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Here's one lesson not enough students are getting in college: Debt is easy to rack up and hard to destroy.

Half of 2013's graduates were surprised by how much college-related debt they had acquired, according to a new Fidelity survey of 750 new grads.

It also found that more than one-third of students wish they had made different choices on their path to a degree, such as saving sooner, controlling costs better, and looking for more financial aid.

Read 4 remaining paragraphs on MoneyTalksNews.com.

We recently asked if Walmart was letting you down and got dozens of comments. Many of you mentioned empty shelves, long lines and not enough employees.

Here's what Walmart is doing about it: adding neon green dots around the store, Bloomberg says.

You'll find the dots next to price stickers for everything from peanut M&Ms to Hanes boxer briefs and Crest toothpaste. Those are among 800 products Walmart considers important and that it pays a consulting firm to track the availability of, Bloomberg says.

Read 3 remaining paragraphs on MoneyTalksNews.com.

Is green tea as healthy as its reputation suggests? That depends on who makes it and where it comes from, a new study says.

Bottled green tea may be little more than green sugar water, while some green tea leaves, most likely from China, were found to contain lead.

Fortunately, it stayed on the leaves: Very little lead found its way into the final product, according to ConsumerLab.com researchers. "It’s fine as long as you’re not eating the leaves,” ConsumerLab.com president Dr. Tod Cooperman told The New York Times.

Read 4 remaining paragraphs on MoneyTalksNews.com.

Facebook may be the big daddy of social media platforms, but it seems more and more challenging for businesses and brands to reach their intended audience on the site.

The controversy about Edgerank and the inability to reach those who have chosen to "like" your page led me to conduct my own Facebook advertising experiment.

I'm ready to share my results.

Search: Google might be eating its own travel advertising market, with a 19 percent decline in travel paid search coinciding nicely with Google's launch of Google Flight Search and Hotel Finder, two online apps that essentially take business away from its own advertisers. Penguin 2.0 victimshave been enumerated. Porn sites and game sites didn't fair well, which [...]<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/marketingvox/rss/~4/Nlu8GcQ8_6k" height="1" width="1"/>

If you review products or services on your blog, the ultimate goal is to have companies and vendors send you free stuff in exchange for an honest review. But you may have already realized that it’s not that easy—simply creating a review blog doesn’t guarantee a steady stream of packages showing up at your door.

The good news is that you can attract companies, even big ones, to your blog and have them send you free products for review. It will take hard work and dedication to bring your blog up to the next level—but once you’ve built up your reputation and a healthy flow of traffic, you may find yourself with more free product offers than you can possibly review. Then you’ll be in the enviable position of turning down free stuff in favor of better free stuff.

Here are four steps that will help you generate more interest and receive more cool products or services to review on your blog.

Step 1: Specialize

It may seem like a good idea to say that you’ll “review anything,” but a catch-all review blog isn’t usually attractive to readers or companies—unless it’s a blog run by multiple contributors with different specialties. It’s also not attractive to search engines, because you won’t have enough of a concentrated topic to rank high for your keywords.

The first step in attracting free products from companies is to choose a category and stick with it. Credibility can help here. People want to know who’s writing the review and if you’re someone they can trust.  If, for example, you’re an IT professional and you want to review tablet hardware or software, you’ll be more believable to consumers (and therefore more attractive to companies).

You can still succeed without that kind of credibility, as long as you’re passionate about what you’re reviewing. You don’t have to be a professional cyclist or Tour de France athlete to review bicycles, but you do need to love cycling and have the ability to articulate the positives and negatives of bikes and gear.

Step 2: Work With What You’ve Got

Whether you’re just starting out with your review blog, or you’ve been at it for awhile without success in attracting companies, you need to post as much content as possible to your blog on a regular and consistent basis. The more you post, the more likely the search engines will favor you. Companies prefer sending free stuff to review blogs with high search engine rankings and traffic numbers, as the idea is to increase their online visibility.

If you’ve already reviewed all the products or services in your category that you’ve tried on your own, start asking friends and family members about borrowing any they might own or have access to, for the purpose of reviewing them. Build your review backlist, and you’ll get more attention for your blog.

Step 3: Ask For Stuff (The Right Way)

Very few companies seek out new review blogs to offer free product, so at first, you’ll have to ask. When you contact companies to offer your review services, make it personal. That doesn’t mean you have to find out the name of the company president’s wife, children, and pets, and start sending Christmas cards—but it does mean that you need to do your homework.

Research each company you plan to pitch, and prove that you actually have an interest in their products or services by including details in your initial contact. Tell them about your experiences, and what makes you qualified to write a review—whether it’s your professional credentials, or your passion for retro hair accessories (or whatever your blog is about).

Don’t limit your pitch efforts to email, either. Emails are easy to forget about or delete. Consider sending a fax or mailing a personal letter, either as an initial contact or a follow-up to your email pitch.

Step 4: Go Above and Beyond

When you do start getting offers for products or services to review, make sure to deliver on your promises—and then some. Never write a short “this is great!” review—they are worthless to companies. Make your feedback thorough and detailed, and include product photos or screenshots to enhance the presentation.

If you’ve agreed to a time frame when you’ll post the review, make sure it’s up on or before the deadline. Don’t forget to include links to the company’s website (with caution of course). If the product is for sale on third-party retailer sites like Amazon, ask if they’d like you to cross-post your review to the other sites.

If you consistently over-deliver, more companies will discover the value in your review blog (and hopefully send you more free stuff!).

On a side note, don’t forget to properly disclose your review, just to make sure that you are in compliance with FTC guidelines.

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One of the absolute most important help mechanisms available today is the mastermind group. If you’re not a member of one, then I want you to drop everything right now and read this post.

OK, everything dropped? Do I have your attention?

OK, then. Let’s move forward…

The idea of a mastermind group was first introduced by Napoleon Hill in the now-famous book Think And Grow Rich. He describes it as:

The coordination of knowledge and effort of two or more people, who work toward a definite purpose, in the spirit of harmony.

The idea is simple. Take two or more people who have the same goal, join them together, and form a group which is much more powerful than the individual alone.

Also from Think And Grow Rich (chapter 10 if you want to check it for yourself), he says:

In a preceding chapter, instructions were given for the creation of PLANS for the purpose of translating DESIRE into its monetary equivalent. If you carry out these instructions with PERSISTENCE and intelligence, and use discrimination in the selection of your “Master Mind” group, your objective will have been half-way reached, even before you begin to recognize it.

So, you have your own innate desire. Couple that with plans, intelligence and persistance… AND your mastermind group. These are all components to your success. And, as he says, your objective will be halfway there already before you even realize it.

That is the power of being part of a mastermind group.

What Are The Benefits?

Above I tap into the philosophy of the mastermind group, and I believe Napoleon Hill did a pretty good job of pegging the spiritual reasons why it works. But, what about the real world? What are the practical benefits of being part of a mastermind group?

• Mutual Support. When things get difficult or you get a little discouraged or overwhelmed as you move toward your goal, the group can help keep you up and on point.
• Different Viewpoints. There are so many possible things to know that no one person can know it all. So, with a group of like-minded people joined in a group, you have acces to a much larger pool of experience and knowledge than you would otherwise have. It offers different perspectives. They can help you think of things you forgot about. It is incredibly valuable.
• Shared Resources. Not only does every member of a group have their own knowledge that you may not have, but they have their own resources, too. Perhaps they have an “in” with somebody you want to talk to and they can make an introduction. Perhaps they have access to software you want to try. Perhaps they have experience with a solution to a problem you have.
• Accountability. Many, many people get a lot more done when they have to report to somebody else what they’ve gotten done. Nobody wants to be the one reporting they got nothing useful done.

It all adds up to being a HUGE support network for you as you build and expand your business. And, it is SO much more rewarding than trying to sit there and figure it out all by yourself.

How Do You Get Into A Mastermind Group?

The idea behind mastermind group members is to have MUTUAL support. For this to happen, everybody in the group needs to be more or less on the same page with regard to the general direction they’re heading.

It is NOT a requirement that they be in the same business as you. In fact, it is actually a good thing when you’re not in the same business. But, there needs to be some common reality there. For example, it would make no sense for me (as an internet business owner) to be in a mastermind group with somebody who owns an auto mechanic shop. The concerns of his business will have very little in common with the concerns of mine, so we wouldn’t be of much help to each other.

You also want people to have a similar drive and commitment. A group will fall apart if there is one or two solid action-takers while the others sit there and try to sponge off the others and doesn’t contribute anything. For the group to work ideally, everybody would be on a similar level.

Where can you find these people?

Well, any place where you can network with others with similar goals to your own. This includes networking events, conferences, Meetup groups, etc. But, it can also include online medium such as forums, social media groups, etc. It isn’t a requirement that you guys be in the same city. These days, you can have meetings remotely.

My Own Experience With A Mastermind Group

I have been a member of a mastermind group here in the Tampa Bay area for some time now. We all originally met through a public Meetup group that I organize here in the area. A few of us who had met at the Meetup decided to eventually form our own, private group.

While I won’t get into the exact people who are in this group, I will say that we all have the same goal. All of us run online businesses, however we don’t all do the same thing. One runs a business which, while primarily online, works with brick-and-mortars on their marketing. Another does a lot of 1-on-1 consulting, but in the area of business. One is a software developer in the online marketing space. One runs a similar business to mine, but in a very different market. One is in the fitness niche.

The point is… we’re not in the same markets at all. Yet, it works and works well.

For me personally, this group have been awesome. We all have different viewpoints to bring to the table, and the outside perspective is very nice to have. Hardly a meeting goes by (and we meet every few weeks) that we don’t all pick up a resource or some awesome idea off of one of the others in the group.

We also hold each other accountable. None of us wants to show up and say we didn’t do anything useful. Its just… embarrassing. And, we always end off a meeting by declaring what we intend to accomplish by the next time we meet.

The group is a support network, too. Every business owner goes through times when things seem a little grim, where we’re feeling overwhelmed, or a little lost on what to do. And, the group chimes in… sometimes with a little “tough love”. And, you pop out of it.

Being part of a mastermind group is easily one of the most important factors I have in being where I am in my business.

I’m fortunate to be able to meet in person with them every 2-3 weeks. But, what can you do if you don’t have that option? Or if you don’t have any potential contacts for forming such a group?

Consider Joining The Academy Mastermind

One of the benefits of my Blog Marketing Academy program is access to the mastermind calls.

Here’s how this works…

Every two weeks (barring some odd scheduling issue, of course), we hold a live mastermind call via GotoMeeting. In the future, I may explore another platform (Google Hangouts, perhaps), but for now, GotoMeeting works pretty well.

Everybody’s microphone is enabled (unless you purposely mute it). So, this isn’t some kind of top-down presentation where I’m lecturing you guys. This is a fully interactive, TWO-WAY conversation among members and with myself.

It is about as close to an in-person mastermind meeting as we can do without being in the same room together.

The topics discussed in each call vary, because it is all determined by the people on the call. So, it is a very free-flowing conversation. I’ve done “hot seats”, I’ve done blog critiques live on the call, I’ve answered technical and marketing questions. But, also cool is that I don’t have to personally answer every question, because many times other members chime in with their own feedback – which is AWESOME!

Many times, I learn about new tools and sites from other Academy members. So, this group is as much for my own benefit as your’s.

What I haven’t yet announced inside the membership area is that I intend to “systematize” the calls some more, to ensure that everybody who comes gets the most benefit. This means setting “ground rules”, giving members a checklist before the call, setting up after-call reporting to set goals (for accountability reasons). We may even schedule “hot seats” before the call begins, because as more and more people join the Academy, it is probably going to get more difficult to go free-form as we’ve been doing.

When I put together the Academy program, it was important to me to include a MASTERMIND component.

I know how important it has been for me, and can be for others. And, I wanted the Academy to be a place where members can get all the components for success. Not just information, but the support as well.

You can join the Academy before June 1st in order to enjoy the current rates. Those rates are increasing on June 1st.

A BIG part of why the price is increasing (and may increase yet again in a few months) is because of this mastermind. The value of membership gets bigger over time, and that is reflected in the enrollment fee.

Right now, calls are held in the afternoons on Wednesdays, but I’m going to be introducing an evening call for people who can’t attend in the afternoons. Details on that are forthcoming.

By now, I hope you can see some of the thought that has gone into this. And, I look forwarding to seeing you in our next mastermind call.

Have you experienced the benefit of a mastermind group, whether remotely or in person? Did you find it helpful?

P.S. Remember, Academy pricing increases on June 1st. Join before then to enjoy current rates.

The post The Power Of The Mastermind Group – Dismiss This At Your Own Risk appeared first on Blog Marketing Academy.

This post is from staff writer April Dykman.

I’ve mentioned a couple of times that I’m in the process of renovating a house. This includes a complete kitchen remodel, new fireplace, drywall to replace wood paneling, refinishing the ceilings, paint and wall repairs in every room, and more.

Needless to say, this project has kept me extremely busy!

And I’ve had to make a lot of financial decisions in the last four months, almost on a daily basis. Where do we go frugal, and where do we spend more?

Here are a few examples of the choices we made, based on what we spent:

Free

• Did all of the work ourselves! (Thanks goes to my dad for leading this project.)

• Repurposed the wood paneling in the living room to replace rotted paneling behind the washing machine.

• Refinished a free door to replace the one in the kitchen.

Frugal

• Used inexpensive white subway tile in the kitchen.

• Bought off-the-shelf cabinets and used butcher block for the countertops.

• Purchased paint-and-primer-in-one, which meant I only had to apply one coat.

Paid extra

• Bought a highly-rated oven, since we cook daily.

• Installed a chimney-style hood range. This was a total want.

• Purchased a farmhouse sink, which was far less expensive than most farmhouse sinks, but still cost more than a standard sink.

I can’t say we made all the right choices. In fact, some choices were made quickly because we just needed to get something done! I also quickly learned that no matter how much planning you do, most of the time you’re just solving one new problem at a time.

At any rate, it’s been fun, frustrating, and educational. But enough about my project, let’s get to the links!

Free: Lifehacker U

It might be graduation season, but why not go to summer school?

Whether you need to know the basics of savings and credit or you’re ready to graduate to building portfolios and investment clubs, you can learn everything you need to know in a college course. Only it’s all online, and the tuition is free.

Lifehacker put together a list of free, online courses available this summer from universities and learning centers: “The beautiful thing about taking classes online is that you can pick and choose the classes you want to attend, skip lectures and come back to them later (in some cases — some classes require your regular attendance and participation!), and do examinations and quizzes on your own time.”

This semester, their list includes these five courses in finances and economics: University of Michigan’s Introduction to Finance; Marketplace’s Money 101: Credit, Debt, and Saving; Marketplace’s Money 101: Retirement and Investing; Saylor University’s Money, Banking, and Financial Markets; and The Open University’s Contemporary Issues in Finance.

Frugal: wall art

I really like giant wall art, and I’m sure this is because of my Pinterest habit. The problem is that whether you buy prints or put your own photographs on canvas, wall art isn’t cheap. Even with a DIY job, there’s the cost of the print, the cost of the mat and frame.

But blogger Frugal Babe, who I featured once before on GRS, has a great solution: engineering prints. Funny enough, she first saw the idea on — wait for it – Pinterest!

“[Engineering prints] are supposed to be for blueprints,” she writes, “but you can print whatever you like, as long as you’re okay with blueprint quality.” You can make prints up to 3′x4′, but they can only be black and white, and they’re printed on thin paper. “They end up being a little bit more grainy than a photo-quality print would be, but I think the effect is actually pretty cool,” she says. “If and when they fade or we want to switch to newer photos down the line, we can print new pictures for just a few dollars.”

Total cost for one engineering print and a frame she bought at Goodwill? $9.

Paying extra: conscious consumerism

If you’ve ever asked why a shirt costs what it costs or where exactly it was made, you probably didn’t get any good answers. But some clothing brands want to change that, giving their customers more transparency about their products.

For instance, clothing company Everlane believes in “radical transparency,” like their look inside their Los Angeles factory. And in response to customer demand, Nordstrom is providing factory information and is considering specifying “people-friendly” products on their website.

“New research indicates a growing consumer demand for information about how and where goods are produced,” writes Stephanie Clifford in her New York Times article. “A study last year by professors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard showed that some consumers — even those who were focused on discount prices — were not only willing to pay more, but actually did pay more, for clothes that carried signs about fair-labor practices.”

Would you be willing to pay more for fair-labor clothing? Share in the comments, and tell us where you pinch pennies and where you’re willing to spend more.

The promise of airline frequent flier credit cards relies on a premise — cardholders will actually be able to redeem a reasonable amount of their miles for award flights a reasonable amount of the time. Yet too many airlines have such poor award availability at the lowest mileage levels that customers feel rightfully betrayed by the airlines and the credit cards that offer their frequent flier miles. On the other hand, the Citi® Platinum Select® / AAdvantage® Visa Signature® Card offers American Airlines miles that are still somewhat easy to redeem.

How This Card Works

For each dollar spent, cardholders earn one mile in the American Airlines AAdvantage program, and double miles are earned on purchases from American Airlines. New cardholders also start off with 30,000 bonus miles after spending $1,000 within three months of opening their account.

Other Benefits

Citi and American are leading other airline credit cards by offering cardholders a broad array of non-mileage benefits. Cardholders receive priority boarding, a 25% discount on in-flight purchases, and their first bag checked for free. Customers also receive a 10% rebate on their award redemptions, up to 10,000 miles each year, and American offers cardholders reduced mileage awards starting at 7,500 miles.

Cardholders also receive benefits such as extended warranty coverage, lost luggage insurance, and retail purchase protection. In addition, this card is equipped with an EMV smart chip that makes it compatible with a growing number of unattended kiosks overseas.

Costs

Cardholders who carry a balance will incur interest at a rate of 15.24% APR. There is a $95 annual fee that is waived the first year, and there a 3% foreign transaction fee imposed on all charges processed outside of the United States.

Pros

The strength of this program rests on the foundation of the American Airlines AAdvantage frequent flier program, which is one of the best.

American's website efficiently searches for seats on American and many of its other OneWorld partner carriers, and it is much easier to find award seats at the lowest mileage levels than it is with competitors such as Delta. And with its announced merger with U.S. Airways, cardholders will eventually have access to award seats on that carrier as well.

Furthermore, this card features a healthy number of benefits. Cardholders who have yet to reach elite status in American's program will enjoy free checked bags and priority boarding, as well as reduced mileage awards.

Cons

Like all reward credit cards, this product has a higher interest rate than the most competitive non-rewards product. Therefore, those who need to carry a balance should look for a card with a lower interest rate and a promotional financing offer. Nevertheless, this can be a good card to have for its benefits, even if another card with a lower interest rate is used for most spending.

A word of caution is in order regarding award flights on American's partner British Airways (BA). BA imposes very large fuel surcharges on awards using American Airlines miles. In some cases, the surcharges on award tickets can be almost as much as the cost of a coach ticket. So while this may still make sense when traveling on BA in business or first class, cardholders should understand that award tickets on BA flights will be anything but free. Fortunately, American has plenty of its own flights to London cardholders can book award flights with other partners that do not require these onerous surcharges.

Finally, it is unfortunate that Citi still imposes a 3% foreign transaction fee, especially on a card offered in partnership with an international airline and equipped with an EMV smart chip. Customers who have another card without foreign transaction fees should probably leave this card at home as American Airlines miles are valuable, but not worth paying three cents each when making purchases outside the United States.

Who This Card Is Best For

This is a great card for customers of American Airlines that want to enjoy some additional convenience when traveling. But this card is also a good way to earn some additional miles that cardholders can use for award flights.

By continuing to offer a valuable frequent flier program, American Airlines and Citi make this credit card well worth carrying.

Click here to apply now.

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There is an old adage that says "if you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got."

In other words, change is good.

Of course, implementing real change in our lives isn't always easy. We are a culture of habit — equating the familiar with the warm and fuzzy concepts of safety and security, even if the "familiar" isn't necessarily good for us. As a result, we resist change as long as we can, all the while talking about it, wishing for it, and promising to do it tomorrow. (See also: 25 Healthy Changes You Can Make Today)

The solution is to find a way to introduce change gently, to incorporate it into our daily lives in a way that makes it as minimally invasive as possible, so that by the time we realize we've made a major change, it's already become a comfortable habit that we've learned to embrace instead of dread.

And as with so much else in life these days, there's an app for that. Several in fact, and I've listed some of my favorites here. Use them to introduce some small changes into your day and let the momentum carry you on to bigger and better things.

1. Simply Being

If mindset is truly the key to success, then this little app will help you open that door. Choose how long you want to meditate — 5, 10, 15, or 20 minutes — and then start your day with a guided meditation. You can also choose to add nature sounds and/or music to your meditation, as well as listen to just the music without the voiceover. Available for iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, Windows, and Android devices.

2. Duolingo

I've mentioned this app before, but I'm mentioning it again because it's definitely one you should have in your arsenal of mobile tools. Duolingo is a free app that gives you language lessons and in exchange, you help to translate the World Wide Web (when you're ready of course). Currently they offer French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Italian. I'm learning the first three simultaneously (which is a challenge) and absolutely love this app. Each lesson takes 8 to 10 minutes tops, making it easy to work into your schedule. The unique interactive interface almost guarantees that you remember what you've learned. The app is available for iPhone and Android devices, or you can use the web-based interface if you prefer to expand your horizons from your PC.

3. Workout Trainer

Okay, how many of you had "work out" or "get in shape" on your list of resolutions this year? And now, how many years has that resolution been on your list?

The problem with working out is that it's addictive...but you have to actually do it before the addiction kicks in, and getting over that starting hump isn't always easy.

Enter the Workout Trainer. This is by far the best workout app I've found to date. There is a pro version, but the free version offers more than enough to get you up and moving on a regular basis. Choose from a variety of workouts, add your favorite music, and you're ready to go. No equipment is needed, detailed instructional videos for each move are included, and you can connect with their workout community or share your progress via email and social media platforms. Available for iPhone, iPad and Android devices.

4. Nike+

The Nike+ app uses the GPS on your phone (no extra devices or plugins required) to track your workout and show your progress. I've started walking in the morning, taking my dog along with me as part of his leash training. It's a simple app, but effective, and I get excited when I hear the computerized voice tell me that I've reached my goal or when I see that I've knocked two minutes off my time. (Of course, that's probably because my 90-lb dog is pulling me faster than he did the day before.) You can "friend" other Nike+ users and see how you measure up, which is good for those of us who have a competitive nature. And did I mention it's free?

5. YOGAmazing

It's not always easy to make it to the yoga studio on a regular basis or, as in my case, to even find a yoga studio that's nearby. YOGAmazing is the solution to that problem, and you won't need a player or a studio to make it happen. The app includes 50 yoga sessions designed to increase your flexibility and bring a little body-mind-spirit balance. Each session is 25 minutes long, and you can favorite the ones you like best for easy recall. Available for iPhone and iPad.

6. Office Yoga

Can't get away for a full yoga session? Then use this app to do some beneficial poses at the office. The app includes 75 sessions, organized both by time of day as well as situation, so you'll find stretches you can do while on the phone as well as more invigorating exercises designed for your walk to lunch. Available for iPhone and iPad.

7. Lumosity

I'm sure you've seen commercials for this app by now, but I'm going to list it anyway, just in case.

Lumosity is a wonderful collection of brain games designed to test your mental acuity and give your gray matter a serious workout. There is a more comprehensive web-based version, but the app offers a free trial that includes five sessions of three games each and a pro version of the app for $9.99 per year. Even though the app version isn't as robust as the web-based version, it's still well worth the 10 bucks.

Use it daily to improve your memory, increase your observation skills, and just generally make yourself smarter.

8. Lifetick

Want to get more in touch with the "real you?" Lifetick offers a goal setting app that doesn't just track your progress, it also helps you establish your core values, i.e., what's really important to you. The result is that your goals become more personalized, and by using the SMART goal-setting method, you can track your way to success. There's also a journal feature and status widgets to help keep you inspired and on track. There's a free version available, and it's $20 a year for the pro version. You can also create a bucket list for your long-term future and you can share your goals with other members for extra motivation. Available for iPhone and Android devices.

9. Lift

If you want to start small, this is the app for you. Lift allows you to choose simple habits you'd like to implement — from flossing your teeth to going to bed before midnight — and then you can "check in" every time you perform that task.

The app tracks your progress and other users can give you kudos for your follow through to add to your feeling of satisfaction. Available for iPhone right now, but the website promises a web version is on the way — you can sign up for future updates to know when new versions are released.

10. Instinct

This last one is currently web-based only, but the creators say they're working on a mobile version, and it's just so darn cool, I felt like this list wouldn't be complete without it. Instinct is the new (and fun) way to learn guitar. It uses the built-in microphone on your computer to listen to the notes you play and correct you as you go. It can teach you both songs and riffs, and it also has a tuner to help you find that perfect pitch for each string. It's free and offers a range of lessons to suit both beginners and advanced players.

Incidentally, I regularly tweet about my adventure with change and love to cheer others for doing the same, so follow me on Twitter if you'd like to expand your support network, and we'll evolve together.

So, there's my list...do you have a favorite app or resource that helps you be all that you can be?

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For many young adults, the military provides a tempting career alternative, especially when education funds are tight or jobs are hard to come by.

The rewards can be significant: job training, the GI Bill, health care and a chance for early retirement. The risks are abundantly clear as soldiers return from war zones, and as those who gave their lives are remembered on Memorial Day.

In the video below, Money Talks News founder Stacy Johnson explains some of the perks of military service. Then read on. As the wife of a military retiree, I'll share the perks and pitfalls I consider to be most significant, based on my years of experience.

Read 17 remaining paragraphs on MoneyTalksNews.com.

At its worst, drinking and driving can be fatal -- for you or for someone else. At best, a drunken-driving conviction will cost you thousands of dollars in fines, attorney's fees and higher insurance premiums.

Ted Hollander, a lawyer who handles DUI cases at the Ticket Clinic, told Money Talks News founder Stacy Johnson in the video below that a DUI can easily cost a driver $15,000. CarInsurance.com estimates a first drunken-driving conviction will cost at least $10,000. Watch the video, then read on for more information about the high cost of driving drunk.

Play this video on MoneyTalksNews.com.

Read 14 remaining paragraphs on MoneyTalksNews.com.

The median weekly earnings for someone with a bachelor’s degree is $1,066, compared with $652 for those who have only a high school diploma, says the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

So college seems well worth the effort, even though Forbes says earning a four-year degree at a private university actually takes an average of 55 months (roughly 4.5 years). Choose a particularly difficult major or work full time during school, and you might be looking at five or even six years of college.

How do you make things easier on yourself? You could select a major that's not very difficult.

Read 22 remaining paragraphs on MoneyTalksNews.com.

1. 24 Quick Actions You Can Do Today That Can Change Your Financial Life Forever

[Man vs. Debt]  This post covers the gamut from pulling your credit report to finding extra income to doing something nice for your spouse. You won't want to do everything on the list, but you'll like some of the ideas. My favorite? "Arrange a coffee or lunch meeting with a person you look up to financially."

2. 5 Must-Have Disaster Apps

[Main Street] The apps listed include the First Aid App, Lost Person Finder, iMap Weather Radio, Scanner Radio and Shelter View. Check out the article to see why they're highlighted, but if you're ever in a situation like Moore, Okla., you'll be glad you have them.

3. Does Having Multiple Bank Accounts Encourage Overspending?

[Mint] This article cites studies with a common, and rather odd, premise: "Subjects with multiple bank accounts spent more and saved less than those with only one account." Why? Basically, because you're not able to track your money as easily. It's also easier to justify spending from one account if you're leaving others intact. Who knew?

Read 4 remaining paragraphs on MoneyTalksNews.com.

Welcome to Wise Bread's Best Money Tips Roundup! Today we found some fantastic articles on writing the perfect cover letter, why gas prices keep going up, and retirement advice from real people.

Top 5 Articles

7 Tips to Writing the Perfect Cover Letter — To write the perfect cover letter, keep it clean and don't bring up your weaknesses. [PopSugar Smart Living]

Why Do Gas Prices Keep Going Up (and What You Can Do to Save) — You can save money on gas by buying gas on Wednesday. Wednesday tends to be the cheapest day to purchase gas. [Three Thrifty Guys]

Real Retirement Advice from Real People — Before you retire, practice living on your retirement budget to see if you can make it work. [Free Money Finance]

Should you ever work for free? — Working for free may be a good idea if you can have a title you could not qualify for otherwise. [Get Rich Slowly]

More money, more happiness: Do you think money can buy happiness? — Money can be used to by time and, consequently, happiness. Do you agree? [Five Cent Nickel]

Other Essential Reading

4 Awesome Entertainment Ideas for Only $1.00 — For $1, you can take the Mega Bus or Bolt Bus and explore a new city! [Budgets Are Sexy]

What to Look for in Your New Home — If you are looking for a new home, be sure to check out the size of the closets and the local conveniences. [One Cent at a Time]

The Buying Decision — When deciding whether or not to buy something, make your decision before you enter a store. Doing this helps you control your money. [The Simple Dollar]

Four Ways to Enjoy More Family Time During National Family Week — To enjoy more family time during National Family Week, turn off the TV. [Budgeting in the Fun Stuff]

Why Women Need to Talk About Their Miscarriages — It is important for women to talk about their miscarriages because it's a big deal to go through that kind of a loss. [Parenting Squad]

ShareThis

I subscribe to the promotional emails of hundreds of companies so you don't have to. I sift through 1,000 deal-touting emails every week. Most are worthless. But some offer valuable coupons, promo codes, sales and freebies -- which I collect and organize.

Note: Expiration dates are in brackets and special instructions are in parentheses.

• 7-Eleven: Medium Slurpees are 49 cents during Slurpee Days [5/27].
• 7-Eleven: $1 off a sandwich with the purchase of the new 16-ounce chill-activated Coca-Cola can [expiration unknown].
• Bob Evans Restaurant: Free breakfast entree with the purchase of one entree and two drinks (print first) [5/24].
• Bob Evans Restaurant: $3 off the purchase of two breakfast or lunch entrees and two drinks (print first) [5/25].
• Bob Evans Restaurant: $5 off the purchase of two dinner entrees and two drinks (print first) [5/25].
• Buca di Beppo Italian Restaurant: $10 off a $20 dine-in purchase (print first) [5/27].
• Denny's: 20 percent off your entire check (print first) [6/1].
• Pei Wei Asian Diner: Get a voucher for a free combo meal on your next visit with the purchase of $30 in gift cards in restaurants [5/26].
• RaceTrac: Free breakfast combo, which includes any size RaceTrac coffee and a breakfast sandwich (print first) [5/31].
• Smokey Bones Bar & Fire Grill: $5 off a $15 purchase (print first) [5/26].

Many know that bestseller "Fifty Shades of Grey" began as erotic "Twilight" fan fiction, but it never could've been successful unless author E.L. James rewrote it into a completely original work. Copyright law wouldn't allow it.

Now, Amazon has figured out a work-around that will let fans publish and sell their derivative works. Starting in June, authors will be able to submit fan fiction for sale in Kindle Worlds, a new store specifically "for fan fiction inspired by popular books, shows, movies, comics, music, and games."

Amazon says it has already licensed three series geared toward teen girls: "Gossip Girl," "Pretty Little Liars" and "Vampire Diaries."

Read 3 remaining paragraphs on MoneyTalksNews.com.

Kmart is at it again with a clever follow up to their highly popular video “Ship My Pants” that has had over 17 million views. The play on words this time is “Big Gas Savings” with over 1 million views in 2 days. Like the Old Spice videos that went ballistic, the question remains: They’re very creative and popular, but will these videos get shoppers in stores and buying at Kmart?

Flickr is Biggr. Users now get 1 terabyte of storage. I’ve been a pro Flickr user for many years and during Yahoo’s pre Marissa Mayer days, it had an uncertain future. Now Flickr is adding 1,000 x more storage for users and some new features including full resolution of images and new sharing functionality: “Upload once, send to any device, any screen, any friend, and any follower.”

The user interface has also been updated with the removal of small thumbnails and photos leading the experience, vs. text based navigation. I for one and looking forward to jumping back into using Flickr more often from the desktop, tablet and mobile. Via Flickr, Fast Company.

Arguably the big news in the SEO world this week was the roll out of Penguin 2.0, Google’s algorithmic webspam fighting effort. If your site is engaged in link buying, high volumes of exact match anchor text, or other link focused manipulations to improve search results, there’s a Penguin out to get you. More on Penguin from Matt Cutts, Search Engine Land, Search Engine Watch and of course, TopRank’s advice on Penguin 2.0 for Content Marketers.

Speaking of SEO and spam:

Google Notifies Sprint Of Spam Penalty; Seeks Advice In Google Help Forums. Apparently a portion of the Sprint site that was open for users to publish content was cited by Google for spamming. This is not a unique situation as Search Engine Land reports, since the BBC and Mozilla have had similar situations. Initially there was no help from Google outside of the notification but Matt Cutts eventually stepped in. As Barry notes in the SEL article, this is a tough one for brands to monitor, but they must if they expect to retain search positions and traffic form the almighty Google. Google Forum Thread. Thanks to Brian Larson for the heads up on this one.

Oh, How Pinteresting!, Introducing More Useful Pins for food, retail products, and movies. This week the nearly 50 million member strong Pinterest added a new feature directed towards commerce: Rich Pins. The new feature will make additional information available besides an image and description which many anticipate will give users more motivation to click through. Since Pinterest users tend to spend 70% more than buyers referred from non-social sites, there’s plenty of motivation for marketers to take advantage of these new features. Via Pinterest Blog, The Content Standard, Marketing Land.

Twitter announces ‘Lead Generation Cards’ to help brands drive qualified leads. Twitter has upped the ante for lead generation by adding 6 types of Twitter Cards as an advertising option for brands. Twitter cards (Summary, Large Image Summary, Photo, Gallery, App, Player and Product) make it possible for marketers to attach media experiences to Tweets that link to brand content. When someone expands your Tweet, they see a description of the offer and a call to action. Their name, @username, and email address are already pre-filled within the Card. Via Twitter Advertising Blog, TNW.

Yahoo has agreed to pay $1.1 billion for blogging platform and social network Tumblr, which is 6 years old and has 100 million blogs and about 300 million unique monthly visitors.What is Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer getting for all that Yahoo cash? Cats, porn and a lot of opportunity to connect with a very attractive demographic. Via Wall Street Journal.

But wait, there’s more!

Yahoo continued the buying spree and purchased a startup that powers games played on smartphones, tablets, consoles or personal computers called PlayerScale for an undisclosed sum. Via TechCrunch.

In other news about the social web:

According to a new Piper Jaffray study, Teens’ interest in Facebook is dropping but their use of Twitter has grown by 50% in 1 Year. I suspect the growth of teens’ use of Instagram and Snapchat is also on the rise.

Nutella Thanks Its Biggest Fan, Founder of World Nutella Day, by Sending Her a Cease and Desist reports AdWeek. But according to ABC News, they then took it back. When legal acts without social media savvy, it can be a sharp sting that gets them on the right track.

From the TopRank Online Marketing Blog Community:

Empathize to Optimize Your Customer’s Journey on the Search & Social Web – Carrie Morgan says: “A fantastic read on the same topic is Google’s Zero Moment of Truth, A must for every marketer to be familiar with! Nice post, Lee!! Great job story-telling. =)”

7 Steps to SEO at Scale, Patrick McFadden says: “Plan a Multi-Faceted Approach” Yes! The struggle many face with marketing online is a misguided impulse to put various tactics into separate boxes, instead of seeing each as an aspect of one strategic process.To this day, I see people referring to content marketing, social media marketing, and search engine optimization (SEO) as three different things — as if each is a tactic that can get you there alone. The smart way to treat these things as a holistic strategy.”

What are your thoughts on this week’s online marketing news? Was Tumblr a good call for Yahoo at 1.1 Billion? Do you like the new Flickr? How about Penguin 2.0 – is it doom and gloom or more like, “meh”.

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2013. | Online Marketing News: Biggr Flickr, Kmart Strikes Again, Yahoo Takes A Tumblr, Twitter Cards, Penguin 2 & SEO FUD | http://www.toprankblog.com