2009 was the year of the Cow. And boy did I feel like a cow this year. I tried to accomplish so much. I worked full time, went to school full time, participated in Air Force Reserve Drill every month, took care of 4 kids, kicked off 2 websites, and even got into web development. I didn’t exercise, eat right, or take the family on vacation or even a small trip. I mean, 2009 was really a bitter sweet year.

Injured vets draw reduced Army pay while claims are processed

	Isaac Stevens, seen at his Operation Homefront apartment in San Antonio, Wednesday, March 19, was moved from a homeless shelter in Hawaii.
Eric Gay / AP

So much emotion seems to be invested from both sides about this political and possibly media poisoned debate about health care. Is it access that we need? What about reform for those who already have some form of health care?

Today, as I spoke with a friend of mine, who is a fellow Troop in the Air Force Reserve and who also happens to be a teacher in central Texas, he told me of the mandetory $700 per month that his school district charges for family health care. Some people may think that this is fare. Personally, I think this is a bit steep. In my civilian life I am a licenced health care and life insurance agent. So I now that there are much more affordable premiums than what my friend is forced to pay.

Even though I am military, I can't speak for the military members and their families who may or may not be affected by this health care reform. All I can say is that I DO support reform is some way. I just do not know or understand the current plan. I'm tired of the misinformation being put out by both parties and in the media. It seem's lie Lou Dobb's is the only new's anchor who is bringing it straight with out trying to impose his opinion onto everyone.

The main concept of this website is to not only develop a network but to develop a query of connections between members according to there location, fields of expertise, and interests. Blocks will be posted to each members profile control panel according to particular interests chosen by member during website registration or when member profile is edited.

Member will also accumulate "Prides" (points or kudos) for completing certain actions such as starting a Group or posting a blog. They will be able to receive "Prides" from other members who can give 1 "Pride" to a blog, picture, video, etc. that they enjoy.

The Accumulation of "Prides"

This feature will post members with similar interests on another members control panel or home page. Members will have the option to edit MilMatching preferences in the edit portion of their accounts. There will be check box options allowing them the check options under "a.) What can your military network help you with?" or "b.) What can you contribute to your network?" For example, if a member selects "I am a mentor or life coach" their profile will display members who have selected both "I am a mentor or life coach" and "Find a life coach or mentor to advise me on my career or personal financial goals." and vice versa. See Image (A).

Image (A)

San Antonio/TX(April 2009).TrewCap (Media) Inc. is pleased to announce the launch of their website, PrideMe.com. The website seeks to serve both serving and veteran military members, their families and supporters. The concept is to provide a viable and friendly platform for a category of professionals whose occupation makes them so busy that they infrequently interact with the public, their own families and friends.

The Veteran Founders of the site remark that they created the simple, safe and intuitive website to help people with interest in the military stay connected wherever they may be in the world. According to Michael T. Washington, a co- founder, "We have chosen to be Troops who support Troops."

They state that Prideme.com is more than a social network website. In their opinion, it shall serve the function of providing members with a community from which they could undertake a myriad of activities including video chatting, discussion of common interests at forums, posting of jobs and business opportunities to classifieds, and establishing blogs and articles on their own. In sum, it is a website at which a user will be able to save time and effort by having all they need to network and interact at one location.

Microblogging has become one of the biggest trends in both social networking and making money online. The website Twitter is one of the biggest and most widely used microblogging sites on the internet, and can be a powerful marketing tool if used properly.

Using Twitter to make money online is all about driving traffic to places where people will take an action that will put cash in your pockets. More importantly, the traffic that you generate using Twitter is some of the best web traffic that you can have visiting your site. This is because if someone visits your site due to something that you mention on Twitter, then you aren't a 'total stranger' to the person. This means that you have a higher degree of trust with them, and trust always = more sales.

One of the most effective tricks of using Twitter to make money online is to use Twitter to drive people to articles that you've posted on your blog(s). Blogs are very dynamic and allow you to constantly add new and relevant content on an hourly, daily, or weekly basis. If you offer people good content on your blog, then they are likely to tell others and return themselves. However getting people to your blog originally can be tricky.

I know what you guys are thinking. Oh great another article telling me to "Be authentic". Yeah, I feel like barfing every time I hear a guru saying those words in regards to social media and twitter. However, they are on to something. By the time you finish reading this article you'll not only understand what they mean, but learn how to achieve this realness without seeming like a phony.

First of all what does authenticity mean anyway? People keep throwing this word around without giving an explanation of what they mean. Here's my definition of authenticity. Basically in a nutshell, it means that you should be yourself. In other words, the people that you network with online should be comfortable with you when they meet you in person because you act the same way online as you do in real life. That's it. That's what all of the gurus are talking about when they say "Be authentic". Darn I said it again!

But why is this important you ask? Great question! Authenticity is important because people buy from other people they know, like and trust (yes I know another buzz word you hear over and over again). People can't get to know you if you don't give them a chance too. I know it seems uncomfortable, but you've got to give people a chance to see the real you.

Online business owners often ask questions like, "Twitter sees to simple and so silly! Can people really use it for business?"

Answer: Absolutely. People say twitter brings the 30%, 40% -- even 90% of their revenue. Here's how you can grow your own online business with Twitter.

(1) Set up your twitter account with an appropriate photo. Create an informative bio so prospective followers will know if they want to follow you. Before following anyone, create a dozen or so tweets. Let prospective followers get a sense of the quality of communication they can expect from you.

Tweeting is in...for a lot of reasons. Relationships, news, networking, branding, fun, and yes, the little blue bird is even used for traffic generation. Besides links embedded in tweets and the "Website" portion of the bio in the upper right hand corner of every Twitter profile page, direct messages (DMs) are used for generating traffic.

I write this article in the middle of the continuing debate...should we or should we not use services that send automated DMs to people who choose to follow us? Many say NO, no matter what.

So why are you telling me how to send Twitter Auto DMs?