Monday, March 29, 2010

How to Earn Additional Income

How to Earn Additional Income

It is always desirable to earn additional income whether it is the tough times or not. Having several income sources is good so that when one of them closes, you still have several options left. Don't put your eggs in one basket so to speak.

1. Write for Bukisa and other revenue-sharing sites. This is the first step because anyone can do this. Anybody who has a computer, internet connection and ideas that is. You don't need to be a book author or a seasoned writer to write articles. Just bring with you interest and discipline and you will go a long way.

2. Virtual Assistants. The best VAs earn around $30-50 an hour. Try Elance.com or Odesk.com to search for VA jobs.

3. Website design. During tough times, the most likely marketing vehicle that companies will use to promote their products and services would be thru websites or online since it costs less than TV advertising for instance, and can be accessed by people worldwide. Website design and other online jobs like eHow could be recession-proof,if not, recession-resilient alternatives. So never discount the power of online jobs.

4. Freelance writing. You can contact bloggers who are too busy to update their sites and offer to write for them. Some eke out a living by promoting blogsites/websites in other sites.

5. Blog. There are many sites that pay you to blog. You can join affiliate marketing, pay per click campaigns such as the Google Adsense program, Shopping networks, Inline Contextual ads, Pay Per Post and other ways to earn.

6. Graphics Artist. If you know how to develop eye-catching graphics or make logos then you could earn a lot of money in this kind of business. Designing logos alone could keep you busy all throughout the year.

7. Develop your passion. Is there something you love to do? Maybe you are like my sister-in-law who loves photography. Or my brother who loves to play tennis. My sister-in-law now runs her own photo business and my brother runs his ebay store selling, of all things, tennis racquets.


source: How to Earn Additional Income
http://www.bukisa.com/articles/9142_how-to-earn-additional-income

How to Make Money Online

How to Make Money Online with Tutor

with Tutor.com
.Tutor.com is an online tutoring service that matches live online tutors with online students. This platform actually pays out hourly wages to its tutors and is legitimate online work with high volume traffic.

Step 1: Create a free account with Tutor.com. Go to http://www.tutor.com and move your mouse over the “Our Tutors” tab on the upper right. The “become a tutor” option will appear. Click on it. You will be directed to a page which displays an “Apply Now…” link. Click on it. A pop-up window with appear with a button labeled “Create Account.” Click on it. Fill out their application and authenticate your account.

Step 2: Become certified in specific tutoring subjects. To do this, navigate through the tutor.com website as you did to create your account until you reach the pop-up window, then enter your email and password and click “Log In.” A page will appear with a dropdown menu that is populated with different subjects that student requests for help fall into. The subjects with asterisks (*) by them are in high demand. If you pass an exam for a subject that is in high demand, you are more likely to be contacted by Tutor.com to continue the application process. Additionally, passing high demand subject tests and more subjects in general will improve your chances of being matched with students. You will find more work more frequently.

Step 3: Each of these subject tests is 25 multiple choice questions, and you have the option of repeating a test after 30 days if you didn’t pass it on your first try.

Step 4: Respond to Tutor.com’s emails inviting you to become a tutor. This process takes about two weeks and includes a mock tutoring session, downloading the Tutor.com classroom software, and a background check. You will be paid as an independent contractor.

Step 5: Begin tutoring. Be careful to make these tutoring sessions positive experiences for students. You can make money in your scheduled hours and by being logged on and available to field students who occasionally exceed the scheduled tutor capacity.

Working with this website is the closest thing to financial security I have seen because you can work from anywhere and schedule flexible hours. Outside of your scheduled hours you can remain available to tutor excess students in the system, which occur occasionally. This feature makes tutor.com a great way to supplement other telecommuting work that you can put down and pick up at will.


http://www.bukisa.com/articles/195556_how-to-make-money-online-with-tutorcom

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Write a Great Resume

Write a Great Resume
.Applying for new jobs can be time consuming and nerve wracking, especially in the current job climate. Having an effective resume is extremely important if you want to have an edge on the competition. Follow these tips to create your best resume ever.

•Step 1
Your Resume Objective

What are you trying to accomplish with your resume? It's important to start with a clearly defined career objective so that you can write a resume that conveys the experience, training and skills that best describe your overall professional aspirations.

Hiring managers are busy and they can't afford to waste any time trying to figure out what your career goals are. Rest assured, they won't take the time to do this; they'll just move on to the next resume.

•Step 2
Write a Winning Employment History

It's important to give the hiring manager the information needed to make a quick decision about your credentials; this will give you an edge over other applicants.

List your employment history in such a way as to capture the hiring manager's attention. Emphasize past employment that will accentuate the position you want now.

•Step 3
Your Education Matters

You can use your resume's education section to outshine your competition. Often, people are unsure about where to place their education. Should education come before experience or should experience come before education? The best placement depends on what you are trying to emphasize.

If you have five or more years of experience related to the job that you are applying for, then place experience before education. Hiring managers will be more interested in your job accomplishments than your education.

On the other hand, if you are a recent graduate or have less than five years of work experience, then it is best to place education before experience.

•Step 4
Proofread your resume to ensure that there are no spelling or grammatical errors. Have someone else proofread it, too. As you're proofreading it, proofread for clarity. Does your resume make sense? Does it say what you want it to say?

•Step 5
Keep your resume concise. A page or two is sufficient depending on your level of education and experience.

.http://www.bukisa.com/articles/265898_write-a-great-resume

3 Easy Steps In Office Time Management

3 Easy Steps In Office Time Management


Ways to improve your work productivity. From email to how you start your morning...





1. Focus on a great exit. Very easy to miss, but this small fact can have impressive effects. Even before coming to work, as you do your morning routine, think ahead at the moment you will be leaving work.


Find the energy you want to have, the satisfaction about getting the work done, and anything that you want to get accomplished that day. Many times this will remind you of items you need to take with you from home, that would have been forgotten otherwise. Office time should not be a draining experience where one mindlessly slaves away for countless hours, but a high performance, enjoyable activity, as that's the state in which we are most productive.

2. Show up early, and DON'T just get to work. Instead, use the first 20-30 minutes to setup your desk and computer as you like it, have your coffee, do some personal web surfing (if that's allowed) or make any changes that you've been putting off for months. Doing this will start your day on a positive note, that has great chances of improving. Even if things go downhill later, you can fall back on the fact that you already made some improvements.



Since you're not on company time yet, you can also take the time to make observations about the office, that you otherwise wouldn't have the time for. Could some of your tasks be simplified ? Could some of your colleagues' ? Use this time to make the strategic, long-term changes that make the difference. Your work day will start much better after using your brain this way.

If a boss / supervisor tries to direct you towards work, point out that you are not on the clock yet, or if you do decide to contribute and get to work, keep in mind that you are doing it as a personal contribution, and this is extra performance of your part. If you do this consistently, you can expect to be noticed and rewarded, or start a negotiation for a raise, with solid facts to back you up.



3. Remove interruptions. This can be tricky, especially in open space offices, but there are strong means at your disposal. Wear a headset and pretend you're on the phone, have a huge stack of papers you appear to work on, anything that will clearly send the message that you're not to be interrupted. If anyone does come around with idle chatter you don't particularly want, use 'can't talk right now, please send me an email'. This will deter most intruders, and after a few encounters they will remember interruptions don't work on you.

Disable the Auto Send/Receive in your Outlook, Unless you absolutely need to see each email the second it arrives. This change of settings alone can do wonders for your office experience. Not being interrupted all day long by that new message notification, will provide clean, free periods of time in which to get actual work done.


And when does one check email with this method ? For that and more, please see the next article in this series, 3 More Steps in Office Time Management, or visit the author's website - OfficePerformance.net


http://www.bukisa.com/articles/266468_3-easy-steps-in-office-time-management


Source: 3 Easy Steps In Office Time Management

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Cover Letter Samples

Cover Letter Samples


Looking for a job is never easy. No matter how skilled or how experience you are, you have to worry about how you appear to a potential employer. Even those who have had years of experience often times find that getting the job of their dreams is not as easy as they thought it would be. You have to make sure you start out with an amazing résumé, and this must be accompanied by a great cover letter. If you aren’t sure how to write either of these, you can find good examples online. Cover letters seem to be the hardest, and this is why you want to do a search for cover letter samples.

The great thing about cover letter samples is that you can find one that you can adapt to your own needs. There are so many different types of cover letters that it can be hard to decide what you need to include. Though I am a writer, I often have problems with my cover letters. I always have a problem finding the right wording for the position I’m looking for. I can look online and find cover letter samples for almost anything I want. This means that if I am looking for a job as a receptionist, I can find a sample that someone else has used successfully with a résumé.

It is important to remember that you should take the cover letter samples that you find and make them your own. You do not want to hand someone else’s cover letter in to a potential employer. When you find cover letter samples that you think will work well for your purposes, you have to cut them up and make them your own. You have to add your own contact information of course, but you also have to remember to tailor that sample to the specific position and company to which you are applying.

What you have to remember is that these people see a great number of cover letters throughout their careers. This is especially true if you are dealing with a human resources department. If you hand in cover letter samples that you have not taken the time to rewrite, these people are going to know it. Most companies are looking for original thinkers, and if you hand in a rather dull and overused cover letter, they aren’t going to find what they’re looking for in you. Use cover letter samples as guides to writing your own, never use them as the exact template for what you want to say to someone you hope to impress.

http://www.xomba.com/cover_letter_samples

How To Write Great Cover Letter E-mails

How To Write Great Cover Letter E-mails
Sure, you've read page after page about how to write good cover letters to enhance your job hunt...but in this day and age, it often happens that mail-order job applications are a thing of the past for many companies. Filling jobs through the internet makes the entire process faster and easier and can be a boon to both employers and potential employees, but when it comes time to apply through e-mail, how best to proceed?

In my experience as a job-hunter and former employment specialist, people often don't know how to handle e-mail job queries. As a result, they often overlook what can be one of the best job-hunting tools in their possession. Job hunting through e-mail is quick and effective, and it can allow you to increase your chances of finding a job sooner as it's not at all difficult to send 10 or more application e-mails a day!

It's easy enough to attach a resume as a .doc file when one is requested, but should you send a page-long, traditional cover letter as well? Should you send it as an attachment? If so, what do you write in the body of the letter?

Personally, I advise to never attach or copy-and-paste a full, professional, cover letter, unless it is specifically requested. E-mails are expected to be short and to the point, and cover e-mails are no exception. It's expected that the message accompanying your attached resume will be a miniature version of a cover, one that gets the job done and nothing extra.

So what should this short message include? Well, one thing it doesn't necessarily have to include is the usual salutation. As with most e-mails, you can start by getting right to the point. (Needless to say, you don't have to include a header, either). Your first sentence should be a brief statement about why you're writing the e-mail (you're applying for the job) and how you found out about the position.

Next, you write the body of your message. So what gets left out? Usually, it's the self-promoting paragraphs about previous job experience. Not that you won't be doing self promoting, but you have to do it a bit more succinctly in an e-mail. And you have to summarize your previous job experience in just a paragraph.

Here's the format I like to use:

Quick introduction: just one sentence where you tell them how you found out about the position in question and say you'd like to be considered for it.

Paragraph 1: Tell them you've attached your resume and summarize the qualifications that your work experience has given you. This can largely be a list of the skills and experience you have, followed by a sentence about what you enjoy and are seeking in a professional experience.

Paragraph 2: Talk about your current (or most recent) job experience and why you are leaving/have left to seek new employment.

Closing: Ask to be contacted for an interview and include your phone number and contact details.

End salutation: Thank them for considering you and “sign” with your full name.

For an example, here's one of my old cover e-mails:

Dear (Name Withheld),

I saw your posting on Craigslist and am interested in applying for the temporary admin assistant position.

Attached is my resume. As you can see, I am a recent college grad with experience in office administration. I have a wide range of experience in administrative assistance and am skilled in the use of Word, Excel, QuickBooks, and Outlook. I thrive in busy environments where I am expected to learn new skills quickly and take direction while taking initiative. I type with high accuracy at 85 WPM, am proficient in 10-key typing, and enjoy customer contact both via phone and in person. Though I'd be new to work in the medical profession, I would work diligently to make sure that I learned what I needed to as efficiently as possible.

Recently, I worked as a receptionist and bookkeeping assistant for (Name Withheld) here in (Name of city), but was unfortunately let go due to the business experiencing financial hardship. Since then I have been working to make the move to supporting myself as a freelance writer, but I miss having a regular daily occupation and am seeking supplementary work.

I hope you will consider me for an interview. Please feel free to contact me at (e-mail address) or at my cell phone number: (number).

Thank you for your time and consideration,
Lauren Vork

Piece of cake. So what do you do if you've been asked to include a cover letter as an attachment? Then your e-mail will simply look something like this:

Dear (Name Witheld),

I saw your posting on Craigslist and am interested in applying for the temporary admin assistant position. As per instructions, attached is my resume and cover letter for your consideration.

Thank you,
Lauren Vork

So there you have it. Now you can job search through e-mail to your heart's content. You won't find many faster ways to find work!



http://www.xomba.com/how_to_write_great_cover_letter_e_mails