Australian-based Mig33, instant messaging and mobile VoIP provider, has snached up a cool $10 million in venture capital, reports Red Herring. Mig33 is centered around the mobile communications business and competes against such names as Talkster, Sooner, VoxLib, Nimbuzz, AIM/Google Talk (NASDAQ: GOOG), Yahoo! Voice (NASDAQ: YHOO), and eBay's (NASDAQ: EBAY) Skype. Mig33 claims it can save mobile phone users significant money with its international calling card services. I fail to see what services that Mig33 offers to consumers beyond the tried and true standard fare also offered by its competitors, but given the fact that it already has a reported 4 million users, it is obviously doing something right.

What strikes me as being very different about Mig33 is the ability it gives to its subscribers for earning discounts, and even generating profit, by acting as brokers for Mig33 calling services. Mig33 refers to its customers as "affiliates" and will allow these customers to act as secondary marketers of prepaid calling credits. Affiliates are even allowed to buy calling credits in bulk and then may create and market their own prepaid mig33 calling cards. To some people this may look like a pyramid type arrangement on its face, but it's nothing like that. The reality is that no one is required to act as a sales agent simply by virtue of being a subscriber. Secondary sales are completely voluntary and are a benefit of Mig33 services provided as an adjunct to its standard services.

More and more we shall see the "give something back" proposition becoming a facet of successful business models. As companies such as Mig33 offer revenue-generating options to its customers, we shall see those companies reap the rewards. It is this type of revenue-enhanced customer service, similar to Google Adwords and MetaCafe, which are now setting the new trends. Now, is it possible that Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) is considering a working agreement with Mig33 as the next phase of its own VoIP program?

Ummm ... could be!

I'm not a fan of making resolutions on January 1; I believe, if something about your life needs to change, it should just change now. And yet, every year, I get caught up in the spirit of the season of new beginnings, and start dreaming about how great I will be when I start doing yoga regularly, eating a green vegetable every day, and sitting down to a family meal together (without TV!) at least once a week.

Financial resolutions, however, make ever-so-much sense to coincide with hanging your brand-new calendar. A new year often means a new salary and perhaps a new bouncing baby tax deduction, and is a great time to re-evaluate your investments. But a few commitments stand out as being so brilliantly beneficial and (often) easy that most of us would do well to adopt them:

1. Contribute to your company's 401(k), or an individual IRA. If your company has a 401(k) plan and you're not contributing, well, get thee to an election form immediately! 401(k) contributions are pre-tax, so for someone in my (average) tax bracket, a $150 monthly contribution only takes about $100 from my paycheck -- an amount roughly equal to the amount of money I would have wasted, was it there in my bank account instead of silently creating wealth for me. If you're already contributing, consider increasing your contribution by a percentage point or two; likely, you'll barely notice it.

2. Evaluate your 401(k) or IRA investing decisions. I managed the 401(k) plan for my small company about five years ago, and was amazed to find that I was the only one who made any investment choices with my money; every other employee had his or her money sitting in the default option, a money market fund (most yield only a few percentage points a year, often less than inflation). If you have any money in your 401(k), pick something, even if it's a very conservative mutual fund or bond fund.

If you've made an election in the past, but your entire retirement portfolio is in one bond fund or (yikes!) 100% invested in your company's stock, take a look at the options and diversify a bit. Ideally, you'd have three or four different funds in your 401(k) or IRA, if you can't invest in individual stocks -- and, even though I haven't always followed this advice, after the Enron saga I'd never invest more than 20% of my portfolio in one stock (yes, especially your employer's stock).