Posts Tagged ‘ homebasedbusiness ’

Check it out: iPhone app for self-motivation

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Check it out: iPhone app for self-motivation

Some days I wonder if it is fate that sends me to find specific sites that are better left unexplored. Yesterday, I ran into a site on Twitter and later in the day, I ran into exactly the same site using another search.  What’s so ironic about this you might ask? I was actually looking for something LEGIT to write about rather than tripping across yet another questionable opportunity.  Yet, here it is.  I will disclose here I am NOT a fan of MLM shemes of any kind, but this one is more shady in my mind that others (like…

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Evaluating Online Business Opportunities

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Evaluating Online Business Opportunities

The Internet has opened up several online business opportunities that can turn into full-time income generators. While there are many legitimate online business opportunities, many more are frauds. When researching opportunities, research will help ensure the opportunity is legitimate. Some of these include: Contact information Numerous companies offer affiliate marketing opportunities as well as the potential to start e-commerce businesses.  All too frequently, these sites are shadow companies that are set up for the specific reason of collecting fees from unsuspecting entrepreneurs. One way to avoid this problem is to review the website and look for the companies contact information.…

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How to Create Online Income to Pay Bills

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How to Create Online Income to Pay Bills

Internet marketing, freelancing, article writing and blogging are all possible ideas to earn money online. Can they really help pay bills? The economy is in difficult shape, this is no big secret to anyone. For many, this means looking at additional means of earning income to help pay bills. Chances are that if you are like thousands of other people, you are searching online for opportunities that will allow you to earn additional income. While it is true that there are ways that you can earn income from various online activities, it is important that you know what you are getting…

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Damage your credibility in one easy step

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Damage your credibility in one easy step

I have to admit that people must think that other people are super stupid or they just think they can get away with saying anything that comes out of their pea-brains.  People who post on blogs, in forums or on any type of a writing site should always be aware that they have a reputation to maintain.  Here are some things that I’ve discovered over the past month or so that could damage the credibility of the authors of their particular “tale”. Chances are you’re not a millionaire: “By the time I was 18 I made a million dollars working…

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Clients who are bloviating windbags

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Clients who are bloviating windbags

People who are pompous and arrogant certainly will send me into a fit of temper.  These are the folks who think they have the market on righteous indignation cornered. Nothing that is wrong is ever their fault and if you question their “problem” (real or perceived) their answer is to attack you.  You know the type: The bloviating customer 1 – Cheaper is better Warning: DO NOT write us and BID some big CRAZY price. *  All the WORLD is in a recession, BUSINESSES are hurting…so if YOU are *SMART* you will find those GROWING like US and JUMP on…

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Internet Marketing and Ethics

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Internet Marketing and Ethics

For my regular readers, you already know that I typically call a spade, a spade. Other times, I’m not as flattering as that.  I write about things I believe, I do not accept assignments that I consider questionable, contain bogus health claims and I almost always avoid product reviews.  However, after working on my other blog where I call out work at home scams, something occurred to me…..As I’ve mentioned in other posts. In fact, I spent some time writing up a page on HubPages called “The care and feeding of Internet scams” – it suddenly dawned on me today…

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Cheap business owners

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Cheap business owners

Just when you think you have seen everything, something happens to really make you wake up and pay attention.  Now before I get accused of not knowing my facts let me be clear about a couple of things: (A) I don’t work for low rates on freelancing sites and (B) I’ve never been “invited” to take part in one of these assignments. However, that does not change the facts that they are out there. I always have pointed out to freelancers that they are working mostly at odds with clients. After all, a freelancers primary goal is to make as…

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Freelance site to steer clear of

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Freelance site to steer clear of

As most of you know if I am going to use a freelance site, I do prefer oDesk. While it does take some time to get your first assignment, over time, oDesk in my opinion is the best. This does not stop me from looking at other sites to see what they are offering. And for the record, Elance has an excellent reputation; I do not use them because I do not like their “buy credits” system as I believe that if I am going to land a freelance assignment I shouldn’t be paying for service until AFTER I land…

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Smart Money: Time Management Tricks

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Smart Money: Time Management Tricks

We need to be honest with ourselves when we are self-employed and make sure that we are making the most of the hours that we invest in our business. There are some tasks that simply do not provide a good return on our investment of time and in some cases, they will never provide a good return for the time that we invest. In order to make the amount of money that you need to make, you need to make sure that you are managing your time well and investing the hours that you have well. First set income goals…

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Sensible changes by oDesk

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Sensible changes by oDesk

Back in August of 2011, I wrote a highly critical post about oDesk when they changed their “terminology” to refer to those who were posting jobs on the site seeking freelancers.  Originally, the accepted term was “buyers” and supposedly after “much research” they changed the terminology to “employers”.  My post was not specifically aimed at oDesk but in general tried to spell out the “proper freelancing terminology” that I suspect most freelancers adhere to.  Shortly after this “change” I stopped using oDesk because I felt that this was casting freelancers in the wrong light, after all, we are not employees…

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Brand Building: Your online presence and words

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Brand Building: Your online presence and words

Words matter!  Not only what you say, but how you say it has an impact on how people perceive you.  I’m not just talking about what you write, how you write it or where you publish your work. What I’m talking about is your own personal brand that you NEED to have if you are going to succeed as a freelancer.  I admit to not always being a reasonable person, in fact, I have been known a time or two (note: massive understatement) for responding first and thinking later.  Ya, that’s me .  But opinions are like (well, you know…

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Brand building: Your online presence with pictures

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Brand building: Your online presence with pictures

I think I must be getting more ornery in my old age – and I don’t really consider myself old. However, there is something that really does annoy me online when people are joining BUSINESS networks. Notice I said business….I mean sites like LinkedIn, oDesk, etc. Those that require you to put up a profile that people are going to review for potential hiring reasons. Your mother isn’t going to hire you Stop putting your high school (or college) photograph in your profile. It does NOT help your credibility. Chances are pretty high that your mom isn’t going to hire…

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Defending content writers

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Defending content writers

While some people bash those who write for sites like Demand Media, Crowd Cloud and Textbroker as being “unprofessional”, I’d like to defend those who elect to use these sites to earn money.  After all, this IS about earning money and not always about the level of professionalism that is displayed by the writer. There are many excellent writers who depend on these sites to earn their weekly and monthly income.  The fact is that not everyone can write for the Wall Street Journal or other “high profile” publications. Like it or not – immediate payments Textbroker, Media Piston and…

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How much time does it take to write an online article?

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How much time does it take to write an online article?

When you are a freelance writer, time is money. Each article that you write means potential earnings. Every freelance writer has a different method of writing. You can write six to eight articles about one topic and have them done in two hours or you can write one very involved article that takes two hours. There are several factors involved in determining how long it takes to write an online article. Writing online requires that you write in a short and concise format. In fact, it is highly recommended that online articles not exceed about 800 words. There are several…

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Suffering overload

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Suffering overload

Are you suffering from overload? This can occur when you have too many social media sites to follow, when your workload seems impossible to manage or when you simply have too much on your mind. It’s not that uncommon among writers who are working long hours that involve not only writing but promoting their work and searching for their next assignment. This feeling can be overwhelming and if you find yourself feeling that you’re overloaded, chances are that you will not get as much done as you normally would. You have to be able to organize your work to make…

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