Sunday, October 26, 2014

8 Warnings Signs for Work at Home Job Scams

CBS moneywatch did a recent article of 8 things to watch for work at home job scams.   Here are their tips
Few details: Real job postings include lots of detail about the actual job, the skills required and the title. If a job is short on requirements -- from hours and duties to the kind of skill required -- but talks repeatedly about the flexible nature of the work, consider it a red flag.  
High pay/low effort: Listen to your gut, says Durst. Is somebody really going to be offering you easy work and a flexible schedule for high pay? Promising that their "guaranteed system" will make you a mint, if you act now? Get real. Unless your skill set is in such high demand that you'd get as much or more from a brick-and-mortar position, a work-at-home opportunity isn't either.   If is sounds too goo to be true it probably is 
Burned applicants: Before applying for an online opportunity, type in the name of the company and "scam," suggests Fell. If it's one of the many bogus jobs, you'll quickly find web-based complaints. Durst also likes work-at-home forums, such as those at wahm.com and workplacelikehome.com. She suggests that anyone serious about finding good opportunities, register at these sites and just lurk in the forums to find out what other people are complaining about. "Hell hath no fury like a mom scammed," she says. "If somebody's been burned, they're going to tell you about it in no uncertain terms."   Agreed work of  mouth on these "jobs" is fast. I  will often type if company  name and scam into google and tons of stuff will come up 
Upfront cash: Real jobs pay you. You don't pay the employer. Unless you're buying a franchise (and that's another story altogether), you should not have to pay to get paid. Don't be fooled by slick claims, testimonials or "guaranteed programs" designed to make you rich. If they're asking for money in advance to get a job, they're likely to be crooks.   Dont spend your own money here there are some legit companies like LiveOps and Arise  that do a background check that do a small charge-do your home work here 
Too much information: Though most work-at-home scams seek cash payments from victims, a few appear to be going after the personal information that could make you a target of identity theft. You don't need to put your Social Security number or driver's license number on a job application. If the application asks for those identifying numbers or for a credit card number, back away.    Hold off on giving your social security number until you are fillling out a W-9 form
Anonymous emails: If you're dealing with a human resources manager at a particular company, their email address should be coming from the company's domain name, not an anonymous domain like Gmail, Yahoo or AT&T.   A real company is going to use a real email addy 
Unprofessional communication: Job postings and email communications with multiple exclamation marks, misspellings and grammatical errors are also likely to be scams.
Over payments: One of the pervasive mystery shopper scams provides big up-front checks to mystery shoppers, who are instructed to deposit the money in their own bank accounts; use what they need to buy an inexpensive product and pay themselves a fee. The mystery shopper is then told to wire the remaining funds back to the "employer." In reality, the check the scammer gave you is a forgery. But it may be a good enough fake to keep your bank guessing past the point when banking rules require that they "provisionally" provide the funds. What does that mean? It will look like the check cleared. But the bank will debit your account later if the check is a fake -- and that could happen weeks after you've spent the money. You're on the hook for the cost of the purchased products, whatever amount you refunded to the crook, as well as any overdraft fees that the fake check caused.

Friday, October 03, 2014

Freelance writing and blogging jobs October 3rd


We have an immediate need for sharp copy editors who can help with a few large projects. Copy editing teams are fine, too. 
Requirements include: 
* You MUST be able to follow very specific directives. These projects are big and come with lots of directives, like how long to make meta descriptions, keywords and HTML coding. 
* English must be your first language. Grammar and punctuation is vitally important. 
* You must be able to copy edit on a tight deadline. 
This is adult content (but not pornographic).

Are you an avid follower of the cloud industry’s latest trends and news? You are not afraid of the words cloud web hosting, online backup? Can you write 1,000 word post without tripping over common grammar mistakes and spelling errors?

If so, please get in touch with us at Cloudwards.net for a writing gig. 



Here are the qualifications you’ll need to join us:


1. A solid grasp of the English language, you will be tested over this more than once. 



2. Basic knowledge and understanding of the cloud industry. If you’ve never heard of Dropbox, and don’t how to use it, this might not be the gig for you. In order to be considered for this gig please add the words blue panda to your application. 



3. A healthy respect for deadlines. Seriously, no late party poopers allowed! 



4. A casual yet informative tone, that can engage readers without speaking down to them. 

We are looking for a blogger that can write 1,000 to 2,000 word articles 2x per week including photos on the following topics:
-Cooking & recipes
-Culinary practices
-Culinary fashion
-And restaurant business

Articles needs to be:
-Visual driven, including images to illustrate recipes and examples. (If you can provide photography, even better.)
-Have personality. Example: http://theelliotthomestead.com/2014/09/homemade-pesto-recipe/
-Backed with data and example for any claims. 

Freelance Copywriter Needed for eCommerce Store
Project: Web copywriting services for an ecommerce store that specializes in bags and accessories. Description: To rewrite and optimize the copy with heavy emphasis on the benefits of our products. The current copy is very features-heavy and we want it to be geared towards product benefits ..

Freelance Blogger
Peace Bicycles is a new brand and we need a Bicycle Expert/Enthusiast Blogger for Peacebicycles.com. Your job would be to write useful entertaining information like how to's and advice as a useful source for our customers and to attract traffic back to our eccommerce site ...

 Freelance Fact-Checker
Candidates must have experience fact-checking feature stories at a monthly magazine. Please include at least one reference in your cover letter. Responsibilities include fact-checking feature stories and essays on a semi-regular basis. Some additional research/sidebar work may be necessary .

 Freelance Copywriter
Mindhard is looking for a freelance copywriter with experience writing explainer videos for the tech industry. This is an offsite position working on one client project. You may be required to come in for one or two meetings. Please send resume, writing samples/portfolio and freelance rate card .

 Freelance Content Web Writer
We are looking for a Freelance Content Web Writer to help write content for our Web Site www.ciberspring(com). We are moving to a company more focused on Digital Marketing and Marketing Automation. Any experience with writing content for a company like that is a huge plus ...

 Freelance Writers
Apartment Ratings, the largest online rating community for rental housing, is looking for experienced writing professionals to become regular blog contributors. We’re looking for individuals who write with a friendly and conversational tone that can provide information to our readers ...


 Freelance Writer (NJ)
We are an outdoor and hiking, guidebook publisher looking for an outdoor enthusiast. We are looking for a person who is passionate about hiking in New Jersey. This is a paid job for an experienced writer who is passionate about hiking in New Jersey ...

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Real Work at home telecommuting jobs Sept 23rd


We're currently accepting applications for our part-time Contact Center opportunities. These opportunities are Work-from-Home positions that require sound customer service skills and the desire to meet the needs of our customers. The ideal candidates will possess strong communication and computer skills.
Our Classes will be starting in the near future.
If your qualifications meet the requirements and qualifications of the position, we will reach out to you for an interview
Kaplan Pre-College has an immediate opening for a Verbal Content Developer. The successful candidate will work hands-on as a key member of the Content and Curriculum team to develop high-quality print, online, digital, and question-based content for PSAT, SAT, and ACT products.

Kaplan Pre-College is a highly collaborative team that works in a fast-paced environment to create high-quality PSAT/SAT/ACT course, retail, and K12 materials, test questions, video content, and support media for delivery via print, digital, live online, and mobile devices. The Verbal Content Developer will report to the Pre College-Content Manager -- Verbal.

JOB SUMMARY
• Revise, edit, and develop pedagogically-sound student- and teacher-facing content for PSAT, SAT, and ACT programs including retail, course, and K12
• Revise, edit, and develop pedagogically-sound lesson content complete with homework questions, and answer explanations
• Revise, edit, and develop video scripts, Classroom Anywhere slides, and content for digital resources
• Partner with the training team to develop appropriate training resources for new and veteran instructors


Like Facebook? Ready to tweet at a moment’s notice? As a social media professional mod, you’ll work with today’s top and emerging clients to rock out a killer social media strategy. Social media managers are on the front lines of their community: listening, engaging, and gathering feedback as both the voice and ears for their brand. Organized, driven, and motivated, social media professionals are also savvy with creating comprehensive reports to share with marketing, developers, PR, and customer service teams.
The Care Manager II –Pre-Service Review/Prior Auth performs advanced and complicated case review and first level determination approvals for inpatient, outpatient and ancillary services requests, exclusive to a Medicare population. Reviews include medical appropriateness and medical necessity determination requiring considerable clinical judgment, independent analysis, critical-thinking skills and detailed knowledge of departmental procedures and clinical guidelines. Acts as liaison between the beneficiary and the network provider and HN to utilize appropriate and cost effective medical resources.



This is an overnight position which will include weekend shifts and some daytime shifts. There are two shift options available:
-Monday and Tuesday 7:30PM - 6:00AM, Saturday 10:30AM - 9:00PM, Sunday 9:30AM - 8:00PM
-Friday - Monday 7:30PM - 6:00AM


This position is work at home, however, the candidate must reside near our offices in Austin, TX, Sandy, UT, Hartford, CT, Arlington, TX, San Diego, CA, or New Albany, OH.

The Health Concierge Associate provides targeted, personalized service based on a holistic view of the member, benefits, health information, and through engagement. Handles customer service inquiries and problems via telephone, internet, web-chat or written correspondence. Engages, consults and educates members by delivering individualized programs based upon the members unique needs and preferences. Utilizes resources to assist customers in understanding components of the Aetna products including claims, accumulators, usage and balances, and cost sharing. 

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

How to live on a budget for WAHM & Freelance Writers


 


Forbes did a recent article on how freelancers should budget their money! Some great tips that I wanted to share since so many WAHM doing freelance writing and small gigs.

1. Know what you’re spending.


 The most important money principle for everyone — freelancer and full-timer — is to spend less than you earn . So knowing where your money goes is key to proper budgeting. If you don’t already, track your spending. You can do this in whatever way you are most likely to stick with — a spreadsheet, a notebook, an automated program like Mint, or one of the numerous other financial apps that aim to help you manage your money.



2. Create a baseline budget using a conservative number.

 Track your income for a few months and see what you’re averaging. Or, if you have records from the last several months or year, determine your average from that. Let’s say in the last three months, you earned $2,000, then $4,000 and then $3,000. Create a budget using $2,500 as your limit, remembering that 30% of that money will go to taxes. If this figure won’t cover what you’re spending monthly, we’ll go over how to fix that in a moment. “Some people have a situation where they have enough cons


3. Come up with your dream budget.

 The methods outlined above are good for helping you live within your means. But if you’re not making enough money or are new to freelancing or just lost a client, then you may be looking at that math and feeling like things are a little too close for comfort, or even realizing that you’re in the red. 



 4. If your dream budget number is vastly higher than your first, cut costs. 

You may be in danger of getting into debt because your income may not cover your costs. If so, go back and see how you can cut your costs, starting with recurring ones.


 5. Try the 50/20/30 method of budgeting.

 You may be wondering how much you should spend on different expenses. Some people like the 50/20/30 guideline Take your income and subtract whatever you are paying to taxes. From there, divide your expenses into three categories — 1. Necessities like housing, transportation, groceries and utilities, 2. “Paying yourself” in savings, retirement contributions and paying down debt, and 3. Discretionary spending on items like going out, shopping, travel, entertainment, fitness, etc. — and allocate no more than 50% of your income to necessities, no less than 20% to paying yourself and no more than 30% on discretionary spending. Notice that the emphasis is on saving more or putting more toward debt when you can.


 6. Give yourself a weekly allowance.

 Once you’ve determined your monthly discretionary spending limit (the “30” if you’re following 50/20/30), break it down into a weekly allowance. “This works really well for a lot of my clients, because they say, ‘I know my bills are paid, I know I’m putting aside money for taxes and savings each month, and I just need to keep track of this number,’” says Bera.


 7. Give yourself a paycheck. After you’ve gotten into a predictable rhythm with income, bills and your weekly spending, you can try creating a paycheck for yourself. Let’s say you decide you need $4,000 to live on every month and that $4,000 is your monthly average income after taxes.

Sunday, August 24, 2014

How to do a WAHM job interview via Skype

CBS News did a recent story on how to do ace  an interview on Skype or any other video chat software.   This is becoming very common for work at home jobs rather than the phone interview.  

Get  USB headset! 

Know your software. It doesn't matter what software they want to use -- Skype, Google Hang Out, Go To Meeting, or any other program -- it is important that you know how to use it before you go live. Practice by calling your sister, your parents, or friends. Familiarize yourself with how to hit mute without accidentally hanging up.

Get good hardware. Your camera,  is probably fine, but your built in computer-made microphone is not. He suggests you buy a good microphone that will give you clear sound. Test it out. Even though bad sound shouldn't affect their decision, it might, particularly if they have trouble understanding you. Also, test your camera for the right angle -- it should be at eye level. Do a quick sound and video check before you go live to make sure everything is set up properly. (WAHM TIP Get a Skype Certified USB headset  such as Plantronics Audio 628 USB Stereo Headset)

Think about where you'll be. You don't it to be too dark, or too light, or (worst of all) have something unseemly behind you. And even though they are darling, Bailo says, "No one wants to see pictures of your kids..sorry!" You can even purchase background paper to give yourself a nice neutral background, but that's not necessary if you can create one yourself.   

Think of your user name. It should be professional. It shouldn't detract from who you are and what you can bring to the company. Remember, Skype accounts are free. Create a new one with a professional name if you want to keep your "cool" name for your friends. (WAHM TIP Usually your first inital last name plus a number is pretty standard for Skype) 

Get an "On Air" sign to hang on the door. Unless you're the only one home, your kids, spouse or dishwasher repairman may come barging in during your interview. Make a sign, hang it up, and instruct everyone to stay away. You wouldn't bring your toddler to a face to face interview, so don't have her anywhere near you during a webcam interview. (WAHM TIP make sure that the kids are not around-have your husband or a babysitter take them for during the interview time) 


It's not over until after it's over. Just because you think you've hung up, doesn't mean you have.Wait two minutes after the camera and audio are turned off -- just in case it isn’t. You don’t want to say or do anything that can negatively impact your performance."


Sunday, August 10, 2014

Easy Cash Writing: How to Make a Living as a Freelance Writer

Finally: the complete guide to creating a full-time freelance writing career from the world's foremost writing guru, Rob Parnell. 

This massive digital volume is a unique writing resource for new writers who want to get paid for their work. It is also a comprehensive motivational system that enables you to start writing from just five to ten minutes a day and progress to becoming a well-paid Easy Cash Writing professional - within days or weeks, if that's what you truly want. 
Buy from Amazon 

Full of tips, tricks and strategies for realistic, proven writing success, Easy Cash Writing shows you how to pitch and write for freelance markets. It shows you exactly what to do to achieve your creative dreams. Better than that, it tells you exactly what not to do and what to avoid in your quest for financial independence as a full-time writer. 

Ten years in the making, meticulously researched and previously unavailable to anyone 'outside' of The Easy Way to Write website, this book has always been Rob Parnell's most popular and effective writing resource. Now available in one volume with thirty eight all-new chapters and almost two thousand paying markets - and ONLY paying markets - for freelance writers, novelists, nonfiction authors and budding journalists. 

If you've ever considered changing your life by becoming a very well-paid writer, working from home, being free to do what you want, when you want to do it, then this is the book you've been waiting for. 

In this brand new version of Easy Cash Writing, Rob Parnell shows you how to make serious cash from writing in all sorts of arenas you've probably never heard of - or even thought of. It is a pro-active program created to help you venture effortlessly into the world of making money from writing. It also shows you how to organize your new career and how to best strategize for continual profit. 

Basically, Easy Cash Writing is an holistic approach to making real money from writing - from someone who knows how it's done, and has been there, done that, for the last fifteen years, on a daily basis. 

The fact is: writing gigs are everywhere. Most, if not all, are open to freelance writers. You just have to know where (and how) to look and apply yourself like a professional. Often we need guidance to do that. No worries. Rob Parnell will personally take you by the hand and guide you through the myriad of writing markets out there and show you how to easily achieve freelance writing success - and quickly. 

This unique volume takes you step-by-step through the process of writing and submitting to markets based on minimum word count. It not only shows you the markets but also HOW to write for them with clear and proven examples and strategies. This books details how you can immediately start earning real cash, real soon, with your own words. 

Here's a brief sampling of what Easy Cash Writing covers: 

* Freelancing as a Career ($100K+ per year) 
* Article Pitching to Magazines 
* Writing Quick Fillers 
* Short Story Writing for Profit 
* Writing Letters for Big Cash 
* Serious Revenue from Blogs ($5000 a month) 
* Self publishing on-line and off-line (With no limit to your earning power) 
* Building Multiple Sources of Income 
* Ghost Writing 
* Submitting Short Comedy Sketches 
* Easy TV/Movie work 
* Writing Slogans 
* The Real Truth about Copywriting, 
* The Greeting Card Market 
* Poetry, Song Lyrics and Rap 
* Flash and Fan Fiction 
* Genre Fiction Writing 
* Recipes and Cookery Books 
* Kid's Picture Books and YA novels 
* Grants and Funding for Writers, 
* Free Entry Competitions, 
* Comic Strips / Cartoons 
* Pitching nonfiction to publishers 
* Reviewing for a Living 
* Writing Website Content 
* Travel Writing 
* Small Business Literature 
* Ad Writing for Success 
* Using Google Adsense, Facebook and Social Marketing 
* And so much more! 

Get in the know and launch your high-paying Easy Cash Writing career today!

Sunday, April 06, 2014

How to Start Your Work at Home General Transcription Career!

Do you want to work from home and make an excellent income in a career that offers variety and flexibility and can be started with very little expense? General transcription is one of the few home-based job opportunities that not only offers these things, but also welcomes newbies.   Grab this great book called 

Jump-Start Your Work at Home General Transcription Career: The Fast and Easy Way to Get Started! 

  ATTENTION: If you're looking for a book that shows you how to snag transcription gigs on Amazon's MTurk and make minimum wage, then this is NOT the book for you. However, if you're looking for a book that will help you establish yourself in a work at home career in transcription, where you'll earn an excellent income and set your own hours, then Jump-Start Your Work at Home General Transcription Career is exactly what you need. 

Lisa Mills, an experienced general transcriptionist and publisher of work-at-home site Work at Home Mom Rev shares everything you need to know to get started in this exciting career. This ebook also includes valuable resources, including a list of 60 general transcription companies hiring home-based transcriptionists 

It’s only $2.99 and available at Amazon for Kindle.  It is  priced it at $2.99 so it would be affordable for everyone.  If you do not own a Kindle, you can download Amazon’s free Kindle for PC  app, and purchase and read it through that.

Check out some of the reviews 


I have been searching for a way to make money while staying home with my daughter. I found this book through Twitter and decided to take a look. After reading the introduction (before buying), I thought that general transcription could be the answer for me. I bought the book and started reading.
It only took me a short time to read through the book. I will definitely be going back through each section as I get started. Every question I had about this career was answered in simple, easy to understand terms. I am confident that general transcription is something I could do. This book gave me the resources I need to try it out on my own time (practice) as well as links to companies which I can later apply to. Everything I need to become a general transcriptionist is clearly laid out, and I now look forward to getting started.


and 
 Purchasing Ms. Mills' book was the very best thing I did when contemplating starting a freelance transcription business. I had no idea how to start and her book answered ALL my questions and much more. Not only does she cover all possible questions that someone may have, but she also includes a website address for a transcription forum where you will find an abundance of related information. She even promptly answered a personal email I sent her. You can't go wrong with purchasing this book if your goal is to start your own freelance transcription career. Personally, I feel Ms. Mills' book is under-priced. In my opinion, it is well worth three times what it is currently selling for.


Purchase this book today  

Jump-Start Your Work at Home General Transcription Career: The Fast and Easy Way to Get Started!