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Saturday, July 30, 2011

Should You Work from Home?

by: Allison Junior

Are you currently employed outside of the home? If you are, do you regularly find yourself frustrated with the daily commute to and from work? Do you regularly find yourself fed up with workplace gossip or antics that may go on at your company workplace? If you do, have you ever considered working from home? If working from home is something that you have considered, you should know that you are not alone. Wanting to work from home is a dream that many have, but is that dream one that could become a reality or should it become a reality for you?

When it comes to working from home, there are many individuals who have a misconception. Yes, working from home can involve working from home in your “down,” clothes, but there is much more to working from home than comfort. Before you automatically decide to ask your current employer about working from home or quit your job so that you can work from home, you will want to continue reading on.

One of the hardest parts about working from home is finding a work-at-home job or a work-at-home opportunity. Unfortunately, this is where many individuals make costly mistakes. Many mistakenly quit their jobs with the belief that it would be relatively easy for them to find a paid work-at-home job or a paid work-at-home opportunity. As previously stated, working from home is something that is rapidly increasing in popularity. What does this mean for you? It means that it can be difficult for you to find a legitimate work-at-home job or work-at-home opportunity, as there is a lot of competition for doing so.

A limited number of jobs is why it is advised that you do not terminate your current position with your employer until you have a steady work-at-home job or work-at-home opportunity lined up. This will prevent you from suffering from financial difficulties, should you be unable to find a work-at-home job or work-at-home opportunity that pays. The good news about this approach is that the internet enables you to research and apply for work-at-home jobs and work-at-home opportunities at just about any point in time, including in the evenings or on the weekends. You may also want to consider asking your current employer if you are able to work from home. This will all depend on the preference of your employer, as well as your work duties.

Although there are a number of different ways that you can go about finding work-at-home jobs or work-at-home opportunities, it is important to remember that working from home isn’t right for everyone. One of the many factors that you will want to take into consideration is your ability to follow a schedule or have your project submitted by a deadline without constant monitoring from your supervisor. Working from home is nice, but it essentially becomes your own responsibility to stay focused and stay on task. For that reason, if you regularly find yourself distracted at home, working from home may not be right for you.

Another one of the many factors that you will want to take into consideration, when looking to work from home is the startup costs. These startup costs will all depend on which work-at-home opportunity you decide to take. For instance, if you choose to start your own business, you will find that your startup costs will be higher than if you were a home based worker for another company. Of course, it is important to make sure that you do have all needed equipment pieces. These pieces may include a computer, internet access, a second dedicated phone line, a fax machine, or a copy machine. The good news is that you may already have all or most of these items inside your home.

Additional factors that you will want to take into consideration include health insurance, as most home based workers are not covered with medical insurance, and childcare, if you are a parent. A close examination should help you determine whether or not working from home is best for you.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Should You Open an eBay Store?

by: Shanon Dickinson

Are you an eBay seller? If you are, there is a good chance that you have heard of an eBay store before. In fact, you may even have your own eBay store. eBay stores are increasing in popularity. For that reason, if you currently don’t have an eBay store, you may be wondering whether or not you should open one. To determine whether or not you should open an eBay store, you may want to examine the advantages and disadvantages of having one.

Before examining the advantages and disadvantages of having an eBay store, you may be wondering exactly what one is. In a way, having your own eBay store can be compared to having your own retail store. By paying a small monthly fee, you are able to create your own customized “storefront.” This storefront is what customers will see when they visit your eBay store. For instance, you can make your own logo, create your own eBay store, and do much more. As previously mentioned, you must pay a small monthly fee to have an eBay store; however, you must also pay traditional final value and insertion fees. Despite having to pay traditional eBay fees, they are much lower than normal, if you have an eBay store.

Perhaps, a decrease in eBay fees is one of the biggest benefits to opening up your own eBay store. If you only sell a few items a month on eBay, it might not necessarily be worth it for you to open up an eBay store, but if you are a medium or high volume seller, you could save a considerable amount of money by opening up your own eBay store. It is also important to mention easy of use. Creating your own eBay storefront page is easy to do, as well as creating your own eBay listing. Despite being listed in your eBay store, you create all of your eBay listings the same way as you did before, with eBay’s step-by-step guide.

Although there are a number of advantages to having an eBay store, there are also a number of disadvantages or downsides to doing so as well. One of those downsides is marketing. Unlike many traditional auction listings and “Buy It Now,” listings, which show up in eBay searches, items inside eBay stores do not. Essentially, this means that it is your responsibility to get traffic to your eBay store. Without traffic, your eBay store items will not be able to sell. While there are easy ways to get traffic to your eBay store, like using traditional auction style listings, which will appear in eBay searches, and then place a link to your eBay store, and such, it can be time consuming to do. How you will make money is definitely something to consider before opening up an eBay store.

As you can see, there are a number of advantages and disadvantages to opening up an eBay store. The decision as to whether or not you want to open up an eBay store is yours to make, but you are advised to at least look into to doing so. Thoroughly researching and examining eBay stores is a great way to learn more about them, as well as gain insight into whether or not you can profit from having one. While having an eBay store isn’t for everyone, there are a number of eBay sellers who have noticed an increase in profit since opening their own eBay stores.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

How to Market Your Auctions on eBay

by: Shanon Dickinson

Are you an eBay seller? If you are, your goal is likely to make as much money as you can by selling products that you no longer need or want on eBay. Unfortunately, there are now thousands, if not millions, of individuals who are interested in doing the same thing. For you, this often means a steady increase in competition. However, even with competition, you should still be able to make a profit when using eBay, but you may need a little bit of help. That help could from marketing.

When many of us think of internet marketing, we often automatically think of online retail stores or online websites. Although you are not running your own online retail store, you are trying to make a profit online; therefore, you are, in a way, like a retailer. Just having your for sale items listed on eBay is enough to get your eBay items exposure, but you may want to think about taking it a step farther. There are a number of different ways that you can go about marketing your for sale eBay items, without having to spend a dime.

Perhaps, one of the best ways to go about marketing your eBay items is by joining the eBay community, otherwise known as the online message boards. When you talk with other eBay community members your screen name used is also your eBay name. In the eBay community forum, every time that you start a new message or respond to an existing one your name is left, with a link to your main eBay webpage. That is the age that outlines all of the items that you currently have available for sale. Many eBay community members click other member’s pages just out of curiosity, but it not uncommon for someone to find something that catches their eye. Simply starting a few conversations with other eBay community members, even just occasionally, may help to up your eBay exposure.

Another relatively easy way that you can market your eBay auction listings to the general public is by posting on a number of message boards, besides eBay. There are a number of message boards that allow internet users, just like you, to post information on items that they have available for sale, both on and off of eBay. Providing a link, as well as short description of some of the items that you are looking to sell is a great way to increase your eBay exposure and up your chances of making a sale. When taking this internet marketing approach, it is important that you only advertise your eBay listings in areas designated for doing so. Spamming is not permitted on many online message boards and it may actually get you a bad reputation.

Speaking of using online message boards, there are a number of online message boards or forums that allow members to have signatures. Signatures are where many people leave their name or a favorite quote of theirs, but some message boards allow members to use it as space to promote their products or businesses. Before posting a link to your eBay auctions, you are advised to examine the online message board’s policy concerning signature advertising. Should it be allowed, you are advised to take advantage of this free internet marketing. You will want to post a link to your eBay sales page, but be sure to mention that eBay is where all clickers will be going.

Another easy that you can promote your eBay items, particularly if you have multiple items for sale, is by putting a “please checkout my other eBay auctions,” message at the end of each of your eBay listings. As with all of the other above mentioned internet marketing tactics, this is easy and free to do.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Adgitize Changes Publisher Payout System

Adgitize has changing their pricing structure and will be reverting to their original pricing structure and will discontinue the "2010 Summer Promotion". The new system is expected to reduce the amount of revenue currently earned by publishers claimed Ken Brown. As I can see, if you want to earn $0.01 in a day, you must at least earn 100 points. Below is another important update taken from their blog. So, are with Adgitize? What do you think about this changes?

Forum Points to End

Adgitize will stop awarding forum points. Our desire to build a robust community that would help grow the advertising base was a good decision but did not produce the results we desired.

Earn More Points on 2nd and 3rd Ads

We have decided to increase the amount of points a second and third ad earns in our system. The 2nd and 3rd ads in our system will earn 100 points each. So, a member with 3 ads in our system will earn 300 advertising points.

Friday, July 15, 2011

Tips on Making Money on eBay, Not Losing It

by: Shanon Dickinson

Are you interested in becoming an eBay seller or are you a relatively new eBay seller? If so, you may still be learning the ins and outs of eBay. Selling on eBay is a great way to make money on the side or even enough to support yourself, but you have to be successful at what you do. Unfortunately, it can take time to fully learn the ins and outs of eBay, particularly how to become a profitable eBay seller, until now. Below some helpful tips are outlined; tips that you won’t necessarily find explained on eBay.

eBay sellers are all required to pay fees to list their items for sale on eBay. You are charged two separate fees, a listing fee or insertion fee and a final value fee. For the final value fee, you are charged a percentage of the price that your item sold for. The insertion fee or listing fee is figured out a little bit differently. Instead of being charged a percentage, you are charged a set amount. For instance, at the current moment, it costs .20 to list an item up to .99 cents and .40 to list an item for sale between $1.00 and $9.99, and the fee scale continues up in a similar fashion. Please remember that this is just a sample. eBay regularly changes their fees; therefore, you are urged not to rely on the aforementioned fee samples.

Although eBay sellers must pay the eBay fees mentioned above, many do not take the time to thoroughly understand those fees. You are advised against doing that, as it may end up costing you money. For instance, many of the price ranges for eBay’s insertion fee scale ends at .99 cents. For you, this is a great opportunity to save money, but you must know how to do so. As stated above, if you list one of your items at $9.99, the sample insertion fee would be only .40 cents. Did you know that if you listed your item for $10.00, your insertion fee could jump up to around .60 cents! An extra .20 cents just for a penny is pretty expensive, especially if you list a number of eBay auctions that way. Before listing items for sale on eBay again, examine eBay insertion fee sale and see how you can easily save money, sometimes by just shaving a few cents off your asking price.

It has often been said that to be a successful eBay seller, you need to have good product descriptions and clear digital pictures of the item or items that you are selling. Of course, having a number of pictures in your eBay listings is a great way to increase your chances of making a sale, but it can be expensive doing so. eBay allows sellers to post one picture for free. Additional pictures can be purchased for a small fee, but that small fee can add up overtime. For that reason, many eBay sellers limit the number of pictures they put in their auctions; however, you do not want to do this. Instead, you will want to examine photo sharing sites. Photo sharing websites, like PhotoBucket are a nice, fee way to add more pictures to your eBay auctions. Register with a photo sharing site, like PhotoBucket, follow the instructions and you should be saving money in no time at all.

The above mentioned ways are just a few of the many ways that you can save money on eBay, not lose it. In all honesty, you should do a little bit of research first. Using the internet is a great way to research selling on eBay, as many other eBay users will share their money making secrets with you, free of charge.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Banking and Finance Careers

by: Zaki Maulud

We all use math daily. While many of us just use the basics to keep track of how much money we gave and the change we should get, those who want to purse banking and finance careers do more than that to keep their clients happy.

People who work in banking and finance are paid well for the work that they do. Four of the fields that many professionals get into include accountancy and tax, Insurance, investment banking and retail banking. Let’s talk about each of these.

For people to work in accountancy and tax, you need to graduate and get your CPA or certified public accountancy license. To learn more about what you will be doing, many have to complete an on the job training with a legitimate accountancy firm.

The training period is about three years and afterwards, you can continue on staying with them, working for another firm or going into private practice.

Insurers just like accountants need to be licensed. This varies from state to state so you have to study and then pass the exam. Once you do so, your career may get you to sell property or casually insurance and life or health insurance.

You should also take further classes in the future because although you have your license already, rules change and you have to be aware of them.

Perhaps the biggest challenge selling insurance is deciding whether to work for an insurance company or doing this on your own. There are advantages and disadvantages doing both. When you are employed, you get a basic salary while those who decide to work for themselves can only make money earning commissions when a sale is made. How well you do is entirely up to you.

Investment banking is different from regular banking because you are there to raise capital for a company by issuing shares or bonds. Later on, you may even work with a team that advises companies regarding mergers and acquisitions.

Also under investment banking is capital markets. Here, the professional is tasked with trading bonds stocks and other financial products to increase the portfolio of the client.

But before you get into that, most entry levels personnel start out doing research first about certain companies and who are their competitors. Their information is then passed on to the account managers who will then advice the client.

Lastly is retail banking which many of us are aware of because these are the people we meet in the bank from the teller to the bank manager when we need to deposit or withdraw cash and apply for a loan.

Unlike accountancy or insurance, you don’t need to get a license to do this kind of work. You just have to be customer oriented with strong interpersonal and communication skills since you will be dealing with people.

Tax and accountancy, insurance, investment banking and retail banking are the four basic types of jobs for anyone that wants to pursue a banking and finance career after graduation from college. Career progression in any of them is excellent and this can only happen with additional training and at times a license.

This can be achieved by part time study so all you have to do now is weigh your options and then go for it.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

What to Consider Before Changing Career Fields

by: Hannah Jacobson

Are you currently unsatisfied with your job or the direction of your career? If you are, you may be interested in changing career fields. While this is more than possible to do, it is important to remember that not all jobs and career fields are the same. For example, just because you may make a great legal security, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you are qualified to work as a nurse or another healthcare professional. That is just one of the many factors that you will want to take into consideration, before changing career fields. A few of the other factors that you will want to take into consideration are outlined below.

As previously stated, not all jobs and career fields are the same. That is why it is important that you do not make any assumptions. Assuming is the worst mistake that you could ever make, especially with something as important as your career. Before officially deciding to change careers, you will want to take the time to thoroughly research each career field that you may be interested in entering. These career fields may include medical, automotive, legal, retail, and so forth. This research can easily be done online or at your local library. Important points that you will want to examine include current and forecasted job outlook, as well as pay.

Once you have at least one or two career fields that you would be interested in entering, you may want to start searching for open job positions. The only thing is that you may want to refrain from applying for any of those jobs just yet. Instead, you will want to examine a number of different factors. One of those factors is pay. For the positions that you would be interested in apply for is the pay enough to support your family? While some circumstances may allow you to take a pay cut, you may want to refrain from doing so if possible.

In addition to pay, you will want to examine some of the job openings that you are able to come across to learn as much as you can about average job requirements. These job requirements may include education, training, or previous work experience. What is nice about this information is that it is easy to come across. You will find that most job listings, both in print and online, will outline all of the requirements needed for the job. This will give you a good idea as to whether or not you are qualified for the job or jobs of your dreams. With that in mind, if you have yet to quit your job, you may want to take the time to take a few night or weekend training courses to help improve your training and experience.

In keeping with career training, if you are interested in increasing your chances, you will want to consider taking a few of these training courses or classes. They come in a number of different formats, but they are all designed to help you prepare for a career change. For example, hopeful accountants may learn how to prepare taxes, keep accurate business records, and so forth. In all honesty, the length of training needed or required will all depend on the career field that you are interested in entering.

If you are interested in using career training courses or classes to improve your chances of seeing a successful career change, you will want to use your local newspaper or the internet. Many career training courses are advertised in both locations. You may also want to examine your local community colleges or vocational centers to see what they have available. Yes, you will have to pay to attend a career training course or a class, but it will almost always be worth in the end. Hopefully, the end result will be a successful entrance into a new career field, namely the career field of your choice.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Are You Planning On Picking A Career In Finance?

by: Julian Chang

With the variety of jobs in the finance industry, you might at first be confused as to which particular careers in finance you would like to enter into. Of course, accounting and finance careers are traditionally started by one having a degree in either accounting or finance and while pursuing either degree, you are sure to have some encounter with finance job functions that might arouse your interest.

By the time you reach internship, too, hopefully you would already have an inkling of where to go. A problem, though, lies in the many overlaps between different career functions in finance jobs.

And still, there are questions you would again have to ask yourself. Would you like to work in a commercial bank or in an investment bank? Would you like to have for your career corporate finance functions or would you rather be a financial planner for individuals? Perhaps the best way to resolve some of the questions would involve asking yourself where your talents and interests lie.

Do you like having conversations with common working individuals and not just with fellow finance professionals? Perhaps a job in a lending institution would be right for you. You would be tasked to talk with people looking for loans and you could figure the maximum loans you could give out while keeping risks minimum for the lending institution.

And if you like traveling, perhaps a job estimating the value of real estate would be right for you. A huge percentage of the world’s assets lie in real estates and another talent could come into good use here involves having a bit of foresight regarding not just the current value of property but its future value. Take for example the Trump properties.

Are you interested in seeing the financial side of large companies’ inner workings? Then entering into corporate finance might be right for you. Here, you also have to know how to make sure that a company always has funds for its operations. You have to be able to create plans that make a company profit and know how to keep the company profitable. Other matters such as company mergers and new property acquisitions would rely on your company finance expertise to keep the company from entering into bad actions.

Do you have a talent for anticipating risks? Then maybe careers in finance in the insurance field would be where you belong. Often, businesses require the added stability that only a robust insurance policy could provide. The importance of insurance cannot be stressed enough, as businesses that lack security often have low stock values as it would end up lacking investor confidence.

Consider, too, the case of an entire country like Argentina recently experiencing economic troubles because of a lack of security in its banking system. A talent in anticipating risks is also a key in dealing with individual clients’ cases. This would involve dealing with individuals in creating policies for them that safeguard their lives and belongings. A critical eye is often needed in tailoring policies specific for each individual.

A car career finance insurance rate for an individual would vary depending on that individuals’ age, health and driving histories so a talent in micro-managing for each policy you write up is called for.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Payday Loans: Immediately Getting the Funds You Need

by: Suresh Kumar


What are payday loans? Basically, what this means is pay for a few days or a loan that you will pay off when your next salary day arrives. Now, why do people take this kind of loan? First of all, this type of loan is usually taken out by people who are a little short on cash because of a particular situation with their payday due in another two weeks.

So, imagine a situation where you've spent almost all your money on groceries and utility bills when an emergency situation arises, such as emergency medical situations. As if this is not frustrating enough, try adding the fact that your next salary is due in two more weeks and that you need the money right now to deal with the situation in your hands.

For most of you, you know that being in this kind of situation can be quite frustrating. It gives you the feeling of being useless.

Anyway, if you really do need the cash, then there is a way for you to do so. And, no you don’t have to sell your TV or your rare baseball card collection, but all you need to do is apply for a payday loan.

The great thing about this particular loan is that you don’t necessarily need to have a good credit rating in order to get approval from the lenders. The fact that you will present a post dated check named to the lender with a specific amount, they know for sure that you will be able to pay off the loan in time.

This means that there is little risk for lenders and much to gain, namely the service fee and the interest.

So, all in all, you don’t need to have a good credit score. In fact, some lenders don’t even take a look at your credit score when you apply for this kind of loan.

Another great thing about this type of loan is that application is easy and fast. You don’t need to present a bag full of documents just like you would in other loans, such as mortgages and car loans, but you will only need to fill out an application form and also a proof of your income.

Depending on how much you make, the lenders will determine how much they will be willing to lend you. They need to know if you have the capacity to repay the loan you are requesting. This is why they will want to take a look at your proof of income in order for them to know how much money you make, which will help them determine how much money they will lend you as well as know if you have the capacity to repay the loan.

That's it.

Also, the repayment for payday loans is quite flexible. In fact, there are even some repayment plans that you can choose from. Always remember that you need to choose the one that has repayment terms you are most comfortable with or else you will either end up penniless on the day of your salary or pay more interest than what you originally borrowed.

As you can see, payday loans are hassle free loans. With these loans, you can be sure that you will be able to avail of the funds you need at a moments notice.