This is a guest post from the fine folks at GreekForMe.com.

Movies like Animal House and Old School are certainly great college movies, but I think we’d all agree that they don’t cast fraternities in the best light. This goes for both fraternities and sororities – there tends to be such a stereotype that Greek organizations are simply about cramming as much partying as you can into a semester, and perhaps being a bit loose with the morals.

All of us at GreekForMe.com are here to change that stereotype. Sure, that stereotype may hold true for a sorority or fraternity here or there, but Greek organizations are overwhelmingly excelling in the classroom and are involved in extensive community service and volunteering endeavors. Men and women now join Greek organizations based on the value system of their chosen fraternity and sorority, and often have some of the highest grade point averages on campus, with many organizations requiring their members to stay above a certain GPA each semester.

If you’re just starting out at college, rushing a fraternity or sorority is the perfect way to get to know more people on campus. Just be sure you’re choosing an organization that embodies the values you yourself hold important, and you can see yourself becoming friends with the other members in the fraternity or sorority. Just go for it!

We’re committed to highlighting the great works of fraternities and sororities, and we hope you’ll follow us on Twitter.com/GreekForMe, Like Us on Facebook, and check out our GreekForMe Blog! And of course, once you do join that fraternity or sorority, you know the perfect spot to get Sorority Apparel and Fraternity Apparel

So tell us, what made you want to join a fraternity or sorority? If you haven’t yet, what’s holding you back?

Did your internship last year consist of making coffee runs and placing lunch orders?  Well, fortunately that’s not how Old Spice does things…

Old Spice has launched its search to find and hire two candidates to travel to Fiji or Matterhorn (Switzerland not Disneyland) with a salary of $5,000 and an itinerary of “jobs” (shark diving/snowboarding/etc.) to complete and document while on location.

To help better prepare the interns for their adventure, Old Spice is teaming up with two world-class athletes: professional snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler – fresh from the Olympics – and professional surfer Anastasia Ashley, who are coming on-board as internship mentors.

Applicants for the Old Spice Fresh Adventure Internship contest have until April 15, 2010 to enter!  Learn more about this unique opportunity by visiting www.OldSpiceAdventure.com.

Winners will be announced in May 2010, and the internships will take place in June 2010.

By: Mike Fiorini –Owner of Real College Student LLC

Starting your own business is tough, especially in the current economy.  I’ve recently started up a business called Real College Student LLC. Only a couple months ago, I launched my website www.RealCollegeStudent.com into the business world.  I’ve created these helpful building blocks throughout my venture to guide other young entrepreneurs how to complete your goal of starting your own business.

1. Just Do It!
   The number one difference between an average person and an entrepreneur is whether or not you act on your ideas.  Being creative is a huge characteristic of being an entrepreneur! Having amazing ideas is just as important.  However, unless you act on your ideas…they only stay ideas.  Entrepreneurs take ideas and make them into reality through hard work and the acceptance of risks.  For example, if you have an idea for a website, and you have a general business plan for your website made up, what’s stopping you from making it reality? Money? Maybe a few unanswered questions? Instead of waiting around and letting your idea dissolve, go out and buy the domain name for your idea for only $10.00!  That’s an extremely small investment, but it will get your mind motivated and in gear to obtain the goal of creating your website.
2. Create Goals
   In order to achieve in any aspect of life, you need to set goals.  Goals are what drive people to obtain higher levels of achievement.  In business, goals give you forward direction.  Make daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly goals.  Literally, make goal lists.  Crossing off goals that you or your business achieved is a great confidence booster, and will push you to obtain more distant targets.  Create small celebrations for when you achieve a goal.  For example, the owner of Amazon.com used to ring a small bell every time they received an order as they were starting up—for numerous reasons they don’t ring the bell anymore.
3. Pinching Pennies
   There are millions of tiny ways to save money when starting up your business.  They may seem small at first, but they add up quick.  For instance, let’s say you begin selling products through a website you create—you’ll need to find a shipping carrier.  Depending on your product, US Postal Service “Flat Rate” boxes are the way to go!  UPS charges for pick up and by the weight of your box.  You’ll save at least a dollar on every package–but like I said it depends on the product.  Another way to save money is your telephone bill.  You need a business line for your company.  There is no reason to pay $60.00 a month for a business line from big name brand companies.  You can use call forwarding companies such as Grasshopper.com which give you a toll free line, 100 minutes a month, no contracts, and calls sent to your cell phone for only $9.95 a month.  Little savings such as those two aspects of startup monthly costs will help you become profitable.
4. Count On Yourself
   If you want things done in your company, be prepared to do it yourself!  Friends and family will help out, but you have to understand…It’s your company.  People tend to only perform tasks for other people for incentives.  If you are a sole proprietor, find ways to give people incentives to help you with small tasks to improve your company.  Free t-shirts, memorabilia, discounts, shout-outs, and quid pro quo (this for that) are all non monetary ways to get help while starting up.
5. Entrepreneurs Drive Home In The Dark!
   The 40 hour work week does not apply to you.  You go to work before the average person, and leave after they left.  Entrepreneurs never get stuck in “rush hour” traffic, because leaving work at 4 or 5 o’clock everyday doesn’t apply. You are an entrepreneur.  You work until the job is finish or you are satisfied!  This means you might work 10 hours, get dinner, then come back to work for the night.  Much like in college, you’d need to pull an all nighter to study for a test or write a paper.  When you’re a business owner, you stay up and put in as many hours as possible or else you don’t get paid!
6. Write All Your Ideas Down
   According to Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography, only 1 out of every 100 of his ideas actually became successful.  That didn’t stop him from writing them down.  Learn to write everything down!  No matter how relevant it is to your idea, it may prove to be helpful in your endeavor.  Once you begin to get wrapped up in a business venture, writing things down is the only sure way you’ll remember something.  Many times you’ll become distracted or lost in deep thought and forget about these magnificent little ideas.  UNDERSTAND that most ideas don’t pop into your head when you are in front of a computer or a pad and pen.  They come when you’re out for a walk, lying in bed, or even in the shower!  Don’t let the ideas slip away no matter where you are…Write them down!
7. No Money? Not An Excuse!
   Money is everywhere.  If you have an idea, make a business plan.   Talk to you family, friends, teachers, or neighbors and see if they would invest in your company.  Show them what their return on investment in your company will be in order to get them interested.  If not people you know, try banks, investors, venture capitalists, or check your college or SBA.gov for business grants you can apply for! Money should be the last item on the list when you are pursuing your goal.  If all that fails, look for a partner or propose giving away equity of the company for capital.
8. Ask Questions!
   Knowledge is vital for the success of any business.  You need to know every angle, even if they don’t exist!  Part of starting up is learning from other companies or personal trial and error.  The business world is continually evolving due to Economic Darwinism—survival of the fittest company.  When starting your own business, you are basically hitting the ground running!  You’re going to have to figure out your unknown questions quick! Don’t be afraid to ask questions.  Ask everyone:  business owners, web designers, employees of other companies—even if their company has nothing to do with your business.  Taking advice from other business owners is important to evolving your business.   By communicating with a wide variety of people you’ll stay diverse business minded—which you need to be to cover all the angles and problems in the future.
9. Stay Confident
   Getting down on yourself is part of being an entrepreneur.  You WILL run into road blocks though out your millionaire voyage.  Stay confident.  Road blocks only block one path, there are millions of ways to get around or over them as long as you remain positive.  When you hit a road block, before you become too frustrated or angry, take a break.  By break I mean completely walking away from what you were working on for a few hours and go to the gym, get coffee, or some food before going back to work on it. The break will relieve you of your stress and allow your mind to not focus on the problem, but the solution.
10. Patience…You don’t become a millionaire over night!
    Rarely, do people become a millionaire over night.  Every company takes time to grow and become recognized.  Just because your business is up and running doesn’t mean you will automatically receive sales.  This is why everyone isn’t a business owner.  There are risks, a lot of them!  By starting your own business takes guts, but putting in numerous hours and sticking by your company through hard time’s shows true entrepreneurial character.  With hard work, patience, and perseverance you can make things work. If you love what you do, then see it through!

Through my blunders and accomplishments, I hope these 10 building blocks help and inspire all young entrepreneurs.  Take these 10 building blocks and use them to construct your ideas into reality. I wish you the best of luck in all your endeavors! NOW QUIT READING, AND GO START YOUR BUSINESS!

About Real College Student: We specialize in items that REAL college students need.  We have over 400 different products, a classified section (post your used text books directly to your school for free!), and a funny college blog. Please contact me though the website if you have any questions or ideas to improve my website!

I’m so sorry I didn’t post this earlier but I am just getting to it and now there is REALLY limited time! Check this out everyone! If you haven’t already tried out David Risley’s 3DayMoney video training course and you want to learn how you can make money online and through your website, then you need to take advantage of this offer.

Like I said, the offer is ending soon, so there is only until September 8th at 2 PM EST to get the half off price of $49 versus the regular $97. It’s a one time deal – one payment, no recurring memberships or anything like that.

In Only 3 Days, You Can Have the Internet Strategy Which It Took David 11 Years To Figure Out! The Same Strategy That Made Me $141,011.55 last year while Being My Own Boss, Working From Home, And Wearing Shorts and a T-Shirt All Day.

By signing up and trying out this course, you get the following:

• 14 Multimedia video presentations where I personally guide you through
• A total of over 2.5 hours of video content!
• A full transcript of the presentations for your reference, any time, anywhere. 92 pages total!
• MP3 audio of all presentations for listening on the go
• Full, step-by-step checklist to guide you through the material and ensure your full understanding

Plus, since there is limited time to act, to make it more attractive, David is throwing in even more freebies!

1. Blogging Formula Using Wordpress – a 12 VIDEO course which takes you  from blogging basics through installing Wordpress, customizing your theme, adding plug-in’s, promoting your blog and getting  traffic.
2. Quick Start Guide To Online Profits – With so many others already earning money and touting the praises of their methods, where exactly do you begin? This report will give you a great head start into the world of Internet business .

It has been months since the last promotion David ran for 3DayMoney so there’s no telling when the next time this offer will come around again!

As we get closer to the graduation season, the times are tougher for generation y then ever before. Besides the normal things like graduating from college, saying good-bye to long time friends, and drinking a lot less, May brings with it a scary reality that you need to jump start your life. That could be through full time employment or starting your own business.

As you go out to join the workforce, you are also joining the millions of others who have lost their jobs over the last 6 months and are trying to find one to support themselves and their families. So, you’re going to do a couple things different. First, you’re going to have to be open to any and all positions that you come across. Now is not the time to be picky. Second, you’re going to have to make yourself stand out from the crowd and be more desirable then the other resumes within the stack and interviewees in line.

Here are 5 things that you should do to prepare yourself for after graduation and to be a successful.

1. Network with your professors and faculty - if you want to be successful after you graduate, then you need to start building you professional network. Your professors and other faculty members are great places to start doing so. Many of them will have known you the last four years of your life, know the kind of quality work you produce (hopefully!!) And be more than happy to speak on you behalf. You can also then tap them for their network and connections in different industries that are hiring. Professors and other faculty are always getting emails about job openings, so take advantage of them!
2. Google Yourself - Seriously, go into http://www.google.com and search for your name. See what comes up. Is it good stuff? Maybe it’s a newspaper article that you were featured in from your school. Or maybe its your Facebook page that is not protected and open to search engines showing pictures of you doing keg stands. Maybe there are posts from a message board where you were talking bad about a professor. Or maybe its a link to your website where you’re advertising your business or your resume. Whatever comes up, you want to make sure it is good stuff. And to get rid of the bad stuff, you need to create more good stuff. So, a couple things to do are to protect your Facebook and MySpace pages so that they do not come up in search engines as well as are only viewable by your friends. Then, start a website, write about your hobbys, put your resume out there, and be active in a helpful way on message boards that are related to your degree. If you do this a couple months before interviewing for a job, with any luck, the fresh content will pop up in the top results and push down any bad stuff.
3. In the same manner of cleaning up your Google results, clean up your online social networking profiles at Faceook, MySpace, LinkedIn, and anywhere else. All of these can be seen publicly unless you protect yourself and change your privacy settings. Even then, sometimes people with your “network” say the same city or school can see them. So be sure to change your settings so ONLY your FRIENDS can see them. This will help prevent a potential employer or lender checking for you on Facebook to see what kind of person you are (a crazy partying college student maybe?) If you don’t want to change your privacy settings, then clean up your Facebook wall to remove any ASCII drawings of penis’ from your friends or posts from friends like “Dude, that party last night was wild. Did you bang that chick?” Also, go through pictures that you are tagged in. If there is anything too crazy and wild that you think could hurt you if someone saw it, someone like a potential employer, then remove the tag or ask your friend to remove the picture completely.
4. Professionalize Your Cell Phone – That voice mail greeting that you have that says something like “Hey, its your boy Chris, don’t bother leaving a message because I’ll probably ignore it” is not a good idea and will not encourage a recruiter to leave a message. Also, get rid of the ring backs so when someone calls you they are not hearing “Low” by Flo Rida waiting for you to pick up. Make your voice mail simple and professional – give your name, your number, and ask them to leave a detailed messsage. That’s all you need.
5. Stay Up On Current Events – Many times when at an interview, career fair, or other networking event folks will make small talk about current events, sports, or anything going on in the news. Be aware of what’s happening in the world so that you can at least touch on a point. It’s okay to say that you didn’t follow something (say who won a tennis tournament) but you should know that Michael Phelps was caught smoking weed, AIG execs got outrageous bonuses, any other top stories. Be aware of your surroundings and be ready to make small talk with people, even the receptionists. Many times, more and more frequently, employers will “plant” someone to make small talk with you before an interview to see how you reacted, if you were able to keep conversation, or if you just kept to yourself. Another tactic I have seen is putting a newspaper or magazine next to a chair where you will be waiting and have someone watch to see if you pick it up and flip through it. Then when you get into your interview, the interviewer will ask you something about one of the headlines on the top of that newspaper or magazine. Watch out and be aware of little things like this.

PLUS…here are an additional 5 Money Makers and Time Savers for Graduating Seniors.

1. Savor the last few moments you have before entering the real world! Graduating college is a BIG deal. It’s an occasion you want to share with your friends, family, loved ones…but all those invites and thank you notes can eat up the precious little time you have left! (Not to mention the cost!) Thanks to SendOutCards.com, you can send a few hundred announcements and never have to hand address or sign a single one. The online website lets you upload your entire address book, personalize the cards, and click send. They’ll print, stuff, stamp and send your cards for you, and for CHEAP.
2. De-clutter your bookshelves. Because textbooks are reissued in new editions frequently, the last few weeks of a semester or quarter is the best time to sell your old books and get the most value back. Bookbyte.com is easy to use and gives college students the best bang for their buck. Best part: the site pays for your shipping and ensures you receive your payment within five business days.
3. Free Airfare Miles for making the family proud. Other than a grad check, what else can your academic transcripts get you? According to StudentScrooge.com, help with that trip to Greece (or anywhere else, for that matter). United Airlines offers graduating students a 10,000 Mileage Plus bonus, which is roughly 40% of the way to a free domestic flight. Just send in your transcript, email address, and United Mileage Plus account number, and they’ll immediately deposit the bonus miles.
4. Retire that lava lamp. Or any other dorm furniture that screams “undergrad.” Facebook and other social networking sites is a great way to sell your dorm furniture to underclassmen – simply utilize Facebook’s marketplace application to post your offer. Don’t forget to take advantage of status updates and designated groups to get the word out. You may just get enough cash to fund your next rite of passage into adulthood: You’re very own, personal health insurance policy, aren’t you so proud?!
5. Counteract Senioritis. Let’s be honest, no one wants to spend their LAST month of school sorting through a daunting pile of loose notes and indecipherable scribbling for upcoming exams.  With sites like MyNoteIt.com, users can organize and share notes and study tips with fellow classmates saving tons of time.  Disclaimer: MyNoteIt is merely tool created to save time and is not responsible for how ‘said’ extra time is applied, be it either constructive or destructive in nature.

The second half of this list (5 Money Makers and Time Savers) was graciously submitted by Jason Ellman of Barnett Ellman, which is a PR firm. He sent me a guest post and it just happened to be a day after I started writing this article and they fit together so well that we combined them!

If you’ve enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends or ReTweet It. I greatly appreciate it!!

Everyone you know is probably on Facebook, or at least all of the people within the younger generations. Social networking and media has become such a large part of the daily experiences and life of college students, that there are so many opportunities for businesses to be developed out of it.

There are literally thousands of Facebook applications or “apps” out there already and more are being created every day. Some cost nothing to create and some costs hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands, or millions of dollars to develop and launch.

So, if you could create any app to be developed on Facebook what would it be? Would it be something as simple as a quiz or something more in depth such as an eBay app that pulls in different auctions and puts them on your profil

What would you create?

I am trying to do some research as to what kind of applications people are actually thinking about and what they might actually use.

Are you on Facebook? Do you have a super long profile that is loaded down with apps? Which ones do you use and why?

Thursday night I had the opportunity to be a guest on a local radio show out of Atlanta, GA called Uniqueness is Power, hosted by Andy Greider and Lee Kantor. I called in to discuss different topics about Dorm Room Biz, its future expansion, student business ideas, and entrepreneurship in general.

About the show:
Uniqueness is Power is a marketing, business growth solutions show, centered around the idea that businesses can thrive and expand if they are given fresh ideas of how to market themselves, and shown ways to save bottom line cash each month.

About the hosts:
Andy Greider and Lee Kantor are acknowledged marketing and business growth experts, and each week, we explore hot topics, have on a Business Booster guest (someone who can either save you money, or increase sales) and our Unique of the Week (someone standing out in a crowded industry who is willing to share how they do it.)

Listen to the podcast to hear our discussion. If you don’t want to listen to the whole show, forward through the first 5 minutes or so and then I’ll be on around the 8 or 9 minute mark. I am sorry if I sound a bit muffled on the recording, I have been fighting a cold the last few days and am just starting to get over it!

You can download the podcast here.

To listen to podcasts of previous episodes, you can visit the Uniqueness is Power website at http://uip.libsyn.com/.

So, I know that I blogged about this a few weeks back, but we are coming down to the final days before I launch the new theme and design for Dorm Room Biz. Once this gets launched, and we work out any bugs, posting will ramp up and hopefully everything will start to get back to normal around here, including the posting schedule!

So, be on the lookout over the next week for that to come…a nice little Christmas present to myself and our loyal readers!

The authors of FreelanceSwitch have done it again, this time with the release of their new eBook, the first of what will soon be a series, entitled “How To Be a Rockstar Freelancer”

212 Pages of Expert Freelancing Advice

Covering everything from getting started to expanding your business, How to Be a Rockstar Freelancer is the official FreelanceSwitch book. Written by Collis & Cyan Ta’eed – the founders of the site – it’s packed with new information, advice and insights not covered on the blog.

If you haven’t already done so, I would encourage you to read the quick review that Darren at Problogger wrote about the book. If you are tired of reading long and boring sales pages like I am, you will like the way that they have put it together at FreelanceSwitch. Everything is nicely outlined and to the point.

Although I have not had the chance to purchase the eBook yet and read it, just from looking over the topics covered, I can tell this is well worth the moderate price tag. I would strongly recommend you head over to their sales page and make the purchase. I will probably be doing so soon!

So its about that time again where affiliate commissions have been paid and it is time to recap the earnings from November. For the month of November, Dorm Room Biz pulled down $47.92.

Here is where it came from:

• AdSense: $12.92
• ReviewMe: $15.00
• Private Sponsorships: $20.00

The AdSense figure is a little skewed because it also factors in the money pulled in from a couple other sites of mine, so not all of it was produced from Dorm Room Biz, but it is still a decent number for not having much prevalence on the page. I also picked up a little bit of money from a few Google searches that were performed on another site of mine.

The ReviewMe amount was from a couple different paid campaign reviews that I wrote. Although there is not a lot of payout involved with these, it is nice to wrote a quick 200-300 word post and get paid for it.

Dorm Room Biz also had one private sponsorship for $20 for the month.

So over all, not too bad of a performance compared to the last time that I wrote one of these recaps. Hopefully we keep going up from here!

On that note, if you might be looking for some low priced advertising opportunities for your business, website, or blog, please contact us as with our new theme launch, we are going to be offering some ridiculously low priced advertising spots for the first month. You can also read about the other advertising opportunities offered by Dorm Room Biz here.