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*Note: do not read this unless you want to hear a lot of griping, I mean a lot.

In the last two weeks we have seen the most handouts ever given to a bunch of private investors in our country to make up for the investors’ mistakes.

(Gripe time)

This is a bunch of BS! If you and I make a bad investment mistake, no one is going to cover our losses. But the idiots in charge of our country throw out crazy statements like: “The investors are too big to fail” or “We have to protect the market.” Then they turn around and do the worst thing possible, BAIL THESE COMPANIES OUT!

I am going to go and bash my head against the wall for a minute. Be right back.

Whew, now I feel a little better. All of these bailouts are done with our (taxpayers’) money. This might be ok if there was any say in the matter, but there isn’t. I can’t go to a town hall meeting and state my position, nor can I write my representative or senator and gripe to them. In the end, there is no oversight on how the government chooses to spend OUR money.

During the last two weeks we have seen approximately $400,000,000,000 (Yes, 400 BILLION) used to bail out the banks, insurance companies and investment firms, including adding liquidity to the market (meaning: giving these same people cheap, cheap money, the same cheap money that got us into this mess to begin with). This means every man, woman and child in the United States is now $1,333 more in debt in addition to the $88,000+ that each family is in debt already. Who gave the government the right to decide what to do with my money and my future?

In reality, the government has no money to loan to these companies, so instead the government borrows money from the PRIVATE federal reserve (it is neither federal nor does it have reserves) at interest and bails out the investors with that money. This means our income tax and debt burden just increased because a small group of people made some very bad investment decisions. Am I the only one going crazy here?

Next time you are paying $4.00+ per gallon of gas or milk you can thank our own government for the mess. Regardless of what anyone says or who they blame it on, it is our own fault for electing people into office who don’t care about any of us.

Now that is over. Here are some videos people might find interesting.

Dollar Collapse - Peter Schiff - Freddie And Fannie Socialist Bailout = Hyperinflation

Listen to Peter Schiff the voice of reason.

History of the federal reserve

Money, Banking and the federal reserve

85 Billion Bail Out for AIG

AIG Bail Out: Another After-Hours Party as the Fed

This page is dedicated to all of the people who have supported this blog. Check back often as this page will be updated frequently. To be listed on this page all that is required is to comment. Once again I would like to thank everyone who has helped this blog grow to where it is at now.

Erica Janet Giacoma WIthers Davis CrazyKinux ovan Hendry Lee Dena Linda Kenya Stallworth Frank J Linda P. Morton Tom - StandOutBlogger.com Big Ben Patton Mouseclone Jeff Schuman Chris Catherine Article Specialist Tradetec Natalie Metroknow - AlmostFit.com Lindsay LUCKYLADY Robert cash boy Rachel Janet Jeannine Blake blogzilla Ty Hurd aeirin tyclayhope Tawna MarketingDeviant Joe Lundell wyche128 Ten Things Mark tazdog Susie Theresa laketrees Max Shanker Bakshi Gaje Master Mike Huang RPM Millionaire ravi karandeekar Ramona Iftode wtricks.com Filipino in Canada AdJingo Margaret BigPappa emarketed Aromatherapy Essential Oils Diane Jena Isle Louie Laurent Larry Brauner Metroknow - AlmostFit.com boris Michael Aulia Andy The Realtor - Cecilia kent Tom Chetan Adam Ruchit Surati MAGGIE AT COFFEESHOPMAFIA RegretfulMorning Robert MacEwan tony dee Jake Loraleigh Vance aliman Melo steve vladi Felix Mrs. Mecomber Deimos Tel`Arin Bryan Adrian Corscadden Jason Zedomax guinness416 Richard Dawn @ Coming to a Nursery Near You Chelle Cynthia Blue theaffiliatepost androo SiteHoppers Popular Wealth baldeagle kgaihc Rob Schultz Townboy danandmarsh Eric P. Martin Dave from Welcome Back Rosenthal Dennis Edell Shravan Jonathon Diane Scott guardian angel CindyS Justin JTPratt’s Blogging Mistakes arnold mikey777 Cassie Alfred Saforo Luke Ian Mandi BoBo Roxiticus Desperate Housewives Blue Licorice Jeff Millman Reena waterrose Jodith Marty ksc7 Sean Buvala curryegg Debt Free Revolution nabinkm Nicola Pedley Bill Stanley Wade Balsdon Saphrym Patsy ( Patricia Sawyer) Luke Charles NaijaEcash Jasko Karlonia Matt Ellsworth Carlo Dette Beth Amber W Scott Pooler jtrigsby.com MindBlogger Curt jamesd Ben Health Is Wealth Miranda ideasandmoney Cynthia Susie B Carter Mark stewartallyn Lafeeu John Lockwood John Bougearel Jeff Millman Sue Mrs. Mecomber Brazen Lass Crystal Chris Moran Brian Fitzpatrick Gary R. Hess issa Woody Morrisah Spears ukion Adam Doolittle A. Tim PinoyProducts 1 Million in 365 Day Enchanted Crafts Mike Roo Stewart Schatz Susie Octavia Zopito DiGiovanni Robert MacEwan Shaun Jacob Share Coop Jon Christensen Tina Su - Think Simple Now Amy Shane Lowry PinoyProducts Kimberly Clay heidi ATV Style Jackie Matt Marty ATV Urge TL money making blogger Nikolai Shanker Bakshi StanHayes sukosaki Frank Kanu Ohio Realtor WillThink4Wine David TYPELiFE JoNathan Blogsters Guild Look 4 Dream Girls Reward Rebel

My last post was about switching from a traditional job to working for yourself online. I touched on some basics needed to accomplish this task. For me, all of this started when I quit my day job and set out to work for myself online, inspiring me to write about The Top 10 Reasons to Quit Your Job. There are countless reasons to quit your job and start having fun, but how does someone make that jump from the rat race to living out a dream?

November 2006 is where my dream started. I was driving beet truck for a local farmer during harvest season, looking for jobs to apply to and setting up interviews. I listened to the radio a lot while driving and picked up a show by Dave Ramsey, the get out of debt guru. He inspired me to make life changes in order to get out of debt and live a more fulfilled life. After reading some of the books he recommended, including some of his own, I came across a book called, 48 Days to the Work You Love. I have mentioned this book a couple of times because I will gladly buy this for anyone graduating from high school or college. The book doesn’t give you any answers about what jobs you should work, but it does ask the right questions. Over the next year and half, I worked to achieve my goal and quest to pursuit the career of my choice.

When I say I tried all the wrong ways to make money online, I mean it. I did the blog with Adsense, tried to sell ebooks, eBay drop shipping (including the book), and many others. I thought because others were successful at doing those things that I would be able to replicate their work. I was able to an extent do what they did but ultimately it cost me much more time and effort than I ever got out of those ideas. I always knew I wanted the flexibility and lifestyle that the Internet business could provide, but I was doing the business of others and not myself. It wasn’t until I figured out that doing what you are really passionate about is the key to succeeding both on and offline in business. You truly have to love what you do and be willing to do it even without a paycheck. If you can honestly wake up in the morning and want nothing more than to get to work you have found what you love. I can’t even sleep in anymore because I will just lay there thinking about the things I can do for the day.

For myself, I found that I love solving problems. I have know this for a long time but never capitalized on that ability to help negotiate my way through the situation until its resolve was complete. I also knew that I love working with people and helping to meet their needs (the go to person). What I did was merge offline business with business online. I have been helping local groups and businesses be found online. Most have a website but that site is not easily found in their local markets. I help define people’s goals and target for their businesses online. In our local market, this is a completely untapped niche. I can’t name anyone in town who really has a clue to accomplish these tasks for a business (some claim but don’t deliver). The last two months have brought a lot of business in for me and I find that each day I love what I do more and more. I think it is so much fun to help people like this and in an untapped market there is a lot of opportunity to grow.

The biggest part to remember with all of the information you digest while beginning your quest to work online is to live out your dream, not the successes of another. Unless you can separate your quest for money apart from a fulfilled career, it will have a short lifespan. Ask yourself the right questions:

• What are my favorite hobbies? (Passions)
• What do I know a lot about or seek to know a lot about (investing, housing, SEO, puppies)?  (Drive / Motivation)
• What are my talents (talking, writing, production, media, technologies)? (Leverages)
• What do I get fulfillment out of (helping others, adding value, sharing, teaching)? (Purpose)
• Who do I most want to work with (kids, businesses, charities, sports, car enthusiasts)? (Market)

Find your target market and build a product for it. Always have a plan and a goal before you start something online. My goal for this blog was to reach others and build a network. Don’t build a blog and try 10 different methods of making money from it, you’ll waste your time. Build a product or service for your target market, not a market for your product or service.

Most bloggers know about RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds and readers. I would venture to say that most bloggers even subscribe to other bloggers’ RSS feeds. The real question is what do you subscribe to and why? Here is my list courtesy of Google (GOOG) Reader

Bloggers Category

John Chow

When I first started reading blogs and doing blogging myself, John Chow was the first I subscribed to. I did learn a lot about the ways of the Internet and how not to make money like him. John Chow is a unique blogger in the sense he makes most of his money by telling people how he makes his money. Nevertheless, I stay subscribed because every now and then there are some gems of information that percolate to the surface.

Lifehacker

The frequency of posts on this site can give a headache sometimes, but when you want to know about the latest and greatest computer hacks or web tips, this is the site. It even has its own book Upgrade Your Life (its second edition).

Shoemoney

Jeremy Shoemaker made his fame after posting a huge check he had received from Google on his blog. Since then he has started other sites (auctionads.com and fighter.com) and continues to have a one-up in the industry.

That Mutt - a dog blog

This is my girlfriend’s blog and a great resource for information about all types of dogs. If you have a dog or love dogs, this is a site you will want to bookmark.

Blogger Unleashed

Vic from Blogger Unleashed knows what he is talking about when it comes to building and promoting a website. He has generously offered his time and information freely to help others Make Money Online.

Uberaffiate

If you want to get into or grow in affiliate marketing, Paul Bourque is your guy. He makes a lot of money through affiliate marketing and is now offering his services to others. If you have read his blog for the last year, you have learned as much about affiliate marketing as you would if you paid to go to his Ubercamp.

How to make money online for beginners

Grizzly Brears teaches you how to make money online with Google Adsense. The information is free and so are the ways of making money. If you want to start making money online part-time at no cost to yourself, this is the blog for you.

Problogger

The title speaks for itself. If you are interested in blogging or just starting out, you need to subscribe right away.

SiteHoppin

For those who haven’t heard of SiteHoppin.com you should check it out. Max the creator has coded a system to easily categorize and hop your favorite bookmarks. Say you visit 300 Entrecard sites every day. Now you can bookmark those and just hit the hop button on the SiteHoppin Toolbar (code “JoshWhitford” if you want one). It is pretty slick. He is always developing something new and innovative.

Zedomax

A lot like Lifehacker above, Zedomax.com offers a wide array of random information and technology hacks for all of your everyday devices. In fact, if you want to find some hacks for your Zune, just ask and I am sure he will list them out.

Business

Seth’s Blog

If you want to learn about marketing, read everything Seth Godin says. I read his blog daily and I am often reading one of his books at any given time. Seth = Marketing.

How to Change the World

Guy Kawasaki’s blog offers a unique prospective on some different businesses. He gives great insight into the world of venture capitalism and business investing. If you want to get financial backers for your business, this is the guy to listen to.

The Daily Reckoning

One of my hobbies is investing and reading about market conditions. If you want to learn about the Federal Reserve system and the crazy printing of money and how that equates to high consumer prices, then this is the site for you.

Inside Adsense

When you start making money online, the first spot everyone goes is straight to Google Adsense. This blog, updated and hosted by Google, gives you new information as made available. When you learn that Google starts offering third-party ads you can be the first to monopolize that information into a real revenue source.

Dr. Housing Bubble Blog

If you want to know all there is to know about housing marketing and the crisis, this is the only blog you will need. I have followed this for the last year+ and can’t say enough about the invaluable information provided here.

Exercise

Weight Lifting 101: The Definitive Guide to Weight Lifting

In the last few months, I got back into lifting weights (not that I was a muscle head or anything), but still find good tips about good lifting techniques and better lifts. If you can achieve the same results by lifting properly and in less time, then by all means read more…

StrongLifts

StrongLifts is also another weightlifting / exercise blog I subscribe to. It has very good tips, and I would again highly recommend it to anyone wanting to get into lifting or back into the gym.

Development

Get Rich Slowly

The title couldn’t be more true. If you follow sound investing and debt reduction principles, you will not only grow personally but financially.

The Simple Dollar

Another great investing and money blog. I used to struggle with finances, but with blogs like these, along with financial books, I made a turnaround and now am on the up slope of wealth building.

Steve Pavlina

This is the first personal development blog I subscribed to and it changed my life. Steve Pavlina was the first to open my eyes to value and self worth. This was the inspiration for me to quit my job and set out on my own.

The Blog of Tim Ferriss

Tim is the author of the Bestseller book, The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich, which is worth reading over and over again. Learn about lifestyle design and how to live the life you want or how to contact someone famous like Warren Buffett.

I recently talked about the 3 steps to building a successful blog, and most of that is centered around good content and building your community. I have been blogging for just over 3 months now and in the blogosphere, that is roughly the equivalent of being an adolescent. Now I am going to sound like the Miss USA winner here and thank everyone who helped to build my blog and my community. So without further adieu, here are all of the people who have contributed to my blog. Drum roll, please!

Lindsay LUCKYLADY Robert cash boy Rachel Janet Jeannine Blake blogzilla Ty Hurd aeirin tyclayhope Tawna MarketingDeviant Joe Lundell wyche128 Ten Things Mark tazdog Susie Theresa laketrees Max Shanker Bakshi Gaje Master Mike Huang RPM Millionaire ravi karandeekar Ramona Iftode wtricks.com Filipino in Canada AdJingo Margaret BigPappa emarketed Aromatherapy Essential Oils Diane Jena Isle Louie Laurent Larry Brauner Metroknow - AlmostFit.com boris Michael Aulia Andy The Realtor - Cecilia kent Tom Chetan Adam Ruchit Surati MAGGIE AT COFFEESHOPMAFIA RegretfulMorning Robert MacEwan tony dee Jake Loraleigh Vance aliman Melo steve vladi Felix Mrs. Mecomber Deimos Tel`Arin Bryan Adrian Corscadden Jason Zedomax guinness416 Richard Dawn @ Coming to a Nursery Near You Chelle Cynthia Blue theaffiliatepost androo SiteHoppers Popular Wealth baldeagle kgaihc Rob Schultz Townboy danandmarsh Eric P. Martin Dave from Welcome Back Rosenthal Dennis Edell Shravan Jonathon Diane Scott guardian angel CindyS Justin JTPratt’s Blogging Mistakes arnold mikey777 Cassie Alfred Saforo Luke Ian Mandi BoBo Roxiticus Desperate Housewives Blue Licorice Jeff Millman Reena waterrose Jodith Marty ksc7 Sean Buvala curryegg Debt Free Revolution nabinkm Nicola Pedley Bill Stanley Wade Balsdon Saphrym Patsy ( Patricia Sawyer) Luke Charles NaijaEcash Jasko Karlonia Matt Ellsworth Carlo Dette Beth Amber W Scott Pooler jtrigsby.com MindBlogger Curt jamesd Ben Health Is Wealth Miranda ideasandmoney Cynthia Susie B Carter Mark stewartallyn Lafeeu John Lockwood John Bougearel Jeff Millman Sue Mrs. Mecomber Brazen Lass Crystal Chris Moran Brian Fitzpatrick Gary R. Hess issa Woody Morrisah Spears ukion Adam Doolittle A. Tim PinoyProducts 1 Million in 365 Day Enchanted Crafts Mike Roo Stewart Schatz Susie Octavia Zopito DiGiovanni Robert MacEwan Shaun Jacob Share Coop Jon Christensen Tina Su - Think Simple Now Amy Shane Lowry PinoyProducts Kimberly Clay heidi ATV Style Jackie Matt Marty ATV Urge TL money making blogger Nikolai Shanker Bakshi StanHayes sukosaki Frank Kanu Ohio Realtor WillThink4Wine David TYPELiFE JoNathan Blogsters Guild Look 4 Dream Girls Reward Rebel

If you are wondering if I copied and pasted all of those links and name the answer is yes. These are all of the people who have commented on my blog in the last 100 days or so. I would also like to thank everyone who subscribed to my RSS feed. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Kiss, wave, kiss, wave. Now all the world needs in a few more puppies to give a way.