Saw this article about Jason Sadler who basically gets paid to wear a t-shirt every day. He founded I Wear Your Shirt and hires himself out to wear a different company's t-shirt each day, take some pics and post online about it.
He made over $80,000 this year! That's good money for maybe a few hours' effort each day. And he already has more than half of next year's days sold out.
This is a brilliant idea, and I wish I'd thought of it. Not sure how scalable it'll be...he's doubled his fee and added a 2nd t-shirt wearer on the West coast. But it's a sweet side business and must give him tons of freedom to pursue other things.
What I like best about this is it exemplifies one of many things that make America great. Anyone with a good idea and the initiative to make it real can be successful...even in challenging economic times. Congrats, Jason, well done!
Showing posts with label economy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label economy. Show all posts
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Prosper.com Reopens For Peer to Peer Lending
Prosper.com announced last week that they finally got through their SEC registration and are back open for business. If you're not familiar with Prosper, it's one of the first online person to person lending sites...basically an eBay for unsecured personal loans up to $25,000. I've been a lender there since 2006 with mixed results and haven't bid in a while.
About 9 months ago the SEC shut Prosper down for selling unregistered investments. For some reason, Prosper thought the SEC rules didn't apply to them. They were wrong. Hopefully they used the 9 months down time wisely to improve their fraud detection and collection processes...things lenders have complained about.
The sad part is that Prosper had to shut down during the height of the credit crunch when lots of credit worthy small businesses and other folks were having difficulty finding lenders. It was a perfect opportunity for peer to peer lending to shine and Prosper missed it.
Prosper still has several legal hurdles to clear. Residents of many states aren't eligible yet to lend on the site which makes it more difficult to fund loans. I'm in one of those states but I won't bid until the delinquency numbers improve.
For anyone with decent credit history needing a loan, Prosper is worth a look. Here are some tips to get your loan funded on Prosper.com. Just make sure to pay it back on time.
About 9 months ago the SEC shut Prosper down for selling unregistered investments. For some reason, Prosper thought the SEC rules didn't apply to them. They were wrong. Hopefully they used the 9 months down time wisely to improve their fraud detection and collection processes...things lenders have complained about.
The sad part is that Prosper had to shut down during the height of the credit crunch when lots of credit worthy small businesses and other folks were having difficulty finding lenders. It was a perfect opportunity for peer to peer lending to shine and Prosper missed it.
Prosper still has several legal hurdles to clear. Residents of many states aren't eligible yet to lend on the site which makes it more difficult to fund loans. I'm in one of those states but I won't bid until the delinquency numbers improve.
For anyone with decent credit history needing a loan, Prosper is worth a look. Here are some tips to get your loan funded on Prosper.com. Just make sure to pay it back on time.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
More Reasons Why Chrysler Is In Bankruptcy
Yesterday I received a letter from Bob Nardelli, the CEO of Chrysler. It's a form letter sent out to Chrysler customers (we have 2 Chrysler vehicles) with info about the bankruptcy and assurances that they're still making great vehicles, will honor all warranties, blah, blah, blah.
At the end is an "Owner Loyalty Certificate" offering $1000 toward the purchase of a new Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep vehicle. Sounds like a good idea to retain customers and maybe generate some sales. Then I looked at the fine print and a couple things hit me...
The offer is only valid from May 5 to June 30. The letter was delivered to me on June 6, halfway into the program. The fine print says the offer's "not valid on a prior purchase or lease". So if I had purchased a new Dodge last week and then got this certificate for $1000 yesterday that I couldn't use, I'd be one ticked off customer and brand loyalty would be the last thing on my mind. Note to Chrysler...when running an offer like this, send it out in time for people to use it.
Only good for purchase of a new 2008 or 2009 vehicle with some models excluded. There are a lot of models on the excluded list which I understand. Manufacturers don't want to discount their best selling models. But it's now model year 2010...if you still have a 2008 Crossfire or Magnum on the lot, you want to sell it now. A $1000 loyalty offer is one way to do that. So why are there any exclusions on purchasing a 2008 model?
I'm disappointed to see Chrysler go into bankruptcy. We're overall pretty happy with the quality, styling and what not of our Chrysler vehicles. And I hope that they continue to make great cars and trucks. But they need to get smarter about how they run their business.
Unfortunately, the writing was on the wall when we bought my wife's car in 2005. It was a new purchase and Chrysler offered us an extra $500 rebate if we would finance through them at 0% interest for 4 years. In other words, these financial geniuses paid me $500 to use over $20k of their money for free for 4 years! Is it any wonder they're in bankruptcy now?
But I guess the joke's on me as an American taxpayer since we're squandering billions to bail these guys and GM out of a mess they created. Meanwhile Ford could get the royal shaft because they used smart management to avoid taking bailout money.
At the end is an "Owner Loyalty Certificate" offering $1000 toward the purchase of a new Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep vehicle. Sounds like a good idea to retain customers and maybe generate some sales. Then I looked at the fine print and a couple things hit me...
The offer is only valid from May 5 to June 30. The letter was delivered to me on June 6, halfway into the program. The fine print says the offer's "not valid on a prior purchase or lease". So if I had purchased a new Dodge last week and then got this certificate for $1000 yesterday that I couldn't use, I'd be one ticked off customer and brand loyalty would be the last thing on my mind. Note to Chrysler...when running an offer like this, send it out in time for people to use it.
Only good for purchase of a new 2008 or 2009 vehicle with some models excluded. There are a lot of models on the excluded list which I understand. Manufacturers don't want to discount their best selling models. But it's now model year 2010...if you still have a 2008 Crossfire or Magnum on the lot, you want to sell it now. A $1000 loyalty offer is one way to do that. So why are there any exclusions on purchasing a 2008 model?
I'm disappointed to see Chrysler go into bankruptcy. We're overall pretty happy with the quality, styling and what not of our Chrysler vehicles. And I hope that they continue to make great cars and trucks. But they need to get smarter about how they run their business.
Unfortunately, the writing was on the wall when we bought my wife's car in 2005. It was a new purchase and Chrysler offered us an extra $500 rebate if we would finance through them at 0% interest for 4 years. In other words, these financial geniuses paid me $500 to use over $20k of their money for free for 4 years! Is it any wonder they're in bankruptcy now?
But I guess the joke's on me as an American taxpayer since we're squandering billions to bail these guys and GM out of a mess they created. Meanwhile Ford could get the royal shaft because they used smart management to avoid taking bailout money.
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