It’s odd, at least for me, writing to nobody in general such as I am doing right now.  I don’t know who, if anybody at all, will end up reading this, and that used to make me pause, and pausing in writing, like most other things that require ‘flow’, is a killer.  So, I’ve just started writing to myself.  I am my own internal audience and I really don’t think about any external audience because, ultimately, that wouldn’t change a thing regarding my writing – the content or quality – but thinking about vague people reading my words can, at the very least, impact my writing, and in the worst-case scenario, cause me to freeze up altogether.

So, if you’re starting a blog or looking to do any sort of writing, my advice – and take it for what it’s worth – is to not worry about your audience, just be concerned with the words and your own value of them.

PS: I realize this is not always true and/or good advice.  For instance, if you are writing for children, it’s obviously a necessity to keep your audience in your mind while writing, etc.  But in general, writing and not being concerned about the reader (i.e. not piling more pressure, stress, strain on yourself while writing) is a good thing.

So, obviously I didn’t pick this url to be my catch-all miscellaneous posting site, but that looks like what this is going to turn into…  ForeverStamp.com, I assumed, would be great for selling the, you guessed it, Forever Stamp, and it would be, if the USPS actually would have some sort of affiliate program, which they don’t.  But oh well, what can you do.  So, this is going to be where I keep track of my web design, my sites, and my internet affiliate lessons, failures, accomplishments, and experiences.

I’ve taken to reading Shoemoney’s blog quite often (I’ve never been much of a blog person…why would I want to read some random person’s thoughts when, in my opinion, the average person can barely form coherent sentences?), and you should as well if you are even remotely interested in making money online.  It didn’t take long to get what Shoemoney is all about…he isn’t doing anything outrageous or revolutionary, but he works hard, is smart, takes chances and experiments with different money-making methods and, above all, he is honest and shares what has worked and what has not worked in his time as an online, self-employed, freelance business person.  To me, that’s really the key…he is honest and gives away what other people try to sell, and the fact that what he is giving away (his experiences) have been proven to work.

Starting a Website

This is assuming you want to run your own website, not that you want to start a blog…  If you want to start a blog, go to WordPress.

The first thing you need to do is decide upon a domain name, such as FoeverStamp.com.  Obviously, having a name as descriptive as possible, matching the content or theme of the site, is a good idea, will get you higher rankings in search engines and people will have an idea what your site is about just by the name, but by no means is this a deal-breaker.  Think about Newegg.com and Tigerdirect.com, 2 big players in the online technology shopping with names that, so far as I know, have no real meaning and certainly are not descriptive of the content found on the sites.

The best place to buy a domain name, as far as ease of use and cost, is GoDaddy.com.

After you have decided upon and purchased a domain name, you need a ‘Host’.  A Host is the company that, quite simply, grants the internet users of the world access to your website.  The Host hosts all of the files needed to make a website tick: the html and css files, the php, javascript and other code files, the databases, the images, the forums, blogs and all the rest.  Theoretically you could host everything from your own computer, but that is something that is worth considering when you compare the work involved in setting up your own server at home (if that server every gets turned off, your web site gets “turned off”) versus the relatively inexpensive hosting packages that are out there.

2 Host companies I have used the last several years and never had any real problems with, and are pretty inexpensive to boot, are HostGator.com and HostMonster.com.

Host Monster

Quite often, when you sign up for a hosting package, one of the many included features is the free purchase of an available domain name, so it could be worthwhile, if you know setting up a website is something you want to do, to wait and decide upon a Host and package and then purchase, through the Host, your domain name.

Those are really the first 2 steps to starting a website.  I’ll get to the next steps shortly.

Liz Puliam Weston over at MSN.com has written an article everybody with credit cards will probably be interested in reading. You can find the story Here.

There is too much to recap, but basically, regarding why consumers with credit cards should be wary, is because the credit card companies have 9 months before the new bill kicks in limiting the things they can do such as hiding fees, raising rates at will, and charging interest even when no balance was carried on the card. These are a few of the practices the credit card companies have to stop doing, but they still have 9 months before that time, and Liz seems to think they are going to pull out all the stops and get down-and-dirty during that period of time to try to screw over as best they possibly can the American credit card holders. Be aware.

The reform bill, which makes many changes to the way credit card companies operate, was passed in both the Senate and the House of Representatives this week. President Obama is expected to sign the bill Friday.

One of the best changes, as far as I am concerned, is the fact that anybody under 21 must prove first that they can repay the borrowed money or that a parent or guardian is willing to pay off their debt if they default. This change, which seems to me to be nothing more than common sense, prevents credit card companies from preying upon student who don’t really know what they are getting themselves into and think credit is just free money.

Another change brought forth by this bill, which is expected to take effect sometime in 2010, is a 45 day warning period prior to any interest rate hikes. Again, this just seems like common sense to me; the interest rates are bad enough, let alone the fact they can be changed at will right now.

A few interesting credit card facts:

- In 2008, the Nilson Report estimated there are 700 million credit cards in circulation in the United States, 2 for every man, woman, and child.
- Excluding home mortgages, the citizens of the United States are approximately $2.5 trillion in debt.

- Idiotic Addition: tacked onto the bill is an unrelated measure sponsored by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., that would allow people to bring loaded guns into national parks and wildlife refuges.

How have we survived this long without that law?

A veterans’ group is urging the U.S. Postal Service to create a “forever” version of the Purple Heart stamp which honors those men and women who were wounded or killed while serving their country. Jim Leffler, whose brother died in Vietnam, is circulating petitions to try and convince to postal service to make this change. “It would not be a big deal to have 2 “forever” stamps,” Leffler said, “the one with the Liberty Bell and one with the Purple Heart. Both represent our country’s history.”

The proposal makes sense for a few reasons: the Purple Heart stamp won’t have to be altered and reissued with every postal rate increase, and, to quote Leffler, “it would remind people that the fight for out freedom – for which people receive Purple Hearts – goes on forever.”

I think a Purple Heart Forever Stamp is a very good idea. I couldn’t think of any better symbols to made into Forever Stamps as you honor the foundation of this country and the people who fight for it.

The Forever Stamp is not an investment and in no way will ever make you rich. It will, however, depending upon just how much you actually still mail letters in this day of e-mail and automatic electronic bill-pay, be able to save you a few dollars. The best thing you can do as far as taking advantage of the Forever Stamp is to buy a bunch of them now, more than you think you will need, and with each inevitable postage increase throughout the years, you will be saving more and more. Of course, you won’t be saving so much that you’ll be able to retire early or anything like that, but you will feel good, a bit “ahead of the game”, for taking advantage of the system.
 

A look at the history of postage rate increases over the past 30+ years to get an idea of the small, but worthwhile, savings Forever Stamps could provide you.

September 14, 1975 —10¢
December 31, 1975 —-13¢
May 29, 1978 ———15¢
March 22, 1981 ——-18¢
November 1, 1981 —–20¢
February 17, 1985 —–22¢
April 3, 1988 ———-25¢
February 3, 1991 ——29¢
January 1, 1995 - ——32¢
January 10, 1999 ——33¢
January 7, 2001 - ——34¢
July 1, 2001 ———–34¢
June 30, 2002 ———37¢
January 8, 2006 ——-39¢
May 14, 2007 ———41¢
May 12, 2008 ———42¢
May 11, 2009 ———44¢

The Forever Stamp is a regular old stamp in the face of international mail and international mailing rates.  Use it as such.  The Forever Stamp will not get you anything special outside of the United States, so if you know the price to send an international first-class letter is greater than the current price of the domestic first-class rate (the value of all Forever Stamps), you had better attach some more postage if you really want your letter to arrive.

- The Forever Stamp went on sale in April of 2007, and since that time, more than 6 billion Forever Stamps have been sold.
- The Forever Stamp is always able to be used to mail a one-ounce letter regardless of when the stamp is purchased or used.
- Forever Stamps are always purchased at the same price as the regular First-Class stamps; meaning, if current First-Class stamps are being sold for 42 cents, Forever Stamps are also going to cost 42 cents.

The Forever Stamp