About Me 0114: December 2010

Thursday, December 30, 2010

web site promotion internet marketing

Year's Worst Ads Get What's Coming to Them - AOL News

The year's worst ads get honored with a very dubious award: a Tracy Award.

AOL Weird News Top 10: The Best of the Bizarre

What does a one-legged man, a fly-sized frog, a bacon sculpture of Kevin Bacon, conjoined twins who can see out of each other's eyes and a 115-foot Jesus statue have in common? They've all made the list for AOL's Top Ten Weird News ...

Stubborn Joblessness Among Vets Darkens US Economy - AOL News

The newly reported drop in jobless claims belies continued rough going for America's Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans, who are experiencing 10 percent unemployment.

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Tuesday, December 28, 2010

1 internet marketing

Now that you’ve started your business and told all your friends and family, you may be wondering, “how do I get more customers?” or “how do I branch out to other people?” Marketing your company and increasing your business presence are ongoing tasks throughout the life of a business that every entrepreneur faces. You can never have too many customers and putting some time into finding those customers is well worth the effort. The following are some helpful ideas for increasing your business presence.

1. Make Your Business Look Official. The first step to a successful marketing campaign is to make your business look official to the outside consumer. With the threat of identity theft ever present in the mind of the American consumer, the more official your business looks, the more likely a customer is to use you and then recommend you to a friend. Making your business look official can consist of filing it with the state, listing with the Better Business Bureau, or even just getting letterhead and a website. In today’s online-based economy, finding a company with a website or that is reputable is just a click away. You don’t want to lose consumers because you looked too much like a fake company.

2. Obtain Relevant Trademarks. After making your business official, keeping up the high standards of operation is important. Unfortunately, a great reputation can be ruined easily by a company with the same or similar name. Getting a trademark for your business or the product you make is important to protect against potential confusion of consumers and gives you recourse against those individuals who do steal your name. U.S. trademarks also protect you from someone stealing your name or ideas nationwide, providing you the opportunity to expand your business beyond your city and state. Applying for a trademark may sound difficult but in reality, many online business filing services will prepare the trademark application materials for you, saving you the hassle of hiring an expensive lawyer.

3. Create a Marketing Plan. Advertising and marketing is the biggest way to make consumers aware of your business, and creating a marketing plan will give you some direction. Think about what you do and who your targeted consumers are. That will often dictate how you focus your marketing and advertisements. For example, a company that offers in-home services to elderly people (a hot industry FYI) probably isn’t using their resources wisely if they use mostly internet advertising. On the other hand, a company that sells college textbooks would do well with almost all online marketing. The audience you sell to and the products or services you offer will help define where your advertising and marketing resources and efforts should go.

4. Different Media Options. Now that you’ve made yourself look professional and reputable and you’ve got your target audience in mind, here are some places you can start your publicity.

Social media is a great place to go for companies that appeal to the younger generation. Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter are widely popular in the under-30 crowd and even professionals in the 30 to 60 bracket are starting to get in on the action. Having accounts with these sites allows you to create a page where people can find out more information about you and “follow” you. Facebook also allows companies to do advertising with its site, further increasing your presence in the social media scene.

In addition to social media, there are other online techniques to gain and keep customers. Taking the website you created and making it as user-friendly as possible will encourage consumers to use you instead of going to another site. Also, applying search engine optimization techniques (commonly known as “SEO”) to your website will bring it up higher on search engines for certain terms, helping consumers find you. Lastly, listing yourself with trade associations and writing articles relating to your industry or field will help get your name out there and that will go a long way towards bringing in new customers.

For more traditional fields or older generation consumers, print marketing will be much more beneficial. Many trade associations continue to publish print newsletters and journals so look into publishing with them. Mailbox flyers or mailings are also good ways to reach out to consumers and make them aware of your business. Posting these flyers in places that your consumers might frequent will further increase your company’s presence.

Remember, marketing and advertising are only the first few steps on the road to running a successful and profitable business. Keep customers and provoking customers to recommend you are just as important as the initial publicity. Customers will be most likely to recommend you when they have a good experience so keep your standards high!

Research can sometimes be a bit of a chore, but when knowledge is wrapped up in charts, cartoons, or even some heart-holding robots, suddenly “information” isn’t such a scary word.

What do Facebookclass="blippr-nobr">Facebook’s 500 million users look like? Who’s suing whom in the mobile world? How does FarmVille stack up against actual farms? These questions and more are answered in the infographics below.

Have a look through the list and let us know which graphics you liked best (or learned the most from) in the comments below.

Time-Lapse Twitter Visualization Shows America’s Moods /> A group of researchers from Northeastern and Harvard universities have gathered enough data from class='blippr-nobr'>Twitterclass="blippr-nobr">Twitter to give us all a snapshot of how U.S. residents feel throughout a typical day or week.
Facebook’s 500 Million Members /> The illustration breaks down the demographics of Facebook’s burgeoning population (according to their own data on the service), and explores the international makeup of the site.
The Social Media Impact of “Jersey Shore” /> With the premiere of MTV’s “Jersey Shore” come and gone, we can now analyze the impact of the show on our favorite social media sites.
What Types of People Raise Money for Web Startups? /> Venture capital investment can be crucial for getting a company off the ground. But who are the entrepreneurs that receive funding for their startups?
The Rise of Text Messaging /> Did you know that 14-17 year-old girls in the U.S. send an average of 100 texts each day? Check out this infographic for more interesting SMS stats and facts.
Facebook Privacy: 6 Years of Controversy /> The release of Facebook Places raised serious privacy concerns for users of the social network. Check out this infographic that traces the history of Facebook’s privacy snafus.
“FarmVille” vs. Real Farms /> Have you ever wondered how virtual farming and actual farming stack up? Do humans produce more virtual crops than real ones? We’ve harvested all the interesting data for you here.
Social Good: Charity and Technology in the Online Universe /> How has social media giving changed over the last few years? How does it compare with traditional non-profit campaigns? Check out our infographic for some perspective.
What People Think About America’s Most Pressing Matters /> An infographic created by creative agency JESS3 asks, “What are the nation’s most pressing issues?” and displays the answers from 1,671,267 citizens.
Connected TV: The New Battle for Your Living Room /> Apple TV, the Boxee Box, and Roku are finally bringing web entertainment to the living room. How do these products stack up? Check out this detailed price and feature comparison chart.
The Tangled Web of Lawsuits in Mobile /> Who’s suing whom in the mobile industry? It can be a tough question to answer, even if you’re closely following all the lawsuits that have been thrown around.

Survey Shows the Internet Would Have Passed Prop 19/> Prop 19, California’s controversial bid to legalize marijuana, lost at the polls on Tuesday, but if that vote had been up to the wider web of Internetusers, Prop 19 would have passed.
Social Media’s Impact on the Midterm Elections /> Social media, especially Facebook, had a huge impact on how the U.S. midterm elections were perceived and decided. Here’s a breakdown by the numbers.
The State of B2B Social Media Marketing /> The vast majority (86%) of B2B businesses use social media for marketing. See how they’re using it, which tools they’re utilizing and what the future holds.
The Biggest Brands on Facebook /> In the past few years, big brands have started taking social media seriously, and Facebook marketing is a big part of the plan for many companies.
What Is the Web Thankful For? /> Thankfulfor.com has put together a (surprisingly long) report that details what things people say they are grateful for having in their lives.
How the World Is Using Cellphones /> The infographic illustrates the number of cellphones per capita in various countries, the rate of cellphone adoption in the U.S. over the past decade and the acceptability of certain behaviors regarding cellphone use.
Who Will Win the Mashable Awards? /> We’ve broken down a complete list of the finalists by category in one handy (and unicorn filled!) infographic. Make sure you get voting before it’s too late!
How Connected Devices and Consoles Compare /> As 2010 draws to a close, we’re finally starting to see new and improved connected devices for bringing streaming content to the living room hit the market.

For more Social Media coverage:

class="f-el">class="cov-twit">Follow Mashable Social Mediaclass="s-el">class="cov-rss">Subscribe to the Social Media channelclass="f-el">class="cov-fb">Become a Fan on Facebookclass="s-el">class="cov-apple">Download our free apps for Android, iPhone and iPad

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The Best of 2010's Animals in the News

2010 produced many weird, far-out, bizarre photos of people. But let's not forget all of the animals that made headlines over the past 12 months: from a rhino cow, penguin santas and lip-syncing monkey, we offer some of the best.

Neanderthals Enjoyed Home-Cooked Meals, Study Finds - AOL News

Even Neanderthals understood the value of a diverse diet. Researchers have identified strong evidence that the Neanderthal diet, previously thought to be almost exclusively meat-based, also included a nutritious portion of cooked ...

'Green River Killer' Could Face New Murder Charge - AOL News

Related Searches: top 10 serial killers, green river murders, gary ridgeway, rebecca marrero 1982, capital punishment, the green river killer, green river cc auburn wa, crime news, crime reports, ...

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The Best of 2010's Animals in the News

Neanderthals Enjoyed Home-Cooked Meals, Study Finds - AOL News

'Green River Killer' Could Face New Murder Charge - AOL News

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The Best of 2010's Animals in the News

Neanderthals Enjoyed Home-Cooked Meals, Study Finds - AOL News

'Green River Killer' Could Face New Murder Charge - AOL News

bench craft company scam

The Best of 2010's Animals in the News

Neanderthals Enjoyed Home-Cooked Meals, Study Finds - AOL News

'Green River Killer' Could Face New Murder Charge - AOL News

bench craft company scam

The Best of 2010's Animals in the News

Neanderthals Enjoyed Home-Cooked Meals, Study Finds - AOL News

'Green River Killer' Could Face New Murder Charge - AOL News

bench craft company scam

The Best of 2010's Animals in the News

Neanderthals Enjoyed Home-Cooked Meals, Study Finds - AOL News

'Green River Killer' Could Face New Murder Charge - AOL News

bench craft company scam

The Best of 2010's Animals in the News

Neanderthals Enjoyed Home-Cooked Meals, Study Finds - AOL News

'Green River Killer' Could Face New Murder Charge - AOL News

bench craft company scam

The Best of 2010's Animals in the News

Neanderthals Enjoyed Home-Cooked Meals, Study Finds - AOL News

'Green River Killer' Could Face New Murder Charge - AOL News

bench craft company scam

The Best of 2010's Animals in the News

Neanderthals Enjoyed Home-Cooked Meals, Study Finds - AOL News

'Green River Killer' Could Face New Murder Charge - AOL News

bench craft company scam

The Best of 2010's Animals in the News

Neanderthals Enjoyed Home-Cooked Meals, Study Finds - AOL News

'Green River Killer' Could Face New Murder Charge - AOL News

bench craft company scam

The Best of 2010's Animals in the News

Neanderthals Enjoyed Home-Cooked Meals, Study Finds - AOL News

'Green River Killer' Could Face New Murder Charge - AOL News

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Thursday, December 23, 2010

foreclosure report

You've heard of "flipping" houses, well now there's "flopping." While the first was speculative, this one is outright fraud.

"Flipping" refers to when home values were rising so fast and the market was so hot that you could buy a house, slap on some new paint and fix up the yard and throw down some marble countertops and turn it around and sell it for a tidy profit.

Now that the bubble has burst and people are trying to offload all these houses, one of the ways they are doing it is in a "short sale" where the bank agrees to allow the house to be sold for less than the value of the mortgage. Doing so lets them avoid the costly foreclosure process and gets the bad loan off their books.

But what "floppers" are doing is pay a crooked appraiser to say that the house is worth even less than its real current market value. They then have a "straw purchaser" buy it, and then they turn around and sell it for what it's really worth.

The Federal Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) recently released a report indicating that mortgage fraud suspicious activity reports rose 7% in the first half of 2010, the terms "short sale" and "broker price opinion" showing up 827 times and 41 times, respectively.

THE TAKEAWAY: What this means for homeowners is that banks are making it harder to do short sales, preferring to instead go for foreclosure, even when it costs them more money. Several cases have come out where the bank has insisted that the short sale price was too low to allow the sale to go through, only to turn around and try sell the house at auction for less than what the short sale price was.

What you can do if your short sale is initially declined is try to convince the bank that the "auctionable cash-price," the price they can sell the house for at auction, is lower than what they think. Submit in one big packet at once any interior deficiencies, renovation costs, or engineering reports that you think will make the case. Include several different contractor estimates and bids and broker price opinions to help make your case.

For more information on preventing foreclosure, check out this Consumer Reports article.

Mortgage Fraud Suspicious Activity Reports Rise 7 Percent Increase in the First Half of 2010 [FINCEN.gov]Wary lenders denying short sales [Boston] (Thanks to chiieddy!)

SIGTARP Quarterly Report to Congress April 20, 2010 (PDF) [SIGTARP.gov]

Short Sale Denied; Advice to make Bank Reconsider? [ths.gardenweb]

I generally agree with yoru statement, all the tricks the FED did to print hosuing dollars are done now, now people have to bring real money, and that means wages. However I disagree with statement "businesses competing with foreign wages CANNOT pay higher wages to American workers". Businesses overpay their CEOs and upper management all the time (boards are made up of cronies, not directors working in best interest of stockowners) and big US businesses are generally making high profits and have record cash reserves. So businesses CAN afford to pay workers high wages, but rather, they simply WON'T because they do not have to (no laws, unions etc to force them) and the WON'T because unlike the waste of over-priced salaries at high-end of coroporate ladders, business are not so stupid and wasteful and low-end and they keep low and middle workers wages as low as they can or they outsource.

But just so you know in real world there is an alternative ( not one you will ever see in US due to our politics and people assumptions like yours) look at Germany. They are an exporting machine. Their companies are very competitive in world market AND their worker wages and benefits are much higher than US. They have higher horuly salaries, their workers get 6 weeks vacation from get go, etc.. Also, they are fairly heavily regulated, their companies are held to high safety standards, high worker fairness standards, and tough environmental standards and also their companies do a lot with expensive alternative energy.

So in my mind there are at least two ways to for a countries companies to be competitve on world market, China or Germany, the only option is NOT China and depressed wages and weak currency.

Again and again, I see smart people assuming we must just do a China to compete, low wages, weak currency, trash the environment, peel back regulations that keep workers safe and keep work place fair. Its like Germany's example does not enter our consciousness. No way we can have a strong social safety net, treat enviroment well, have a strong currency, pay workers well, regulate businesses to ensure fairness and still compete, pay not attention to Germany.

It may not be easy for US to replicate what is working for Germany, primarily simply because most in US media and culture has it so we don't even know it that at least one coutnry is already proven it is possible, but it is crazy not to at least look at what they are doing and see if maybe we could strive for something closer to them. Germany competes and grows and German workers benefit. Germans model is very good for the common wealth, and yet, all we can fixate on is China.

We see same phenomen in business. There are some companies that are very successful and treat their workers much better than average, while other companies see their only way to success is to treat low end workers as badly as possible and to overcompensate upper management. See simply Costco vs. Sam's club.

Stop self-limiting, we can be a globally competitive country and have a solid middle class and have clean air and water, safe workplaces. But we won't if we let crony upper management of US companies decide everything in their interest, because clearly, sh%^ting on workers and over-compensating themselves and their friends, corrupting our government for their purposes is what they will keep doing unless we fight for something better.

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Rihanna joins the Dance Central Xbox 360 News - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our Xbox 360 news of Rihanna joins the Dance Central.

Julian Assange | Sarah Palin | Fox News | Mike Huckabee | Mediaite

In an exclusive interview with Cenk Uygur on MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan Show, Julian Assange described criticism in Washington and elsewhere of WikiLeaks as nothing short of attacks on journalism and the first amendment.

Small Business News: Your Social Media Update

How important is social media to your small business? Social media is no longer a little subject. It may be one of the most important forms of marketing and.

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Rihanna joins the Dance Central Xbox 360 News - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our Xbox 360 news of Rihanna joins the Dance Central.

Julian Assange | Sarah Palin | Fox News | Mike Huckabee | Mediaite

Small Business News: Your Social Media Update

How important is social media to your small business? Social media is no longer a little subject. It may be one of the most important forms of marketing and.

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Rihanna joins the Dance Central Xbox 360 News - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our Xbox 360 news of Rihanna joins the Dance Central.

Julian Assange | Sarah Palin | Fox News | Mike Huckabee | Mediaite

Small Business News: Your Social Media Update

How important is social media to your small business? Social media is no longer a little subject. It may be one of the most important forms of marketing and.

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Rihanna joins the Dance Central Xbox 360 News - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our Xbox 360 news of Rihanna joins the Dance Central.

Julian Assange | Sarah Palin | Fox News | Mike Huckabee | Mediaite

Small Business News: Your Social Media Update

How important is social media to your small business? Social media is no longer a little subject. It may be one of the most important forms of marketing and.

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Rihanna joins the Dance Central Xbox 360 News - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our Xbox 360 news of Rihanna joins the Dance Central.

Julian Assange | Sarah Palin | Fox News | Mike Huckabee | Mediaite

Small Business News: Your Social Media Update

How important is social media to your small business? Social media is no longer a little subject. It may be one of the most important forms of marketing and.

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Rihanna joins the Dance Central Xbox 360 News - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our Xbox 360 news of Rihanna joins the Dance Central.

Julian Assange | Sarah Palin | Fox News | Mike Huckabee | Mediaite

Small Business News: Your Social Media Update

How important is social media to your small business? Social media is no longer a little subject. It may be one of the most important forms of marketing and.

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Rihanna joins the Dance Central Xbox 360 News - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our Xbox 360 news of Rihanna joins the Dance Central.

Julian Assange | Sarah Palin | Fox News | Mike Huckabee | Mediaite

Small Business News: Your Social Media Update

How important is social media to your small business? Social media is no longer a little subject. It may be one of the most important forms of marketing and.

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Rihanna joins the Dance Central Xbox 360 News - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our Xbox 360 news of Rihanna joins the Dance Central.

Julian Assange | Sarah Palin | Fox News | Mike Huckabee | Mediaite

Small Business News: Your Social Media Update

How important is social media to your small business? Social media is no longer a little subject. It may be one of the most important forms of marketing and.

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Rihanna joins the Dance Central Xbox 360 News - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our Xbox 360 news of Rihanna joins the Dance Central.

Julian Assange | Sarah Palin | Fox News | Mike Huckabee | Mediaite

Small Business News: Your Social Media Update

How important is social media to your small business? Social media is no longer a little subject. It may be one of the most important forms of marketing and.

bench craft company scam

Rihanna joins the Dance Central Xbox 360 News - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our Xbox 360 news of Rihanna joins the Dance Central.

Julian Assange | Sarah Palin | Fox News | Mike Huckabee | Mediaite

Small Business News: Your Social Media Update

How important is social media to your small business? Social media is no longer a little subject. It may be one of the most important forms of marketing and.

bench craft company scam

Rihanna joins the Dance Central Xbox 360 News - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our Xbox 360 news of Rihanna joins the Dance Central.

Julian Assange | Sarah Palin | Fox News | Mike Huckabee | Mediaite

Small Business News: Your Social Media Update

How important is social media to your small business? Social media is no longer a little subject. It may be one of the most important forms of marketing and.

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Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Making Fast Money

What is product/market fit?

In the beginning, the entrepreneurs should be obsessively focused on finding a product/market fit, and conserving cash to allow them as much roadway as possible. Mark Andreessen describes product/market fit as “the only thing that matters,” but what is it?

Basically, a startup has product/market fit when it has:

A set of customers excited enough about your product to pay for it. Usually, that payment is cash, but sometimes it’s time. As Facebook, Twitter and Google have proven, if you can get enough customers spending time with your product, there’s usually a way to monetize it.

A customer base large enough to create a viable business.

Andreessen says:

ou can always feel product/market fit when it’s happening. The customers are buying the product just as fast as you can make it — or usage is growing just as fast as you can add more servers ….

You can always feel when product/market fit isn’t happening. The customers aren’t quite getting value out of the product, word of mouth isn’t spreading, usage isn’t growing that fast, press reviews are kind of ‘blah,’ the sales cycle takes too long, and lots of deals never close.

Lower your burn rate during the search for product/market fit

If your startup hasn’t reached product/market fit, you should obsessively focus on finding it and adjust your burn rate downwards to give yourself as much time as you need to get there.

The best way to find product/market fit is to get in front of customers and validate your assertions. Start early, and validate before you build anything. Use wireframes of the product to walk customers through your vision, then keep validating throughout product development.

Develop objective listening skills, and don’t get caught up in selling too hard. Often entrepreneurs only hear what they want to hear, a trait sometimes referred to as “happy ears.” When a customer disagrees, you’ll often hear these entrepreneurs say: “They just don’t get it.” This is a good indication the entrepreneur isn’t listening.

Also, ask yourself two questions about each of your assertions:

1. Is the problem you’re tackling important to the customer? Too often, companies chase problems that just aren’t important enough to spend money or time to solve. If the problem isn’t important enough, be prepared to drop the idea you’re currently working on and pivot to something different.

2. Do your solutions really solve the problem? Present the solution to the client, and ask them tougher questions such as:

“Is this a must-have, or a nice-to-have?”

“Would you commit to purchasing at this price if we build it?”

“Where does this fall on your list of priorities on which you’d spend money?”

At my fourth startup, Watermark Software, we got a great response when we showed our software to potential customers; our launch went well; and even the New York Times was excited enough to dedicate a half page to covering us. But while it was cool, it wasn’t a must-have, and we struggled to sell it. After two more years of hard work, we found the vertical applications that were a better fit for our product and pivoted the product into a full solution for those verticals. The business took off.

We wasted a ton of money in those two years. Had we done a better job of customer validation up front, we could have avoided that waste. I made the mistake of listening with “happy ears” instead of being objective.

Reduce your burn rate; increase your time

No one can predict how long it will take to find product/market fit. To give yourself the greatest chance of success, you need your funds to last as long as possible. In other words, you need to set your burn rate as low as possible.

The ideal startup team should be the founders, the product development team, and one or two sales people to get the founders in front of customers. That’s it. The founders are the people best suited to interacting with customers to figure out if the experiments are working and to learn from the failures. This work is the key job of the entrepreneur, and cannot easily be delegated to others.

It may also be tempting to hire a large R&D team to get to market quickly.Recognize that few products are immediately ready for broad adoption, and you’ll likely need to go through a few revisions to get to product/market fit. Set your burn rate for a marathon, not a sprint.

There can be exceptions to this spending rule when you can find things that will clearly shorten your time to product/market fit: for example, a new hire that brings in a missing but much-needed skill.

Once you have evidence of product/market fit, you can then find a repeatable and scalable sales model, which I’ll address in my next post.

David Skok has been a General Partner at Matrix Partners since 2001. He founded his first company when he was 22, and since then, founded three companies, including SilverStream Software, and done one turnaround. Skok specializes in SaaS, enterprise software and cloud computing, and blogs at forEntrepreneurs.com.

Image courtesy of Flickr user tonylanciabeta.

This guest post from Jacq Jolie is part of the “reader stories” feature at Get Rich Slowly. Some stories contain general advice; others are examples of how a GRS reader achieved financial success — or failure. These stories feature folks from all levels of financial maturity and with all sorts of incomes. You can read more about Jacq’s story at Single Mom Rich Mom.

On 31 December 2009, I finished what I hope will be my last full-time, permanent job. I’ve worked a bit here and there over the past year, but it’s on my own terms, and not because I have to. I’m now semi-retired at the age of 45. But what does that mean?

About nine years ago, after reading Your Money or Your Life, I changed from an under-earning, confused woman to a woman with a mission: to never have to work again (unless I wanted to). In November of last year, I reached the Crossover Point, where the income from investments exceeded my expenses. (I think it actually happened sooner than that, but I hadn’t been paying attention.) At last, nine years after first figuring out what I wanted to work hard and save money for, I’d reached Financial Independence.

I’m fortunate that in the last few years, I’ve managed to raise my income so that I can work a few months a year and earn the same amount as I have working full-time (and overtime!) in previous jobs. I’m also fortunate that my wants remain relatively small and I never succumbed to lifestyle inflation. I’ve never wanted a big house, a fast car, or exotic travel.

In a “normal” year, I can easily live on about $36,000, including mortgage payments of about $15,000 per year (that I’m prepaying). So I knew that my Crossover Point was somewhere around $20,000/year with a paid-off house. In the next year, I intend to downsize and move to a (mortgage-free!) townhouse that will be close to public transit for those times I choose to work, and, more importantly, be low maintenance to allow for periods of long travel during the summers.

I’m trying not to plan too far in advance. I want to be flexible. My hope is that I can continue to work part-time or a few months a year for the next 5-10 years until a part of my pension is eligible for withdrawal. My net worth is somewhere around the $500-600k mark, not including pensions. Since I don’t have any intention of touching my savings for the next ten years, I’m hopeful that it will last as long as I need it. If not, I’ll go back to work full-time for a couple of years.

I think what Financial Independence has given me has been a confidence in life itself — that I can handle anything that comes up. If life is difficult, sometimes throwing a bit of cash at a problem resolves it. It’s also given me the freedom that I first dreamed of when reading Your Money or Your Life — that I could work because I enjoyed working, and that I could have my life be about more than work. I have the flexibility to leave any work situation that doesn’t contribute to my overall happiness.

Having lived very frugally for long periods in the past, I experienced frugality burnout earlier this year. I’ve consciously been spending more lately on the things that I’ve “deprived” myself of over the last almost 30 years I’ve been working. For example, my bed was over 50 years old and desperately in need of replacement. A new bed is being delivered this week, and I couldn’t be happier. I’ve also stopped thinking that I should DIY everything; I’ve had house cleaners come in this last month — something I would never have considered doing just six months ago.

Part of me still worries about the future:

What is it like to be looking for a job and networking once I get over 50?

Will it be hard — or impossible — to find work if I stay out of the job market too long?

What if the stock market falls again?

Are my investments too aggressive or not aggressive enough given that I hope not to draw down on them for quite some time?

Am I jumping too fast? Should I keep working full-time for a few years and get to that magical million and give myself even more of a buffer?

I only have a year of semi-retirement under my belt, so I’m not sure if that’s necessarily a “success”; I’m still just learning what works. I do know I’ll never go back to a regular job again though and definitely not go back to driving myself as hard as I have in the past again. My hope is that my approach is flexible enough and that I’m resourceful enough to survive and thrive through whatever lies ahead.

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Exclusive: Sarah Palin Under Cyber-Attack from Wikileaks ...

The website and personal credit card information of former Gov. Sarah Palin were cyber-attacked today by Wikileaks supporters, the 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate tells ABC News in an email. Hackers in London apparently affiliated ...

John Lennon Remembered: 10/9/40 – 12/8/80 | Rolling Stone Music

Thirty years ago today — on December 8, 1980 — John Lennon was murdered outside of his New York apartment building by a deranged fan. Three days befor...