This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Fannie Mae. All opinions are 100% mine.

The chances of you being one of the millions with the real need for assistance to help keep your home is a good bet. I’m also positive that if this situation fits, you are constantly receiving seemingly official looking offers to help you out of one of the largest economic messes this country has faces in several decades. First, let’s address those “offers to help.”
 

Beware of Mortgage Scams

Stealing millions more from distressed homeowners is the key point for the scam artists out there trying to convince you that they, and only they, can get you out of the sinkhole mess called your mortgage. The trouble is clear by my use of the word “scam artists.” Fannie Mae has two questions you need to ask yourself when contemplating whether an offer is legitimate or not. These questions (paraphrased) are:

1.  To use the counseling service, are you asked to pay a fee?

2.  Is signing over your title, redirecting your mortgage payments, or halting your loan payments advise given, along with a guarantee that the nameless entity can get you a loan modification?

If you can answer yes to even a one of these, beware! HUD-approved counseling is FREE. In fact, to help others from falling prey to these monsters, you can call 1-888-995-HOPE (4673) and not only get real help, but also report these predators.

Now on to some good news. It may be hard for most people who are struggling to get someone, somewhere to listen to their situation and get help, but Fannie Mae really does not want your house.

Your Have Mortgage Options and the Right to Seek FREE Assistance

If your desire is to keep your home, then you need to KnowYourOptions.com. Refinancing, working with your lender to determine a repayment plan, forbearance, modification, and even choosing a deed-for-lease are some remedies. Again, you can discover more about each of these options by using that link above.

For instance, few individuals know they can actually remain in their homes by choosing the Deed-for-Lease option. Most people know this by another name “Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure.” What this mortgage option does is, after transferring title to your property to your mortgage company (making arrangements in writing prior of course), you can lease your own home back for up to 12 months. Sometimes the lease terms can even be extended. Your monthly payment would be based on what other rentals are going for in your area. The monthly rental rate has nothing to do with how much your mortgage currently is – so you could save hundreds of dollars each month.

Don’t Sit There Doing Knowing – It’s Your Worse Choice Whether You Want to Keep Your Home or Not

Deciding to hide your head in the sand is not a good strategy, especially when it comes to your home. You need to take action, you need to address the situation head on.

Yes, the entire process can be extremely frustrating. Most likely you know this already first hand or, if not affected, through news media. However, Know Your Options by Fannie Mae means knowledge. It also will give you information on choices, resources that are for real, and advise on how you can take action immediately to save your house and your sanity.

It may be a long road to recovery, but don’t sit there waiting for the road to come to you. Be aggressive, be proactive. Discover your options right now!

Today I made the conscience choice to receive information via email from a source that has been online for years and years. It’s a very popular destination spot for any internet marketer looking for affiliate products to promote.

Affiliate Products

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, Clickbank should come readily to all the minds of those interested in finding suitable affiliate products to market and advertise. Filled with tens of thousands of products, and as many (if not more) independent affiliates, Clickbank is that “go to” place to either supplement your existing product line or to add your newly invented creations.

Affiliate News and More

After receiving a sort of snotty toned email asking why I had not yet subscribed to their wealth of information, I took a moment to see if it would be worth my while (I get a lot of email). I did ultimately select about five or six categories – choosing to follow industry standard news and affiliate program information. Even though I was told they would come weekly, it appears I will be updated on a daily basis. Only time will tell whether I keep each and every one or not.

Affiliate and Business Strategies for 2011

Titled “3 Steps to Skyrocket Your Sales in 2011, this article isn’t so much “new” news, but it does do its job of pointing out what you may be missing to date for ultimate affiliate program and non-affiliate success.

It’s not a rocket science article, but it is decent review information for many. If you are new to using affiliate programs to make money, it’s actually an ideal jumping off point.

Enjoy!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of CoursePark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Today I have the opportunity to tell you about a strategy that will not only help your career development by honing your skills, but it is also free to join CoursePark!

I did just that, taking CoursePark up on their offer to allow me a look inside what they offer by way of eLearning, and frankly I’m amazed. I knew from reading the landing page that they offered more than 3,500 courses. I knew ahead of time by the material I’d read that I’d be able to pick and choose the courses most applicable to me. I also was aware that they offer free and low cost coursework, but I’m stunned at how very low their prices are… I’m talking totally affordable for a majority of today’s population.

What I wasn’t expecting was what I found inside (to my delight)! Whether you need the training yourself, or for your employees, or even for your clients, the scope and depth of what is available is nothing short of incredible.

Here’s what I found. After acknowledging the Welcome message located under Notifications once I logged in, I headed straight to their CourseMarket. I wanted to verify for myself that their e-learning center really holds material worth telling you about – and I was not disappointed.

For example, my son is taking classes through our local community college, and for the degree he is currently interested in pursuing, there were some Information Systems (IS) courses he had to get out of the way. Imagine my surprise, when inside CoursePark I found, under their “Software Applications” many of the same courses my son’s college requirements included.

One of CoursePark’s available, self-paced, online classes is Microsoft Office 2007. The course includes 21 subcategories and 52 courses. In fact, upon further investigation, CoursePark covers exactly what our local college spends half a semester presenting (at triple the price per course!).

Then I checked CoursePark’s IT e-learning category. There you will find 18 subcategories, with a total of 97 possible e-classes to take to increase your skills.

CoursePark isn’t all about software and information systems either. You’ll find a wealth of business-related courses, leadership and management, communications online learning, and even human resources (HR) training.

Now here’s an odd twist on why many people would benefit tremendously by signing up for CoursePark for free and taking a few courses say within Human Resources (HR). At the low price of just $29 a course you very well could put yourself ahead of all the other job seekers by delving into the mind and strategies HR applies when it comes to interviewing. A real “behind the scenes look” at what goes on when you sit across the desk from a person who easily has your fate in their hands. Will you or won’t you get the job?

With a course or two under your belt through CoursePark, getting that job may be a whole lot easier than you ever imagined

And, don’t forget that CoursePark is an ideal solution for low-cost business training.

Okay, that’s it for now. I want to continue investigating for myself.

Just don’t pass this opportunity up, join CoursePark for free and start your 2011 out right!

I have to give credit where credit is due. Today’s post was written after visiting Kathleen Gage and her post about Kindle.

Adding Your Blog to Kindle

Frankly, Kindle is a product (or service) I’ve been meaning to check into – but you know life – one thing leads to another. So today is the day I headed to Amazon and their information on publishing your blog using Kindle.

What I will cover here are aspects that Kathleen did not (for her insight, read her post). I’d like to tell you step by step how easy it was to enter both this blog, Strategies for Life, and my ezine advertising and resources blog into Amazon’s Kindle beta program for bloggers.

Using the link above, once you arrive at that web page, you’ll want to click on “Kindle Publishing for Blogs” (marked “beta”). Even if you have an Amazon account, you will still need to re-create one to be a Kindle publisher. Easy enough. Just enter your details and voila! they even log you in automatically.

Then, in this instance we are talking blogs, you’ll choose the Add a Blog in your Kindle back office. Have your RSS feed information handy, and just so you know ahead of time (because I did not), if you’re in the United States your “County Code” for the phone number is “1″ (without the quotes).

Self Publishing No Longer A Chore Using Kindle

You’ll also need a good description of your blog, along with keywords (tags). When you’re finished filling in your new Kindle blog account information, choose Preview. Amazon’s Kindle program automatically goes through a five (5) step process (in the background, you only see it happening) and then offers you a View of what your blog will look like on a Kindle reader.

I did need to go back and make a few adjustments to my RSS feed. For instance, I changed the number of posts to two (2) and made those full display (versus summary). This involved a bit of tweaking my reading settings on the blogs as well as a visit to Feedburner. To use Kindle to its full advantages, you’ll need to show your full post (all the words) so your blog makes sense.

Now I sit back and wait. The approval process says it will take 48-72 hours. Assuming that is correct, I should have available access for visitors to choose to read this blog and the MyWizardAds Blog on Kindle this week.

Kindle Not Just For Bloggers

Of course, even if you’re not a blogger, you should make full use of Kindle to publish everything from articles to ebooks to reports and more. By putting your blog on Kindle, you’re giving free access to Kindle users to your posts. However, when it comes to accessing your added ebooks, reports, articles, etc., you can make money. You make 70% of whatever it is you choose to charge for your material.

You may not get rich (who knows), but the authority of being a publisher combined with Kindle access is hard to ignore as a great reputation builder.