Jamaica Observer:
Following the sudden passing of pop superstar Michael Jackson, many people around the world are reminiscing about his music and mystique. However, as a financial advisor, I can’t help but focus my attention on Michael Jackson’s finances.

As the stories about his financial situation come to light, it appears that Jackson had serious money problems. Despite a lifetime of achievement, Jackson’s final curtain call revealed foreclosures, failed ventures and financial chaos. At the end of the day, the ‘King of Pop’ was just another person who suffered the consequences of ignoring the principles of money success.

After coaching hundreds of clients, I have discovered that whether you earn millions of dollars or minimum wages, once you break the rules that govern money, you’re going to pay a heavy price. Here are some of the lessons that have been highlighted in the Michael Jackson saga:

No matter how much you make, you can’t spend more than you earn
If I earned a hundred dollars every time I heard someone sincerely say, “If I got a million dollars today, I’d never be broke again,” I would be well on the way to creating a similar fortune for myself. The reality is that many people show an amazing propensity to increase their spending in excess of their income.

Unfortunately, Jackson was no different. Although his musical genius made him millions - his 1982 hit album Thriller is still the world’s best-selling album of all time - Jackson lived an excessive lifestyle that usurped his earning power. In a 2003 court case, it was revealed that Jackson was spending US$20 million to US$30 million more each year than he earned. (Take comfort if you’re only $10,000 over budget every month!)
Living within your means is a simple principle that is perfectly expressed by this ditty, “If your outgo is greater than your income, then your upkeep will be your downfall.”

You can’t borrow your way out of financial difficulties… read on.

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TheDailyDust.co.uk:
A house featured on Grand Designs is to be given away to one lucky Twitterer.The ‘Underground’ house won plaudits when it featured on the TV series in 2007 but has failed to sell due to the detumescent property market, which is why owner Tim Bawtree, 38, hit upon the idea of giving it away on the popular micro-blogging website.

Rather than charge entrants to the competition, Mr Bawtree will direct them to a home page set up for the house, on which he hopes to sell space to advertisers.

The page is similar to the Million Dollar Homepage, which made student Alex Tew a fortune when advertisers bought squares on a giant grid.

Ninety per cent of the space will have to be sold in order to trigger the offer, but Mr Bawtree hopes to raise £820,000 to cover all costs and to make a donation to the Service’s charity ‘Help for Heroes’.

The software company boss said: “Similar things have been done, but there was no hook. The hook here is that people can win a house for free, which will drive traffic from Twitter to the home page.

“People have promoted house competitions on Twitter, but there was nothing where Twitterers exclusively could win.

One lucky winner will be picked at random, but this is not his first attempt at giving the house away.

Last year, Mr Bawtree organised a competition with a £25 entry fee, but the scheme was abandoned amid fears it would fall foul of gambling laws.

A new ’spot the frisbee’ competition was launched, but failed to take off.

Those interested in taking part should visit www.twitter.com/pixhome.

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USA Today:
Here are some ways to grow, prudently:

Get bigger clients: One of the best ways to grow your business is to work with people and companies with more resources than those you work with now.

For instance, I know a real estate agent in Los Angeles who used to sell homes, but he didn’t start making the big bucks until he realized that for the same amount of time and effort, he could sell apartment houses that sold for five times what the houses sold for. He made the switch and yep, started making a lot more money.

Microsoft didn’t become Microsoft until Bill Gates sold the MS-DOS operating system to IBM for IBM’s new personal computer. The only problem was that Microsoft didn’t even own that operating system. After Gates got the contract, he went out and bought the system.

That is the value of getting big clients and big contracts – it allows you the resources to grow.

Find a partner: While partnerships can be tricky, partners can also bring a lot to the party – contacts, money, and extra pair of hands, and someone with whom to bounce off ideas. The whole can be greater than the sum of the parts.

For instance, after Chester Carlson invented a process to electronically copy documents, he was unable to sell it to the likes of GE, RCA, and IBM. Finally, Carlson met the man who would become his business partner – Joe Wilson. Wilson had the money, contacts, and business know-how that the inventor Carlson lacked. Wilson invested in the dream and eventually renamed Carlson’s process, and his company… to Xerox.

Get no-up-front-cost help: OK, so you would rather not hire full-time help, then what about

* Hiring a commissioned salesperson? It will only cost you something if the salesperson grows your business

* Bringing in interns? I have a pal who runs his whole business using college interns

* Hiring a part-time person? It is always wise to hedge your bets and start small if possible – rent the building out before building it, as it were. Here, consider hiring someone part time to see how it goes. If they help you grow, use them more.

* Hiring an independent contractor: Again, you only pay for the time you need, you don’t pay any benefits, and you could even structure it to pay more, or pay a bonus, upon extra special results.

Get free publicity: Getting the local paper or TV station to do a story about your business can create huge results for very little up-front costs.

Peter Hodgson invented a goop that he tried to sell as a toy. No one bought it, that is, until a writer for the New Yorker stumbled upon the stuff and wrote about it in the magazine. Hodgson received 250,000 orders for Silly Putty in the next few days.

Advertise and market more: Being in business for yourself is like being alone in a dark room – you know you are there, but no one else does. The only way to turn the light on, the only way to let them know you are out there, is by advertising and marketing. Once the calls start, you can hire the extra help.

Create new recipes: You have a recipe for success; all small business people do. But the great businesses, the ones that grow, create additional recipes.

Example: Google could have been content with its recipe – search – but it was not. By creating more success recipes like Gmail, Google maps, etc, Google became Google.

The essential idea is to get more business, then hire the help, and not the other way around.

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PowerHomeBiz.com:
1. Food business. Food is one business that remains strong during a recession. People still need to eat and drink no matter how bad the economy, though many are cutting on dining out and instead are staying at home and cook! People still line up in groceries to get their fresh bread supplies. Brides still need their wedding cakes, and so do children celebrating birthdays. The key is to customize your products to fit in your buyers’ shrinking budget. Sales of chocolates are also up as consumers treat themselves to smaller (and cheaper) indulgences that they can do from the comforts of their homes.

However, do check out your county’s laws regarding cooking and preparing food for commercial purposes from your home kitchen.

2. Financial advisor home business. In times of confusion and fear — shrinking retirement funds, increasing debt, downhill investments, etc — there’s a huge number of people who need guidance on the steps they need to take. Small business owners are looking for advice on how to deal with unexpected financial constraints. Families and individuals may be looking for advice on how to manage their finances given their new budget reality. Investors, particularly retirees, need help in protecting their nest eggs and finding any opportunities in a down market.

3. Home staging. With the real estate hardest hit by the recession, home sellers need all the help they can get to increase the appeal of their properties and find buyers. The real estate market has increasingly turned to home staging experts, who prepares the property for showing from furniture arrangement, landscaping, even removing funky smells in the house. Banks handling foreclosures and real estate agents are in need of home stagers to get their properties sold more quickly. This is one recession resistant home business that interior-decorating aficionados and those with a keen eye for design can seriously consider.

4. Auto Repair and Maintenance. People tend to forego buying new cars when money becomes hard to come by and cheap credit is not as easy to get. Instead, they’re more likely to keep their cars, which entail spending money on car maintenance. As such, there is a big opportunity for this business when the market goes down. An auto repair business has a lot of opportunities in a recession. You can opt to go with an automobile franchise, or find a troubled shop with potential to buy at a bargain price.

5. “Green” Home Businesses. Every industry is turning green, from manufacturing to fashion designing. Helping the environment is starting to seep into the mindset of the consumers, as more and more are turning to products and services that protect the environment. There are huge opportunities in a “green” home business, such as business opportunities offering environment-friendly gardening practices through organic products. Business waste consulting is also a growing field where home based entrepreneurs can advice businesses on how to efficiently deal with waste disposal, trim down their waste disposal costs and realize extraordinary savings.

More ideas here.

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MyFox Austin:
Small business bookkeeping software is a powerful tool. Are you moving up from a manual system or maybe you’re ready to begin doing the bookkeeping yourself rather than having it done outside. Maybe you’re setting up a bookkeeping business yourself. In any of these cases, the software you choose can help your business grow. Here are 5 tips for choosing wisely.

1. Know what you want?
Any accounting software will perform the core accounting functions of general ledger, accounts receivable, accounts payable and the cash functions. But often you need more, depending on your industry. So the best investment you can make for picking software is to define what your needs are. Do you want payroll software or will you get payroll done outside? Do you need job cost records? Also what reports will help you? Spend the time to define your requirements.

2. The price is more than what it costs!
By that I mean that “free” software isn’t free. Learning software is often a bigger cost in time and effort than the initial cost. Don’t forget the training costs too if you have staff. Pick the wrong software and you may get to go through all that again soon too. There are no “free” puppies and there is no “free” software!

3. Where’s The Help?
You’ll need some help to learn the software and you’ll likely need on-going support too. Now hopefully not very much, but somebody must work through whatever problems arise. Is the only help just a manual? Is it through a toll free number? Maybe you can get local help? Often local accounting firms are experts on the major software products. Plan ahead for inevitable problems.

More tips here.

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QSR magazine:
* Check that existing business continuity contingency plans address long-term absenteeism rates. In particular, check to see if core business activities can be sustained over several weeks with only a minimal workforce available.

* Identify your company’s essential functions, which might include accounting, payroll, and information technology, and the individuals who perform them. The absence of these individuals could seriously impair business continuity. Cross-train employees to perform essential functions to ensure resiliency.

* Plan for interruptions of essential government services like sanitation, water, power, and transportation, or disruptions to the food supply. For example, employees may need back-up plans for car pools in case mass transit is interrupted.

* Determine which outside activities are critical to maintain operations and develop alternatives in case they cannot function normally. For example, what transportation systems are needed to provide essential materials? Does the business operate on ‘just in time’ inventory or is there typically some in reserve?

* Update sick leave and family and medical leave policies and communicate with employees about the importance of staying away from the workplace if they become ill.

* Establish or expand policies and tools that enable employees to work from home with appropriate security and network access to applications.

* Collaborate with insurers, health plans, and major healthcare facilities to share your pandemic contingency plans and to learn about their capabilities and plans.

* Maintain a healthy work environment. Ensure adequate air circulation. Post tips on how to stop the spread of germs at work. Promote hand and respiratory hygiene. Ensure wide and easy availability of alcohol-based hand sanitizer products.

Tell your employees about the threat of pandemic flu and the steps the company is taking to prepare for it. Establish an emergency communications plan and revise periodically. The plan should include key contacts (with back-ups), a chain of communications (including suppliers and customers), and the processes for communicating pandemic status and actions to employees, vendors, suppliers, and customers inside and outside the worksite in a consistent and timely way.

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BlogMix.Info:
One key in gaining success in advertising online is the entrepreneur’s creativity in making and designing his advertisement. Advertising does not rely much on quantity but quality. It needs to attract attention of those who are potential customers of your business.

Being creative online also means saving a lot of money in advertising. There are free online tools that you can use in advertising your business without any charge if you are creative enough. Social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace can give you sites to promote your business.

These sites give you a free account that enables you to post anything that you want, without having to pay for anything. These sites are also great hubs to find potential clients. All you have to do is set up your account page and start inviting friends. Get to know them and build a trustworthy relationship with them. If you have already captured their trust, you can now introduce your business to them.

Most often, online users get the impression of your business from what your website looks like.

Entrepreneurs who want to do online advertising indeed needs to be creative enough in making their sites more interesting and enticing for the viewers.

Carry on reading…

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Entrepreneur Online:
1. Take a break
Have you ever been overwhelmed and feel you can’t stop for fear you will fall further behind? When you’re in a high-stress situation, your thinking is often cluttered making you less productive. Michele Dortch, The Integrated Mother, suggests that you take a break when you become stressed. Whether you choose a 15-minute nature walk or a full day doing activities you love, stopping can actually provide amazing clarity and help you complete your tasks on time. This may seem counterproductive, but it really works!
To prevent going on overload, try the following tips on a regular basis…

2. Take time out to socialize each week
Alice Seba of Mom Masterminds advises taking time out is invaluable to the Mom Entrepreneur. Alice makes a point to have a few opportunities to socialize each week with girlfriends, her partner, or to just have some time alone. It revives her and makes her more focused when she comes back to being a mom or a businessperson. Alice says, ‘All work and no play not only makes you a dull mama, but it makes you a stressed out and ineffective one, too!’

3. Take a few ‘Mommy Minutes’ as often as possible
Ponn Sabra, author of Empowering Women to Power Network, puts herself on ‘time out’ and takes ‘Mommy Minutes’ as often as possible. Ponn sits in a self-made sauna in the bathroom with the hot shower running or enjoys a favorite goodie (she sometimes hides special ice cream sandwiches in back corner of her freezer where no one, even her husband, can find them.) More tips here.

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Ecommerce Journal:
If you are new to the Internet business and money making online, you can try to set up an AdSense niche blog with a comfort at your home to gain extra income. Here are four simple steps in implement it.

The first step is to get a niche. You should be focused on a sub topic that is more specific so that you can achieve a higher ranking on the search engine results and thus to bring more targeted traffic to your Adsense niche blog easier. By concentrating on a niche you can lower the competition against other internet marketers and it is less hassle in making money online.

The second step is, upon deciding a niche for your blog, you need to do a keyword research. You should select 2 to 4 long tailed keyword phrases and search for the number of competitions from the major search engines. A competition of less than 1 million is preferred as it is much easier for you to optimize your blog.

Next, you search for the amount of money that the advertisers are likely to pay for that keyword phrases.

This is important as you are going to earn from the clicks that you receive from your visitors. So, the higher rate per click ads being display on your blog, the more money you can make.

The third step is setting your Adsense niche blog by registering with a free blog provider such as blogger and wordpress. These blog providers have a feature where you can insert your Adsense ads automatically on your blog.

However, before you can insert your Adsense ads, you need to complete this final step first which is to register with Google Adsense account and get your unique Google Adsense Publisher ID.

Read more.

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ContestBlogger:
1. Niche blogging - Niche blogging is fast growing and has become a very lucrative means of using the internet to make money. Become a niche blogger with quality content that will attract interested readers and bingo, you’re making money for writing about stuff you like to talk about.

2. Articles - Submit articles to thousands of article directories for free to market whatever product, service, website that you want to write about. Everyone is up for a good read. As long as you produce thoughtful, quality articles, you will get noticed.

3. Join a GPT site - GPT (get paid to) sites pay their members to complete free surveys and offers. Similar to blogging and article writing, GPT programs have skyrocketed to the top as an free option for stay at home moms to enjoy earning revenue.

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