Seriously people of America…this is a stickup.  What in the world is going on here?!  Look, I’m no economist but are we really going o sit back and let this ridiculous “stimulus package” get passed without a peep?  The worst part is even some professional economists are unsure whether it’s even enough:

“It’s possible that this won’t be enough to jump start the economy — that, in fact, policy makers will have to come back and provide more help to the economy before all is said and done,” Mark Zandi, economist with Moody’s economy.com, told ABC News in an interview.

Well that’s super.  Now let me tell you what some of this one trillion ($1,000,000,000,000) “stimulus” plan entails.

• $500 tax cut for most workers - (Didn’t we already try this?   Last year’s $600 rebate checks failed to “stimulate” the economy.)
• Dog Parks
• Federal Building Reparations
• Water Slides
• Frisbee golf courses

A few months back we were told if the $700+ billion financial institution bailout (Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP)) was not passed immediately the earth would stop on it’s axis, the stars would fall out of the sky and life as we knew it in the US would cease to exist.  So after much debate it was passed…and the credit sector did not rebound and no stars fell out of the celestial heavens…that I’m aware of.

So after that monumental debacle of a precedent was set,  money seemed to flow out of the capital on what seemed like a daily basis in bailouts and beggar handouts at your expense.  Now, after the zombie mantra of “change” has finally started to wane we get whacked with a near one trillion dollar stimulus plan.

God help our children who will have to shoulder much of this epic burden.

The housing market has tanked, many hard working Americans now find themselve’s jobless and we see the US government taking more and more control of the commercial sector and centralizing it’s power.  Is taxing the American citizens another one trillion dollars really going to make things any better?  I’d rather just roll the dice and ride it out at this point.  What do you think?

I just picked up my new Raven 2009 Yamaha YZF R6 and this bike is incredible.

Specs:

Engine
Type	599cc liquid-cooled inline 4-cylinder; DOHC, 16 titanium valves
Bore x Stroke	67.0 x 42.5mm
Compression Ratio	13.1:1
Carburetion	Fuel Injection with YCC-T and YCC-I
Ignition	TCI: Transistor Controlled Ignition
Transmission	6-speed w/multi-plate slipper clutch
Final Drive	Chain
Chassis
Suspension/Front	41mm inverted fork; 4-way adjustable, 4.7-in travel
Suspension/Rear	Single shock; 4-way adjustable, 4.7-in travel
Brakes/Front	Dual 310mm floating disc; radial-mount 4-piston calipers
Brakes/Rear	220mm disc; single-piston caliper
Tires/Front	120/70-ZR17
Tires/Rear	180/55-ZR17
Dimensions
Length	80.3 in
Width	27.6 in
Height	43.3 in
Seat Height	33.5 in
Wheelbase	54.3 in
Rake (Caster Angle)	24°
Trail	3.8 in
Oil Capacity (with oil filter change)	3.6 qt
Fuel Capacity	4.6 gal
Fuel Economy**	40 mpg
Wet Weight	414 lb
Other
Main Jet	Not Applicable
Main Air Jet	Not Applicable
Jet Needle	Not Applicable
Needle Jet	Not Applicable
Pilot Air Jet 1	Not Applicable
Pilot Outlet	Not Applicable
Pilot Jet	Not Applicable
Primary Reduction Ratio	85/41 (2.073)
Secondary Reduction Ratio	45/16 (2.813)
Gear Ratio - 1st Gear	31/12 (2.583)
Gear Ratio - 2nd Gear	32/16 (2.000)
Gear Ratio - 3rd Gear	30/18 (1.667)
Gear Ratio - 4th Gear	26/18 (1.444)
Gear Ratio - 5th Gear	27/21 (1.286)
Gear Ratio - 6th Gear	23/20 (1.150)

More pics and videos forthcoming!

Due to the current financial debacle we’ve been witnessing these past few weeks I’ve been forced to re-evaluate how I invest what the good Lord has blessed me with. I’m no Warren Buffet…yet…so for the immediate future I’ve decided to sit on the sidelines and invest my capital in more secure alternatives rather than the stock market.

Have I lost faith in the stock market entirely? No, but since I do not have decades of stock experience and hate the fact of someone else managing my money I’m sticking with a tried and true plan to weather this financial storm.

Here’s my simple plan…free of charge:

1. Checking Account With Charter Bank: http://www.charterco.com/personal/turbo.cfm

Under the Charter Turbo Checking Account you’ll earn 6.01% Annual Percentage Yield (APY) on all balances from $0 - 25,000. This is NOT an introductory offer provided by Charter making them probably the highest entry level checking accounts you can find. You’ll earn 1.01% APY (rate of 1.01%) on all amounts above $25,000, and 0.25% APY on all balances if the requirements are not met each statement cycle.

• 6.01% APY* on balances to $25,000
• 1.01% APY* on balances above $25,000
• 0.25% APY* if requirements are not met**
• No ATM Fees Nationwide
• Overdraft Privilege
• Free Online Bill Pay

To earn the 6.01% APY on this high interest checking account, you must:

• Make at least 13 debit card transactions monthly (excluding ATM transactions)
• Receive one direct deposit or ACH auto debit monthly
• Receive your monthly statement electronically (e-statement)
• Access on-line banking at least once before month end

From a marketing perspective I’ll probably redirect my direct deposits from Commission Junction, Shareasale, Linkshare, Google Adsense and Yahoo! Publisher over to Charter Bank and redistribute the balance over $25K to other investments (i.e. Money Market Accounts, CDs, etc.).

2. WaMu Online Certificate of Deposit Investing (CD): https://www.wamu.com/personal/certificate_deposit/online_cd/default.asp

I know you see Wamu and are probably thinking that’s a bad pick. However, with JP Morgan Chase running the show now I don’t think you have anything to worry about. Just before this acquisition WaMu was running a lucrative promotion to get some much needed capital. The’re CD Online will earn you 5.00% APY on a 1yr turn with a minimum deposit of just $1000.00. As far as I can tell there is no cap on that. That is a pretty good rate by any standard so you’ll probably want to lock yourself into this great rate for a year before JP Morgan pulls the plug.

3. EverBank Yield Pledge Money Market Account: http://www.everbank.com/001MoneyMarketYP.aspx

At the time of this post EverBank has the highest APY out of any of the entry level Money Market Accounts I’ve seen. If you set up a Yield Pledge Money Market Account you’ll earn a hefty 3.82% APY and as a bonus you’ll earn 4.65% APY for the first three months. Most decent MMAs are between 3.0% (like the raved over ING Direct) and up to about 3.75% (like OnBank). With the Everbank MMA you’ll need to invest a minimum of $1,500 but you can invest up to $50,000. In addition, unlike some MMAs which seem to charge you for everything there are no monthly fees as long as you keep your balance over $1,500. Otherwise you’ll be charged a monthly fee of $4.95. There is a $6/month transfer and withdrawal fee but that is also negligible.

I’m pretty sure I’m not the only novice investor who is a little leery about investing in the stock market at the moment. Unless you really know what you’re doing it may be more prudent to just hang in the wings and slowly grow your money in safe havens for a while. Hopefully this will help you identify some solid investment opportunities to grow your nest egg. Otherwise just dig a hole in your backyard or stash your dough under the mattress for safekeeping!

*To review the very best Checking Account, Savings Account, Money Market Account and Certificate of Deposit rates available please visit http://bankcd.com/. The list is updated daily and I’m sure you’ll find some amazing rates that will meet your short/long term investment goals.

OK fellow online marketers I have a question to ask you. If you were given $20,000 to start a new online business from scratch what would be your approach?

Over the years a lot has been said about starting a successful online business from scratch. However, this often excluded those individuals who already have a sizeable amount of upfront capital to start with and want to hit the proverbial ground running.

Would you:

• Invest it in PPC campaigns…
• Have a new product created…
• Outsource mass unique content creation…
• Setup up a blog empire…

Let’s assume this entrepreneur has a basic understanding of PPC, SEM, SEO, Affiliate Marketing, etc.

What would you do?

Post your comments right here and if you wish to remain anonymous no biggie. I’m very interested in hearing what the professional marketing community would do with $20,000.

Last week we saw the unprecedented move by the US Federal government when they seized the assets of floundering mortgage goliaths Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.  In doing so they instituted a 15 month nationalization program which was popularly viewed as a temporary necessity in order to curb the further unraveling of the national credit problem.  It was intended to preserve the capital of both public and private funds to include public pensions, which were a significant holding of both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson recently stated:

A failure of [Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac] would affect the ability of Americans to get home loans, auto loans and other consumer credit and business finance.

Paulson goes on to state:

The new administration must decide what role government in general, and those entities in particular, should play in the housing market.

This 15 month nationalization program is merely a bandage on an open wound needing surgery.

In an interview with CNBC Jim Rogers, CEO of Rogers Holdings, stated:

America is more communist than China is right now. You can see that this is welfare of the rich, it is socialism for the rich… it’s just bailing out financial institutions…This is madness, this is insanity, they have more than doubled the American national debt in one weekend for a bunch of crooks and incompetents. I’m not quite sure why I or anybody else should be paying for this.

I tend to agree with Mr. Rogers.  Why should you and I be on the proverbial hook for 5 TRILLION DOLLARS in bad housing loans!  In essence every hardworking American taxpayer is now paying for the risky and irresponsible financial recklessness of these loan institutions who were more than greedy to reap enormous profits.  Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, NOT the American taxpayers, should be made to bare the burden their losses have created.

Even our neighbors across the pond at Independent Strategies, a London Based Economics Firm, stated:

The US government takeover…makes the US the most socialist system in the world outside of places like North Korea and Cuba.  It will have 75% of its current housing finance and the majority of its remaining capital allocation being financed with credit that is directly the result of government and federal intervention.

Unfortunately many Americans won’t understand the lasting implications and ramifications of this action.  Remember the abolition of the Gold Standard of 1971 by president Nixon?

I won’t even mention the 85 billion dollar federal government AIG bailout we had this week…So what’s your take people?

Since I live in Hawaii and malasadas are a way of life out here I decided to create a quick site, How to Make Malasadas.  I have a few malasada recipes up on the main page at the moment and some brief historical information on malasadas Portugese origin.

Check it out at your leisure and send me your malasada recipes if you have any you’d like to share.  Mahalo!

www.Top-Affiliate.com

www.FreeAdvertisingBlog.com

www.B2Bsearch.org

What is social marketing? In a nutshell, it is the process of making positive changes in a population through the marketing strategies usually used by commercial companies.  The positive changes may be anything from reduced smoking rates to conserving ecological resources.

In a world where even third world children recognize Ronald McDonald, it’s easy to see how populations could be made healthier, smarter, and better citizens through commercial influence.  A good example of social marketing can be seen in the “public service” announcements now seen on television.  Between reality shows and cereal commercials, Americans are beseeched to vote on election day or to eat more vegetables.  The hope is that the public can be convinced to make socially conscious choices the same way they are influenced to buy certain brands of food and clothing.

But how new is social marketing?  Although it is often touted as a new concept, it has actually been around for centuries.  The difference is that when we don’t endorse the cause being socially marketed, we call it ‘propaganda’.  Take, for instance, the posters tacked to every flat surface during both World Wars asking healthy young men to join the military.  Consider Adolph Hitler’s use of the radio and written media to market his beliefs to the wartime Germans.  Both examples qualify as classic social marketing, although most people no longer approve of the subject matter.

The basic steps of a successful social marketing are the same as those for traditional, consumer marketing.

1. Choose a tangible goal. For a corporation, the goal would likely be increased sales of a determined amount.  In social marketing, the goal might be, for example, to encourage a higher percentage of the local population to have their children vaccinated.

2. Analyze the market.  In our immunization scenario, the ‘market’ would be the population that is not inoculating their children.  The marketing campaign would be most successful if the social marketers know basic demographic information about these families such as race, income, geographic location, and education level.

3. Research and test the marketing materials on the desired demographic.  This could be done through focus groups, informal surveys of the population, or larger scale studies.  The product may have to be modified several times to produce a more effective package of marketing materials.

4. Determine the venue of marketing. If you were marketing to a highly literate population, newspapers, pamphlets, and magazines would be good venues for marketing. In the immunization example, the target population would be parents of young children, and thus good venues might be commercial spots during children television shows or brochures left in local pediatricians’ waiting rooms.

5. Place and promote the product.  In this step, the tested marketing materials are placed in the appropriate marketing venues.  Although this is the step most people picture when they think of marketing, it is only a small part of the overall process.

6. After a set amount of time, analyze the results.  In our vaccination example, public health officials could analyze the change in immunization rates following the marketing campaign.  An increase would make the campaign a success, while stagnant or decreasing rates would indicate failure.

7. If necessary, the campaign would be modified, reconfigured, and re-marketed.  However, because the goal is to get the target population to accept certain behavior, a truly successful social marketing campaign would mean that no more marketing of the issue is needed.  If the parents in our immunization example had dramatically improved their immunization rates and truly embraced the idea of vaccination, they would not need further convincing.

It’s important to consider in social marketing that there is a reason the behavior has not already been embraced.  The reasons may include a lack of knowledge, lack of finances, lack of time, or perceived negative effects. In the immunization example, the cause could be side effects of immunization or a lack of education about the role they play in disease control.  It is crucial that all objections to the socially desired behavior be addressed to the audience’s satisfaction.

The classic “4 P’s” of marketing can clearly be seen in the above example:  Product, Price, Placement, and Promotion.  The product is immunization, the price is perceived side effects, the placement is the venue, and the promotion is the ads and brochures themselves.  Social marketing mimics commercial marketing because in our advertisement laden world, social causes truly are just one more product being sold.  The most important goal of social marketers, and the one made most difficult by traditional marketing practices, is setting causes above and apart from the constant bombardment of marketing.  This truly will be the social marketing challenge of the new millennium.

www.Top-Affiliate.com

www.FreeAdvertisingBlog.com

www.B2Bsearch.org

This weekend I had the pleasure of meeting four individuals who love Oahu hiking as much as I do: Laarni, Frank, Justin and James.  Funny part is this was James first hike on Oahu and it’s the Bowman Trail, arguably one of the toughest and most dangerous trails on Oahu.  Nothing like a nice 12 mile long expert rated trail to break in the new guy!

Me, James (in blue), Frank, Laarni and Justin

Bowman Trail is an 12 mile long (round trip) Oahu hiking trail which leads up to the Ko’olau summit.  This is an all day hike and it really will take all day.  It is a 2,400 foot climb to the summit but with all the ups and down most people agree it’s really about 4,000 feet of climbing.

James negotiating a slip and die portion of the trail.

It is a wicked roller coaster of a ride not for those who have a fear of dangling from ledges,  hanging onto a wire while ascending/descending ridge lines or slinking across a razor thin section of ridge.  However the rewards are well worth the struggle…

We started this trail at roughly 8 a.m., we meant to start it at 630 but you know how that goes.  The trail starts off with a heart pounding climb up what seemed to be a few hundred feet just to get onto the trail.  From there the trail was relatively mild…for a short way.

Early along the way you’ll get beautiful views of Honolulu, Pearl Harbor, etc.

You will get dirty on this trail fast.  It rained on us more than a few times on our ascent which makes the trail very slick in spots and creates mud pits in others.  There is no such thing as Oahu hiking without rain and mud!

There are numerous places on the trail where you will have to use rope or wires to ascend or descend the ridge.  BE CAREFUL! Near the summit of this trail the wire broke in James hand as he was descending a particularly steep segment of the trail.  Check all cables thoroughly first and turn around if you don’t feel 100% confident.

When you eventually make it to the summit you will be rewarded with amazing views of both Kaneohe and Honolulu  from the Ko’oalu Range.  Snap some photos, make some videos, breath in the fresh air and eat some grub.

Justin came through with MREs for everyone.

Don’t linger too long though since you still have a six mile descent awaiting and probably want to make it down the mountain before nightfall.

Bowman Trail Recommendations:

1. Start this trail early.
2. Bring a more than healthy supply of water.
3. Bring lots of carbohydrates, jerky, bananas, etc.
4. Just in case you’ll probably want to bring a headlamp.
5. Bring your basic first aid, tourniquet, dressings, etc…you never know.

Directions to Bowman Trailhead:

The Bowman Trail Head lies on the other side of the basketball court of the Kalihi Elementary School (2471 Kula Kolea Dr, Honolulu, HI 96819 -mapquest it) off the Likelike Highway.  You will need to park in the residential area on Naai Street.  Please be curteous to the residents.  Once you’re parked just walk up to the school basketball courts and you should see the trailhead.

Whether you have had a blog for years or are thinking about starting one, there are many ways to make money blogging.

Get A Blog
If you don’t have a blog yet, the first step is to start one.  One of the easiest blogs to set up is a Blogger blog http://www.blogger.com. Bought by Google in 2002, they strive to make the experience easy and the sites made are easily searchable by Google and they are free. If you get to the point where you would like to do more customizing than possible at Blogger, try TypePad for about $50 a year.

Buy A Catchy Domain Name
When a blog is hosted by a blogging software, it is given a rather long name, such as www.thebestblog.blogger.com. To shorten the name and make it more catchy, buy your chosen domain name at GoDaddy.com for about eight dollars a year and set it up to mask the longer name, so that www.thebestblog.blogger.com becomes www.thebestblog.com.

Write With Authority
Start honing your writing skills by posting everyday. Everyone has something they are passionate about, whether it is raising beagles or buying photography books. If you love something enough to write about it, you can guarantee that others out there will be into the same thing. Be specific and don’t be scared to be personal- people will want to get to know you too.

Start to Make Money Blogging
Now, we get to the part on how to make money blogging. There are many ways to do it and you should pick the one that most fits your subject and doesn’t compromise your integrity.

Advertise Yourself
In many fields today, having a blog makes your supporters feel more connected to what you are doing. Bestselling author Nick Hornby has blog where he writes about the state of his various projects so fans know when to head to the bookstore. While you might not be a bestselling author, people are still interested in you and your process. They will keep up to date on any shows you have or track things you have for sale. A great example of commerce and blogs blending is Etsy, www.etsy.com, where you can sell one of a kind items. In their success stories, most of the successful sellers have blogs that detail what they are making and how.

Relevant Contextual Ads
Advertisers have been interested in blogs since the onset. Many of the first ads were big and unrelated to any of the site’s content and were very distracting. With Google Adsense, https://www.google.com/Adsense/, distracting is not an issue, as Adsense scans the site content and posts related ads, similar to the way gmail puts ads in the sidebar. In addition to google Adsense is Chitika.  Chitika is the leading blog advertising company with a network of thousands of blogs/websites and hundreds of name brand advertisers and merchants.  Highly recommended!  Most bloggers using ads report earning anywhere from $30 to $5000 a month.

Become an Affiliate for a Relevant Product or Service
Many blog topics lend themselves to talking about merchandise, from camera and computer talk about equipment to reviews of books to niche topics.  To reward those who talk about stuff, Amazon set up one of the first affiliate programs on the web, http://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/join.  Just keep posting and any time an item is mentioned that can be purchased from Amazon, have them generate a link with or without a picture which refers back to their site. For every purchase from these referrals, you can earn up to 15% of the purchase.

Amazon is just one of thousands of affiliate programs you can join.  I personally prefer to join affiliate networks such as Commission Junction, Shareasale and Linkshare to peruse potential products to promote from my blogs.

Books And Calendars From Blogs
If your blog is original and funny, at some point, a forwarding-happy emailer will probably find it and then the world will know about it. These sites then get seen by book publishers and entrepreneurs and get turned into merchandise. Two good examples are the addictive and heart warming Cute Overload, http://www.cuteoverload.com/, which posts sugary-sweet pictures of all things small and furry, which now has a best selling calendar on Amazon. Another example is Stuff White People Like, http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/, which simply list things white people like, such as bumper stickers and New Balance shoes, and writes about them in a funny manner. Rather than publishing old posts from their site, the book is filled with all original content.

Become A Celebrity Yourself
One of the most famous bloggers is Perez Hilton, born Mario Lavandeira, who with www.PerezHilton.com changed celebrity blogging forever. His signature style is doodling on celebrity photos and often posting catty remarks and picking on his least favorite celebrities, like Jessica Alba. Still, he gets the scoop faster than anyone and Perez posts non-stop throughout the day. Many celebrities have admitted to checking out his site more than once a day. Perez is now a celebrity himself and lives solely off the advertising revenue from his site and his appearances on television and radio.

These methods are a start on how to make money blogging. Remember, write about something you are passionate about and the money will follow. Happy posting!

Yep, it was a six month deployment but turned out to be roughly eight months with 6 weeks of combat skills training at Fort Dix, NJ and a special training class in Maryland.

You won’t ever hear me complain a thing about how long it was or the conditions I lived/worked in.  After working closely with the Army who are deployed for roughly 15 months at a time there’s no room for ANY of that nonsense.  Much respect to all the service members who have served, deployed and made the ultimate sacrifice for our great nation.

Quick Deployment Recap:

I flew into Kuwait at the stroke of midnight on 01 Jan 08 and was the first rotator of the year into theater.  Over the course of the next six months  I spent my time in southern Baghdad at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Falcon.  Falcon is pretty small; roughly one mile by one mile.

Half of my time I worked with the 4th Brigade Combat Team “Dragon Brigade” before they ripped out and were replaced by the 1st Brigade - 4th Infantry Division (Mech) “Raider”.  Both brigades were squared away and were a pleasure to work with.

Days were pretty long (16+) since I was filling a Captains position and did not receive a co-worker as billeted due to manning shortfalls.  That turned out to be a blessing though because I really didn’t have anyone to answer to and ran my office of four exactly how I wanted to.

Most of the time I spent on Falcon except for the last 3 weeks of my tour when my OIC, seated at Victory Base Complex (VBC), brought me up to travel around the Area of Operation to conduct some best practices training at: FOB Rustimiyah, FOB Prosperity and Camp Taji.  Traveling around Baghdad in UH-60 Black Hawks and armored buses was definitely one of the highlights of this deployment.

During the course of the deployment I meant countless quality people and made some good new friends.  Always on top of my “A game” I also did some substantial networking with contractors in my area of expertise as my separation date is drawing near.  =)

All in all it was a good deployment.  The mission was viable and it directly impacted the battle space.  Time permitting, I’d do it again but not the same mission.  After working very closely with a great Air Force Weapons Intelligence Team (WIT) at my location that’s definitely something I would go back for.

Photos coming soon, setting up the gallery now!