Category Archives: Jobs, Employment, Career Strategies

How to Speak Up, Stand Out, Negotiate Smarter, Earn More Money & Move On Up The Career Ladder

7 Unusual Work-From-Home Jobs

: Image via Wikipedia

Carol Tice, PayScale.com details how, increasingly, more of us will be working from home “ditching your cubicle and making money in your pajamas. … advances in technology have brought work-from-home jobs to nearly every business sector.” This is due in part to employers trying to scale back on expenses, but also on the increased independence and flexibility it gives to the worker who might be juggling work and home duties.

She lists and gives details about 7 jobs you might give some consideration if you’re itching to work at home or if your job circumstances have changed and you need a new way to pull in a paycheck.

* Concierge yes, you can do it remotely, from your computer to a flat screen TV in a hotel lobby or visitors lounge. “Virtual concierges use videoconferencing technology to ask hotel guests about their interests and provide them with sightseeing tips” or other information.

* Catering manager — “The telecommuting work involves coordinating banquet orders via phone and computer software, then traveling to job sites to oversee the actual events, with no office or commercial-kitchen time needed.”

* Online instructor — Meetings, training, webinars and one-to-one coaching are all executed online today. Like “virtual nursing” by phone, there’s both a need and a demand.

* Nonprofit executive director – “Nonprofits like the lower overhead costs.” If you have the credentials, you might propose this to a non-profit in your area.

* Patient champion/patient advocate — ” Patient champions help ill people navigate the complexities of the healthcare system — calling doctors, obtaining copies of medical records, and accompanying patients on doctor visits.”

* Virtual juror — See Virtual Juror and Online Verdict. Help give a lawyer a feel for how a jury might react. There’s good money in it.

* Virtual nurse — “Registered nurses tired of working 12-hour shifts standing on their feet are taking advantage of booming opportunities in virtual nursing. In teletriage, nurses staff phone lines and take calls from people with health emergencies, helping them evaluate whether they need an immediate trip to the ER.”

Working online is the wave of the future. For full details see 7 Unusual Work-From-Home Jobs.

Home Based Jobs in the Pet Industry (web-workathome.com)

How To Twitter Your Cool TwtBizCard

: Image via CrunchBase

@twtbizcard – Say goodbye to business cards as you know it. Send your Twitter Business Card by adding #twtbizcard to a @reply.

TwtBizCard Says

Say goodbye to business cards as you know it! Send a Twitter Business Card!

Web

TwtBizCard – Your twitter business card

( Offering some other very cool free twtapps as well: twtvite- event manager , twtjobs , twtTRIP , twtpoll ,etc,)

When your recipient goes to a link on Twtbizcard, this is what your Twitter pal sees, some of it derived in real time from your Twitter profile – you put in the phone #, address, email, and can edit anytime, also archive bizcards sent and received:

HOW TO: Exchange Business Cards With Twitter @Replies (mashable.com)
TwtJobs – a simple career manager twitter app (twi5.com)
twtapps.com: simple and useful Twitter applications (netwala.blogspot.com)
TwtBizCard – your twitter business card (twi5.com)
CalendarTweet – an events calendar for twitter (twi5.com)

Entrepreneurs Can Change The World

I love this video.

Ok, someplace in there it leads to an ad… not mine. But this video not only stands on its own, it completely overshadows any product which might be associated with it. There you have it. A video that’s too good. Hope all you entrepreneurs out there like it and feel special.

Caveats for Newspapers; Clues For A Stand Out Website

: Image via CrunchBase

Robert Scoble, Scobleizer, wrote what, to me, was a really amazingly insightful article on how the newspaper industry has let the Net take away bits and pieces of its franchise until there’s almost nothing left. But he does go on to mention a few remaining pieces worth saving and pursuing on or off line. ( The newspaper industry just gave away another free meal, er Twitter: do they have any left?). Examples of the giveaways:

“Free meal #1. Giving away classified advertising to Craig’s List.
Free meal #2. Giving away photography to Flickr (look at the photos from the Chinese Earthquake, why didn’t this happen on a newspaper branded site?).
Free meal #3. Giving away front page news to blogs like Huffington Post.
Free meal #4. Giving away “small” community news like births, deaths, birthdays, etc to Facebook.
Free meal #5. Giving away real-time news to Twitter.
Free meal #6. Giving away news distribution to Google News and Amazon Kindle, among others. With new sites like Kosmix coming on strong (hundreds of percent of growth month over month).
Free meal #7. Giving away restaurant reviews to Yelp.
Free meal #8. Giving away traffic information to Google Maps.
Free meal #9. Giving away celebrity news to Facebook and Twitter. (Why is Oprah on both of those, and why didn’t the newspaper industry lock up Oprah and keep her on a newspaper brand?)
Free meal #10. Giving away local news to Topix (at least that was funded by a newspaper brand).
Free meal #11. Giving away business news to Yahoo Finance and Google Finance (and something new that will get announced tomorrow).
Free meal #12. Giving away news ranking to Memeorandum.
Free meal #13. Giving away astrology to Astrology.com.
Free meal #14. Giving away comics to Comics.com.

What is their latest giveaway? Crowd-sourced news. I visit Twitter Search every day to find out what is “hot news.” That’s something I used to look at newspapers and older media for (radio, TV) but Twitter is just plain better at telling me what is trending.”

Scoble goes on to discuss what the newspapers haven’t given away yet, and that gives us lots of clues to which areas might produce a useful path for a website or blog wanting to stand out from the crowd.

You really need to read Scoble’s article. But a few of his ideas are developing and displaying a deeper understanding of a local scene. Also, focusing to the extent you have and present a much deeper understanding of a narrower topic.

Few in the world of Twitter, make the investment of time to understand in great depth, a particular subject they twitter on. Twitter requires speed. Understanding in depth requires time and reflection. It’s possible to do both. Twitter with speed on many topics but also send out the occasional Tweet linked to a blog or website with a post about a topic which reflects your thinking and your brand, something you’re researched and thought about in depth. That, I think, is one successful way forward. One where we citizen journalists and bloggers can bring a lot to the table.

Can You Start A Legit & Profitable Business For Under $20?

: Image via Wikipedia

Can you start a business for under $20? Scott Allen says yes in 10 Legitimate Businesses You Can Start for Under $20. He also tells you exactly how to spend your 20 bucks in each case.

Some of these business, although a good idea, might take a little longer to get money rolling in like Webpreneur. I should know.

More promising for immediate cash flow:

eBay Seller

I have a cousin who haunts the garage and estate sales, specializes in silver, jewelry, old books and post cards and makes several thousand a month on eBay. Of course it does take time to buy, photograph, price and upload. Or you can let someone else do it for 30% of the take.

Or, as Scott says: “Yes, there really are people who make a decent living buying things at garage sales and flea markets and selling them on eBay. The big secrets? Stick to products you know (or learn before you start) extremely well, package your goods carefully, and provide impeccable customer service. It helps to have a digital camera or a scanner, but it’s not required.

Spend the $20 on: Your first inventory at a garage sale.

Other business I think are very doable and at a professional level you probably already have the necessary skills:

Consultant

As Scott says: “Getting into consulting is relatively simple. All you have to do is know how to do something better than most people do, and be able to either teach people how to do it or be willing to do it for them. Networking is the key to success in this business, so start by making a list of everyone you know and giving them all a call.

Spend the $20 on: $14 on a box of clean-edge laser or inkjet business cards and $6 buying your first prospect a cup of coffee one morning.”

Desktop Publishing

“It’s amazing how many people have a computer and still don’t know how to make a decent flyer! If you’ve got a good design sense, are extremely familiar with your word processor, and already have a laser or high-quality inkjet printer, you can get into desktop publishing. Create a really great-looking portfolio for yourself and go door-to-door.

Spend the $20 on: Some high-quality paper to create your samples on.”

Scott also mentions: Personal Services – Shopping & Errands and Tutoring, both of which you can get into and start making money immediately.

Others depend on your personal level of interest in them. If you like selling, for instance, Avon might be for you.

Housesitter / Petsitter
Avon Independent Sales Representative
Secretarial Service – Typing / Transcription / Proofreading

Others I think might take a little more skill and experience like

Professional Organizer

If you’re looking for extra income you might want to look over the details of all these possibilities at Legitimate Businesses You Can Start for Under $20

Hope this starts you thinking of all the ways you can start now, for very little and build a profitable business, one which will tide you over in tough times.

A Really Good Guide To Twitter: How To Generate Contacts, Leads And New Clients

: Image by luc legay via Flickr

In Community Marketing Blog: Twitter: How To Generate Contacts, Leads And New Clients, Andrew Ballenthin a branding and marketing expert and Leesa Barnes a leading expert in social media and podcasting teamed up to share tips and techniques for using twitter to generate leads and new clients and help demystify the potential this social network offers.

( I think some of us really need to remember “Share Your Lifestyle” and how to do it in a way that reinforces your branc

First, Get To Know The Culture Of This Unique Social Network

First and foremost keep in mind that the majority of rules for effective networking, lead generation, relationship building, and branding apply to twitter. In addition, twitter has a number of its own cultural norms that if not followed will work against your efforts and result in a waste of time and potentially leave you with a bad reputation.

Some of twitter’s important cultural norms are:

Do Not Push A Sale – Follow the golden rule, “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.
Don’t Do Pushy Welcomes – When thanking someone for following don’t hard sell, just be polite.
Have A Consistent Brand – Don’t be too diverse, too controversial or too personal unless you are going to consistently portray this brand image. Stay within your company’s culture.
Do Ask For Help – Ask your base for feedback and how to do it better.
Don’t Say Things You Can’t Take Back – Count to 10 or you could regret the damage you do to yourself.

The Good Stuff, How To Generate Leads And Potentially New Clients

Based on feedback from numerous professionals who generated leads and new clients here are some of the things they did that worked. In all cases theses professionals piqued a follower’s interest through a variety of approaches which lead to contact and actual business activity that followed. Like any new relationship, don’t expect results overnight.

Be ready to invest weeks or months at this process the same way you would invest in offline networking or industry events. The good news is, just like offline networking, sometimes great things can happen unexpectedly.

Tweet about what you’re working on

People are interested in what has your attention.
Share the projects you’re working on and the tools you’re using.
You’ll find that people are eager to share the tools they have found useful or may ask you for your recommendation.
This helps build relationships.

Tweet on interesting industry information

Be the first to share interesting industry news. Over time, if done consistently, it will help you stand out in your industry as a valuable resource.
Share useful trivia – for example a blog post, an article, a recently released report.
Share the URL with others so they can read it.
TIP: shorten the URL so it fits in your tweet, use twitpwr.com or budurl.com as they both track clicks.

Include your twitter URL on marketing communications

You want your following to be composed of people that want your information.
Add your twitter address to emails and online and offline marketing materials.
If twitter is going to be a key way to let people know about your business, promote it heavily.
Let your offline networks know you’re on twitter. It gives them a way to get to know you and build relationships.
Prospects can get valuable updates and may build trust due to shared insights/news.
Many companies use twitter for news releases, research, building relationships and more.

Put energy into building relationships

Find ways to help others get what they want, practice good networking skills.
Respond to other’s tweets if there is a common interest. Do it consistently for them to get to know you.
Send DM’s (Direct Messages) when the information is more personal.
Follow natural relationship building rules you would apply with any new contact.
Retweet valuable information to help a follower achieve their goals.

Promote your product/services in the context of your followers

The general rule is: you get leads and sales by doing all the other points in this article effectively.
Talk about projects you work on, trade shows, campaigns, challenges your company faces.
Share new valuable applications for your products and service.
Don’t push credibility by over blowing the real value of what you have.
If you have followers that are looking for deals twitter is great for getting the word out.
BUT – if you’re brand isn’t about using twitter as a sales generation channel you can risk turning followers off when you do try to sell as you may be contradicting your prior brand image.
If you push too hard you’ll know, followers will drop off or you simply won’t see any results.

Retweet other people’s tweets

Similar to an email forward, if you like the tweet, retweet it.
To do so, just put RT: @username in front of the contents of the tweet.
Ideas become viral, products/services don’t.
TIP: use retweetist.com to track how many times a tweet has been retweeted
Create relationship value by helping others solve problems or find solutions.

Share your lifestyle

Most overlooked, share a part of who you are. Just like offline talk, people want to know who you are.
People want to see how your successes match up with your lifestyle.
If you’re a self made millionaire, share info on the holidays you’re taking.
If you’re an up and coming expert, go to events and tell people about the celebrity experts you met.
If you believe in a 4-hr workweek, share details about your outsourced life.
Results sell, you don’t have to.
Make your comments relevant to your brand otherwise it can cause confusion and put people off.
One of the biggest musts of social media is build trust by being genuine.

27 More Great Twitter Applications

: Image via CrunchBase

We’re all learning to Twitter and it seems everyday there are more tools to help us.

Want to make your website or blog more interactive?

Twit This – Allow visitors to your blog or website to easily post Twitter messages about you or your business. Post the TwitThis button to your website or blog pages with the instructions and coding provided on their site.

Want the powerful Twitter phenomenon to help you market?

TwitterHawk – This marketing app helps you connect with consumers in your area and related to the keywords you choose. TwitterHawk will send Twitter users your custom response when they tweet your keyword in locations that you specify. Say you sell shoes and you want your response to reach anyone within a 20 mile radius of your business. When someone 7 miles away tweets about shoes, your response will automatically be sent to that person.

Amanda in 27 Twitter Applications Your Small Business Can Use Today has gathered these and other tools to help you reach out and market yourself or your business:

Twitter Toolbar – Downloading this free toolbar gives you instant access to Twitter. You can use the toolbar to access online Twitter tools, check your Twitter stats, post your updates and more. Versions are available for both Firefox and Internet Explorer.

Twitoria – This simple application lets you quickly find out which of your followers has not been actively tweeting. Easily sort through your network of followers and purge the inactive users.

Monitter – Get a live streaming view at what Twitter users in your location are saying about you or your small business. Simply insert keywords you would like to search for and the surrounding area you would liked monitored.

Bubble Tweet – This unique application lets you post a short video message that pops up on your Twitter profile in a bubble shaped player. You can personally introduce yourself and/or your business to anyone who visits your profile.

Twitter Gallery – A collection of free backround themes for your Twitter account. You can use the one click installation or manually install them yourself. Lots of nice designs and colors to choose from.

Tweepler – Simplify the way you manage your Twitter followers. Tweepler enables you to easily sort through new followers and accept them or ignore them on one simple screen. They have made accepting followers easier by giving the Tweepler user the followers stats and last 3 tweets in one screen view. This will save you time by eliminating the need to visit each individual follower’s profiles.

StockTwits – Follow and join into conversations with traders and investors. An active community of investors are sharing their views on current market conditions and recent news happenings. You can quickly see what others are saying about investments in your portfolio.

HelloTxt – Update your status to several social networking sites in one simple step. You can choose from over 35 social sites to post to including Twitter.

TwitterFox – This Firefox extension is one of my personal favorites. You can post Twitter updates without visiting the Twitter site each time. A small icon is added to the bottom of your Firefox status bar. The icon opens to reveal your friend’s most current updates. You can add your updates from that dialog box, even for multiple Twitter accounts.

Future Tweets – Do you have something to promote on Twitter tomorrow but are afraid of forgetting to do it? With FutureTweets, you can schedule your tweet ahead of time for a specific date and time. Even schedule reoccuring tweets to post daily, monthly, even yearly.

TwitPic – Share your favorite pictures on Twitter. This would be a good way to introduce your new product to your network of followers.

twtQpon – Create exclusive coupons for your business services or products and share them with your Twitter followers.

Tweetburner – This site is designed to help you track your tweets. With Tweetburner you can shorten URLs and track the clicks your tweets accumulate.

Tweetbeep – Just like Google Alerts, Tweetbeep tracks Twitter conversations that mention you, your business or your products and services. Alerts are sent to you via email.

Twitter Counter – Proudly display the number of Twitter followers on your business blog or website. Add the badge to your site and invite customers to follow you on Twitter.

Group Tweet – This app enables all employees within your company to post updates which can be privately viewed only by your group of approved members.

Twitter Safe – This free service protects your years of hard work building your community of followers. This one click backup will restore your network of followers in the event that your list is compromised.

Twitxr – Post product pictures and updates from your mobile phone directly to Twitter.

Track This – This app enables tracking of any UPS, USPS, FedEx or DHL shipment. Updates are sent to your Twitter account direct messages whenever your package changes location.

CoTweet – CoTweet lets your company manage one Twitter account while allowing several employees to contribute. Each person maintains their own identity and their activity can be monitored.

Tweet Later – This one application contains several Twitter productivity tools. You can track keywords, track replies, schedule tweets, send welcome direct messages, and much more.

Splitweet – Managing and updating multiple Twitter accounts is easily done from one screen. Choose to send updates to one or all accounts in one step. You can also follow your brand with notification when your company is mentioned on Twitter.

Twimailer – Sign up to receive more extensive email notifications when your account obtains new followers. Instead of the generic Twitter email notification; the email contains the followers location, followers stats and their most recent tweets. At the bottom of the email, you can choose to follow the individual without even visiting Twitter.

Digsby – Keep track of everything your followers are doing at all times. The Digsby box display gives you a real time view into your Twitter account right from your browser.

HootSuite – Easily manage multiple Twitter profiles, pre-schedule tweets and measure your progress. You can even add multiple editors to your business profile.

AW WebBiz & Social Media Blog

Mentoring, Tools & Strategy To Succeed