spa blog

Order Now - spa Event 2009 DVD training set

The spa Event DVD series is now in the final production stages. A tentative ship date is set for August 1st - pre-order before this date for only $349 (regular price is $599). Here is a preview clip. 

 

To place your order, go to the spa Shopping Cart

spa Members will get an extra 15% off the $349 price - check spa Talk for that code.

Guest Blogger - Excerpt from Jeff Smith's "Achievable Wealth"

SLAVERY AND THE DEFERRED ENJOYMENT PLAN 

 How much time will it take?  Less than you think.  On the other hand, it won’t happen overnight.  I have seen many of the “get rich quick” schemes out there and the only ones getting rich are the ones selling the idea.  While income replacement does take time, it takes much less time than the deferred enjoyment plan that most Americans call retirement.  Most Americans work their asses off for 30 to 40 years, in careers that in most cases they hate, with the thought of endless fishing or golf playing in front of them.  After this long, methodical journey of slavery there are no long days at the country club or fishing hole, but rather, it’s sitting at home arguing with their spouse.  Why?  Because fishing or golfing can only take up so much of your time and most retirees find the cost of such activities to be too far out of their retirement budget to do frequently.  Also, many retirees find that after a lifetime of being a producer, having nothing to do will drive them up the wall.  It is a known fact that many people, men especially, die shortly after they retire. 

 Some people work for 40 years to get to a point of retirement, buy a motor home for the long trips they have planned to all the places they haven’t yet seen, and guess what happens?  Often, by the time they retire, many have medical issues and tire too quickly for extended travel.  In some cases the motor-home is practically brand new, because the big trips across the country to see all they haven’t seen has turned into a retirement of taking care of their children’s children (grandchildren but not your responsibility).  Work all your lives to start a geriatric day care!  

 This is another causality of the American Deferred Life Plan. Our children live with parents that are working so hard and are so tired they are emotionally unavailable, while trying to penny pinch their way to a successful retirement.  The average American misses out on their own children’s childhood, so they try to recapture it in their grandchildren’s childhood.  Many retirees exchange being a slave for their boss to being a slave to their adult children’s baby-sitting schedules. 

 I think I have a better plan.  What about not deferring enjoyment? What about traveling and enjoying my life, my children, and my spouse now, while I am still young enough to do everything I want to do, and never retiring (at least not in the traditional sense)?  I want to continue to do what I am doing because quite frankly, I love what I do.  If you follow the advice in this book, you will discover what you love to do as well and if you love what you are doing, why stop?  If you travel often and have all the free time you want, what is the point of traditional retirement?

spa Member publishes new book!

Jeff Smith, is a Professional Photographer, Business Owner, Author of 13 books,  Board Game Designer, Real Estate Investor and a Breeder of Pedigree White German Shepherd Dogs.  Like many high paid professionals, Jeff thought the road to wealth was about generating more income through his business, and like Ned the character in the book, Jeff found himself working 60 to 70 hours a week with only higher taxes, a larger house and no family life to show for it.  Realizing that this default life path was leading down a road to no where, Jeff and his wife Charla redesigned their businesses to achieve the most profit for the least of amount of time possible.  Jeff went from a 60-70 hour work week down to working 2 to 3 days a week.  This additional time allowed him the opportunity to develop passive and near passive income streams to replace the income from his chosen career.  While Jeff loves being a photographer and has plans to retire, he and his wife have "semi-retired" by creating a life by design, selecting business ventures and investments that both of them truly enjoy.   (note: Jeff and Charlaha also spa Members

About the Book: 

  

Achievable Wealth is a book for the average American. It designed to help the working man or woman that wants more than the deferred life plan of our fathers and grandfathers; working 30 to 40 years in a career that they don’t like waiting for a retirement that may not happen.  Whether you call it wealth, financial freedom or living life by design, this book will help you create income streams from work you are passionate about, invest your money wisely by getting it out of the stock market and investing in more stable investment using a Self-Directed IRA and securing your future whether you want to retire full-time or Semi-retire and never quit what you love to do.   

 

    Unlike other books, Achievable Wealth will not teach you the art of Penny Pinching the way to Wealth and Retirement.  In life there are the Savers (penny pincers), the Spenders (those that like Ned in the book that spend more than they make) and those that achieve wealth by with a balance of being wise with their money and increasing their income by increasing the worth of your time.   

Come back tomorrow for an excerpt from the book.

To purchase visit Amazon.com

Guest Blogger - Rod Evans

Rod Evans has a great new site up - RodEvans.tv - with free info for photographers!

Evansology 101 Prepping your Brain from Rod Evans on Vimeo.

We'll be showing one of these videos every couple of weeks - great stuff...don't miss out!

spa Event 2010 site up!

The new spa Event site is up! Make sure to go and check it out...

Tons of great info and more will be posted in the coming weeks, so keep going back to see what updates are in the works.

 

Brand new Robert Andrew Designs prop

Check out these brand new posing stools from Robert Andrew Designs - on sale now! Normally $179, now $149 and free shipping on any order over $299...go to shop.spartists.com

Available in zebra and....

white...

To purchase - go to shop.spartists.com

To take advantage of the free shipping, use the coupon code: FREESHIP

Don't forget - spa Members always get an additional 10% off all orders - find the coupon code at spa Talk

Music to share

Found this on the skullcandy site...

Music Royalty Fees

Have you seen this? Royalty fees for musicians and record companies are going up. I post this because using music that is not royalty free is a big issue among many photographers and point of conversation on many different boards and forums.

I also find it interesting that these fees are going up. With all the problems that the music industry is claiming to have with lack of sales due to online sharing, etc, why raise rates? Seems a little backward - do more to get the music in hands of the listeners, rather than add another level of restriction (higher cost).

Here is a letter from XM - of which I am a subscriber - about the rates being raised:

Thank you for being an XM subscriber. We are dedicated to providing our subscribers with the best programming and listener experience available on radio today. As part of this commitment, we have an important update regarding your XM subscription. 

Music royalty rights were established by the U.S. Congress as part of the Copyright Act. This Act requires payment of copyright music royalties to recording artists, musicians and recording companies who hold copyrights in sound recordings. 

These royalties have recently increased dramatically, principally as a result of a decision made by theCopyright Royalty Board, which is designated by the Library of Congress to set royalty rates for sound recordings. Beginning on July 29, 2009, a “U.S. Music Royalty Fee” of $1.98/month* for primary subscriptions and $.97/month* for multi-receiver subscriptions will be effective upon your next renewal. This fee will be used directly to offset increased payments from XM to the recording industry.

Unfortunately, we cannot control the Copyright Royalty Board's rate increase, but we can offer you ways to save on your subscription. The longer your subscription, the more you save! 

Now, to be honest about this too. It seems as if XM/Serius is using this opportunity to raise their rates when they agreed to keep them flat for three years (as a part of their anti-trust merger agreement). Supposedly the royalty fee is being raised only .5% - which doesn't add up to $1.98 on the typical subscribtion of 12.95.

None the less, it's intriguing to me - both the royalties being raised and XM's response.