Recently, sources have revealed investors are dumping large amounts of money into Twitter.  There has been much speculation and rumors that Twitter.com could be prepping for an IPO.  Why else would companies dump $100 million into a company with zero revenue?

According to Bloomberg.com, the company is believed to be valued at $1 billion.  The only rationale for valuing the company this high is if they are ready to unleash a massive revenue plan or if they are going public.  Either strategy would require some type of plan to make some money for this social media company.  The traffic is there to form unbelievable potential to investors.

Currently, Nielsen states that there are over 25 million “Tweeple” throughout the world.  Businesses, celebrities and entrepreneurs really are beginning to take advantage of this unique site.  Ashton Kutcher is followed by 3.7 million.  He capitalizes on this to help raise awareness for his television productions and charitable causes.  Businesses keep customers up to speed on new products and events.  Entrepreneurs are sharing marketing and business tips with their followers.  Even pastors and motivational speakers are able to share quotes and inspiration.

Twitter really gained worldwide recognition because of the media and recent events in Iran.  When no reporters could get firsthand information during the election protests and ensuing violence this summer, they relied on Tweeple.  The value of its communication power became evident and had everyone asking, “What is this Twitter-thing?”  How could they possibly turn this traffic into money, though?

Almost every financial website covering Twitter agrees on two main ways revenue can be generated.  One is to create business applications, such as calenders and private messaging.  These business packages would open the lines of communication to employees worldwide.  The business possibilities are expansive.  The other main way for income is for them to go with the advertising route.

No matter what they do, they are poising for major profit generation.  Keep your eyes posted for the IPO and let me know.  I’m on Twitter at (www.twitter.com/joeylaw) and so is Wasabi Media Group (http://twitter.com/WasabiMedia).

What other ways can Twitter generate profits for its investors?

The CEO of AIG, Edward Liddy, says that the company ‘has a plan’ to pay back the $180 billion or so that the taxpayers paid to bailout the failing insurance giant. I have a cousin who borrows money (and tools, and a mattress, and… well, you get the idea), and he always has a plan to pay me back, too. I’m just about as trusting of AIG as I am of my cousin Leon.

To be fair, unlike Leon, Edward Liddy is not responsible for the mess in which he finds himself. Liddy was not the CEO of the company when they made risky loans, bad decisions, and nearly went belly-up. He comes with an extensive pedigree from Allstate and Goldman Sachs. He vowed to shut down the Financial Products division, which was a primary cause of the company’s implosion. He’s working for $1 per year, so he’s certainly not in it for the money. Those are all pluses on the ‘trust him when he says he has a plan’ column.

On the negative side of the trust ledger, he was hand-picked by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to fix the company. The federal government jumping in to solve all the business problems of GM worked out so well, how could we doubt a CEO chosen by the Treasury department? Also, while he has pledged to shut down the Financial Products division, they’re still there and doing their wheeling and dealing with no specific end in site.

Liddy has stated that while the division has yet to be shut down, it has been ‘de-risked’, a term so officious and meaningless that it frightens me. It does strike me as the kind of nonsensical buzzword that corporate big wigs love, so it may be making the rounds along with such classics as “leveraging synergies”, “rightsize”, and “calendar” (used as a verb).

Balancing the ledger, I see that Mr. Liddy has a slim margin of trust. Because he had nothing to do with the mess, I’m going to believe that he can right the ship. Or at least, I believe that he believes that he can do it. I’ll be waiting by my mailbox for my share of the $180 Billion we loaned AIG.

Uncle Sam has decided to spend $850 Billion to stimulate the U.S. economy. Finding someone who can explain just what the money will be spent on is not an easy task. But one thing is clear – none of it is coming directly back to us, the taxpayers.

Say what you want about President Bush. I know a lot of people don’t like him, and I do understand why. But put aside those feelings for a moment and consider this – twice during his presidency, the government sent money back to us. That is the only stimulus that ever made any sense to me. If you want us to spend some more dough, give us the money. Bailing out failing corporate giants and shoring up bank reserves seems somehow less effective than handing me a wad of cash.

If you think I am being too simplistic, consider the amount of money that is involved here. $850 billion is too big a number for most people to really wrap their heads around. The latest census estimate that I could find has the population pegged at 303,824,640. That means that the economic stimulus package costs $2797.67 PER PERSON in the U.S. Let’s assume a generous allowance for the cost of distributing that money back to the taxpayers and call it a round $2700 per person.

I think getting a check for $10,800 for my family of four would stimulate my economic situation more than would the knowledge that the government is securing some shaky existing mortgage loans. Which would do more to help American automakers survive: a government loan to keep them afloat for a few more months or millions of taxpayers with a sudden and unexpected wad of cash in their pocket?

I know, I know – the economy of the United States is a complex and multilayered system with many inter-dependencies. I get how complex the problem is. I just don’t think the solution has to be as complicated as our elected officials are making it. Ask yourself: would you rather get your money back into your hands, or trust Uncle Sam to fix things for us?

My personal goal is to make every reader of this website financially secure.  I want us all not to lay in bed at night and wonder how (or even if) we will pay our electric bill.  Money is not the most important thing in our lives, but when we don’t have it…our worlds crumble.

“Financially secure? Sure, if I made six-figures!”  The truth is that it does not matter how much we make, it is our margin that matters.  Basically, I am talking about living within our means.  Take fish for example.  For the most part, a fish will not grow larger than the aquarium in which it lives.  Instinctively, they live within their means, or they have a comfortable margin.

We are the opposite.  We see the shark next to us in a huge tank with castles and envy  her “crib.”  Next, we pretend we are that shark and try to live like our budgets are that expansive.  All of a sudden, we have overstretched our means and are fighting to stay afloat.

You know that two-thirds of America’s millionaires are self-employed.  Not that interesting until you factor in the average salary of a small business owner is $233,000.  Compare that to the average Doctor’s of $250,000 per year.  Why are more small business owner’s actually richer?

Margin.  Small business owners are used to being frugal to ensure the doors stay open and employees get paid.  The ones who spend lavishly, go under.  Doctors have a status they must maintain.  They need to look and act the part of the shark.  Therefore, many overstretch their means.  Both make the same, but one is wiser.

If you make $30,000 a year, you can be rich.  You just can’t act like you make $60,000 yearly.  My grandparents lived by this philosophy.  My grandma was a school teacher, and grandpa ran a small manufacturing business.  Neither teachers or middle managers are notorious for being rich, but they respected the margin.

Naturally, they weren’t rock star rich with private planes.  However, they were able to travel all over the world and were still financially secure.

Respect the margin!

For the past decade people have been leveraging the equity in their homes for more credit.  Housing prices, and the market in general, crashed, moving the fulcrum to a point impossible to lift like a fat kid on a teeter-totter.

Currently, we are weighed down emotionally in these tough times.  Our money situation will take a huge portion of our time and thoughts, especially when the numbers are beginning to dwindle.  The mutual funds we have been nesting are plummeting, and our homes are losing value.  Is there anything safe left?

Yes, there is.  It is time to get back to the basics.  I recently wrote about getting a budget in order, and now it is time to get some leverage back into our finances.  The budget is our fulcrum, and everything is based off of that.

If you don’t have a savings account, first build a balance there.  My dad always told me to have at least enough to cover six months bills.  Even $50 dollars a month will get you there in time, just be patient.  Having this safety net will relieve loads of stress immediately.  This is a great strategy for businesses also.  I am slowly building up my business savings to reach this point as we speak.

Once I get enough there, I am going to save another three months of bills and place that money into one year CDs.  They have higher interest than normal savings, and by forgetting this money is even there will yield big interest rewards way down the road.

Now that we have built a very safe foundation to our finances we can sleep easily.  In fact, we can afford to have some fun.  My next financial move will be to invest in some stocks or aggressive mutual funds.  This is the same strategy I have employed in my own finances, and it is working wonders.  I am anxious for my business account to get there, too, one day.

Remember to reward yourself.  Once you hit a goal, treat yourself.  Six months saved, buy something from your want list.

What a crazy time in our history!  Our economy is in turmoil.  We have soldiers at war.  For the first time since 1776 a non-white man has been elected as president.  Gas is affordable.  Tiger Woods and GM end their endorsement partnership to pinch pennies.

Many corporations are scrambling to find ways to keep the doors open.  One of the first reactions is to cut personnel.  Save on costs.  What is your gut reaction to weather this storm?

Mine is to cut costs and not get involved in new ventures.  I scrubbed my household budget to examine where I can save some extra change.  Just four years ago, I did the exact same thing as my wife and I were saving for our first home.  At that time we found over $700 a month.  There I said this wouldn’t happen again…

Never say never.  My latest scrubbing uncovered $200 each month.  Sure this was not as bad, but the point is that I was making a conscious effort and still got up to this point again.  Even those of you who think you have no room to grow…look again with an open mind and B.E. H.O.N.E.S.T.

Bills; Essentials-Housing, Outfits, Num-Nums; and Extras-Savings, Throwaway.  Quick translation.  Break down budget into needs and wants.  Needs are bills, housing, clothing and food.  Wants are savings accounts and luxuries like travel and entertainment.  I cover making a budget a little more in another post.

My goal here is to get you into penny-pinching mode.  Really dig to see where you can save a couple of bucks each day/week/month/year.  One blogger commented, “Buy the paper towels that come in smaller sheets (the 1-2-3 sheet).  Most often you only need a small one but take a whole sheet.”  What a simple cost-cutting idea!

Over the past five years I found a collective $900 each month by pinching pennies.  How much can you find?  Instead of getting into debt over your head, get free from it.  I used my extra money to buy a home and save for my future wants and needs.

Give me some money saving ideas.  What will you do with the extra $$$$?

This economic slow down is very scary for everyone.  Daily we are hearing about companies going under and watching our portfolios dwindle.  Those with the spare cash have an extremely unique opportunity, though.

Why do people go to Wal-Mart or dollar stores?  To buy things more cheaply than in other places.  This is a very smart shopping policy.  If you went in to your favorite clothing store and saw jeans for $0.50 when they are normally $75.00, would you panic and sell all the clothes in your closet?  Heck, no!  You would clear the racks.

Why do we all panic now when our stocks prices are falling?  This is like the ultimate holiday sale.  Sure, if you are close to retirement age or were planning on using that money for another purpose in the short term it is a real bummer.  One thing to keep in mind for the future is when you are within a few years of needing the money you have invested, put it into something solid like savings bonds or CDs.

There are actually people dumping the stock they have and placing even less into the automatic investing plans they have.  I understand it is really scary and there is no perceivable bottom to this drop in the market, but history has proven the market will rebound.  In fact, on average it has risen 13% a year over the last century.  Remember the Great Depression, Savings and Loan issues in the 80′s, etc.?  Still the average has been this high.

My advice is to find a solid company like General Electric (GE) or Coca-Cola (KO) and invest in them.  Both pay dividends and have not been hit extremely hard with the recession.  It is likely their numbers will once again drop a little lower but in a three to five years I bet they go up again.

My personal stock pick for the month is GE.  Their yields are sitting at 6.36.  This means whatever I invest today, and allow the dividends to re-invest, will double every eleven years.  Imagine investing even more over the next decade.

A few years ago I was talking to my friend Matt Carman. Matt is a financial brain and has educated me and given me great tips since I have known him. As I was talking to him, a guy that can be best described as a cro-magnon commented on how dumb budgets were. This Masters degree-toting, knuckle-dragger went on to say, “Don’t spend more than you make.” His advice is actually the foundation of this posting. I figured if he could grasp the concept, any of us can.

These are chaotic times of banks closing the doors and the government being looked upon to save the economy because we have fostered a mindset of buying things we cannot afford. Our economy is failing because we are relying on credit cards to buy things older generations would have saved for OR not even bought at all. Then there are banks and companies handing out credit like candy bars on Halloween. I was buying a soda at a department store one day and was asked if I wanted to save 10% by getting a store card…on a soda?

To stop our personal financial turmoil, we need to break the cycle of spending first. I did a small-scale experiment to accomplish this by tracking everything I spent. I saved every single receipt for an entire month. At the end of the month I separated the receipts into wants and needs. A need is something I can’t function without, i.e. food, soap, etc. The wants were luxury items like music downloads, clothing, and anything of the sort.

I also included all of my bills into the needs column. The total of the needs was my baseline. I then took on the cro-magnon’s advice and compared the amount coming in to the amount of needs being paid. Everything leftover went into the want pile. Once I got the money separated, I racked and stacked my wants. What did I want most? Do I have enough to buy it? If I did, I bought it. If not, I saved up to buy it.

Don’t you love it when you get that order of French fries and find an onion ring in the container? What about getting an extra soda from the vending machine? Free things tend to make your day or at least make the moment. Why not keep the spirit alive in your investment strategy?

My friend Chris Hubinsky and I recently formed an investing company called H&L Ventures, Ltd. Our goal for the first few years is to build a strong portfolio with a solid base. We want a structure that will last for years and solidify our financial futures. We are employing a dividend grabbing strategy that I will call the Check, Please! Strategy or CPS.

The CPS focuses on buying stocks from secure companies that pay dividends numerous times each year. Many of the big corporations pay dividends quarterly. These dividends are free bonuses to the shareholders (you) that can be rolled right back into your investment. More often than not, the dividends are between 10-50 cents per share. “This Joe Lawrence guy is a moron!” you must be saying to yourself.

You would be right on many occasions, but not here. Let me show you some numbers. If you bought $300 worth of General Electric (GE) back on January 6, 2006, you would own 8.45 shares (I went to 2006 to use real numbers). GE paid $.25 per share dividends throughout 2006. After the first quarter you would have made $2.11. Again, not much but work with me here.

Allow the dividends to be reinvested (most brokers do this automatically, like Sharebuilder.com) and you will have .06 of a share. Your new total shares are 8.51. Keep this up until today, and you now made $24.74 in dividends and own 9.18 shares. That is $25 for free in two and a half years. Sure, it is not a retirement check, but give it a few more years and that number will continue to grow.

H&L Ventures uses Sharebuilder.com because it allows for fractional stock purchases and only $4 fees per trade. To learn more check out Quality Over Quantity.

“Cash is king.” That is the mantra of every small to mid-size business. You need to have cash to grow, operate, and reach your business goals. Even if your business is successful and is taking in a large number of orders, there is no guarantee that you will have the cash to handle this growth. That is where FastUpFront can come to your rescue. They have a multitude of options for business owners that will allow them to get the access to cash that will help them run a smooth and growing company.

At FastUpFront they can work with business that are looking for any type of cash advance business needs. They offer business loans unsecured up to $250,000 and even have options for business loans with bad credit. But one of the biggest things to understand about working with FastUpFront is that they really want to work with you to help your business grow and run in a cash neutral fashion. They have the expertise and flexibility to work with businesses in any market segment and any industry.

The other great advantage of FastUpFront is they are easy to work with and work at the speed of business. Unlike traditional banks, they understand the importance of time in the commercial world. Your business never rests and your shouldn’t have to wait to get the cash that you need today.

So if you are looking for ways to get the cash from your receivables or expedite getting the needed cash into your business, you should call FastUpFront today.