First, I actually need to create a subtitle for this post, and I’m calling it:

“How to Earn Accreditation With Surprisingly Low Out of Pocket Expenses Using A Platform Trusted by Fortune 500 Companies to Live Your Dream or Boost Your Employment Standing”

Okay, NOW I can get started telling you about Learn.com.

Elearning has never been easier (or less expensive). Learn.com (personal version) offers a vast array of online Accredited courses in:

o Healthcare
o Finance
o Legal
o Insurance
o Ethics
o Compliance
o OSHA
o and more!

They also have a search-able catalog of more than 5,000 additional courses from IT topics to personal development… and more!

You’ll see below that I’m looking around the IT section, but the next one I’ll be investigating will be their courses on health care. Health care and teaching are two valuable employment opportunities no matter where you live or plan to move to… they are just “in demand” fields (so I’ve got to keep that in mind as I look around).

Another amazing feature to using Learn.com online is you can create your own “job profile.” This means you choose your career path and they help you develop the necessary skills to achieve your own dream!

Going yet another step further, if you’re the inventive type and have a course you’ve created, Learn.com will help you sell it. Of course, with such high standards, they do review and qualify you to become a “course author” beforehand which only makes sense.

I just registered – for free - and there are 10 courses immediately available for me – again for free (easy enough to find, after registering and logging in click on Free Courses).

The problem is choosing which one?! Actually you can pick class by class or bundle the whole thing together. For instance, I just clicked on the IT program.

I have 15 choices, and each of them is broken into subcategories. The IT Technology Cisco Certified Network Administrator (CCNA) is further broken down into 13 sub-sections.

I can choose to:

o Take one course at a time at just (hold onto your hats!) $3.99/month or

o Opt for 6 months (giving myself more time for studying the course for just $6.99/month OR

o Select all the sub-courses, take a year to complete them, and pay just $9.99/month.

Now keep in mind, I’ve over here investigating IT because that is my passion. However, there are numerous “passions” to choose from. You can search by:

o Free Courses
o Sub Category
o All Courses by Category
o Or, Create a Course.

What is intriguing to me is THIS just may be the stepping stone your newly graduated son or daughter needs if they are “in between” what to “do next.”

And be selfish! Heck, brush up and/or add more skills to your own personal resume to hang onto your job or find a new one!

Oh, and while I personally am roaming around the “personal account” (again created for free), they also have a “business” signup, too.

Decisions, decisions….

Okay, I think I’ve written enough because, frankly, I want to spend several hours going over my choices and picking the perfect course that applies to me (while keeping my eyes open for our son).

To read their current press release, just click here.

Heading into the weekend, I thought it time for a bit of fun! If you’re a big contest fan, you’re sure to love what’s happening over at BluFrog.

BluFrog leans heavily into the music industry and includes detailed biographies on a wide range of individuals involved in the music industry. They’ve also got an amazing “photo stream” where they’ve captured moments in time at various events – all sorts of events (and you’re encouraged to look to see if you can spot yourself in any of the photos – who knows you just might be there!).

But getting back to the contest, it’s time to reveal just the list of your potential prizes. Visiting their blog, you’ll be able to click on the big contest image to enter to the page telling you more (and each prize has a “learn more” button, too).

The prizes include:

o  BluGamer: The Ultimate Gaming Package
o  Happy Blu-Year: Win A New Years Trip to NY
o  Blullapalooza: Win A Trip to Lolapalloza in Chicago
o  BluStreak: Win A Richard Petty Racing Experience
o  XtremeBLU: Win A Trip To The Winter X Games in Aspen

To enter is really simple – and you can “enter up to three times per person” using their three different methods (see contest rules at the end of this post for more details):

o Blog commenting
o Twitter tweeting
o Blog posting.

While every single one of these sounds like an excellent prize to win, my heart leans toward the BluGamer (The Ultimate Gaming Package) – for the sheer fact that it would be a wonderful surprise gift to give to my son. (I’ve talked before about how he’s a gaming nut and he’s been playing video games since he was three – starting on the first Atari system.)

So have some fun, visit BluFrog and be sure to enter to win!
(Contest Rules Here)

This morning I ran across a website (scrub that “Qlog”) that has me not truly confused, but a tad at a loss for my typically gregarious posts.

First, I’d never heard the term “qlog” before now (I’ll explain in a minute), and when I arrived at amyafrica.com, and started reading a rather lengthy (and crazy) story about beaches, birkin bags, and gabby individuals, I figured it was just a “personal blog” filled with someone’s stories.

However, I was wrong. What you will find is a combination of what Amy is calling “99% queries and quintessentials, 1% quibblings.”

Which means when you arrive at the qlog (the one I read is called Puttin’ Spanx on a Sidewinder!”, you’ll first encounter a highly detailed account of the above mentioned story of Hermes Birkin Bags on the beach.

BUT… right when you get to wondering what this is all about, there at the bottom are “5 Things Customers Really Do Care About.” This is a solid section of seo and marketing information.

So above you get an entertaining story, below you get useful information to help you navigate the world of seo, consumer confidence, and essential tools for doing business online.

Amy’s entire qlog is filled with similar entries. Another interestingly strange mix is the post about Why Epiphanies Never Occur to Couch Potatoes,” accompanied below with more solid marketing advice on how to get your visitors to click.

Of course the whole premise of this new qlog is give and take. You can make use of her “Ask Amy A Question” link, interact yourself by commenting on her qlog, etc.

An entirely different perspective on the use of blogging and combining “social community participation” that I encourage you to experience for yourself

Click here to visit http://www.amyafrica.com

With our son just graduating high school, and many hundreds of thousands of kids across the country doing the same, I’m sure that money is on the minds of many and the question, “How are we going to pay for further education?”

Of course you want to do right by your child, which actually (hopefully) starts from the moment he or she was even conceived. While many of us have children too old to qualify, right now there is a huge event going on to help you plan for your little tike’s future.

Conforts for Baby (Comforts, not my misspelling) is holding a contest so you can put $10,000 in the bank for your child’s future!

Nutrition makes a huge difference, and while that may be a common sense thing to say, it is amazing to me that so few people, parents in particular, have a complete understanding of what (and how much) nutritional supplements are vital to your child’s growth. I know this because many moon’s ago, the prenatal vitamins recommended to me during development did not have nearly enough – just as an example – folic acid (vital for brain development). I took it upon myself to ensure the proper balance of vitamins and minerals my child would need to “come out” whole and healthy. And, he really is brilliant (fact not just parental pride) and a nice “kid” (adult yikes now) to boot.

Luckily, nowadays, I believe the manufacturers of baby formula are much more in tune and in touch with the nutritional requirements babies need. For instance, the Comforts brand baby formula ensures your newborn receives all the vitamins, nutrients, and minerals (including just the right touch of iron), for a healthy start to his or her first year on the planet.

They’ve taken into consideration the need for lipids DHA and ARA for visual and mental development. Comforts for Baby actually has gone so far as to ensure that choline, lactose, and other naturally occurring nutrients are part of their nutritious formula – all based on research around mother’s milk btw.

One scare you will not have to worry about is, “Is it safe?” Their formula manufacturing facility is located in the United States (no worries about imports from, say, China, thank goodness!). In fact they follow the FDA ISO 9001:2000-certified standards (how’s that for facts).

So getting back to the money part – the scholarship contest is available to new parents right now, for your child’s future when he or she graduates. Just think, with caution and prudence, how much that $10,000 will mean when your child steps up and is handed that high school diploma! I know the money would mean the world to us right now!

Kroger-owned grocery stores are sponsoring this scholarship contest to help fund your child’s upcoming college education. All you need to do is enter to win, and help them name their Firefly mascot – how easy is that?

Just be sure to visit the link above, fill out all the information required on the entry form, and (be creative!), include a name for their mascot (25 characters or less please).

You’ve got time to enter, but I’d encourage you to do it now – the contest closes July 31, 2009. The winner will be announced online after September 21, 2009.

For a complete set of eligibility rules, just click here. (For instance, your child must be under the age of 2, etc.)

Trust me, you want to go for these opportunities! We’ve waited way too long and we will be scrambling come Autumn to get our son into just a community college.

Don’t be stupid (like we were). Start by entering to win this $10,000 Scholarship today!