item I was interested in. The company only mentioned "did you see a lower price somewhere else, let us know". I used their online form and told them where I saw a lower price. I was hoping they would BEAT the other website and not MATCH the price.

I got an email back that stated that I should copy and paste the email that stated they would match the price of $XXX when I buy the item from them. I sent an email back and asked what is the incentive for me that I should buy from them and not the other place? I mean what good is it that they match the other price? As a consumer I want the lowest price I can find. I will probably buy the item at the lowest price and not at the place that will match the price. The main reason for that is the fact that the email said they would adjust the price after I place the order. Sorry but I don't need any company messing with a credit card charge after I made it. I just don't trust them.

If you own a store or an online ecommerce website, take a tip from me - BEAT your competitors price.

Wait - don't go back to school yet

You have been hearing all the hype on going back to school now that you are unemployed. The hype of course is coming from those schools. It sounds great on the surface but have you looked at the employment section of the newspaper or online ads? There are just not that many jobs out there. The open positions are looking for people with experience and a college degree or at least just college educated for the job they offer.

Right now there are lots of job openings in the medical field but in a year or two those jobs might have plenty of people to fill those positions. I personally would opt for a wait and see on what the next type of jobs will become in demand. Until we know where the job market will head for the next 10 years it is useless to go back to school for a career that might not be around when you graduate.

The last time we had a recession the home computer market and technology was born. What will this recession bring? What industries and technology be born out of it? Only time will tell.

Huffington Post strikes out at paid bloggers

The Huffington Post just published an article (click here to see it) on the perils of paid blogging. It comes from the view of the average blog visitor. The article covers that fact that an online payday lender...loan shark in my book, had gotten lots of favorable posts and link love from bloggers that get opportunities from a paid blogging company. The one mentioned in the article is not the only one who "assigns" opportunities to bloggers for paid reviews. I can think of 10 companies off of the top of my head that do the same thing and the pay is higher than the one mentioned in the article.

What the article writer was complaining about was the fact that no disclosure was mentioned in the post about it being a paid advertisement. What comes into play here is the fact that some bloggers will take any job (for a mere $1-$10) and write about it as if they had personal experience when in fact they are making everything up. Those bloggers are just as bad as the loan sharks, both needing money and both will lie to get money.

I will admit that I have done paid blogging but only to the extent that the subject matter will fit with my blog and that I believe in the product or service. I have turned down requests for reviews on gambling, diet pills, payday loans, Viagra and even some products that I believed in because they required me to make some outlandish claim or statement.

Since I also have Google ads under this blog post I wonder what type of ads will show up. Does that mean that this post is paid for? Well if people click on the Google ads then yes it is paid for, if not then the blog post is a freebee. Depends on your point of view about blogging, the internet and advertising.

Thrift store prices

You have gone in them, those thrift stores like the Salvation Army and Goodwill. Sometimes you can find some bargains in there. I visit several thrift stores in town that are run by churches or youth organizations.

Today I was in the one that is run by a non-profit that helps teens in trouble. I can sometimes find some good bargains in there and they have been reasonably priced on other things - until today. I was in the craft section and noticed several plastic storage containers with the drawers in them. I have one just like them at home, except mine still has it's wheels that you install. I paid $9.95 at Walmart for it about 7 months ago. I could use another one and was about to pick up the one in the thrift store until I saw the sticker on it at read $19.99. That just floored me. I then started to look around and found several almost brand new small kitchen appliances that were priced higher than if they were bought at Walmart, brand new. I was then begining to wonder who the person was that was pricing those items.

This was not the first time I had seen outragous prices on used items. Over the weekend I was in a local Salvation Army store and saw an HP scanner in it's orginal box. I know the price of that partiuclar scanner at Staples and a few other places. On sale they can be had for around $30 or less. Imagine the look on my face when I saw they were asking $122.00 for it with no warranty and you don't even know if it is compatible with Vista (many of the older ones aren't).

When those places realize that they are not offering any bargains? I think that it is time to move on when it comes to going into stores that are way out of line in the way of prices.

It's a man's world

Have you noticed that TV advertising has started to change? I have noticed a decrease in gadget advertising and an increase of medication and Mesothelioma lawyers ads in the past month. Of course the company that made Viagra made the announcement yesterday that if someone lost their job and didn't have health insurance they would supply their medication for up to one year. Normally I would think of that as a great idea but come on, when is Viagra a necessity?

So if more men have access to that drug does that mean there will be an increase in babies born in 9 months time? Since birth control has been considered to be not a covered drug under many insurance plans but Viagra is who writes those guidelines? Single men no doubt.

The plight of the GM dealerships

The news about the 1500+ GM dealerships closing is sending chills through local economies. Other local business that rely on the dealerships will be hurting in their cash drawer.

I have another concern. I have a 2004 car that I bought an extended warranty through our local dealership. If they are forced to close who will honor the warranty? What happens to the many thousands of people that just bought GM products and their local dealership closes and the closest dealership to take the car to for warranty work is 100's of miles away?

When your business becomes a success

You work hard at making your small home based business a success and one day it will. You will go from a cash based company where you sell something for cash or you accept checks from people you know to where you will have to one day accept credit cards. You'll find out that as your business grows you will lose customers if you don't accept credit cards or debit cards.

I very often go shopping with plastic, not credit card plastic but debit card plastic. I find it safer to shop that way. I have gotten to the point that I know which stores will or won't accept my card. I have also watched small stores shut down when they thought they could do away with accepting credit cards.

Don't be afraid of finding a good "Point of Sale" credit card system also known as POS systems. Each credit card processing company will have different set of fees and monthly services charges. Some charge per transaction while others charge a flat monthly fee. Depending on how often you plan on customers using their cards to purchase your goods or services will determine the best system for you. Don't get stuck with a contract that you can't get out of should you find a better company - read the fine print and do the math on those types of companies.

More ways to save money

I have been looking around my budget to see where else I could make some cut backs. I need to start putting away more money into a long term savings plan for the next 4 years. The goal is a college education for my daughter.

One of our cars is getting older so I was thinking about just have liability insurance coverage on it now instead of full coverage. I will be checking out a few car insurance lead generations to see what I come up with. I figure if I can save an extra few hundred every 6 months on car insurance that might add $400 a year into that savings account.

Another thing I was thinking about is getting a 6 or 12 month CD and locking up some savings in it. It would prevent me from having easy access to the money and force me to ignore it.

Another twist on twitter

I have found out another thing you can do on twitter. Since most companies and online stores have a twitter account you can "follow" them on twitter. You can then contact them to ask for discounts. Most of them will be happy to give you a code to enter upon check out to get a discount. This is great if you are shopping for anything online. If you don't twitter now to save money, you will be soon.

Medical careers

I was watching a TV show the other night on the Discovery Channel about DNA and how it was used to determine the family bloodline of a mystery body. To me it was absolutely fascinating. It reminded me of the fact that much of the current career opportunities are in the medical field, but not everyone wants to be a doctor or a nurse. Medical research will also have a high demand for people to conduct experiments on things like ancestry dna just like in the TV show I saw.

It is estimated that everyone has at least 3 or more career changes during their lifetime. Some are more dramatic than others. Currently there is a lack of just production work and more medical work. As the population gets older, medical care will become more and more in demand. it is not only just doctors and nurses that are needed but medical technicians, pharmacists, laboratory help and researchers that will have job openings.

You might want to look into a career in the medical field and see if you can get certified for a position in less than 6 months. I know that some medical careers only take a few months of full time school to get you to the entry level.

Organize your way to success

One thing that I have noticed with my own family is that if the house is a mess then the stress level is higher. I would not say that the stress is caused by the untidy house but that stress is causing the family to think of other things rather than picking up after themselves.

Stress in our lives causes people to become short tempered, forgetful and an unwillingness to continue with a pursuit. If you take that into account then yes stress is the cause for the over full laundry hamper and dirty dishes in the sink not the other way around.

One way to alleviate the stress is to organize your home. You will have a sense of control. That gives you the power over stress. You can control your immediate surroundings even if it is just your own room. It costs nothing and you will feel you can take on the world when you can control your own little world.

Don't let clutter control your life and your emotions, you must control it. Once you have control you can then take on the outside world, whether it be a business, a new job or just being happy with your own life.

Social Security bonus

If you are receiving SSI or regular Social Security benefits you will be receiving a one time $250 payment in May 2009. Today (May 7, 2009) is the start of the first payments - did you get yours yet?

I am guessing that payment schedule is made according to your Social Security number. You will receive your little payment the same way you receive your regular SS payment.

More than likely those small amounts will go to pay over due bills rather than stimulate the economy as they were intended. Heck that amount wouldn't even pay for a term life insurance policy.

Maybe all those who are retired or on disability should all get together and form a company. They can then ask the Feds for a bail out! They would then all end up rich, just like those banking companies that are screwing everyone else over.

Writers block, the death trap of bloggers

Every once and awhile I have writers block. I think up some wonderful things to write about at times but about once a month my brain says enough. I just have to take a time out from writing product reviews or how to articles. It is always easy writing about something I am passionate about but when I have to write a liporexall review or review on a car that I have never seen it just gets old after awhile. I get a mental block. Professional writing for the internet is not as glamorous as some people make it out to be. After all it is a job.

Most of the time I enjoy writing but there are those times when it can take several hours to just get something started. Most of the article assignments have deadlines of 72 hours or less so if I get writers block for more than 24 hours I panic.

I would like to hear from other bloggers and freelance writers. How do you combat writers block?

Age is a benefit for websites and blogs

The older your blog or website is the better the chances for it to be found by search engines. If you have some sort of analytics on your blog or website you can see where your visitors came from. You will notice that your older entries on your blog or your older pages on your website will get more traffic than your newer ones. The reason for this is the fact that those older pages have been indexed by the search engines.

Have you ever done a search for something on the internet and you seem to always come up with results that are over 6 months old? What you are experiencing is the same thing that your own visitors are experiencing.

There is a way to use that fact to get more traffic to your websites and blogs. Using your stats find out which are your most popular entries that are found by the search engines. In those entries make some of the words into hyper links to your newer entries. You are now cross promoting your own blog or website using the search engine. It will force the search engine into indexing your newer blog or website entries and will increase your chances of being found during searches.

Saving money on your health costs

It is almost mandatory to have some sort of health insurance. many of us that pay for our own health insurance have large deductibles so we have smaller monthly payments. So finding out ways to keep yourself healthy so you don't use the insurance in the first place, other than routine health checks is one excellent way to save on your medical costs.

Another way is to become healthier by getting fit. If you are planning on a regimen of losing weight be warned to stay away from non-prescription weight loss pills. After the fiasco with the supplement Hydroxycut people are being warned that the FDA has no control over those types of products. Did I hear that right?! I thought that the FDA, which stands for FOOD and DRUG Administration was there to protect us from that sort of thing. I didn't know that they did not regulate supplements.

It all goes back to the fact that you had better be watching out for yourself because no one else is.

The politics of swine flu

When I saw the political cartoon above I just about made a mess of my computer screen. It is so funny. At the same time it smacks of misinformation. Even the Egyptian government didn't know from Jack that the swine flu had nothing to do with swine. They ordered all the pigs killed in Egypt this week. Here is the story on that, All the pigs killed in Egypt.