I’ve pretty much been playing poker since 1:00 am last night.  Between playing at my friend’s live game and online, I’m now at a positive $35, lol.  But I acquired TONS of experience and preparation for the next tourneys I play.  I feel so nasty and terrible.  I haven’t done anything since I’ve gotten back except play poker online.  I didn’t even leave my couch because I was stuck in tournaments all day.  Fortunately, the big tournament I played in, I cashed in the money!  I turned $11 to $265 (1st place gets $163,000, so that would’ve been much nicer).  Anyhow, I’d love to talk more about everything, but I’m super tired.  I just wanted to promise you guys (and myself) that I’d update this blog a little more regularly .  Good night!

Well, I’ve been hitting the poker tables, both live and online lately.  I’ve decided I’m going to pursue it heavily as a part-time income.  I’m confident in my live game however, my online game needs a little tweaking.  I’ve been multi-tabling, usually 4-5 tables at a time, playing a mixture of $5 and $10 sngs.  I’ve gotten to the point where I can consistently cash, but I’d like to consistently take 2nd or 1st place.  At my current rate, I’m yielding anywhere from $15 – $25/hr.  Hopefully within a month, I can move up to playing primarily $10 and $20 sngs.  The key here is strict bankroll management, something I’ve had difficulty sticking to in the past.  As I’ve played more and grown my poker game, the key skills such as bankroll management and patience has become much easier to master.

I’m hoping to eventually just take down one big tournament, then use much of those funds to get completely out of debt, set aside a nice bankroll, and invest in one of my business ideas.  There’s too many young online pros out there, so there’s no reason why I can’t attain the same status.  I think playing tons of video games and online gaming growing up really gave me that strategic mindset that gives me a little edge over novice poker players.  Poker’s really not that hard, just takes some patience and paying attention.  Always think 2-3 steps ahead of the other guy.  What’s he thinking?  What would I do if I was him playing against me?  You get the idea..

I have a few friends who love poker, but only play at the fun money tables.  Poker is a game meant to be played for money.  It’s extremely hard to take it seriously when something of real value is not on the line.  Poker is nothing to be scared of, just be sure you’re only risking money that you can absolutely afford to lose.  A poker player is no different from a stock broker, in fact, I think playing poker is far safer than picking stocks.  In poker, there’s not qutie as many factors and variables you have to consider when making your decision.  In stocks, goodness, I can’t imagine all the things you have to calculate and consider before choosing the right stock.

Anyhow, that’s at little to what I’ve been up to lately…

While I was in school, I never looked forward to going to class.  A classroom setting is just so boring to me.  It’s so hard for me to pay attention, and I’m easily distracted.  There were few classes, if any that I was ever interested in.  Recently, I was asked to teach a class at NYU on Link Building.  So I prepared a presentation the night before.  I was a little nervous since I would be teaching mostly marketing directors and assistants, and I definitely didn’t want to look like a dumbass.  It turned out to be one of the most enjoyable things I’ve done in awhile.  Some of the students in the class included those from American Express, Nickelodeon, Sports Illustrated, Verizon, and a few other companies that I can’t recall.  I definitely found out that I know much more about this subject than I thought I did, lol.  I’ve decided that I’ll try to promote onsite link building training.  I need to get my name out there a bit .  I need to refine a few of my speaking skills, but for the most part, I found myself to teach and speak very naturally.  Maybe I should get into public speaking? Yeaaaahh

I know, I know, it’s been too long.  I keep telling myself I’ll post regularly, but I never do.  I guess a full-time job and trying to stay in shape will do that to you.  Anyhow, all kinds of random, cool things have been happening in my life, so I’ll have some helpful advice to blog about .

Check out the next few posts and you’ll see.

I’m stuck at an airport and it sucks badly.  The flight I was on got delayed because all the other flights got delayed, which delayed everything else.  As I was checking in and making the proper flight arrangements to make it home, I overheard a conversation with the customer next to me asking if the airline, US Airways would provide compensation for the hotel.  She insisted that it wasn’t the “airline’s” fault.  We’re not responsible for “God’s” doing, blaming the weather.  What a ridiculous excuse I thought.  It is the duty of the airline to do everything possible to satisfy customers.  I assure you that getting delayed is one way to keep myself and several others from booking with the airline again.  I’m never flying US Airways again.  US Airways should have enough planes and flights to compensate for “God’s” doing.  If the airline gets backed up, they should resort to extra flights, pilots, and planes, whatever necessary.  Thousands of people like myself have had their plans destroyed because the airlines inability to get its customers to the proper destination on time.

Also, know that it’s NOT the lady booking the flight’s fault, so don’t yell at her.  I know the temptation is great to just yell and scream the customer service representative, but you must hold back.  She’s not responsible for the flight delays and flights being full.  Anyhow, for those of you flying soon, DON’T book US Airways.  Take THAT US Airways!

I remember the college application process back during high school 7 years ago.  I went to the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics.  For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, in which case, that’s probably the most of you, NCSSM was a very prestigious school where only the top and brightest (supposedly) high school students from the state of North Carolina were invited to attend.  Students would live on campus, much like a college, and attend classes.  I only went because I thought that my acceptance into the school would pretty much guarantee me admission into a nice college like N.C. State University or UNC Chapel Hill and give me some scholarships along the way.  How I was so wrong, lol.  I just stayed in school and did enough to get by and pass because I figured I’d be getting into college no matter what.  Then I found out that you had to maintain a certain GPA to stay in school, (”Oopsie!”).  Math and Science just killed me.  English wasn’t all that great for me either.  In fact, the only thing keeping me in the game was History.  I was crushing History with ease.   I forgot to mention that NCSSM is only for juniors and seniors.  And there’s that saying where college admissions look heavily at the grades of your junior year (well I don’t know if it’s just a saying, actually come to think about it, I think it’s true).  My first semester of my junior year was nearly all C’s and like 1-2 B’s.  It was time to turn my schooling on, so I studied a ton more only to make a few more B’s (I think it was like 3 B’s) and a C+ and A-, so really not that much more.  I also learned that in past years, UNC Chapel Hill used to pretty much accept anyone that graduated from NCSSM.  I heard that was changing that year.  I told myself that during my first semester of my senior year, I’d really have to step it up, and I did, but only resulted in grades just a bit better.  I remember constantly panicking and stressing if I didn’t get into Chapel Hill.  I kept asking everyone, “You think I’ll get in?”  I kept stressing and stressing about it.  And guess what, I didn’t get in, I got wait-listed.  I decided to apply to East Carolina University, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, and North Carolina State University.  Fortunately, I got into all 3, so I had a college to go to after my high school career .  I ended up choosing NCSU, and it was the greatest decision in my life.  I find myself to be experiencing decently successful post-college graduation.  In fact, many of my classmates who made it to UNC ended up dropping out or not doing too hot in school.  Others graduated and from what I hear, are still having trouble finding a steady job 1-2 years after graduation.  So the moral of the story?  Don’t stress so much about college!  It’s not that big of a deal!  College will be the same as high school, another 4 years of the EXACT same thing.  Don’t get me wrong, high school and college is where you will do a ton of learning, but it’s not that big of a deal.  Your peers and classmates will keep dramatizing how “important” graduating from high school will be.  How it’ll be a “big step” in your life.  It’ll be a step, but nothing anymore than the other tons of steps you’ll be taking.  Also, you’ll most likely not be keeping up with many of your high school friends, I’m sorry, I’m just going to go ahead and throw that statement in there for those of you high schoolers that swear to stay close to their friends, girlfriends, and boyfriends after college (although none of you that end up reading this are well beyond your high school years, lol).  The point being is, don’t stress so much, there are many steps in life, and graduating high school is just one of them.  Which college you go to will not be a huge deciding factor either.  Don’t worry if you’re going to a school away from all your friends and peers.  I GUARANTEE that you’ll make tons of new and great friends in college (unless you’re strange and odd).  Don’t stress, but make sure you work hard and learn as much as you can about finances, the business world, and talking to professionals and people.  My ability to talk to people has carried me very far.  Be sure to develop those language and professional skills while in high school and college.  Anyhow, good luck to you high schoolers who are so much more motivated now after reading this post

I know, I know, it’s been too long since I’ve made a post, but that’s because I’m having difficulty thinking of quality posts to write. As I’ve been doing some reading around online though, I’ve started to read a lot of personal finance, marriage, and tips blogs. I think I’m going to join the bandwagon . I was really intrigued by Free Money Finance. It has tons of great financial advice and information.  Anyhow, I think I’m going to take the similar route and just blog about personal experiences and life lessons that I’ve learned.

So in the next post, I’ll begin my first advisory post under the new theme .

I decided that because I’ve just been terrible about maintaining my blog, I’m going to aim for a new post every 2-3 days. When I first began the blog, my goal was to make a post a day, but seeing how I’ve not been able to do that, I need to readjust my goals with my blog. After all, if my competition can make daily, regular meaningful blog posts, ( Jon Waraas, Clever Dude, Tyler Cruz), then I should be able too.  By the way, those are some of the regular blogs I read, well I just started reading some of Jon Waraas’s blog again.  I talked to him a few years ago about some of his Myspace sites and other potential work.  He obviously seems to be doing real well now.  These guys are bouncing real well with my projects, so it’s good to see them doing well now.  I’m sticking with my consulting and Link Building for the time being.  I’ve been spending a lot of time doing work for my company, which has distracted me from being able to make quality posts on here.  I’m probably going to start tailoring my blog similar to Clever Dude’s blog and post ways to cheat the system ;p.

Over the weekend, I was at Best Buy and saw a great deal for a 100 pack of blank DVD-R.  By the way, some people have asked me the difference between DVD-R and DVD+R.  There’s a long, technical explanation, but I’ll keep it real simple for the simple people that read my blog.  DVD-R and DVD+R are simply different formats.  In the past, DVD players and DVD burners could only burn one format, not both -R and +R.  Today, DVD players and burners can play and burn both formats.  Some have debated which format is better quality, but both are pretty equal.  I tend to stick with DVD-R because I’ve been using that format to burn DVDs for a long time and haven’t had any issues.  So there’s a quick crash course for DVD-R and DVD+R. 

I was at Best Buy and saw the 100 pack of Memorex DVD-R for $22.99, which I thought was a steal.  So I was talking towards the line for purchase, and my friend called me.  As I was talking on the phone, somehow the pack of DVDs ended up behind me for some reason, and slipped out of my hand.  The pack the DVDs were in broke, and it did not end up well.  Luckily, I decided to use this in my favor because this was the last pack of DVDs left on the shelf.  I know that as far as blank media, Best Buy does not carry anything in their stock, and all their blank media is out on the floor.  I decided to tell the cashier that this was the last pack left and was wondering if I could get the product at an “Open Box” price.  After talking to the manager, I was able to get a 20% discount .  Not bad huh?

Ironically, I felt I should’ve gotten a bigger discount, but since it was actually my fault, I’ll take what I can get .

Anyhow, innovative thinking while you’re out and about can save you a few bucks .

I’ve made 2 posts in the last 20 days. I need to do a better job than that because surely I can fit time, just 15 minutes to discuss what I’ve done for the day. I guess when you have work to do, then go about your day after work, laziness catches on. As much as I’d love to blame it all on work and this and that, there’s no excuses. Just like when people make excuses to go to the gym (I prioritize going to the gym, that’s one thing that’s really hard to get back once you lose it is staying in shape.), I can’t make excuses not to post on my own, personal blog. If I don’t have time, then I have to wake up an hour earlier or whatever it takes.

So what have I been up to? Been spending time doing a lot of work for my new job. Currently, we’re setting up some foundation and infrastructure in place. And that involves me talking on the phone all day, sifting through hundreds of sites, and sending emails all day. By the way, we’re looking to add on to the team, so if you want to learn SEO, Link Building, or if you can write well, contact me.

The NBA Playoffs are here! I love watching the playoffs. Unlike most people, I really enjoy watching pro basketball as opposed to college. Most of the players I enjoy watching are in the pros. There’s not too many college players that I’ll turn the TV on to watch. Unfortunately, AI and the Nuggets get swept, I really wanted them to get just one game in there. I’m not a huge fan of Kobe, but I just can’t deny it, he’s really been picking that team up. The Lakers are playing near perfect basketball. And when they need buckets, Kobe gives it to them at will. My team, Phoenix got beat by the Spurs 4-1. Phoenix just can’t beat this team. As I sit there and watch Tony Parker and Tim Duncan just tear apart Phoenix defense, it saddens me that my Steve Nash and Amare can’t do anything to stop them. Check out the highlights from their playoff game:

I hope Atlanta beats Boston, they’re turning out to be a far tougher team than everyone expected. Anyhow, I’m rambling too much about it, but I’ll have to figure out my new team to pull for since all my favorite players are going home for the season.

There’s a new site that I’ve been reading lately, Clever Dude. It’s got some really good stuff and I actually hope that my blog will be just like his one day. So in the meantime, I’m going to get back to what I do best, and be on the look out for some more informational posts in the near future.

I just recently saw an ad on TV last night for a clinical study. It pays $3500, which is one of the bigger payments I’ve seen in awhile. A decent number of my friends due clinical studies and they’re a great way to make some quick cash, so long as you don’t mind having your blood drawn several times. Check out AAIPharma and register and use my name (Minh Pham is what I used to register) as your referral if you wouldn’t mind . Sorry I’ve been out of commission for awhile, but you know, we all get busy and tied-up sometimes.

So to make up for it, I am going to provide 5 ways that you can make money right now, within the next few hours.

1.) Affiliate Marketing - Affiliate Marketing is where you promote another company’s products and in return, get paid a commission or a share of the revenue. It’s great because you don’t have to pay any costs or carry any inventory. All you need is to send traffic to the site. It’s something you can start right now and be set up within a few minutes. It is recommended that you have a website or some way to deliver traffic to your referral link (the link you would use to send traffic to the company, usually companies like Amazon will give you a referral link to use to send traffic, something like www.amazon.com/userid=123). Adult Affiliate Marketing is really hot and a quick way to make some great cash. You don’t need a website, instead you can just make a Myspace profile. Many do Adult Affiliate Marketing and spam social networks like Myspace and Hi5. In fact, I know of a guy that’s made 5 figures daily spamming Myspace accounts. So if you don’t have any issue spamming, Adult Affiliate Marketing is a great way to get started. I’ve had success with Dating Gold.

2.) Content Writing – There are probably hundreds of thousands of writing jobs that need to be done. People with websites need content written for their site all the time and are willing to pay to have articles written. If you specialize in a specific niche or feel that you’re a great writer in general, then use GetaFreelancer. I’ve found some great writing jobs there. A friend of mine spent an entire summer writing articles discussing credit for work. Furthermore, there are several blogs and sites looking to hire part-time or full-time bloggers to write. Just search in Google for “blogging jobs” or “blogging careers” and you’ll find a plethora of information.

3.) Black Hat SEO – Some will argue with me on this because many feel this is highly unethical. It actually is close to affiliate marketing. Black Hat SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is unethical, spammy tactics. Those constant viagra and porn emails in your inbox, the random instant messages asking you to check out some adult site, the “free ring tones” comment your Myspace friend keeps posting on your wall, that’s Black Hat. But it is a way of making quick money fairly quickly and easily. No you don’t need to know any programming or code, just some clever and unique thinking. Just search in Google “black hat seo” and you’ll find what you’re looking for .

4.) Focus Group Studies – Even though a ton of these sites sell you some bullshit lists of companies that will take you forever to earn enough money to even make it worth your while, there are lots of companies that are legit. I’ve done quite a few focus group studies in my local area. These studies usually last no more than 2 hours, and I at the very least receive $65 for my time. Every so often, I get a phone call from the local market research company I’ve signed up with and they ask me a series of questions to see if I qualify for a study. Also, be sure to answer no to the list of questions they ask that concern “do you or a relative work for a marketing company.” Usually, these are the questions to screen out the participants they don’t want. Use your best judgment and listen closely to the type of question they’re asking and make sure to answer accordingly so that you’ll approve for the study. I use L&E Research, so if you sign up, say my name as a referral, and I might get a little bonus out of it . Of course, they’re in my local area, make sure you search for similar organizations in your area.

5.) Craigslist.org -If you’ve never heard of Craiglist, go to their site and it’s pretty self-explanatory. It’s just a huge, national classifieds list. Go to the site and to your local area and search local gigs, jobs, or services needed. People are always looking for random work and help in a variety of ways. A few of my friends have helped couples and families moved for a few hours for some extra cash. I’ve found some online projects for some money. Scope out the jobs, gigs, and services needed section and you’ll find something.

There you go, 5 things you can go do right now to make some quick cash. You could very well make a full-time living utilizing a combination of the 5 or all 5, there are enough opportunities out there to pay your bills. Good luck and go make that money!