Beranda Kita

Good affiliates can be hard to get. There could be any number of reasons for this, but I am going to focus on what I believe is the one major problem that prevents someone from attracting good affiliates. But first lets look at what the make up of a good affiliate may be. A good affiliate is:

Hard Working

Persistent

Motivated to work their business

Does not need constant reassurance

Makes and implements goals

Overcomes obstacles

Recognizes and takes good advice

And Never, Never, Never quits!

The question some may ask is, "Where are these people at?" I'll tell you. Most of these people are already successful with their own affiliate program. And they are successful for the very reasons listed above. Also, they did not fall prey to the very problem that many searching for good affiliates are causing themselves. And that is advertising hype. They overlooked that and went into the marketing program with a desire to succeed, understanding that it is going to require work and time to be successful. Unfortunately though many are for the first time looking for a home business and don't know what internet marketing is all about. They are vunerable to all the hype infested ads out there.

Now. If a person signs up for an affiliate program with none of the traits listed above for a good affiliate can they indeed be a good affiliate? Yes! But it will be an uphill battle helping them to develop some of the above traits. Even though it would be hard it is still worth it to work with them in hopes they will become the perfect affiliate. Who knows.They may become your best affiliate yet! But I want to focus on getting the good affiliates from the start. Why?

My logic is this. I would rather have one good affiliate that is a real go-getter then ten thousand that do nothing or very little at all. That way you have more time to focus on your own business then spending alot of time babysitting someone who will probably eventually give up. The best route to go is to get affiliates who are already conditioned. Well just how do we do that? There is only one way to do that and that is how your opportunity is presented to prospects.

Most all advertising someone does is loaded with hype. Whether it is their search engine description, classified ads, or email. This is what prevents marketers from getting good affiliates. If possible you must remove all the hype from your advertising and sales letter. Now I know that some of us work an affiliate program owned by someone else. And you may be required to use the advertising and sales letter that they give you. But if possible use the ones that have the least amount of hype. What do I mean by hype!

Hype is where you describe something to the greatest, allowable, extreme possibility. Such as but not limited to the following:

Make a MILLION DOLLARS every time you breathe by just posting a website!!!!!

Earn $15,000 a day by reading emails!!!

Buy my ebook, "125,000 Ways To Get Rich Marketing Salt!"

Now I know these are exaggerations but the point is that while on paper you may be able to prove your claims, most do see these types of ads as exaggerations of the truth. Besides that these ads will not get you those good affiliates your are seeking. What these type of ads will get you are:

Curiosity seekers

Gullible People

Get Rich Quick Hopefuls

If you portray your business as a get rich quick scheme, then that is what you will get. People looking to get rich quick. Not exactly my idea of a good affiliate. Why? Because each person who fits into any of the above groups has their own reason for signing up none of which is to run a business. Most individuals like this sign up and do little if anything. When they realize that they're not going to get a free lunch most will opt out in a day or two. Those who remain will just ignore your emails. By the way. How would you like to go to a job interview and be told you will make $20.00 an hour. You work for 2 weeks only to find out that you have to work for the company 10 years before receiving that amount per hour. You would probably walk out the door feeling you were decieved. That is exactly what happens to people who answer ads loaded with hype. They feel as though they were decieved.

Not only that but it can be costly to run an ad campagin that uses hype. Think of Pay Per Click campagins. Your are spending money on the clicks of those who are not interested in running a business. I would rather get one hit to my website a day from someone who will do what it takes to succeed then a million hits from people who want to get rich by the end of the day.

Rather have an ad campagin that focuses on what the average person can expect. Most people are in this category. An average person. So target your advertising as if everyone who reads it already understands the ins and outs of internet marketing. Portray your opportunity as one that will take years to reach it's full potential. Be honest and up front. Then you will get people signing up who are ready to build a business up over time. Remember. Get Rid Of The Hype. If the average person won't make $15,000 dollars a month then don't say they will. If the average person will probably make $1,000 a month then say that. What's wrong with making a $1,000 more a month then they had before. If you have been able to quit your job because of your affiliate program, prove it. If you can't offer up some type of proof, (copies of checks, real testimonials, etc...) then just keep it to yourself.

The point being made is this. Most people are already aware of the saying, "If it sounds to good to be true, then it probably is." There are exceptions to this rule but for the most part it is a true statement. Now if you follow the advice given above you will probably see a significant drop in your website traffic. And also a drop in the amount of affiliates you are getting. But like I and so many others say. "It's not the quanity of the affiliates you are getting but the quality of the affiliates you get.

Leave the hype to those who want to brag about the amount of website traffic and affiliate sign ups they are getting. I'll take a big fat check over hype any time.

So, you have worked really hard to build a fabulous affiliate site. You took the time to add your keywords and relevant information about the products. Your pages load quickly, and your site is even listed in the search engines for specified terms. You look at your stats, and you see a regular flow of traffic coming into your site. You get really excited! You log in to your affiliate program manager, and.... WHAMO! You have very few commissions from sales, and your click-throughs are extremely low. Suddenly, you are asking yourself, "what the heck happened here??" The answer... You might possibly be the victim of affiliate link hijacking!

In this revolving world of the Internet, we are constantly being bombarded by spammers, spyware, viruses, and hackers. Now, we have to worry about link hijackers stealing commissions that are rightfully ours. So, what is link hijacking and how do you prevent it?

In the simplest terms, link hijacking occurs when someone replaces their affiliate ID with yours. The result? They get the commission instead of you. You did all that work, but someone else is getting paid? Yes! You may be wondering how this happens.

Let me explain. I first heard about this phenomenon while visiting various discussion boards on affiliate marketing. Many affiliates had experienced a decline in sales while their site's traffic stats remained high. Common discussions found in affiliate forums include various software programs which "steal" information. Many of these programs download themselves onto a person's computer, either knowingly or unknowingly. These programs can override your affiliate links each time the customer visits your site, therefore giving credit to someone else.

Many times, people download packaged programs that contain these types of software. The innocent surfer may not even realize they have a program running in the background. Anyone who takes part in the Internet community, whether it be a webmaster or a surfer, should stay informed about these programs by visiting parasiteware.com on a regular basis.

Link hijacking comes in various forms... not just from downloads. Let's say your affiliate link looks like this: www.url.com/?123456 , where 123456 is your affiliate ID. A link hijacker is interested in the product and wants to purchase it. He also wants the affiliate commission from the product. He takes your ID 123456 and replaces it with his ID 999999 to look like this: www.url.com/?999999 . The result? He gets the commission from the product purchase. He modified the link to benefit himself. You lose.

Here is another example of link hijacking: A customer comes to your website and sees a link to the product that he wants to buy. When he moves the mouse over your link information, he sees your affiliate url in the status bar of his computer. Instead of clicking your affiliate link, he decides to manually type it into his address bar, leaving off the affiliate referral code: www.url.com. This results in no affiliate tracking information and no commissions for you. You lose again!

So how much money could you be losing? I have read that an estimated 10-30% of commissions are lost due to affiliate link hijacking. (In a recent article from "revenue" magazine, the estimate was as high as 40-50%). Can you imagine the kind of potential revenue that you might be losing right now?

Take Action by Protecting Yourself From Revenue Loss

In the constant search for new scripts and software to improve my websites, I have run into several affiliate cloaking devices. Most of them cost around $50 or more. However, I did run into one cloaking script that is free. It is called Affiliate Link Cloaker (ALC). The site owner simply asks that you subscribe to their newsletter.

By golly, I love free stuff, don't you! If you are interested in learning about this script and how it works, you can visit their site at webmasterinabox.net/affiliate_link_cloaker.html . They have other scripts that you might find useful as well. Now, get out there and protect those links!

Now that the idea of doing business over the internet has been firmly established, many potential internet businessmen are searching for the best way to do business. Usually the choice comes down to whether you want to set up your own business and online store, or sign up for an affiliate program.

First of all, let's define what we mean by an affiliate program. An affiliate program is basically an internet business set up by someone else. They could be selling physical goods, education, information or any other products that can be sold online. By signing up as their affiliate, you are helping them promote their business or store. In return, they will pay you a commission for each sale you bring them. The amount of commission varies between different affiliate programs. Examples of affiliate programs include Amazon.com and Wordtracker.

1) EARNINGS

So how does an affiliate program differ from starting your own online store? Let's start by looking at the potential earnings. (After all, the main reason everyone wants to start an internet business is for the money). When you sign up for an affiliate program, you will be paid a commission for each sale you refer to the online store. This commission can range from 5% to 15% for physical products, and possibly up to 50% or more for virtual products such as subscriptions and ebooks.

On the other hand, if you start your own store, your profit can be much higher. For virtual products, your profit can be 100% of your selling price. After all, once the newsletter or ebook is created, you do not need to spend any more effort. When someone buys your ebook, they just download it from your website. If you are selling a physical product, your profit depends on whether you are manufacturing the product yourself, or buying from a wholesaler or dropshipping company. Your profit in this case could easily be more than 40% or 50%.

So, if you only consider the potential earnings, starting your own business is more lucrative than joining an affiliate program.

2) LOGISTICS

However, money isn't everything (Or so they say). When you are starting your own internet business, there are a number of logistic issues you need to look at. Here are a few things you would need to take care of:

a) Create your website

b) Design your product (if you are selling new products)

c) Create your product (if you are selling new physical products, or any virtual products)

d) Set up an online store

e) Set up a merchant account or payment gateway

f) Set up a warehouse or storage space (if you are selling physical products)

g) Have procedures and staff ready to fulfill orders

h) Set up an affiliate program to get others to market the products for you

i) Monitor for fraud

j) Monitor stock levels

As they say, "No pain, no gain". Having your own store pays very well, but requires a substantial time investment from you.

On the other hand, if you sign up for an affiliate program, all you need to do is set up a website to promote the program. All the ads, banners, marketing text etc will be provided to you by the affiliate program. Your only responsibilities would be to get people to visit your website, and hopefully click on the affiliate links to buy the products that you are promoting.

3) CONVERSION

Whether you have your own business or are promoting an affiliate program, the bottom line is the conversion rate, or the percentage of visitors that actually buy something from you. A number of factors influence this conversion rate. Factors as quality of the product, quality of the website, customer support are all important. However, I personally believe that the most important factor is trust.

When a potential customer arrives at your website, he will need to trust your site enough for him to be willing to buy from you. After all, on the internet you are just a faceless salesman. He doesn't know who is actually running the site and whether he will actually get the goods that he orders.

Having said that, one of the key methods of garnering trust is by recommendation and referral. If a store is being referred to or recommended by another website, the potential customer will feel that the store is trustworthy. After all, if the store is not trustworthy, why would the other website recommend it?

This is where affiliate programs shine. When you refer a potential customer to the store for which you are an affiliate, the customer will feel more relieved, since the store is being recommended by your site, a 3rd party. The customer will be more likely to buy from the store, benefiting both the store, and you as well.

There are both pros and cons to joining an affiliate program. You might earn less with an affiliate program compared to starting your own store, but I believe the benefits of not having to be responsible for the logistics makes affiliate programs are very viable "passive" source of income.

Today the majority of affiliates are looking for compensation when your customers call in their orders by phone. One of the first things they will look for when thinking about joining your affiliate program is to see if you have an order phone number on your site. If you do not offer phone commissions you are most likely losing out on affiliates.

"But I slightly increased my commission rate to make up for not giving phone commissions..."

Who cares? I know I wouldn't. If I referred 5 customers to Merchant X and all 5 of them called in their orders I get a whopping $0 commission. But if Merchant X paid for phone commissions I would be getting my commissions that I deserve. The bottom line is that affiliates want all of their commissions that they earn, not just some of it.

There really is no excuse for not tracking phone sales other than the fact that you just don't want to pay affiliates for all of their sales. Setting your site up to track phone sales is not that difficult and shouldn't take more than a little bit of time.

Here are the simple steps it takes to set up phone tracking:

Contact your affiliate program software/network provider and ask them how to set up for phone tracking. It is just a matter of passing the affiliates ID number onto your website to display next to your phone number. Usually, it is displayed using a javascript code or a short programming script.

Make sure you place the phone sale tracking code next to your phone number on every page that shows your number. Do not just put it on the index page. Customers may get your phone number from any page.

Then train your sales reps or employees that answer the phones to ask for the "reference code" when taking phone orders. The reference code is the affiliate ID number that referred the customer to you. Have them write it down or enter it into the computer so you can manually credit sales to the appropriate affiliates.

Good luck and I hope you decided to track phone sales for your affiliates. They will love you for it. Hey, it is just like getting a raise!

'Self-replication' sounds like science fiction but it's not. It has nothing to do with cloning, in a biological sense. What I'm writing about here is a third and very important step of affiliate or multi-level marketing.

If you sell products retail or by commission, your sales are one time but, of course, you hope that you will have repeat customers. This involves good product quality and good customer support.

Anything that involves recruiting or sign-ups requires this third step of duplicating what you have done. What have you done? Step one, you have started. You have selected the affiliate programs you want to make money with. Step two, you have advertised and gotten some sign-ups under you.

Great, but really you are still in the starting stage. The real work is just beginning. If you fail to contact your new sign-ups, chances are you will lose a good percentage of them in a few short weeks or months.

The internet is full of 'tire kickers' and 'lookers' who will move right on to the next thing, if something doesn't automatically happen overnight with whatever they've just signed-up for.

You must seize your window of opportunity to contact them and try to make converts out of them. First, welcome them as part of your team. Congratulate them on the smart decision they have made in signing-up.

You must try to 'light a fire' under them and get them excited about the benefits they will get and the profits they will make by working your program. Relate to them whatever successes you have had. If you are new to the program yourself and have not made a lot of sales yet, don't be intimidated! Don't make a bunch of stuff up, though.

Do a little research with your own program. Somewhere they will tell you what the sales potentials are and you can use this information in your pitch.

Most importantly, offer to help them out and give them whatever sales tips or information has worked for you. Your success depends on their success. Lastly, stress to them the importance of sharing this information with their own sign-ups.

Remember; your success depends on this relationship that you build with others!

TO BE SUCCESSFUL AT THEIR job, internal auditors must be able to write, speak, and listen effectively. Of these three skills, effective listening may be the most crucial because auditors are required to do it so often. Unfortunately, listening also may be the most difficult skill to master.
Effective listening is challenging, in part, because people often are more focused on what they're saying than on what they're hearing in return. According to a recent study by the Harvard Business Review, people think the voice mail they send is more important than the voice mail they receive. Generally, senders think that their message is more helpful and urgent than do the people who receive it.
Additionally, listening is difficult because people don't work as hard at it as they should. Listening seems to occur so naturally that putting a lot of effort into it doesn't seem necessary. However, hard work and effort is exactly what effective listening requires.
Internal auditors must listen to explanations, rationales, and defenses of financial practices and procedures. They are constantly communicating with fellow employees whose backgrounds range from accounting to finance to marketing to information systems. In addition, explanations by fellow employees of any "unusual" practices often pose a significant challenge to an internal auditor's listening skills. Auditors can use the following techniques to improve these skills.
1. CONCENTRATE ON WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING. When listening to someone, do you often find yourself thinking about a job or task that is nearing deadline or an important family matter? In the middle of a conversation, do you sometimes realize that you haven't heard a word the other person has said? Most individuals speak at the rate of 175 to 200 words per minute. However, research suggests that we are very capable of listening and processing words at the rate of 600 to 1,000 words per minute. An internal auditor's job today is very fast and complex, and because the brain does not use all of its capacity when listening, an auditor's mind may drift to thinking of further questions or explanations rather than listening to the message at hand. This unused brainpower can be a barrier to effective listening, causing the auditor to miss or misinterpret what others are saying. It is important for internal auditors to actively concentrate on what others are saying so that effective communication can occur.
2. SEND THE NONVERBAL MESSAGE THAT YOU ARE LISTENING. When someone is talking to you, do you maintain eye contact with that person? Do you show the speaker you are listening by nodding your head? Does your body language transmit the message that you are listening? Are you leaning forward and not using your hands to play with things? Most communication experts agree that nonverbal messages can be three times as powerful as verbal messages. Effective communication becomes difficult anytime you send a nonverbal message that you're not really listening.
3. AVOID EARLY EVALUATIONS. When listening, do you often make immediate judgments about what the speaker is saying? Do you assume or guess what the speaker is going to say next? Do you sometimes discover later that you failed to interpret correctly what the speaker was telling you? Because a listener can listen at a faster rate than most speakers talk, there is a tendency to evaluate too quickly. That tendency is perhaps the greatest barrier to effective listening. It is especially important to avoid early evaluations when listening to a person with whom you disagree. When listeners begin to disagree with a sender's message, they tend to misinterpret the remaining information and distort its intended meaning so that it is consistent with their own beliefs.
4. AVOID GETTING DEFENSIVE. Do you ever take what another person says personally when what her or she is saying is not meant to be personal? Do you ever become angry at what another person says? Careful listening does not mean that you will always agree with the other party's point of view, but it does mean that you will try to listen to what the other person is saying without becoming overly defensive. Too much time spent explaining, elaborating, and defending your decision or position is a sure sign that you are not listening. This is because your role has changed from one of listening to a role of convincing others they are wrong. After listening to a position or suggestion with which you disagree, simply respond with something like, "I understand your point. We just disagree on this one." Effective listeners can listen calmly to another person even when that person is offering unjust criticism.
5. PRACTICE PARAPHRASING. Paraphrasing is the art of putting into your own words what you thought you heard and saying it back to the sender. For example, a subordinate might say: "You have been unfair to rate me so low on my performance appraisal. You have rated me lower than Jim. I can do the job better than him, and I've been here longer." A paraphrased response might be: "I can see that you are upset about your rating. You think it was unfair for me to rate you as I did." Paraphrasing is a great technique for improving your listening and problem-solving skills. First, you have to listen very carefully if you are going to accurately paraphrase what you heard. Second, the paraphrasing response will clarify for the sender that his or her message was correctly received and encourage the sender to expand on what he or she is trying to communicate.
6. LISTEN (AND OBSERVE) FOR FEELINGS. When listening, do you concentrate just on the words that are being said, or do you also concentrate on the way they are being said? The way a speaker is standing, the tone of voice and inflection he or she is using, and what the speaker is doing with his or her hands are all part of the message that is being sent. A person who raises his or her voice is probably either angry or frustrated. A person looking down while speaking is probably either embarrassed or shy. Interruptions may suggest fear or lack of confidence. Persons who make eye contact and lean forward are likely exhibiting confidence. Arguments may reflect worry. Inappropriate silence may be a sign of aggression and be intended as punishment.
7. ASK QUESTIONS. Do you usually ask questions when listening to a message? Do you try to clarify what a person has said to you? Effective listeners make certain they have correctly heard the message that is being sent. Ask questions to clarify points or to obtain additional information. Open-ended questions are the best. They require the speaker to convey more information. Form your questions in a way that makes it clear you have not yet drawn any conclusions. This will assure the message sender that you are only interested in obtaining more and better information. And the more information that you as a listener have, the better you can respond to the sender's communication.
LISTEN ACTIVELY
Not everyone has to possess the same style of listening, but internal auditors who use "active" listening will likely become much better listeners. Active listening demands that the receiver of a message put aside the belief that listening is easy and that it happens naturally and realize that effective listening is hard work. The result of active listening is more efficient and effective communication.
The Listening Quiz
Are you an effective listener? Ask a peer that you communicate with regularly and who you know will answer honestly to respond "yes" or "no" to these 10 questions. Do not answer the questions yourself. We often view ourselves as great listeners when, in fact, others know that we are not.
1. During the past two weeks, can you recall an incident where you thought I was not listening to you?
2. When you are talking to me, do you feel relaxed at least 90 percent of the time?
3. When you are talking to me, do I maintain eye contact with you most of the time?
4. Do I get defensive when you tell me things with which I disagree?
5. When talking to me, do I often ask questions to clarify what you are saying?
6. In a conversation, do I sometimes overreact to information?
7. Do I ever jump in and finish what you are saying?
8. Do I often change my opinion after talking something over with you?
9. When you are trying to communicate something to me, do I often do too much of the talking?
10. When you are talking to me, do I often play with a pen, pencil, my keys, or something else on my desk?
Use your peer's answers to grade your listening skills. If you received nine or 10 correct answers, you are an excellent listener; seven or eight correct answers indicates a good listener; five or six correct answers means you possess average listening skills; and less than five correct answers is reflective of a poor listener.
The answers most often given for effective listeners are: 1. no, 2. yes, 3. yes, 4. no, 5. yes, 6. no, 7. no, 8. yes, 9. no, 10. no.
End.

I know what you’re thinking: simplify and finances in the same sentence? Ha! Like that’s even possible when we have credit cards, bank accounts, bills, bill-paying options, fees, penalties and interest rates to keep track of! How can we possibly make our finances simple? By knowing the right tricks. Choose to become accountable, then use every tactic you can to streamline—and destress— your financial life. If you can pare things down in the following areas, you’re well on your way.

Spending
1. Use cash. When you’re paying for things like groceries, gas and other routine items, there’s nothing easier. You can’t overdraft it, and you won’t have to worry about fees and interest. Once it’s spent, that’s it. Done.

2. Organize with envelopes. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: This is quite possibly the most effective money management technique. Get a stack of envelopes and label one for each of the ways you’ll be spending your cash (“food,” “gas” and so on). Place the amount you’re going to spend for the week in each envelope and stash them in a safe place. There—you’ve got a spending plan.

3. Use a gift card. Most retailers, even supermarkets and gas stations, offer gift cards these days. Let’s say you intend to spend $400 for groceries this month. Buy a card in that amount from your supermarket and use it as you would a debit or credit card during the month. If you stick with it, you’re guaranteed to stay on budget.

4. Track your charges, too. Whenever you use a credit or debit card, take 30 seconds to record that transaction in the same way you record the checks you write. (That money’s already spent, right?) Enter it in red ink. Later, when your bank statement or Visa bill arrives, you’ll be able to quickly double-check the red entries.

5. Put kids on a budget. For most families, kids plus money equals a big black hole. Bring sanity to the situation by determining a set amount for each child per month and making a cash envelope with that child’s name on it. It’s up to you whether you or the child manages that money. When it’s gone, no more spending until the next fill-up.

6. Get tech-y The secret to living within your means is to keep track of your spending. At Wesabe.com, Geezeo.com or Mint.com you can get a clear picture of your finances and create a budget. These sites are free, but you do need to enter your personal financial information.
Mvelopes.com, a similar site, offers more privacy and beefed-up features for a monthly fee. Or try software like You Need a Budget or Quicken, which allows you to download your information to your hard drive ($40 to $60).

Banking

7. Use direct deposit. If you haven’t already, arrange with your employer to have your paycheck deposited directly into your bank account. No more lost or misplaced paychecks, and the money reaches your account even if you can’t get to the bank. The real payoff: Many banks and credit unions offer free or lower-cost checking for customers with direct deposit.

8. Get overdraft protection. If you overspend your account, your bank or credit union can choose whether or not they want to pay the amount. If you haven’t arranged for overdraft protection and they decide to cover your mistake (called “courtesy overdraft”), you’ll pay $30 or more for each item they cover plus a daily fee—say, $5 for every day your account is overdrawn. If the bank chooses not to cover the amount, they’ll charge you $30 or more, plus the merchant will most likely charge you an additional $25.
Overdraft protection links the account either to your savings account, a line of credit or a credit card to cover any overcharges you make. You’ll pay a fee of around $5 to transfer money from your savings to cover the problem. If you use an overdraft line of credit you’ll also pay interest, but it will be a lot less than the bank’s courtesy coverage.
If you prefer to put your own overdraft plan into place, keep a secret $100 or more in your account and exclude it from your current balance. If you make a careless error in the future, you’ll be covered.

9. Hover online. You already check your e-mail, Facebook and other sites at least once a day. Why not add your bank account to the routine? Once you register at your bank’s site, you’ll be able to get current account information.

Bill Paying

10. Make a calendar. Add bill due dates to your everyday calendar. That way if a bill doesn’t show up in the mail for some reason, you’ll still know exactly when it needs to be paid.

11. Change your due dates. Take another look at your calendar: Do you want those dates spread out evenly, or would it be better for them to coincide? You decide, then see if your creditors will change them accordingly—most credit card companies are happy to comply. (Be aware that if you carry a balance on your card, pushing the due date back a few days will result in a onetime adjustment to your next bill, because finance charges will continue to accrue.)

12. Sign up for auto–bill pay. Many people already do this with their insurance premiums, utilities, mortgage and even student loans. They sign a document agreeing to have the payment deducted from their checking accounts. This does not preclude the need to manage, check and verify that the amounts deducted are correct, but it is a good way to make sure your bills are paid on time. You’ll also avoid paying postage, and you may get a lower interest rate on your student loan or mortgage (they could knock off .25% if you agree to set up automatic payment).

13. Pay online. This isn’t automatic— here you’re the one making the payment. Instead of using a paper check, go online to your bank account and pay bills electronically. The money will be immediately deducted from your available balance. It’s neat and efficient.

Plastic

14. Slim down your wallet. You know it can be detrimental to your credit score to close credit card accounts, but that doesn’t mean you have to carry all that plastic! Figure out which card you really need to keep with you, then stash the rest in a safe, secure place. Enjoy the simplicity of using just one card.

15. Manage store discount cards. Many retailers have some kind of frequent-buyer club card, which is great…but boy, can they weigh down your wallet or key ring. KeyRingThing.com offers a clever way to consolidate up to six of your loyalty cards into one for free. There’s a quick demo video on the site that explains how this works. You’ll be impressed.

16. Log on daily. As with your bank accounts, you need online access to each of your credit card accounts. Then check them every day. This may take a few minutes, but that’s the level of care you need to stay well below your credit limit and to catch any irregularities—like mystery fees, purchases you didn’t make—before they become a problem later on.

Planning

17. Prep for taxes. If you dread doing taxes, take away your fear with a handy set of file folders or a single accordion file. Hang on to the receipts you collect during the day (jot a note on the ones that might be deductible), then slip them into the appropriate slots. If you make this a habit, all you’ll need is about 15 minutes to pull the information together to file your taxes next year.

18. Make a will. If you haven’t already done this, stop putting it off! At the very least, you need a will and a Health Care Power of Attorney (sometimes referred to as a Health Care Proxy), which authorizes a person you name to make health care decisions for you if it becomes necessary. And if you have minor children, you need to name a guardian. It’s a simple process that will pay back with peace of mind. To learn more, check out LegalZoom.com and Nolo.com, or make an appointment with an attorney who specializes in end-of-life issues.

19. Scan to CD. Could you put your hands on all your important papers? Even if you know where they are, chances are your insurance policies, birth certificates and tax records are scattered about. Make life easier by taking time to scan all of your documents into your computer, then store them on CDs. Keep a copy for yourself and send one to a trusted friend or relative.
A few tech notes first: Be sure to use a desktop, not a laptop— the last thing you want is for your laptop to get lost or stolen with all of your personal info on it! And when it comes time to replace your computer, erase everything first.

20. Eat on the Cheap. This month your assignment is to create at least ten $5 dinners for your family. (We’re talking the entire meal, not just the entrée—for $5 or less for a family of four.) Impossible? Not at all, says Erin Chase, founder of 5dollardinners.com. Once you get started, you’ll be surprised what you can make. Do a quick calculation of how much you normally would have spent for those dinners, deduct $50 ($5 x 10 dinners = $50) and pop the rest into your WDSaves savings account. How simple!