Learn PHP in 17 Hours1

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Is Your Writing Style Affecting Your Website Traffic?

Directly as a result of reduced income due to the daily challenges of really making a living online, I have decided to supplement my income by doing some part-time content creation for selected websites.

My writing style is free-form and tends to be "from Brain-To-Paper" or screen in this case. So I selected a website that promised to pay me a small fee for a 400~500 word article. I spent 15 minutes searching their database of 22,000+ selections and picked one within my area of expertise regarding "Playing Bass Guitar".

Spent the next 15 minutes composing my epic treatise on the subject, spell checked and added photos and sent it in for approval.

Imagine my surprise when the submission was "Rejected". I thought "What happened?"

Sad but true. It seems I had failed to follow a few of the site's criteria for successful acceptance of my 'perfect' document. Without following the requirements to the letter, the effort is rejected unannounced after a few rewrite attempts.

This was surprising until I actually read the requirements!

Turns out this particular site has all kinds of composition rules, including preventing plagiarism, copyright, and additional requirements for SEO-friendly articles. Keywords in the text are required for the search engines digestion, and concepts composed within the project are critical to match the keywords.

Ok, I got it now. Wish they had informed me of the quick rejection possibility, I would have submitted a very different document for approval.

In hindsight, having a strict set of rules in place levels the playing field somewhat and makes the approval process faster for clearly composed prose.

Here are some questions to ponder. Please respond with a comment below!

Are you using guidelines for your blog post's or just writing from your brain like I am doing here?

What would happen to your blog traffic if you implemented a particular style of writing that the search engines loved.

Would it bring more traffic to your site or blog?

Respectfully,

Nicholas Chase

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Get Ready For A Shock to Your Tax Burden in 2011!

In just six months, on January 1, 2011, the largest tax hikes in the history of America will take effect.

They will hit families and small businesses in three great waves.

On January 1, 2011, here’s what happens... (read it to the end, so you see all three waves)...

First Wave: Expiration of 2001 and 2003 Tax Relief

In 2001 and 2003, the GOP Congress enacted several tax cuts for investors, small business owners, and families.

These will all expire on January 1, 2011.

Personal income tax rates will rise.

The top income tax rate will rise from 35 to 39.6 percent (this is also the rate at which two-thirds of small business profits are taxed).

The lowest rate will rise from 10 to 15 percent.

All the rates in between will also rise.

Itemized deductions and personal exemptions will again phase out, which has the same mathematical effect as higher marginal tax rates.

The full list of marginal rate hikes is below:

* The 10% bracket rises to an expanded 15%

* The 25% bracket rises to 28%

* The 28% bracket rises to 31%

* The 33% bracket rises to 36%

* The 35% bracket rises to 39.6%



Higher taxes on marriage and family.

The "marriage penalty" (narrower tax brackets for married couples) will return from the first dollar of income.


The child tax credit will be cut in half from $1000 to $500 per child.


The standard deduction will no longer be doubled for married couples relative to the single level.


The dependent care and adoption tax credits will be cut.


The return of the Death Tax.

This year only, there is no death tax. (It’s a quirk!) For those dying on or after January 1, 2011, there is a 55 percent top death tax rate on estates over $1 million.

Example: A person leaving behind two homes, a business, a retirement account, could easily pass along a death tax bill to their loved ones.

Think of the farmers who don’t make much money, but their land, which they purchased years ago with after-tax dollars, is now worth a lot of money.

Their children will have to sell the farm, which may be their livelihood, just to pay the estate tax if they don’t have the cash sitting around to pay the tax. Think about your own family’s assets.

Maybe your family owns real estate, or a business that doesn’t make much money, but the building and equipment are worth $1 million. Upon their death, you can inherit the $1 million business tax free, but if they own a home, stock, cash worth $500K on top of the $1 million business, then you will owe the government $275,000 cash! That’s 55% of the value of the assets over $1 million!

Do you have that kind of cash sitting around waiting to pay the estate tax?



Higher tax rates on savers and investors.

The capital gains tax will rise from 15 percent this year to 20 percent in 2011.

The dividends tax will rise from 15 percent this year to 39.6 percent in 2011.

These rates will rise another 3.8 percent in 2013.


Second Wave:

Obamacare

There are over twenty new or higher taxes in Obamacare. Several will first go into effect on January 1, 2011. They include:


The "Medicine Cabinet Tax"

Thanks to Obamacare, Americans will no longer be able to use health savings account (HSA), flexible spending account (FSA), or health reimbursement (HRA) pre-tax dollars to purchase non-prescription, over-the-counter medicines (except insulin).


The "Special Needs Kids Tax"

This provision of Obamacare imposes a cap on flexible spending accounts (FSAs) of $2500 (Currently, there is no federal government limit). There is one group of FSA owners for whom this new cap will be particularly cruel and onerous: parents of special needs children.

There are thousands of families with special needs children in the United States , and many of them use FSAs to pay for special needs education.

Tuition rates at one leading school that teaches special needs children in Washington , D.C. ( National Child Research Center ) can easily exceed $14,000 per year.

Under tax rules, FSA dollars can not be used to pay for this type of special needs education.


The HSA (Health Savings Account) Withdrawal Tax Hike.

This provision of Obamacare increases the additional tax on non-medical early withdrawals from an HSA from 10 to 20 percent, disadvantaging them relative to IRAsand other tax-advantaged accounts, which remain at 10 percent.


Third Wave:

The Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) and Employer Tax Hikes

When Americans prepare to file their tax returns in January of 2011, they'll be in for a nasty surprise-the AMT won't be held harmless, and many tax relief provisions will have expired.

The major items include:

The AMT will ensnare over 28 million families, up from 4 million last year.

According to the left-leaning Tax Policy Center , Congress' failure to index the AMT will lead to an explosion of AMT taxpaying families-rising from 4 million last year to 28.5 million.

These families will have to calculate their tax burdens twice, and pay taxes at the higher level. The AMT was created in 1969 to ensnare a handful of taxpayers.

Small business expensing will be slashed and 50% expensing will disappear.

Small businesses can normally expense (rather than slowly-deduct, or "depreciate") equipment purchases up to $250,000.

This will be cut all the way down to $25,000. Larger businesses can currently expense half of their purchases of equipment.

In January of 2011, all of it will have to be "depreciated."

Taxes will be raised on all types of businesses.

There are literally scores of tax hikes on business that will take place. The biggest is the loss of the "research and experimentation tax credit," but there are many, many others. Combining high marginal tax rates with the loss of this tax relief will cost jobs.

Tax Benefits for Education and Teaching Reduced.

The deduction for tuition and fees will not be available.

Tax credits for education will be limited.

Teachers will no longer be able to deduct classroom expenses.

Coverdell Education Savings Accounts will be cut.

Employer-provided educational assistance is curtailed.

The student loan interest deduction will be disallowed for
hundreds of thousands of families.

Charitable Contributions from IRAs no longer allowed.

Under current law, a retired person with an IRA can contribute
up to $100,000 per year directly to a charity from their IRA.

This contribution also counts toward an annual "required minimum
distribution." This ability will no longer be there.


http://www.atr.org/six-months-untilbr-largest-tax-hikes-a5171


And worse yet?

Now, your insurance will be INCOME on your W2's!

One of the surprises we'll find come next year, is what follows - - a little "surprise" that 99% of us had no idea was included in the "new and improved" healthcare legislation.

Starting in 2011, (next year folks), your W-2 tax form sent by your employer will be increased to show the value of whatever health insurance you are given by the company. It does not matter if that's a private concern or governmental body of some sort.

If you're retired? So what... your gross will go up by the amount of insurance you get.

You will be required to pay taxes on a large sum of money that you have never seen.

Take your tax form you just finished and see what $15,000 or $20,000 additional gross does to your tax debt. That's what you'll pay next year.

For many, it also puts you into a new higher bracket so it's even worse.

This is how the government is going to buy insurance for the 15% that don't have insurance and it's only part of the tax increases.

Not believing this??? Here is a research of the summaries.....

On page 25 of 29: TITLE IX REVENUE PROVISIONS- SUBTITLE A: REVENUE OFFSET PROVISIONS-(sec. 9001, as modified by sec. 10901) Sec.9002 "requires employers to include in the W-2 form of each employee the aggregate cost of applicable employer sponsored group health coverage that is excludable from the employees gross income."

SOURCE: Joan Pryde is the senior tax editor for the Kiplinger letters.

Go to www.Kiplingers.com and read about 13 tax changes that could affect you. Number 3 is what is above.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

So you want to make money online?

Introduction
So you want to make money online? Join the club of hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions world-wide seeking this holy grail of 'easy-online-profits'.

Well, prepare to be disappointed by the news, your new blog will make zero income, no one will comment, advertisers will shun you due to lack of traffic etc.

Your Dream of Online Profits
Your dream of easy money will be shattered rather quickly unless you start with a plan. If you just start peppering your blog with ads, your readers will depart as they will see your true intent in blogging is merely 'for $$ bucks $$'.

What Not To Do
Rule # 1 is to be a real person, not a spammer, hacker or slimey marketer. You will find no long term benefit to being any of those types of people. Your online reputation is extremely critical to any long term success. The people who use poor judgement just get banned, ridiculed and quickly forgotten online.

Your Topic
What can you write about that interests a large group of people? Begin writing several posts related to your chosen topic of interest, and visit popular blogs in your specific market space to see what the trends, opinions and comments are. Contribute your own comments and be seen as someone who cares about the topic not just looking for people to prey on for money.

Building Out Your Online Reputation
Once you have a few posts under your belt, set up a Twitter account and include the link(s) to your blog post(s) in your tweets. Follow the market leaders in your niche and ReTweet their tweets. Visit their blogs, leave relevent and helpful comments there daily. Begin a conversation with them.

Do the same on Facebook. Set up an account and begin posting links to your blog as Wall Post's. Visit all of the relevant sites that are part of your interests in blogging subject matter.

Never copy anything from another website's post unless the website owner gives you written permission! Feel free to paste the links from your favorite websites into your 'blogroll'. Let the website owners know you are doing this. Eventually they will appreciate the traffic you are sending their way and maybe you can get their email address. Send them an email and tell them something about yourself and your goals.

Eventually all this goodwill will pay off. Start adding AdSense ads to your blog after you have a few weeks of posts on your blog.

Some blogs I can recommend for online marketing advice are:

John Chow
www.johnchow.com

Jeremey Shoemaker AKA Shoemoney
www.shoemoney.com

Jonathan Volk
www.jonathanvolk.com

Chris Brogan
www.chrisbrogan.com

Zac Johnson AKA MoneyReign
www.zacjohnson.com

Darren Rowse - AKA ProBlogger


Jim Kukral - Small business Consultant and Author


These folks have made serious incomes online and know what they are talking about.

I have met each one in person and can vouch for their marketing, blogging and advertising expertise over the two and one-half years I have been trying to make a living online.

If I had followed my own advice above when I started I would have saved myself thousands of dollars and a ton of grief. There is just no get rich quick scheme out there. Follow solid marketing principles, be honest with your customers and online friends.

This long-term approach will yield eventual profits and perhaps 'guru' status if that is your ultimate goal.

For now, check back tomorrow for my next post. And hey thanks for reading my blog!

Leave me a comment if you have time, I will respond.

Respectfully,

Nicholas Chase

Friday, February 19, 2010

Massive List Of eLearning Links Here

Hello Loyal Reader!

Below is an eLearning Links list recently collated by a friend on LinkedIn.

eLearning websites

These websites have thousands of video lectures from the world's top scholars.

http://Academicearth.org
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/courses/av/index.htm
http://worldlibrary.net/Collections.htm
http://worldlibrary.net/
http://freevideolectures.com/computerscience.html
http://freevideolectures.com/
http://videolectures.net/
http://lecturefox.com
http://scholarspot.com/
http://www.varsitynotes.com/
http://www.learnerstv.com/
http://OCW.ND.edu
http://OCW.Tufts.edu
http://iTunes.Stanford.edu
http://iTunes.Berkeley.edu
http://WebCast.Berkeley.edu
http://www.lynda.com/
http://oedb.org/library/features/236-open-courseware-collections
http://www.careervoyages.gov/education-videos.cfm
http://www.sba.gov/tools/audiovideo/deliveringsuccess/index.html
http://www.sba.gov/training/index.html
http://www.sba.gov/tools/audiovideo/Podcasts/index.html
http://www.openculture.com/2007/07/freeonlinecourses.html
http://www.videomd.com/featured_videos.aspx
http://www.freesciencelectures.com/
http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/
http://education.usgs.gov/common/video_animation.htm
http://www.nachi.org/advancedcourses.htm
http://education-portal.com/video_library/index.html
http://www.serve.org/nche/ibt/aw_video.php
http://www.practisinc.com/interactive/patient-education-videos.php
http://www.teachers.tv/
http://www.ovguide.com/education.html
http://www.ocwconsortium.org/use/use-dynamic.html
http://www.oercommons.org/
http://www.schoox.com/
http://selfmadescholar.com/b/self-education-resource-list/
http://www.missiontolearn.com/2009/12/learn-foreign-language-online/
http://www.rfid4u.com/services/freeelearning.asp
http://www.4shared.com/dir/25834616/400fbf67/sharing.html

Youtube Channels:

http://www.youtube.com/user/activevision
http://www.youtube.com/user/AMDUnprocessed
http://www.youtube.com/user/Avayainteractive
http://www.youtube.com/user/carnegiemellonu
http://www.youtube.com/user/ccie12933
http://www.youtube.com/user/channelintel
http://www.youtube.com/user/CiscoLive2009
http://www.youtube.com/user/CiscoSmallBusiness
http://www.youtube.com/user/ciscozine
http://www.youtube.com/user/citrisuc
http://www.youtube.com/user/computerworld
http://www.youtube.com/user/CSCOPR
http://www.youtube.com/user/EyeOnTechnology
http://www.youtube.com/user/ITWorldVideos
http://www.youtube.com/user/lockergnome
http://www.youtube.com/user/macworld
http://www.youtube.com/user/MIT
http://www.youtube.com/user/NYTechSummit
http://www.youtube.com/user/ResearchChannel
http://www.youtube.com/user/sansinstitute
http://www.youtube.com/user/sunmicrosystemsgmbh
http://www.youtube.com/user/SunMicrosystemsInc
http://www.youtube.com/user/TechTargetTV
http://www.youtube.com/user/TigerDirectBlog
http://www.youtube.com/user/VidPR
http://www.youtube.com/user/wired
http://www.youtube.com/user/Harvard
http://www.youtube.com/user/stanforduniversity
http://www.youtube.com/user/uctelevision
http://www.youtube.com/user/ncstate
http://www.youtube.com/user/carnegiemellonu
http://www.youtube.com/user/georgiatech
http://www.youtube.com/user/UniversityofMinn
http://www.youtube.com/user/pennstate
http://www.youtube.com/user/wesleyan

Enjoy these links!

Respectfully,

Nicholas Chase

Monday, December 28, 2009

Affiliate Summit West 2010 - Are you going?

Affiliate Summit West 2010 will be the premiere conference and networking opportunity for online marketers to start off the New Year with a real heavy 'positive body-blow' to the US economy.


Shawn Collins and Missy Ward always deliver an outstanding conference, with enough depth and breadth for the new marketers and the seasoned professionals. In addition there is an opportunity to support a charity while at the event, and help a cause dear to the hearts of many in attendance

Go here now and join Affiliate Summit: http://www.affiliatesummit.com/

Get networking and join the Affiliate Summit Social Networking Group as well.

There is an outstanding mentoring program for first-time attendees. This will help you to maximize your experience by guiding you to the people and companies you need to meet. The people you meet will be the ones who can offer experience, advice and assistance in launching a successful online marketing business.

I attended my first Affiliate Summit conference in January of 2009 and it was a remarkable experience for me. Three days of intimate sessions with plenty of time for questions and answers after the formal discussions concluded on each of the panels. The opportunity to network in the hallways was key to helping me to clarify where I should focus my PPC / CPA or CPM campaigns for maximum ROI.

Imagine hanging out with some of the nicest, most influential and helpful Affiliate Marketers and the great companies they are working with to learn how to make a serious amount of money on the Web.

People like Jim Kukral, Missy Ward, Shoemoney, John Chow, Jonathan Volk, Zac Johnson, Chris Brogan, Darren Rowse, and so many more. We all have to start somewhere, but the opportunities to network one-on-one with these thought-leaders is too good to pass up.

At Affiliate Summit 2009, I had a chance to spend some time with the vendors who provide the creative linkage to the service providers or manufacturer's of the products Affiliates advertise.

I urge you to make it to Las Vegas, for Affiliate Summit West 2010, at the RIO Hotel on January 17~19, 2010 for the experience of a lifetime.

I will be there to interview you about your experiences during and after Affiliate Summit 2010. The companies you contacted and Affiliates who took the time to reach out and say hi to you.

Following on after the conference I want to hear of what networking methods you continue to apply in your online marketing efforts and how you are doing.

Respectfully,

Nicholas Chase

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Video Production for the Affiliate Marketer and Blogger

Hello Affiliate Marketers and video afficianados.

I have been doing some commercial productions for Microsoft, Snickers and Coors Light.

I have also been trying to obtain a press pass to Affiliate Summit West 2010 in Las Vegas Nevada. This is the premiere conference for Affiliate Marketers and companies they work with on online advertising campaigns.

Shawn Collins and Missy Ward always put on a tremendous show, and you have the opportunity to donate to a worthy cause while attending.

I plan to interview new marketers and seasoned professional Affiliate marketers including Shoemoney, John Chow, Jonathan Volk, Zac Johnson and GeekMommy.

The Affiliate Summit takes place January 17~19, 2010 at the RIO Hotel in Las Vegas. Go to www.affiliatesummit.com and register now!

Previous to this I was the principal videographer for BlogWorld Expo 2008 in Las Vegas.

Investigating how to connect with Affiliate Marketers and Bloggers needing video production in the SF Bay area of California. I can shoot using my Sony HDR-FX1 camera and edit in 1080i 60P high-definition video, and then encode to web-sized videos, DVD's etc for maximum clarity for your web page.

I am currently also using a standard definition digital camera, the Canon XL-1S which has a very fine lens and produces crisp video at a lower bit-rate than the big Sony camera.

If you are a blogger thinking of getting some video onto your website, please consider contacting me here in the comments.

As my profile denotes, I have participated in the production and post-production phases of several thousand, movies, tv shows, commercial and music videos as well as live concerts in my extensive Hollywood career.

Let's discuss the best way to showcase your product, service or cause on the web.

Respectfully,

Nicholas Chase - Producer / Director
Nicholas Chase Digital Video Productions

Friday, November 6, 2009

We'll Be Right Back (after this short break...)

Hi there loyal readers of this blog. I took a few months off to pursue Affiliate Marketing, Digital Video Production and other gainful employment.

My digital video production company has achieved some success. I followed Michael Jordan, Jerry Rice, Charles Barkley and Ray Romano around 18-holes of golf at the American Celebrity Classic golf tournament in July, at Lake Tahoe, CA.

Now Microsoft has me shooting some promotional videos. Also attending a UFL football game inside the HD video production truck next weekend.

I guess I need to re-purpose the direction of this blog so that it reflects more video and less marketing focus.

I'll try to post some video here shortly.

Still in touch with John Chow, Jonathan Volk, Shoemoney, Zac Johnson and other successfull Affiliate Marketers out there.