photo credit: dro!d

Are you utilizing social networks for your small business? Are you ready to bridge your small business with the millions who use Myspace, Facebook, or Linkedin? Let’s say you run a profitable photography business from home and are looking for new brand exposure and free marketing. You’ve already utilized local print media, craigslist and word of mouth for advertising, so what else can you do? Have you considered utilizing a social network and reaching out to new prospective customers? If you have a brand and existing business, this could be a fantastic boost for sales. I want to start a series here on The Passive Dad and focus each week on one social network to find out how it could boost your business and your brand. If you already utilize a social network with your small business, I want to hear from you. Has it brought more traffic to your website or more emails from prospective clients?

This week I want to ask the question: “Do you mix business with pleasure?” Do you bridge your personal life with your business life? One example using the professional photographer, should the photographer offer personal information through the social network? If your business is Scott’s Photography, then people will also know you as Scott the husband, cousin, grandson, neighbor and business owner. If you sell photo equipment online, do you want customers to know about your non-business friends? Is it professional to have family pictures for your branded business website? I really think this could give mixed messages for clients and you would want to really think about the impact it could give. But, if your brand is you or your name, then that would be different. For example, if you are selling and marketing a nutrition program, you might want to consider having friends and family give testimonies of your product. Have you lost over 100 pounds and want to show the world your progress? That could be a perfect opportunity for increased sales and marketing through the social network.

Next week we will look at Flickr and the ability it has to transform your website, blog, or personal business. Do you already use social networks for your small business, I want to hear from you. How has it changed your business?

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photo credit: OnmiNate
With the rising costs of fuel and food, are you looking for an alternative or extra income source that can help your family budget? If you are not planning on taking Fido and Fluffy on your next business trip or family vacation, you’re going to need a safe place for them to stay. We researched several options for our two labradors before our summer trip that included a dog daycare, kennel, boarding facility, and friends.

1. The cost of the dog daycare was out of our budget at $75 a day. It was at a very plush facility that included a pool, exercise area, and lot’s of playtime with daily walks. We love our dogs, but $75 was a lot of money and not in our family budget for this trip.

2. I called two local kennels and they were very reasonable in price, but the facilities were very similar to the local pound or humane society. The cost was $40 a day, but the kennel was outside and did not provide any comfort for our summer heat. They did of course have shade and plenty of water, but no daily exercise was offered. This might work for an overnight trip, but we were leaving for 10 days.

3. The dog boarding facility was priced at $50 for two large dogs a day and was on a wonderful horse ranch. The dogs could run off leash in a large fenced area twice a day and then sleep in an air conditioned room. Our dogs wouldn’t have daily walks or swim in a pool, but would be safe and have plenty of exercise and some human interaction.

4. A pet sitter appeared to be a wonderful option as it included so much more than watching our two dogs. It also provided some additional home security by having the pet sitter drop by our home twice daily. They would pick-up our mail and also had an ala carte type pricing for other services. If we wanted the plants watered, dogs washed, and even poop scooped. Yes, they offered to do it all. Imagine coming home and someone picked up after your dogs? That could be worth $50 a day!

5. Have a neighbor or friend watch after our dogs. Do you have a friend that owes you a favor? Have you done a lot of work for them and now it’s time to collect? Well, here’s your chance. We have great friends that are also neighbors who offered to watch our dogs for a few days. We offered to pay them, but they refused. Very nice friends!

At the last minute, my parents offered to house sit and watch our dogs, which brought the cost to zero. Our two dogs would be entertained by grandma and grandpa and get hours of playing fetch with the chuck-it. I certainly did learn a lot about the dog boarding and daycare business and think the potential is huge for pet sitting or house sitting. In fact you could offer the ala carte pricing and include household errands too. What would this be worth? The pet sitter quote was $44 and would include feeding our dogs twice a day and 1 hour of playtime. $44 an hour is a nice extra income. Lot’s of potential if you love animals and enjoy belly rubs. Before you start pet sitting, check to be sure your client has homeowners insurance and that you have adequate personal/business coverage. This could be a tremendous alternative income source if you’re an animal lover.

Making $44 a day might not seem like a lot, but you could have several pet sitting clients and the earning potential could add up quickly. The website I used for researching pet sitters is found here and I actually found one that was hiring dog walkers and pet sitters. You might want to check your local zip code and see if you could learn about this business by working for one first. Besides insurance and a good vehicle, you don’t have any inventory or equipment. Everything for the dog or cat would be provided by the owner. This could be a wonderful home business opportunity for many stay at home mom or dads that are looking to supplement the family income. It would also be great for high school or college students looking for extra income and spending money.

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I typically can’t stomach a lot of the political news making headlines, but one did catch my eye this last week from Sen. John McCain. Since it touched a financial nerve and set-off the debate of what it means to be wealthy in America, I think we should take a closer look at the comment.

My intent is not to debate whether Sen. McCain has a pulse on the working middle class in the U.S. or whether he thinks a wealthy person is someone making over 5 million dollars. I do want to ask what you consider a “Home” to be, and whether you would consider investments as a second “home”?

“How Many Homes Do You Own?” This statement can be taken many different ways and could even be hard for you to answer. Yep, I mean myself, you, your friends, anybody. What do I mean? Well, let’s take a look.

One answer would be how many homes do you have legal title over? In other words, how many property titles have the name John or Cindy McCain?

Now here are some other interpretations of the same question, “How many homes do you own?”

1. I really don’t own my home, as my mortgage is with a bank. I make payments to my bank and they own the home. In fact, they own more than 50% of my residence. Technically, I don’t own a home until I have paid back 100% of the mortgage. Now this may sound extreme, but is it?

2. Are you a partner of a trust? Maybe the trust owns buildings, property, or rentals and you own a share of those properties. Technically, you don’t own 100% of anything. If you have one partner, you may own 50% of the properties. I think we would all argue this as owning a property, but would you?

3. Do you own mutual funds or REITs? Could it be possible that you own thousands of properties? I own shares of VNQ Vanguard REIT ETF that tracks various REITS. Could I possibly name all the properties held in VNQ? No way! Do I own thousands of properties? I own a small fraction or interest in these properties as a shareholder. But, technically I don’t own any of them as my name is not on the title.

4. How about a timeshare? Do you include this as a home? Do you own a Hilton, Disney, Marriott or RCI timeshare? Typically these timeshares allow you to buy points or credits towards time at various properties, making it fractional ownership. You may hold a title and you may not. Check your contract as you might just own points. Although, I’m sure if you own a timeshare, you feel like you are making one extra mortgage payment a year.

5. What about a co-op or vacation house you share with friends and family? You might have that cabin in the woods or maybe you have a beach house near the Jersey shore that you share with friends. Do you include this as a residence? You own a partial interest, but would you consider this a “home”?

I’m not try to speculate what Sen. McCain was thinking when he was asked the same question, but it does appear that a lot could have been going through his head. Most homeowners would probably answer “one”, even though we might have a partnership or condo timeshare. If you have a real estate partnership, vacation property, or timeshare, it might take you a few minutes to answer. Well, how would you respond to the same question?

If you want to read the full context of the story and even hear McCain answer the question, you can go to the Politico website here.

photo credit: fotografar

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This is a guest post by Jill aka LivingAlmostLarge Thank you Jill for contributing this wonderful article.

An interesting article by BizJournal says that 83.5% of Americans live in major metropolitans. With 65% of those living in very large cities of more than 1 million people. Yet only 8% of people say they want to live in the city after they retire. So 92% of people are planning on relocating either in smaller towns or rural areas.
Further research showed that 40% chose small towns as the best place to live, while 27% picked suburbs and 21% picked big cities. And when asked where they would build a house 2/3 of respondents said outside of a big city.

The article goes on to list 10 “dreamtowns”, the best places to live with the least hassle. I thought it really amazing. I would love to live a smaller town like what I grew up in. Probably why DH and I aren’t into living in the city even now. The noise and bustle aren’t our things. Both of us grew up in suburbs for DH and smaller town living for myself. I can definitely see the pros and cons of both.

Living in a large city there typically is more job security in the sense that when you lose a job you are less likely to need to relocated to find another comparable job. I think that the security of knowing there are other oppotunities for employment is what draws people to big cities. But often times the pay is lower because the city knows it’s job are desirable. That some people like the hustle and bustle, and there is a constant stream of employable workers. But the cons are of course the cost of living can make it seem a struggle to survive.

Yet in small towns everybody knows your name. You may live in a much nicer home, in a safer neighborhood. You might have closer, longer term friends, than a constant flux of friends from switching jobs. You might have a shorter commute. But the cons are if you lose your job are you willing to relocate? Or would you be willing to retrain in a different field? There is no easy answer I think.

Whatever you choose to do, has ramifications. I like to dream of moving home, but the reality is it will never happen. Anyway here’s the list of the dreamtowns. And perhaps that’s why this is a list of “dream” places to live.

1. Torrington, CT
2. Bozeman, MT
3. Lexington Park, MD
4. Lebanon, VT
5. Helena , MT
6. Kalispell, MT
7. Mankato, MN
8. Oak Harbour, WA
9. Stevens Point, WI
10. Concord, NH

What do you think of this list? And would do you dream of moving to a small town?

Jill aka LivingAlmostLarge www.livingalmostlarge.com

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This week I’ve found several wonderful blogs that allowed me to reflect back on my personal finance journey and even offer a chance to question my current strategies. I hope you enjoy reading some of these posts that I found motivating and inspiring.

Harvesting Dollars wrote The Debt “Snowball” Or Debt “Avalanche” May Not Be Best For You that discuses whether you should pay off larger creditors first. Dave Ramsey talks about the “Debt Snowball Affect” and the strategy to organize your debts from smallest to biggest. Make minimum payments on all but the smallest debt. On the smallest debt, you will allocate all your other resources. Once you pay off that smaller debt, you move on to the second smallest debt. Repeat process, until you reach the big loan. What has been your debt repayment strategy?

Frugal Dad wrote Why You Should Never Put Credit Cards Before the Mortgage Payment and reminds us of the importance of keeping a roof over your head. If you had a major setback and could only pay one bill a month, what would it be?

I won an award this week from The Freebie Blogger. Thank you Wendi! If you are looking for coupon codes or great deals, stop by her site.

No Debt Plan wrote My Wife is Spending Too Much Money and She Knows It. At first when I saw the headline, I thought “Wow”! and then Kevin explains the conversation he had with his wife and the outcome. It’s a hot topic and I wonder how you communicate with your spouse about finances and your household budget? Do you have a family meeting if someone doesn’t stick to the budget?

The Happy Rock wrote Rich Dad, Poor Dad…Owning Your Family History and asks the question of who shaped your spending and savings outlook? Was it your parents, a grandparent, or maybe a neighbor? I remember having some great conversations with my grandmother about spending and investing at an early age. She would make sure to call several stores to find the best price, before making a purchase. This of course was all done before the internet was available. If you’re a spender, who do you take after?

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