The thought is that there are going to literally be hundreds of thousands of people looking for work, OR HAVING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAKE A LIVING FOR THEMSELVES! 

i BELIEVE STRONGLY that most people have it inside themselves to operate a successful small business.  What they need is for someone to guide them through the aspects of business ownership that seem tough or mysterious…for example; setting up an LLC, getting a tax id number, state and local taxes, employment practices, obtaining a loan, etc. 

For the past 10 years I’ve been going through the business start-up process over and over again, and with much success.  I could probably get something going in my sleep.  That being said, I’m putting it out there that for all you “Almost Millionaires” who are looking to get a business started, I’m here to help! 

If you have a specific question about starting a business in Michigan, or anywhere in the US for that matter, send me an email thealmostmillionaire@gmail.com with your question.  I’ll do my best to answer it in a post, or we can dialog via e-mail.  I’m hoping I can offer some free advice (becuase it is always worth what you pay for it) that will make a difference if someones life!  And I’m hoping to fuel the entrepreneurial spirit that is waiting to be unleashed here in Michigan!

I spent about 3 hours yesterday afternoon trying to answer the above question.  What is Clickbank?  My secondary question was…How do I use Clickbank to further monetize my Internet real estate.  AdSense has been a great start, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve spent the last year as a one trick pony.  That strategy is not going to work in 2009 if this is the year I figure out how to make $5000 a month via web investments.  And by the way, I’ve decided that I’m going to figure out this online income thing without buying anyones Carbon Copy System.  Maybe that is stupid, but I consider myself of average intelligence, so I darn well should be able to figure things out this year. 

ALL THAT BEING SAID, Clickbank seems to offer some interesting opportunities.  The deal is that you sign us as an affiliate and get paid a commission on any products that are sold from leads generated from your web properties.  This is great, but I see a bit of a problem.  I DON’T EVER want to suggest a product that I don’t believe in 100%.  I know that there are great opportunities there, but I need to sift through the thousands of Garbage Opportunities to find the jewels that I can promote and suggest. 

So that is where I am, and I would truly appreciate any comments regarding your experience with Clickbank and what products, if any, your have found that truly add value to peoples lives…because that is what it is all about for me.  I want to help, every day, even if it is only in a little way.

1. Go on a Diet! This is a great tip for your physical health and well being, but it is also a great tip for fattening up your pocketbook and not your gut.  The average American spends over $1500 per year eating out.  By cutting this in half and eating healthy stuff that is probably already in your pantry, you can save money and calories!
2. Go on a Budget!  This seems oversimplified and common sense BECAUSE IT IS!  Everyone knows they should track their spending, but few of us actually make a budget and stick to it.  Make 2009 your year to actually do it.  Sarah and I did it for all of 2008, and we cut our spending by almost $30,000 when compared with our 2007 spending.  We are looking to trim the fat even more in our 2009 budget!
3. Carpool or Ride Your Bike!  With gas prices at 4 year lows, it would be easy for me to take the H2 out of storage and drive it all over God’s green earth.  No Way.  I’m looking to keep the fuel costs down as much as possible in 2009, and lower my carbon footprint in the process!
4. Read More!  Knowledge in power, so if you don’t read, your knowledge base is growing at a slower pace than it should be.  There is tons of great information out there to help you spend and save wisely, but you must invest the time to get the knowledge!
5. Increase Your 401K Contributions!  If you have more than 10 years until retirement, this is a must.  I am bullish on the world economy over the long term.  We will have our ups and downs, but I believe we will continue to grow and innovate.  Don’t stop investing now because of fear, stay the course!  If your retiring soon, or are a nervous investor, talk to an expert.  Advice is always worth what you pay for it!
6. Start A Business!  Technology and the Internet has made it SO EASY to start your own Home Business, and be successful at it!  Turn your hobbies into cash flow.  If you like knitting, sell your stuff on ebay.  If you collect things, learn how to buy, sell, and trade them for a profit.  Use your imagination, it is easier than you think.  This will be extra work, for sure, but it beats wasting time in from of the TV every day!
7. Pinch Pennies!  I suggest that in January of each year you revisit every bill that you pay on a monthly basis.  I promise you can find savings very quickly and easily.  Maybe scale back your cable bill, renegotiate your auto and homeowners insurance, use Blockbuster Online instead of driving to the video store every weekend, make your home more energy efficient, find a better rate for any credit card balances you are carrying.  These actions and many more will pay off BIG in 2009
8. Unclutter You House! Get rid of everything that you don’t at least use once a month.  Sell it on Craigslist or E-bay.  Then make an inventory of all your important possessions and make sure you are properly insured via a homeowners or renters policy.  Make sure you are not overpaying for stuff you no longer own!
9. Start a Blog!  Blogging is a great way to get your thoughts organized and keep you motivated to make the changes that you need to make.  It is fun and easy to do! 
10. Work Harder!  Times are tough and many great people are losing their jobs.  My suggestion to you is to work that much harder at whatever it is you do to bring home the bacon.  Become the “we cannot lose, period” employee at your job.  This is often thankless extra effort, but it is worth it in the long run.  I believe great effort is always richly rewarded over the long haul!

Blessings on all your endeavors for 2009.  Let’s make this a year to be smart and move the ball down the field as far as we possibly can!

Many of you are hesitant about Network Marketing in general…as I have always been too.  But we have all been pretty quick to point out that saving families and businesses money on their natural gas bill and potentially other services they are already using, seems like the most solid networking marketing business model we have ever seen. 

This is especially evident when compared to juice’s, travel memberships, soaps, etc. 

So that being said, my wife and I are extremely excited about this business opportunity.  Sarah is doing a great job working on marketing our services to everyone that she meets.  It is really not hard to try to save people money on things they are already spending cash on every month.

http://www.teamccm.com/bansel Visit for more information!

Team CCM is based out of Toledo, OH and was formed recently to market the Natural Gas Choice services of Volunteer Energy in Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. 

I’m extremely excited about this opportunity as it is the first time in my life that I’ve found a network marketing company with something truly exciting to offer.  It is so easy to simply ask everyone I meet if they would allow me to see is I can save them some money on their natural gas bill each month.  This is very different than asking people to buy juices, vitamins, etc.  Nothing like that ever interested me in the past. 

I’ve been very impressed with the consistent savings that can be offered by Volunteer Energy when compared to the local gas monopolies in MI, OH, and PA.  You can visit the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio’s WEBSITE and review their Apples to Apples chart of the various natural gas Choice providers in Ohio.  I was excited to find that Volunteer offered the best variable rate in Ohio the most recent time that chart was published. 

I will keep you all posted on my progress in saving everyone in Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania money on their monthly natural gas bill!

Basically the deal is that it is very hard to send a video over e-mail that the recipient can actually play on his computer without having to download formatting software. It appears that Talk Fusion has some kind of patented system that allows you to send video e-mail to anyone, and they GUARANTEE that the receiver will be able to play it on their computer without any special software.

The gentleman who introduced me to this opportunity is an extremely nice guy named Bill Lomas. Bill is sold on this product and doing extremely well. The product costs about $350 up front and about $20 per month depending on how may folks you have in your contacts list who will receive video e-mails from them.

The only issue that I have with the program is the MLM component. I am kind of unclear about the compensation plan. I’ve been too busy to sit down with Bill and try to figure it out, but when I do, I will let you know what the deal is and if I think there is an opportunity there for us.

Please let me know if you have had any connection points with video e-mail, and what your experience was.

I’ve spoke with Bill several times since my first Blogger post about Talk Fusion.  He appears to still be doing great.  That being said, I don’t believe that I’m going to take the leap.

ChaCha.com is a service where you can text any question that you can think of to 242242 (chacha) and you will very quickly get a text message back with an accurate answer.  It is an extremely cool service.  It is free, you have to check it out!

Anyways, they rely on a network of tens of thousands of “guides” to answer the millions of questions that they get every month.  THIS IS THE OPPORTUNITY!

I’ve just signed my wife up for the program.  She will be paid between $.10 and $.20 per question that she answers, and she can log on to their program at her convience, whenever she is available to do a little work.  We figure that she can answer about 50 questions in about an hour.  So the money is not amazing, but the work is fun and flexible.  If she averages $7.00 per hour, it will add an additional $140 a month if she works just 5 hours a week.  This is cash that will go a long way in this tough economy. 

I’ll keep you posted on how things progress!