I am a member of the eBay Partner Network. It is an affiliate program that eBay set up so you can earn commissions on sales on eBay. I have been a member for about 3 years now. When I first started out, eBay had a different sales commission in place. You made a percentage of actual completed sales. Now they pay per click. There have been days when I earned $40 in commissions but since they switched over to the pay per click, my earnings dropped dramatically, until recently.
What I use to do was jump into on going message board conversations about eBay and link to the item or items they were talking about. I didn't do any persuading or "selling" on the message board, I simply added a link with something to the effect "did you mean this item?" or "here is a link to that item you mentioned." That is what got me those high paying daily commissions.
I still do that sometimes but now I have added a banner advertisement to 2 of my highest trafficked blogs. Now I am getting those precious clicks and my earnings are up. Just out of curiosity I checked what people were buying on eBay and they were not buying what I thought they would be. They are buying health and beauty products both of which my blogs are not about. People seem to be searching for alternate medications, herbs, diet pills and apidexin ingredients. Maybe they are making their own home based medications, but I don't care as long as I am earning commissions from their purchases.
So far today, and it is early, I have made $7.51 in commissions on the eBay Partner Network. Not bad for simply a banner ad.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
Why do people love to waste their money on junk?
You know what junk I am talking about.....that item sitting in that closet that has gone unused for 3 years now that you just had to have 4 years ago. Yep, that junk. If more people would do less impulse buying and more planning to buy something then we could afford that house we always wanted or own a car without a loan on it.
Making a wise decision on what food to buy will help with long term medical expenses. If you eat healthier you don't have to worry obesity related illnesses or paying more for that so called best muscle building supplement. Just changing your shopping habits when buying food will help your pocket book and waistline. The same advice still holds true, don't buy junk food.
Since food is one of a family's largest monthly expense it also is one that can be adjusted to eliminate high priced, low nutrition value foods.
Making a wise decision on what food to buy will help with long term medical expenses. If you eat healthier you don't have to worry obesity related illnesses or paying more for that so called best muscle building supplement. Just changing your shopping habits when buying food will help your pocket book and waistline. The same advice still holds true, don't buy junk food.
Since food is one of a family's largest monthly expense it also is one that can be adjusted to eliminate high priced, low nutrition value foods.
My Google Adsense income is going up
I was pleasantly surprised this past week when each day I have been earning at least $1 abovie my normal daily earnings from clicks. The thing is, I have not done anything different to any of my blogs other than write in them. I think that I am getting the same number of visitors, it is just that the price per clicks have risen. I sure do hope that the trend still stays on track and it is not a fluke of some kind.
As gasoline goes higher what will automakers do?
The vicious dark circles of greed are at it again. Oil companies seem to take advantage of any news that they can profit from. This time it is the middle east turmoil that has Libya in the spotlight. As oil prices skyrocket higher and gasoline creeps up in price everyday what cars will be hot now?
When gasoline was at $4 a gallon just a few years ago, hybrids and electric cars were in very high demand. As gas prices dropped, gas powered cars with lower MPG of under 30 MPG started to sell again. Now that gas prices are creeping back up, will the car makers fill the ticket with higher MPG cars or just hope that people will keep on buying cars that only get 25 MPG and forget that a 60+ MPG has already been made. Along with you, I will watch and see what they will do.
When gasoline was at $4 a gallon just a few years ago, hybrids and electric cars were in very high demand. As gas prices dropped, gas powered cars with lower MPG of under 30 MPG started to sell again. Now that gas prices are creeping back up, will the car makers fill the ticket with higher MPG cars or just hope that people will keep on buying cars that only get 25 MPG and forget that a 60+ MPG has already been made. Along with you, I will watch and see what they will do.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Getting burned out on writing
That dreaded time of the month has come.....no not that time of the month, the time when I get burned out of writing my blogs and articles for other blogs. I have noticed that about once or twice a month I get totally fed up with racking my brain looking for another angle on some well covered product or another way to say something interesting about diet pills (yes I get way too many offers to write articles about them) Let's face it, there are just so many ways you can mention the phrase "Best over the counter diet pills" without seeming to be a total retard. Of course about 10 websites want to be known for that phrase so they can be on page one of Google's search. Don't get me wrong, I love the money I get for doing a simple 60-200 word article that only takes 10 minutes to type but in reality takes me 30 minutes to write it in my head. It is the writing in my head that is burning me out.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Re-doing our kitchen
I had planned to get all new appliances for our kitchen but not right now....that was until our oven blew up last week. I had been looking at refrigerators and had not given a thought to stoves and ranges, until last weekend that is. Imagine doing kamikaze shopping for a stove, but we did it. We found a really nice electric range for almost half the suggested retail price which made our shopping experience a pleasure. It won't be delivered for another week and now we are planning on getting the kitchen floor re-done. We will do it ourselves to save money on labor costs, of course.
After the stove and floor gets done and paid for, the refrigerator will be back on the list as the next item to get. I guess the stainless sink and new kitchen faucet can wait for now.
After the stove and floor gets done and paid for, the refrigerator will be back on the list as the next item to get. I guess the stainless sink and new kitchen faucet can wait for now.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Some things that I will not promote
I will write just about anything.......if you pay me enough, but there are some exceptions. I will draw the line at gambling, drinking, smoking and payday advance loans. Let me tell you why.
I have seen first hand what heavy drinking and smoking can do to a family. Both my husbands father and my father died as complications of smoking. Heavy drinkers are rampant in my husbands family. Their habit has broken up almost every marriage so far. Where I live I noticed a lot of older men riding bicycles, then I found out they rode bikes simply because they lost their drivers licenses due to DUI's. So you can see why I will not promote drinking and smoking.
Gambling is another story. My mother-in-law is addicted to her state's lottery. She buys scratch off tickets everyday and of course buys those tickets for the BIG one. All this on her small fixed income and living one SS check to the next. She is in her late 70's and hopes to win big one day.......I doubt it, but she is addicted to the tune of at least $100 a week. That is an addiction that equals $5200 a year or more.
Lastly, those nasty payday loan sharks. In some states they are thinking about banning them. Those loans can often equal an interest rate of 75%. I am old enough to remember when the real mob loan sharks use to charge a 30% interest charge on their loans, nowadays credit card companies took over that slot. The only loan you should ever have is the one on your house, all other items you should save up for and pay cash.
I have seen first hand what heavy drinking and smoking can do to a family. Both my husbands father and my father died as complications of smoking. Heavy drinkers are rampant in my husbands family. Their habit has broken up almost every marriage so far. Where I live I noticed a lot of older men riding bicycles, then I found out they rode bikes simply because they lost their drivers licenses due to DUI's. So you can see why I will not promote drinking and smoking.
Gambling is another story. My mother-in-law is addicted to her state's lottery. She buys scratch off tickets everyday and of course buys those tickets for the BIG one. All this on her small fixed income and living one SS check to the next. She is in her late 70's and hopes to win big one day.......I doubt it, but she is addicted to the tune of at least $100 a week. That is an addiction that equals $5200 a year or more.
Lastly, those nasty payday loan sharks. In some states they are thinking about banning them. Those loans can often equal an interest rate of 75%. I am old enough to remember when the real mob loan sharks use to charge a 30% interest charge on their loans, nowadays credit card companies took over that slot. The only loan you should ever have is the one on your house, all other items you should save up for and pay cash.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Technology that ends up at the Dollar store
You have got to wonder about those little electronic gadgets that end up at the local Dollar store, I know that I do. Those little tiny FM radios, the mobile cell boosters that claim to increase your cell phone coverage range and the LED book lights. I must admit to buying the FM radio for when the power goes out at the house and found out that most of the stations that I could receive were gospel stations. All I can say is "thank you" XM satellite radio (which we get in our truck). The radio is pretty much useless. I am not sure about those other technology items.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
We almost bought a 20 acre ranch
About 6 years ago were were shopping for property in the country. I looked at plenty of them but the one I really wanted to look at was one that was close to the foreclosure process and was on the market as a "short sale." What a short sale is, in the simplest terms, is a sale of the property at less than the amount owed. This is agreed upon by the lender and borrower before the property is listed as a short sale. The property we were wanted to look at was listed on our local Remax realtor's website, click here for the main Remax website. It was 20 acres with a manufactured home and 2 barns. The main barn had a covered riding arena and I think the place had been used as a boarding stable in the past. Someone else had made an offer that was in the process of being bargained for so our realtor told us that it would be useless for us to make an offer on the property. Of course we didn't end up with the property but in the long run it worked out, let me tell you why and the story might interest you.
A few years later I met someone who lived just down the street from that 20 acre property. She confirmed to me that the property had changed hands several times over the years and also mentioned something that I had not known.......the well was bad and had gone dry several times. It had not been drilled deep enough.
Last year that property was hosting a horse show and curiosity got the better of me and I decided to check it out. I got the dates wrong on the horse show and showed up 2 weeks prior to the show. The place that I fell in love with in the photos just 5 years prior to that was now a DUMP!! Yes the place was thrashed. The huge barn with the riding arena had a large sag in the middle of the roof line and the home had 3 dogs living under it. No one was home but I did manage to talk to the stall cleaner who said that the horse show would be canceled due to lack of interest.........no one wanted to come to the place (I wonder why!!!!) to attend the show.
We currently live about 5 miles from that place and we did find a nice place in the country. The property has much less acreage but a larger home and a GREAT well. Occasionally I still look on those real estate websites to see other "dream homes" that I can drool over, Zillow is a big one now (click here to visit Zillow) but I also like realtor.com
So you can see that in our case it was better that we did not get that 20 acre headache but ended up with house we now live in.
A few years later I met someone who lived just down the street from that 20 acre property. She confirmed to me that the property had changed hands several times over the years and also mentioned something that I had not known.......the well was bad and had gone dry several times. It had not been drilled deep enough.
Last year that property was hosting a horse show and curiosity got the better of me and I decided to check it out. I got the dates wrong on the horse show and showed up 2 weeks prior to the show. The place that I fell in love with in the photos just 5 years prior to that was now a DUMP!! Yes the place was thrashed. The huge barn with the riding arena had a large sag in the middle of the roof line and the home had 3 dogs living under it. No one was home but I did manage to talk to the stall cleaner who said that the horse show would be canceled due to lack of interest.........no one wanted to come to the place (I wonder why!!!!) to attend the show.
We currently live about 5 miles from that place and we did find a nice place in the country. The property has much less acreage but a larger home and a GREAT well. Occasionally I still look on those real estate websites to see other "dream homes" that I can drool over, Zillow is a big one now (click here to visit Zillow) but I also like realtor.com
So you can see that in our case it was better that we did not get that 20 acre headache but ended up with house we now live in.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
It is one of those times when everything breaks at the same time
Ever have one of those months when everything seems to want to break? Well this is my month. I originally set aside some money in a separate savings account for some new home decor. I was going to put in new carpet in the living room then redo the master bathroom with a new counter top and a brand new color scheme with new towels, bath rugs and curtains. Like I said, I "was" going to do those things. That was until the oven blew up last night. The oven/range is about 12 years old and came with the house when we bought it. For the last few months the thermostat has been acting up and the oven goes on, on its own. So last night I turned on the oven and there was a bright light shinning through the oven window. I opened the oven door and saw the heating element light up like a welding rod. I turned it off but the oven would not turn off. I had to turn off the oven at the circuit breaker.
So this weekend it is oven/range shopping time. Right now we are using our electric counter top appliances for cooking but there are only so many ways to fry or grill things.
So this weekend it is oven/range shopping time. Right now we are using our electric counter top appliances for cooking but there are only so many ways to fry or grill things.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Holy heck, Google updated pagerank
I thought my eyes were deceiving me, after almost 10 months of no pagerank updates from Google (the last one in April 2010), Google updated many websites in the past 2 days.
Was yours updated? So far this one and 2 of my other ones got a boost. Now lets see if that makes a difference in traffic since that is what we all strive for.
Was yours updated? So far this one and 2 of my other ones got a boost. Now lets see if that makes a difference in traffic since that is what we all strive for.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Day two of my cold and getting better
While I hate having to hang around the bathroom and laying in bed, I can be thankful for having a laptop and decent weather outside. I cannot fathom even trying to use a snow shovel or getting out one of our commercial pumps to pump out flooded areas like it seems that at least 50% of the USA is doing right now.When I lived in the central valley of CA we had what is commonly called a "holding pond." It was a dug out area that collected water during heavy rains. If your property did not have one or there was not one very close by, then you might have a flooded house. Many city folks would buy older homes out in the central valley and fill those holding ponds in. Later they would realize what they had done and once they clean out their house of a few inches of water they would hire someone with a backhoe to dig their holding pond, again. Even here in Oregon, I have have seen holding ponds in the Willamette Valley.
Oh well, enough of reminiscing and back to taking another nap. I have been up since 3am coughing out a lung.
Oh well, enough of reminiscing and back to taking another nap. I have been up since 3am coughing out a lung.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
A peaceful day in bed with a cold
I am home today, in bed and sick. It is mostly peaceful. I am catching up on my blog posts, writing articles and sleeping. Mostly sleeping. The only disturbance was when I heard a loud crash and thought it sounded like the floor stand crashing to the floor in the living room. I got up to investigate and found out the cat had gotten up on the kitchen counter and knocked down a coffee mug and it smashed to pieces. After cleaning up the mess, it was back to bed for more fever induced dreams.
Buying a foreclosure
I must admit that at one time I did investigate buying a property that was being auctioned off by the lender. It was one of those properties that once the foreclosure had taken place, the property went up for auction on the county court house steps.
I don't know if those auctions are still done or not. There are so many real estate auctions nowadays and even short sales confuse the heck out of me. I do know of 2 people that were very successful in buying their dream horse properties in a short sale but it took almost a year for the banks to haggle over the price and finally accept their offers. One went through an agent that helped them through the process and the other one knew enough to handle it on her own.
When I was property shopping I used several online websites. The major one I used was realtor.com but once I found the area that interested me I found the local MLS website that the local realtors used. Since then, many real estate websites have popped up all over the place. Zillow is one that comes to mind. I have never used it much but others have. Then there is Trulia which I only found out about a few days ago. Of course there must be hundreds devoted to just listing foreclosures. If you are looking at buying a foreclosure then please stay away from those websites that want you to join (for a fee of course) just to look at the listings. There are plenty of free websites that list foreclosed homes.
I don't know if those auctions are still done or not. There are so many real estate auctions nowadays and even short sales confuse the heck out of me. I do know of 2 people that were very successful in buying their dream horse properties in a short sale but it took almost a year for the banks to haggle over the price and finally accept their offers. One went through an agent that helped them through the process and the other one knew enough to handle it on her own.
When I was property shopping I used several online websites. The major one I used was realtor.com but once I found the area that interested me I found the local MLS website that the local realtors used. Since then, many real estate websites have popped up all over the place. Zillow is one that comes to mind. I have never used it much but others have. Then there is Trulia which I only found out about a few days ago. Of course there must be hundreds devoted to just listing foreclosures. If you are looking at buying a foreclosure then please stay away from those websites that want you to join (for a fee of course) just to look at the listings. There are plenty of free websites that list foreclosed homes.
Looking back over the last 11 years
It was just about 11 years ago that my favorite job ended. Yes I did work for a company that I really liked and thought I would be with them until I retired. They were an electrical connector company that I worked at for 12 years and went from an inspector to a supervisor.
When the owner of the company decided to retire he put the company up for sale. Looking back I don't see why he needed to sell it rather than become a silent owner. After all the company's profits were in the $15+ million range each year. Never the less he sold the company to that mega giant corporation, Tyco. If you know anything about Tyco, the company is known for buying small companies then shutting them down. They want the sales connections and their technology but not their employees. So that is what happened, Tyco bought the company and within a year shut it down and laid everyone off.
Since the great layoff (over 300 people) many people have had very dramatic changes to their lives that use to work their. About 2 years after the layoff we had a get together in Santa Clara, CA to see what everyone was up to. The former owner was not there but was now residing in San Diego and was the owner of a soccer team. The vice president of the company had a divorce and now lived in Hawaii. Much of the upper management was now retired and living comfortably off of their share of the $53 million that Tyco paid for the company. Even the daughter of the former owner, that was now living in San Diego has a bright new career at the Monterey Bay Aquarium as a marine biologist. Many former employees were still struggling to find work that even came close to what they were earning before the layoff. I was among them. Yes I was working but those jobs lasted under a year till the next layoff. None were even close to what I would call another dream job.
Last year I found out more about some of the people I use to work with and what happened to them. One women moved from California to Texas and became a real estate agent. Another women I worked with moved back in with her ex-husband because she could not afford to live on her own. One of the men that use to work on the production line was now holding down 2 full time jobs and was commuting 4 hours every day to them. We moved from CA too (6 years ago) and found a cheaper place to live. I also discovered ways to make money from home like selling stuff on eBay
and writing for Yahoo. I never in a million years would have thought that I would write for a living, but I do.
Now that I live outside of CA, I find myself wanting to go back and visit the places I never had the time nor money to visit when I lived there. Two places I have never been to are Disneyland and the San Diego Zoo. Of course now it costs more in the form of air travel to go to see those places when before they were just a long car trip away. Oh well, I get to see them eventually.
I think all of our lives have changed since Tyco laid us off.
When the owner of the company decided to retire he put the company up for sale. Looking back I don't see why he needed to sell it rather than become a silent owner. After all the company's profits were in the $15+ million range each year. Never the less he sold the company to that mega giant corporation, Tyco. If you know anything about Tyco, the company is known for buying small companies then shutting them down. They want the sales connections and their technology but not their employees. So that is what happened, Tyco bought the company and within a year shut it down and laid everyone off.
Since the great layoff (over 300 people) many people have had very dramatic changes to their lives that use to work their. About 2 years after the layoff we had a get together in Santa Clara, CA to see what everyone was up to. The former owner was not there but was now residing in San Diego and was the owner of a soccer team. The vice president of the company had a divorce and now lived in Hawaii. Much of the upper management was now retired and living comfortably off of their share of the $53 million that Tyco paid for the company. Even the daughter of the former owner, that was now living in San Diego has a bright new career at the Monterey Bay Aquarium as a marine biologist. Many former employees were still struggling to find work that even came close to what they were earning before the layoff. I was among them. Yes I was working but those jobs lasted under a year till the next layoff. None were even close to what I would call another dream job.
Last year I found out more about some of the people I use to work with and what happened to them. One women moved from California to Texas and became a real estate agent. Another women I worked with moved back in with her ex-husband because she could not afford to live on her own. One of the men that use to work on the production line was now holding down 2 full time jobs and was commuting 4 hours every day to them. We moved from CA too (6 years ago) and found a cheaper place to live. I also discovered ways to make money from home like selling stuff on eBay
Now that I live outside of CA, I find myself wanting to go back and visit the places I never had the time nor money to visit when I lived there. Two places I have never been to are Disneyland and the San Diego Zoo. Of course now it costs more in the form of air travel to go to see those places when before they were just a long car trip away. Oh well, I get to see them eventually.
I think all of our lives have changed since Tyco laid us off.
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