How to open a US bank account as a Canadian
by JadeDragon on July 19, 2011
Assemble your documents. You will need to prove your identity, citizenship and residency. Your passport and drivers license should do this. Bring a home utility bill for good measure.Decide WHERE you want your new bank account. It is easiest to deal with US bank branches in border towns. They are used to opening accounts for Canadians. Branches far from the border areas may give you serious hassles because the staff just do not know what to do with a non-resident customer.Decide WHAT KIND of bank account you want. A savings account will pay a little interest but you will not be able to write checks. A checking account might be more useful. Compare account features and fees before settling on a bank and account combination. You will need to open the account in person, but set an account opening appointment by phone to ensure you will get the best service. Be sure to leave plenty of time for potential border delays.Inform the bank as to what account type you want. Provide all your documentation at your appointment. Fill out all the forms completely.Consider what other services might be useful now that you have a US bank account. Safe deposit box for valuables you may not want to cross the border with? Direct deposit of US source income like dividends? Would a US based credit card save you exchange fees?Tagged as: investing, Lifestyle DesignTravel Hacking Tips
Many people interested in making money online do it so they can be free to travel more (not tied to a desk!) Here are some useful resources that help reduce travel costs or increase the enjoyment of travel.
Stay for Less: This site offers a platform for homeowners to rent out rooms, apartments, houses, boats, castles or whatever to travelers. They claim to be in over 180 countries now, with thousands and thousands of accommodation options. You can browse the offerings (referral link) and book your next vacation on the easy to use site.
Make Money With Your Real Estate: I’ve also started using AirBnB to promote some of my own properties with some success. The site is really good because you can set your own price (including different prices for different dates and lengths of stay) and you can upload lots of photos and details. The site deals with collecting the money and sending it to you just as the guest checks in. The guest pays a guest premium, the host covers the credit card fees. All very slick and easy to use. My main beef is that you have to administer each property separately which is a pain if you have a number of units.
Make Money with Your Network: Currently AirBnB is rewarding people with travel credits who invite their friends. They make it easy to invite via Facebook or email address book too. If you have a good friend network you could quickly earn enough to stay free for your next trip. This promo is good for people interested in using Facebook and Twitter to earn some free travel. Please go join via my referral link and than invite your friends with your referral link.
Internet Marketing: For the more sophisticated internet marketer AirBnB also has a more traditional commission based affiliate program. It currently offers reporting on earnings, clicks, and unique clicks over various time periods. Payments are monthly. No third party affiliate marketplace is involved in this direct program.
They offer this interesting widget to use on your site:
as well as various buttons (banners) and handy affiliate link generator.
For those interested in collecting airline miles, FlyerTalk can’t be beat. The forum includes hard core travelers discussing the intimate details of different airline, hotel, car rental and other frequent user programs.
There is extensive discussion on using credit cards to accumulate miles and which cards are best and where to find promos.
There is a whole area devoted to Mileage Runs – taking cheap flights to “who cares where” for the purpose of racking up miles, segments and program status. FlyerTalk defines Mileage Runs or MR as “A series of flights taken in a very short amount of time, solely for the purpose of accumulating frequent flyer miles, with a blatant disregard for the destinations.”
Lots of other interesting discussions as well. The only disconcerting part is that reading some of the discussion is tough for the uninitiated due to all the specialized terminology and abbreviations. Look under Help for the Glossary and the Airport Code Lookup to help make sense of it all. Membership is free and you can even join via Facebook login. Site seems to be advertiser rather than directly user supported.
I intend to update this travel hacking post (click to get to the updated post on InnovativePassiveIncome.com if you are reading on another site) from time to time. Your comments are welcome – what are some great resources you have found?
Tagged as: Lifestyle Design, TravelHow to Invest in Cemetery Plots for Profit
Would you pay $4.6 million to be buried above Marilyn Monroe? It’s available and the price is all about location. (see Resources section below)
Cemetery Plots are a unique class of real estate to invest in. The price is low compared to traditional real estate investments and the profits can be huge for you can easily double or triple your money over and over.
Yet by selling at a discount to the cemetery manager price, you will also be helping out families in need save money.
You can get started with just a few hundred dollars and some research time.
(This article is copyrighted by its original author. Short excerpts with links are welcomed, but please do not repost the article itself. Thanks.)
Difficulty: Moderately ChallengingResearch time to understand your marketA little free cashAdsBasic Market Research: Look carefully at the market for cemetery plots in your local area. You need to be able to answer these questions before investing a dime:a) What local cemeteries exist?c) Who controls the plot sales in each local cemetery?d) Can a person buy plots pre-need?e) Can a person resell the plots?f) Are there any restrictions on who is buried in each cemetery or section of cemetery – military, religious, fraternity or similar?When you can answer these questions you can move on to detailed market research.
Detailed Market Research: Focus on the cemeteries that your research shows sell plots pre-need and allow reselling of plots. We will call these our target cemeteries. Do the following additional research:a) Obtain a plot plan map of each target cemeteryb) Obtain a price list for each target cemeteryc) Ask the cemetery manager about buying plots on the secondary market.d) Determine what is required to transfer a plot and get copies of the transfer forms for each target cemetery.Organize the info on all the remaining target area cemeteries and even expand on it by answering step 1 questions so you can understand the competition for your investments.On the Ground Research: Walk each target cemetery with the plot plan and the price list. Your goal is to understand what the market value of each section is. Views, trees, fountains or other features and density of graves may all be factors in price. Walk through a few times (you need exercise anyway) until you really understand each target cemetery.Like all real estate, prices will depend on location, location and location. Premium locations sell for premium dollars. Since the resident is dead and can’t enjoy the view, it might be hard to understand why location is so key, but it is.Finding Inventory: Find people who have bought one or more plots, but do not want them anymore. These are classic “don’t wanters” in real estate speak. The reasons people might want to sell a cemetery plot parallel traditional real estate and include:a) Divorce – would you want to rest next to your ex for eternity?b) Remarriage – it seemed like a good idea to be buried with my former husband but after 10 years with new husband that plan fell awayc) Moved out of area – makes no sense to ship a body back to the old townd) Financial distress – some people could use the cash to live now rather then tie up cash in dirt to be buried in.e) Desire to be cremated instead.You can find prospective sellers by:a) advertising on free sites like craigslist (use the target cemetery names to get found much easier)b) networking with divorce lawyers, pastors, moving companies, and especially the cemetery managementc) watching for cemetery plot for sale ads in the paper or online classified spotsd) accessing one of the cemetery plot resale web sites
Make the Deal and help out the sellerBuying Inventory: Buy inventory once you really understand market prices, have the maps and on the ground knowledge of your targets, and have the transfer contract examples ready to go.Talk to prospective sellers about their desires. Be genuinely sympathetic especially since the plot seller might be financially distressed or emotional about the plot.Offer a fair price, considering that you are buying an asset with limited liquidity. 33% to 50% of the price similar plots sell for at the cemetery office should be about right. If required, explain it may take time to find a buyer and that you have to compete with the easy answer of buying direct from the cemetery office.
Understand why the client wants the plotIdentifying and Understanding the Client: Identify and understand your clients. Cemetery plots are unlike most products. No one walks up saying “I need to go buy a cemetery plot today” The plots you buy will be ones that were bought through a visit from a salesperson offering pre-need insurance packages, or were bought as companions to a plot bought at need.Your market is people who need a plot to bury a loved one who just died. These people are like distressed over the death and have an urgent need your plots can full.Marketing Inventory: Find buyers for your inventory. They say you should buy real estate by the acre and sell it by the foot. selling in 6 foot sections is taking that advice to the extreme.This is the tricky part. Some ways to find buyers.a) Online or print classified ads. If you are really going to do this business you need to establish a presence in the same spot in the paper. People will see the ad and do nothing, but when they need a plot they may just grab the paper and call you.b) By establishing relationships with funeral directors. The funeral director could be you number one source of leads. Give cooperative directors some business cards or a little brochure to hand out. You might even be able to create a marketing partnership where a funeral director will sell plots on your behalf.c) Look at what the cemeteries are doing for marketing, and go one better. If you have multiple cemeteries in your inventory, advertise that you offer choice in location.d) Join online databases to drive traffic and buyers your way.e) Set up an attractive website promoting the cemeteries you are focused on and offering plots for sale at a savings over “going direct”.f) Consider offering related services like memorial stones, urns and plaques.Enjoy Short and Long Term Profits: Enjoy the rewards of your investments. If you buy up a lot of well located plots and you establish an effective marketing program, you will have good cash flow as you turn over plots to families in need. You should be able to double your money or better.Longer term, your unsold inventory will appreciate in value, maybe a lot, as the cemeteries raise their prices and as the desirable areas you bought in sell out and fill up.Check local and state laws carefully. In some places it is illegal for persons in the cemetery business to resell lots. This consumer protection can work in your favor because it limits the cemeteries from buying back plots and competing with you for supply.Buy carefully and be prepared to wait for your clientsPerhaps you can buy a section of a cemetery at a big discount, then improve it with plants and other features to increase the plot value?Increasing numbers of cremations are reducing the demand for cemetery plots. Be aware of this trend and see if you can diversify into urn wall spots.Careful that the perpetual care fund is large enough to care for the cemetery. You are looking for a worry free real estate asset where someone else cuts the grass.Tagged as: investing Can You Make a Full Time Living Online?
Many people ask if they can make a full time income online. The answer is that many people can actually make a decent living, maybe even get rich online just as in the offline world. If you are considering your transition to the digital economy, consider these three methods of making a living online.
Become a Freelance Writer for Hire
Many people simply don’t have the skill or the time to write what they need written to support online efforts. They may be attempting to generate advertising revenue, or marketing some product or service. If you are a skilled writer there is a of work out there.
Sites like Demand Studios, Wisegeek and others will pay approved writers to produe articles starting with preselected titles. All the WiseGeek articles titles are in the form of a question, while Demand Studio’s has a stable of websites they produce content for. Both sites have a writer selection process. Expect to be paid between $4 and $15 per short article.
Constant Content is a better choice, though the rewards may not be as immediate because you submit articles and wait for buyers to purchase them. You set your pay rate which should be much more than than Demand Studios pays. For example I recently sold a 750 word article on a specialized topic for $150 at Constant Content. It was a topic I know all about, so zero research time went into that article. It did take a few months for the right buyer to arrive though. A nice little bonus is that authors who join based on your referral get 5% of your sales, out of the site’s site of the sale. I say little because with over 150 referred authors this has netted me just $38 so far. I obviously recommend Constant Content because I believe in it and I make money selling articles there, not because the referrals are very profitable.
Become a Professional Blogger
Blogging is not a get rich quick plan, but if you start, maintain and promote a focused blog after a while you will amass enough content, backlinks, pagerank and Alexa rank to get your blog noticed. Once your blog gets noticed opportunities will start coming your way and advertising starts to pay off.
Investigate good resources to help you build a better blog and monitize that blog. Innovative Passive Income is one resource (check out the resources page here for all kinds of ways to monetize a blog). Pat Flynn’s Smart Passive Income blog is another great resource of ideas and tools.
Become an Internet Marketer
Becoming an internet marketer is pretty straight forward, but pretty challenging at the same time. This post on 10 steps to make a living online details some key considerations as you embark on a quest to make money online as a marketer.
How to Get a Second Citizenship and Passport
by JadeDragon on July 14, 2011
(This article is copyrighted by its original author JadeDragon. Short excerpts with links are welcomed, but please do not repost the article itself. Thanks.)
Computer for ResearchCreativityLots of TimeThere are a number of paths to gaining a second citizenship and the passport to prove it including:-Immigration to another country-Proving decent and claiming citizenship through your parents or grandparents-Economic citizenship through investment-Acquiring citizenship through your spouse, child or other close relative.-proving a preexisting second citizenshipImmigration to another country will be time consuming (3 years or more). Many countries do not allow immigration or make it extremely difficult (for example China and Japan essentially do not allow immigration).It is possible to immigrate to some very attractive first world countries such as Canada, the USA, Australia, and New Zealand. Carefully research the types of immigration available to you and your family for each target country. The USA uses a lottery system and other methods to select immigrants. Canada has a point system. Canada also allows provinces to nominate investors, business people, and technical persons for immigration. Each immigration friendly country has specific programs so check each program out carefully.Proving citizenship through your parents or grandparents may work well if they immigrated from somewhere else. A number of countries recognize descendants of current or former citizens as either current citizens or potential citizens. Ireland for example, has welcomed many people with an Irish parent to take up citizenship. Italy also gives special consideration to descendants of its citizens, especially since so many left following WWII.The proliferation of new countries in the former Soviet Union and the Balkans, and changes to regimes in other countries contributes to the possibility that you might be able to claim a second citizenship in a country that may not have even existed when your parents moved.It might also be possible to have your parent or grandparent claim a second citizenship, then claim that citizenship through them. Think several levels deep if this applies to you.A number of (typically small) countries offer citizenship through investment. Sometimes this is through buying real estate, sometimes through investing in a government sponsored fund, other times it might be placing cash in a bank for a period of time. Nevis and St Kitts is one, Panama is another that offers a fast tracked economic citizenship. Many countries offer Permanent Residence status that can lead to citizenship in exchange for a large investment, including Canada, Malaysia and others.There are many brokers and web based business fronts offering access to “secret information” on these economic immigration programs. Be very careful selecting someone to help you. It will be best to do your own research and then hire a reputable law firm in the target country to help you.Consider all the citizenships in your immediate family. An American spouse can sponsor you into the USA or another country (some people even fake marriages to do this, but that is not wise). Could your child born while you lived in Canada help you become a Canadian? Have you adopted a child from abroad? Would marrying your long time partner give you access to another citizenship? Each person’s options are going to be unique, so consider what family ties you have.Maybe you already have a second citizenship and don’t realize it. Were you born in a second country different from where you live? Did you acquire a citizenship by marriage? Does a parent have a second citizenship that you inherited? You might already have a second citizenship and all you need to do is apply at the appropriate embassy or consulate for your second passport with the required supporting documentation.Each country makes their own rules for who is a citizen. These rules change from time to time. For example, Canada changed its citizenship laws in 2009 with the effect that several hundred thousand people became Canadians overnight.Hopefully this article has given you some ideas on where to start looking for a second citizenship. Good luck as you explore your citizenship options.
Marketing Credit Card & Financial Products: The Pros & Cons
Mike, who wrote this guest post, is the creator of CreditCardForum.com.
A patriarch of a famous political family, Joseph Kennedy once said “If you want to make money, go where the money is.” Well, if you’re a blogger looking to make money I will tell you where it is… in the banking industry! If you’re good at it, banks will pay you top dollar for the marketing of mortgages, credit cards, loans, etc. As someone who started a leading forum for credit card reviews, I will let you in on the pros and cons of making money in this niche.
Pro: You have plenty of options (and they work for most sites)
Even if you don’t have a blog about personal finance, I see no reason why you can’t advantage of these opportunities. Simply put, there are such a wide array of financial products available on the affiliate channels, I’m sure you can find at least a few that will work for your site, regardless of the niche you are in.
Let me give you an example: I know someone that has a website for plastic surgery message boards. Now you’re probably asking “How on earth can plastic surgery be related to financial services?” Well those cosmetic surgeries cost money and people need a way to pay for them, right? So what that webmaster did was setup a page to promote 0% credit card offers. Then when someone posted on the message board asking “how can I pay for my nose job?” or “where can I get a loan for my tummy tuck?” she would direct them to the page that featured the 0% cards.
Want more examples? Well if you have a blog about cooking, throw up a banner ad in your sidebar for a credit card that gives extra rewards at grocery stores. Do you write about travel? Then promote hotel and airline credit cards. In fact, if you have a popular travel-oriented site, banks may actually pay you an extra monthly fee for that banner, on top of the commissions you earn. Case in point- Chase pays me an extra monthly fee for featured placement of the Continental Airlines credit card on the forum.
The bottom line is regardless of the niche you’re in, there’s a good chance you can find a way to weave in financial products/services for some extra income. Here are several great ideas for how to present your affiliate links to readers.
Con: Banks are picky about the accuracy of their products/services
Probably the biggest drawback of promoting financial products is that you have to constantly keep the offers and details up-to-date. For example if the interest rate, signup offer, or rewards program changes for a given credit card, you are expected to update it immediately. And of course those things do change all the time, so you have to constantly make updates.
However this site is about “passive income” so I would like to share with you a strategy for marketing financial products in a more passive manner. First of all, if you don’t want to have the hassle of updates all the time then don’t write mortgage, loan, or credit card reviews. Instead, just slap up some banner ads for them. Why? Because banner ads usually don’t mention the nitty-gritty details like APRs, reward program details, etc. so you won’t have to change them nearly as often.
Pro: The commissions on financial products are usually high
More often than not, the amount of money you can make on converting traffic is quite high. For example, many credit cards will pay $50 or more per approved application. Those geared towards travelers like that Continental Airlines credit card I mentioned pay even higher. For credit score monitoring services, from my experience the payouts typically range from around $10 to $30 per conversion. In today’s post-recession era, I don’t personally know anyone currently marketing mortgages or car loans so I can’t tell you the numbers on those, but you can bet they aren’t too shabby either.
So let’s say you have a banner for a credit card that pays $50 per signup. If 1 out of every 20 clicks convert, then that’s $2.50 per click… probably more than the average amount you would be earning per click with Adsense, right? Of course I’m not claiming that route will always beat the ad networks but you should experiment, because sometimes it does and ultimately that means more money in your pocket.
Con: Due to the economy, credit and loan approval doesn’t come easy
Back during the heyday of say, 2007, banks would approve anyone with a pulse! Obviously that all changed with the financial crash and now in order to get approved for most credit/loans, you need to have stellar credit. For example, back in the day I remember people with score in the mid 600’s getting approved for credit cards like the Chase Freedom and now, I hear stories of people with relatively high scores in the mid 700’s that get denied. So nowadays the conversion rate is definitely lower than it used to be.
Pro: There are products/services not dependent on creditworthiness
Okay, so it’s probably not the best time in the world for me to be operating a site for credit card reviews, but luckily, there are other products/services I can market that are not dependent on having good credit. I’m talking about all the offers out there for credit scores, credit reports, credit rebuilding, and debt management. These are great alternatives to explore during economic times such as these.
The bottom line
Don’t get angry at the banks for getting all that bailout money during the recession. Instead, why not profit a little bit from it yourself? As long as your site isn’t in a sketchy niche (where the banks don’t want their ads) I bet there’s a good chance you could incorporate offers for one or more of the financial products I’ve mentioned on your blog for some extra income.
How to Get Rich Quick (or Not)
We all dream of becoming fabulously wealthy quickly. Here are 5 popular get rich quick programs with nearly guaranteed results.
InstructionsA little cashDesire to Make Lots of Money Quickly
Play the LottoBuy Lotto tickets. You can’t win without a ticket, and the more tickets you have the better your chances. So go and acquire a lot of lotto tickets, then check your numbers until you win big. Then you will never have to work again!Biggest Advantage: This is the easiest way to Get Rich Quick because it involves no real work of any kind by anyone.Biggest Disadvantage: The chances of winning the lotto are excessively poor. You have a 99.999999% chance to become a BIG LOSER with this strategy.
Gamble at the Casino. All the benefits of the Lotto Investment Strategy PLUS lots of lights and bells when you strike it rich at the slots. It is far faster then Lotto tickets too – no waiting around for a weekly draw. You will know in seconds if you have stuck it rich, or of you have to feed the one arm bandit another offering of your hard earned money to really hit the big time.Biggest Advantage: Instant feedback and the ability to try again and again until you run out of cash. Cheap buffets are a close second on the advantage list.Biggest Disadvantage: Chances of running out of money are high. If you win, you will be tempted to reinvest until you lose it all.
Sign up for the hottest MLM and wait for the big bucks to roll in! You can almost count on big weekly checks of residual or passive income. Diamond awards, pink caddies, and all expense paid vacations to paradise are just bonuses.So call all your friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, acquiescences, and hangers on to insist they join your new independent business empire.Biggest Advantage: You can sit back and let all your friends and family do the work (at least the ones who will still talk to you after you launch your MLM business).Biggest Disadvantage: Mom will not take your calls and forget anymore holiday dinner invites.
Start a small business with no barriers to entry. Look for something that requires little cash and no training. Watch the big bucks roll in as you do nothing but sit in your underwear at home because you are the boss!Biggest Advantage: Little cash, no training, easy to get going.Biggest Disadvantage: If you don’t know what you are doing, or no one wants your product or service things will go slow for you. Low barriers to entry will allow others to get in on your action.
Get in on wholesale prices to make the big markups. You can compete with Walmart – just cut out the expensive retail store and forget the fancy websites. Your garage will make a great sales site right. Buy in volume, store and sell. What could be easier.Biggest Advantage: You will never need to buy your chosen product again.Biggest Disadvantage: No where to park your car for the next 10+ years.Tip: Don’t take these ideas to seriously – none of them really workWarning: Try these ideas at your own risk.Warning: Don’t quit your day job because you will need it more when you make it through all 5 steps.Copyright 2010 by JadeDragon. Do not copy this article – that would be stealing.