Proof of Identity

Most lenders of traditional and online loans will not loan money to individuals if those applicants cannot provide some sort of proof of their identity. This means you must have a valid government issued identification of some type. Even something as simple as a driver’s license will be sufficient.

Proof of Residence

Many lenders require that you be able to prove that you do in fact live where you say you live. This can often be verified by providing the lender with a copy of a recent utility bill or the contact information for a landlord. Having a verifiable residence is an indication of stability, something that lenders tend to desire when it comes to lending anyone money.

Proof of Income

Demonstrating that you have the ability to repay the loan is extremely important. To that end, providing verification of employment or documentation that confirms other streams of income will be part of the application process. Provide legal documents such as employment check stubs, child support payments, dividend payments or any other documentation that proves you have consistent income that can be used to repay your debt. Even short-term lending arrangements, such as payday and similar types of online loans, will require verification of income before the loans can be approved.

Credit Ratings and Scores

Lenders not only want to make sure you have enough money coming in to honor your debt, but that you are up to date on your current obligations. For this reason, lenders will often order credit reports from at least two of the major credit reporting agencies. A great deal of attention will be given not only to your credit score but also any positive and negative feedback that current and former creditors have submitted to the agencies. For this reason, it’s a good idea for the applicant to order copies of his or her reports ahead of time and go over them carefully. If any data on the reports is outdated or incorrect, steps should be taken to update the reports before applying for any loan.

With so many loan options today, it is sometimes confusing to know exactly how to prepare before submitting a loan application. Check with lenders in advance, since most will provide a breakdown of the information required as well as any supporting documentation. Taking the time to assemble the right data in advance means there are no delays in considering the merits of your application and receiving an answer. Assuming you do meet all the lender’s criteria, the application will be approved and the borrower can begin to use the proceeds from the loan for the intended purpose.

I have a friend who is a Six Sigma, black belt Ninja for a fortune 300 company here in Michigan.  My understanding is that his job is to dive deep into many different areas of the company, seek to understand, and then to offer insights and perspectives to improve those areas if he can.

When I asked him to give an overview of his process for trying to express an opinion, and improve upon, areas of a company that he may not fully understand…his answer struck me…

“I JUST LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE WHO ARE DOING THE WORK.”

He went on to explain that he has observed over the past 10 years that management can no longer take a top down approach to leading their employees.  Today’s workers are educated and informed, and the best way to lead them is to simply ask them “What can we do, to help you do what you do, even better?”

By asking questions like this and others, and by genuinely trying to inspire and serve the workers he is tasked to help improve, he earns their respect and trust…and can get things done!  In contrast, he believes he would be a complete failure if he simply observed an area, made notes, and then told these folks what HE thought they needed to DO.  That is the management style of the past, that just doesn’t work here anymore!

Anyways, it was a great conversation, and I could go on for an hour.  The bottom line is this…The only thing that is truly required of anyone in a leadership position, in business today, is to serve those you work with!

ENJOY THE CITY http://www.enjoythecity.com is a Fundraising company that allows you group or organization to sell fundraising books to earn money for whatever it is you are raising money for.

For Example, a group at my church was selling these coupon books for $20, and I believe that the church group gets to keep 50% of that money, or $10.00.

Initially, these books with hundreds of restaurant and other coupons seems like a great deal…mostly because they have several pizza restaurants involved that actually offer you a coupon for a FREE pizza is you meet the manager.

For Example, Today I drove 40 minutes to Happy’s Pizza at 6045 S. Cedar St. in Lansing, MI to use my “Enjoy the City” coupon the says the following “MEET THE MANAGER SPECIAL:  ENJOY ONE FREE LARGE TWO-TOPPING PIZZA”  No purchase necessary, carry out only!  Valid through December 31 2012. I was VERY excited to use this coupon to try a new pizza place, and truly, these types of coupons was EXACTLY why I bought the coupon book in the first place.

When I go to use the coupon, the girl at Happy’s Pizza tells me the following, “We are not accepting these coupons!  This is fraud, and we never signed up for this program.  We feel terrible, and have upset a lot of potential customers.”  I was very upset, and she told me the following…”The coupon book companies phone number is 1.866.359.2489, you can call them to complain.”

I, of course, try to call ENJOY THE CITY to ask for my $20 back…but as you can expect, no one at the company will answer the phone.  My only option was to leave a message…we will see how that goes.

This seems a little bit like my Restaurant.com problem!

Has anyone else had a problem with the  ENJOY THE CITY Fundraising program?  Let me know!

Thanks,   -TAM

The major banks are getting REALLY aggressive with their credit card rewards programs.  It seems like I’m seeing an ad on ever site I visit tempting me to open up a new credit card account with Chase or Citibank…and their are offering me 50,000 Bonus Points, and more, if I take the plunge.

This is a pretty amazing deal!  These bonus points are very easily turned into cash or gift cards at almost any major retailer or restaurant.  The catch is that generally you have to spend around $3000 on the card, in the first 3 months that your new account is open, t0 get the bonus rewards.

In addition to the bonus, you still get the normal 1%, or somethings 2%, rebates on all of your purchases.  The free stuff can add up fast if you are a big spender and if you pay off your card in full each month.

Conclusion:  The best offer that I’ve found at this point is from Citibank.  Check out http://www.citi.com/rewards

Remember, USE CREDIT CARDS WISELY!  If you buy a bunch of stuff you don’t need, or carry a balance and pay interest, you will never get ahead…and you could be stuck being an “Almost Millionaire” forever

Is Quicken Loans a Scam?

I had had a relatively good experience with a mortgage refinance with Quicken, and had suggested Quicken to a friend, but my friend felt like Quicken Loans scammed him out of $750.00.

As of today’s date, this question about Quicken Loans has lead to over 110 comments…and most of them are truly worth taking the time to read.  Many of my readers have left rather lengthy accounts, and sadly, many feel they were duped by “mortgage experts” at quicken loans.

I give you this update because this morning I found This Quicken Loans Article online and it made me sad for my readers who have complained.  I don’t know anything more about this West Virginia fraud case, but my suggestion is to do your research before giving Quicken Loans, or any mortgage company, any upfront deposit money.

Again, I personally had a very good refinancing experience with Quicken here in Michigan in 2009, but there is quite a bit of feedback here that stopped me from using them a second time, when I refinanced again this week.

What a big, fat waste of time and money!

Restaurant.com advertised that I could buy a $25 Gift Certificate for a small restaurant located near me…The End Zone…in Horton, MI FOR ONLY $10!!!

What a great deal, I was excited to try a new place!  I loaded up my 4 kids, and my wife, and jumped into the Ford Expedition for our mini road trip.

So we get to The End Zone, order drinks, and immediately give our gift certificate to the waitress.  We are excited to try $35 worth of food and drinks (that is a stipulation of the deal, our gift certificate clearly says that to use the $25, we need to spend at least $35…not hard for a family of six!

The waitress frowns and tells me that The End Zone in Horton, MI, DOES NOT participate with Restaurant.com, and that I’ve been scammed!

I WAS MAD!  How does this happen?  Restaurant.com seemed like a legal website.  Are they selling gift certificates to restaurants WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF THE RESTAURANT OWNER?

Please let me know if this has happened to anyone else!!!

1. Writing

If you like to write, there are many ways to make passive income online by doing so. Certain sites, like About.com, HubPages, and Triond allow you to publish your writing online and keep getting paid for it, long after you have written the information. These sites make it easy to get your writing published, and you usually make money every time a person views your articles or web pages.

2. Photography

Many people love taking photos, but don’t always know what to do with them once they’ve taken them. If this sounds like you, you should try selling your photos online. Many people, such as advertisers, writers, and graphic designers, are always in need of quality photographs for their projects. They will pay you a one-time fee for photos they want, and can use them however they wish. You can sell photos on your own website, but often times you don’t even need your own site to do so. Many sites, such as iStock, will display your photos for you, but will keep a portion of your sales.

3. Music

If you enjoy making music, you can sell your creations online, much as you would with photographs. Various businesses, websites, and directors are continuously on the lookout for music that would enhance their projects. Again, they pay you a one-time fee for tracks they want, and can use them anyway they choose. You can do this through your own music store website, but many sites exist that will sell them for you for a cut of the profit. You basically keep making money on tracks that you have already created, which is a cool concept.

4. E-books

If you believe you have some information that people would like to know and learn about, you can write an e-book detailing this information. If people are interested enough, they will buy your e-book. There are great benefits to writing an e-book, like not having to wait for a publishing offer, and not having to worry about the physical aspects that go along with real books. You can create your own sales page for your e-book, where you would receive all the profits, or you can sell it through a website like Amazon.com. If you choose to sell it through another site, they will again be keeping a percentage of your sales.

5. Affiliate Advertising

If you have your own website, you can make money by promoting other people’s goods and services on your site. For example, if your website is focused on gardening, you can partner with other companies that you think would be of interest to your followers. These may include gardening supply companies or seed companies. You can place advertisements of these companies on your site, and each time a visitor clicks on their ad and then orders something or fills out a form, you receive a commission from the company you advertised.

6. Drop Shipping

Drop shipping is a fairly simple method for earning passive income online. You basically get paid for selling items that you never physically see. You display the items on your website, and each time someone purchases something, the order gets forwarded on to a wholesaler that physically has the products and ships them for you. Your main job is to create a brilliant, memorable website that catalogs all your products. You will also need a few wholesalers that will work with you. In the beginning, you may have to pay a fee to these wholesalers, but from there on out, everything should be profit. Drop shipping is quite genius because you personally hold no stock of products, meaning you only pay for what you sell.

7. Designing Products

Working with sites like CafePress, you can create various designs, choose what type of products you want your designs on, and CafePress makes them. These products may include t-shirts, mugs, and bumper stickers. All you have to do is promote your products, send your design to the company, and they take care of the manufacturing and shipping of the products you wish to sell. They keep part of the profits from your sales, and you get the remainder.

Guest post from Bailey Harris. Bailey writes for InsuranceQuotes.org.

If you love politics at all, you have got to have a deep respect for the guy who is beating his feet, door to door, to let his neighbors know that he is the best choice to represent their interests. 

In the digital world, this old tried and true political strategy packs more punch than ever. 

Case in point…

Today my wife sends me a text message.  She lets me know a wonderfully nice gentleman named Earl was walking through the neighborhood today, rang our doorbell, and asked for our vote.  He is running for State Representative.  She also mentions that Earl asked what we did for a living…she told him…and wouldn’t you know…I’ve met Earl a time or two. 

This common bond struck up a meaning ful conversation, and my wife became a fan of Earl.  In the digital world of facebook, twitter, four square and the like…suddenly it is easy, and natural, for my wife and I to broadcast to our circle of influence…WE LIKE EARL!

All this to say, IN BUSINESS AND IN LIFE you can never discount the power of the human connection to spark a digital message.  This one easy stop probably will turn into hundreds of impressions for our new friend Earl…and he probably never even thought of that!

Simple rule #1 

All that a blog really is is CONTENT…and content has value because there are hundreds of millions of people a day searching for ANSWERS to their questions or solutions to their problems.  I produce content about once a month, and I try to deliver that content as answers to questions.  I consider myself the average joe, and when I google, I ask a questions.  For Example: “What is a good pizza recipe?”

Simple rule #2

It is OK to include advertisements and sponsors near your content!  Google is so good at delivery of relevant advertisments, including adsense ads on your site actually ENHANCES your readers experiences by making it even easier for them to find what they need. 

Simple Ruly #3

Blogging must be fun before it will be profitable.  From day one I was excited about the challenge of making money online!  With the skills that you can acquire online, come economic meltdowns or high water, it is truly possible to make a darn good living by providing content and selling “value” on the Internet…not that is fun to me.

Simple Rule #4

Keep evolving your online strategy.  I believe that the best blog is the one that gets your “feet wet” to the world of online revenue.  For me, this blog has led to full blown e-commerce, iPhone applications, distribution businesses, and my newest venture into the service world of Local Logic.  The world wide web is changing daily, and it is critical to stay on top of the wave!

It seems to me like if you drive an old clunker, you probably put pretty little value on the “looks” of your vehicle.  And I’m guessing that you probably HATE the thought of spending a years salary on buying a new one when your old one is serving you just fine and is allowing you to keep putting food on the table. 

I could be missing something, but WHO CAN AFFORD a new car at today’s inflated prices, without job security, with the value of your home in the tanks, with taxes going up, and with your investments a fraction of their former selves.  Not to mention that wages are decreasing across the country and millions of people who do have jobs are having to take paycuts and are under employed. 

Is it stupid to think that a better plan may have been to incentivize WEALTHY AMERICANS to start buying more and newer cars.  They actually have the cash to do it…and they can give their old Cadillacs to their grand kids or something like that.  Give the rich people a tax break for once and see how they open up their pocketbooks and jump start consumer spending. 

Trickle down baby, trickle down!