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DMM: Find Apartments for Rent the Easy Way

Posted By damien on April 26th, 2010

Big News!  In my other life, the one where I’m not a blogger, my wife and I found out we are moving to Santa Fe, New Mexico!  I have been assigned a position there with my “day job” as an Implementation Consultant.  It’s just a fancy name for someone who makes computer programs work for people.

Anyways, we have very little time to find an apartment, so I’ve spent much of the week looking for rentals online.  The good news is that there are tons of resources on the internet.  In just a few days, I have compiled a spreadsheet with information about 22 different apartment complexes.  I know I’m a nerd, but can’t help myself.

But think about that for a minute.

Without even stepping foot in Santa Fe, I have gathered information on 22 different complexes and narrowed the list down to the top five.  Now, when we do go looking for a place to live, we can (hopefully) spend one day touring these five locations and know what we want by the end of the day.

Without further delay, here are my top four favorite sites for finding apartments for rent online:

1) Apartments.com

This site, along with the next, seemed to have the most information about the complexes  listed.  Prices, square footage, community amenities and apartment amenities were listed.  Media was where they truly shined: large photos, floor-plans and 360° tours.  They allow you to make a profile and save favorites.  Excellent resource.

2) Rent.com

Another excellent resource, similar to apartments.com.  Prices, square footage, community amenities and apartment amenities were listed.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any 360° tours.  They also allow you to make a profile and save favorites. By the way, rent.com is owned by eBay.

3) ForRent.com

I really liked the amount of information this site gave me. Prices, square footage, community amenities and apartment amenities were listed. Photos, floor-plans and 360° tours were also available.  Their apartment comparison feature was very nice.

4) ApartmentGuide.com

Good resource, not as awesome as the first two.  Prices, square footage, community amenities and apartment amenities were listed.  Pictures and floorplans were shown, but were tiny compared to the first two sites.

There were several other websites I checked out, but these were the cream of the crop.  It’s a good idea to check more than one, since each site I used listed a few different complexes.

What resources have you used to find an apartment?

Posted in Selp Improvement, Technology
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DMM: How to Write an Ebook That Doesn’t Suck, in 14 Days or Less, the Smart Way

Posted By damien on April 19th, 2010

Welcome to Digital Manna Monday.  Here I share digital manna: online gifts of illumination and enlightenment.

This week we look at several top-notch resources for writing ebooks (or eBooks or e-books, I’ve seen all three).  An ebook is an electronic book, usually published in pdf format.  It allows normal people to delivery quality information to the masses.

Below are four resources I used to write my first (free) ebook, The Minimalist Guide to Investing.  I combed through tons of websites looking for the best information on ebook brainstorming, writing, publishing and selling.  These were the cream of the crop:

1)  How To Create an ebook & Sell It In 14 Days Or Less

From Entrepreneurs-Journey.com.  A very long, in-depth look at one blogger’s ebook development process.  He walks through every step: finding an idea, finding a market, writing, the technology involved, and distribution.  A very handy resource.

2) The Simple Guide to Making Money Online

From Everett Bogue at Far Beyond the Stars. Another long, detailed post about ebook creation.  Though it is about ebooks specifically, Everett begins more generally by talking about making money online.

He discusses the mentality needed and gives the kick-in-the-butt motivation to help you believe it is possible. Then he walks through six steps to building an online platform for making money.  No gimmicks, just clear instruction for the work necessary to make it online.

3) How to Write an Ebook that Doesn’t Suck

From Michael at Remarkablogger.  Michael knows this plain fact: most ebooks suck, especially the free ones.  He goes over picking a topic that works, writing to teach your audience, and how to package it attractively.  One of the most helpful sections is on pricing, which can be very difficult to figure out.

4) eBooks The $mart Way

From Pat at SmartPassiveIncome.com.  I saved the best for last.  What better way to teach how to write an ebook than by offering an ebook on the subject?  Pat’s free, 35-page ebook is chock-full of relevant information on all aspects of creating and selling ebooks.  This is the ebook writing Bible.  There’s so much info, I’m still working through it.

In order to get the free ebook, sign up for Pat’s newsletter, which is also a great resource for building income streams online.  No, I’m not getting compensated for promoting this, I just think it is an awesome guide.

That’s it for this week.  Have any great links you would like me to share next time?  Shoot me an email at damien[at]bitesizeidea[dot]com

Posted in Business, Technology
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DMM: Cheap High-End Clothes, Deodorant Delivery, and Money Mind Games

Posted By damien on April 12th, 2010

Anchors in the sand

Welcome to Digital Manna Monday.  Here I share links to some of my favorite online happenings from the past week.  They could be news articles, blog posts or cool new services.

Whatever they may be, they’re all digital manna: online gifts of illumination and enlightenment.

1) Gilt

Gilt is an online retailer of high-end clothing. From their website:

Gilt Groupe provides access, by invitation only, to Men’s, Women’s and Children’s coveted fashion and luxury brands at prices up to 70% off retail. Each sale lasts 36 hours and features hand selected styles from a single designer.

Did you catch the part about it being invite-only?  I was lucky enough to be invited in several months ago and here I am sharing invitations with you.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have never (yet) bought anything from Gilt; I can’t justify spending over $100 on a shirt.  But don’t let me stop you from spending copious amounts on clothing!  Take my invitation and have a look around.

2) Alice.com

Alice.com is really cool.  It’s an online seller of “home essentials”, offering free shipping and, if you so desire, scheduled shipments. From their website:

Alice provides you a better way to manage all of your household essentials online. You tell Alice what you buy—choosing from great deals on 1000’s of products—and Alice goes to work. We organize all of your products, find coupons and deals for you, remind you when you might be running low, and help you order just the items you need so you can avoid that trip to the corner drugstore or the big-box store. And all this convenience comes direct to your door with free shipping included.

My wife and I love this service.  You can browse by room, price, or discount.  Shipping is fast (at least it was for us).  Heck, if you can buy books, music, and cars online, why not toilet paper and deodorant too?  After setting up your cart and scheduling shipments, Alice.com will save you trips to the grocery store.  Here’s an invitation to join.

Two Awesome Articles on Price Anchoring

I absolutely love articles about money and psychology.  Personal finance is more about emotions than just numbers. So this week I was really digging two articles that came out about price anchoring.

Briefly, price anchoring is the mental assigning of values we give to products.  Marketers are only too happy to set the anchor for us, and then tell us how much of a “deal” we’re getting.

MSRP (Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price) is an example of setting a price anchor.  After setting the anchor, the retailer then sets the actual price lower, making us think we’re getting a great deal.

3) What to Do When People Just Aren’t Buying Your Product

The first article, from Erica Douglass at erica.biz, talks about price anchoring from the seller’s perspective.  She offers some tips for struggling marketers on how to set the anchor.  Very informative post with good examples.

4) Price Anchoring, Or Why a $499 iPad Seems Inexpensive

The second article, from Mint.com (a financial service I highly recommend), starts with an example of how Steve Jobs used price anchoring to make the iPad launch one of the most successful ever in the consumer electronics industry.

This was one of those articles where I hit myself on the forehead and said, “Dang! I wish I had written that!” It concludes by showing how price anchoring leads us to buy junk we don’t need, and how to combat it.

That’s it for this week.  Have any great links you would like me to share next time?  Shoot me an email at damien[at]bitesizeidea[dot]com

Posted in Business, Technology
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DMM: World Domination, Productivity Tips, and More

Posted By damien on April 5th, 2010

Digital Manna from Heaven

Welcome to Digital Manna Monday.  Here I share links to some of my favorite online happenings from the past week.  They could be news articles, blog posts or cool new services.

Whatever they may be, they’re all digital manna: online gifts of illumination and enlightenment.

1) A Brief Guide to World Domination

Chris Guillebeau is one of those bloggers I admire for his amazing writing, worthwhile products and anti-sleazeball approach to selling.  He has an awesome story to tell; his plan is to visit every country in the world while still in his 30s and he’s already been to well over 100.

His mind-expanding Brief Guide to World Domination is a kick-in-the-butt motivator to go out and do something with your life.  The best part is that it’s free!  Check it out, and while you’re there, subscribe to his blog.

2) Productive! Magazine

The name is self-explanatory.  Productive! Magazine is an online publication featuring interviews with productivity gurus and articles on getting things done.  The latest issue, volume four, features an interview with Leo Babauta, blogger extraordinaire of ZenHabits.org and leader of the minimalist/simple living movement.  Did I mention that the pdf version is free?!  Check it out.

3) HootSuite

This is my new favorite app for managing my social media accounts.  From this one place I can track twitter, facebook, and LinkedIn.  I used to use Tweetdeck, but three features made me switch to HootSuite.

First, and this is a big one, with HootSuite I can schedule tweets and facebook updates to be posted in the future.  Second, HootSuite displays twitter conversations as threads.  This means that when someone replies to me, my original message is displayed below, so I can quickly resume the conversation. Third, Hootsuite has built-in statistics.  I used to use bit.ly for url shortening and click tracking, but HootSuite has built in ow.ly shortening and tracking.

4) Why You Really Need a Logo

Mars is an up-and-coming blogger who writes about brand creation at MarsDorian.com.  He was kind enough to write this post about logo brainstorming and creation after I mentioned that mine sucked and needed lots of help.  His post explains why you need a logo and several tips for creating one that’s appealing and slick.  While you’re there, check out his logo, he knows what he’s talking about.

That’s it for this week.  Have any great links you would like me to share next time?  Shoot me an email at damien[at]bitesizeidea[dot]com

Posted in Selp Improvement, Technology
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DMM: Free Music, Guide to Making Money Online

Posted By damien on March 29th, 2010

Like Manna from Heaven

Welcome to the first ever edition of Digital Manna Monday.  Everyone else seems to share their link roundups on Fridays, so I decided to do it at the beginning of the week; hopefully it will ease the pain of Mondays.

Here I share links to some of my favorite online happenings from the past week.  They could be news articles, blog posts or cool new services.

Whatever they may be, they’re all digital manna: online gifts of illumination and enlightenment.

The Simple Guide to Making Money Online

Everett Bogue is one of the leading voices in the Minimalist community.  In this informative post, he breaks down the steps to making money online with a blog and information products.

The timing was perfect, since I just released my first (free) information product The Minimalist Guide to Investing.  I plan to use Everett’s instructions as a blueprint for my next information product.

TripIt.com

This is one awesome free service.  TripIt is an online itinerary planner.  We are using it to plan our trip to NYC this May.

Set up a free account, email your flight plans to plans@tripit.com and they import everything: flight numbers, confirmation numbers, dates and times.  Then you can import the TripIt itinerary into your calendar (Gcal, Outlook, etc.).  Really loving this service.

LOVE from Angels and Airways

Awesome new album from one of my favorite bands.  The best part is that AvA is offering the album for FREE.  Click on the link and download it instantly.

Don’t worry, it’s legit–I downloaded it a few weeks ago and haven’t had any issues.

The Minimalist Path

Dave Damron runs a great blog about simplifying life and enjoying the present.  While there, check out my guest post What Minimalism Is NOT.

11 Unofficial Rules of Texting

Brant Choate is an expert on Generation Y (Millenials) and how they interact with other generations.  Read his funny instructions on the how-to’s of texting.  I know I’ve broken a few of these…

That’s it for this week.  Have any great links you would like me to share next time?  Shoot me an email at damien[at]bitesizeidea[dot]com

Posted in Minimalism, Technology
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Tech Files: How to Keep Your PC Running Fast & Clean

Posted By damien on March 16th, 2010

Computer Problems

As the resident tech person among my family and friends,  I get tons of requests to fix up slow computers.  Most requests go something like this:

Damien,  my computer is running really slow!  My kids have been on it, I don’t know what they did, but they surf around everywhere and download everything they come across.  Help me!

In my PC repair toolbox,  I have one absolutely indispensable piece of software.  It’s called CCleaner.  It cleans unwanted files from computers and helps them run better.

So today, instead of giving you a fish (fixing your computer) I’m going to teach you how to fish (fix your PC yourself).  The first video will show you how to download and install CCleaner.  The second video will show you how to use CCleaner to remove unwanted junk from your PC.

How to Download and Install CCleaner

How to Use CCleaner

I hope these videos help you keep your PC running smooth.

What software do you use to maintain your computer?

Posted in Technology
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