Category: Business

Could I Write a “Simple Letter” and Get Paid for it?

Posted by The Team –

by Misty S Bledsoe

Getting paid well for your writing allows you to have a much more mobile lifestyle. Photo courtesy of manuere/Morguefile.com

Getting paid well for your writing allows you to have a much more mobile lifestyle. Photo courtesy of manuere/Morguefile.com

Copywriting is a type of writing that specializes in content that is designed to turn a reader into a customer for a product or service. Writing this type of content requires special training in the tools and tricks of the trade to know what is truly effective. American Writer’s and Artist’s Institute Online is one of the strongest places I’ve ever experienced or worked with. What convinced me is that, well, let me back up a second.

For those of you who know me, I’ve been writing since my 4th grade teacher gave me a C for my first paragraph story problem! I’ve read and written several different genres and have sold hundreds of articles, but I was still seeking a way I could get paid well for my writing.

That’s when I got a pamphlet in the mail detailing “The Writer’s Life” so to speak where I could learn to write a simple letter that would literally sell for thousands. I don’t impulsively spend my money on much of anything. I waited about two years before I actually purchased their course. I spent the time investigating the company and their resources. I subscribed to their free newsletter, took their course and since then my writing has had the proper “injection” of juice that it really needs.

And yes, I have been able to write “Simple Letters” that literally have paid me back more than expected because I’ve used their techniques in my content. If you feel you need that extra “injection” to get you past where you are are, then be sure to visit the site and see how their courses could help you as well.

Stretching your Advertising Budget: Getting the Word Out

Posted by The Team –

by Misty S Bledsoe

Get your business name out there so your customers can easily find you. Photo courtesy of mconners/Morguefile.com

Get your business name out there so your customers can easily find you. Photo courtesy of mconners/Morguefile.com

Running any kind of a business requires consistent and effective marketing. This applies to the one person who is a freelance writer all the way up to publically held companies keeping their logos in front of the eyes of the customer. Marketing can take on many facets but budget will ultimately decide what options are chosen.

To get your business name and contact information into every major online directory, consider enrolling the services of Universal Business Listings. Their services are affordable at only $30 a year as of this writing. In a world where time is money, Universal Business Listings, considerably saves the business owner time in terms of having to submit their contact information to every major directory, make sure each one is properly updated when needed, and keeping track of their effectiveness. Using Universal Business Listings basically takes that task over and because it’s relatively inexpensive, it makes an attractive “give it a try” for any business owner seeking to add online directories to their marketing arsenals. Interestingly enough, Universal Business Listings allows users to sign up for an affiliate program, meaning the business owner can enroll, refer their colleagues and potentially earn the money back they spent in their initial investment.

Affiliate marketing, free article reprints and otherwise participating in relative discussions in form and discussion boards can all help get the word out for many businesses who wish to attack it from an online perspective.

Both sides of Affirmative Action in the Workplace

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by Misty S Bledsoe

alvimann/Morguefile.com

alvimann/Morguefile.com

When it comes to discrimination in hiring, affirmative action programs both helps and hinders the avoidance of such things. For example, in hiring practices, it is theoretically required by law that employers hire the best candidate or candidates to perform the essential job duties the most efficiently with the least amount of cost to them. If there is a company who notoriously only hires one sex versus the other even though both sexes apply, then affirmative action will help to curb this and help to even things out.

If there is a company who has many different types of candidates applying and the best one for the job is not a minority, but in this case because of affirmative action if the company has to hire a minority to fill a quota, then this hinders the employer and the candidates. First, the right person for the job missed the opportunity because the law stated the company had to hire a certain number of minorities. Second, the company missed the best worker because they had to hire a different candidate just because that person was a minority.

Affirmative action has also been known as reverse discrimination. This is because of the above scenario and this is when affirmative action begins to defeat the purpose of why it was created. In the above case, the company has now discriminated against the right person for the job based on the affirmative action needs rather than the qualifications of the candidate. To avoid this dilemma, it’s best if the company aim its job announcements and advertising where a diverse group of people are most likely to be. This will allow a diverse group of candidates to apply and then hopefully the company will be able to not only hire the right person for the job but also meet its minimum required hired requirements minorities.

What Shows Recruiting you have What it Takes

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by Misty S Bledsoe

When hundreds of applicants apply for the same job, your resume only has a few seconds to actually show those reviewing them that you have what it takes to do the job at hand. Your resume must be active, show professionalism, and above all be less than one page long. Even in advanced job environments or unless the company such as the government requests longer than one page of resume, you should always keep it at one page. Timing is everything.

Human Resources and Recruiting are always looking for the ideal candidate. Resumes that come closest to portraying their ideal candidate will get interviews first. The goal of a resume is strictly to win a job interview.

One Page

HR and Recruiting professionals are so busy; resumes that are more the one page get looked at last if at all. If it requires extra effort to read your resume, it’s already a hit against you. Cut out any unnecessary, irrelevant information. This may mean having more than one resume built and ready to go.

Accomplishments not Duties

List your actual accomplishments you did at your last job with measureable numbers. If you are currently employed, take time to review your accomplishments with specific measureable numbers. You may use those figures and data on your resumes. Accomplishments read like this: Increased applicant capacity by 22% over a 3-month period by working with my team to effect change. Duties read like this: operated a fax machine, typed up documents, sorted mail. The duties are obvious to professionals in the HR world. It doesn’t tell us how well you did your job.

Career Advancements

Along with accomplishments, include any professional awards you’ve received and a brief description (if you have it on your one page) for what. Advancement shows personal development and growth, both of which are positive indicators you want to stay active in a career.

Actionable

Use verbs whenever possible and write in a present or forward tense manner. Use past tense verbs only when describing positive action. Show activities or projects you’ve been involved in and it will also give HR an indication of how you work within a team environment.

Title Headings and Fonts

Standard headings are considered professional but many times they just aren’t useful. Consider changing “Professional Skills” to “Professional Accomplishments” as an example. That goes from listing what you know how to do to showing HR you know how to be effective with those skills. Consider changing “Work History” to “Professional Background” and so on. Never use more than two fonts and keep it black and white. It’s naturally easier on the eyes.

When deciding what else to change in your resume keep “What can I do to make finding this information as easy and relevant as possible?” Be ruthless in your editing and if it makes it easier to find and easier on the eyes, then do it. Doing these things will automatically increase your chances of having your resume chosen for an interview.

Never say the Following in a Job Interview…

Posted by The Team –

by Misty S Bledsoe

A phone or in person job interview is your chance to convince the interviewers why you are the best candidate for the job. The following is a list of things that job applicants have actually given during interviews. These are not what employers want to hear.

Q. “Why do you want to work for our company?”

A. “I need a job.”

Recruiting professionals know you are looking for work. This is why you are applying. What employers are really looking to hear is a reason you are interested in their company. It indicates what kind of research you’ve done on the job or the company. A better answer is something to the effect of, “Your Company interests me because I like working in a (fill in the blank) type of environment and I’ve seen nothing but good things about company in the press. I really think working for your company will allow me to grow professionally while making a difference.”

Q. “Where do you see yourself in five years?”

A. “Well, where I really want to work is at (inserts another company) and I’m just using this position to kind of help me get there. Truthfully, if you ask me, I would love nothing more than to not be working or pursuing my favorite hobby.”

Recruiters and Hiring Managers know you have your own personal goals but telling them about your personal goals or that you are just using their company is a mistake. What they are looking to hear is your professional goals possibly within their company. A more appropriate answer would be something similar to: “By then I will have finished (or started) on my degree in (pick something). I think learning a secondary language would be helpful and I definitely want to pursue a management type of position. Training and developing people has always been an interest of mine.” This verbiage may not apply directly to you, but you get the point.

Q. “Do you have any objections to submitting to a drug test?”

A. “Do you know how long it takes for marijuana to get out of your system?”

When a hiring manager or interviewer hears this type of response, they have to physically restrain themselves from cringing and or laughing. This is not a good indication you will be a good employee. The only appropriate answer to this questions is: “None.” On a side note, because of HIPAA regulations (Health Information Portability and Accountability Act), employers are actually not allowed to ask about health conditions as long as it has no bearing on the actual job requirements itself. If asked about a drug test and you are taking prescription drugs, keep the information to yourself, as it has no bearing on hiring decisions. The drug collection site and employers have processes in place to handle prescription drugs that may flag a positive test result. If you’re very concerned about it you could ask the interviewer or drug collection facility, “If an applicant was taking any prescription medications, do you require to see a listing of them?” In most cases, the answer will be “No,” or instructions will be provided to you at that time, but the employer should not need to see a list of them.

The most important thing to remember is to keep all your answers professionally orientated when it comes to goals, concerns, and social life. An interviewer does not need to know if you have children or trouble with finding daycare or your marital status. A general reassurance to the employer would sound similar to: “I would need two weeks to be available.” This takes care of any concerns the employer might have without showing you might be nervous or dealing with other possibly intense personal issues.

Looking for a Career in Computers?

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jdurham/Morguefile.com

jdurham/Morguefile.com

by Misty Bledsoe

Computer careers can take on various forms and specializations. Computer careers include working with software creation, hardware installation, and maintenance. Others choose to investigate and prevent cybercrimes for both independent and governmental business.

Networks

Network Administrators are in charge of a business’s local area hardware and software network making sure everything runs smoothly from day to day. Usually a four-year degree is required for this work.

Database

Database Administrators typically design and maintain the master database files for companies keeping them updated and functioning properly. They also prepare the master files for future uses requires a four-year degree.

Programming

A computer programmer develops software to client specifications, tests, debugs, and documents it. They usually work in a team environment but can also work alone and at times will be outside normal business hours.

Forensics

Computer Forensics Analysts delve deep into user activity on networks to provide documented evidence of cybercrimes that can be presented in a court of law. These positions require a four-year degree.

Support

Help desk support acts in response to client’s requests for help if hardware or software is not working correctly. They perform troubleshooting via phone and in person. This usually requires one to two years of schooling.

You have Exactly 7 Seconds to get their Attention or Else…

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alvimann/Morguefile.com

alvimann/Morguefile.com

by: Misty S Bledsoe

You have just seven seconds to get the attention of a Recruiter or other HR professional who is about to decide whether or not they bring you in for an interview.

“If I had even just a nickel for every resume I saw like this, I wouldn’t need to have this job,” I told my Recruiter. I worked for a global Fortune 500 company for awhile working as  Recruiting Assistant in a call center. We hired a lot of people all the time and part of my job was to scour the internet for resumes. After seeing the sheer number of individuals with “cookie cutter” resumes, as I loved to call them, I realized some education institutions were telling their students to craft their resume this way. (My own university’s career department was just as guilty and didn’t like working with me anymore after I insisted this is not what employers are looking for).

Some important things to remember and despite incredible amounts of information out there saying not to do these things people still do them.

DO NOT:

Put your age, sex, any religious affiliations you belong to, or how many kids you have. Employers aren’t allowed to discriminate against you, but the person who reviews your resume is human and comes with subconscious prejudices. Putting any of these things on your resume will subconsciously trigger an instant “Let’s see how many other applicants we have…” whether the reviewer is aware of it or not — especially if there are hundreds to choose from. Don’t even give it a chance to develop.

List your job duties. In the recruiting world, we are familiar with most positions out there and it’s automatically known that you know how to type, can answer a phone, use a fax, and speak with respect to customers. It’s a waste of space.

Make your resume more than 1 page long. For the love of everything that is good and true, please (begging) don’t do this. We have so much to do to get our regular jobs done while our bosses are asking us to do more and the last thing we have time to do is to wade through more than a one page resume.

Don’t list a general objective. We know them by heart. Make it specific. Bad Example: To get a job working in the administrative field. Good Example: To help facilitate cost savings & increasing productivity for your company working in Administration & growing professionally.

Add References. There is enough identity theft going around. Employers find that if you respect your references’ information by not plastering it all over a resume, that there’s a good chance you’ll be just as careful with their company and client information.

Taking this information out alone should cut down the wasted space found in most resumes. Removing these will automatically improve your chances of being taken seriously by a Recruiter or HR Professional.

For more on information on what goes on behind closed doors in the Recruiting world in one place, I found this to be good reading.

Could I Make Cash Today on the Internet?

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clarita/Morguefile.com

clarita/Morguefile.com

by Misty S Bledsoe

That’s what I asked when I began yet another search. 

Remember: you’re in charge of your choices. I didn’t want to be locked away behind a cubicle for the rest of my days, knowing my kids were in day care full time and my spouse and I only seeing each other in between the chores and errands that had to be done on our days off. There are many ways to make money on line and when I found the e-book, “20 Ways to Make $100 Per Day Online,” I was eager to see if I could find something new, something that would finally work with my scheduling restrictions and budget.

I had purchased several things in the past and learned a lot from the various programs that are available. What I didn’t have was a lot of time and I didn’t have a lot of cash. Everything you do online requires some amount of  W.O.R.K. You can’t get pass that. Period.

When I ordered my copy of “20 Ways to Make $100 Per Day Online,” I immediately found two things: 1) I had seen some of these methods before since I’ve spent a good deal of time researching the industry and 2) I found methods I hadn’t heard of yet. What amazed me the most was this: I had spent years learning about some of this stuff and I had to purchase several types of separate packages and programs to do it with, but with “20 Ways to Make $100 Per Day Online,” I had actually found useful informative methods that anyone who has an desire to work with could sit down and start doing—all in ONE place.

After reading through it and realizing how valuable this could be for those looking for ways to make some cash online, I knew this was going to be a tremendous resource to have at their fingertips. You can actually get 20 different methods all in the same e-book and it’s laid out so that you can pick and choose and read on the sections you’re interested in. Was it worth the price? Definitely. I recommend this for anyone searching for way to finally make some extra cash from the internet. You have nothing to lose by checking it out… 20 Ways to Make $100 Per Day Online.

About

Posted by The Team –

Misty Bledsoe lives in the Puget Sound and holds a Bachelors degree in Information Technology with a concentration in Computer Programming from American Intercontinental University. She has been writing for more than 15 years for both offline and online publications both under her own name and psuedonyms.  Her primary blog is found on this site and chocked full of useful information on a variety of topics.

(c)2008-2010 Misty S. Bledsoe. All Rights Reserved including code manipulation. No part of this blog may be reproduced without the author’s expressed written permission.