Marilyn Woodward at www.CreatingGreatHomes.com and I are hosting a Holiday Homes Video Contest!

Members can take a video of the lights on your house and upload it to YouTube.com. Then send her a link to upload to her site for anyone to vote on. (Make sure you tell your friends!)

The winner will be announced on Friday, December 19 and will win a brand new 1-hour Flip!

Second place is $50!

Third place is $25!

Make sure you get your entry in early as possible!

Chat with me tonight!

Tonight, Sunday, Nov. 30, I'm hosting a live chat with the members of our EducatingforSuccess.com online community. We'll be talking about how to have the biggest impact on the lives of others, among other things.

To join us on the chat at 9 PM Eastern, become a member this afternoon here:

http://www.EducatingforSuccess.com

Visit the forum, and click on EFS Chat on the top left side of the Forum.

Talk to you soon!

Why You Should Owner Finance Your House

If you want to sell your house quickly, the best way to do it is on eBay.

This Tuesday night, Dec. 9 at 9 PM Eastern, my son Drew will explain the benefits of owner financing your house.

This call is just one of the Bonus Calls he is hosting for those who register to attend his live workshop in Huntsville, AL on Dec. 12-14.

Space is limited and time is running out! So if you need to sell your house quickly, make plans to be there.

If you know someone who does, forward this info to them. You may save more than just their house.

Get all the info you need at http://www.SellingHousesOnlineWorkshop.com

If you want to share this event with others, email us for an affiliate link.

Use LinkedIn to Expand Your Business or Ministry

Have you heard how useful LinkedIn is for making professional business contacts and expanding your influence?

Well, one of our SafeGate Community members, Greig Wells, is an expert on LinkedIn.

For the past year, he has generated a significant amount of his business using just that one social networking site.

So if you would like to learn how it can benefit you and your business, don't miss our regular Monday night protege call.

The call is Monday, Dec. 1 at 9 PM Eastern Time.

If you're not a member of our Proteges, it's not too late to join!

Just visit: http://www.RheasProteges.com

As soon as you join, you'll get an email asking you to contact Denise to schedule a Vision Call where we help you figure out what you want to be when you grow up... or if you want to grow up at all! Ha!

To get the most out of our program, make sure you do that as soon as possible. Plus, we're taking part of the month of December off, so you'll want to schedule that early in the month.

The number to call for Greig's call will be sent to all the Proteges as usual through our private email system.

Need Guest Experts!

If you are an expert in any of the following subject areas:

*Learning Disorders
*Homemaking
*Care giving at home
*Eating healthy

We would like to invite to learn how to monetize that expertise.

This Wednesday night, Dec. 3 at 9 PM Eastern Time, we'll be hosting a call to explain how to monetize your expertise with affiliate marketing and membership sites.

If you would like to be considered to receive an invitation, email Denise at RheaSupport@gmail.com

It's Time to Go Christmas Shopping!

I didn't get this note out to you on time this week because I made my annual sacrifice of love and went shopping on Black Friday with my oldest daughter instead of writing my newsletter.

I've never been a big shopper and I'm not thrilled to visit the mall. I'm also not wild about how our "Christian" nation has commercialized the day we designate to honor the birth of our Savior.

But my daughter Cara is sentimental and loves the tradition of making the annual trek to the store at 4 AM on the biggest shopping day of the year. She also loves a bargain. So because I value my daughter, I go with her and try to make it a wonderful experience.

This year, we were late by 15 minutes. (What on earth was my neighbor doing out at 4:30 in the morning? I couldn't just drive past him so talked too much as usual).

So by the time we arrived at the store, several of the discounted items we had marked to grab were gone.

How can that be at 5:15 in the morning?

But we spent our money, had a great time, and came home exhausted.

The next day we wrapped it all, put it under the $25 pre-lit not-real tree we purchased (instead of cutting one of the huge cedars from the pasture as I love to do but the boys hate) and we're done! Yahoo!

As I write this, it is November 30 and all my Christmas shopping is neatly wrapped and under the tree. I'm all done for the year! Yahoo!

THAT is the result of several things.

1. Planning.

My oldest daughter and I have been planning this outing for about a month. The event was on the calendar and we kept the shopping list in the Daytimer.

2. Budgeting.

It seems that every year, I put off shopping as late as possible thinking that
a) money will fall out of the sky for me to use and
b) things will get cheaper as Christmas gets closer.

Well, I have finally learned that money usually doesn't appear unless you plan for it and as shoppers raid the shelves, there is less of a selection even though the prices may get cheaper.

So the logical thing to do is buy the items your family has requested when they are the cheapest.

3. Create an income.

For about 20 years, I have been raising and educating babies and haven't had the time to earn an extra dollar. During that time, our family of 9 has lived on one not-so-great income.

Then Drew started investing in real estate and changed the situation. But my husband left his job so we were then dependent on just the real estate.

So I created a little internet business to generate some "spending money." That has become quite a blessing over the years. It didn't happen overnight, but now I am able to use the earnings from just one part of that business for my Christmas money.

I don't have to set money aside in a Christmas Fund, it's just accumulating in one of my accounts.

So when it was time to go shopping on Black Friday, I just whipped out my debit card and off we went.

I can't tell you how good it makes me feel to have the money in an account that allows me to shop for 15 immediate family members plus a number of friends and other relatives.

It takes a major part of the stress out of shopping knowing that I am not robbing Peter to pay Paul.

If you want to have that kind of margin in your life, consider starting your own online business. (It's the direction business has been going lately.)

If you want to make sure you are recession-proof, start an online business as soon as possible. (It will take you about 2 to 3 years to figure out what you want to do and make it stable.)

When you finally get your online business up and going, you'll experience the joy of finishing all YOUR Christmas shopping by the end of November. Then you can sit back and focus on enjoying the season of giving because you are able to give like you really want to.

Most of all, though, don't forget. Jesus really is the reason for the season!

Blessings to you at this glorious Christmas time!

So many books, so little time...

Rhea! who would love to help you learn how to use that ATM you call a computer to help you monetize your gifts and glorify God