NevBlog

Neville's Digital Surrogate Brain

Archives for 2005

Unloading Monitors

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So a little while back I bought two flat-panel LCD monitors for my desktop computer. It was cool while it lasted running dual monitors, but since I am never at home I have started to use my Tablet PC almost 100% of the time. Hopefully someone else could put better use to these monitors than I can.

Therefore, on Ebay I am selling my:

These two monitors should generate a little income for me also.

Lottery Experiment – An Itch to Scratch

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Observation: Popularity of scratch-off lottery tickets remains high despite their low odds of winning. The attraction of exponentially increasing an “investment” of $1 with no skill involved draws people to these games.

Hypotheses: If a $1 scratch-off lottery game is played 100 times, the player is likely to lose money in the end. Most people playing the game will eventually lose money, only a few will gain.

Variations: A player can potentially win a large sum of money on the first play with some “luck” on their side.

Experiment: 100 Texas Lottery scratch-off “Amazing 8’s” games costing $1 each will be purchased. 20 games will be purchased from 5 separate establishments. Amazing 8’s have odds of 1 in 4.65 games at least break even.
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Step 1

I was thinking of buying a roll of scratch-offs, but I wanted to randomize the process, so instead I bought 20 Amazing 8’s from each of these five establishments: Albertson’s, Chevron, Diamond Shamrock and Exxon. I withdrew $100 from an ATM to make all of my purchases, so after tax I spent a flat $100 on scratch offs.  The whole process took me an hour as some places I visited did not have Amazing 8’s.

Step 2
Counted and verified that I had exactly 100 Amazing 8’s scratch-off lottery tickets.

Step 3
Got my trusty tools ready: Two quarters. One is an American quarter and the other is a Canadian Quarter. I’ve found that Canadian quarters are much better for scratching mass amounts of lotto tickets!

Step 4
Start scratching! I would scratch and scratch until I found a winner, which would then be placed inside the “Winner$” basket.

Scratching 100 lottery tickets is NOT as exciting as I thought. It felt more like a boring job. Next time I do gambling experiments, I’m goin’ ta Vagas.

The “Winner$” basket.

 

Winner$ basket starting to fill up with $1 and $2 wins.

 

The real gem of the lot was this ticket which won $60! The chances of getting this are 1 in 1,500.

Step 5
Tabulate each amount won.

Losers were placed on the table, and the proud winners were put higher up on the stool (Just for a more dramatic metaphorical effect)

Step 6
Report the totals. I came out ahead with $102! A 2% return.

The proud winners in all their glory, especially our champion: Mr. $60!

After the experiment was completed, I went to the grocery store to cash in my $102. I then proceeded to the Bank of America ATM and deposited the cash directly back into my investment account. So I performed this experiment and MADE $2 and learned a little too!

Step 7

Conclusion. This “investment” of $100 was more of an experiment and should not be used as investment advice. Anyone who invests their money in the lottery for purposes other than mild thrills and entertainment is (according to the odds) just dreaming. The odds prove that if you play long enough, you will lose 75% or more of your money. Of course you can also win a lot of money, but it’s highly doubtful. I just happened to buy the right tickets at the right time for this particular experiment, but if I repeated the experiment again, I would most likely not make a profit or break even.

Hope you enjoyed the experiment, I sure did!

 

Stock Portfolio & Lottery

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So I am going ahead with my plan to buy $100 worth of $1 scratch-off lottery tickets to test the averages. I will take pictures and tabulate the results by the end of this week.

My total net worth has slipped a little as my Ameritrade portfolio has been under some stress lately. These are all longterm holdings, so no selling is in sight (except maybe Syntel). Check it out:

Dynegy (DYN) – Just a few weeks ago I went up to a nice profit from a 25% loss, but it’s all slipping back now. This stock will be held onto for approx. 5 years.

Fortune Brands (FO) – Has steadily moved between a 6% and 11% gain since I bought it. I personally idolize this company for its diverse array of subsidiaries. Check out some of their well-known brands: Fortune Brands Website.

General Electric (GE) – A pretty stable stock that I plan to keep forever. I doubt this stock will go anywhere fast, up or down. It’s meant to be the “rock” of my portfolio.

Syntel (SYNT) – They are issuing a $1.50 per share dividend on March 31st which will add up to a nice $270 infusion into my account. If the stock hits above $25 I will sell. I have made money on this stock in the past.

Over the years I have finally taught myself to remove all emotion from stocks. Whether they are up or down for the day, I don’t even flinch. As I plan to hold these for many years, small changes no longer interest me. My heart used to speed up everytime I would log in to check my sotcks, I have finally developed a thick skin!

Odds

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Well a lot of people are against the gambling idea! I will still give it a whirl to see what comes from it. If anything, it will be a nice $200 lesson for me.

I might also buy $100 worth of $1 scratch-off lottery tickets and display the averages of my winnings, this has been an experiment I’ve wanted to try for some time now. It would not only be educational as I would have to do a little research on statistics and averages, but it would also be kind of fun! Would anyone else like to see me do this?

I have another article in the Daily Texan tommorrow on qualities employers look for, I’ll post it tommorrow!

Alternative Investing

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To date, the primary source of investing I have done with my investment account money is stock. Once the account balance hits $1,000 I put $500 into my Ameritrade account.

Right now I have $1,217 to invest. $500 will most likely go to stock soon, but I have $217 to play around with. I’ve previously used extra money like this to buy business clothing, but I want to do something different this time.

Gambling to me is not only entertainment, it can be a form of investing. Some friends of mine constantly play online poker for entertainment (and of course to make money) and they make decent returns every once in a while, but online poker is extremely time consuming. Online sports betting was brought to my attention by The Alpha Guy.

I don’t know much about sports, but after doing some research I found you can place relatively safe bets that turn small profits. If played out right with no emotion involved, this could possibly churn out some small profits here and there with very little time and research involved. The high stakes gambling can be left for trips to Vegas :)

Obviously there are risks, but what doesn’t have risks? Even if I lose this $217, I will consider it a $217 class on statistics, odds and risk management. Hey, that’s cheaper than taking a statistics course in college!

Business Ideas – Make Money with No Money

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The following is a list of several small side incomes you can make without much startup capital (or none at all). High school students, broke college students or anyone looking to score a little extra cash can take this advice. This list goes contrary to the saying “It takes money to make money”. I feel there are tons of ways to make money, but people never pursue them because they seem “menial” or “not worth their time”. Well here are a few things you can do to make quick cash without a formal business plan, investors or anything of the sort.

1.) Sell Water. That’s right. Buy a 24-pack of bottled water, ice it, then sell on a hot day. Your $3.00 investment has turned a $21 profit in a small amount of time. This may seem like something only a bum would do, but trust me, you will learn more from this experience than in any marketing class. Water can be substituted with soft drinks, hot coco etc.
Easy Factor Rating: *****
**Tried this experiment on 4-03-2005

2.) Mow Lawns. If you don’t have a lawnmower, borrow one. Go around a neighborhood offering your service. This business works particularly well for younger kids. Live in a cold area? They substitute lawn mowing with snow shovelling. You can ALWAYS get people to pay for this by lowering your price. Surprise people by offering to shovel a driveway for $3 if you are having trouble finding business. Some money is better than none, and you get plenty of excersize!
Easy Factor Rating: *****

3.) Powerwashing. Rent, buy or borrow a simple power washer and clean driveways and houses. Driveways will take 30-40 minutes depending on size. The real goldmine here is cleaning houses. This job will fetch over $100 and requires only a telescoping ladder and a bit more risk. For younger kids, their 30-40 minutes spent power washing a driveway will fetch about $20-$30. The trick here is to start off one house at a low price, then pitch to the surrounding houses showing off how clean their neighbors driveway is. Getting a company to hire you is even better. Gas stations, property management companies all need power washing services, but this may require some heavier duty equipment. Power washing can be done on any lazy Saturday afternoon where you are doing nothing better. Take before/after pictures and show off your work during your door-to-door sales pitch.
Easy Factor Rating: ****

4.) Accounting. Know accounting? Then become a part-time book keeper for a small business. These part timers get anywhere from $14 to $22 an hour for their services. Accounting CAN be self-taught, but a class is recommended. I know two accountants who make very nice livings working out of their garage. I see ads in the paper looking for part time book keepers all the time. You can educate yourself or hone your knowledge for free with books from the library.
Easy Factor Rating: *

5.) Get a job. Duh. If you feel totally inadequate to take a little risk and make money for yourself, or you need a more steady income, just get a small job. Even though I make enough money on the side, I still hold a job for the added income. If you are not picky about your job and just need some quick income, work at a coffee house, or in fast food etc. Get a job as a janitor, helping hand etc. These areas are always looking for non full time employees. You can get hired very quickly if you apply to those types of positions. Jobs are great, but you must obey the orders of others, often perform duties you may dislike and revolve around someone else’s schedule. The other ideas on the list give you more freedom to wheel and deal as you please.
Easy Factor Rating: *****

6.) Computer Cleanup. If you are decently computer savvy, charge a small fee for cleaning up slow running computers. My old 800Mhz Dell desktop can still outperform most personal computers that are four times as fast because I keep in squeaky clean of viruses, spyware, adware etc. Go door to door asking “Is your computer annoyingly slow? Got crap popping up on your screen all the time? Well I can help you solve that problem in 20 minutes.” I figure you will get quite a few people who would pay $10 – $20 (Or way more!) for your few minutes of service. Simply install all Windows Updates on their computer, install Google Pop-Up Blocker, download and run the new Microsoft Anti-Spyware program and BAM….more efficient computer. I do this for friends all the time, and they can never thank me enough for saving them the frustration of a brand new computer that runs painfully slow because of spyware. I see a huge market for this service. This is a GREAT way for a computer savvy student to make some quick ca$h. Total costs for software = $0.00. Every program I mentioned was 100% free. Who says it takes money to make money??
East Factor Rating: ****

Of course these are only a select few ways to generate small amounts of cash. These ideas will most likely not get you rich, but making cash is better than sitting around and being idle! Also, the experience you gain from trying out these ideas is more valuable than anything learned sitting in a classroom.

Now go out there and make some !!!

Neville’s Google Guide

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Properly utilizing Google and other search engines is one of the keys to online business success. I don’t spend a single cent advertising my online business that brings in between $500 and $1,000 per month. I have simply optimized the site for Google and the like.

Here is a quick guide on how to improve your PageRank.

What NOT to do:
DO NOT try to trick Google. I have done this before by creating a sleu of blogs that all linked to each other and my business. I was penalized for using “invisible” links that were the same color as the background and making a web of pointless links. Google recognized that I was “cheating” and dropped my PageRank to the point where I had the worst sales in years. It took me over 6 months to correct this mistake.

WHAT TO DO:
1.) Name all of your pages. Do not leave pages named www.whatever.com/Product123.html. Make sure you name your pages according to product names etc. such as www.Whatever.com/Cool_Flashing_Gizmo.html. This improves your chances of coming in a higher search result.

2.) Name your images. The images for your cool flashing gizmo should be named: “Cool_flashing_gizmo.jpg” etc.

3.) Update frequently. Leaving your site stale does nothing for you. Update something, ANYTHING, every two days. Search engines recognize your site is active, therefore boosting your credibility. Search engines will also crawl your site more often, allowing you to take advantage of recent updates.

4.) Create a blog for your business. Keep your customers updated with a nice business blog. Talk about your products and link to your business. A blog lets customers know that your business is active, and that there is a person on the other side of that website.

HOW DO I KNOW I’M RIGHT?
Try typing in “Miserable Failure” on Google. The first result is “The Biography of George W. Bush.” This happened because a bunch of bloggers put links on their page like this: Miserable Failure. See what power we have!

EXPERIMENT
One of the top search keywords I get for my site is surprisingly “Starbucks Liquor” I did a post about it a while ago. I will make this link, Starbucks Liquor, and see how much it boosts my position when Googled. Right now I am the 8th result. If a couple other of you bloggers make the link Starbucks Liquor in your blog, with the link pointing to www.NevBlog.com, my position will move higher.

Small Update

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I had a goal of setting up a third, steady side income by 3.15.2005. Obviously that goal was due yesterday and I haven’t set up anything new. My asnwer to that is to rejuvinate my efforts with Resumite.com. I see a lot of potential in this market towards the end of this school semester when people will be actively searching for jobs.

When I go back to Austin on Sunday, I will have a new 4-bedroom apartment waiting across the hall from my existing 2-bedroom thanks to the efforts of my roommate. He somehow managed to get our apartment upgraded without any moving fees!

On Thursday I will be attending a Zarthusti Chamber of Commerce meeting. Many memebers of the Zoroastrian community (I am Zoroastrian) are very well established in the business world, and it is nice to network and listen to what they have to say.

Spring….Break?

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As I’ve mentioned before, I hate being idle. I am in Houston for Spring “Break” and like I planned it has been a great mixture of business and fun.

The business side is in the form of helping to market condos and several web designing projects on the side. I am also doing some accounting for my online business in the meantime.

I also finally got a chance to see the Lamborghini Gallardo of a family friend today.

I look a bit goofy in this picture, but I am revving up a brand new Lamborghini and I could care less!

I also took a visit to our local Honda dealship one beautiful day to check out the motorcycles: