I’m writing weekly blog posts, stories and some interesting press releases for an auto insurance website in Chicago.

The idea is to have informative stories and posts that readers and potential customers will see as helpful to their daily lives and will return to the site for more information and to buy auto insurance there.

Here are links to some of the stories I’ve written for Active Insurance, so you can see the type of work I do:

Where to find good food trucks in Chicago.

The worst intersections in Chicago.

Vehicle insurance requirements.

How to buy low liability auto insurance.

Dangerous Chicago intersections for pedestrians.

With profit margins that industry analysts estimate exceed 50 percent, it’s easy to see why retailers promote extended warranties on everything from computers to cars.

Having future repair or replacement costs covered can indeed be reassuring. And even just knowing where to call can reduce stress. “Service contracts are designed to minimize the hassle associated with downtime and repairs, while maximizing a product’s functionality and the owner’s enjoyment of the product,” says the Service Contract Industry Council, or SCIC. The trade association’s members offer about 80 percent of all U.S. service contracts, a term used interchangeably with extended warranties.

But experts warn that the peace of mind comes at a stiff price that can be hard to justify, particularly if you charge it and pay financing costs as well.

“I never buy extended warranties,” says James Ward, a marketing expert at Arizona State University and director of its full-time MBA program.

Ward’s aversion to extended warranties is widely shared. Consumer experts say that savvy shopping and solid financial planning can help you prepare for breakage or repairs without forking over big bucks for a contract you may never use. The keys are to do your research, explore alternatives and don’t let fear drive your decision-making.

Instead of me going door to door, applying for jobs online or seeking out businesses to hire me, I’m turning the tables and offering my services for the next two weeks so I can be an exclusive writer/editor for companies that need such work. I’m calling it “Rent a Journalist.”

As a freelance journalist since being laid off at a newspaper about three years ago, I’ve spent a lot of my time chasing down job leads, applying for jobs, and doing everything I can to get the next freelance assignment. I’ve had steady work for most of that time, writing personal finance stories for WalletPop. But that’s going to change soon.

The AOL site is being absorbed into another website as part of the Huffington Post acquisition by AOL. I work on a monthly contract and have been told to reapply for my job as a fulltime writer, which I’ve done, but I’m unsure if I’ll be hired fulltime. Since the company has offices in New York and Los Angeles, and I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, I don’t know if they’ll hire me fulltime to work from home, as many writers/editors at WalletPop do.

If we come to an agreement, great. If not, this is part of my backup plan, which I’m trying out for the next two weeks as I offer my writing and editing services, among other things such as social media liaison, to businesses.

Instead of wondering if I’ll be available to write for your website or publication in the future, you can lock me in with an offer now to work for you. I’ve covered personal finance for WalletPop for a little more than two years, and have some of the highest-trafficked posts on the website. I can do the same for you.

I’m open to long-term contracts or month-to-month; but what I’m mainly looking for is steady work and a commitment. It can be exclusive on a subject — family finances, for example — but that will take a longer commitment such as daily blog posts. Or it can be a weekly column on something like personal finance and the food industry, that will still be a long-term contract but is only for writing once a week.

The advantages to your company in signing me now? You get my time and work before anyone else does, guaranteeing you a steady stream of quality work that will be unique to your publication. As a journalist I’m trained in general assignment stories, and can provide original reporting and writing on any topics you need. Again, I’ve specialized in personal finance writing for the past few years, so I can write for your site on those issues, or expand to tech, families, food, retail, education, health, and many others. For example, I currently write for Dealnews.com about the psychology of shopping each week, so I wouldn’t be available to write about that topic for other sites.

I have other services I can provide, including helping with social media campaigns, writing publicity and press releases, covering corporate events, and photography.

Don’t let this opportunity pass. Rent a journalist — this journalist — before it’s too late.

It was a lot of fun and my first appearance on TV.  I also got to meet Sheila E as she left the green room to go to the set.

We shook hands and I told her how big of a fan I was for all of these years (mostly during the 1980s, although I didn’t tell her that), and how much I enjoyed her music.  Unfortunately, our handshake wasn’t taped for the audience to see, but here’s a video of her interview for the show:

Listen to the interview on generics to buy by clicking on this link:

file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Aaron/My%20Documents/Downloads/071910%20aaron%20crowe.mp3

I was also interviewed on WBAL in Baltimore. Listen here:

http://tiny.cc/y74cn

I’m available for more radio and TV interviews. I still can’t get my TV interview on kids’ finances online yet; it’s not working on the ABC San Francisco website.

How are you coping with being unemployed during the recession? How is your job search going? How do you juggle multiple part-time jobs while still looking for full-time work?

I’m looking to interview and take video of unemployed people for a series of stories on WalletPop.com, a personal finance Web site that I write and edit for. The interviews must be in person and should only take a few minutes. You can also give your elevator speech and I will link to your resume.

This week, I’ve added another part-time job — 10 hours a week — as an editor at AOL’s WalletPop.com Web site. I’ve been writing for the personal finance Web site since November 2008, and I’m thrilled to be editing again.

I’ll continue writing for the site, but editing online is a new skill that I’m glad to do.