Looking for a social media outlet that drives more traffic than even Facebook? Stumbleupon is the answer you are looking for. Read on to learn how this tool can help you increase traffic and promote your blog effectively.
 
Upon looking at Stumbleupon, you will promptly notice that there is a big, yellow button trying to catch your attention – it says “Stumble your Interest.” How does it work? When a person stumbles upon a great article, they “stumble” it and it gets added to a list of articles in a queue. Stumbling is effectively the same thing as “sharing” on Facebook and Twitter platforms. Users simply search for articles on specific topics using the Stumble button on their Internet toolbar. Any articles that have previously been stumbled by others will appear in the queue for the reader to browse.
 
Sure, some users reported getting great traffic, but is that what Stumbleupon is all about? Not quite. There is more to the tool than just getting readers to your site – you want to convert them and one article simply isn’t enough to do that. Finding the right readers takes a bit of strategizing that will lead to not only increasing your traffic levels, but finding readers who return time and time again. Here are some of the most effective tips to start using Stumbleupon the right way, today.

Add it To Your Tool Bar:

Why? If it is readily available on your tool bar, you are not fumbling through your applications trying to find it and add an article to your queue. Use it to only stumble websites that grab your interest and are in line with them.

“Follow” Those with Similar Interests

Stumbleupon makes this easy – simply find your interest and start following people. If you do this and maintain your interest, you will find that Stumbleupon will recognize your interest and recommend you to those looking to follow people in your niche. It does work.

Get Your Content to be Attractive

Why? For the same reason you are attracted to articles, so are your readers. Making them attractive draws the reader’s attention and you need that in order to gain interest in your blog.

Stumble Other People’s Articles, Too

Stumbling your own articles all the time will show that you are only using the tool as a means of promotion. Much like talking about yourself and your business all the time on Facebook and Twitter, people get tired of hearing it. Show that you are open and receptive to posting others articles too – but make sure they are in your niche and that they are informative. Stumbling others just because you don’t want to appear to have a one-track mind is not the way to go. Put some thought and effort into it and only “stumble” what you would promote.

Try Placing an Ad on Stumbleupon

Why? Well, really, why not? If you are not experiencing your desired results, you might want to take the Paid Recovery route. You simply place your URL in Stumbleupon’s stream and begin searching for similar content that resembles your niche. It doesn’t matter if it is a blog, article or a video, your article is then reserved in the top 5% allowing those who are stumbling your niche to find your content easily. Thus, it targets your target audience based on your specifications.

From left: Peter Madoff, 975 Park Avenue and Madoff’s apartment

This time, it’s a Madoff taking a loss on an investment. Peter Madoff, the younger brother of Ponzi schemer Bernie, put his Park Avenue co-op on the market yesterday for $4 million just months before he heads to prison on a 10-year sentence, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Madoff purchased the 2,300-square-foot unit at 975 Park Avenue for $4.1 million in 2004 and then spent nearly $1 million on renovations, converting it to a two-bedroom apartment from a three-bedroom one. Of course, no money from the sale will go to Peter or his wife, Marion. Instead it will be handed over to the U.S. Marshals Service as part of an agreement Madoff signed when he pled guilty to fraud.

Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Toni Haber is listing the apartment, which Madoff purchased from Adam Hochfelder, a real estate investor who also pled guilt to fraud charges. Madoff is required to sell that co-op, along with the Long Island home he put on the market last year, by January. The price on that home was dropped to $5.3 million from $6.5 million

Years ago, it was fairly simple to get mortgage financing. Unfortunately, it was not uncommon for some eager buyers to get taken advantage of by mortgage lenders. New federal rules have clamped down on the lending abuses, but you still need to protect yourself and do a little hard work upfront to make sure you are getting a fair deal when borrowing for real estate.

Dissecting the good faith estimate

The good faith estimate (GFE) — page 2 in particular — is a federally required mortgage disclosure that is supposed to help borrowers compare mortgage options. In many cases it is ineffective, however, because the GFE mixes costs and expenses that are crucial to the decision-making process with irrelevant figures, preventing borrowers from isolating the costs they actually need to review.

Here are some tips for breaking out the three types of costs on a GFE and comparing your options to get the best deal.

Costs you should compare between lenders

On page 2 of the estimates, you’ll find 11 lines detailing costs and expenses associated with your mortgage.

Lines 1-3 show the costs that you should use to compare lenders. This is where the rubber meets the road. You should look at the total for these costs and the interest rate you are being offered for paying those costs.

For example, Lender A offers you a 4.25 percent interest rate with $2,500 in lender fees. Lender B offers you the same 4.25 percent interest rate but with $4,500 in fees.

If you compare these figures among a few lenders, you will be able to analyze the amount you pay for a certain interest rate. And that’s what you need to know to get a fair deal on your loan.

Irrelevant costs

Lines 5, 7, 8, 9 and 10 show the costs that are irrelevant to your decision. These costs — such as government recording charges and initial deposit for escrow  — ultimately are the same regardless of which mortgage lender you use and are based on your loan amount. An independent escrow agent will calculate the true amount due for closing, so even though you may see different amounts from each lender, you can disregard these figures for analysis purposes.

Costs you can bid out

The remaining lines — 4, 6 and 11 — are costs that you can go (subject to your purchase contract) and get bids upon if you don’t like the estimate amounts from that particular vendor. So get some additional bids, if you like, on title and home insurance costs. They are relevant to saving money on the overall purchase but not for selecting the best deal on your loan — because they are not lender fees.

Don’t get intimidated by the sea of numbers in a loan offer. Knowing how to decipher a good faith estimate can help eliminate some of the headaches associated with homebuying and can save you money.

Arguing that a union petition asking the Public Service Commission to force Consolidated Edison Inc. to end its lockout of 8,500 workers has “no basis in law,” the company Tuesday asked the regulatory body to deny the motion in its entirety.

Local 1-2 of the Utility Workers Union of America last week asked the Public Service Commission to end the lockout, now in its third week, and to investigate the quality, reliability and safety of the service being provided while 5,000 managers and additional outside contractors are doing the jobs of unionized workers. The regulatory body had given Con Ed until Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. to respond.

The utility giant submitted a 62-page document reiterating its stance that it had to lock out its workers because their union refused to warn of any potential strike. “Advance notice is absolutely critical for the safe and seamless operation of our systems,” the response said.

The union has said that promising notice would have taken away its main weapon in bargaining. A spokesman for Local 1-2 reiterated that the union did not strike and that its members were locked out.

Con Ed argued that any investigation by the commission would be tantamount to interfering in the collective bargaining process, from which the panel has historically steered clear.

A spokesman for the commission said it is reviewing Con Ed’s response.

The reply lays out the company’s contingency plans for the lockout. Con Ed said it spent a year updating its plan, which identified key tasks and staffing levels needed to keep its electric, gas and steam systems functioning.

“Now in its third week, the contingency plan is working,” the company’s response said. “Our systems remain reliable, despite the extreme heat.”

Con Ed said it was able to deal with its fourth-highest weekend load ever during the early July heat wave without incident.

Its 5,000 managers are working 12-hour days, six days a week, according to the company. About 685 outside contractors and retirees are augmenting that workforce. Regular maintenance and inspections have not been affected, the response claims.

It goes on to blame the union for blocking the delivery of key equipment needed in Con Ed’s Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, substation and for blocking fuel deliveries to generators that are helping to keep power on in several Brooklyn neighborhoods while a transformer is being replaced.

A spokesman for Local 1-2 said that union members were exercising their right to set up picket lines. “We have a legal right to picket,” he said. “They better think of a better way than using scab labor to take bread out of the mouths of 8,500 New York families.”

The workers have had their health benefits restored by the company through at least the end of the month.

Con Ed released its response as thousands of union members rallied in Union Square for an end to the lockout. Organized by the state AFL-CIO and the New York City Central Labor Council, the rally drew retail workers, teachers, construction workers, building workers, firefighters, transit workers and health care workers, among others. “We expect the PSC will see through [Con Ed’s] smoke-and-mirrors approach to corporate responsibility,” said state AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento.

Tighter market conditions caused by negative equity and a higher level of distress sales are driving up prices three times faster among lower priced homes than expensive ones.

National home prices below 75 percent of the median increased 3.7 percent over a year ago compared to only a 1.8 percent increase for homes priced 125 percent or higher than the national median, according to an analysis by CoreLogic economist Sam Khater released today.

“Negative equity is keeping many potential sellers out of the market, which keeps a lid on inventory and complied with the reduced flow of REO properties has led to much tighter market conditions for lower priced properties, particularly in the hardest hit markets,” wrote Khater.

Of the largest 100 markets, the five fastest appreciating markets asre in states with the highest shares of negative equity coupled with high demand for distressed properties.

Areas where distressed inventory levels are high, such as Atlanta and Chicago have not yet staged a comeback.

Khater said the much larger rise in prices for lower-priced homes is improving the negative equity picture more than other price tiers because a higher percentage of lower priced homeowners are underwater,

“The price increased for lower priced, underwater properties are pushing these borrowers to lower loan to value segments?or closer to the surface.”

Khater cautioned that in today’s economy it will be difficult for prices to sustain their recent rate of acceleration, in light of the shadow inventory of foreclosures still in the wings.

“But for the moment, at least there is some positive news about negative equity’s impact on price increases in some markets,” he wrote.

s sales pick up, so are home improvement expenditures.  But the customers aren’t new owners.  They are sellers who are learning that spending a little to make a house more attractive in a buyer’s market can pay off handsomely.

A survey of Realtors by Realtor.com found that most  (89.8 percent) think home improvements can help a home sell faster, and 72.7 percent think they can help a home receive a higher offer,.

On the other hand, 71.4 percent of Realtors said underestimating the power of simple home improvements was one of the most common mistakes made by home sellers and 65.9 percent of respondents included not making “the right” home improvements for the local market as a common mistake.  Making specialty improvements based on their own taste, not a potential buyer’s is another a common home improvement mistake sellers make.

An April survey of Realtors by HomeGain found that cleaning and de-cluttering returned the most benefit for the cost, followed by lightening and brightening, making electrical and plumbing repair s, landscaping and staging.

Stronger buyer interest is translating into a mini-boom in the home improvement sector.  The  most recent 2012 IHS Global Insight/HIRI Home Improvement Products Market forecast calls for a 5 percent increase in 2012 after growing more than 3 percent in 2011, or $269 billion in sales.  The forecast calls for a Consumer Market sales growth to accelerate to 5.4 percent.

According to the Realtor.com survey,  75.21 percent of sellers planning renovations will repair broken household items before selling their home.  Some  53.43 percent of owners plan to add new flooring before selling their home and  53.37 percent of sellers plan bathroom improvements before selling their home.

Some  24.10 percent of home sellers planning improvements have a budget of  $2,001-$5,000;  22.23 percent of homeowners have a budget of  $5,001-$10,000; and 16.63 percent of respondents have a budget of  $10,001-$20,000.

In each Economic Update, the Research staff analyzes recently released economic indicators and addresses what these indicators mean for REALTORS® and their clients. Today’s update discusses producer prices and the cost of living adjustment.

• Producer price data released today showed that the prices paid by producers rose 0.1 percent for finished goods in June.  Excluding volatile food and energy prices, finished goods prices rose 0.2 percent in June.  Energy prices declined 0.9 percent while food prices rose 0.5 percent in June.
• If the monthly trend in finished goods prices were to continue, this might be cause for concern, but declines were seen in the prices of intermediate and crude goods suggesting weakness ahead for finished goods prices.  Additionally, price weakness earlier in the year has kept headline producer price inflation to a low 0.7 percent year over year rate while core producer price growth is only 2.6 percent.
• This relatively low inflation reading gives the Federal Reserve room to continue its current policy of keeping rates low while watching for signs of further economic pressure that might signal a need for extra stimulus.  The minutes from the June meeting released yesterday show that some at the Fed are concerned about the risks of policy accommodation leading to inflation, but those views seem to be held by a minority.  A greater number are concerned about economic weakness, particularly in the job market.
• Monday data on prices paid by consumers will be out.  Weakness in energy prices is likely to keep headline inflation—prices paid for all items—low, while core inflation is likely to continue to increase at about 2 percent.
• Cost of living adjustments for social security beneficiaries are made based on CPI in the third quarter.  On its current trajectory, the index is likely to be higher this year than last year meaning some additional money to offset rising costs for beneficiaries in 2013.