Financial Samurai recently launched the Yakezie Challenge…a challenge for bloggers to improve their Alexa ranking while also helping to promote other members of the challenge so they can improve their own ranking.
I can’t believe I missed out on it for this long…but many thank yous to Mrs Accountability and FFB for posting about the challenge because now I’m going to jump in head first!
My goals for this challenge are as follow…
- Achieve an Alexa ranking of under 200,000
- Increase my readership and traffic
- Write some guest posts on other blogs to build my reputation
- And most importantly…network with other bloggers and make some friends.
Now I’ve never really paid much attention to Alexa rankings because I think they are flawed. But I have to admit that they hold a lot of sway in the blogosphere and having a high ranking site can open a lot of doors that would otherwise be slammed in your face.
As I start this challenge on March 8, 2010 my Alexa ranking is 1,615,590 so I have a loooong way to go to reach the top 200,000. But I’ll get there one step at a time.
I really think the Yakezie challenge is an fantastic idea. The key is for everyone involved to help each other as much as possible so we can all pull ourselves to the top together.
So you’ll be seeing lots of fellow Yakezie challenge blogs in my link roundups and posts. And if you have your own blog why not step up and join the challenge?
I was playing around with the Google Keyword Tool looking for ideas to write about and I found something pretty funny…there’s a lot of people looking for excuses to get out of work!
Here’s a small sample of the various keywords people use when looking for good excuses to get out of work. The number next to each phrase is the number of searches per month.
| excuses not to work |
5400 |
| get out of work excuses |
4400 |
| excuses for not going to work |
3600 |
| excuses to get out of work |
3600 |
| not going to work excuses |
3600 |
| missing work excuses |
2900 |
| best work excuses |
2400 |
| excuses for missing work |
2400 |
| excuses to miss work |
1900 |
| miss work excuses |
1900 |
| off work excuses |
1900 |
| work excuse letter |
1900 |
| excuse from work |
1600 |
| best excuses for work |
1300 |
| good excuses for work |
1300 |
| good excuses to get out of work |
1300 |
| late work excuses |
1300 |
| work sick excuses |
1300 |
| excuses not to go to work |
1000 |
| good work excuse |
1000 |
| late for work excuses |
1000 |
| best work excuse |
880 |
| best excuses for missing work |
720 |
| excuses that work |
720 |
Now I’m guessing most people are looking for real work excuses so they can stay home and sit on the couch watching The Price is Right or General Hospital…but I’ll assume you want to stay home so you can concentrate on building your blog or doing something else productive with your time. 
Anyway I called my buddy Joe who works as an office manager/HR guy for a small business and asked what were the craziest real work excuses he had ever heard? Here’s a few of his favorites…
“I need off so I can try out for American Idol.”
“I have no heat in my apartment.” (Wouldn’t you WANT to come to work where its warm?)
“I have a lot going on and need to reflect on things and find myself.”
“I hurt my wrist playing Guitar Hero.”
“I’m getting a boob job.”
“Man, I TOLD my wife the chicken looked undercooked!”
“I’m in a 3-day Madden tournament.”
“It looks like it might snow.”
“Dude, its March Madness time!”
“I need a month off while I serve a 30 day sentence.” (This guy actually called from prison!)
I want to hear from you…leave a comment below with the craziest excuse you ever gave your boss so you could skip work…
If you’re looking for a painless way to sneak a few extra servings of fruits and vegetables into your diet then you should pick up some V8 V-Fusion juice. Each 8 ounce glass has 1/2 cup of fruit and 1/2 cup of vegetables. Plus it’s delicious!
My kids love it too which is great because it is 100% juice with no added sugar (I’m trying to break my own soda habit and set a good example so they don’t go for sweetened drinks all the time).
If you want to try it out for yourself you can get a printable coupon for V8 V-Fusion juice at TryV8.com. You do have to provide an email address but the coupon prints automatically so you can use a throwaway email.
The coupon is for $1 off any 6-pack of slim cans or 46 oz bottle.
Click here to download your V8 printable coupon.
Are you looking for a business opportunity that doesn’t require a lot of start up capital but has plenty of room for growth?
Have you considered picking up dog poop?
Don’t laugh…I’m serious! Dog waste removal is a growing market that is still largely untapped. There’s still time for you to get in on the ground floor and build a profitable business for yourself. And all you really need to get started is a shovel and some plastic bags.
According to The Humane Society of the United States, thirty-nine percent of US households own at least one dog. That’s a lot of poop that needs to be cleaned up. Smart people like you can really clean up by picking up after other people’s pets.
Here are some tips to help you get your pooper scooper business started:
1. The first thing you should do is call your town and find out about business licenses and regulations regarding the removal of waste. It’s important to make sure you don’t inadvertently break any laws.
2. Start small. Ideally you want to have a whole bunch of clients all in one neighborhood so you can limit fuel costs and commuting time.
3. Promoting your business is absolutely essential if you want to be successful. Most dog owners probably don’t even know that poop-scooping services are available so you’ll have to get the word out. Try making flyers and posting them around your neighborhood. Ask local veterinarians and animal shelters if you can post a flyer in their offices. And once you land a few clients you can start asking for referrals. You might even want to offer a discount to clients who bring you business.
4. Try to map out a schedule and stick to it. Especially if you are starting your business part-time, you’ll need to manage your time efficiently. Set certain days as “pickup” days and leave the rest of the time to administrative duties and promotion to bring in new business.
5. Check out your competitors to see what kind of prices they charge. Prices will vary from one region to the next so you’ll want to be sure your rates are competitive.
6. Provide an excellent service. If you do a crappy job you won’t be invited back. But if you do good work you can build long term relationships with customers and also reap the benefits of referrals.
Running your own pooper scooper business may not be the most glamorous way to make money but it can be very profitable if you’re willing to get your hands dirty (no pun intended).
This post is part of my continuing series on ways to make money. To receive free updates so you don’t miss future posts you can subscribe to my RSS feed.
by Mike on February 28, 2010
I love getting stuff for free, don’t you?
Here’s a link where you can get a coupon for FREE Excedrin product (up to $5.99).
All you have to do is answer one question indicating which pain relievers you’ve used in the past 12 months. Do NOT check off Excedrin though. If you do you’ll only get a $2 coupon. And you want the freebie right?
Don’t check off Excedrin and when you click Submit you’ll go to a page where you can enter your name and address so you can receive your free coupon for Excedrin. It says to allow 3 to 5 days for delivery which is pretty good.
I just filled it out myself so hopefully I’ll have my coupon by the end of the week.
by Mike on February 26, 2010
If you’re like most people you can expect to receive an annual tax return between $2,000 and $3,000. While that’s not exactly a life-changing sum, it is enough to shore up your financial situation a bit if you use it wisely.
Here are 7 smart things you can do with your tax return:
1. Start an emergency fund. Most people don’t have an emergency fund and if you’re one of them you could be in trouble if you suddenly find yourself out of work. Set aside your tax return to start an emergency fund or add to one you already have.
2. Pay down your debt. It may just be a drop in the bucket compared to what you owe, but your tax return can at least put a dent in your credit card debt.
3. Make a principal-only payment on your mortgage. If you can manage to do this annually you’ll pay off your mortgage years early and save thousands of dollars in interest. Just make sure your lender applies the entire amount to principal.
4. Start a college fund for your kids. Face it…college isn’t cheap and it’s getting more and more expensive every year. Take your tax return and open up a 529 plan to help pay those expenses when your little ones are older.
5. Sock it away for retirement. Open up an IRA account for you or your spouse (or both) and deposit your tax return so it can grow until you’re ready to retire.
6. Use it to improve yourself. Take a class and learn something new. It’s important to invest in yourself…improve your skills, make yourself more marketable and increase your earning power.
7. Send it to me as a gift! Just kidding…I’m sure I could put your tax return to good use but you’re better off using it to improve your own financial situation.
by Mike on February 23, 2010
Man, there is a mean virus out there and it’s been whipping through my family for the last week.
My one daughter got it first last Sunday and she’s still not 100% a full 8 days later. Her fever got up to 104.5 and she had pneumonia and has been on antibiotics and nebulizer treatment.
My other daughter has been mostly fine except for a nagging cough though she had a slight fever last night.
The baby has had a horrible cough and he is also on the nebulizer.
I’ve had a fever, cough, congestion, and that “just got hit by a truck” feeling since Thursday. Today’s the first day I’m not glued to the couch and I’m still far from 100 percent. My head feels like it is 10 feet underwater and I barely have any voice at all.
All together I had 3 copays to pay for doctor visits for me and 2 of my kids (so far…we’ll see if my wife and other daughter make it through). Plus there were more copays for the prescriptions as well as a couple of over the counter items. All in all I’m out about $150 because of this lousy virus.
I know it would be a lot worse if it weren’t for insurance, but geez.
by Mike on February 18, 2010
I’m sick with a fever and my daughter is home from kindergarten with pneumonia so I’m kind of kicking back my feet a bit and catching up on some reading. This morning I was browsing around the halls of Reddit when I noticed this fascinating article from New Scientist that claims Google pulls in half a BILLION dollars each year thanks to typos.
I have no idea if those numbers are accurate but I wouldn’t be surprised. There’s a whole industry that revolves around typed in domain names. “Domainers” as they’re sometimes called buy up lots of lots of domains with no intention at all of developing them into a website. Instead they simply leave them “parked” and when visitors arrive at them all they see are a bunch of ads.
The whole business model revolves around domains that are either:
1. Typos of well known sites. If you’re trying to visit Copyblogger.combut forget a “g” you’ll be taken to a site that consists solely of ads. If your site becomes big enough you’ll start to see copycats trying to steal some of your traffic like this too.
2. Keyword phrases that naturally get lots of searches and potential type in traffic. For example, let’s say you are going to a show in Manhattan and you want to find a nice place to eat while you’re there. You might open your browser and type in a phrase like “restaurantsinny.com”. If you do you’ll be taken to another site with nothing but ads.
When you click on any of the ads on these sites the owner gets paid. And if they’re using AdSense ads then Google gets a cut too.
Now, historically Google has always demanded that AdSense publishers deliver unique, quality content. In fact you could be denied participation in the program if your site isn’t up to snuff.
But with the launch of Google AdSense for Domains the Big G seems to have changed its tune. There’s no content at all on these parked sites yet they are allowed into the club. I guess half a billion dollars is too good to pass up…even for Google.
by Mike on February 16, 2010
How closely do you pay attention to the cashier at your local supermarket? Do you check your receipt to make sure you’re not being overcharged?
Sunday evening I ran to Shoprite to pick up a couple of things. While I was trying to explain to my daughter that no she can’t have the giant, overpriced Blue’s Clues balloon I was overcharged for 2 bags of cheesy popcorn.
They were supposed to be on sale for 2 for $3, which would be $1.50 each. But when I got home I scanned the receipt and they had rung up at the full price of $2.99 a bag. Because I was distracted with my daughter I was overcharged $2.98.
Now…what to do?
My wife said I should go back and complain and get my money back. But is it really worth it? Let’s let some basic math decide for us.
The Shoprite I went to is about 6 miles from my house. My wife’s minivan gets about 18 miles per gallon in city driving, so the 12 mile trip to Shoprite and back would burn about 2/3 of a gallon of fuel. At $2.58 per gallon (which is what I paid to fuel up this morning) that little trip would cost me $1.72 in fuel costs.
It would cost me $1.72 to get back my $2.98 so in reality I’d only be ahead $1.26.
If you want to get technical you could factor in wear and tear on the car too. Twelve miles is pretty insignificant in the long run but for laughs let’s work in the cost of an oil change.
If I get the oil changed every 3000 miles and it costs me $26 at the local garage, each mile driven costs $0.0086.
26 / 3000 = 0.0086
Multiply that number by 12 miles driven and it adds a little over 10 cents to the trip. Now it’s actually costing me $1.82 to get my $2.98 refund. I’d end up ahead a measly $1.16.
Is it worth it?
What about the time I’d waste trying to get my refund? I figure it would take me about 30 minutes to drive to Shoprite, park, walk inside, stand on line, explain what happened, get my refund and drive home. Thirty minutes for $1.16.
That’s an hourly rate of just $2.32. If someone offered you a job for $2.32 an hour you’d probably laugh in their face yet you’ll gladly give up your time for the same amount?
My time is valuable to me. I’d rather take that half an hour and write a post for this blog, or work on another site that can earn me far more than $1.16. Or I can take those 30 minutes and spend it doing something fun with my family. Or reading and learning something new. Or pretty much anything other than stand on line in Shoprite.
Yes, I know if I had been paying closer attention in the first place I would have spotted the mistake and had it corrected immediately. But I’ll accept the small loss in exchange for teaching my daughter a small lesson about the difference between “wants” and “needs.” Plus it gave me material for this post…so it wasn’t all bad.
PS – I do realize I could ask for my refund on my next trip to Shoprite but we don’t usually shop there. It’s an inconvenient location and I only stopped there because it was on the way home that evening.
