Site Guide And Policies

The purpose of this page is two-fold. First is to provide full disclosure, and second is to guide the user on the best way to interact with the site. Here is a list of the topics covered:

Purpose

The main goal of this site is help people simplify their finances and become debt free , so that they are free to chase their dreams with all the energy and resources that they deserve. The site was started in April of 2007, and is a joy to be a part of. In the right hand side bar there are a list of my favorite article that should provide you with some great material to help you become debt free and start really chasing your dreams. Enjoy.

User Guide

The Happy Rock is designed to be a community were people can share their experiences, questions, and tips with each others in the form of comments at the end of each post. The more people that are involved the more value the site provides.

Please view the Comment Policy for information concerning to comments.

For users that are looking to give back can help promote The Happy Rock by using the ‘Stumble It’ and ‘Digg It’ links at the bottom of each post. They are there to help my readers share quality content with users of StumbleUpon and Digg. I particular endorse Stumble Upon as a useful and interesting site for exploring the web and sharing your good finds with others.

Money and Advertisement

The Happy Rock employs a number of revenue generating methods that help support the time and effort involved in writing and maintaining the site. I don’t make a ton of money with the site, but it does help offset expenses and the time that I invest in the site.

  • Sponsors – Links that are proceeded by ‘Sponsor’ are advertisements that are directly endorsed by the site. I may or may not use sponsors site, but I have at a minimum researched the site and think it provides value to the readers.
  • Text Link Advertisements – Link that are proceeded by ‘Advertisement’ are links to sites that may or may not agree with the spirit of The Happy Rock. That doesn’t mean that any ad gets approved, just that the ones that are approved do not necessarily receive the site’s direct endorsement. I will do my best to make sure the ads are relevant to the topics on the site.  Some ads will never make the cut though. My feeling is that we are all free to make our own choices and I don’t feel the need to protect people from ads unless they are egregious or fraudulent. From time to time I may even criticize similar offerings. As you can see, I am not hiding anything. I am being upfront, but you can feel free to disagree with my stance. Send me an email or post a comment if you really want to start a dialog. I am open to differing views.
  • Other Advertisements – The other main form of advertising is Google Adsense which displays ad blocks above and in left sidebar of single posts. These ads should tailor themselves to the content, and will hopefully provide users with added value. I make money when any of the ads are clicked, but please do not click the ads unless you have valid interest in the ad. If the ads are clicked to try and give me money, then the whole advertising system starts to lose credibility and everyone loses money and value. A better way to give back is through affiliate purchases.
  • Affiliates – Some links to outside sites are affiliate links. This means that the computer will track any purchases completed through that link and give a small percentage to the referrer and no cost to the buyer. They benefit from increased sales and the referrer is given a small piece of that sale. I promise that none of the affiliate products are endorsed or exaggerated in order to drive more traffic through affiliate links. They are meant as a means for users to contribute to the site by doing their normal internet shopping and usage. One good example of an affiliate is Amazon.com. If you click though to Amazon on that link, a small percentage any purchases in the next 24 hours will be donated to The Happy Rock at no cost to you. Ebay is another affiliate, and works very similar to Amazon. Most of the time I won’t specifically call attention to affiliates, unless I think it is necessary for disclosure and transparency purposes.

Disclaimer

This isn’t meant to scare anyone, but it is an attempt to say that we are all responsible for our own decisions in quasi-legal terms. The content of The Happy Rock is not meant to take the place of professional advice. I will attempt to provide as accurate information as possible, but users are not provided with any guarantees that the information is accurate. Visitors to should not act upon the content of this site without first seeking professional advice. The Happy Rock accepts no responsibility for the use or information connected with this site.

Copyright

The information within this site is the sole property of The Happy Rock. Feel free to post pieces of the work provided that there is a link back to the original. If you have any questions, just ask. I am open to all kinds of uses of the work.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

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