Cougar's Pursuit of Happiness

Life Skills and Success Resources List

2009-01-15T20:30:00.000-08:00

All of this information basically amounts to a book, possibly several books. Like my Writing Resources post, I'll be referring my newer articles back to this. It saves time from linking a batch of articles each time.

More than that however, I've always wanted to package something like this in such a way that it could be shared and given away for free. Review it for yourself first. If you know anyone that could use this, I've already done the hard work--all you have to do is give them this article's address. I want to make a difference with my life and what I've learned, and this is the closest thing I have short of sitting and talking with people individually.

Some of this stuff may be a little over the heads of younger kids and teenagers, but I really wish I'd had access to information like this before I entered college. Most of this is good life skills foundation material--things that I never really got in school but fortunately still had taught to me by some really good people.

I sincerely hope that this information helps you and your families. I know right now is a hard point in life for a lot of people, and I know what that's like. While I know I don't have all the answers, hopefully this will spark some ideas for you and get you around ideas that may have never been taught to you. I know a turning point of me personally was realizing that things don't have to stay the same--that there are ways of getting out of circumstances even when you feel trapped.

Here are the links:

Articles List:

My Life Development (Success Resources Blog):

Tools and Resources:

You can find my most recent articles by visiting my author's blog at http://happycougar.wordpress.com.

Every Legitimate Paid and Reward Website I Know

2008-12-08T16:46:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to do a post like this for awhile and have honestly just procrastinated on doing it. This is mainly for people I know so I can give them one link instead of listing a bunch each time, but if you just happened upon this you're welcome to the information as well.

My qualifications for a legitimate site is 1) It's not a scam and 2) The reward or payment is worth the effort involved--some things are legal but a waste of your time when you could be doing something else.

Here is my list so far--if you have any questions about any of them, leave a comment and I'll try to answer it if I can.

First, the sites that will pay you through PayPal and/or Direct Deposit:

eHow.com--If you enjoy creating how-to articles, this site pays really well and has a very user-friendly format.
Helium.com--This is a paying website for articles of all types. Focus on contests and the marketplace sections first, since those tend to pay the most.
Hubpages.com--Create your own webpages and then sign up as an affiliate with Google Adsense, Amazon, and eBay. Input your affiliate IDs, and Hubpages displays ads with your information 50% of the time. It's a way of staring off with webpage design and earning through affiliates without paying anything out of pocket.
Blogger.com--You can use the same affiliate accounts you created for Hubpages for your blog, keeping 100% of the profits. Google Adsense has it's own selection box, and use the "Third-Party" box for Amazon and eBay.
Associated Content.com--I personally stick to non-exclusive rights (pays less, but you can make more money having an article on more than one website rather than only being able to have it on one), but they're overall a good site.
Gather.com--You can earn either gift cards or cash through PayPal through a points system. You get points for posting photos, articles, and possibly by giving comments and creating groups. (They don't share the exact formula--just that being active on the site will get you points.)
Lulu.com--This is a self-publishing website where you can create books, ebooks, and a lot of other items. You can cash you through PayPal with only $5 in sales.
Cafepress.com--With the right idea, you can make an income from this site with no out of pocket expense, using the free store option. If you have a blog, consider creating a store related to what you blog about.
Bukisa--This is a newer website, also for How-to articles. You can cash out through PayPal at $50. It's a great option if you have a lot of articles already written or plan to write a lot. There is also going to be a photo option, which as of the time of this article is not up yet.
PineCone Research--This is a great survey company to work with, but you have to do a search to find a link to get access to their application. I've worked with them for over 2 years now--I can't go into what we review, but if you come across them it's worth signing up.

Reward-Only Websites:

Writing.com--This website will mainly be of interest to writers. The site has a system called GPs (stands for gift points) that you can earn through reviewing people and winning writing contests and spend for reviews for yourself, buy raffle tickets for prizes, and use for merchandise in the site's store. It's a really fun website and has a great community--I've been with them for 2 years. You can see an example of my portfolio by clicking here.
Swagbucks.com--This website has evolved dramatically (for the better) since I first joined it. It's a reward-based search engine that gives you their version of currency (called Swagbucks) for searching with them. You can redeem swagbucks for everything from mp3 downloads to gift cards to video games. I personally focus on the $5 Amazon.com electronic gift cards for 45 Swagbucks each.
MyPoints.com--Just sticking to the surveys, opening e-mails (you have to click on a "Get Points" button within the e-mail), coupons for stuff you're going to buy anyway, and other things that don't cost you anything out of pocket, you can earn enough points for a $10 gift card every once in awhile. This one is kind of borderline on the "worthwhile" scale, but I can see someone doing well with it if they're more organized with coupons than me.

This is all I can think of at the moment--there are a few others that are potentially good, but I want to test them out prior to recommending them to other people. As with anything that seems good, be sure to check them out with the Better Business Bureau (http://www.bbb.org). I also have an article on eHow on avoiding work-at-home job scams by clicking here.

I hope all of the sites are able to help you. Best wishes to you!

Tricia

Free Ebooks

2008-11-15T10:32:00.000-08:00

I was browsing around online and found some free e-books other people may find interesting and fun--here are the links:

1) Manners, Custom and Dress During the Middle Ages and During the Renaissance Period by Paul Lacroix

2) Illustrated History of Furniture, by Frederick Litchfield

3) History of the United States by Charles A. Beard and Mary R. Beard

4) The Beginner's American History by D. H. Montgomery

5) THE PRACTICE & SCIENCE OF DRAWING BY HAROLD SPEED

6) The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci

7) The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

8) The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

9) The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

10) Ten Books on Architecture by Vitruvius

You can get more free ebooks by clicking here.

It will probably take you a long time to finish those, but for some shorter reads feel free to visit my other blogs:

The Life Development Blog--inspirational stories and videos by experts who can help you get ahead in life.

How-to Article Central--dozens of how-to articles arranged by topic; all are free.

Web Writer Central--Lots of free information and resources for freelance writers.

The Fictional Character Development Template--a useful tool for brainstorming fictional characters and their backgrounds.

The Washington, D.C. Photo Blog--also has information on landmarks if you're planning a visit to the Washington, D.C./Arlington, VA area.

The Dachshund Photo Blog--Photos and related resources for people who own dachshunds or are thinking about getting one.

Photos From McCain Rally in Blountville, TN

2008-11-03T18:19:00.001-08:00

Tri-Cities Airport, Blountville, TN

A large portion of the audience was from Southwest Virginia.

The plane arrived around 11:40.

Joe Lieberman:
John and Cindy McCain:

Plane departs for Pennsylvania:

How to Set Goals on Your Career Path

2008-10-07T07:32:00.000-07:00

Goal setting is one of those activities in life that most people know works but still few people actually do. From a career standpoint, most people are going through life doing the equivalent of eating nothing but junk food when they know better to eat right and exercise. Sometimes doing the things that will lead to results and success are harder, but that doesn't mean they're not worthwhile.

Something that personally helped me was treating goal setting like a game. I have a destination, no matter how big or small, and the object of the game is to get to that destination. Once I reach one goal, I know I need to have a new and bigger one in the works so that I'm always moving forward. I also surround myself with friends who have big dreams and goals as well. Negative people believe goal setting is pointless, which is why it's hard to find a negative person with long-term success. They get things backwards, believing success leads to a good attitude when it's a good attitude that leads to success.

The other side of setting goals is knowing what you really want. This is difficult for people to figure out sometimes. A lot of us have gone through life experiences where we're used to other people defining what we "should" want, and when we get out on our own as adults there's this uneasy feeling of "what should I do?" What people don't understand is the paradox of indecision is that it still a decision (one of inaction). The end result of doing that long-term is you wake up one day with a lot of regret.

It's never too late to change, but at the same time don't let that be your excuse to procrastinate. Most likely no one around you is going to give you permission to follow your dream. You have to take action and get out of your comfort zone.

If any type of fear is holding you back, read about successful people who have what you want out of life. You'll be surprised at the frustrations, struggles, and tragedies they had to overcome to get to their point in life. Success in anything is not about breezing through life but about developing the character to be able to handle what comes at you.

Seriously give this some thought. Sit down with a notebook and brainstorm ideas of what you want your life to look like 5 years from now. Make the resolve that you don't want to be average. Taking the time to do this just makes sense compared to randomly working toward something you may or may not really want.

I hope you've found these ideas helpful, and I wish you the best!

Tips for Starting a Small Business

2008-07-23T20:06:00.000-07:00

Starting and owning a business can be one of the most fun and positive life changes a person can make in their life. Businesses are not only a potential source for higher income, but can gradually give a person more time and a creative outlet if they're done right. There are dozens of reasons people will tell you it's not a good idea to start a business, but for most people the positives outweigh the risks.

The following tips are from my own experiences in primarily online businesses. I'm currently 24 years old and have a clear plan of being able to retire before 30 at my current rate of progress. This is basically the process I went through, beginning at age 19:

1) Before you leap into action, educate yourself.

This can be done in several ways. Some colleges have business programs where you can learn about concepts on a formal level. There's nothing wrong with that, but be sure to select a program that is taught by people who own businesses. The college I attended taught almost entirely business theory without practical applications, so I opted for majoring in psychology and communications instead. These majors were indirectly related to business in that they taught me how to work with different personalities and how to communicate clearly.

My real business education came from three main sources. At 19, I began working for a traditional small business, a small movie theatre. This was a unique experience because it had just changed hands, and the new owners let myself and my husband (fiance at the time) have a very active role in the business. I didn't know it at the time, but I was being mentored on how to operate a successful business and getting paid to do it.

This later led me into reading books on business (the kind you find at any retail bookstore or library, not textbooks). Finally when we came across a good business model of an online business, my husband and I got weekly training from a local business group that utilized the same website. Over time, your thought process will begin to change. I can't force myself to think the way I used to think 5 years ago, and I know if I keep going I'll be even better off 5 years from now.

2) Start small and ease your way into business.

I started in business part-time while keeping a full-time job and going to college. It's hard, but it can be done. Sometimes you have to give up some things to have enough time to do it, but I figured out I was wasting a lot of time watching

TV shows that weren't helping me move foward in life. It doesn't mean you get tunnel vision to the point you can't relate to people, but you do have to be a little different than the average person if you want to make progress.

Financially, there's really no need to go into debt to start something like a home-based or web-based business. It's also not a bad idea to incubate a traditional business idea at home in the beginning if possible. I think debt is the number one thing that crashes businesses before they stabilize. I've stopped certain businesses in favor of others that are less hassle, but I've never had to shut down a business due to it not profiting. That's extremely important.

You also have to give yourself time to learn. If you make all of your mistakes while you're on a small scale, you'll do better once you start to grow.

3) Figure out your business niche.

This is also a process, but if you can find some aspect of your business that sets you apart it will help you. You want to be known as the person to go to for that niche. Make sure it's a big enough need that you'll have a stream of business, but narrow enough that you've reduced a lot of competition.

4) Work.

This is kind of a funny tip, but sometimes it has to be said that capital alone won't do it for you. Even with online businesses, you can't expect for the money to flow in the moment your website goes live. The energy and time you invest in the young stages of your business will come back to you when it matures. It is worthwhile, especially when you look at the alternatives of what you could end up doing instead.

5) Enjoy what you do.

The right small business should become more of a way of life for you rather than just a job that you own. I personally love the challenge of having my own businesses, which along with the financial rewards I've never found matched in a job. If people do what makes them happy, it's a lot easier for them to become experts in their field. The money does follow. You just have to make the decision to get started. Best wishes to you!

Exploring Career Choices

2008-07-05T08:23:00.000-07:00

Exploring career choices can sometimes feel like a balancing act. On one hand, it's very unreasonable to think you're supposed to have it all figured out in your teens and early 20s, when most people are under the most pressure to make a career decision. At the same time, you can let yourself get trapped in a cycle of indecision, fear of change, and procrastination to where you put off what you'd love to do in favor of something that does really fit.

Many times people don't know where to start. A good place to begin is to set aside some time to focus only on career ideas. Grab a notebook, get a soda or a cup of coffee at a relatively quiet restaurant (or any place where you can get away and think), and begin brainstorming and writing ideas of what you want your life to look like within the next 5-10 years.

You also want to write down what you love to do and how those activities can be turned into either a job or self-employed business. See how you can combine different interests into a niche career that would be special and important to you. Once you have a direction, you can begin finding ways of moving toward what you want and away from the things that won't help you.

I did all of these steps at 19 years old, and it is amazing what you can do in life when you learn how to focus and develop your dream. Your plans may change over time, but you can always repeat the process above any time you're at a crossroads and want to change something that isn't working for you.

Finding a mentor or mentors is important as well. Having successful people in your life pulls you to wanting to do more in life, regardless if the mentor is in your career field or not. A lot of success principles carry over to life in general, and it's helpful to have role models and examples in your life.

The final tip I have is to never stop being willing to learn something new and pursue where new ideas take you. If you're interested in a particular job or business, try to absorb as much information as you could be well prepared if you wanted to transition into the field.

This process does work. I was a psychology and broadcasting major in college, which did help me. I kept learning outside of formal education however about subjects like business, writing, and online marketing. I'm now making a significantly higher income than most people my age and am on the verge of being able to "retire" to write full-time in my mid-20s without needing a day job.

It still takes work, and there's no secret formula to replace that. It's just knowing how to focus your efforts in ways that will help you the most and get you in the position to do what you love. Good luck and best wishes to you!

How to "Diversify" Your Career

2008-06-21T14:30:00.000-07:00

With the way jobs and work have changed over the past few decades, creating a career out of multiple part-time jobs (and part-time businesses for that matter) can give a person more financial stability and often a higher income.

My own life is a great example of this in that I have 6 or 7 different income sources at any given time. Alone, these incomes would be unstable and would not make sense for a person to do. Combined however, they provide flexibility and a safety net if for some reason something happens with one or two of them. I love what I do and am never bored. Plus I get to spend more time with my husband and can still make money while traveling.

To do something like this without hurting yourself financially, expect for it to at least take you three to five years. If you're working a full-time job right now, start developing one of your part-time jobs, a side-business, or other self-employment ideas during the time you'd normally be doing things like watching TV. You'll be tired for a short period of time, but it makes the transition a lot easier. Starting from scratch is also not a bad option if you don't have a job, but keep in mind it's going to take longer and you'll need to focus quickly on finding good opportunities.

As your income goes up, take that extra money you're making and get yourself out of any debt you have. Over time you'll be able to free up more of your time because you won't be working just to pay payments. This will free you up to drop the full-time job and search for another part-time position or two. Even traditional benefits are not a problem if you plan it right because the increase in income will cover them if you're patient and willing to stick with it.

A major "secret" in all of this is it's not all about working more hours. It's more about flexibility and long-term freeing up more of your time and creating a career that works around your life instead of the other way around. Business books can teach you how to do this as far as creating repeat income.

Online businesses are also great sources for income and can fit a wide variety of interests. You just have to take the time to find ideas that you would enjoy working on. A group of part-time jobs can also accomplish something similar, but you have to keep in mind the income is temporary and still based on your time.

I also work a part-time job because my husband and I have some student loans to pay off. After the debt is completely gone, I can literally do any career that I want without worrying about the money aspect. I think what trips a lot of people up is they think to make money they have to be at a miserable job, and if they want to do what they love they'll have to struggle financially. That just isn't true. You just have to be patient and steady when you decide to change things around for yourself.

One last piece of advice is to read everything you can about business and self-employment before you get started and continue to keep learning as you go. This will help you with a lot of the technical details and help you make fewer mistakes. Every self-employed person makes mistakes and has obstacles, but having the ability to create your own career is worth it.

Life is precious, so we should all make the best of it. I wish you the best and hope you pursue your dream!

How to Wisely Grow a Home-Based Business

2008-06-12T15:01:00.000-07:00

Growing a home-based business shares many aspects of growing a traditional small business. There are however a few specific details you need to consider in deciding if it is time to grow and how to do it. The following are a few areas of business you should check in order to help you make wise decisions about growth:

1) Overhead

One of the greatest advantages of a home-based business is you have very little overhead in comparison with a traditional small business. If growing is not going to increase your overhead costs along with your profit, generally you're making a good move. You have to use caution to make sure growing isn't going to harm you more than it helps.

There comes a certain point in some home businesses where it just makes sense to move it out of your home. If you feel like your business has swallowed up your whole house, it may be an option to consider for your sanity and for your family. Rent space first before you buy since you often have little idea if a specific location is going to help you or not. Make sure you can pay the rent without having to borrow the money or having a major loss in profit every month.

2) Time

If you are the only one doing the work for your business, you want to make sure that the profit is going to be worth it in relation to any extra time you have to spend. Ideally, most businesses should require the most intense work in the first few years and take less and less of your time long-term.

If you decide you need more help but fear traditional employees would drain you, consider negotiating a situation where anyone who works for you gets a percentage of the profits they create for you. Avoid legal partnerships however because a majority of those end in disaster when two or more people's goals begin to go different directions. If you are considering adding more people to your business, I would recommend consulting a local business attorney in your area to make sure of the details that would apply and getting their advice.

3) Quality versus Quantity Growth

This can apply to product and service businesses. If you have a service business and have grown in experience, consider raising your rates for new customers. This will increase your profits and decrease your work load. If you're selling products, consider diversifying into higher quality products with greater profit margins. You don't have to give up your existing products, just offer more options.

In other situations, you just need to offer more of what you already have. In making these decisions, you may want to do some experimenting on a smaller scale to see what will work and what won't.

4) Cash Flow

In home-based businesses especially, you should never need to borrow money to expand. This is what sinks a majority of businesses period because beginning profits can't outrun the interest of loan payments. You can get stuck in a financial cycle or even fall behind and lose your progress you've worked so hard to build. It's hard sometimes, but exercising patience will help you succeed.

5) Ability to Diversify

Are there areas related to your current business that it would just make sense to branch into? Since you may already have experience and education, learning a related aspect of business would take less time and give you more stability.

I hope these ideas have been helpful to you. Best wishes to you in growing your business!

Looking at Self Employment vs. Traditional Employment

2008-06-08T14:26:00.000-07:00

Lifestyle should be your consideration when deciding whether to work a traditional job verses starting your own business. Both options have their lifestyle advantages and disadvantages, and the good news is there's also nothing preventing you from doing both when you're first starting out. In fact, that's how most successful business owners have done it.

The main advantages of working a job are generally predictability, steady income, and sometimes steady work hours. Your income is active, meaning you work a certain number of hours a week, and you get paid a certain amount of money. Gratification is faster, and you see the results of your effort quicker than a business owner usually does.

The trade off with a job is your income is usually capped. You can only work so many hours a week on a steady basis without becoming physically and mentally exhausted by the process. You're also putting your income in the hands of someone else, who obviously can't completely pay you what you're worth to them and achieve a profit at the same time. Sales and commission-type jobs pay better long-term, but you lose a little of the predictability factor in the process.

Home-based and web-based businesses are a rapidly growing trend in our culture, mainly because they require little (if any) upfront capital to fund them and often allow you to work a job at the same time. The Internet has granted people the ability to have storefronts that run themselves, a virtual employee who works for them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. These are a great transition point for people with an entrepreneurial spirit but want to do something with a low risk factor.

This has also stemmed growth for franchise-styled business teams, some of which can provide excellent practical training for people of various experience levels. Like any traditional business training however, just be sure to do your homework. There are legitimate opportunities out there as well as scams, so it can pay to be opened-minded but tempered with common sense. Never enter into anything financially before you understand the basics of how and why it works. Most legitimate opportunities will have an education focus to them and will give you time to think, whereas scams tend to get people to enter on impulse.

There are a lot of advantages to owning your own business. The American tax structure can have a lot of incentives available to small business owners that are not available to employees. You'll need to check with an accountant for details on that issue. Having a business can also grant you flexibility and more time, especially with business types that do not always require your physical presence to work. There is also the potential, though not a guarantee, to make more money over the long-term as these businesses grow and become stable. What appealed to me was the ability to get my time back after a time of initial hard work, which in my life holds a lot of value.

The hardest thing for many employees transitioning into business is the lack of almost instant gratification. The work you do does make an impact on your business, but you may not see it until weeks, months, or even years later. There is an passive element to businesses however that allows you to get paid over and over again for previous work, something that employees rarely see in their jobs. The important thing is to not give up too soon, just before your results would have started to appear.

The ability to "call your own shots" is what draws many people to wanting their own business. In the corporate world, job security is an illusion. Virtually no employee is immune from the impact of mergers, downsizing, and layoffs. Through a stable business, or even multiple businesses, a person can develop a safety net of residual income (a term for repetitive income developed from a single effort) that can continue to come in even when the unexpected occurs.

This is also how people can "earn" their time back by developing a steady income that matches or exceeds their living expenses. This takes time and is very rarely an overnight event. It's also not something employees traditionally have the ability to do however.

In deciding whether to go into business for yourself or not, remember the old saying about "putting all of your eggs in one basket." In investing, it is usually a bad idea to stake everything you have on one thing. Yet in our society people do it every day by having only one form of income, usually a job. This does not have to be a decision between two opposites since most people have the ability to do both. It just you have to ask yourself if you're willing to put in the extra effort, lose a little time watching TV or other hobbies, and build yourself something that will help you and your family over the long-term.

It's a decision we all have to make as adults, and there's no right or wrong answer. You have to do what's right for your situation. Only you can decide if your current path can get you what you want out of life or not and what changes to make if it can't. Good luck and best wishes to you!

The Value of Freedom

2008-06-05T17:34:00.000-07:00

One way to measure the value of freedom is to look at what people are willing to sacrifice in order to obtain it. While it sometimes happens where someone who has freedom takes it for granted because of ignorance to its price, taking the time to look at history and even the present is evidence enough that freedom is not overrated. If anything, there's more of a danger of cheapening the concept, which is a tragedy in itself. Ignorance is also a poor excuse when information is available now more than ever.

There are many types of freedom as well as degrees of it. It's also important to realize that people may have a freedom but not use it to its full potential. With political freedom as an example, a person may have the right to vote but for whatever reason not use it. This is why some freedoms do have a responsibility side to them, including to honor the people who served and died for us to have it.

Economic freedom is an interesting concept in the United States that the more you learn about it, the more successful you can become financially. Through high school and college, I was never really taught how our economic system worked from a practical standpoint. Having an interest in business however, I've learned through books and experience that it's more beneficial to build a small business in the U.S. than be an employee.

The school system as a whole really doesn't teach a lot about our economic freedom, but children in other countries are taught how to make the best of our system of economics. This is why many people have been able to immigrate here with little capital and become successful business owners seemingly overnight. There's still work involved for them, but it also has a lot to do with how a person thinks. The great thing is the same economic rules apply to all citizens, and sometimes just the knowledge of a freedom will make you pursue it.

Spiritual and religious freedoms are extremely important as well. Something that's been incredibly interesting to me is researching the Christian history of our country, mainly because I got annoyed with all the people trying to suppress it for whatever reason. I didn't start going to church on a regular basis until I was 19 years old, and it honestly took me some time to discover the realities of what faith can really do.

After growing up in public schools and seeing a lot of teen depression and violence happen even in a rural area, I honestly believe that taking the majority of religious freedom out of schools has been a sad mistake. There has to be a better solutions where students can respect each other and still grow up with that freedom. I think part of the problem is that religious freedom has been treated in such a way where children get the message that it's not important to their school or their teachers. At best that's unintentional, but it's sad how that aspect is ignored when researchers try to analyze social problems in school systems.

Overall, a person's appreciation of freedom comes down to awareness and the willingness to make it part of their everyday life. It's important to educate yourself on your freedoms, and often it does require going out of your way. It's worth doing however, not just for yourself but to help future generations.

How to Escape the Rat Race

2008-06-04T19:37:00.000-07:00

The main key to escaping the rat race is that your thought process determines how successful you become in life, including financially. This is why some lottery winners end up more in debt 5 years after they win than they were originally, and also why many millionaires could lose all the money they have and get it back within 5 years. If you want to change your financial circumstances long-term, it has to be from the inside-out.

Thinking like a wealthy person is not something that comes overnight. You have to work at it. If you want a great place to start, here are a few ideas that personally helped me:

1) Read Practical Financial and Business Books

These are not necessarily books you'll have suggested to you in high school or college, but they should be. A few authors to start with would be Dave Ramsey, Robert Kiyosaki, Dan Miller, John Maxwell, Napoleon Hill, and Og Mandino. In addition to this, it's helpful to know that millionaires read a lot more than the average adult-about 1 non-fiction book a month.

2) Develop a Plan

The majority of people out there who are living week-to-week and paycheck-to-paycheck are in that position because they don't have a long-term plan. Getting yourself out of debt (freeing up more of your money on a monthly basis) and building wealth does not just happen by accident. There are small changes and sacrifices you can make earlier in life that will pay off later, but you need to do it with focus and with purpose. Business books will not only show you how to make more money but to get more of your time back long-term, which is far more valuable.

3) Find Good Mentors

I can't stress the importance enough of having people in life that pull you forward instead of pull you down. You may find someone in your own career field that will help you learn, or it may be a group of people. What matters is that they challenge you in a good way and care about your future.

4) Do the Work

Success in life takes effort, and sometimes you end up getting pushed out of your comfort zone to really win in life. One of the biggest challenges I think is out there is this idea of the typical 40-hour work week and then people shut their mind down outside of that. Sometimes being successful just requires you to watch less TV and work on something outside your job that will help your future. Right now I work closer to 80 hours a week-40 for someone else and 40 for myself. The payoff to that is I'm doing what I love to do in both arenas and will have the ability to retiring younger compared to most people.

5) Do What You Enjoy

When you're doing something you don't like for the sake of money, it drains your energy and you're not as able to get as much done. When you find something in life that makes you look forward to getting up every day, in your mind it doesn't even seem like work. It may take you awhile to eventually get to that point, but it's worth pursuing.

I hope these tips have been helpful to you. Good luck and best wishes!

Life Lessons From Being an Entrepreneur

2008-06-02T16:34:00.000-07:00

For me, I think it's the journey to becoming an entrepreneur--not just the end results--that has had a profound impact on my life.

I grew up in a hard-working blue-collar family. My dad taught me a great work ethic, but I never could see myself only working for someone else for the majority of my adult life. Personal freedom appealed to me, and unfortunately that's a hard thing to have when you're stuck in a paycheck-to-paycheck cycle.

One of the first lessons I learned about entrepreneurship actually happened by accident when I was a child. One day a friend of mine at school noticed a key chain I had gotten out of a 25 cent machine at a grocery store. She really liked it and asked if she could buy it off of me for a dollar. I agreed-making a 300% profit and still having a happy first customer! I reinvested the dollar into 4 more toys and repeated the process with several other kids. Before long I had a booming business-only thing was I didn't realize some kids were spending their lunch money. One trip to the principal's office later, and my first business had to close its doors.

I didn't let it discourage me, but it made me realize the importance of a win-win situation. You don't want to harm your customers for your benefit, especially when it comes so situations where the customer may not be well-informed. With children, this is obvious, but there can be some similar situations with adults as well. Never put yourself into a business situation where you may have to "turn a blind eye" to some aspect of your product or service. Not only is it an ethical issue, but it will hinder your ability to find true success.

Into my teen years, I honestly took the path of nearly everyone around me-worked hard at school, got good grades, and earned enough scholarship money to attend college. During my junior year, I met the man who later became my husband. We both attended a lot of the same broadcasting classes and managed a small movie theater together. It was my friendship with him that brought back thoughts of being an entrepreneur again. His dad was self-employed, so he grew up with the mindset of a business owner's son. I remember it was the first time in my life that I really got to know someone who thought a lot like me-even the things I thought about business that I rarely shared with people because they seemed to go against everything I was being taught in college.

Something I learned during my college years is that entrepreneurial people think differently from the majority on a lot of principles. I can't really say that all entrepreneurs are just born with that desire in them, but it is interesting to me that environment alone doesn't explain the thought process I've had my whole life--I didn't get it from my parents or school. I remember several points where I had "what in the world is wrong with me?" moments--especially when everyone around me seemed excited to be sending out their resumes to companies while I was somewhat dreading it.

The need to fit in can sometimes be conflicting with what you know in your heart is right for your life, and getting over that anxiety of being different--even the fear of being very successful--is something I've found other entrepreneurs have had to deal with as well.

At age 19, I started going to church on a regular basis after being invited by a friend. Some people may be surprised by this and others may not, but I was amazed at how relevent the Bible is to business matters-not just in history but things that are going on right now. Proverbs is a very practical business text, and people have made fortunes based on the advice the book contains.

I also learned not to live my life in compartments. Americans tend to sometimes separate their work, school, family, friends, religion, and hobbies into compartments and not let them mix together. This leads to a lot of inner conflict and division. Over time I've learned that I'm much more than just the sum of my roles in life, and that who I am needs to be the same no matter what I'm currently doing at any given time. That's been a very important lesson.

The best advice I can offer other young entrepreneurs is to read as many books as you can on the topic and get around other people who have a similar thought process. It's much easier to have more successful people pull you to do better than to set mediocre goals for yourself just because they're above those of much less ambitious people around you. Along your journey, help other people who are less fortunate. This keeps your heart right. Lastly, realize that every challenge and struggle you go through along the way will help you--it's in overcoming obstacles that you discover what you're really made of and what will help you succeed long-term.

Reducing Stress in Life

2008-06-01T12:16:00.000-07:00

When it comes to business or a job, stress can sometimes motivate you to do better than if you weren't under pressure. Taken to the extremes however, it can paralyze your decision-making and be very unhealthy over long periods of time. In these cases, unhealthy stress definitely needs to be reduced.

Over the past couple of years, I've learned a lot about handling stress that I think could be helpful to a lot of people. Everyone is going to have personal things that help them, but these are just a few that stand out in my mind:

1) Develop a positive attitude about life in general.

This doesn't happen overnight but is something you have to put effort into on a daily basis until it becomes habit. Ways you can do this include reading books, hanging around other people who have good attitudes, and avoiding people and situations that drag your mood down. Doing this won't make you become exempt from having challenging situations coming into your life, but if you gain maturity in this you'll know how to handle things better.

2) Have a place you can go for at least 15 minutes quiet time during your day.

This could be at work or your home, depending on which is less hectic. Sometimes when a lot of things are going on, you just need a place to rest and clear your head for a moment. If you can, it helps to do this more than once, especially on busy days. Though it seems to take away time where you could be doing something, you'll find you're more efficient and organized when you get focused. Some days I just come home from work and take a short 15 minute nap so I can shift from what I was working on earlier in the day to something totally different.

3) Laugh on a daily basis.

There is some truth to the saying, "Laughter is the best medicine." Ever notice when you get done laughing with a group of friends or after a funny movie that you usually feel really good for a long time afterward? Your body physically reacts to laughter, and it's a great way to reduce stress.

4) If you have the money, splurge on a back massage or trip to the spa.

I honestly grew up near the poverty level, so my mom never got the opportunity to do stuff like this. About a year ago however I was invited to go to a spa with a group of friends. It's not something I can afford to do a whole lot right now, but I was surprised that the cost to go to one wasn't as much as I thought it would be. I don't think I've ever been so relaxed, and it was worth it.

An alternative that's little less draining on the budget is to take a warm bath with relaxing music playing. In either case, be prepared to likely fall asleep.

5) Exercise.

Exercise is really good for getting the tension from stress out of your system. I like to exercises in general, but as far as stress relief it seems to be the most helpful when you're frustrated about something.

6) Work toward doing things that you really like as far as your career.

I think jobs are the top stress producers for a lot of people, especially for people who are in a career for the wrong reasons. I've found over time that if I enjoy what I'm doing, any challenges are worth overcoming. Work doesn't have to be such a terrible thing, but people can let it take over their lives and overpower other parts of their lives.

We've had to be extremely careful about that in our situation, but for the past few years my husband and I have been working on businesses together in addition to our jobs. In that way, it's not been a whole lot different than spending time together in any other activity. We're just making money at the same time, and we have fun.

7) Keep your priorities in check.

I think this idea encompasses all of the previous ones. Life is very rarely free of any stress, so you have to set priorities on what matters to you most. In this way, you can get through a lot of obstacles that would have bothered you a lot more otherwise. I think this cuts down on the stress that a lot of us tend to generate from our own thinking that's not necessarily as bad as it appears to us.

I hope you've found these tips helpful. Good luck and best wishes to you!

How to Not Let Negative Influences Harm Your Life

2008-05-30T13:44:00.000-07:00

For new entrepreneurs, realizing how outside influences (both positive and negative) impact a person's life and success is a very important lesson. One of the hardest things to deal with is when someone close to you does not share your excitement and enthusiasm about your business dreams and goals. Another is just keeping your mood up when daily life grinds at you. Here are some tips dealing with not letting outside influences hurt your chances for success:

1) With negative people, find out what their motivation is for their negativity.

This is extremely important. There are some people who are just concerned for your well-being. They don't want you to do something they believe is too risky, even though it is a controlled risk from your point-of-view. When it comes down to it, these people just care and need some reassurance and comfort that you're going to be fine. These can sometimes be good people to listen to because they may catch possible problems for you before they even occur, making you a better business owner.

There are other people who are uncomfortable with other people around them succeeding. I was told by one of my business mentors that this is sometimes called the "crabs in a bucket" concept-when crabs are captured, they're placed in a wide-open bucket because the ones on the bottom don't let the ones on top escape.

2) Read books that keep you going and give you hope.

There are thousands of them out there. Sometimes when you're the only entrepreneurial thinker in your family, you need this to keep from feeling like you're alone in what you're trying to accomplish. Books are also a type of mentorship-the author can't be with you one-on-one physically, but a lot of them put their heart into their work to the point you feel like they're right there with you.

3) Watch less TV.

This is funny coming from someone who went to school to go into broadcasting as a career. I'm not saying live in a cave and not know anything that's going on. I'm also not saying you can't watch television at all-I'd be a hypocrite because there several shows my husband and I enjoy watching. The thing is however is that the average person watches anywhere between 20-30 hours of television a week. If you're in that category, you need to realize that overall TV is still a negative influence. Some people may disagree with that, but from personal experience watching less TV has increase our success and our daily mood.

There are shows out there that help people as well as well-written fictional shows, but there are also shows that give you no benefit and people only watch them because it's something to do. If the average person cut their TV viewing by half and spent that 10-15 hours building something that would help them financially, within less than a decade they would probalby have enough money to do the fun things they were watching other people on TV do!

4) Realize that resistance to negative influences develops over time, not overnight.

You have to practice at it for it to work. Just like any other aspect of business, you may make some mistakes. The best thing to do is learn from them and move on. A great side-effect is that you become a positive influence in the lives of other people. Personally I think there's a great need for that in our culture, and it just feels good to be there for other people when you know how important it is to be that way.

I hope these tips have been helpful to you. Best wishes to you in business and in life.

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Questions to Ask Yourself Before Starting a Business

2008-05-29T14:38:00.000-07:00

Transitioning from a job to a home-based business does not always have to be a sudden event. For me personally, it was more of a process. There are questions you need to ask yourself along the way, but I don't want to give you the impression that you have to know everything about business before you can even start.

Most people are never taught how to run a business in high school or college, so there's a lot of learning and experience gained along the way. If you're considering starting your own business, these the beginning questions I believe you should think on before making any major decisions:

1) Are you willing to learn a new way of thinking?

Sometimes the traits that make you a great employee will frustrate you as a business owner. If you're a hard worker and are used to getting immediate financial feedback for your work, it may be difficult at first to visualize how results work in a business. The time and money you initially invest in a business may not show up in the form of results for months or even years later. You have the potential to make more money over your lifetime however, so for me the trade-off was well worth it.

Thing that will help with this issue are reading practical business books and getting around at least a few other people who have owned traditional and home-based businesses. Any advice you can gather ahead of time will help you avoid common mistakes and know what to expect.

2) Are you willing to take a personal risk?

You're going to have people tell you you're making a mistake, no matter how great your idea seems to you. My husband and I both worked day jobs as we were getting our businesses off the ground so we wouldn't go into debt to do them. This meant 16-18 hour days sometimes with people making fun of us the entire time. Those same people will tell you how "lucky" you are when your work pays off. Be prepared to put up with that at least to a certain extent.

You're also going to have supportive people in your life as well. Also, not everyone who is negative at first is bad. They just may care about you and not want you to get hurt. It may take some time for all of those relationships to settle out.

3) Do you at least have a general plan on how you're going to make the business work?

From a financial standpoint, it's better to start a home-based business part-time and work your way into it as it becomes stable. This can take as little as a few months to sometimes several years, according to the nature of the business.

I'm all in favor of people following their dreams, but I don't suggest they do it on credit. Your greatest assets with a home-based business are your creativity and your effort. I can tell you from experience that it's possible to create a business with less than $100 start-up capital. My first real business cost me $61 to start: $1 for a box of yard sale books and $60 in shipping supplies and postage. I made a profit of $100 because I seen a good opportunity. I just kept reinvesting my profit over and over again until I had developed a nice used book business with no debt. It was learning how to recognize the right things to buy that developed my business, not money.

If you're comfortable with beginning a business, I want to encourage you to do it. I think it's wonderful to have something to call your own that you can develop for you and your family. If you're not quite comfortable yet, keep reading and researching. Usually it only takes one great idea to get you started. Either way, just don't let fear rule your decision-making. It's better to do something you love and fail your way to success than it is to be silently miserable your whole working life. Whether it's a job or a business, you need to do what matters to you.

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How to Learn How Money Really Works

2008-05-28T14:44:00.000-07:00

Even after 12 years of public school and 4 years of college, I never had a class focused on practical personal finance. I know a lot of other people in their 20s and 30s have had similar situations and have ended up with debt up to their eyeballs, without realizing how harmful it could be to their lives until they'd already gone into it.

So how do you get yourself back on track? I think it comes down to two things, which are being willing to learn new concepts as an adult and being able to apply them. It honestly has taken my husband and I about five years to turn our finances around for the better, and this is basically what we did:

Read a Variety of Financial Books

I mainly mean books in the personal finance and business section of retail bookstores, and not just theory-based textbooks. Different authors have different advice, and most likely after reading several books you'll find a few that "click" with you. Probably the three top authors I really like are Dave Ramsey, Robert Kiyosaki, and Dan Miller. I read other authors as well, and after several years of this my whole concept of money has changed for the better.

Be willing to keep a open mind however. For example, the first time I ready Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad, Poor Dad, I honestly thought he was a little nutty. The second time I read it, it made a lot more sense. One of the bad side-effects of a college education if you're not careful is an arrogant attitude toward new ideas, and I had to keep myself in check when I first started looking into this topic.

Create a Budget and Manage Your Expenses

The mention of this used to make me cringe because I'm definitely not the spreadsheet type. The thing is however is most people don't know when and where they're losing money without having some way of keeping track of it all. The simpler you can make it, the more likely you'll follow it. If you're married, it also helps you work together and start having common financial goals. It makes your relationship better and reduces a lot of common financial stresses. Taking the time to do this is just smart.

Along the way, you'll naturally find things you can probably change. The good thing is sometimes just being aware of a potential problem will go a long way in helping you solve it.

Develop a Plan to Quit Getting Into Debt and Pay Off Existing Debt

For a long time, I really did think that debt was required to function financially in society. The funny thing is however that the more debt my husband and I have paid off, the more money seems to flow into our lives. This is why it's important to not skip reading advice from other people with experience. It's hard to get out of debt without a system or plan of doing it.

Look at Ways to Diversify Your Income

For Generations X, Y, and younger, we need to factor in the fact that the work world is completely different from what our parents and grandparents experienced. The problem is schools have not really changed to train students what to really expect. We're mostly still taught to pick one career and completely stake our future on it. What often happens with people is they will major in college for one thing and end up doing something totally different. It doesn't make going to college a bad thing, but that situation needs to be factored in upfront.

By "diversifying your career," I'm borrowing the investing concept of spreading our your investments to decrease your risk. If you literally spread out your career across a job and one or more side careers, you decrease your risk of a corporate layoff or downsizing from ruining your finances. If you're willing to do this, you really do have an advantage over people who stake everything on their jobs.

Use All the Previous to Develop a Long-Term Plan

Your finances are going to change at different stages in your life, so you'll have to adapt your plans to fit your current situation. The overall principles will generally stay the same, but you may have to juggle certain aspects of your finances to make them work as efficiently as possible.

I hope you've found these tips helpful. Good luck and best wishes to you!

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How to Find Your True Passion

2008-05-26T09:48:00.000-07:00

Finding your true passion in life comes down to a lot of different factors. For me, I started out as a young adult not having a clue what I wanted to do in my life. I had done all the right things such as getting good grades, going to college, and working hard. Yet in my heart I knew I was missing a lot out of life. The problem was I didn't know what to do about it.

About midway through my sophomore year, it really began to bother me that life seemed to have become one chore after another. It didn't help that I'd seen a quite a few people come out of college and end up in jobs that made them miserable, and yet they continued to complain and still stay in them year after year.

So I made up my mind that I was going to be different. No matter how long it took, I was going to find a way to have a rich and full life, not just financially but with having a purpose. Though I'm always learning something new, the following are some of the things I've learned along the way that I think have been helpful:

1) Set specific goals and understand the obstacles that typically keep you from reaching them.

Being specific makes a dream or a goal real to you. Sometimes we keep things so abstract in our minds that it paralyzes us from taking action. Writing things down on paper also helps, and if you're married it helps you come up with common goals and dreams you want to work toward.

Procrastination is something that almost everyone has to deal with. The way I dealt with it was deciding no matter how small, I was going to do something every day that was going to help me grow as a person and move forward. Even if it's reading a few pages out of a book before you go to bed, over time it does have an impact on you. Breaking a big goal into smaller parts is helpful as well.

Staying focused was another problem I had. I would get an idea and be excited over it for a few months, but then I would get bored. Then something new would come up and the cycle started all over again. What helped with this was just giving myself permission to do more than one thing for my career. Currently I have about 7 different sources of income. While I don't work on each every day, I have enough variety to where none of them ever get old. I've also found there's a much greater reward when you're willing to stick with something.

2) Don't let the fear of failure keep you from exploring ideas.

In high school, I was a very shy person. So my junior year in college I decided to do something that seemed crazy to me, which was take broadcasting classes. I was surprised that when I was put on the spot, I could do things like be a DJ at the college radio station and interview people for a documentary. It was a big confidence booster.

That's not to say that everything I've done has turned out right, but I've learned from failures as well. I've had business ideas that didn't work out, but I put myself in the position where it didn't hurt me financially (didn't go into debt for them), and I was able to move on quickly. The same can apply to exploring a different career part-time while you're working full-time. It's hard, but I've done it before.

3) Eliminate distractions and delay gratification.

I've heard different statistics on this, but the average person in America watches between 30 and 40 hours of television a week. Now I've got nothing against TV in itself, but for about 2 years I didn't watch hardly any of it. During that time I was able to develop a business that I enjoyed doing and transition from working a full-time job to a part-time job. If you do the work in the beginning, you get to enjoy a lot more reward later on.

4) Learn how to not live your life in compartments.

Something I've found is we're often taught to live our life in a series of roles. You may feel like a completely different person when you're at work as opposed to when you're at home with your family or at a religious location. That's not a good thing, especially when goals in each life compartment pull you in different directions.

I've found my life became a lot better when I decided I was just going to be the same person and not get pulled in half a dozen different directions. It meant saying no to things, like when I was offered a different job which paid slightly more but had hours overlapping when I'd be in church. You have to put a priority on your time just as much as most people put a priority on their money. Otherwise you'll be so busy that you'll never have time to think.

5) Realize that finding your passion happens over time, not overnight.

It took me about 5 years to really understand where I wanted my life to go and how the decisions I make on a daily basis have an impact. I have a really good life. I love what I do, and I'm able to use my skills and abilities to help other people as well. I believe everyone out there has the potential to find their passion in life, and I want to encourage you to go for it. Good luck and best wishes to you!

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Writing Effective Dialogue In Fiction

2008-05-24T20:33:00.000-07:00

The process of creating great dialogue is extremely important in any fiction novel or short story, especially in the area of character development. When your dialogue falls flat, even a great plot can't compensate for it. Dialogue that is well-done however can pull a character-driven story forward very easily.

The following are some general tips that I've found helpful when using dialogue in short stories and novels:

1) Picture your characters as if they were on a TV show or in a play.

Ask yourself if anything seems awkward or out of place. There are situations where your dialogue is grammatically correct but won't resemble anything to what someone would say in real life. Changing this is a problem for some people, but it will make your story more real and believable to your readers.

2) Keep in mind the age, education, and geographical region of your characters.

I live in Tennessee. While it usually only happens when I'm excited, the word "ain't" sometimes escapes into my vocabulary. I'm aware that I even adjust the way I speak around people on one side of my family as opposed to the other because they live in different regions.

Children (usually) are going to have a more limited vocabulary compared to adults. People of different generations also have different slang terms. An example of this is the word "thong"-which to some people means a shoe, a flip-flop. This can sometimes provide humor for you: For example, the reaction of a grandson when his grandmother asks him if he's seen her thongs laying around anywhere.

3) If you're writing something you want to be long-lasting, be sparing on slang.

As of now, I'm 24 years old. I find myself using the word "sweet" (basically meaning "really great") in talking with people, probably more than I'd like to admit. I don't put it in my writing though, because there's a chance that it can be outdated by another word any day now (if it hasn't already).

In some cases slang may help you as a historical marker, but you also run the risk of a future reader not knowing what you mean. Some readers have fun figuring words out though, so it's basically a personal decision.

4) If all else fails, read it out loud.

You may catch something that you didn't notice before. Does the dialogue flow well when you speak it out loud? Does it sound too long-winded or too short? Are the emotions you want to convey coming through in the dialogue itself, or are you going to need to provide other context for the reader?

5) Pay attention to your own conversations and those of others.

I've found that some conversations often bounce around from subject to subject rather quickly and apparently for no logical reason. People interrupt each other when they remember something important they need to say. You can also show the personality of a character by how much they talk and how much they listen.

6) Find ways around the "he said, she replied" cycle.

Nothing is more boring than reading dialogue where every sentence is followed by either the words "said" or "replied." It's not like they're bad words that should never be used, but they're overdone sometimes. Once you've establish who's talking, you can often leave these off and the reader assumes each new paragraph is a switch of character.

If it's a long stretch of dialogue, I like to occasionally add some sort of action, emotion, or character thought to the beginning or end of the sentence. (If it's important for the readers to know the emotion in the dialogue as they're reading it, you may want to indicate it on the beginning and not the end-this keeps them from having to read a long stretch of dialogue again.)

Either way, doing this helps keep the reader focused on who's speaking and adds to the story. There definitely needs to be indicators of not just what the character is saying, but how and why they're saying it.

I hope these tips have been helpful to you. Good luck in your writing!

Book Recommendations for Success

2008-05-22T16:29:00.000-07:00

Here are a list of books that I've personally found helpful in learning how to make more money and just have a better life in general:

1) Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki (ISBN:0446677450)

Many people go to college (or back to college) to increase their income. Kiyosaki has a great way of explaining different ways a person can make money. I first read this book when I was a college senior. At first I honestly thought Kiyosaki was a little nutty because I'd never read anything like it before, but now it's one of a few books I read again on occasion when I need a good idea for making income. It's inspiring and practical at the same time.

2) The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey (ISBN:0785289089)

One of the things that I've found that high school and college education has fell behind in is teaching people how to manage their finances. I've read a lot of business and financial books, and I've yet to find anyone who has smarter advice that actually works if you're willing to follow it. This is the only book I've ever gone out and bought multiple copies of to give to people I care about.

3) The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz (ISBN:0671879448)

Ever been told "Don't get your hopes up?" This book helped me get overcome a fear of failure that was hindering what I could really do with my life.

4) Over The Top by Zig Ziglar (ISBN:0840791127)

Another great book on developing a good attitude toward learning and life. He has more recent books out that I also want to read eventually.

5) Personality Plus by Florence Littauer (ISBN:080075445X)

Even if you have no interest in psychology, this book is worth reading if you want better relationships with people. This is especially helpful in learning how to handle people who have a polar opposite personality to you, which can sometimes be awkward if you don't understand them.

6) Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill (ISBN:0449214923)

Napoleon Hill gathered information about some of the wealthiest people during his time and broke down the principles that other people could use to become successful. This book is really condensed and you can spend a long time just learning what's on a few pages.

7) The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey (ISBN:0671663984)

Before reading this book, I was a very reactive person when it came to events in my life. Covey does a great job at explaining ways a person can take better control of their life and achieve their goals.

8) 48 Days to the Work You Love by Dan Miller (ISBN 13:9780805444797)

Even after college, I really had no clue what I really wanted to do with my life. I found this book very helpful, and it helped me find a career plan that works for my interests and personality. It's also very relevant to today's work environment.

In addition to these books, it's good to read at least one non-fiction book a month that can help you in some way. This is what many millionaires do. If you do this for several years, it at least tends to have a major impact on your life and career. It is my hope the books I recommended will be a great starting point for you and that you'll want to learn more on your own once you're done with them.

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How to Make Money From Writing Online

2008-05-20T17:50:00.000-07:00

If you love to write, you may have thought about it as a way to make money and have fun at the same time. In this article, I will discuss a few ideas you may want to explore that could earn you some extra cash!

1) Writing Articles

If you enjoy doing shorter works such as articles, there are now several sites on-line where you can earn money based on how many hits your article receives and the type of topic you write about. Ehow.com is a great site to start with when it comes to How-to articles, and I've had a wonderful experience with them. Two other sites I know are legitimate are Helium.com and Associated Content. All three pay you through PayPal.

2) Sell Your Work to Websites at Your Own Price

If you want to set your own price on an article for other sites to buy (exclusive or non-exclusive rights), Constant Content is a good site to consider. Just realize you'll have to be patient and will likely need to produce a bulk amount of material to make regular sales.

3) Self Publish Books and E-books

If you've ever wanted to self-publish a book or e-book, the best site I've found for this is Lulu.com. The great thing about them is they're publishing-on-demand. I've never had to pay anything upfront since I've worked with them, and you only have to make $5 in sales before they send you a royalty, again through PayPal.

4) Create Web Pages Using Template Sites

Hubpages.com is a little more complicated to set-up, but it's worth checking out. They don't pay you directly but allow you to set up affiliates including Google Adwords (pays you based on hits to the pages), Amazon's affiliate program, and eBay's affiliate program. I really like them so far.

More Tips:

I'm fairly new in this field, but overall what I've found works is keeping your own rights to your work and giving multiple sites non-exclusive rights to sell or display your work. This way you can do the work once and try it out on different outlets. It's amazing how on one site an article will make you a small amount of money while on another it will make you a lot! It all depends on the topic of the article.

I hope you've found these tips and websites helpful. For more detailed information, I have a book all about this that you can view by clicking here.

Developing a Career You Love

2008-05-19T15:54:00.000-07:00

Over 70,000 hours of the average person's life is spent working. When you see that statistic, how do you react? Does it depress or excite you? It all depends on whether you've found and are following your passion or not.

If you love what you do, you can't wait to wake up and do it. You don't have to set the alarm clock an hour early so you can hit snooze half a dozen times before waking up. You don't get that sinking feeling Sunday night knowing that you have to go to work the following morning. You're more productive and will likely make more money compared to others in your field. It is possible for you to have, if you're willing to pursue it.

From my own life and observing other people, I think it's very rare for someone just to fall into their dream career right out of school or college. It's not impossible, but I think people get so excited by the prospects of finally making some money that they are quick to take positions that may or may not suit them. There's nothing wrong with that until they become dissatisfied. Then they may switch jobs several times in the same field since they've already developed experience in it, not because they like it.

Some people eventually "settle" for something for the wrong reasons and are internally miserable on a daily basis. It spills over into their family life and their health. The most tragic thing is it doesn't have to be that way.

To do what you really want to do, you have to be proactive about it-you can't wait for it to fall on your lap. You may have to make some changes. Here are some ideas to get you started toward finding happiness with your work:

1) Know what you want.

Seems like an easy thing, but people don't take the time to think about it. Look back on your life and things you've enjoyed doing. Is there any way to translate that into a job or business? Think about your personality, skills, and hobbies. You don't have to have it down to a specific job, but more you define something the easier it will be to develop a plan to get you there.

2) Figure out ways you can transition.

With a lot of career changes, you do not have to immediately quit your current job to transition into another. You can start out doing what you like part-time, either through a part-time job or business. Even volunteer work may help you narrow down whether you would like a change in that direction or not. If it is going to require a job change, put back as much money as you can first so you don't have to deal with a financial situation at the same time.

3) Talk with people in the field you want to enter.

Most people like talking about what they do, and it can help you get a better feel for what it's going to take to get you there.

4) Realize you may not find the right thing on the first try.

Learn from the experiences until you find what right for you. Don't be afraid to make mistakes. Keeping yourself in a miserable situation is an even greater mistake.

5) Read more.

I highly recommend a book by author Dan Miller called 48 Days Til the Work You Love. The advice in that book personally helped me realize what I want to do with my life. It goes into a lot more detail than the suggestions I've made.

I hope these tips have been helpful. Best wishes in your career. I hope that you find happiness and joy in your work.

Find more how to articles by clicking here.

How to Get Through a Financial Crunch

2008-05-18T10:42:00.000-07:00

Growing up, my dad was in the manufacturing field and had to go through several layoffs. The situation always put our family in a tight financial crunch, but I learned from the experience. Through being really prepared and treating any job I had as not a guaranteed thing, I've learned a lot about financial stability. If you're beginning to feel uncomfortable with the state of your finances, that's actually a good thing. It's put you into a position of searching out better solutions as opposed to having a surprise hit you. Here are some tips that I think are helpful:

1) Have Multiple Sources of Income

Most people have only one or two sources of income. I now have eight sources of income at age 24, and that's not counting my husband's job and his side projects. I borrowed the idea from investing. In the investing field, it's usually a smart idea to spread yourself across different companies, called diversifying. It's the same thing as the saying of "never put all your eggs in one basket." We've been trained though to think the 40-hour job is enough...not only does that put all your eggs in one basket, but you've given someone else your basket!

All of this didn't happen overnight. I started at age 19. I also read a lot of books like "Rich Dad, Poor Dad," "48 Days to the Work You Love," and "The Total Money Makeover." I took the time to learn because I didn't ever want to be put in the position where I had no money. As you get into looking into this, residual income sources are best because they're not linked to your time. That's where you're making money over time and not overnight.

2) Quit Running Your Life on Credit and Pay Off Your Existing Debt

I was never the type of person to go out and put a lot of money on my credit card at once in some kind of shopping spree. It was alway situations where I was unprepared. This is why I like Dave Ramsey's financial plan so much because he shows you how to prepare so you don't reach for the credit cards in minor emergency situations.

3) Keep a Good Attitude

I don't watch the news very much because I get tired of hearing how I'm supposed to be financially failing right now. What you read, watch on TV, and the people you hang around have a big factor on your success in life. I avoid really negative people whenever possible and instead get around people who have dreams and are moving forward in life regardless to the overall situation. In short, you can't let statistics and circumstances run your life if you want things to change.

I hope you've found these ideas helpful. Best wishes to you!

Read More How-to Articles by clicking here.

New Book Now Available

2008-05-12T21:21:00.000-07:00

My latest book, The Web Writer, has now been released on Lulu.com. You can view it directly here:

http://www.lulu.com/content/2532341

Everything has been going great for me lately. I just celebrated my 100th article published on Ehow.com a few weeks ago and am shooting for 200 now. From a business standpoint I'm amazed by how much I've been able to get done the past few months. I'm looking forward to what's going to happen the rest of this year.

I've also recently joined Gather.com, which seems to be an interesting site so far. I like the layout of it, and the people are friendly. You can talk about anything on there, but I've been mainly hanging out in the money and politics sections.

Have a wonderful day! Take care,

Tricia

How I View the Business Side of Writing

2008-05-03T11:44:00.000-07:00

Writing can be an art and a business, and I've been trying to improve my knowledge of both sides of it.

I was thinking the other day about highly-paid professions--take a doctor, for instance. They have to go to school for 8+ years past high school. Then after all of that effort, they get through their residency just to get swamped by huge student loans and malpractice insurance fees. It probably takes several more years to get that sorted out, not to mention the social pressures and built-up stress telling them they should have the big house and nice car immediately after they start practicing. Dave Ramsey calls it "Docitis."

The stereotypical vision most of us have of doctors playing golf all the time is probably far from the truth today. They have to keep working, or their income goes away. There's nothing wrong with sacrificing that much if that's a person's dream--eventually they do get out of debt and prosper by helping other people. I admire their determination.

I look at that in comparison to going into writing full-time professionally. I'm seriously thinking about it right now. I know it's still difficult, and I haven't been at this long enough to say, "See, I have this book deal and that published..." What I do know however is that the odds are in our favor today probably more than any other time in history.

Look at what the Internet has done and continues to do. People couldn't have imagined a site like this 20 or 30 years ago. We have nearly unlimited outlets and markets, and that is exciting to me. Just by the numbers alone, it's possible to find a niche. It's just a matter of just trying and gaining more knowledge about the industry.

Writing is one of those fun professions where if you do the work right once, you can get paid over and over again for that same work. Intellectual property is still property. You can't make a $100,000 yearly income magically appear from thin air, but you can use your imagination to earn it. People do it all the time, so we can't say it's impossible for us.

What some people don't understand is they don't have to be the smartest or the best writer out there. I keep noticing just from the shelves in bookstores that it's often the persistent writers that really are winning. A lot of writing is more about the heart and soul than just pure intellect. It was hard to get my mind around that at first, especially growing up in a school environment where IQ and SAT scores seem to determine your financial value in society if you're not a great athlete or auditioning for Hollywood.

People want knowledge, and they want to know that they're not alone in what they're facing in life. Most of us have something to offer in one area or the other.Don't let the fear of rejection keep you from trying. I get rejected hundreds of times a day and don't even know it--my husband and I own Internet businesses. We just don't get piled down with letters saying, "We like your products and services, but we do not have a need for them at this time..."

I'm just going to be flattered to have publishers at least spend 5 cents worth of paper and ink on me, lol! In the middle of a lot of rejection can come great sales. You never know that the next day will bring...

Plus look at our overhead as writers--a computer, printer, envelopes, postage--maybe a couple of hundred dollars worth of books to help improve the art side of things. Compare that to what it takes to be a doctor, starting a traditional business, or even just going to a 4-year college! I'm going a little longer than normal with this entry, but what I'm trying to say as a fellow writer is Don't Give Up! We're all unique, and we can all win in our own way.

Introduction

2008-04-27T16:23:00.000-07:00

Half the world is on the wrong scent in the pursuit of happiness. They think it's in having and getting. On the contrary, it consists of giving and serving."--Henry Drummond.

In life, people have a choice when it comes to their circumstances--either to succomb to them or overcome them. I'm a living example that a "poor" kid can make it and find happiness in America--with education (inside and outside a classroom), mentorship from successful people, and a lot of help from God.

I'm a Christian, a wife, a daughter, a friend, a business owner, a college graduate, a writer, a broadcast camera operator, and a video editor--and I'm just beginning to realize how awesome life can be when I quit getting so wrapped up in me and start looking at ways I can help other people.

I want to use my writing to make a positive difference in an environment where the focus is too often on the negative. I want to share what got me out of poverty-level thinking as well as help people younger than me from making some of the mistakes I made. In short, I want to share with other people and have fun in the process.

Thank you for stopping by, and there will be more soon.