Internet Banking Makes Dollars, Not Cents
June 15, 2008
For some reason, the internet is full of websites that talk about how to make money online. “Google this, SEO that. Optimize this, tweak that.” The most popular sites seem to offer some form of a short top ten list. Some people brag about their multiple successes in forums, while others are still struggling to get Google to index their site.
Each person is at a different point along the road of making money online. One thing missing from all the posts about how to make money online is what to do with the money once it has been made. Depending upon the affiliate program, receiving payment through an electronic funds transfer (EFT) appears to be both the easiest and the best solution. Both Google and Amazon offer EFT payments to residents of the United States.
But where should your affiliate payment be sent? My recommendation is to begin using an internet banking account, if you are not already. By this, I do not mean that you should use the online version offered by the major banks. The reason is simple. The interest rate offered by online banks exceeds the interest rate from traditional banks, even from those traditional banks that allow you to view your account online. What I’m talking about here is those banks existing solely on the internet. If you’re interested in this, then please find an online bank that meets your needs on Bankrate.
My personal choice for internet banking is ING Direct. It does not cost a single penny to open up an account with ING, and ING uses your traditional bank account (Chase, Citi, Bank of America, etc.) to make deposits to your ING account. If you elect to receive payments through EFT, on the other hand, then your affiliate program provider can direct deposit into your ING account. On a monthly basis, both Google and Amazon send an EFT payment to my money market account at ING. In addition, I have setup ING to transfer $25.00 from my traditional checking account to my online banking account on a monthly basis. But why would I do such a thing? I would do such a thing because I believe there is nothing more powerful than compounding interest.
ING DIRECT is a member of ING, one of the largest financial services companies in the world. ING has over 112,000 employees operating in 50 countries with banking and insurance assets exceeding $600 billion.
Until you decide to invest your money in a mutual fund or in a retirement fund of some sort, I highly recommend that your money rest in a money market savings account offered by an online bank. You’ll earn higher interest than what could be had from a traditional bank. And to this end, internet banking makes dollars, not cents.
How to Protest High Prices
June 10, 2008
There comes a time when traditional shopping becomes ridiculous and impractical. At a time when gas prices have reached all-time highs, it no longer makes sense to drive from store to store in search of the best deal. And even when a great deal is found, the cost of gas makes up for the amount of money that was saved. Groceries, too, are steadily increasing in price. Factored into the price of gas and into the price of groceries are the labor costs, insurance costs, utility costs, maintenance costs, and processing costs.. not to mention the profit margin. Your final bill, in essence, represents a small fraction of all the time, labor, and processing that went into your purchased product. Therefore, if you’re looking to save money, consider doing business online.
Shopping on the internet has comes a long way in recent years. While identity theft and internet fraud are still legitimate areas of concern for any would-be internet shopper, there is one reputable company that prides itself with reliability, conflict resolution, and customer fidelity. Amazon.com is this company. Not only do shares of Amazon.com trade publicly on the NASDAQ, Amazon.com allows the return of most purchases. In addition, Amazon.com is a proud member of the Better Business Bureau.
One of the great things about Amazon is the wide range of possible shopping purchases. From groceries to automotive replacement parts, from baby bottles to hiking gear, and from books to microscopes, Amazon appears to have it all. Moreover, Amazon showcases its most popular products in RSS feeds. These RSS feeds have been placed on the Online Shopping Network for ease of access and navigation. Items found in the RSS feeds represent the most popular, the most gifted, the most wanted, and the most selling products during the last hour. Yes — these feeds automatically update once per hour to reflect the most recent selling trends.
In conclusion, while the popularity of shopping online has increased in recent years, seeing full parking lots at traditional brick and mortar business leads me to believe that most individuals have not yet discovered the price savings from internet shopping. Further price reductions can be had from purchasing in bulk, from saving time and gas money by staying home and shopping online, and from using the internet as a tool for protesting the constant inflation of prices found at traditional retail outlets.