1.  Credit Amnesty.  Over the past couple of years, many of our economy’s best spenders have gotten themselves into credit problems which have helped to slow down the amount of loans.  Credit amnesty could be offered as a one time economy stimulus, letting those in the credit doghouse, back into the marketplace to spend their hard earned dollars.  Let’s face it, credit reporting has become a bit of tool for credit providers to charge a higher interest rate but that profit isn’t coming back into the economy.  It’s going right into fat cat’s pockets.  Get credit back in the hands of the middle class with credit amnesty and watch purchasing grow back to 1980’s levels of spending.

2.  Lie to people about the state of the economy.  I know this sounds funny but what everybody hears right now is that this is a horrible economy.  What do people do when they hear this?  They clamp down tighter on their money than a bum on a ham sandwich.  This economy depends on consumers purchasing consumer goods and nobody feels like spending.  Tell the folks that your experts say the recession will officially be over on March 1, 2010.  It could even be true because people will believe it and release their death grip on the cash thereby stimulating the economy in all the ways that flowing money creates.  This combined with credit amnesty will have people thinking about buying Escalades again.

These are just a couple of ideas as what you’re doing now just doesn’t seem to be working.  But hey, what do I know, I’m just a silly blogger.

You want a vacation in beautiful Baja, Mexico and you’re driving your car.  Your first thought is “my US auto insurance doesn’t cover us in an accident in Mexico.”  That’s what we thought so when we decided to vacation in Mexico we purchased a border insurance policy on Dairy Mart Road, in San Ysidro, just before you cross into Tijuana.  We had a resort vacation lined up in Ensenada and we had been there several times before, loving our vacation time there.  It was our first anniversary and we decided to take a drive south of Ensenada through the beautiful wine country towards the little fishing village of San Quintin.  It’s a gorgeous, although quite scary drive to San Quintin, as the roads are narrow, in poor condition and the drivers range from exceedingly slow to race car driver speeds.  We had some dinner roadside and it was starting to get dark so we turned back towards Ensenada and this is when it became clear we had committed the sin of driving after dark in Mexico.  As we approached the village of Santo Tomas, a truck coming our way swerved into a car in front of us and started coming directly towards us, causing me to swerve off the road and we were struck at the front of the car, crushing the driver door and tearing off the rear bumper.  The driver of the truck ended up going off the road, crashing into a fence.  We were both in shock and the jolt of the impact wasn’t completely felt at that time but we weren’t severely injured in the accident.

Within ten minutes, an ambulance arrived and the Santo Tomas police to ensure that no one required immediate medical attention.  The Federales arrived within 30 minutes and grilled us – in Spanish of course, no English was spoken by anyone but my wife and I.  They determined the driver of the truck was drunk although he was not arrested.  The Federales asked us to settle the matter with the drunk driver and we insisted that the insurance representative be called to the scene – although this is not how car accidents are resolved in Mexico.  The other driver took a cash settlement for the damage to her car on the spot and we were encouraged to do the same – apparently, the family of the at-fault driver had some money and wanted to settle it because otherwise, a criminal complaint has to be filed and the driver is jailed until the damages are paid.  We did not know this or we would have ended up with some land, cattle and a built a little residence in Santo Tomas.

What ultimately happened was the border insurance company simply refused to pay – until I threatened to sue the US agent, a licensed insurance broker in California.  They finally paid for the totaled vehicle four months after the accident.  We did not have transportation back to the US and had to take a Greyhound bus back to Las Vegas.  Our car became a Mexican taxi cab in Ensenada and we were left to make payments with nothing to drive.  It’s a hard way to learn about border insurance, to actually have your car totaled in Mexico.  The next several times my wife and I crossed into Mexico, we didn’t buy the border insurance.  I hid $500 in the truck that I figured I could use to settle an accident if necessary.  Luckily we didn’t have any more accidents but here are the rules:

1.  Do not drive outside of towns in Mexico at night.

2.  Do not drive with alcohol or drugs in your car – do not drive drunk – they will take YOU to jail – not a Mexican citizen.

3.  Do not try to bribe a Mexican police officer – it they’re dirty, they’ll tell you how much to pay.

4.  Have cash hidden somewhere to settle a car accident.  If it’s the other driver’s fault, do not leave the scene until you have been paid for the damages or you have to file a criminal complaint.

5.  Consider leaving your car in the US and walk across the border – it’s easier coming in and going out, the trolley takes you right there and public transportation in Mexico is very good.

6.  Learn some Spanish – you will get screwed in an accident and could end up in jail if you can’t negotiate.

7.  Buy the border insurance only if you owe money on your car – then you need gap insurance as well.

8.  Have a great time in Mexico – it’s a fantastic and easy place to enjoy a vacation.

Franklin Mint die cast sold on eBay for profit

You’ve seen the show American Pickers, they scour the country looking for lost treasures.  The funny thing is that they seem to run into hoarders.  We discovered that people who hoard possessions tend to have storage units.  We love the show because we used to do this for a living, and let me tell you picking is one of the funnest things we’ve ever done.  When you discover that you bought an old painting at a garage sale for $5 and can sell it for $5000, it’s hard to describe the thrill that brings.  We were small time pickers in comparison – we didn’t have a warehouse, in fact, we had our house stuffed to the gills with treasures we had found.  We picked everywhere but our favorite and by far, the most lucrative picking anywhere is the storage auction circuit in Las Vegas.  See, there is a mini storage on every corner in Las Vegas and they routinely auction the contents of these storage units to the highest bidder.  We were storage pirates and it was the funnest time.  We once picked up a small unit – from outside the unit, all you could see were stacks of white boxes.  They were neatly stacked and it raised the interest of several Las Vegas storage pirates.  The bid went up to $600 and I was just praying that they weren’t empty boxes and sweet Jesus, the boxes were full.

These three 10x15 units sold together for $2000

We had a container full of Franklin Mint die cast cars.  As we unwrapped the pristine packages and started to get to the bottom of this mystery storage unit, it turned out it was inventory from a Franklin Mint dealer and he was getting divorced and his soon to be ex-wife didn’t pay the storage bill.  Ouch.  We sold each of those cars 75 cars on ebay with prices ranging from $50 – $150.  We made at least $4000 profit off that one storage unit.  Another mysterious unit – that made us instant eBay powersellers was another strange story.  A woman in Bakersfield hired a moving company to deliver her household contents, including art, antiques, jewels, and other treasures back to their family home in New Orleans.  While the truck was in transit, Hurricane Katrina hit and her treasures were loaded into three storage units in Las Vegas.  She paid the storage bill for quite some time but fell ill and while in the hospital, her children drained her bank account and the storage bill went delinquent.  It was a strange day in Las Vegas as her storage contents came up for auction.  All the main players were at another auction!  We bought her treasures for $3,000 and resold the contents for over $20,000.  We sold antiques, art and collectibles all over the world.  It was truly exciting and we were the Las Vegas storage pirates!

Here’s the thing about American Pickers.  They do this thing where they pick an item, say how much they paid for it and what it’s valued at but what you don’t see is just how hard it is to sell this stuff.  There’s picking and then there’s selling.  Selling collectibles and antiques can be very challenging.  There’s an enormous amount of research involved and finding a “real” buyer versus a reseller is extremely challenging.  It’s a fun business and easy to get into as there are these little treasures everywhere.  Susan bought a hot-wheels car for .05 cents and sold it on eBay for $100.  I bought a first edition hard cover book at a garage sale for $1 and sold it on eBay for $100 so it is something absolutely anyone can get into.  But the research is crucial and I took the time to lay it all out in a book, specifically about buying and selling.  This is a must read for anyone considering entering the picking market.  Get your copy of it today and you’ll thank me later.

I could ask myself why anyone would want to search for such a thing but I know for every topic that exists in the world, there’s somebody searching for it.  The thing that gets me is the Google data mining aspect – that they keep records of every single search.  Think about this – it’s as if they are mapping human minds – a giant social project that someday could explain the inner workings of human thought.  What conclusions could someone draw about you if they had detailed data of everything you’ve ever searched for on Google – in addition to an analysis of everywhere you’ve ever been on the internet?  Would it be something you’d like to know if you were trying to sell a product – you bet it would – and my guess is we haven’t even seen the tip of the iceberg yet on how Google will profit from this data.  It will be shock and awe.

Just a humble prediction, what’s your thoughts?

What do people think when you tell them you’re a freelance writer?  Well, typically freelance anything equals unemployed.  But I have this great portfolio of my work and references from happy clients.  The market for freelance anything is fiercely competitive.  With so many millions of people unemployed today, don’t you think they’re thinking the same as you – well, hey, I can freelance.  A flood of talent on the market that was otherwise gainfully employed equals a falling rate of pay for freelance work.  How cheap are you willing to sell your stuff for?  Especially if the guy starving next door is willing to undercut you.

Today I woke up and had to look at a calendar to know what day of the week it is because in my freelance world, there’s no difference between Friday, Saturday, Sunday or Monday.  I sit in front of the computer for ten or more hours every day trying to make my daily funds necessary to keep from getting a regular job.  This amount of computer time has some weary effects like the beginning of carpal tunnel.  I have back, neck and shoulder pains constantly from the interface with a keyboard.  It’s just a hazard of the business and of course, there’s no health insurance unless you’re willing to fork out the funds for your own private insurance.

Now hey, I’m not trying to stop anyone from realizing their dreams of being their own boss.  I love it (most of the time) until tax time comes around then there’s a whole separate problem that comes from getting 1099’s like self employment tax and other considerations of self employment.

In looking at freelancing in general I think the absolute best freelance job is as an expert witness.  During my time as a lawyer, I saw these guys and gals who had the credentials to call themselves an expert at something and frankly, they could make enough money freelancing to make the hassles worthwhile.  For instance, they would take a retainer of  $2,000 to $5,000 just to begin a case which typically would involve reviewing the file and making an initial report.  Then they could command $200 an hour for deposition testimony and up to $500 an hour for trial testimony.  Who could be an expert witness?  Anyone who has significant experience (10-20 years) in a field with advanced education and professional associations could call themselves an expert witness.  Becoming an expert witness could be a great way to transition out of a long career and not get complete boredom during retirement.  Expert witnesses can pick and choose the cases they want – they can turn down cases they don’t like and they can basically charge outrageous fees with very little, if any legal exposure to themselves personally.  This I think is a freelance business that makes sense.

You might be wondering if you should purchase a professionally ghostwritten article for your website or blog.  You’ve probably heard that a well written internet article will help you to drive traffic to the keywords of the article.  I ghostwrite articles for clients, giving them custom, keyword rich content for their websites.  It’s not particularly lucrative for me but it helps to pay the bills so I’m willing to do it.  But this isn’t about me – this is a success story a client relayed to me about an article I had ghostwritten for his blog.  Since I maintain strict confidentiality regarding content I ghostwrite, I can’t tell you what the article was about or where it is on the internet.  What I can tell you is that I charged 3 cents per word for a 1000 word article and the client was happy and quickly paid.  A month later, I received an email from the client that the article was ranking high and someone emailed him wanting to purchase a link in the article.  He sold that link for $30.   One month after purchasing the article he had made his money back and profited by ad clicks generated by the article which will continue in the future.

Let’s look at this a little closer.  Why would someone want a link to an internet article?  Well, in this case, the article ranks high in Google and has some keywords which are commonly searched.  The person purchasing this link is hoping to siphon some of that traffic to his site where he’s selling a related product and he’s gaining higher relevancy for his site by a natural text link to his site in a relevant category.  It’s a win-win for the site with the high ranking article and a win for the linked-in site.

I’m happy for the client’s success with the article ghostwritten by me.  It virtually ensures continued business.

Dear Jeff,

Yesterday evening, President Obama delivered his State of the Union address to update the American people on what has been achieved over the past year and to lay out the pathway forward. Much of his speech focused on the progress being made to address the economic crisis, which has hit Nevada particularly hard.

While our country is not yet out of the woods, Sen. Reid and the Obama Administration have played a crucial role bringing the economy back from the brink of a depression caused by the disastrous economic policies of the Bush Administration.

A year ago, the U.S. economy was shedding close to 700,000 jobs a month. It was the leadership of Sen. Reid and President Obama that stemmed those losses.

No one works harder to deliver for Nevada than Sen. Reid. He led passage of the Recovery Act which invested $1.6 billion into the state while putting $500 million back into the pockets of middle-class families. He helped save CityCenter, which is now open for business and employing 12,000 Nevadans. He took action to address the housing crisis, pressuring banks to work with homeowners to reduce foreclosures and holding the Federal Reserve’s feet to the fire to do more to help Nevada’s struggling homeowners.

What’s more, he understood early on how important clean energy technology is for creating good paying jobs in Nevada. Last evening, he invited six top clean energy leaders to attend the State of the Union after hosting a roundtable on how to bring more clean energy jobs to the state. He has already secured over $300 million of Recovery Act funding to invest in job creating renewable energy projects. Additionally financed by the Recovery Act, Senator Reid brokered an agreement to construct a clean energy transmission line between White Pine and Clark counties that will create hundreds of jobs and promote our nation’s energy independence.

However, while positive steps have been taken, they don’t mean very much to Nevada families who are struggling every month to pay their mortgage and who are wondering where their next pay check is coming from.

That’s why Sen. Reid and President Obama will not stop fighting. They recognize that there is still much to achieve.

Sen. Reid will continue fighting to pass health insurance reform that brings down premiums for Nevada families, strengthens Medicare, and keeps insurance companies honest.

He is working to hold Wall Street accountable with strong credit card and banking reforms that crack down on unfair practices and curb the reckless greed that caused the financial crisis.

Sen. Reid will continue investing in Nevada’s roads, bridges, schools, and hospitals to create good paying jobs.

And he will continue working to get credit flowing to small businesses – the engine behind job creation – which will provide a much needed incentive for hiring.

During the first year of President Obama’s Administration we have done so much of the heavy lifting to bring our economy back from complete meltdown.

As President Obama said last night, this is a “new year”.

And Sen. Reid is determined to work closely with the president to continue moving Nevada forward.

Sincerely,

Brandon Hall
Campaign Manager
Friends for Harry Reid

Th a n k you for yo ur in te r e st in the po si t io n at ou r f ir m.
As a re c en t ly fo u n de d a n d ra p id ly gr o wi n g m a r k et i ng fi r m,
we ho p e t o f os te r a f un ye t e f f i c ie nt en v i ro nm en t for ou r ne w
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co mm un ic at io n/i nt e rp e r so na l sk il ls, th e ab i l it y to in t e r a c t with
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C an di da te s m us t be self starters a nd be able to undertake
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Familiarity with o t h er ty p e s o f so ft wa re is a pl u s.

Our policy is to g r ow and ma in t a in a lo n g la s ti n g and m ut u al ly
beneficial business re l at i on sh i p wi th ou r employees. In ke ep i ng
wi t h that s ta nd ar d, our firm of f e r s a comprehensive benefits
p a c k ag e th a t is se co n d to no ne. In ad di t i on, we pa y ou r
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P le as e ta k e a fe w m o me n ts to fi ll ou t ou r on li ne ap pl i ca ti on by
pr es si n g on t he li n k be lo w.

Job Ap p l ic a ti on Link: Apply Here

T h an k you,
Re cr ui tm en t Adviser
H R S ta f f i ng Department

A generic, automated response email comes across as suspicious as well as an online application but hey, I like to check things out so I made sure it wasn’t a funky url and followed it to their crappy little email collection page.  Reveal source code and check out page 2, you can see it here.  It’s collecting email list for spammers and trying to get you to do the “free credit report application” scam which has been going around on cl for awhile now.  It’s a real shame that there are people out there trying to scam legitimate employment seekers but luckily there are people like me willing to take the time to warn others how to spot their scams.