Want to know what bloggers all talk about online and among themselves?  “Monetizing” their blogs.  That’s right… money, and how to make enough so they can afford to support their blogging habit and not have to work another full time job at the same time.  It’s should be easy to understand… after all, it’s not easy to work 16 hour days, month after month, year after year.  I know what that’s like and I do not recommend it to others.

So, when people that write blogs are talking with others about their sites, the conversation inevitably turns to the same question, and it’s always asked by the non-blogger: “How do you make money doing what you do?”  And when you tell them you don’t, they look at you with that strange expression that says: “So, why in the world do you do it?”

Someone recently asked me why I was so passionate about the foreclosure crisis and people losing their homes.  I replied: “Why aren’t you?”  Some things simply aren’t going to be understood by all.

The vast majority of bloggers today, when looking to monetize their sites, sell advertising.  I’ve been approached by all kinds of companies asking to put advertisements on my blog… and I’ve turned them all down.  Not because I think it would ruin my site’s credibility, necessarily, but because I just don’t like the idea of writing about such an important and tragic subject… and then… hang on… how would you like to save up to 50% on your car insurance?  Yuck.  There’s a time for that, but it isn’t now on Mandelman Matters.

I do write a book review occasionally, and I always put a link to Amazon.com at the end so that anyone who wants to buy the book can click that link and buy it.  I make 6.5% of the sales, which isn’t much money, but it’s something.  And most of my readers probably know by now that I fully endorse something called the REST Report for those trying to avoid foreclosure by negotiating with their bank.  And, as I’ve disclosed from the very beginning, Mandelman Matters does receive a small percentage on each REST Report, a very small percentage, by the way.

Well, now I’m writing to introduce something else that I’ve discovered recently, but it has nothing to do with what I write about, so don’t worry about that.  And many of you are probably going to laugh at me when you hear this, but oh well.  I’m writing now to tell you about the Regal 2, by InLife… my new electronic cigarette.

If you’re not a smoker, or don’t have someone in your life that smokes… you’re probably about to click off to somewhere else.  But, you may not want to… and you’ll see why in a minute.

First of all, I smoked for years.  I’m not going to tell you how many years, but suffice it to say that when I started they were 50¢ a pack.  Every year, for the past three years or so, I’ve been reading about these new electronic cigarettes, there’s at least a dozen competitors out there now, just a few years back there were only two or three.  I’ve been reading about them because everyone who’s ever smoked knows they should quit… like yesterday… and I’m no exception.

I’ve quit lots of times… for a year here and there… I might have made it for two years once… maybe not.

The truth is… I like smoking, so sue me.  I write a lot, as you know, and nicotine is the greatest when you’re sitting at your computer writing for 12 hours straight.  I tried cigars, a pipe, but nothing is quite as handy or as instantly satisfying as a cig.  Nicotine is a great drug… it’s like caffeine… a low-grade stimulant.  People have been chewing the leaves of the tobacco plant for 6000 years, according to Wikipedia, so there must be something enjoyable about it, right?

It’s not the nicotine in the cigarette that’s so bad for you, by the way, it’s the tar and all the chemicals.  Nicotine doesn’t even stick around your body for very long. It has a half-life of about 60 minutes.  That means that six hours after a cigarette, only about 0.031 mg of the 1 mg of nicotine you inhaled remains in your body, according to an article in Discovery Health.

Well, electric cigarettes don’t burn anything, there’s no tobacco involved, which means no tar and whatever else is in cigarettes, but they do deliver nicotine in strong, medium, or lite doses, just like actual cigarettes.  There’s no smell whatsoever, in fact you could smoke one in the car with the windows up and no one would know.  But, you do everything else that smokers do… take a drag, blow out what appears to be smoke (it’s not, by the way), and play with it between your fingers.

I tried one of these electronic marvels a couple of years back and I hated it.  No way, yuck.  Barely even worked, and was nothing like a cigarette… more like smoking a pen you’re holding in your hand.  And these things are not easy to try, you pretty much have to buy one to try one, and at $100-$150, you can’t exactly just pick-up all of the leading brands and see which you like best.  I’ve been through five or six, so that’s probably about $600 or $700 I’ve spent over the last few years experimenting.

Then, recently I was introduced to the Regal 2, and I have to tell you… smokers and/or closet smokers listen up: I love the damn thing.  I mean… really love it.  It’s just like a cigarette, but there’s no smell and no smoking involved, except that there is.  You take a drag, and it tastes like you’re smoking a cig, and you breathe out what looks like smoke, but it’s not… it’s vapor, like when you breathe out when it’s cold outside.  It looks like smoke, feels like smoke, but it just dissipates, it doesn’t hang in the air like smoke, and it has no smell whatsoever.

When you take a drag, the tip lights up and glows a really cool emerald green that’s eye-catching to say the least.  And mine is black and silver and looks like James Bond would have it, but you can get it in different colors too… hot pink, blue… very cool.  And get this… you can “smoke” an electronic cigarette pretty much anywhere… like in a bar in California for example… while you’re at the movies… even on an airplane.

Okay, so here’s the deal…

Some people switch to an electronic cigarette because they want to quit.  I switched so I wouldn’t have to quit.  (I hate quitters.)  I think all smokers know they should quit, and I think most if not all smokers have someone in their life always telling them to quit.  Well, I think this is THE answer… and I’m a smoking expert.  There’s nothing I don’t know about smoking… nothing.

I’m writing this because I know there are plenty of others out there just like me.  They know they should quit, but hey… they just don’t want to.  Especially right now… maybe it’s because they’re under stress, which is my excuse at the moment, because nicotine is great for stress.

So, I’m writing this because I want anyone that smokes to know… from one smoker (or closet smoker) to another… this thing is awesome.  I love it.  Oh, and by the way… it’s cheaper than smoking too!  Like less than HALF the cost!  What’s not to love?

But wait… there’s more.  And I know some of you are going to make fun of me about this… but hold on.

I was introduced to the Regal 2 when I called the company and talked to a guy who said I could come down and pick one up because they’re located in Irvine, California, which is 20 minutes away from my house.  He suggested we meet because he said there was a business opportunity involved… yes… the company that manufactures the Regal 2 is a network marketing company, which is the new term for multi-level marketing, I suppose because everyone hates multi-level marketing.  I know I do.

It was around 5:00 pm when I arrived, so we went out for a beer. While we were sitting in the bar at the Hilton Hotel across the street from the airport, the guy I was with asked the waiter: “Do you mind if I don’t smoke?”  The waiter saw his electronic cig and said: “Oh wow, what’s that?”  Next thing I knew we were “not smoking” in the bar, having a beer, and he had another customer… the waiter.

Before you think anything here… I’ve never been involved in a multi-level marketing thing… NEVER EVER.  I’ve been pitched a bunch of times over the last 20 years, but I always say the same thing: No.  Like I told the guy from that company that sells juice the same thing I tell all the multi-level people who try to get me involved: I don’t have many friends… I’m not going to drive around with juice in my car… I can’t keep track of paperwork… I hate selling people stuff… I’m never going to bring it up in conversation… So, no.

So, yes… I signed up as a distributor for InLife.  That’s my Regal 2 above.  I love it and here’s why:

1. I love the product.  It’s the best thing to happen to smoking since… well, smoking.

2. As I writer, I like the slow stream of nicotine, and the act of smoking while I’m writing, but I also know it’s really bad for me.  Now I feel like I don’t have to quit.  So, get off my back, people.  I’m not smoking.  Nothing’s burning, there’s no tobacco involved.

3. It’s a lot cheaper than buying cigarettes… like half the cost or less.

4. You never have to carry around anything with you in your trunk, or take an order, or touch a piece of paper, or accept a payment.  When someone wants to buy one, or sign up as a distributor, you just give them your Website address, the company gives you a Website automatically when you become a distributor, and you just tell them to go online and either buy one, or sign-up as a distributor.

5. It DOESN’T COST ANYTHING TO BE A DISTRIBUTOR.  Not a dime.  The product costs $130 retail, but as a distributor it’s only $99.  But, you pay $30 to be a distributor, so it’s a wash.  And, $130 is like two weeks of buying cigarettes, so big deal.

6. I never have to bring it up to anyone, and the damn thing sells itself.  The first week I had it, my wife and I went to a Bar Mitzvah.  We were standing outside drinking a glass of wine, because you can just imagine how excited I was to be at a Bar Mitzvah… and I took out my Regal 2, took a drag, and it lit up emerald green like it always does… and less than a minute later there were three people standing in front of me.

“What’s that?”  “It’s my electronic cigarette.”  “Wow, cool.  Do you really like it?”  “I love it.”  “I’ve heard about those, I want to try one.”  “No problem, here’s the Web address.  You can either buy one, or you can become a distributor.  It doesn’t cost anything to be a distributor, so you should probably do that.  That way you’ll make money when someone asks you about it, just like you just asked me.  Yeah, it’s a multi-level deal… I know… ha, ha, ha.  So, don’t do it then… just keep smoking until you kill yourself, I don’t give a… ”

Okay, so I didn’t really say that last part.

My point is… this thing is a magnet for smokers.  I just went to Starbucks the other morning.  Got my coffee, a copy of the New York Times Sunday Edition, sat down, took out my Regal 2… took a drag… the light turned green… and I spent the next 20 minutes talking to the line of people that came over to ask: “What’s that?”  I finally put it away so they’d leave me alone… I wanted to read the paper in peace.

So… that’s it.  I don’t care what anyone thinks of me… I’ve decided that I’m not too good to be a distributor of this product.  In fact, I could really use the money right now, and you can make a lot of money, by the way.  Not only do you get paid every time someone buys the Regal 2, but smokers sign up to have the cartridges auto-shipped every month, so ka-ching, right?  I mean, you can buy juice anywhere, but there’s only one place to buy the cartridges for the Regal 2.

It’s like buying a razor and needing the blades… but the blades cost half the price of the blades that are bad for you.  One cartridge lasts about as long as a pack of cigs, and costs less than half what my brand of cigs costs.

I know, you’ve heard the multi-level marketing pitch before… so have I.  But this is way different.  Smokers and others see that emerald green glow and want one… if not for them, for the person in their life who still smokes cigs and needs to quit.

I don’t have to carry anything around in my car.  I don’t have to write anything down.  I never have to bring it up, people ask me about it every time I take it out of my pocket.  And, in my opinion, this product is going to absolutely explode in the years to come.  The first generation ones sucked.  The second generation wasn’t much better… but this one totally rocks.  I noticed that 7-11 has started carrying an electronic cig, by the way, and if they’re carrying one, it’s because they know the demand is growing.  (Theirs is a cheaper but awful imitation of the Regal 2, in case you’re interested.  I tried it.  Yuck.)

And… are you ready for this… I actually think I’m going to make a bundle at this, how do you like that?  I’m not kidding about that, I’m serious as cancer, to be punny about it.  I’m talking real money here… like maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

One more thing and then I’ll shut up… If you’re interested, you should contact me and sign up as part of my organization, or down-line, or whatever it’s called.  Why?  Why not?  But, also because I checked and the top companies that market electronic cigs on-line have Google Page Ranks of ‘2’.  Are you feeling me?  A ‘2’ simply isn’t going to cut it if you’re competing against me online… sorry about that.  (Insert evil laugh.)  So, whose team do you want to be on?  Mine, on page one of Google, or theirs on page 12?

So… if you’re too cool for this, fine.  If you don’t need the money, fine.  If you just want to keep stinking up the place and getting bitched at by whomever because you should quit, fine.  Do whatever you want… I understand… I know smokers, remember?  I was one for a long time.

But, if you’re interested, then you should email me, because I’m all over this.  You can start “not smoking” and making extra cash as a part of my team.  I’ve seen the company up close, and I like everything about it.  So I’m involved in multi-level marketing for the first time in my life, so what?  I don’t care what anyone else thinks… I love the product and I’ll laugh every time I deposit the checks.

And I’m going to promote the Regal 2 on my blog… and “monetize” it, as they say.  If that bothers anyone, oh well.  I think what I’m doing is a win-win scenario, and I think others will too.

Meanwhile… do you mind if I don’t smoke?

Reach me via email at: mandelman@mac.com

And, to learn more about the Regal 2, you can sign up as a distributor, or just buy the Regal 2 for yourself or someone you care about by visiting: http://www.mandelman.myinlife.com.

Here’s the link and information to sign up as a distributor as part of my organization:

1. Go to:  http://www.mandelman.myinlife.com

2. Then click on “Join Now,” which is in top right corner.

3. Then fill out the form.

4. Then order either the “Regal 2 Deluxe Pack” or Supreme Pack.  Or you can just order the base unit, which is $99, but you don’t get two units, so the others are really much better deals.  Feel free to check with me if you have questions.

5. Then set up: “Auto-Ship” of the “Regal 2 Cartridge Standard Mix Pack” which is $29.95 a month. (You have to be on auto-ship to get paid, and the mix pack lets you allow others to sample different strengths.)

6. Then you can go to your “Back Office” and your Website will already be up and usable.  Your address will be like: www.YOURNAME.myinlife.com.

When someone you talk to wants to sign up as a distributor, or just buy a Regal 2, just tell them to go to your Website’s address, and do the same thing as shown above. It’s as simple as that.  And you can also find information on the site about the company, the product, the compensation plan, you know… all the stuff.  And contact me anytime…

I love talking about this thing… LOL.