Real Work Excuses You Can Use To Stay Home From Work

I was researching keywords for an article I’m working on and I realized there are a ton of people searching for good excuses to skip work.  Just look at them all!

273 real work excuses
106 excuses to skip work
60 excuses to miss work
47 excuses for not going to work
24 real excuses to miss work
21 excuses work absence
16 excuses for work absence
16 good excuses for missing work
15 serious excuses to miss work
12 good excuses to miss work

Now I’m guessing most people are looking for real work excuses so they can stay home and sit on the couch watching The Price is Right or General Hospital…but I’ll assume you want to stay home so you can concentrate on building your blog or creating an info product to sell.  ;)

Anyway I called my buddy Joe who works as an office manager/HR guy for a small business and asked what were the craziest real work excuses he had ever heard?  Here’s a few of his favorites…

“I need off so I can try out for American Idol.”

“I have no heat in my apartment.”  (Wouldn’t you WANT to come to work where its warm?)

“I have a lot going on and need to reflect on things and find myself.”

“I hurt my wrist playing Guitar Hero.”

“I’m getting a boob job.”

“Man, I TOLD my wife the chicken looked undercooked!”

“I’m in a 3-day Madden tournament.”

“It looks like it might snow.”

“Dude, its March Madness time!”

“I need a month off while I serve a 30 day sentence.”  (This guy actually called from prison!)

I want to hear from you…leave a comment below with the craziest excuse you ever gave your boss so you could skip work…

 

 

Please Help Save These Poor Animals From An Unfortunate Fate

Will you please take two minutes of your time to help my friend Allison save some poor animal’s lives?  (It won’t cost you a penny, I swear)

Allison is volunteer coordinator at an animal shelter in New Jersey…they take in dogs, cats, and other animals that have been abused, abandoned, or in need of help. You can read more about their work here.

They’re a not-for-profit organization and they’re really struggling to make ends meet.  Its possible they could go under and if that happens a lot of puppies and kittens will have nowhere else to go.

Don’t worry…I’m not going to ask you for a donation!   All I ask is that if you have a pet, go to Zootoo.com (its like a Facebook for pet owners) and create a free account.

When you create your account I need to affiliate yourself with Allison’s shelter.  You see there’s a big contest going on and the grand prize is a million dollar makeover for the shelter.  Once you link yourself to the Liberty Humane Society they’ll receive points everytime you leave a note, add a picture, etc.

They’re currently in second place nationwide but they have a lot of catching up to do!

I just started my own profile to help them get some points…won’t you please do the same?  It will take less than 5 minutes and you’ll be doing your good deed for the day.

Just go to http://zootoo.com and register for a free account.  When you register you’ll be asked which shelter you want to affiliate with.  Just enter zip code 07305 and choose Liberty Humane Society…I attached a screenshot below so you can see how it will look…

Please do it now before you forget. And pass the word along to anyone you know with a pet.  Tweet this post…Stumble it…Digg it…Fark it…Reddit it…spread the word and help save some furry friends.

Allison and I thank you.

Dreamhost Coupon Code Saves You $50

Use my Dreamhost coupon code to save $50…

If you’re looking for reliable web hosting I think you’ll find there aren’t many better than Dreamhost.  They’ve got a ton of features and they’re known to be very friendly and responsive to internet marketers and bloggers like us.

You can install Wordpress with one click of a button which I love, and you can host unlimited domains for free.  If you’re like me and you’re looking to build lots of sites and blogs…than Dream Host is a good choice for your hosting needs.

As a Dreamhost affiliate I’m able to offer you a $50 discount when you purchase a hosting package of 1 year or more.  Just go to Dreamhost.com and choose the length of service you want.  When you’re checking out you’ll be asked if you have a Dreamhost coupon code.  Just type in MIKECOLLINS (one word) and you’ll get $50 bucks knocked off your bill.

That’s all there is to it…couldn’t be easier huh?

Ever Wonder Why You’re Not Making Any Money?

Whoa…I just read one of the best blog posts ever!

If you’re struggling to earn a living online and can’t figure out where you’ve gone wrong you need to read Leo Dimilo’s 114 Things I Wished I Knew as an Internet Marketer When I First Started.

Leo is absolutely spot on in this post and if you’re smart you’ll read it again and again until it all sinks in.  Seriously, Leo could have easily packaged this post into a report and sold it for $47…but instead he gives it all to you completely free. 

Read it now…you won’t be sorry.

Getting Rid Of Malware Is Easier Said Than Done

Last week my wife opened up an email from one of her girlfriends and clicked on the file that was attached.  She thought it was a harmless message that came from one of her best friends…but in fact it was a time bomb loaded with malware that messed up her computer until last night. 

Apparently her girlfriend’s PC got infected with something that then sent a malicious file to everyone in her address book and I was forced to spend the better part of a week cleaning up the mess.  And I know from experience that getting rid of malware is no laughing matter. 

Malware can take many forms…everything from keylogger programs that track what keys you type in an attempt to crack passwords to spyware bots that create all sorts of popup advertising. 

My better half’s PC was infected with some kind of trojan that caused advertising popups informing her she was infected and that she needed to download a file to clean her machine.  God knows what would have happened if she actually downloaded it!  It was bad enough though as the popups became so intense they would lock up the machine and make it unuseable.

I tried running every scan and fix I could think of but I’m no expert at getting rid of malware.  So I have to give a quick shout out to the folks at Security Forums for helping me clean up the mess.  These are good people that devote time to helping people like you and me get rid of malware for good. 

If your PC is running slow, has lots of popups, or shows other signs of malware infection I strongly suggest you visit their forum and ask for help.  Just be sure to only take advice from the moderators…listening to anyone else may just get you into even deeper trouble.

Corporate Logo Quiz

Here’s a fun little quiz that will determine how well you pay attention to details when it comes to corporate logos.

I got 17 out of 20 correct in this corporate logo quiz but I actually think I could have gotten all twenty.  Just look at the 2 logos and choose which one is real and which is fake.  It seems pretty busy but some of the differences are really subtle.

Click below to take the quiz and let me know how you did…

Corporate logo quiz

Sharing My Game Plan For 2009

In my last post I talked about some of my goals for 2009.  At the suggestion of my friend Dennis Edell, I’m going to talk a little about how I plan to achieve them.

After all, what good is a goal without a plan to reach it?

So here is my game plan for 2009…

1. Increase revenue.  That’s pretty much everyone’s goal right?  I’ll keep plugging away on my mini-sites and also look to monetize this blog a bit which I haven’t done at all yet.

2. Increase readership of this blog.  Basically I’m going to keep posting solid content in the hopes that my audience will grow.  I’m also going to continue commenting on other blogs and networking to make friends and find readers.

I’m also working on a short report that will be available only to my email subscribers.  Maybe I’ll hold a short contest too.

3. Building up a new mini-site.  I’ve just started working on a nw niche that I think will be really profitable.  Its got tons of potential and I think it will be earning me a few hundred a month pretty quickly.  Just gotta move forward with it.

4. Lauching my first membership site.  I’m not quite ready to announce this one yet but I expect to have it all ironed out in the next couple of weeks.  Keep an eye out for it…it’s a must-have for article marketers/bum marketers, ppc marketers, etc.

5. Spending more time with my family is my ultimate goal.  The increased revenue I’l see from my efforts will let me work less and play more.