Create. Be Heard. Get Paid. Has nice ring to it & is a progressive new approach to journalism .... Am personally recommending it to talented friends & family and hope you'll also take advantage of this brand new opportunity if you've worked, or have always wanted to work, as a writer or photographer.

When you SIgn Up for Seed, you can view an updated list of available assignments. It's as if you've got a seat at the newsroom assignment desk (see: How it Works).

For example, they'll pay $25 for three surprising eco-friendly shots. If you're a photo buff, it's worth a shot.

The writing assignments give a word count, deadline – sometimes hours/sometimes weeks – and a price, anywhere from $10 for a quick piece to $300 for something more expansive.

You have to do the work up-front and there's no guarantee your work will be accepted by the network editors, but Seed has an online "Academy" loaded with tips and examples of content that pulls in an audience, so you can apply some of the same techniques.

Added bonus: It's a great way to get discovered, build a portfolio of published work and followers.

For more information & to get a better feel, check out the Seed blog.

I generally find Restoration Hardware quality to be top-notch. And, if you think ahead to next holiday season, they have some terrific decorations for 50% off. Am a fan of spelling out meaningful words ... JOY, NOEL, etc.... on mantles, hanging as ornaments, etc.

Even if you have wrapped up your holiday shopping, there's still one one last minute gift worth considering ... Nonprofit organization Heifer International, founded in 1944, provides livestock and environmentally sound agricultural training to improve the lives of families in over 50 countries. And, if you've lost shopping and shipping days given the snow storm, this idea just might move to the top pf your list ...


For $120, on Heifer.org, you can purchase a dairy goat for a family in need – or contribute as little as $10.00 toward the purchase -- essentially you buy a share. While the idea may sound a little out of the ordinary ... you gift/donation can help a struggling family receive up to a gallon of milk from the animal every single day. That's more than enough milk not only to drink, but to use to make cheese, butter or yogurt, plus to sell whatever is left and buy much-needed clothes, school supplies and medicine.

Your gift of a cow, goat or other farm animals arrives after Heifer project partners have been extensively trained in sustainable farming, basic veterinary skills, and values-based community support systems that assure your donation is successfully helping those you intend to help. Heifer helps rural villages, urban neighbors, U.S. small family farmers, women's groups in developing countries, orphanages, and those recovering from natural disasters succeed in becoming self-reliant, achieving basic housing, education and health care.

When you give the gift of a flock of chickens ($20), a Goat ($110), a Water Buffalo ($250), a dairy cow ($500) or any other animal through heifer.org, you have the option of giving on behalf of someone else. Heifer.org's beautiful honor cards can be sent to the recipient and explain the gift you made in their name. Heifer honor cards can be sent by mail, email, or as an animated e-card. It's a unique & thoughtful last-minute gift.

Today on stations nationwide, we're talking about the last minute shopping & shipping push ... WalletPop has an enormously helpful list of shipping deadlines.

Few things thrill me more than holiday cards (though, have been off my game in recent years). This year, the folks from minted.com sent us some samples .... They're GORGEOUS. If you order by Nov. 9 they'll throw in free shipping if you use offer code FREESHIPNOV.

Am particularly fond of the "vintage" & "yearline" options ...

Holiday Photo Cards, Christmas Photo Cards & Photo Cards at Minted

The holidays are full of heartwarming tales about good deeds. AOL and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital® have partnered to bring you Nice One -- a collection of our favorite true stories. You can also read about the lifesaving work taking place at St. Jude, how you can participate in the St. Jude Thanks and Giving® campaign and the many ways you can donate if these stories leave you feeling inspired. They can't not;)

They also have an online store a

nd - of course - you can give to St Jude through their charitable retail partners, just look for the Thanks & Giving magnifying glass at participating retailers.

The web is THE source for mapping out your Black Friday shopping game plan. WalletPop.com & GottaDeal.com are already publishing and linking to "door-buster" deals for dozens of major retailers. The sites manage to gain access to advance copies of Black Friday ad circulars. The ads are scanned and the deals posted. Some retailers intentionally "leak" their ads to the sites to build a little extra buzz. It's working!

The editors on these deal-hunting sites invest a ton of time checking prices from store to store and site-to-site, posting the best deals – often with coupon codes & printable coupons to save you even more. You can search the deals by store name or category: electronics, apparel, sporting goods, etc

If you don't find the deals you're after over the long weekend, there's always Cyber Monday, the Monday after Thanksgiving, to look forward to. More to come on that ...

In the meantime, find out how your gameplan stacks up with others by taking this quick, fun BLACK FRIDAY POLL.

As consumers look for ways to stretch their spending dollars this holiday season, layaway is making a big comeback at stores like KMart, Sears and Toys 'R Us. In fact, the revival of layaway is proving so popular, it's even carried over to the travel industry. New web site Layaway-Travel.com gives trip-goers the option to pay for vacations in monthly installments. Currently, the site's list of destinations is limited, but it does include getaways to Hawaii, Mexico and the Caribbean. It's free to request a travel quote and you're under no obligation if the terms fail to fall within your budget.

Recently got a welcoming email from Alex Rudloff the founder of this new site. Also had a chance to sit in on a meeting with him this week. He seems like a terrific guy & the site -- emurse.com -- comes through on an important deliverable which we're talking about on radio stations nationwide today & covered on FOX 5 ... Creating a top-notch online resume AND an impressive looking hard copy. My favorite feature: the design options. Am particularly fond of "clean" & "royal" styles.

I haven't tested this site, because can't afford to, but the discounts (off sky-high initial retail prices) are clearly spelled out & seem legit. So, if you're in mood to splurge, seems like a good source. You can shop by brand ... Cartier, Rolex, etc. www.portero.com

We called it early with the Zhu Zhu Pet Hampsters & Beatles Rockband (as seen on TODAY SHOW). Now, DJ Hero is bubbling up on the HOT SEARCH TERM LIST. This is often a leading indicator something is taking off. Advertising during primetime TV World Series coverage won't hurt either. Here's where to find DJ Hero and some DJ Her0 Reviews. Enjoy!

Wanted to publicly thank Etsy and Dennice Mankarious of Fringe in particular, with their help in providing props for our recent TODAY SHOW appearance and upcoming holiday-oriented segments. The "cowl" pictured above from Fringe is like nothing you've ever felt. Think there's one word to sum it up: Special. I brought it to Fox News Channel and shared with the make-up artists who knit, because knew they'd appreciate. The caliber of the yarn and the style is impeccable even by their high standards! Dennice relayed she made the piece wide, extra thick & extra long so you have many options.

The "capelets" are also STUNNING & vesatile.

Thank you again Etsy & Dennice and congratulations on your impressive endeavors in producing and marketing truly unique homemade gifts.

For every parent who ever said no to a REAL hampster (including this one), this year's "it" toy is classic ... It's a Zhu Zhu pet hamster, appealing to both boys & girls (plus parents too since there's no gross cage to clean). Holidash has a clear blog post about them & their YouTube video. They initially retailed for $8-$10. I would have snatched up a bunch at that price ... They're currently going for 4X the original price on Amazon, but at least you can still get one if you're willing to splurge .... Wonder if you can buy the pretend animal & buy real hampster toys and pocket the change (real hamspter toys currently way cheaper than Zhu Zhu accessories). Will try to figure this out. Here's photo + LA Times article with video.

One of the most searched for topics on our site right now is HALLOWEEN COSTUMES. Here's my absolute favorite A(AGAIN!): UPS Worker. Talked one of my sons into it, but they didn't have his size ... Thinking they only offer it for toddlers to prevent fake-outs. Understandable & will work to confirm my Party-City-Shoppers-Remorse-Theory ...

SIDEBAR: Once met someone from UPS. We were leaving a concert & he was walking very quickly to the car. When commented on this, he said: "Once a UPS guy, always a UPS guy." Classic line.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Here's another popular source for Halloween costumes: www.BuyCostumes.com. Related Post: MAKING YOUR HALLOWEEN COSTUME PICK

WWW.RENTEDSPACES.COM

WHILE THE NATIONAL HOUSING MARKET REMAINS IN FLUX, DEMAND FOR RENTALS IS HEATING UP. WWW.RENTEDSPACES.COM A NEW RENTAL LIFESTYLE BLOG HELPS YOU GET MORE BANG FOR YOUR RENTAL BUCK. WE TOUCHED BASE WITH THE TEAM RUNNING THE SITE AND THEY SHARED THERE'S INCREASED INTEREST IN SINGLE ROOMS ... AS RENTERS LOOK FOR AFFORDABLE OPTIONS AND HOMEOWNERS SEEK TO OFF-SET THEIR MORTGAGE. CHECK OUT THE SITE FOR TIPS ON RENTING & SEARCH OVER 2 MILLION RENTAL LISTINGS.