Blog Entries

A simple and obvious way to make money online is dedicating space on a website for selling ads. Google makes is super-easy to do and thousands of websites make passive income from Google AdSense. However, I have seen it time and time again where the ads contradict the theme of the website. In many cases Google AdSense hurts your brand.

Your brand is everything

A niche website such as mine has a centralized theme. MoneyPlan SOS is known for helping people to get out of debt and living on a moneyplan.

This includes getting away from debt products of any kind – including credit cards. This online personality must remain consistent for its readers and podcast listeners – wavering in any direction would break their trust.

Imagine my surprise when I saw this in a guest post I wrote for another get-out-of-debt website:

One of these things just doesn’t belong!

What the? I was quite angry when I saw that.

I wrote a brilliant post about the problems these cards cause and how consumers have been brainwashed to believe credit cards are good for their finances.

At the end of the article, just before the comments, the Google AdSense shines brightly for all to see – and it hurts my brand.

It’s like a Ford assembly line worker arriving to work in a Toyota Camry, a shop teacher with missing fingers, or a Priest convicted for molestation. To sell an add for credit cards within a post railing against their use is just wrong.

This single ad makes me look like a fool. Google AdSense could hurt your brand too.

Bloggers: Respect your readers and get rid of the ads

I know of many personal finance blogs who fall victim to this mismatch. They write about living on a budget or pinching pennies – then a big, fat Payday loan ad gets stuck right in the middle! It’s sending mixed signals and is hurting their brand.

My promise: You will never see a random advertisement on my website.

I don’t need the money that bad.

Affiliates for integrity, AdSense for everyone else

You will find some items on this website that are for sale. These are affiliations to services or products that I use myself or would recommend to my mom. I care about my visitors too much to let them stumble across a product or service that I don’t personally believe in.

Yes, Google AdSense can help bring in some extra dough but my integrity isn’t for sale!

Bloggers: If you are trying to make money with online sales without creating your own products then consider listing affiliate sales for items that fit your brand.

If you don’t care about your readers or your brand then feel free to put AdSense all over your blog.

There is an interesting new gadget coming in the next few months that could replace up to 8 pieces of plastic in your wallet/purse. This invention is called Coin and I’m really excited to be on the list of early adopters to get one.

Of course, I prefer using one debit card to make life simple. However, I carry one debit card for my personal use and one for my small business. I also carry around a number of membership cards in my car for gas stations, restaurants, and even grocery stores. Top the list off with a few gift cards and I quickly reach a stack of at least a dozen little rectangles with magnetic stripes to keep track of.

Not Cash but Coin

Introducing Coin. Coin is an electronic payment card that stores up to 8 credit, debit, gift, or membership cards on one. It’s easy to use, allowing you to quickly jump from one stored number to another before swiping. This is sure to get a lot of attention when it launches this summer.

In those situations where paying with a debit card makes sense, such as filling my wife’s SUV with gas or when buying office supplies for my small business, I’d love a one-stop solution to carrying all those cards with me. Coin allows me to press a button until I see which card I want it to behave like and whaa-la – I’m ready to go.

What’s Coin’s Catch?

There are a couple less-than-desirable features with Coin. For instance, the battery is slated to last only 2 years under heavy use. The other is its $100 price tag (only $55 if you pre-order now).

What about security? I won’t bore you with the details, simply watch this short video to find out more about the cool security functions to prevent losing your card.

Want a Coin of your own? Order here

The biggest concern anyone should be concerned about is no different when using Coin over a debit card: Make sure you have enough money in your account to cover your purchase – this includes pre-authorizations. This isn’t a concern for someone living on a budget – they are prepared for these events and have earmarked money in their account for the purchase.

How I’m using Coin to Bust Myths

For years I have been busting the “you need to have a credit card” myth. I haven’t had a credit card in over 6 years – and we’ve doubled our net worth in the process!

There is one myth that Coin is going to help me prove wrong without the chance for objection: “You need a credit card to travel”.

Since 2008 I have made hotel reservations, car reservations, and even paid for two all-inclusive trips to Wyoming for my family without credit cards. There are a couple car rental companies that say they will not rent to you without using a credit card. Coin is going to help me get around their staunch rules!

I’m going to pay with my Coin, which nobody but me and my bank will know is only a debit card. When making reservations online I’ll simply enter my debit card’s 16 digit number. When checking in at the rental counter I’ll hand them my coin, which shows no differentiation between a credit or debit card. They won’t know the difference and I’ll enjoy all the benefits every other red-blooded American does without being forced to go into debt.

Yep, they can bite me for being unfair to responsible consumers!

Get 50% off Coin

Coin is available for pre-order at a 50% discount and will ship in just a couple of months. They are offering some other limited-time bonuses like added guarantees and affiliate sales but I’m most excited about using a piece of plastic that nobody can identify as a debit or credit card.

Visit http://MoneyPlanSOS.com/COIN to be an early adopter like me. It won’t change your life, but it can make your life easier.

I’ll let you know how uneventful my car reservation was when we get back from our summer vacation.

A debt-free advocate’s look at the American Express Enhanced Business Gold Rewards Card, a review

I discovered quite a few bloggers are paid to review credit cards and promote them on their websites. They believe themselves to be offering a needed service by educating consumers on the thousands of credit cards launched each year.

Being an anti-debt guy, I have to speak publicly about the dangers of credit cards. In fact, I am purposefully writing this article as a credit card review of the Enhanced Business Gold Rewards Card by American Express Open in hopes of reaching those who have not heard the message of debt freedom and could become the next victims of the debt slaughter.

What were they thinking?

I launched another website and American Express immediately sent me a pre-approved offer for their Enhanced Business Gold Rewards Card. Why a business card? They didn’t review my business plan because there wasn’t one. They didn’t look to see that I teach people to cut up their credit cards. I haven’t had a credit card since 2007 and am registered on the National OptOut registry. There was no reason for Amex to offer me this card over anybody else – they were just fishing.

Since they are going to put their trash into my mailbox then it’s only fair that I trash their 10 reasons for why I should get their flavor of plastic.

The American Express Enhanced Business Gold Rewards Card, a review of their 10 Reasons

Here are the 10 sales points in plain english with all the dangers exposed:

1) Power To Purchase

They say I’ll get business-sized spending power to help grow the business. They also have the audacity to suggest you “put every possible expense on the Card”. HOLY TOLEDO! Capital is hard to come by when starting a small business so someone taking Amex’s advice is about to get a harsh wake-up call from an affliction called “suffocating credit card debt”.

I’ll avoid the debt trap while maintaining complete control over the power of purchase by paying for the things I buy, not financing them through American Express’s OPEN card.

2) Membership Rewards Program

“Upon Card Membership, you’ll be automatically enrolled in the Membership Rewards program.” The idea is to lure me into purchasing things on their card, which charges the vendor for service and swipe fees, in order to earn rewards “that you can reinvest back into your business.”

Rewards programs sap millions of dollars out of our economy and into a PO Box in Utah. I would rather the vendor save the money from swipe charges by paying cash or at the very least support my local community by using a bank that is in my own County.

3) Rewards That Mean Business

They listed the same reason, the rewards program, only this time they detailed how many points you can earn from certain debt purchases (more commonly known as credit card purchases). Triple rewards for this type of purchase, double for that. Oh, and there are some limitations to how many rewards in the fine print.

I’m not impressed for the same reasons mentioned above 

4) A New Way To Earn Rewards

Um, this is the same thing as Reason 2 and 3. Instead of listing this as one of the Rewards That Mean Business items they created a separate reason for making U.S. purchases from “select computer hardware, software, and cloud computing providers.”

I won’t comment on this because it’s a duplicate of the two prior reasons.

5) Simplify The Way You Manage Receipts

This is an offer to store a digital image of your receipts.

That is kinda cool, but I can promise you that there is an app for that and it doesn’t require me to go into debt with an American Express Enhanced Business Gold Rewards Card.

6) Open Savings Benefit

“The OPEN Savings benefit is a built-in feature of your American Express Enhanced Business Gold Rewards Card designed to get you even more Membership Rewards points. Automatically get up to an extra 4 Membership Rewards points for every eligible dollar spent with OPEN Savings partners.”

Again with the points, but this time it sounds as if I am supposed to saving money this way.

It should be noted that the OPEN Savings partners consists of only 8 companies: Hyatt hotels, Carey and Hertz rentals, FedEx, HP, OfficeMax, 1-800-Flowers, and Barnes & Noble.

I’m beginning to think this is a snow job; “Hey, look over here at the rewards. Ignore the small print, we have a Membership Rewards program!”

7) Access To Benefits

“Operate your business confidently with Purchase Protection.” Amex is boasting their damage insurance and extended warranty services.

I can get many of the same protections and benefits from companies I already deal with like my car insurance company and the actual manufacturer of the thing I would want an extended warranty service for. No need to duplicate benefits, especially for a credit card.

8) Global Assist Hotline

“Whenever you travel more than 100 miles from home, you have security and added peace of mind 24/7 with medical, legal, financial, or other emergency assistance including lost luggage blah blah blah.”

When my luggage is lost I will be talking with the airline that has misplaced it, not an Amex rep that has little authority over a gate agent. That same school of thought can be applied to the other benefits mentioned in their flyer.

9) 24/7 Customer Service

Call anytime.

So does everyone else, don’t they? If a local bank doesn’t offer a 24 hour answering service then it likely can be handled during normal business hours.

10) Additional Cards For Employees

“Introductory annual fee for additional cards in the first year is $0, then $50 for the first additional card and no fee for other additional cards.”

In other words, the benefit is they will give you a free card for an employee and only charge you for the 2nd. This might be the only benefit that stands out from other cards, but only for business owners with employees.

Why you should (not) get this card

The Enhanced Business Gold Rewards Card from American Express OPEN is trying to sell me on reward points.

For spending more than $6,000 via their piece of plastic you can get:

• A polo shirt or backpack for 6,620 – 8,830 points
• A set of ice cream spoons, cake server, or spaghetti measure for 7,000 – 7,810 points
• A single golf club for 19,190 – 27,500 points
• Pots, pans, pearl earrings, headphones, and a plethora of other trinkets that you can buy at Amazon cheaper

Weigh the benefits with the $175 annual fee after the first year and the so-called “benefits” start to get washed away. Add a 70% risk of interest charges when there isn’t enough money to pay the balance in full and we quickly find ourselves in the debt slaughter.

Credit cards are dangerous to those who lose control and it happens to good people every day. Why play their games when cash and debit cards will do everything we need without the risk of debt?