Today, celebrate the fact that we live in a country where we have ultimate freedom.

Today, remember that there are those who wish to destroy that ultimate freedom, and do what you can to stop them.

Today, enjoy all the freedom you have, in every possible way.

Today, shed a tear for all of those who have gone before who died to make sure you could celebrate your freedom.

This isn't one of those chain letters, this is simply advice from one human to another.  Don't forward it.  Just read it, and follow it.

Happy Independence Day!

Here Goes

Rules:

1.  Nothing that you can't show to teenagers.  By that, I mean nothing you wouldn't want me to show your child or grandmother.

2.  Nothing that you don't own.  You have to be able to transfer the winning entry over to F4Y.

3.  The entries should evoke thoughts of education, teens, finance, money, etc.  You art people know what I mean.

4.  If you win, your art becomes My cover.  If not, your art becomes my deleted file.  I won't use it.

5.  If you think your art is too good for this kind of contest, it probably is.  Don't enter.

5a.  If you think you are too good for this contest or this site, you probably are.  Please leave my site.

6.  I'm not telling you what I want to see.  The whole point is for you to show me what you think of finance, teens, youth, money, education.

The prizes:

1.  Finance For Youth Gear

1a.  There will be several items that aren't yet available for purchase.  You get these free.

2.  Free copy of the book with your artwork on the cover.

3.  Toothbrush, toothpaste, dental floss.

4.  My thanks, eternal gratitude, and adoration.

5.  CASH!!!!!!!

5a.  For every entry received, I will put cash into a pot.  There is no limit to the amount of cash that can go in.

5b.  Each entry must be substantially different.  Submitting one entry with four different fonts?  Guess what, it counts as one.

5c.  When in doubt, I will ask a disinterested third party whether to count an entry as one or as more than one.  Their decision is final.

The last day to submit entries is June 30th, 2007.  Any entries received after that will be returned, and will not count.  To enter, email me at wil@finance4youth.com

with the subject line : F4Y contest entry request.  Some variation of that will probably also work.  I will send you a file on which submit your entry.

For those of you who feel that this is a slap in the face of a professional, and who compare art to medicine, I never meant to insult you or your work.  I sincerely hope you will get past that feeling.

If I receive no entries by the closing date, the contest will close, and I will go through an alternative process.

Good Luck!

Just a few minor updates out there:

1. The contest is on track, and I'm only a little upset that I won't be able to enter myself! I'm in the process of approving the design on the F4Y gear now, and I think it is pretty darn cool!

2. A zealous friend and associate nominated me for best blog at bloggers choice (www.bloggerschoiceawards.com)! I'm greatful that he would do this, but I have no real aspirations of winning. I am hardly as popular as almost any of the blogs up for the same honor.

3. This just in! I'm adding a super secret prize for the contest. See my earlier posts to see all the things you will win, and imagine winning something else really cool and worthwhile!

Over the past few days, I've been in contact with several young people who are interested in becoming entrepreneurs.  They've asked for some advice, and I think it is important enough to go into some detail here. 

1.  You HAVE TO do something you are interested in.  Not doing so is an invitation to failure.  To give you an example, my wife likes to cook.  She's really good at it too.  She could easily make a living cooking, but for her, cooking is a way to get hot food into her belly-- not a way to get hot money into her account. 

2.  You have to understand that being an entrepreneur takes more than not being able to hold down a job.  Look, I've been fired a lot.  I've said it before, and I'm not ashamed of it.  Does that make me a good entrepreneur?  No.  It makes me a difficult employee.  There is a difference.

3.  You have to have a plan.  I used to dream about getting a bunch of old cars, fixing them up, and renting them at a premium.  Sounds pretty cool, right?  That was the end of my plan.  Get cars, fix them, rent them.  With that type of plan, all I would end up with is a lot of used cars sitting in my driveway.

4.  You have to do a lot of research.  This kind of dove-tails in with the last one, but its true.  You have to know the ins and outs of whatever business you think you want to start.  You have to understand the trends, what has worked for other companies, and what other companies are missing.  Without that, you are forced to learn by mistake, and that is a pricey way to learn anything.

5.  Become an expert.  When others look to you for advice on something, you have to make sure that the answers you are giving are right, all the time.  It doesn't cut it for you to say to a paying customer, "oops".  At the end of the day, whatever you do, your reputation is what you are selling.  Make sure you have a good one.

6.  Learn as much as you can about whatever it is that you want to do.  I like to read books, but that doesn't mean I can run a bookstore.  I want to someday own a bookstore, so I took a few years to work at some successful bookstores and learned the business from the inside.  Someday, I might get that bookstore, and I can assure you it will be successful, because I took some time to learn how to make certain.

7.  You have to be willing to go hungry.  When you start a business, it won't be successful right off the bat.  That's okay.  This is one of those long-term investments.  For this reason, I don't suggest people go into business for themselves unless one of two things are true:  Either you are financially set, and can afford to live without a paycheck for a while, or you are willing to scale back your efforts temporarily, working full-time at a job while you slowly build up your own business to the point where you can afford to do it full time.  That's what F4Y is, something I do OUTSIDE my normal day-to-day job.  When I'm ready, I stop doing the day-to-day, and focus 100% on F4Y.

8.  Prepare to go without a lot of sleep.  I spend at least 8 hours a day at work.  I spend 3-5 hours a day working on school.  I have a wife and family that I like to devote as much time as possible to.  Figure out sleeping time, and time where I am doing something else that I have to do (stuff around the house, family I don't like spending time with, etc.) and that doesn't leave a whole lot of time for anything else.  So I have to find the time to do the things that are important to me. 

9.  Focus on doing things with integrity and honor.  No matter what it is you choose to do, if you don't have integrity and honor, you will never derive any real benefit or sense of accomplishment from doing it.

10.  Always understand what you want to accomplish, and why.  I never want to get to the point where I am so successful that I no longer have time to spend with the people I love.  I also never want to be successful at the expense of my own well-being.  When that becomes an issue (and it has), I have to make some hard decisions about what is more important to me-- success or happiness.  My wife is there to make sure I never lose sight of that.

I'm sure there are many more things, but 10 seems like a good starting number.  If you have others, let's discuss:

JM Webzine

did an interview about the upcoming books. I'm probably more excited than I should be, but this is the type of thing that I really enjoy. Jon is 16 years old (I think that makes him a Sophomore), and he's already got the mind-set that for him to do the things he wants, he has to get financially smart. I predict that he will do very well! If you are on MySpace, become his friend, check out the bands he showcases, and have some fun!

Second, at Lulu.com, the publishing house I'm using, one of the "Masters" (also known as group moderators-- these guys know the process better than the rest of us newbies) made a great suggestion, and I'm adding it to the prize pot. In addition to all the other cool stuff, the winner(s) get a toothbrush, tube of toothpaste, and some dental floss! You can never be too careful with your teeth.

Third, Monday is Memorial Day. For many of us, this means a day off. This is also a day where alcohol is often coupled with driving and fire (barbecues). If you are going to consume alcohol, don't drive. From a financial standpoint, getting a ticket or having your license suspended isn't a smart move. From a life standpoint, being dead really affects your standard of living. There is no good side to drinking and driving. Also, be smart around the barbecue. Keep a fire extinguisher close by, and enjoy the grub.

 The thing is, I don't really care.  Neither of these guys are teenagers, or even youth.  Both of them are really just pathetic old people with waaaaaaaaaay too much time on their hands, and I'd really rather that they found someone else to mess with.  I'm not going anywhere, and neither is Finance For Youth.  Their e-mails are now blocked, and I hope that they get the hint.

As far as the contest goes, I'm still working out what "gear" I want to give out to the winner(s).  I'm thinking some sort of clothing, some sort of bag, maybe a drinking device, some writing instruments, and of course, some good reading.  If you are the winner (or think you are going to be the winner), let me know what you want.  Maybe I'll just send a copy of my original idea (in my own drawing) for the cover, just so you have a laugh.

The first one was from reader "L"

"Wil

Why bother writing a book? I've been a teacher for more years than you've been alive, and kids just don't care. It's better just to let them fall on thier faces then to try to do anything about it. The people in your 'audience' have better thing to spend their money in. This is just a huge waste of time. Give it up.

L***********"

My response:

L-

I can't disagree more. These kids are no more a waste of time than you and I are. In fact, I would argue that spending the time on these kids is exactly what you are paid to do. I do it because I think its important-- you should be doing it to stay employed. Maybe most of these kids won't buy my book. But if one does, and learns from it, that's not bad, now is it? Just like I wouldn't let a baby just learning to walk fall on their face and hurt themselves, I don't think it is fair to do so to a young person when their best role-model (you) tells them that they are a waste of time. I sincerely hope you reconsider your vocational choice, since the thought of you influencing my children causes me to cringe.

The second email was from "D" in California:

"Self-Serving is right! Do you have any concept of how much time, effort, and experience goes into making a commercially viable book cover? People train for years, go to school, and work hard comming up the ranks. And you want them to give you a winning cover design for what? A hand-shake and a button? Get real. If you even get any responses, I bet they are just amateurish suck jobs!"

My response: You might be right. Maybe they are all suck jobs, but they suck a lot less than anything I have the talent to put together. You are probably right about the prize. No hand-shake. My best advice to you-- don't enter. I can't afford someone with your obvious skills and reputation (even though I don't know who you are). Thanks for the input.

While I haven't yet received any entries, that's not the point. Could I just hire someone to do the job? Of course. Finance For Youth is not a source of income for me, I make enough that I'm not dependent on it. I'm having a contest because I think it would be a lot of fun, and because I want the reader to be as much a part of F4Y as I am. If that's wrong, oh well. Like I said, this isn't my job.

So here's what you get as of now:

1. Name credit inside the actual book(s).
2. Tremendous thanks, kudos, accolades, appreciation from F4Y.
3. Signed copies of the book(s) with an inscription telling you how much you personally mean to me for winning.
4. Some official Finance For Youth merchandise BEFORE it comes out to the public.
5. Probably some other stuff, which won't be as cool as the F4Y stuff, but will still be pretty cool.

Here comes the pitch:

F4Y is having a contest for people who want to design the cover of one or both books. The rules are pretty simple.

1. Any artwork must be yours, and you must have the right to transfer ownership.
2. All submissions become the property of Finance For Youth and William Stanton, regardless of whether they are actually used.
3. The winning submission will receive credit for the submitter but not compensation.

Here it is in a nutshell: Once you make an entry, the cover you enter becomes mine. You get credit for the winning design, but that's about it. If I use a cover in the future that didn't win this contest, the creater gets credit at that time.

Here are some guidelines.

-Nothing Obscene. It must be appropriate for everybody.
-Nothing that excludes anybody. For example, some religious icons are not obscene, but they may make people with other beliefs feel excluded. Everybody gets to read!
-No copyrighted material.
-No ripping off someone else's work. That's my job (I kid!!).
-Make it fun, make it relevant, make it wacky, make it good. Photos, Drawings, art, whatever, as long as you think it is good enough to display.
-Right now this is for credit only. As the contest progresses, we may decide to add other goodies to the pot. Don't know what those are yet, but I've heard they are pretty "something".

The process: Right now, I'm looking at just having the F4Y'ers choose the best one. If that becomes too hard, we may open judging to the readers and have you guys (and gals) vote on a winner.

How to enter: If you want to play, send me an email:

(wil[at]finance4youth[dot]com)

let me know you are interested. I will send you a template for the cover. Send it back to me before June 30th, 2007.

Good Luck, and thanks!
-W