Twiceadayevenonsundays

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Affiliate Making Money

This is a guest post by Joshua Noerr of JoshuaNoerr.com.

It’s clear that social media, specifically blogging, is about so much more than making money. Sure, we all want to be compensated for our time and our talents, but if the only goal was to make money, blogging would certainly not be our first choice.

If you’ve been reading ProBlogger for any length of time, the message will be clear to you: blogging is not a get-rich-quick kind of deal. There are certainly a few stars that rose to prominence quickly, but they’re the exception, not the rule.

The truth is, blogging for dollars is a slow process that requires many different factors to click into place before it produces a dependable income. One of those key factors is trust. The bottom line here is that your readers absolutely must trust you in order to buy from you, or to subscribe to your feed or newsletter.

I remember reading a book on sales a few years ago that said, essentially, “The prospect does not have to like you, he or she just has to trust you.” I don’t know about you, but I can’t recall any time I’ve said, “Wow, I don’t like that guy, but I sure do trust him.” Likability and trustworthiness have a tendency to go hand in hand.

Give back to build trust

Giving selflessly is a very powerful way to build the trust that you need to boost your repeat visitor levels, and your traffic overall. I’m going to share with you a way to do exactly that, but first I want you to consider something.

Have you ever noticed that most large corporations have either a foundation established in their name, or a department that handles charitable giving on behalf of the company? Think about that. I could name ten corporations that do just that off the top of my head. Consider why they do it. If you answered “to build trust,” you’re right!

What I’m proposing is that you donate a small portion of your online real estate to a good cause.

I know that the thought of giving even a small portion of your sidebar to charity may seem painful at first. For many, that means less space for direct advertising or AdSense promotion. It might even mean removing a featured affiliate product.

What I promise you is that the trust you get in return, while impossible to place a dollar value on, will be worth it. The good that you do in the world will become a part of your legacy.

Get started giving

Head over to FirstGiving.com. This website sets up free donation pages for thousands of charities and non-profits. After you set up your giving page, you’ll be able to create a widget that displays the amount of money you’re trying to raise, the organization you’re supporting, and how far you’ve progressed in your fundraising.

Place this widget somewhere on your blog. Now, you’re almost done, but there’s still one more step.

I suggest that you announce what you’re doing, which charity or cause you’re supporting, and why you’re supporting them (if you would like to see an example, take a look at my post asking for help to cure multiple sclerosis).

Writing this post is key, because it’s highly likely that it will be Stumbled, Dugg, and Tweeted, drawing attention to the cause, as well as your blog.

I also recommend that you choose a charity that’s near and dear to your heart. I decided to support the MS Fund because I have a wonderful friend who struggles with the disease. I can’t wait for the day when this disease no longer affects so many people. I’m sure you have a similar story, and I encourage you to share it with your readers.

Can blogging change the world?

Blogging has already changed the world in so many ways. It has changed the way news is reported, the speed at which information travels, and the way we get that information.

But I believe it can do much more than that. I truly believe that with so many wonderful, giving people out there in the blogosphere, blogging will change the world for the better in the years to come.

Please share your thoughts in the comments. What other ways can we give back and make the world a better place through blogging? Is there an organization that fits perfectly into your niche that you would like to support?

Joshua Noerr is a former competitive fighter turned blogger. He owns, or is partnered in, several blogs in different niches including personal development and fly fishing. He has one simple mission that drives all of his blogs: to change the world.

When Ping launched in early September, the music social network had one major problem: it wasn’t social. Sure, you can share stuff inside of iTunes, but there was no good way to post the songs you liked to the two big social networks: Facebook and Twitter. The truth is that Ping launched with Facebook Connect integration, but it was only for contact importing, and then Apple and Facebook had a bit of a dust up. Today, Apple is bringing Twitter integration to Ping.

As Twitter has just announced on their blog, by connecting iTunes to Twitter, you’ll be able to not only find your Twitter friends on Ping, but you’ll be able to tweet out Ping activity as well. That last bit is a key to making Ping actually work in a truly social way.

Perhaps even more interesting is that not only will each tweet contain a link back to the song or album on iTunes, but these links will work in New Twitter’s right-side pane. You’ll be able to listen to iTunes previews right from there — a huge feature that should lead to a lot of music buying, especially when the 90-second previews kick-in.

Facebook, meanwhile, is still MIA after they cut off Ping a day after launch. There’s talk the two side will hook up again, but so far it hasn’t happened yet. That said, there is a button in the drop down to manually post a song or album to Facebook, but it takes you to Facebook on the web to do it. The Twitter integration is fully baked-in.

This first big social integration follows Apple integrating Ping with users’ actual iTunes libraries, an important first step.

Twitter says this iTunes song previews feature will be available on twitter.com in the 23 countries where the iTunes Store offers music.

One big word of caution, when you first hook up your Twitter account to Ping, the default is to auto-tweet out all of your Ping activity — both when you post something and when you just “like” something. It alerts you to this at first and you can change it in your settings so that you can manually choose when to do it, just be warned that this happens.

I have to wonder if this deal is a money-making one for Twitter. Will they be getting affiliate fees for songs purchased thanks to Twitter links? I’ve asked Twitter that very question and will update when I hear back.

Update: Says Twitter on the affiliate fees:

We don’t comment on the underlying financials of our partnerships.

bench craft company scam

autosport.com - F1 News: Lotus unveils F1 plans with Renault

Group Lotus has ramped up its involvement in Formula 1 by becoming title sponsor and a major shareholder in the rebranded Lotus Renault GP Team.

John Lennon Remembered: 10/9/40 – 12/8/80 | Rolling Stone Music

Thirty years ago today — on December 8, 1980 — John Lennon was murdered outside of his New York apartment building by a deranged fan. Three days befor...

Top Country Music News Stories of 2010 - The Boot

As 2010 comes to a close, we take a look back at the year's biggest moments in country music. With all that has.

bench craft company scam

autosport.com - F1 News: Lotus unveils F1 plans with Renault

Group Lotus has ramped up its involvement in Formula 1 by becoming title sponsor and a major shareholder in the rebranded Lotus Renault GP Team.

John Lennon Remembered: 10/9/40 – 12/8/80 | Rolling Stone Music

Thirty years ago today — on December 8, 1980 — John Lennon was murdered outside of his New York apartment building by a deranged fan. Three days befor...

Top Country Music News Stories of 2010 - The Boot

As 2010 comes to a close, we take a look back at the year's biggest moments in country music. With all that has.

bench craft company scam

autosport.com - F1 News: Lotus unveils F1 plans with Renault

Group Lotus has ramped up its involvement in Formula 1 by becoming title sponsor and a major shareholder in the rebranded Lotus Renault GP Team.

John Lennon Remembered: 10/9/40 – 12/8/80 | Rolling Stone Music

Thirty years ago today — on December 8, 1980 — John Lennon was murdered outside of his New York apartment building by a deranged fan. Three days befor...

Top Country Music News Stories of 2010 - The Boot

As 2010 comes to a close, we take a look back at the year's biggest moments in country music. With all that has.

bench craft company scam

autosport.com - F1 News: Lotus unveils F1 plans with Renault

Group Lotus has ramped up its involvement in Formula 1 by becoming title sponsor and a major shareholder in the rebranded Lotus Renault GP Team.

John Lennon Remembered: 10/9/40 – 12/8/80 | Rolling Stone Music

Thirty years ago today — on December 8, 1980 — John Lennon was murdered outside of his New York apartment building by a deranged fan. Three days befor...

Top Country Music News Stories of 2010 - The Boot

As 2010 comes to a close, we take a look back at the year's biggest moments in country music. With all that has.

bench craft company scam

autosport.com - F1 News: Lotus unveils F1 plans with Renault

Group Lotus has ramped up its involvement in Formula 1 by becoming title sponsor and a major shareholder in the rebranded Lotus Renault GP Team.

John Lennon Remembered: 10/9/40 – 12/8/80 | Rolling Stone Music

Thirty years ago today — on December 8, 1980 — John Lennon was murdered outside of his New York apartment building by a deranged fan. Three days befor...

Top Country Music News Stories of 2010 - The Boot

As 2010 comes to a close, we take a look back at the year's biggest moments in country music. With all that has.

bench craft company scam

autosport.com - F1 News: Lotus unveils F1 plans with Renault

Group Lotus has ramped up its involvement in Formula 1 by becoming title sponsor and a major shareholder in the rebranded Lotus Renault GP Team.

John Lennon Remembered: 10/9/40 – 12/8/80 | Rolling Stone Music

Thirty years ago today — on December 8, 1980 — John Lennon was murdered outside of his New York apartment building by a deranged fan. Three days befor...

Top Country Music News Stories of 2010 - The Boot

As 2010 comes to a close, we take a look back at the year's biggest moments in country music. With all that has.

bench craft company scam

autosport.com - F1 News: Lotus unveils F1 plans with Renault

Group Lotus has ramped up its involvement in Formula 1 by becoming title sponsor and a major shareholder in the rebranded Lotus Renault GP Team.

John Lennon Remembered: 10/9/40 – 12/8/80 | Rolling Stone Music

Thirty years ago today — on December 8, 1980 — John Lennon was murdered outside of his New York apartment building by a deranged fan. Three days befor...

Top Country Music News Stories of 2010 - The Boot

As 2010 comes to a close, we take a look back at the year's biggest moments in country music. With all that has.

bench craft company scam

autosport.com - F1 News: Lotus unveils F1 plans with Renault

Group Lotus has ramped up its involvement in Formula 1 by becoming title sponsor and a major shareholder in the rebranded Lotus Renault GP Team.

John Lennon Remembered: 10/9/40 – 12/8/80 | Rolling Stone Music

Thirty years ago today — on December 8, 1980 — John Lennon was murdered outside of his New York apartment building by a deranged fan. Three days befor...

Top Country Music News Stories of 2010 - The Boot

As 2010 comes to a close, we take a look back at the year's biggest moments in country music. With all that has.

bench craft company scam

autosport.com - F1 News: Lotus unveils F1 plans with Renault

Group Lotus has ramped up its involvement in Formula 1 by becoming title sponsor and a major shareholder in the rebranded Lotus Renault GP Team.

John Lennon Remembered: 10/9/40 – 12/8/80 | Rolling Stone Music

Thirty years ago today — on December 8, 1980 — John Lennon was murdered outside of his New York apartment building by a deranged fan. Three days befor...

Top Country Music News Stories of 2010 - The Boot

As 2010 comes to a close, we take a look back at the year's biggest moments in country music. With all that has.

bench craft company scam

autosport.com - F1 News: Lotus unveils F1 plans with Renault

Group Lotus has ramped up its involvement in Formula 1 by becoming title sponsor and a major shareholder in the rebranded Lotus Renault GP Team.

John Lennon Remembered: 10/9/40 – 12/8/80 | Rolling Stone Music

Thirty years ago today — on December 8, 1980 — John Lennon was murdered outside of his New York apartment building by a deranged fan. Three days befor...

Top Country Music News Stories of 2010 - The Boot

As 2010 comes to a close, we take a look back at the year's biggest moments in country music. With all that has.

bench craft company scam

autosport.com - F1 News: Lotus unveils F1 plans with Renault

Group Lotus has ramped up its involvement in Formula 1 by becoming title sponsor and a major shareholder in the rebranded Lotus Renault GP Team.

John Lennon Remembered: 10/9/40 – 12/8/80 | Rolling Stone Music

Thirty years ago today — on December 8, 1980 — John Lennon was murdered outside of his New York apartment building by a deranged fan. Three days befor...

Top Country Music News Stories of 2010 - The Boot

As 2010 comes to a close, we take a look back at the year's biggest moments in country music. With all that has.

bench craft company scam

autosport.com - F1 News: Lotus unveils F1 plans with Renault

Group Lotus has ramped up its involvement in Formula 1 by becoming title sponsor and a major shareholder in the rebranded Lotus Renault GP Team.

John Lennon Remembered: 10/9/40 – 12/8/80 | Rolling Stone Music

Thirty years ago today — on December 8, 1980 — John Lennon was murdered outside of his New York apartment building by a deranged fan. Three days befor...

Top Country Music News Stories of 2010 - The Boot

As 2010 comes to a close, we take a look back at the year's biggest moments in country music. With all that has.

bench craft company scam

autosport.com - F1 News: Lotus unveils F1 plans with Renault

Group Lotus has ramped up its involvement in Formula 1 by becoming title sponsor and a major shareholder in the rebranded Lotus Renault GP Team.

John Lennon Remembered: 10/9/40 – 12/8/80 | Rolling Stone Music

Thirty years ago today — on December 8, 1980 — John Lennon was murdered outside of his New York apartment building by a deranged fan. Three days befor...

Top Country Music News Stories of 2010 - The Boot

As 2010 comes to a close, we take a look back at the year's biggest moments in country music. With all that has.

bench craft company scam

autosport.com - F1 News: Lotus unveils F1 plans with Renault

Group Lotus has ramped up its involvement in Formula 1 by becoming title sponsor and a major shareholder in the rebranded Lotus Renault GP Team.

John Lennon Remembered: 10/9/40 – 12/8/80 | Rolling Stone Music

Thirty years ago today — on December 8, 1980 — John Lennon was murdered outside of his New York apartment building by a deranged fan. Three days befor...

Top Country Music News Stories of 2010 - The Boot

As 2010 comes to a close, we take a look back at the year's biggest moments in country music. With all that has.

bench craft company scam

autosport.com - F1 News: Lotus unveils F1 plans with Renault

Group Lotus has ramped up its involvement in Formula 1 by becoming title sponsor and a major shareholder in the rebranded Lotus Renault GP Team.

John Lennon Remembered: 10/9/40 – 12/8/80 | Rolling Stone Music

Thirty years ago today — on December 8, 1980 — John Lennon was murdered outside of his New York apartment building by a deranged fan. Three days befor...

Top Country Music News Stories of 2010 - The Boot

As 2010 comes to a close, we take a look back at the year's biggest moments in country music. With all that has.

bench craft company scam

autosport.com - F1 News: Lotus unveils F1 plans with Renault

Group Lotus has ramped up its involvement in Formula 1 by becoming title sponsor and a major shareholder in the rebranded Lotus Renault GP Team.

John Lennon Remembered: 10/9/40 – 12/8/80 | Rolling Stone Music

Thirty years ago today — on December 8, 1980 — John Lennon was murdered outside of his New York apartment building by a deranged fan. Three days befor...

Top Country Music News Stories of 2010 - The Boot

As 2010 comes to a close, we take a look back at the year's biggest moments in country music. With all that has.

bench craft company scam

autosport.com - F1 News: Lotus unveils F1 plans with Renault

Group Lotus has ramped up its involvement in Formula 1 by becoming title sponsor and a major shareholder in the rebranded Lotus Renault GP Team.

John Lennon Remembered: 10/9/40 – 12/8/80 | Rolling Stone Music

Thirty years ago today — on December 8, 1980 — John Lennon was murdered outside of his New York apartment building by a deranged fan. Three days befor...

Top Country Music News Stories of 2010 - The Boot

As 2010 comes to a close, we take a look back at the year's biggest moments in country music. With all that has.

bench craft company scam

autosport.com - F1 News: Lotus unveils F1 plans with Renault

Group Lotus has ramped up its involvement in Formula 1 by becoming title sponsor and a major shareholder in the rebranded Lotus Renault GP Team.

John Lennon Remembered: 10/9/40 – 12/8/80 | Rolling Stone Music

Thirty years ago today — on December 8, 1980 — John Lennon was murdered outside of his New York apartment building by a deranged fan. Three days befor...

Top Country Music News Stories of 2010 - The Boot

As 2010 comes to a close, we take a look back at the year's biggest moments in country music. With all that has.

bench craft company scam

autosport.com - F1 News: Lotus unveils F1 plans with Renault

Group Lotus has ramped up its involvement in Formula 1 by becoming title sponsor and a major shareholder in the rebranded Lotus Renault GP Team.

John Lennon Remembered: 10/9/40 – 12/8/80 | Rolling Stone Music

Thirty years ago today — on December 8, 1980 — John Lennon was murdered outside of his New York apartment building by a deranged fan. Three days befor...

Top Country Music News Stories of 2010 - The Boot

As 2010 comes to a close, we take a look back at the year's biggest moments in country music. With all that has.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

personal finance budgets

A survey released today by Javelin Strategy & Research, which serves financial institutions, found in August that nearly one in five Americans doesn't monitor or manage their personal finances. That rate is double what it was just a year ago. Despite the fact the recession has made it more important than ever to carefully track our money, when it comes to personal finances, 19% of Americans stuck their head in the sand. A year before, another survey had the figure at just 8%.

More anxiety-induced news: The percentage of Americans who say they sometimes log onto their checking account balances with their banks' websites dropped to 46%, down 13 points from 59% a year ago. Even those who track their money by pen and paper dropped, from 50% to 46%.

"It's a natural human reaction to stress: 'Maybe if I don't look at it, it will go away.'" explains the study's co-author, senior analyst Mark Schwanhausser. "I think you have fewer people checking their finances online because they don't like what they're seeing. 'I'm going to be a financial sleepwalker. I'm not going to look.'"

Schwanhausser's prescription for the problem involves convincing America's major financial institutions that they're doing a lousy job helping make it easier and less stressful for their customers to track their money. "It's not enough to tell you how to fix the toilet," he says. "You've got to have the wrench."

Yet despite the fact that most Americans' money resides at a bank, few banks are interested in furnishing financial planning tools. Right now, Schwanhausser argues, most people are required to log into a wide variety of websites to track their money. For example, 75% of Americans who have a credit card get it from somewhere other than their primary bank, meaning their finances are scattered across many websites, unreconciled.

When people do turn to their bank's websites, he argues, the financial planning tools are nearly non-existent despite the fact our society increasingly demands greater personal control through technology. "Today's online banking is like having avocado green appliances from the 1970s. It just doesn't cut it," says Schwanhausser.

Schwanhausser is using the survey to convince banks that it will actually endear customers to them if they put personal finance tools front and center on their sites, helping customers paint a clear picture of their own financial habits. He's pressing them to develop systems, both on the Web and through mobile apps, that can draw in customers' information from other sites, such as credit cards and mortgage lenders, so financial care-taking can be a one-stop process.

So far, banks and lenders have been slow to use existing technology to make money management a less daunting chore. Part of the issue is that many banks don't want to acknowledge competitors by drawing in account balances from elsewhere. Banks also stand to make money off poor financial planning through penalties and fees. Like a doctor who makes money off treating disease, promoting financial good health does not on the surface appear to be in a bank's best interest.

"You can't manage what you don't measure," says Schwanhausser. "And if the bank's not going to provide it for you, you have to go get it in other places."

He recommends existing aggregators such as Mint.com, which pulls your data from multiple sources and lays it out in spreadsheets and in spending plans, as a model for what all the banks should be doing for their customers.

He also notes that Bank of America's "My Portfolio" and Wells Fargo's "My Savings Plan" are two fledgling, if little-known, bank-created features that are slowly reaching toward the sort of comprehensive personal finance planning features he advocates.

As long as it remains difficult or scary, though, when it comes to their finances, Americans will remain more likely to use the Ostrich Method.

moBudget will help you organize your personal income and outcome. By doing it, moBudget can also help you in identifying budgeting and saving opportunities. Its main screen presents a dashboard with a set of intelligent indicators which will tell you how is your personal finance doing. Forget about grabbing a calculator to get the numbers you need, the dashboard will say it all; it will inform, alert and advice you when needed so you can make the best budgeting and spending decisions. By allowing stepping through months back and forth, allows you to whether see how you did on previous months and how you will be doing in the upcoming months and adjust your budgets to the optimal. Take it with you, stick to its rules and you will see how money won’t cause a you a headache any more.

Key features

Main dashboard with intelligent indicators

Upcoming and overdue payments, incomes, bills

Color-based and snapshot styled budget bar graphs for easy reading

Budget adjusting helper

Actual balance and budget balance adhoc

Accounts and credit cards usage recording

Cash flow bar graphs and out of funds predictions

Easy input for registering expenses, incomes and transfers

Can create future operations and recurrent operations

Multi currency support

Easy month back and forth navigation

more… see it yourself!

bench craft company rip offs

Light Can Generate Lift - Science News

Researchers create a lightfoil that can push small objects sideways.

Facebook Profile Changes: More Media Play Than News?

Facebook sure has arrived when it comes to the traditional media set as it used 60 Minutes (in more ways ...

Senior White House Official: 'We Wanted a Fight,' too ...

Vice President Biden heads to Capitol Hill today to lobby Senate Democrats to support the tax cut compromise, as President Obama faces criticism from congressional Democrats that he should have fought more for the Bush tax cuts on the ...

free advertising enlargement exercises

Light Can Generate Lift - Science News

Researchers create a lightfoil that can push small objects sideways.

Facebook Profile Changes: More Media Play Than News?

Facebook sure has arrived when it comes to the traditional media set as it used 60 Minutes (in more ways ...

Senior White House Official: 'We Wanted a Fight,' too ...

manual bench craft company rip off

Light Can Generate Lift - Science News

Researchers create a lightfoil that can push small objects sideways.

Facebook Profile Changes: More Media Play Than News?

Facebook sure has arrived when it comes to the traditional media set as it used 60 Minutes (in more ways ...

Senior White House Official: 'We Wanted a Fight,' too ...

advertising enlargement secrets

Light Can Generate Lift - Science News

Researchers create a lightfoil that can push small objects sideways.

Facebook Profile Changes: More Media Play Than News?

Facebook sure has arrived when it comes to the traditional media set as it used 60 Minutes (in more ways ...

Senior White House Official: 'We Wanted a Fight,' too ...

advertising enlargement exersizes

Light Can Generate Lift - Science News

Researchers create a lightfoil that can push small objects sideways.

Facebook Profile Changes: More Media Play Than News?

Facebook sure has arrived when it comes to the traditional media set as it used 60 Minutes (in more ways ...

Senior White House Official: 'We Wanted a Fight,' too ...

bench craft company rip off pills reviews

A survey released today by Javelin Strategy & Research, which serves financial institutions, found in August that nearly one in five Americans doesn't monitor or manage their personal finances. That rate is double what it was just a year ago. Despite the fact the recession has made it more important than ever to carefully track our money, when it comes to personal finances, 19% of Americans stuck their head in the sand. A year before, another survey had the figure at just 8%.

More anxiety-induced news: The percentage of Americans who say they sometimes log onto their checking account balances with their banks' websites dropped to 46%, down 13 points from 59% a year ago. Even those who track their money by pen and paper dropped, from 50% to 46%.

"It's a natural human reaction to stress: 'Maybe if I don't look at it, it will go away.'" explains the study's co-author, senior analyst Mark Schwanhausser. "I think you have fewer people checking their finances online because they don't like what they're seeing. 'I'm going to be a financial sleepwalker. I'm not going to look.'"

Schwanhausser's prescription for the problem involves convincing America's major financial institutions that they're doing a lousy job helping make it easier and less stressful for their customers to track their money. "It's not enough to tell you how to fix the toilet," he says. "You've got to have the wrench."

Yet despite the fact that most Americans' money resides at a bank, few banks are interested in furnishing financial planning tools. Right now, Schwanhausser argues, most people are required to log into a wide variety of websites to track their money. For example, 75% of Americans who have a credit card get it from somewhere other than their primary bank, meaning their finances are scattered across many websites, unreconciled.

When people do turn to their bank's websites, he argues, the financial planning tools are nearly non-existent despite the fact our society increasingly demands greater personal control through technology. "Today's online banking is like having avocado green appliances from the 1970s. It just doesn't cut it," says Schwanhausser.

Schwanhausser is using the survey to convince banks that it will actually endear customers to them if they put personal finance tools front and center on their sites, helping customers paint a clear picture of their own financial habits. He's pressing them to develop systems, both on the Web and through mobile apps, that can draw in customers' information from other sites, such as credit cards and mortgage lenders, so financial care-taking can be a one-stop process.

So far, banks and lenders have been slow to use existing technology to make money management a less daunting chore. Part of the issue is that many banks don't want to acknowledge competitors by drawing in account balances from elsewhere. Banks also stand to make money off poor financial planning through penalties and fees. Like a doctor who makes money off treating disease, promoting financial good health does not on the surface appear to be in a bank's best interest.

"You can't manage what you don't measure," says Schwanhausser. "And if the bank's not going to provide it for you, you have to go get it in other places."

He recommends existing aggregators such as Mint.com, which pulls your data from multiple sources and lays it out in spreadsheets and in spending plans, as a model for what all the banks should be doing for their customers.

He also notes that Bank of America's "My Portfolio" and Wells Fargo's "My Savings Plan" are two fledgling, if little-known, bank-created features that are slowly reaching toward the sort of comprehensive personal finance planning features he advocates.

As long as it remains difficult or scary, though, when it comes to their finances, Americans will remain more likely to use the Ostrich Method.

Key features

Main dashboard with intelligent indicators

Upcoming and overdue payments, incomes, bills

Color-based and snapshot styled budget bar graphs for easy reading

Budget adjusting helper

Actual balance and budget balance adhoc

Accounts and credit cards usage recording

Cash flow bar graphs and out of funds predictions

Easy input for registering expenses, incomes and transfers

Can create future operations and recurrent operations

Multi currency support

Easy month back and forth navigation

more… see it yourself!

advertising enlargement surgury

Light Can Generate Lift - Science News

Researchers create a lightfoil that can push small objects sideways.

Facebook Profile Changes: More Media Play Than News?

Facebook sure has arrived when it comes to the traditional media set as it used 60 Minutes (in more ways ...

Senior White House Official: 'We Wanted a Fight,' too ...

bench craft company rip off stretching

Light Can Generate Lift - Science News

Researchers create a lightfoil that can push small objects sideways.

Facebook Profile Changes: More Media Play Than News?

Facebook sure has arrived when it comes to the traditional media set as it used 60 Minutes (in more ways ...

Senior White House Official: 'We Wanted a Fight,' too ...

website

Light Can Generate Lift - Science News

Researchers create a lightfoil that can push small objects sideways.

Facebook Profile Changes: More Media Play Than News?

Facebook sure has arrived when it comes to the traditional media set as it used 60 Minutes (in more ways ...

Senior White House Official: 'We Wanted a Fight,' too ...

visit ddfghhdfxd.com visit ddfghhdfxd.com

Light Can Generate Lift - Science News

Researchers create a lightfoil that can push small objects sideways.

Facebook Profile Changes: More Media Play Than News?

Facebook sure has arrived when it comes to the traditional media set as it used 60 Minutes (in more ways ...

Senior White House Official: 'We Wanted a Fight,' too ...

url

Light Can Generate Lift - Science News

Researchers create a lightfoil that can push small objects sideways.

Facebook Profile Changes: More Media Play Than News?

Facebook sure has arrived when it comes to the traditional media set as it used 60 Minutes (in more ways ...

Senior White House Official: 'We Wanted a Fight,' too ...

advertising enlarging

Light Can Generate Lift - Science News

Researchers create a lightfoil that can push small objects sideways.

Facebook Profile Changes: More Media Play Than News?

Facebook sure has arrived when it comes to the traditional media set as it used 60 Minutes (in more ways ...

Senior White House Official: 'We Wanted a Fight,' too ...

advertising enlargement info

A survey released today by Javelin Strategy & Research, which serves financial institutions, found in August that nearly one in five Americans doesn't monitor or manage their personal finances. That rate is double what it was just a year ago. Despite the fact the recession has made it more important than ever to carefully track our money, when it comes to personal finances, 19% of Americans stuck their head in the sand. A year before, another survey had the figure at just 8%.

More anxiety-induced news: The percentage of Americans who say they sometimes log onto their checking account balances with their banks' websites dropped to 46%, down 13 points from 59% a year ago. Even those who track their money by pen and paper dropped, from 50% to 46%.

"It's a natural human reaction to stress: 'Maybe if I don't look at it, it will go away.'" explains the study's co-author, senior analyst Mark Schwanhausser. "I think you have fewer people checking their finances online because they don't like what they're seeing. 'I'm going to be a financial sleepwalker. I'm not going to look.'"

Schwanhausser's prescription for the problem involves convincing America's major financial institutions that they're doing a lousy job helping make it easier and less stressful for their customers to track their money. "It's not enough to tell you how to fix the toilet," he says. "You've got to have the wrench."

Yet despite the fact that most Americans' money resides at a bank, few banks are interested in furnishing financial planning tools. Right now, Schwanhausser argues, most people are required to log into a wide variety of websites to track their money. For example, 75% of Americans who have a credit card get it from somewhere other than their primary bank, meaning their finances are scattered across many websites, unreconciled.

When people do turn to their bank's websites, he argues, the financial planning tools are nearly non-existent despite the fact our society increasingly demands greater personal control through technology. "Today's online banking is like having avocado green appliances from the 1970s. It just doesn't cut it," says Schwanhausser.

Schwanhausser is using the survey to convince banks that it will actually endear customers to them if they put personal finance tools front and center on their sites, helping customers paint a clear picture of their own financial habits. He's pressing them to develop systems, both on the Web and through mobile apps, that can draw in customers' information from other sites, such as credit cards and mortgage lenders, so financial care-taking can be a one-stop process.

So far, banks and lenders have been slow to use existing technology to make money management a less daunting chore. Part of the issue is that many banks don't want to acknowledge competitors by drawing in account balances from elsewhere. Banks also stand to make money off poor financial planning through penalties and fees. Like a doctor who makes money off treating disease, promoting financial good health does not on the surface appear to be in a bank's best interest.

"You can't manage what you don't measure," says Schwanhausser. "And if the bank's not going to provide it for you, you have to go get it in other places."

He recommends existing aggregators such as Mint.com, which pulls your data from multiple sources and lays it out in spreadsheets and in spending plans, as a model for what all the banks should be doing for their customers.

He also notes that Bank of America's "My Portfolio" and Wells Fargo's "My Savings Plan" are two fledgling, if little-known, bank-created features that are slowly reaching toward the sort of comprehensive personal finance planning features he advocates.

As long as it remains difficult or scary, though, when it comes to their finances, Americans will remain more likely to use the Ostrich Method.

Key features

Main dashboard with intelligent indicators

Upcoming and overdue payments, incomes, bills

Color-based and snapshot styled budget bar graphs for easy reading

Budget adjusting helper

Actual balance and budget balance adhoc

Accounts and credit cards usage recording

Cash flow bar graphs and out of funds predictions

Easy input for registering expenses, incomes and transfers

Can create future operations and recurrent operations

Multi currency support

Easy month back and forth navigation

more… see it yourself!

advertising enlargement surgury

Light Can Generate Lift - Science News

Researchers create a lightfoil that can push small objects sideways.

Facebook Profile Changes: More Media Play Than News?

Facebook sure has arrived when it comes to the traditional media set as it used 60 Minutes (in more ways ...

Senior White House Official: 'We Wanted a Fight,' too ...

before after bench craft company rip off

Light Can Generate Lift - Science News

Researchers create a lightfoil that can push small objects sideways.

Facebook Profile Changes: More Media Play Than News?

Facebook sure has arrived when it comes to the traditional media set as it used 60 Minutes (in more ways ...

Senior White House Official: 'We Wanted a Fight,' too ...

advertising enlargement herbs

Light Can Generate Lift - Science News

Researchers create a lightfoil that can push small objects sideways.

Facebook Profile Changes: More Media Play Than News?

Facebook sure has arrived when it comes to the traditional media set as it used 60 Minutes (in more ways ...

Senior White House Official: 'We Wanted a Fight,' too ...

bench craft company rip off exersizes

Monday, December 6, 2010

Making Money Uk

for right -->

The LG Optimus One is slowly but surely making its way into the line-ups of many dozens of carriers worldwide. It was expected to also reach Three in the UK, and now it has.

The LG Optimus One is great value for money, and Three will give it to you for free if you opt for a two-year contract that costs at least £15 per month. The full list of plans that you can get the Optimus One with is available here (and it’s a long list – the £15 per month plan is under the “Internet Talker” tab, if you’re having trouble locating it).

Today the market surged after it was announced that JC Trichet has finally thrown in the towel and will launch some version of "buy the everything" program made so popular by his bald transatlantic late-afternoon genocide buddy over the last two years. Subsequently the market surged more on a rumor that America would send a mega dose of viagra to make Trichet's "bazooka" even bigger by boosting America's, er, IMF contributions to what will soon be a multi-trillion bail out. Lastly the market surged some more when that last rumor was proven to be false. Which is why tomorrow at 7:45 am Eastern (with conference to follow 45 minutes later) the hapless Pinata formerly known as Jean-Claude Trichet, whose every action is now predicated by the markets, better have something good to announce or else the market will go up so more... just as it will if there is no news. So for all those who wish to know why buying stocks is a guaranteed way to make money now that nothing at all matters, here are JP Morgan's advance thoughts previewing the ECB action, as well as Greg Fuzesi's observations on additional bond purchases.

The ECB had hoped that external liquidity support for Ireland would reassure and calm financial markets. This has not happened and that creates a lot of uncertainty ahead of tomorrow's policy meeting. The situation remains very difficult. Nevertheless, we only expect the ECB to announce a delay to its exit strategy, rather than any dramatic U-turns or policy actions. The main policy interest rates will also be left unchanged.

On the nonstandard liquidity measures, it is very clear that the ECB would like to proceed with a gradual exit. It does not want banks to rely too much on its cheap and generous funding, and thereby delay necessary balance sheet adjustments. But, this exit strategy was always conditional on interbank markets normalising further; only then can the ECB scale back its intermediation and lender of last resort function. A short delay to the exit has now become likely. We therefore expect the ECB to announce that unlimited liquidity provision will continue at maturities up to three months during the first quarter of next year.

There is little reason for the ECB to worry about distortions from this delayed exit, given that intense market pressure is providing enough (and possibly too much) of an incentive for governments and banks to act. Of course, reverting back to competitive bidding at the ECB's three month refinancing tenders would not be a huge change, especially if the amounts offered were very generous at first and as the ECB would still be offering unlimited liquidity to all banks at maturities of oneweek and one-month. But, it would be very hard to communicate this to nervous financial markets. Therefore, why rush the exit and take the risk?

In fact, calls have become louder on the ECB to not only delay its exit but to expand its support. Some commentators are arguing that the ECB should step up its sovereign bond purchases into the trillions of euros. We would stress that such an action is not equivalent to the QE undertaken in the US and UK. QE in the US and UK is essentially about how to continue to add monetary stimulus when the overnight interest rate hits the zero bound. The growth and inflation outlook is not pushing the ECB in this direction. And if the ECB were to step up bond purchases in the current environment, it would be monetizing the debt of sovereigns who cannot access capital markets due to concerns about solvency. While the ECB would characterize this as a temporary liquidity measure - to enhance the transmission of monetary policy through dysfunctional markets - the risk is that the central bank is making itself subservient to the fiscal authorities. The amount of debt that would be monetized would then be determined by the extent of the fiscal consolidations that sovereigns were prepared to engage in.

Trichet's comment yesterday that markets are underestimating policymakers' resolve was interpreted by some as hinting in the direction of additional asset purchases. Of course, the government bond purchase programme remains active. But, we doubt whether the ECB sees large-scale government bond purchases as appropriate. And even more generous liquidity provision by the ECB to banks is not really the solution to the underlying problem. If the central bank feels that markets are to some extent overreacting, as Trichet suggested yesterday, it will try to act as "anchor of stability" rather than adopt policies that it cannot easily get out of. The ECB wants governments to do more.

Finally, new growth and inflation forecasts, including for 2012, will also be presented. On growth, the ECB will continue to forecast a gradual recovery with growth averaging around 1.5% annualised, although it could note some near-term upside risk due to the upbeat business and sentiment surveys. On inflation, the latest ECB forecast in September showed core inflation rising from around 1% oya this year to 1.7%oya by late 2011, despite the still low level of GDP. This "normalisation" of inflation is remarkable and will likely get extended into 2012, with both headline and core inflation only slightly below target. This forecast would have a hawkish feel to it, even though the ECB will probably still describe it as suggesting contained and moderate inflation pressures over the medium-term and even though the policy interest rate will remain very firmly on hold for now.

bench craft company rip off

Breaking News: Watch A Gigantic Looping Solar Prominence

The Solar Dynamics Observatory never fails to deliver absolutely stunning images from the Sun: as of 18:49 UT today, the above picture is what the Sun looked like in the ultraviolet spectrum. The prominence that you are seeing looping ...

Lujiazui Breakfast: News & Views About China Stocks (Dec. 6 ...

Investors and traders in China's main financial district are talking about the following before the start of trade today: With expectations about inflation and monetary policy becoming clearer, investors are taking cues from overseas ...

Sarah Palin Passes On RNC - The Note

Sarah Palin isn't running…for one job at least. She doesn't appear to be a candidate to Chair the Republican National Committee. The Note, authored by ABC News' Rick Klein, covers politics, the White House, Congress, Democrats, ...

bench craft company rip off

Breaking News: Watch A Gigantic Looping Solar Prominence

Lujiazui Breakfast: News & Views About China Stocks (Dec. 6 ...

Sarah Palin Passes On RNC - The Note

bench craft company rip off

Breaking News: Watch A Gigantic Looping Solar Prominence

Lujiazui Breakfast: News & Views About China Stocks (Dec. 6 ...

Sarah Palin Passes On RNC - The Note

bench craft company rip off
Rompiendo Noticias : Añada un gigantesco bucle Solar ProminenceThe Observatorio de Dinámica Solar nunca deja de ofrecer imágenes absolutamente impresionante desde el Sol: de 18:49 UT hoy en día, la imagen de arriba es lo que el Sol parecía en el espectro ultravioleta. La importancia que está viendo en bucle ...

Habitaciones Lujiazui: Noticias & puntos de vista sobre las existencias de China (06 de diciembre ... Inversores y comerciantes en el principal distrito financiero de China se trata de la Ella El Palin NoteSarah no se está ejecutando ... para un trabajo por lo menos - Tarjetas de Sarah Palin El RNC | Con las expectativas sobre la inflación y la política monetaria cada vez más claro, los inversores están tomando las señales desde el extranjero ... |: siguiente antes del inicio del día de hoy el comercio. . no parece ser un candidato para presidir el Comité Nacional Republicano, El Nota, escrito por Rick ABC News Klein, abarca la política, la Casa Blanca, el Congreso, los demócratas, ...

bench craft company rip off

bench craft company rip off