Courageous Humans

Video Game Streaming: A New Wave of Money Makers
It seems these days that you can make money doing practically anything. Drive an Uber, freelance write/design, even be a mystery shopper. And quite frankly, a lot of people are finding great success and making plenty of money to sustain themselves just from working in their own home.



The Internet, what a wonderful invention.



But, how can you make a few extra bucks every month, and also do something that you love?



Easy! Become a video game streamer and tester. Sounds too good to be true, right?



Well, it’s certainly a fact that you can supplement your income by streaming live and testing out new games whether these be on PC, smartphone, and a regular console that connects to the interwebs.



A FEW TRICKS OF THE TRADE

It may come as a surprise that becoming a successful video game streamer is not all that hard to accomplish.



First, on whatever platform you are gaming on, make sure that your user/gamer moniker is something catchy and easy to remember.



Doing this will allow people to find you, and help word of mouth spread in the gaming world so help drive people to your streaming channel, pumping up your viewer numbers and you wallet.



If you use Twitch as your primary streaming platform, when you get up to around the 500 view mark, you can apply to be a Twitch partner, absolutely free. Doing this will help to broadcast your channel, along with helping to pad your pocket with more money.



Twitch, also offers a newer feature that allows viewers to tip you. They call it Cheering, this is a great option, so you figure, if you have an average view of 500 people, and half of them tip you a buck, you’re already pulling in 250 bucks!



At this point, once you become a Twitcher partner, you can expect to get about $250 per 100 subscribers you have. That’s definitely worth it, especially to stay home and game all day!



However, one of the most important things you can do is set up a Youtube channel and upload 10-15 minute clips of whatever game you are playing at the moment.



Doing this will help people get acquainted with you, your gaming style, and be much more inclined to subscribe to your Twitch account.



All in all, making extra money playing video games can easily be done if you follow these tips and tricks!

Retro Gaming Systems Making a Comeback

More and more often lately, I have been seeing people flooding to stores like 2nd & Charles, Ebay, and Amazon in an attempt to find older gaming systems.



With the notion that a new retro version of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System release, the desire to grab up the vintage systems has become a pandemic.



Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for people getting into these gaming systems because they were the beginning of what would eventually become amazing systems like PlayStation and Xbox. I just hope that these people who are snagging them up realize their true worth and value.

FINDING YOUR FAVORITE GAMES

I am among the elite group of people searching for unique and vintage games anywhere from Ebay, Amazon, and every single flea market and garage sale I can find.



Though, there are a few tips and tricks you can use to find the games you want without having to pay an arm and a leg to get your hands on them. Especially now with everyone and their mother searching every avenue and outlet available.



Yeah, you head to any of the online sale stores, if you want to pay well over $100 for some of your favorite games. Some are evening coming in at a whopping price of $1000 depending on game and gaming system specifications.



Another thing to keep in mind is that games that are coming unopened in original packaging, along with games in original boxes will always be exceptionally more expensive than one that is free standing, unboxed.



One great trick you can use when you are using an online site for purchashing your games is to go for an unboxed option. You will save a great deal of money, but make sure to ask the seller if the games works, and also, if they accept returns. This will save you the hassle of dealing with a no-return seller, if the game doesn’t work properly, just send it back and explain the issue.



A little tip also, a lot of the people selling these older games online no longer have the gaming system, so often times, they won’t know if the game is functioning properly, so ask if they have personally tested it.



But throughout the years, one of the best tips and tricks I have used to buying up these older games has been to go to garage sales, and flea markets. You can find tons of little shops that have the older game cartridges just laying around collecting dust.

Ford Cutting Workers 10 Percent in Asia and North America
Cutting costs and looking to make more money, Ford aims to cut 10 percent of their workforce in North America and Asia.



The workers to be cut are salaried workers who have been there for quite some time, including managers, and other non-production based jobs.



At first, it seemed like a complete catastrophe, laying off so many people at once, but Ford has updated the fact that the 10 percent is coming from a group of 15,000 employees. Though this is still a great deal of people, those who are to be cut have been offered generous compensation for leaving the company.



Though, the group of people to be cut is still high, Ford believes that the people will volunteer to be let go, once they consider the compensation plan they have put in place along with the incentive program that will aid Ford in downsizing their workforce in North America and Asia.



Ford has stated that they are looking to downsize to cut costs by about $3 billion dollars due to a constant decline of car sales over the past several years.



The workforce cuts are supposed to be completed by September of this year through strictly voluntary means.



Though Ford’s owner Mark Fields claims is was not political, they scrapped their plans to build a manufacturing plant in Mexico, and instead added 700 jobs in Michigan and multiple others in various plants throughout the country.



As an initiative to help stimulate economy, along with the fact that Mark Fields states that small car sales have been exceedingly slow. The plant in Mexico would have cost more money than they would have profited.



It is important to note that the positions that are looking to be cut back are all salaried positions that are not directly involved in production, which also includes managers.



Hourly positions will not be impacted by this workforce reduction, but it is still worrisome for most because Fields has been quoted as saying he is expecting the small car sales market to continue to decline.



Hoping to avoid more cutbacks, layoffs, and the ilk, Fields is taking preemptive measures to avoid that type of crisis and preserve as many workers as possible.