Have no fear, I know how to fix the economy.  Better yet, I know who can fix the economy.  

It's not the President, Congress, or Oprah.  And no it isn't Superman, Wonder Woman, or even Chuck Norris (who of course is in a league of his own).  

The person who is going to help fix the economy is....(wait for it)....(drum roll)...

YOU!

That's not a typo.  You can help the economy (and you can prevent forest fires as well just so you know).  

Sure the economy is in rough shape because of a variety of different factors but if you and I each figured out how to handle our money better, maybe, just maybe, things would begin to improve.  So where do you go to find the knowledge that you need?  

Enter BrokePiggy.com.

We're launching a brand new site to help students find the answers they’re looking for regarding savings, investing, personal finance, and all things money.  Each day, we’ll be answering a different question submitted by a student on subjects such as budgets, scholarships, credit cards, debt, insurance, living on your own, taxes, and so much more.

So stop what you're doing, do not pass GO, and head straight over to BrokePiggy.com.  Browse around the site, check out the How To Use This Site page, and don't forget to register for your chance to win $100!    

I thank you.  Chuck Norris thanks you.  And so does MacGyver and MacGruber.

I’ve been able to get a decent amount of writing done this week on the book I’m working on.  The book is for students and is designed to help teenagers make the transition from middle school and high school into college and the real world.  The book is basically broken down into 5 sections with each section containing about 10 different questions that students are asking about these areas of life. 

I just finished the tenth and final chapter for one of the sections so I figure I’m about 20% done!  Nice to make some progress but I still have plenty more to go.  So far I have about 9,100 words so that seems like a pretty good start! 

The target is to have the book done and in hand by October 1 of this year so I’m real excited about that. 

I currently have a group of about 20 different students from around the country who have been providing some feedback along the way in helping with this book.  So if you’re a student and would like to help with this project, send me an email at grant@grantbaldwin.com and I’ll let you give your 2 cents!      

So my wife and I watched the movie "Dan in Real Life" tonight.  What a great movie!  I’m a huge fan of the TV show, "The Office" so naturally I’m a fan of Steve Carell.  But it was a well done movie with some great thought provoking ideas. 

It had all the characteristics of a great movie…it made you laugh, cry, think, reflect, and probably some other stuff I can’t think of.  If you haven’t seen it, check it out.  Our check out system of choice is via Netflix.      

I’m continually amazed at how small the world is in business.  I’ve started using elance, which is an outsourcing service that you can post projects on and then allow people to bid on working on that project from you.  But what is amazing is the people who do much of the work come from literally all across the world.  Here are the projects I’ve been working on and who is helping me:

- Email List – I’ve got a company in India that is helping me compile an email database...

 - E-Newsletter Design – I have a guy in California designing this newsletter...

 - Blog Updates – There’s a guy in Romania doing this project for me (the new and improved blog will be coming soon to www.grantbaldwin.com/blog.  Don’t worry…I’ll let you know when it’s up and running!)

Maybe it’s just me, but it seems weird and yet pretty cool to be able to pay these people from around the world to work for this little guy in Springfield, Missouri.  Interesting…

We’re taking this deal worldwide!   

I mentioned a few weeks ago that one of my big goals for 2008 was to write a book for students.  With a slow travel schedule last week and this week, I’ve had some time to really begin working on this project and I’m excited about how things are coming along. 

I’ve never written a book so learning how to approach it has been interesting.  I read recently in a book, "The War of Art" that the most difficult part of writing a book isn’t writing a book.  It’s sitting down to write a book.  I can definitely see how that’s true. 

Once I actually started working on it and creating an outline, it actually came together pretty quickly and easily.  But it was the challenge of sitting down to work on it in the first place. 

I don’t want to let too much out of the bag this early but I’ll certainly keep you updated on how the book is coming along.

As I work on this though, I have to ask you…what is that big goal/dream/project that you’ve wanted to work on but the mountain just seems too big.  My advice…you gotta start somewhere.  You can’t eat an elephant in one bite so pick somewhere and dive in (some additional advice…you probably shouldn’t eat an elephant…I’m sure there are laws against that and you’d probably really tick some people off…just my 2 cents on elephant eating!)     

I tried putting it off as long as possible but that day came today.  It’s the day that arrives every Spring, and I dread it’s arrival. 

I had to mow the yard today. 

I have this theory like most of us do that if I put it off long enough, maybe it will just go away.  But apparently it has been monsoon season recently here in Missouri which doesn’t help my cause.  While it is certainly not the end of the world, I hate mowing the yard. 

Oh, the joys of home ownership…

Who are the people in your world that are truly pouring into who you are as a person?  Who are the people you are networking with, learning from, and being challenged by? 

This morning I did a school assembly in Kansas City and afterwards had a meeting with the owner of a major speaker’s bureau whose office was in the area.  This is a guy who has been extremely successful in the speaking business and so several months ago, I asked if I could buy him lunch and pick his brain.  He was cool with it and since then we’ve met three or four times together and he continues to teach me and challenge me as I build my business as a speaker. 

But that would not have happened unless I first asked. 

So again, who are the people that are pouring into your world?  It may be personally, professionally, academically, or spiritually.  Who are you currently learning from?

If your answer is "no one", you need to find someone in your community that you look up to and admire and ask if you can buy them lunch. 

Buying someone food really works!

I’ve got an idea that just came to me that is pure gold.  It’s money in the bank.  And I’m going to give it to you for free…

I travel a lot and see the inside of a hotel room pretty much on a weekly basis.  And one habit I’ve gotten into is I always iron my clothes the night before since usually I’m speaking first thing in the morning.  On a side note, my wife finds this incredibly weird because I literally will never iron anything at home. 

That’s what dryers are for.

But every time I iron, I have noticed that all ironing boards in the entire world have the same problem.  Why is it when you go to set up an ironing board, they all make this hideous screeching noise like old lady screaming to death?  It doesn’t matter what brand or what manufacturer, they all sound horrible. 

If you could invent the first "Silent Ironing Board" you would be a gazillionaire. 

So there it is…a million gazillion dollar idea.  

And all I’m looking for is a 10% cut.