Massive coal mine gets green light

THE Federal Government has approved a controversial coal mine and rail project in Queensland but green groups say it’s “a dangerous pipedream”.

Source NEWS.com.au | Business http://ift.tt/1ODKx2j

Restaurant giant bans tips for staff’s own good

A BRAVE new plan is about to be trialled in the US, but doing away with tips at restaurants could forever change how people dine.

Source NEWS.com.au | Business http://ift.tt/1PhPM9o

Pandora’s $123 million golden oldie royalties bill

ONLINE radio giant Pandora is reportedly poised to fork over about $123 million as payment for its broadcast of pre-1972 recordings.

Source NEWS.com.au | Business http://ift.tt/1LuI49q

TradeKing Review: Can a Discount Broker Meet Your Investing Needs?

TradeKing is a discount online financial trading platform. Why “discount”? As you’ll see below, its fees are lower than those of many other online brokers. It’s able to charge less by not offering the full range of services that some other online brokers provide. Whether that matters to you will largely depend on whether you want to go beyond stocks, bonds, and other trading basics.

Below, we’ll take a look at how TradeKing stacks up in several important areas, including fees, trading options, and customer service. If you like what you read, new clients can take advantage of $1,000 in free trade commission until Dec. 31, 2015, by opening an account here and using code FREE1000. Note that you’ll need to fund your account with at least $5,000 within 30 days to be eligible for the promotion.

Fees

TradeKing has some of the lowest fees among online brokers. Here’s a rundown of the basics, along with a comparison to one other discount trader, OptionsHouse, and two of the largest, most popular online brokers, Scottrade and E*Trade:

	TradeKing	OptionsHouse	E*Trade	Scottrade
Stocks and ETFs (online/no broker)	$4.95	$4.95	$7.99 each for more than 150 trades per quarter; $9.99 for fewer	$7
Stocks and ETFs (broker assisted)	$20	$25	$25	$32
Options	$4.95 plus $0.65/contract	$4.95 plus $0.50/contract	$7.99 plus $0.75/contract each for more than 150 trades per quarter; $9.99 plus $0.75/contract for fewer	$7 plus $1.25/contract
Options exercises/assignments	$9.95/$4.95	$4.95/$4.95	$19.99	$17
Mutual funds (no load, no transaction fee)	N/A	N/A	No fee	No fee
Mutual funds (transaction fee funds)	$9.95	$20	$19.99	$17
Margin trading rates	4% to 8.75%	2% to 6.5%	3.89% to 8.44%	5.25% to 7.75%
Account maintenance fees	None	None	None	None
Inactivity fees	$50/year if no activity for 12 months and less than $2,500 in household accounts	None	None	None
Minimum initial deposit	None	None	$500	$2,500

As you can see, TradeKing charges substantially less in fees for most of its services than full-service brokers such as E*Trade and Scottrade. The $4.95 fee for stocks and ETFs is just about as low as it gets (although not as low as Robinhood’s free trades) and the $20 charge for broker-assisted trades is lower than competitors’ fees, too. TradeKing is also much cheaper on mutual funds, undercutting E*Trade and Scottrade by almost half.

The other big pro here: There is no minimum initial deposit. That makes TradeKing an especially attractive place for beginners to get a feel for online trading without having to pony up a lot of cash.

TradeKing is a bit less competitive when it comes to options and margin trading, however. Discount broker OptionsHouse has the edge in both categories. Potential traders should also note TradeKing’s $50 inactivity fee, which applies if your account languishes for more than a year and has less than a $2,500 balance. There’s also an added penny-per-share fee for trades of stocks priced lower than $2; on a 50-cent “penny stock,” that amounts to a 2% fee.

If $4.95 for stock trades is still too rich for your blood, you can make certain trades for free — yes, free — with a new app called Robinhood. However, Robinhood lacks a lot of the more sophisticated trading options and features that you’ll have with an established online broker. For more, check out our Robinhood review.

Trading Options and Research

Most casual investors interested in stocks and bonds should be happy with their options at TradeKing, which also offers no-fee IRAs. As far as advanced trading goes, TradeKing offers foreign exchange (forex) but not futures trading, though traders should soon have futures access after TradeKing completes an acquisition of MB Trading later in 2015. By comparison, OptionsHouse currently offers futures but not forex. Neither brokerage offers commission-free ETFs.

There are more than 12,000 mutual funds offered at TradeKing, which is about on par with OptionsHouse. This includes more than 4,500 no-load funds. Both numbers top E*Trade, but not Scottrade. However, unlike E*Trade and Scottrade, TradeKing does not offer any no-load, no-transaction-fee mutual funds (NTFs).

When it comes to research, TradeKing offers fully featured, easy-to-read charts and graphs. However, it includes third-party reports from just one source (Standard & Poor’s). Pricier competitors such as E*Trade and Scottrade offer multiple third-party reports, but TradeKing’s low fees make several research offerings too expensive, StockBrokers.com notes.

User Interface

TradeKing has traditionally lagged competitors when it comes to ease of use, with a clunky interface that requires way too much work to make a trade. As StockBrokers.com says, the simple commission of an all-in-one trade ticket page made the process cumbersome at best.

Fortunately, an improved, Web-based TradeKing LIVE platform addresses many useability issues, including the process of making a trade. StockBrokers.com even awarded the platform its 2015 Industry Award for #1 Broker Innovation. TradeKing LIVE is available to all TradeKing users, but it’s still not the default platform for traders. If you’re a tablet junkie, you’ll also want to note that there is no dedicated TradeKing app for iPads or Android tablets.

Customer Support

TradeKing offers live customer support from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET on weekdays via phone and chat. While the chat feature is appreciated, note that some pricier competing brokers offer live support during extended hours. For instance, Scottrade representatives are available from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET on the weekends, while E*Trade has 24/7 live support. TradeKing aims to answer all email questions within two hours on weekdays and 24 hours on weekends.

TradeKing makes a solid showing in a StockBrokers.com review of customer support among major online brokers, but representatives often “weren’t 100% positive when answering our questions,” the site notes.

TradeKing does not have any brick-and-mortar branches. While most online traders don’t choose their providers based on this option, it’s still nice to have. Scottrade, traditionally one of the best online brokers for customer service, has more than 500 locations nationwide for traders who want more personalized assistance. It also routes traders’ calls to local branches during business hours, enabling traders to build a more traditional client-broker experience than is usually possible online.

Banking

If you want the convenience of broker-provided banking services, you’re in for a disappointment: TradeKing, like OptionsHouse and other discount online brokers, doesn’t offer any of these services. If you want to bank with your broker, you’ll need to step up to a pricier competitor such as Scottrade, which offers checking, savings, CDs, and money market accounts.

Advisory Services

Want to take a more hands-off approach to investing? In 2014, TradeKing dipped its toe into the world of online wealth management by launching TradeKing Advisors. This service goes head to head with other online financial advisors such as Wealthfront, Betterment, and Personal Capital. The Simple Dollar has reviewed all of these services; click on their names for the scoop on each one.

TradeKing’s portfolios consist of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and exchange-traded notes (ETNs). TradeKing decides which portfolio to assign primarily based on your financial goals, timeline for meeting those goals, and how much risk you’re willing to take, but they’ll fall into two categories: core, for cautious investors and/or those with less than $5,000; and momentum, for those with more than $5,000 who are willing to make riskier investments in hopes of greater returns.

With core portfolios of $5,000 or more, you’ll pay a yearly fee of 0.25% of your balance; with less than $5,000, you’ll pay $1 a month. Momentum portfolios require a yearly fee of 0.5% of your balance. There are no trading fees. You’ll need at least $500 to open a core account and $5,000 for a momentum account.

Bottom Line

TradeKing’s low fees and lack of minimum balance make it a bargain for everyone, from experienced traders who simply want to pay less, to beginners who just want to get a feel for online trading before committing a lot of money to an account.

Who might want to steer clear? Investors who want a full range of advanced investment options or a lot of third-party research reports; those who may not trade every year and don’t want to pay an inactivity fee; or anyone who hopes to bank with their broker.

If TradeKing doesn’t seem like your cup of tea, we offer more reviews in our guide to the Best Online Stock Trading Brokers of 2015. There, you’ll find a review of one of TradeKing’s major competitors, OptionsHouse, as well as TD Ameritrade, Scottrade, and E*Trade. For a more in-depth comparison of those last two online brokers, see our recent article, E*Trade vs. Scottrade.

The post TradeKing Review: Can a Discount Broker Meet Your Investing Needs? appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

Source The Simple Dollar The Simple Dollar http://ift.tt/1QuqvX4

Is Your Savings Account Costing You Money?

A lot of us trust savings accounts with our hard-earned savings — after all, it has to be better than sticking that money under a mattress, right?

Many of us specifically use savings accounts to set aside cash for an emergency fund or plan for a long-term financial goal. We set ourselves savings challenges and find less expensive ways to get our pumpkin spice lattes, all in the name of putting more money in that savings account.

But what if those savings accounts were actually costing us money? As The Christian Science Monitor reports, some savings accounts “may actually be making your financial situation worse.”

Here’s what you need to know:

High Interest, No Fees

How much interest are you currently receiving on your savings account?

The Christian Science Monitor suggests you look for an account that offers at least 1% interest. If your current savings account is offering less than 1%, it’s time to think about making a switch.

We’ve got a great list of accounts to check out:

It’s also time to take a good look at your bank fees. If your bank charges fees for low balances or for depositing/withdrawing money, you might not have the best savings account for your needs. Some banks even charge “monthly maintenance fees.”

Look for no-fee savings accounts to save as much of your money as possible — and if you’ve got an account with fees, try calling your bank and seeing if the fees can be waived. We’ve got a list of tips to help you get around many of the most common bank fees.

Saving vs. Investing

The other big mistake many people make is putting too much money in a savings account. Once you have a healthy emergency fund as well as sub-savings accounts for life goals like “vacation” or “down payment,” it’s time to start thinking about putting money into investment accounts instead of bank savings accounts.

If you don’t yet have an IRA or Roth IRA, for example, it might be a good time to start one. You can even consider a CD ladder if you find an option with great interest rates. Put those saved dollars to work and let them earn even more money.

Think of your savings account as a way to get you to a short-term financial goal, like building up an emergency fund or saving for a new car. Any money you save for a long-term goal, like retirement, should go into something that is likely to bring a greater return — not into a bank savings account.

Want to learn more? Read the full story at The Christian Science Monitor.

Your Turn: Does your savings account cost you money?

Nicole Dieker is a freelance writer focusing on personal finance and personal stories. Her work has appeared in The Billfold, The Toast, Yearbook Office, The Write Life and Boing Boing.

The post Is Your Savings Account Costing You Money? appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

source The Penny Hoarder http://ift.tt/1MBlYTp

Beware the Next Financial Bubble

The White House and Congress are recreating the conditions for another financial bubble. If it pops, we could replay the same devastating effects as occurred during the first bubble in 1999 and 2000. 

Source CBN.com - Finance http://ift.tt/1GduyGH

2016 VW diesels have new software affecting emissions tests

Volkswagen has disclosed to U.S. regulators that there is additional suspect software in its 2016 diesel models that would potentially help their exhaust systems run cleaner during government tests.

Source Business - poconorecord.com http://ift.tt/1X4dyXM

The Best Frugal Halloween Tricks

These seven ideas from bloggers who write about saving money will make the holiday enjoyable and affordable.

Source U.S. News - Money http://ift.tt/1Lu7EeG

If You’re Going to Work in Retail, Pick One of These 5 High-Paying Positions

Retail can be synonymous with minimum wage — and unpleasant working conditions to boot. I, for one, am glad my income never relied on my (non-existent) shirt-folding abilities.

However, many of us get our starts in the workforce in retail positions, or end up working several retail jobs at once to make ends meet while still keeping flexible hours.

I’ve worked as a barista and at a bookstore — fairly stereotypical English major jobs — and while my paychecks weren’t huge, I could fit my hours around my college schedule and didn’t have to do anything heinous.

But what if you could get the benefits of retail work — fairly achievable employment even with little or no work history, flexible hours and being paid hourly — with an actual livable wage?

Business Insider and Glassdoor teamed up to create this list of the best-paid hourly retail jobs. Some of them may surprise you. (Hint: head to the grocery store!)

1. Target Warehouse Worker: $19.40 an Hour

If you’re strong enough to lift heavy things, you can make about $40,000 a year working 40 hours per week in Target’s warehouse.

Plus, with all that heavy lifting, you can save money by ditching your gym membership!

2. Safeway Grocery Clerk: $16.34 an Hour

Although it doesn’t sound like the most exciting job in the world, working a cash register and bagging groceries pays big at Safeway.

And it’s not all bad! You’ll interact with lots of people every day. You might even learn a thing or two about how to grocery shop on a budget from frugal customers or just by seeing the prices of different items so frequently.

3. Trader Joe’s Artist: $13.64 an Hour

Got some artistic talent? Trader Joe’s pays the folks who create their hand-drawn signs almost $14 an hour!

Plus, you get a discount on groceries, according to Glassdoor — a very budget-friendly perk.

4. Bloomingdale’s Sales Associate: $12.25 an Hour

Are you interested in fashion? Good at striking up a conversation with a stranger or advising friends which shoes go best with that dress?

Put your prowess to work at Bloomingdale’s, and make more than $25,000 per year working full time — $10,000 more than you’d make working 40 hours at minimum wage.

5. Ann Taylor Sales Associate: $11.74 an Hour

Ann Taylor’s high quality, affordable business wear is a staple in my closet. If you already have an office job, this would make an ideal side hustle: Score a 50% discount on the stuff you’re already wearing to work!

If you’re looking to make the most out of your hours, be sure to check out the full list over on Business Insider.

Your Turn: Does your hourly retail position pay well? Where do you work?

Jamie Cattanach is junior writer at The Penny Hoarder and a native Floridian. She’s passionate about learning, literature, chocolate and finding ways to live the good life as cost-effectively as possible. You can send smoke signals (or, you know, friendly greetings) to @jamiecattanach on Twitter.

The post If You’re Going to Work in Retail, Pick One of These 5 High-Paying Positions appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

source The Penny Hoarder http://ift.tt/1MAEBHh

How to Save When You Buy Your Next Water Heater

While traditional storage tank water heaters usually cost less to install, tankless options are more energy efficient.

Source U.S. News - Money http://ift.tt/1GHgIHB

11 Financial Behaviors You Don’t Want Your Kids to Learn From You

There’s nothing I would love better than to sit down and tell my three boys all the right things do about money.

Unfortunately, just as is the case with every other lesson we provide, kids learn more from what we do than what we say.

My boys are no exception to this.

If our words say one thing, but our behavior goes in the opposite direction, the kids will come away with our behavior but not our words.

So how you behave with money will be the most important financial lesson that you can teach your kids.

Along that line, there are some financial behaviors you don’t want your kids to learn from you.

1. You Operate Without a Budget

If you spend without a budget – meaning that you buy what you want/need without regard for the cost – your kids will pick up on that. They’ll automatically disassociate buying from cost.

In that way, your absence of a budget will become their legacy. They won’t have a budget either, and will reap the negative consequences that come from a lack of spending discipline.

2. Debt Is Your Friend

One of the biggest financial problems many households have is almost a silent one. It isn’t debt itself, but rather the quiet acceptance of it as some sort of “friend” in your life. If you come to see debt in that way, your kids will too.

But debt represents a reduction in future income, because you are paying for yesterday’s expenses today, and today’s expenses tomorrow. It’s a complex game of kick the can, and hopefully kicking it far enough down the road that it doesn’t hurt you in any way today.

This is not a healthy view of debt. You can and should talk to your kids about debt, but how you handle it yourself is much more important.

3. If Our Friends Have It, We Need It

If you are taking your spending cues from your friends, you’re subtly teaching your kids to let their spending choices be determined by other people.

And if other people are indirectly in control of your spending, then it means that you aren’t. That’s a lesson your kids don’t need to learn.

4. Credit Cards Are a Way of Life

Do your kids you see spending money primarily using credit cards? It may be good to increase your spending using cash.

This will give your kids an opportunity to see that spending money costs actual money and isn’t accomplished solely with the use of a magical card that seems to provide all that’s ever needed. It’s a visual lesson, but a powerful one that works better for kids.

There’s another possibility from the constant use of credit cards. It’s easier to deny that you have a debt problem when you’re using credit, also because actual cash doesn’t leave your wallet or your bank account. Kids can get caught up in that denial as well.

5. You Deserve the Best Things in Life

Do you often buy things because you think “I deserve it”? It’s OK to treat yourself every now and again, but the more important criteria is “Can I REALLY afford it?”

If your kids see you constantly buying things because you feel you deserve them, they may develop an entitlement mentality. That can see them buying things they cannot afford very early in life, and it won’t get better as they get older.

6. Never Talking About Money

This is another form of denial. It may be that you don’t talk about money because it is a contentious issue in your marriage. That’s never a good sign in itself!

But if you never talk about money around your kids, they probably won’t develop a constructive idea of what things cost, or that it even matters.

There’s enough of that happening on TV and you need to specifically avoid reinforcing that message.

Not only should kids hear you talk about money, kids should have financial responsibilities that are appropriate to their age. Tying an allowance to chores around the home, or having them donate some of their allowance a charity are excellent lessons for kids to learn.

It’s all about earning and giving, two activities that will only become more important as they grow older.

7. “Eat, Drink and Be Merry, for Tomorrow We Die!”

People often use this as a justification to live the good life, and in a way that’s toxic to their finances. It’s actually a Bible verse — 1 Corinthians 15:32 – that’s often misinterpreted to suggest that you should spend like there’s no tomorrow.

What if you eat, drink and be merry (and go deep into debt to do so) and you don’t die tomorrow?

If you apply the misinterpretation of this verse to your finances, what you’re really saying – and demonstrating to your kids – is that we live to the fullest now because we may not be here tomorrow.

From a financial standpoint, passing that notion onto your kids is a complete disaster. It tells them that there is no point in preparing for the future, which is about the worst financial lesson possible.

8. Not Setting Savings or Investing Goals

You should have savings and investing goals and your children should be at least loosely aware that those goals exist and what they’re for. Goals are an opportunity to show children that some objectives require preparation and work.

It’s also a way of demonstrating delayed gratification – you are doing without now in order to achieve or accomplish something really important later. That’s definitely a lesson your kids need to learn.

In certain situations it may not even be extreme to have your children contribute toward the goal in some way. It may be by adding just a few nickels and dimes into a family pot, or even by participation with some sort of activity. That contribution will validate the goal for you kids.

9. Always Take Advantage of a Sale

This is one of the biggest money myths in existence. While it is possible to save money making a major purchase when it is on sale, if serial sales are being used to justify serial spending sprees, then all you’re doing is wasting money.

It’s one of the oldest marketing tricks in the book – run sales to get people to buy what they wouldn’t buy otherwise. Avoiding the hook demonstrates a healthy amount of self-restraint. And that’s always a good lesson to teach your kids, particularly when it comes to money.

10. Keeping Financial Secrets

Have you ever bought something, then told your children not to tell your spouse? That’s not a harmless request.

There are two negative outcomes that are likely to result:

1. The kids will sense that there’s a problem, and/or
2. You’ll be giving them a green light to think that it’s OK to lie about money – even if you’ve otherwise taught them not to lie in general.

Can that have a happy ending?

11. Pretending That Financial Habits Don’t Affect Health

If you are living on the financial edge, it’s probably affecting your health to one degree or another. Enough financial stress, like being deep in debt can even shorten your life.

If not for your own sake, for your children’s sake, get control of your finances and especially of your debt situation.

Your health may depend on it, and you should also have a goal of making sure that your kids don’t experience the same life-shortening fate.

Though you may think that your financial habits go unnoticed by your kids, rest assured that they don’t. No matter how much you lecture your kids about good financial practices, it’s your own financial behavior that will have the greatest impact on their adult lives. You have an opportunity to make that the most positive experience possible right now. Take advantage of it for all that it’s worth!

This post originally appeared on Credit.com.

Source Good Financial Cents http://ift.tt/1MAqt0J

Inside the World of Fashion Resellers

Women who have turned a passion for fashion into a business selling on eBay, Poshmark and other sites share their tips.

Source U.S. News - Money http://ift.tt/1LO5R67

6 Steps to Creating a Successful Social Media Strategy for ANY Network

Fact: social media sites drive over 31% of all referral traffic on the Internet.

That is a huge amount.

It’s on a similar level with search referral traffic:

So, if you pay attention to SEO, doesn’t it make sense to pay the same attention to social media as well?

You might have already known that.

But where should you focus your attention? That’s the big question. 

People use the same two or three search engines for all of their needs, but they use different social networks to cover different aspects of their lives.

The same person may use LinkedIn for their professional life, Facebook to keep up with friends, Twitter to get the latest news, and Instagram and Pinterest to share pictures.

But there are other social networks, smaller ones, that have other uses as well.

And although they are “smaller,” they still have tens or hundreds of thousands of users. If a large percentage of these users is in your target audience, that should justify being active on that network.

Here’s the big benefit of smaller networks: barely any other business uses them!

Think about it. The biggest businesses need a huge audience, so they stick to the biggest social networks.

The small and medium sized businesses typically just copy the big businesses (or most of them do).

That’s how just about everyone ends up on Facebook or Twitter.

They’re good networks, for sure, and can benefit most businesses. But imagine if you could’ve been the first business in your niche on Facebook?

With absolutely no competition, you could have quickly amassed followers and driven large amounts of traffic to your website in no time.

That’s essentially your opportunity with smaller networks.

You can be the biggest (or only) fish in the pond.

That means faster results, better results, and more profit.

But that leads to one problem:

All the social media strategy guides and tools are designed for the “big” social networks. How are you supposed to know what to do?

Although I can’t get you a specific guide for every network out there (there are thousands), I can walk you through the process of creating a strategy that you can use with any social network, step by step.

This process will work on just about every social network out there.

Finding smaller social networks

One of the reasons why very few businesses take advantage of the smaller networks is because they are harder to find than the ones that everyone talks about.

Expect to have to dig around for 30-60 minutes to find the best one for your business.

Keep in mind that you don’t need a network to have millions of users to make it a good target for your marketing.

And there are hundreds of social networks that fit this criteria, so it’s just a matter of finding the right one(s) for your business.

A good starting place is this Wikipedia list, which has about 100 different networks. Each network has a description to help you determine whether it might be right for you.

An important note: don’t expect every network to look and act like Facebook and Twitter.

At first, you might not be sure if you can find a way to turn users into customers, but in most cases there’s a way if you’re willing to be creative (more on that later).

Right now, just worry about finding a few networks that are likely to have your target audience.

Here’s another list of 91 social networks for even more ideas.

What networks are based around: All networks have their own purpose—their own sort of niche(s).

Ideally, you’re looking for networks that align with your business’ niche(s).

Most networks are based on certain types of interactions, interests, or locations. Most are a combination of the three.

For example, Badoo is a social network with 20 million active users, but it’s mainly popular in Latin America and certain European countries such as Italy and Spain.

Or consider Meetup, which allows people in certain cities to create groups around interests. This is a great network for local businesses because you can engage people in your area in person.

Finally, Classmates is a network dedicated to reconnecting with high school friends. It’s essentially one specific part of Facebook.

There are many networks that are location independent. They focus on specific interests. They can get really specific.

For example, Ravelry is a social network for people who love knitting. If you owned a business related to knitting, you couldn’t find a better place to interact with your audience.

For now, write down all the networks you think might have your target audience. Throughout the rest of this post, I’ll show you how to verify whether it’s a good network to spend your time on or not.

Step 1: Spy on your target users

Once you’ve chosen a few networks to check out, you can start learning about them.

When you first see a specific social network in action, it can be a bit overwhelming. You won’t “get” it.

But if you spend a bit of time there, you’ll understand how the site works and how users interact with each other, which is where the opportunity is.

The plan is always to find ways to connect with your target audience and then get them back to your website whenever possible.

I recommend spending at least a few days learning about a network before you do any further testing.

And since it can be overwhelming, here’s how I would break it down into smaller steps.

Component #1 – Establish the basics: Before you can understand the deeper motivations of users, you need to understand the basic mechanics of the site.

For a network such as Facebook, this would include understanding what certain things are or mean, like:

• timelines
• status updates
• shares
• likes
• comments
• friends
• tags

Although these smaller networks don’t often have marketing guides written about them, most will have some sort of tutorial you can read to help you out.

For example, if you Google:

how tumblr works or how to use tumblr

you will find several guides and videos, offering explanations of the main functions of the site.

The same goes for most networks. Here are the results for Meetup:

At the very minimum, every successful site has some sort of help documentation where you can look up the functions of certain buttons or definitions of site’s terms.

Component #2 – Learn how users interact: Learning what the major parts of the network are will tell you the main purpose of the network from the user’s point of view.

But you want to dig beyond “people use Meetup to meet people with common interests.”

It’s important to know not only what they do but also why and how they do it.

Eventually, you will be interacting with users, and you want to be able to do it just like any other experienced member of the site.

For example, on Ravelry (the knitting network), I would’ve first learned that all users have their own project boards. This is where they post pictures for knitting project ideas:

This is one of the first places where I spotted user interaction. As you can see, below each thumbnail, there are comments.

If you click a project picture, you can see those comments:

Just from a few comments, it’s clear that users talk very casually, using things like emoticons. At the same time, they use proper grammar like commas, periods, and capitalization.

During this phase of your research, you just want to notice which topics come up the most and how most users express themselves about those topics.

You need to keep reading and studying the interactions until you are able to reply just like any other user of the network.

Component #3 – Learn how businesses use it to drive traffic: This component is a bit trickier.

It can be hard to figure out the best way to get users of a site over to your website.

To make it easier, you can look for businesses already on the network. Study them to find out how they connect their social profiles and activities with their website.

For example, Pinterest has a search function, where you can type a keyword related to your niche:

This brings up a selection of “pins,”—the images that users share.

Looking through the posts, I found that a brand “Social Media Examiner” had an account.

By examining their activity on the site, I could see that they primarily used the network to drive followers to their blog by posting pins that linked back to their blog posts:

If I was going to give Pinterest a go, I could employ this tactic.

But what if you can’t find any businesses?

That’s a difficult situation.

On the one hand, it could just be because no one in your niche had the thought to try out that particular network.

Or it could be because they tried but couldn’t make it work.

Either way, you’re starting from scratch.

What you want to do is pinpoint as many types of interaction on the network as possible where users can click a link.

Eventually, you will need them to follow a link to go back to your website.

Back to Ravelry as an example: there’s a private and very active forum for users:

Within the forum, I saw several links pointing to external sites, which means that there would be opportunities to post links back to blog posts or straight to products:

As long as you can find at least one realistic path of getting users back to your website, the network has potential, and you have the foundations of a strategy.

Step 2: Test the waters

At this point, you should have a basic understanding of how the social network actually works.

Don’t worry if you’re not a master of it—you can always learn from your own mistakes.

The final 5 steps in this post are to get your strategy in gear. I’ve broken it up to make it simpler and less intimidating to follow.

For this step, you’re going to create your account and start establishing your presence on the network(s) of your choice.

Although I don’t recommend using too many social networks at the end of this process, it’s fine to try out three or four for now and narrow down your choice later.

Phase #1 – Create an account: Every single social network will have a signup link somewhere on the homepage. Fill in your standard information like email and password.

Somewhere in this process, you will be asked to pick a username. This is where your research comes into play.

Did you see obvious brands on your social network? If so, feel free to sign up with a name that reflects your brand, e.g., “Quick Sprout.”

However, if you’ve never seen a brand name account, it’s likely because users don’t like it. So, create a personal profile instead, either with your own name or a made up username.

Phase #2 – Seed it with basic content: Once you’ve done that, your next step is to customize your profile. You want to make it as appealing to your target audience as possible. Usually, this will entail making it look as natural as possible.

When someone views your profile, they should enjoy it. Don’t stick to a plain avatar and no description. Take 20 minutes to create a good-looking detailed profile.

On tumblr, as an example, you can customize your blog:

You can change blog settings as well, but for now you would be considered with the theme:

Give your page a title that represents your profile, similarly to how all the most popular users you’ve studied have done it.

Do the same with the description and avatar picture:

Most social networks have some element of public posting. Now would be a good time to make a few quick blog posts or status updates to make your account look legitimate.

Phase #3 – Connect with anyone you know: I’ve said it before: social media is all about connecting with people. That’s why users use the site.

So, if you belong to any social network but you have zero connections there, it’ll be hard to get a benefit from your efforts.

If it’s a general network like Tagged or Uplike, try to connect with anyone that you actually know on the network to start.

Obviously, these are smaller networks, and you might not know very many people there. That’s okay.

The best way to make new connections is to “follow,” “friend,” or use whatever connection mechanism the site has, to connect with people with a certain interest.

For example, if you were looking to get active on Meetup, you have to join groups to interact with people in them.

If you were selling SEO services, you’d probably want to join groups dedicated to local small business or entrepreneurs. If you’re connecting with someone because of a common interest, it’s clear to them why you want to connect, and most will be happy to.

Finally, you could also send an email to your email list. Since you’ve already identified that your target audience might like this network, you could invite them to join it and connect with you.

Just send them an email like this:

Subject: I just discovered something amazing…

Hi (Name),

After years of looking for a great (niche) community, I finally found one.

I stumbled upon a social network called (name of site) a little while ago. So far, it’s impressing me.

(Describe a positive aspect of the network that your subscriber would be interested in).

If you’re interested in joining (it’s free, of course), here’s the signup link: (URL).

Create an account, and then send me a friend invite (my username is (username)).

See you there,

(Your name)

Your goal here is to start building some connections and followers. You don’t need hundreds or thousands—just try to get a few dozen for now.

Step 3: Time to answer a HUGE question

Here’s what you need at this point: an account plus a plan to get users to your website.

If you need help with a plan, review this social media strategy, and then modify it to suit your network.

The huge question that you need to answer right now is:

Do you want to commit to this network for several months?

The reason why this is so important is because your results on almost any social network will be slow at first. It’s only after consistently being active and executing your strategy that you will be able to drive significant traffic.

So, if you don’t think you could do it for longer than 5-6 months, you might as well not start.

That’s the mentality you need to possess to succeed with your plan.

Let me illustrate this for you…

If you go to my Facebook page right now (just search “Neil Patel” on Facebook), you’ll see that even in the worst-case scenario, I still get over 100 likes and several shares. Note that only a small percentage of traffic actually “likes” the share, so it drives considerably more:

That seems good, right?

I think so. And you’d probably love to be able to drive thousands of visitors to your website every month through social media. But it wasn’t always like this.

Unless you’re willing to invest in advertising to get followers on a network, it takes a lot of time to gain traction.

I started the page at the end of 2009. You can still see those posts with only a handful of likes and shares:

A few years later, I started getting a few dozen likes on each post. At this point, I could drive a decent amount of traffic.

By the end of 2014, I could finally get around 100 likes for each post:

Keep in mind, though, I didn’t grow my page as fast as I could have. It wasn’t my main focus.

So, if you commit to a good strategy and follow it, you’ll get there a lot faster, but it will still take time.

You need to be patient and be willing to keep working for months even without seeing much in the way of results. They start slow but grow faster and faster over time (like a snowball).

Step 4: The most important key to social media success

Do you get it?

How you execute your strategy on a consistent basis will either make you or break you. That’s why I devoted an entire section to it.

Besides having the right mindset, you’ll also need other things, namely content.

Not all social media sites are built on content, but most are.

And when I say content, I’m talking about articles and guides that you can share with the network community through your profile…just like you would by posting on Facebook or tumblr.

Part #1 – Decide what kind of content you need: You probably already know this because of your earlier research.

Figure out what role content plays in the way users interact.

On the knitting network, users shared tutorials and tips on the forum. Sharing good content there could help you build up your reputation and make more connections.

On tumblr, you share content by posting it to your blog. You can even repost entire blog posts there as long as you credit the author.

On networks more similar to Facebook and Twitter, you need short messages to share. Some will be short descriptions with a link to a blog post, but some will be interesting messages like inspirational quotes.

Once you know what type of content you’ll need, move on to the next part.

Part #2 – Find proven content that attracts shares: The first goal of sharing content is to share something that your followers and community actually value.

When you do that consistently, it does many good things. It:

• first creates, then deepens your relationship with your followers
• helps you become more respected in the community
• allows you to drive traffic to great resources
• optional: allows you to build relationships with the authors of the content you share (extra bonus!)

The reason the last point is optional is because you could, in theory, create all the content that you share yourself.

I don’t recommend it.

It can actually hurt your standing in the network because it will look like you’re only sharing content to drive users back to your site, not to benefit them.

Additionally, it would take a ton of time.

By sharing great content that others have created, you get all the benefits of sharing content without having to spend time making it yourself.

So yes, you should share your own content, but you should also share a lot of content from others, providing credit as needed.

Where do you find content?

You can find it in many places, but here are three sources that will work for any niche.

First is Feedly, an RSS reader.

You can use Feedly to stay on top of all the latest blog posts in your industry:

To use it, create an account, and search for your niche in the search bar:

You will also be given the option of choosing from a “starter kit.” Either will work.

Start adding all the sites that you know produce awesome content on a regular basis. Just click the plus button beside the site’s name:

With Feedly, you can review all the latest content quickly and then share the best posts.

Source #2 is Reddit. More specifically, you can find great content in subreddits (which are Reddit’s categories).

If you’re not familiar with Reddit, read my beginner’s guide to marketing on Reddit.

Then, find a subreddit (or more) that your target audience would belong to. For example, if you run a home improvement site, your target audience is probably interested in do it yourself (DIY) projects.

By visiting the DIY subreddit, you can see all the posts that users have voted on. If a piece of content gets a lot of upvotes, that means it is liked by most of the community. This makes it perfect for sharing on other networks:

Finally, you can also use Topsy, which is basically a Twitter search engine.

Enter your keyword, and look through the results. You will see how many other people have tweeted a specific link. More tweets mean that it’s more popular, which makes it—most likely—a good piece of content to share.

You can use any one or combination of these tools to find great content that your target audience will appreciate.

Part #4 – Determine with what frequency you need to participate to achieve your goals:

Every network is different when it comes to posting frequency.

You don’t want to post so much that you annoy your followers, but you need to post enough so that you get the benefits of posting: a potentially bigger audience and more followers.

To figure out how often you should post, you’ll have to test different frequencies.

To start with, look at the most popular users (say 10-20), and record the number of posts per week they make.

Find an average of those numbers, and start with this frequency.

Step 5: If you’re serious about success, you need to find a way to do this

What’s the key to social media success?

Consistency (just reminding you).

So, now that you know what content and how much of it you need to post, you need to come up with a system that will help keep you on track.

The two components of such a system are: its efficiency and ease of implementation. 

Having to log in and make a post every X hours is not easy or efficient. You’ll likely miss some posts that you’d like to make, which will slow down your results.

Luckily, there are some ways to design a system that’s better, mostly through automation.

Determine what can and should be automated: It would be great if everything could be automated because it would take no time on your part, but it can’t be.

Some things can’t or shouldn’t be automated:

• Curating content - don’t just share any content. Take the time to read posts so that you can share the best ones.
• Interacting with users - you can’t automate authentic conversation. If you’re ever commenting or messaging a user, do it yourself.

What can be automated, however, is the actual posting of the content. You can do all the curating beforehand and then have it posted automatically.

Streamline manual processes: Just because something has to be done manually doesn’t mean it has to be inefficient.

Instead of having to remember to do something on a regular basis and then doing all the steps, you can do the steps in batches.

Batching is a productivity technique, where you do the same task many times in one sitting.

This reduces time spent switching between tasks and helps you get “in the zone” while working.

When it comes to your social media strategy, pick a day once every week or two to curate content. Find as many posts as you’ll need for those weeks so that you can just schedule them to be posted.

You can either schedule these with a tool right away (more on that in a second) or do what Buffer does—create a schedule in a spreadsheet that you can later upload into a tool for bulk-scheduling your posts:

And as for interaction, don’t constantly check your account for new notifications.

Instead, set a time or two, like first thing in the morning and last part of the working day, to check your account and reply to your followers.

Automation option #1 – Use a tool: To get your content posted automatically, you’ll need some sort of a tool.

Ideally, you would use an existing tool.

For example, Buffer allows you to add content into a queue of posts to be posted at specified times:

The problem is that the major tools, such as Buffer, Hootsuite, etc., only support the biggest social networks.

In other words, they aren’t very useful here.

You can search for:

schedule (network) posts

to see if anyone else has a solution, but you may have to move on to the next option.

Automation option #2 – Create your own tool: Most social networks allow you to post via an API, which makes it fairly easy for a programmer to create a simple tool.

You can post a job on a freelance site such as Upwork or Elance, describing what you’re looking for.

Since you don’t need anything pretty, you can get a simple scheduler made for less than a few hundred dollars.

Considering that this tool will save you hours every week, it’s worth it.

If you see that other people are also looking for a tool for your network of choice, you could also opt to make a more polished tool and potentially sell it. Note that this will raise the cost by quite a bit.

Step 6: Your strategy needs to be refined

It took me years of trial and error to figure out how to create a solid system for the big social media sites. And it’s still not perfect.

Your strategy is likely good if you followed all the research steps, but it could always be improved.

And just a few small improvements can lead to a much faster growth rate in the long run.

So, how do you refine a system?

As you use the network more, you might notice that some things you’re doing aren’t as effective as they should be.

However, the best way to refine a system is by using data. Data doesn’t lie.

Here’s what you should do:

1. Pick important metrics to track
2. Follow your strategy for 30 days
3. Evaluate results based on metrics
4. Test changes and repeat #2-4

To start with, you’ll need to pick a few metrics to track. I recommend two to four.

When I say important, I mean pick those that influence the amount of traffic you can drive to your site. Even if you’re not driving much traffic now, it will make a big difference in the future.

Using Facebook as an example, I can tell you that the important metrics are:

• Page likes – the more page likes, the bigger the audience that I can share my content with (and that can click through)
• Status likes – friends of followers who like a post also see it, potentially growing my audience
• Status shares – the more shares, the wider my reach 
• Comments – more interaction will add social proof to my content

Metrics are pretty similar across different networks, but make sure you’re focusing on those that can influence your traffic later on.

Now, you just need to collect data by running your initial strategy. Thirty days is a good test period.

At the end, check your metrics. See how many shares and likes you’re getting. If it’s not as much as you’d like, come up with an idea to improve your system.

It may be to post more, post different content, connect with different types of people, and so on.

Then, do another cycle of 30 days. If the results improve, integrate the change into your system, and come up with a new idea.

Always keep trying to refine and improve your system.

Conclusion

Social media sites are one of the best sources of traffic.

But just because a network isn’t named Facebook or Twitter doesn’t mean it can’t help your business.

Smaller social networks often have far fewer marketers on them than larger ones do, which makes any type of marketing on them much more effective.

If you follow the steps I laid out for you in this post, you can find golden opportunities to establish yourself as a big fish in a small pond.

Even small networks can drive thousands of visitors per month to your website if you do some work.

If you have any experience with marketing on small social media sites or you have a question, let me know in a comment below.

Source Quick Sprout http://ift.tt/1MzWTIA

No Kids? You Still Need an Estate Plan

A will is just as important for those without children, and it can easily be overlooked.

Source U.S. News - Money http://ift.tt/1MA0GWp

How to Sell an Ugly House

When you don't have the funds to fix up your fixer-upper, all isn't lost.


Source U.S. News - Money http://ift.tt/1PgfSJK

9 Fun Ways to Make Money on Social Media

You probably spend a good deal of time on social media every day. You’re checking in with friends on Facebook, posting selfies on Instagram, watching instructional videos on YouTube.

Since you already know your way around the top platforms, why not make some extra money online?

When it comes to in-demand services, social media is a booming opportunity. Businesses hire people to manage and moderate their pages and profiles. Brands hire social media influencers to spread the word about their products.

Let’s look at several ways you can profit from the social media storm.

1. Profit from Your Selfies with Stylinity

Stylinity is a platform that helps you earn commissions when people buy the wares you sport in your selfies. You can share your photos on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and more.

2. Become a Brand Ambassador with Delmondo

“Creators can earn anywhere from $100 to $10,000 per Instagram post depending on the size and scope of the brand/project and the size of the influencer’s audience,” Delmondo founder Nick Cicero told me.

“There are some campaigns where brands hire creators to create and post content all themselves, and other brands hire a lot of great instagrammers to shoot photos for their brand account that fit the aesthetic.”

3. Sell Your House

ListingDoor.com is a new site that helps people sell their own homes via social media. This can help reduce the costs by eliminating the need for an agent.

4. Share Your Referral Links

You don’t need a blog or website to profit from referral programs.

Many shopping sites like Groupon, Zulily, Swagbucks and Ebates will give you cash or store credit for referring your family and friends to their services. This is a great opportunity to not only make money, but also save it!

I’m also building a nice little “rainy day” savings account by referring friends to Capital One 360. Not only do you get a $20 bonus when a friend signs up, new customers receive $25 to $500 for opening a new savings or checking account.

5. Freelance Social Media Manager

Social media is constantly changing. For the average business owner, it’s time-consuming and challenging stay up to date on best practices and get the best results from their efforts.

This is why social media management is one of the most in-demand freelance specialties of the moment.

It also pays pretty well. Most freelancers charge $500 and up per month per client for daily status updates, responding to customer service concerns, removing spam, etc.

6. Independent Contractor or Employee Social Media Manager

Maybe you don’t want to go it alone as a home business owner. No worries.

Many companies hire social media managers as independent contractors or even employees. Here are a few positions that were open at the time of writing:

• ICUC
• Metaverse Mod Squad
• LiveWorld
• Zynga
• eModeration

7. YouTube

Did you know you could make money from your YouTube videos? All you need is an AdSense account and Google will start paying you for placement of their sponsored ads.

You can also add your own affiliate links to your videos or get brand offers through sites like iFabbo, Massive Sway or Business2Blogger.

8. Become a Social Selling Consultant

Direct sales is so last year. The name of the game is now social selling. Many home party plans now offer consultants the opportunity to earn a living without ever holding an in-home show.

Social media tools and virtual party technology are popular, and most companies offer their reps a replicated website for selling and sharing online.

9. Social Media Auditor

Some freelancers focus only on optimizing a business’ profile as opposed to ongoing management and maintenance.

For example, Carrie Aulenbacher works with authors to ensure their social media profiles are providing the best first impression. She told WAHW:

“I have started offering ‘Author Audits’ and Facebook Author Page Customization to any interested authors.

“I’ve found success in connecting and networking with fellow authors on LinkedIn group discussions and then working to help them create or touch up their author page OR to provide a personalized audit of their entire social media presence.

“For those who never hear back from fans in an objective manner, I let authors know how easy/hard it is to find their info, if their blog is engaging, do all their website buttons work, does everything look good, etc.

“No cheesy letter grades, just my honest opinion. Monthly I do between $20-$80 as I’m just starting out.”

Your Turn: Have you found a way to make money on social media? Will you be trying any of these?

Disclosure: We have a serious Taco Bell addiction around here. The affiliate links in this post help us order off the dollar menu. Thanks for your support!

This post originally appeared on The Work at Home Wife. The Work at Home Wife has been helping women achieve the freedom of working at home by sharing remote job opportunities and home business ideas since 2010.

The post 9 Fun Ways to Make Money on Social Media appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

source The Penny Hoarder http://ift.tt/1OBE1cc

This Couple’s Seriously Weird Money-Saving Strategy Is Also an Awesome Party Trick

Entrepreneur Scott Alan Turner and his wife Katie have beat the system when it comes to owning cats: They have no litter boxes in their house.

In 2006 Scott and Katie decided to eliminate the mess and cost of cat litter in their house by — are you paying attention? — toilet training their cats.

You might have heard about it before and thought of a toilet-trained cat as a neat trick or an oddity to brag about to your friends.

But have you thought about how much money it could save you?

Why Would You Toilet Train a Cat?

The ASPCA says the average cat owner spends $165 per year on cat litter. Over the life of your cat, that means a savings of $2,000-$3,000.

On top of that, you don’t have to fight over who’s turn it is to clean the litter box. And Scott adds, “It makes for a great party trick.”

Before training, Scott estimates he was spending about the average on litter for his cat Riker (Star Trek fans?). When he and Katie moved into a 1,200-square-foot townhouse, they added another cat to the family.

The rule of thumb is to have one more litter box than you have cats. That means for their two cats, Scott and Katie would have to find places for three litter boxes in their new home. They needed a more creative solution.

With some research online, Katie learned about cat toilet training, “but the information was all over the place,” Scott explains.

So they decided to take training into their hands.

“It was a fun project,” Scott says, “because we got to do it together. And the cats didn’t mind being in the spotlight [for the training videos].”

Yes, Training Videos

That’s right. This wiley couple not only got two cats to use a human toilet, but they also created and sold a DVD titled Scoop No More! with instructions for recreating their success.

Because of the advance in internet technology and the hassle of packing and shipping a physical product, the DVDs are no longer available. Instead, you can watch the training for free on YouTube.

How to Toilet Train a Cat

How do you get a cat out of the box and onto the toilet seat?

The process is actually quite simple.

It involves, in a nutshell, creating a mock litter box to set into the toilet bowl. Gradually, you’ll increase a hole in the middle until your cat is standing on the toilet seat and going directly into the toilet.

Commercial cat toilet training systems follow a similar method, but cost around $20 to $50. They also don’t allow for adjustments to meet your cat’s individual needs.

“We chose to DIY because the off-the-shelf products [use] fixed increments [to increase the size of the hole],” Scott explains. With their DIY method, you can increase the size of the hole in the makeshift toilet litter box at a pace that keeps your cat comfortable.

Their DIY system costs about $30 upfront in supplies, most of which you may already have around the house, or can purchase at a grocery or home supply store.

• Duct tape
• Padded or wooden toilet seat (recommended)
• Litter box and scoop
• Flushable cat litter
• Smell remover (recommended)
• Cat treats
• Step/stool (if your cat needs a boost to reach the toilet seat)
• Aluminum roasting pan or Sitz Bath
• Tremel (if you use the Sitz bath method)

What About Flushing the Toilet?

Scott and Katie also purchased an automatic flusher to install on their toilet. It’s an upfront investment of about $150, but will save you the hassle of flushing after your cat and likely make your bathroom a little bit more welcoming for your family and guests.

With the auto flusher, which works just like the ones you see in public restrooms, the toilet flushes as soon as the cat (or a human) uses it.

For the couple’s two cats, that means a few extra flushes each day, but they haven’t seen a notable increase on their water bill for it.

“Water’s cheap,” Scott points out.

Jake and Riker. Image from Scott Turner and Katie Cline.

How Long Will Cat Toilet Training Take?

The most important “tool” you have to bring to the training process, Scott and Katie say, is patience.

“Cats are not used to doing this,” he reminds us. “You’re asking your cat to stand over a bowl of water.”

Don’t push your cat too fast, and don’t get upset if (when) they have an accident. Instead, reward your cat when they do well, and be prepared for accidents.

Keep your cat in a large bathroom or kitchen, for example, that has a linoleum or wood floor that’s easier to clean than carpet or absorbent furniture.

The couple’s cats, Jake and Riker, took about a month and a half to fully toilet train. Jake was a little quicker, Riker a little slower. Some customers report their cats have been able to train in just two weeks; some take up to 12.

Younger cats are much easier to train, especially kittens who aren’t yet used to using a litter box.  “But cats of any age can do it as long as they’re healthy,” says Scott.

You just have to be willing to know and work with your individual cat.

Give It a Shot

And for those who, like me, imagine the biggest challenge for a cat using a toilet would be balancing on the seat, Scott reminds us, “Cats are very agile.” Of course — I should have thought of that!

However strange or challenging it may seem, if you’re a cat owner toying with the idea of toilet training, Scott encourages you to go for it.

“It’s worthwhile. It’s fun, cheap to try, and you can save a lot of money doing it.”

Your Turn: Do you have a cat who is toilet trained? Would you consider toilet training your cat?

Disclosure: We appreciate you letting us include affiliate links in this post. It helps keep the beer fridge stocked in the Penny Hoarder break room.

Dana Sitar is a Staff Writer at The Penny Hoarder. She also writes about writing, work, life and love for blogs and books and sometimes things people care about, like Huffington Post and that one time she had an article published in the Onion. Follow along on Twitter @danasitar.

The post This Couple’s Seriously Weird Money-Saving Strategy Is Also an Awesome Party Trick appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

source The Penny Hoarder http://ift.tt/1Qs7Zyk