The One Website You Need to Check Out Before Buying a Car: Truecar.com

From: http://www.truecar.com

Buying a car soon? I highly recommend the website Truecar.com. It is very simple to use. Type in the vehicle model and the zipcode. Truecar will show you the range of prices people have paid in that area. That way you are better prepared when you walk onto the car lot. Truecar gets there information from various sources that include: finance companies, government records, thousands of dealerships in almost every state, and insurance companies. Give their service a whirl. Best part is that its free!

The Future of Customer Service - Skullcandy's Fansourcing Model

Courtesy of Skullcandy via Fortune Website

In the December 26th issue of Fortune magazine, there is this article written by Jennifer Alsever entitled, "The Service Dude." The story is about a company called Skullcandy who is, according to the article, "maker of highend headphones." They have employed a rather ingenious method of providing customer service. They basically pay their fans an hourly rate and give them points towards Skullcandy headphones and ipads to provide online customer service. This is quite different from every other company's customer service model. The typical company hires people who may or may not even use or like their products or services to assist their customers when they call in or go online to contact them for help. I see this being the future for many companies that have cultivated loyal fan bases like Skullcandy. There are some limitations to this strategy. For example, you will still need separate customer service reps to handle billing or personal information related matters. But for troubleshooting or product experience level questions, companies should embrace the future and start recruiting your fans before your competitors do.

Skullcandy Products: http://amzn.to/t8tMEG

Fortune Article: http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/12/21/skullcandy-fan-sourcing/ 

Edit 1/4/2012: After doing more research, this fansourcing platform Skullcandy uses is a service provided by a company called Needle http://www.needle.com Check it out!

Parents Can Rent Toys At New Website

Parents Can Rent Toys At New Website « CBS Boston

I found this story while browsing during Sunday Night Football. This takes the old saying "Keeping up with the Jones's" to a whole new level. My question is this. What do you do when you have to send the toys back and your kid cries endlessly? Note to all the parents out there. If you can't afford the real presents, you could probably do better things with that money...

Does This Video Help You Understand "What is a Credit Bureau?"

I found this video on youtube. I wonder if people learn anything they didn't already know. Let me know.

Great Article by Fortune on Lateral Career Moves

Back in October, Fortune had this great article on making lateral career moves. This is a great read for those of you thinking about making a move job wise.

Black Friday Hangover? Here is a Free Way to be $107 Richer

Spend more than you anticipated yesterday? You and millions of shoppers are waking up this Saturday morning with the Black Friday Hangover. Symptoms include: over the limit fees on credit cards, empty bank account, bent and misshapen credit cards, and many new store cards to add to your collection.

Well, there is help out there. ING Direct (which is the most customer serviced focused bank out there) has a special deal running until 11:59pm November 27 (Sunday). Open a new checking account online and get $107!!! That will go a long way to curing your Black Friday Hangover! Here is how it works right off of there website:

• Open Electric Orange November 25^th – 27^th and make a total of 5 purchases (either signature or PIN-based) using your Electric Orange Card or Person2Person Payments (or any combination of the two) within 45 days.
• Your $107 bonus will be automatically deposited into your account on day 50.
• Bonus only available for new Electric Orange checking.

The Richest Man in Bablyon: The 5 Laws of Gold

I recently read the Grandfather of all "grow rich" books. The book is titled, "The Richest Man in Babylon". It was written by George S. Claxon. The first important lesson in the book is the 5 Laws of Gold. To save you time, I will give these to you right now.

1. Gold cometh gladly and in increasing quantity to any man who will put by not less than one-tenth of his earnings to create an estate for his future and that of his family.

2. Gold laboreth diligently and contentedly for the wise owner who finds for it profitable employment, multiplying even as the flocks of the field.

3. Gold clingeth to the protection of the cautious owner who invests it under the advice of wise men in its handling.

4. Gold slippeth away from the man who invests it in businesses or purposes with which he is not familiar or which are not approved by those skilled in its keeping.

5. Gold flees the man who would force it to impossible earnings or who followeth the advice of tricksters and schemers or who trusts it to his own inexperience and romantic desires in investment.

Sound financial advice that is used by everyone including Rich Dad Poor Dad and others.