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Women in Tech: Get Hired Jan. 28 at This Free Virtual Job Fair
Youâve already broken the mold. Youâre a woman in a career field often thought of as a boysâ club. All thatâs left is to land a first-rate job at one of the nationâs largest companies.
Fairygodboss is giving you the opportunity to do just that â from the comfort of your home. The women-centric career website is hosting a virtual job fair for women in technology, Jan. 28 between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Eastern. Big-name employers such as Citi Intuit, ON Semiconductor, PwC, Verizon, WWE and several others are recruiting at the event.
Each company has open positions in a variety of tech-related roles, including:
- Cybersecurity
- Data science
- Software design and engineering
- Tech consultants and team leaders
- User-experience and user-interface design
A resume or a PDF version of your LinkedIn profile is required to register for the fair. Registration closes Jan. 26 at 10 a.m. Eastern.
If you canât attend the event, consider signing up anyway. Fairygodboss will forward your resumes to the companies hiring at the event.
Fairygodboss recommends that attendees have at least two years of job experience and that students should hold off on attending until they graduate.
During the event, you will be able to virtually meet hiring managers through an online portal. Each company will have a digital booth, similar to a real job fair, where you can learn more information about the company, browse open positions or join a chat room with other attendees and hiring managers.
To request more information about a specific job listing, you may start a one-on-one chat or video session with a hiring manager. Or if youâre making a good impression, the hiring manager may request a chat session with you.
Traditionally, careers in computer science have had higher male populations, but according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, software-development and computer-information jobs are some of the highest-paying and fastest-growing jobs for women.
Helping push that trend is Fairygodboss, a women-centric career network where women can find jobs, attend events, get career advice and rate employers. Each employer attending the event has been reviewed by Fairygodboss members, and the results are available on the registration page.
Be sure to register for the virtual fair by Jan. 26 to reserve your spot.
Donât worry if youâre new to virtual job fairs. Youâre not alone. Read our step-by-step guide on how to prepare for a virtual job fair.
And if youâre strapped for time, here are the big takeaways.
- Do your homework. â Just because the job fair is online doesnât make it any less crucial that you make a good impression. Come to the fair prepared with tailored questions for the hiring manager.
- Take care of tech beforehand. â Is your account properly registered? Are your web browser and flash player up to date? Documents organized and ready to go? Donât forget the motherlode of all tech issues: WiFi. Hardwire your computer with an ethernet cable, if worse comes to worse.
- Be interview-ready. â If all goes well, a hiring manager might ask to interview you on-the-spot. So be dressed to impress. Make sure you are in a well-lit, distraction-free area where you can chat. Itâs OK if thatâs not the case, too. Explain that you are not in the best environment for an interview, and offer alternative times when you are available.
Adam Hardy is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. He specializes in ways to make money that donât involve stuffy corporate offices. Read his âlatest articles here, or say hi on Twitter @hardyjournalism.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
Source: thepennyhoarder.com
Women in Tech: Get Hired Jan. 28 at This Free Virtual Job Fair
Youâve already broken the mold. Youâre a woman in a career field often thought of as a boysâ club. All thatâs left is to land a first-rate job at one of the nationâs largest companies.
Fairygodboss is giving you the opportunity to do just that â from the comfort of your home. The women-centric career website is hosting a virtual job fair for women in technology, Jan. 28 between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Eastern. Big-name employers such as Citi Intuit, ON Semiconductor, PwC, Verizon, WWE and several others are recruiting at the event.
Each company has open positions in a variety of tech-related roles, including:
- Cybersecurity
- Data science
- Software design and engineering
- Tech consultants and team leaders
- User-experience and user-interface design
A resume or a PDF version of your LinkedIn profile is required to register for the fair. Registration closes Jan. 26 at 10 a.m. Eastern.
If you canât attend the event, consider signing up anyway. Fairygodboss will forward your resumes to the companies hiring at the event.
Fairygodboss recommends that attendees have at least two years of job experience and that students should hold off on attending until they graduate.
During the event, you will be able to virtually meet hiring managers through an online portal. Each company will have a digital booth, similar to a real job fair, where you can learn more information about the company, browse open positions or join a chat room with other attendees and hiring managers.
To request more information about a specific job listing, you may start a one-on-one chat or video session with a hiring manager. Or if youâre making a good impression, the hiring manager may request a chat session with you.
Traditionally, careers in computer science have had higher male populations, but according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, software-development and computer-information jobs are some of the highest-paying and fastest-growing jobs for women.
Helping push that trend is Fairygodboss, a women-centric career network where women can find jobs, attend events, get career advice and rate employers. Each employer attending the event has been reviewed by Fairygodboss members, and the results are available on the registration page.
Be sure to register for the virtual fair by Jan. 26 to reserve your spot.
Donât worry if youâre new to virtual job fairs. Youâre not alone. Read our step-by-step guide on how to prepare for a virtual job fair.
And if youâre strapped for time, here are the big takeaways.
- Do your homework. â Just because the job fair is online doesnât make it any less crucial that you make a good impression. Come to the fair prepared with tailored questions for the hiring manager.
- Take care of tech beforehand. â Is your account properly registered? Are your web browser and flash player up to date? Documents organized and ready to go? Donât forget the motherlode of all tech issues: WiFi. Hardwire your computer with an ethernet cable, if worse comes to worse.
- Be interview-ready. â If all goes well, a hiring manager might ask to interview you on-the-spot. So be dressed to impress. Make sure you are in a well-lit, distraction-free area where you can chat. Itâs OK if thatâs not the case, too. Explain that you are not in the best environment for an interview, and offer alternative times when you are available.
Adam Hardy is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. He specializes in ways to make money that donât involve stuffy corporate offices. Read his âlatest articles here, or say hi on Twitter @hardyjournalism.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
Source: thepennyhoarder.com
How to Sell Travel Photos and Turn Your Memories into Cash
One way to make money while youâre stuck between the four walls of your home: take a trip down memory lane.
If you travelled a lot prior to the pandemic, dig through your old photos. Pause when you find the ones that take your breath away.
You can sell those breathtaking photographs, bringing in a little side income even while your travel plans are grounded. Hereâs how to sell travel photos.
Sell Your Travel Photos to a Stock Agency
When you sell your travel photos to a stock agency, youâll upload a high-resolution version of your image to their website. Then, the agency connects those shopping for images with your work. For each photo sold, youâll earn a royalty.
Because youâre often signing away some of the rights to your photography when you work with a stock agency, be careful to pick the right agency the first time. You usually wonât be able to list your images on more than one site.
There are many microstock agencies that pay pennies for each photo sold. Instead, check out these five sites that pay $100+ per photo.
Sell Your Photos to Travel Magazines
Before publishing moved predominantly online, selling photos to travel magazines was a lucrative venture. Today you likely wonât be able to build a career on travel magazine photography alone, but you can bring in some side hustle income.
Most photographers arenât going to break into major magazines like National Geographic, especially on their first try. But a practical alternative is looking for local magazines based in the places you have traveled.
For example, if you took a trip to the Adirondacks and got some gorgeous shots, you could submit them to Adirondack Life. This magazine pays between $75 and $400 per image.
If you have compelling images from your sojourn in the Nevada desert, Nevada Magazine may be interested in them. Here, youâll make $25-$250 per image.
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Get Paid to Photograph Campsites
HipCamp is the Airbnb of campsites. And just like on Airbnb, the people who list their properties on HipCamp could use the help of a photographer. Visually appealing listings get booked more often.
HipCamp works with photographers â including amateurs â to facilitate this photography service. Hereâs what photographers get for visiting a campsite and providing their services:
- $75-$100 cash compensation per campsite.
- Free stay on the property.
- Ability to bring others along with you on your trip.
You have to submit 15-20 photos per campsite. Prior experience isnât mandatory, but the end product must be high-quality, and your equipment has to be quality, too.
Sell Prints or Novelty Items
Another way to make money off of your travel photography is by selling prints or novelty items with your photograph printed on them.
Smugmug, for example, allows you to sell your photography on coffee mugs, magnets, coasters, ceramic tiles and more. You can also sell photo prints, and you get to keep 85% of the profit.
If you want to keep even more of the profits, you can sell your photography on Etsy. Etsy pays you 96.5% of each sale minus $0.20. On Etsy, youâll either have to make all novelty items yourself or enlist the help of a drop shipper who also offers printing services.
Remember: You can boost your sales on all platforms by marketing your work on social media.
Brynne Conroy is a contributor to The Penny Hoarder.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
Source: thepennyhoarder.com
Earn Extra Money by Joining Online Focus Groups
A couple years ago, I was invited to participate in a focus group. I visited in-person along with about 15 other people. For two hours, we vented all of our feelings about the ways a particular health insurance company interacts with its customer base.
At the end, we each walked out with $125. The health insurance company wanted consumer feedback on their products and customer service, and it compensated us for providing our insights.
Focus groups can be a lucrative side hustle when you break down per-hour pay. You get to be a part of a companyâs market research efforts, magnifying your opinion above those of other potential consumers.
These days, you donât have to participate in paid focus groups in person. During the pandemic and beyond, you can use online focus group platforms to earn anywhere from $20 to as much as $600 per hour.
Online Focus Groups: a Viable Side Hustle
Focus groups can pay extremely well for the amount of time you actually âwork.â They can provide surges of side hustle income all at once.
However, theyâre not likely to sustain you in lieu of traditional income. Earnings can be extremely inconsistent. First of all, you wonât qualify for every survey, as each focus group has a specific demographic itâs targeting.
Often, though not always, the highest-paying surveys also have the most exclusive demographic requirements. The company may be looking to work with construction foremen who work with specific brands of equipment, for example, or with mobile app developers who use a specific type of programming.
In addition, some consumer research companies will only allow you to participate in one focus group every six months.
Just because work is sporadic doesnât make this a bad side hustle. When the money does come in, youâre getting paid so much per hour that itâs worth setting aside 30 to 90 minutes of your time.
What You Do in a Paid Focus Group
Most focus groups require between 30 minutes and 90 minutes of work. When youâre doing a focus group remotely, you may be asked to fill out a multiple choice survey. Most of the time, though, youâll complete a phone or Zoom interview with a live person.
Topics for focus groups are unlimited: You could find yourself answering questions about your favorite margarita recipe, how youâre coping with pandemic parenting or a survey related to your profession.
Some focus groups may require you to dedicate some time outside the interview itself. For example, you might have to give a specific product a test run or keep a journal of your experiences. This extra time is often accounted for in the compensation.
Where to Find Online Focus Group Jobs
All of the following focus group companies currently have online opportunities. In the past, many national opportunities could be completed remotely. But during the pandemic, even most of the city-specific assignments are virtual, too.
These market research companies pay well for your time and consistently update listings for more opportunities. We surveyed current listings for hourly pay and estimated average hourly pay given the jobs currently available.
Respondent
An overwhelming percentage of the focus group opportunities listed on Respondent are remote. The majority of the listings are not city-specific, allowing you to qualify regardless of where you live.
Current job listings range between $20 and $400 per hour, with the average focus group paying around $120 per hour.
WatchLAB
WatchLAB doesnât have as many opportunities listed, but it does regularly update its inventory on its Facebook page.
Jobs are often city specific, though there is a wide variety of cities with opportunities available. Even city-specific assignments have been primarily remote through the pandemic.
Pay for WatchLAB focus groups ranges from $60 to $150 per hour, with the average focus group paying around $100 per hour.
Focusscope
Focusscope is another smaller consumer research company. It updates its users regularly about new opportunities on its Facebook page, and most studies are now completed remotely.
Focusscope pays $75 to $250 per focus group, with an average payout of $100.
FindFocusGroups.com
FindFocusGroups.com isnât a consumer research company in and of itself. Instead, itâs a job listing board. It aggregates current opportunities available across the country, and allows consumer research companies to submit listings.
You can search these focus group listings by state. For example, the pay range for current listings in Pennsylvania is $65 to $160 per hour. The average focus group pays around $100 per hour.
User Interviews
If youâre looking for online or over-the-phone focus group opportunities, User Interviewsâ listings are plentiful. However, compared to the other companies on this list, more of these focus group opportunities are in-person. Use filters while you search to ensure youâre only being shown the remote opportunities.
A portion of the listings on User Interviews are medical studies rather than focus groups.
Participating in medical trials can be another lucrative way to hustle together some extra cash.
Listings on User Interviews pay between $25 and $600 per hour â though very few studies get close to the $600 mark. The average focus group pays $60 per hour.
Brynne Conroy is a contributor to The Penny Hoarder.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
Source: thepennyhoarder.com
Personal Financial Improvement With The Fruit Of The Spirit
How does love apply to money? Is it possible to be joyful even when broke? Do I have the self-control to get out and stay out of debt? Find out more!
The post Personal Financial Improvement With The Fruit Of The Spirit appeared first on Bible Money Matters and was written by Tim Kiser. Copyright © Bible Money Matters – please visit biblemoneymatters.com for more great content.
Source: biblemoneymatters.com
How To Become a Freelancer and Make a Full-Time Income
Today, I have a fun interview to share with you that will show you how to become a freelancer.
I recently had the chance to interview Ben Taylor. Ben has been freelancing since 2004, and he has worked for dozens of companies.
Yes, this is a career path that you can learn!
As Ben will tell you in the interview below, a freelancer can be anything. You can be a freelance designer, personal trainer, nutrition coach, online teacher, virtual assistant, writer, and more.
If you are looking for a new business or even just a side hustle so that you can learn how to make extra money, learning how to become a freelancer may be something that you want to look into.
In this interview, you will learn:
- What a freelancer is, who they work for, what they do, etc.
- How much a new freelancer should expect to earn
- How a person can find their first freelancing job
- The steps needed to take to make money as a freelancer
And much more!
He also has an informative course called Freelance Kickstarter. This course takes you through the step by step process of creating your own freelance business.
Check out the interview below for more information.
How to become a freelancer.
1. Please give us a background on yourself and how you started as a freelancer.
I’m Ben, and I live by the sea in England with my wife and two young sons.
I started a career in tech back in 1998, and by 2004 was Head of IT for a government department. It didn’t take long for me to tire of company politics, and the endless meetings that were more about displays of ego than really getting anything done.
I came from an entrepreneurial family and my parents both had businesses rather than jobs. The businesses weren’t always successful, and there were definitely periods of “feast and famine.” However, I was well used to that and I think that branching out on my own was something I was destined to do.
My move into freelancing splits into a couple of clear phases:
Initially, in 2004, I quit my IT job, walking away from business class travel and a gold-plated pension with nothing more than a vague plan to begin to work as a freelancer!
I started to provide IT support and consultancy to both businesses and individuals. I do actually still do some of that work for a select group of long-term clients, but by 2009 I had managed to burn myself out with it. The business was going well, but I was working ridiculously long days and every holiday I tried to take was interrupted by constant phone calls and emails.
So phase two began when I sold off most of my client-base and moved to Portugal! That’s when I really started to broaden my freelance horizons. I had to start from scratch, with an unclear intention to start writing for a living, and no real plan for how to do it.
I did lots of things, including wasting a LOT of time down fruitless blind alleys. I wrote for content mills, started blogs, found clients on freelance job boards, and – slowly and steadily – started to build my income back up. The difference was that I was doing it all completely on my terms with work I really enjoyed.
I was also living in a dream destination whilst doing it.
2. Can you explain what exactly a freelancer is, who they work for, what they do, etc.?
This seems like a basic question, but it’s very worthwhile. There’s a considerable difference between freelancing and remote working that not everybody appreciates.
First off, a freelancer can be anything. For some reason many people immediately think of writing when they think about freelancing. But you can be a freelancer designer, personal trainer, nutrition coach, online teacher, virtual assistant, and dozens of other things.
It’s also worth noting you don’t only have to be one of those things. I AM a freelancer writer, but I also still dabble in IT consultancy, run my own blogs, provide coaching, and even build websites for people (if they ask nicely and the price is right!)
Regardless of what you do as a freelancer, the important thing to realise is that you are running your own business. The big plus of this is that you are in total charge. But the big negative is that you don’t have any of the safety nets you have if you are employed by a single company. This means you’re responsible for everything from your own insurance and healthcare to your own technical support!
Freelancers typically work for several different clients. There are myriad places to find those clients. It’s quite common for freelancers to find clients within their existing professional networks, and not at all unusual for ex-employers to be among them. Then there are freelance job boards like Upwork and PeoplePerHour, which provide an endless stream of new opportunities.
3. How much should a new/beginner freelancer expect to earn?
This is an incredibly difficult question to answer! I can think of one freelancer I coached who’s in a very specific writing niche. He went onto Upwork with an initial rate of $100 per hour and found lots of work. I started out in IT consultancy charging a similar rate and was quickly earning more than I did in my full-time job.
However, at the other end of the scale there are people with limited experience or specialist skills who will need to pay their dues. This means building the foundations of a freelance career by proving yourself and taking low paying jobs to build up examples of work and positive feedback. My move into writing was much more like this!
I think “job replacement income” is a useful target for new freelancers to keep in mind. That can vary vastly from individual to individual. Obviously replacing and exceeding a corporate-level income takes much more than freelancing as an alternative to a part-time, entry-level job. That said, people with senior-level experience command much higher freelance rates.
Related content: 20 Of The Best Entry Level Work From Home Jobs
4. What do you like about being a freelancer?
Not having a boss!
The difference in lifestyle is massive when you work for yourself. This is always brought home to me when I’m making plans with friends and family, and people say “I’ll see if I can get the time off.”
This makes me shudder, because it’s SO alien to me now. The example I always use is that I never have to ask anybody before I can tell my children I’ll be at their sports day or nativity play.
When you have what I call a “traditional job,” you DO have the security of healthcare, and perhaps things like holiday and sick pay. But you give up a tremendous amount of freedom in return. Freelancing is profoundly different, and it’s rare to find people who’ve given it a go that would ever choose to go back to full-time employment.
So that’s a huge thing for me, but there are other huge benefits too. I love the fact I can pivot into different things, which always allows me to keep things fresh.
About four times a year I reassess my priorities and lay out new goals for the short, medium and long term. They might involve starting a new blog, writing another book, learning a new marketable skill. For somebody like me who relishes variety, I love having total control of this.
5. How can a person find their first freelancing job?
There are SO many ways to find freelance jobs. I have an article listing 50 different options!
However, they broadly split into two categories that I call “real world” and “online world.”
It’s always worth starting out by thinking of your real life networks. As I’ve said, many freelancers do their first self-employed work for people who already know them. I’d advise people to think about any contacts who’ve already seen the kind of work they’re capable of. These are “warm leads” that are well worth perusing.
It makes sense to think about personal contacts as well as business contacts, too. Plenty of freelancers find clients who are their “wife’s best friend’s brother” or something like that!
Remaining in the “real world,” there are also options like local business groups and networking events – although they are obviously far less accessible at the present time.
Moving to the online world, the freelance job boards are the place to be. They can be intimidating places initially, and it’s crucial to learn how to use them and how to avoid scammers and low paying clients. But there are plenty of great clients out there, including many household name companies who use those boards to hire freelancers.
Often, a quick one-off $50 job can evolve into a long and lucrative client relationship. My wife and I both have clients who we first met on the freelance boards years ago. We still work with them now.
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to where to find the first client, but there are options for everybody.
6. How does a freelancer decide what to set their rates at?
This is a question I’m asked a LOT! The answer leads to lots more questions, and I think many of my readers are disappointed when I don’t just give them an answer of “$x per hour” or “$x per article!”
It’s a subject I cover in my Freelance Kickstarter course, and I’m happy to share a slide from that particular lesson here. The factors to consider include tangible things like the “market rates” for specific types of work, and how each client’s geographical location could impact how much they expect to pay.
But there’s much more to consider beyond that: How much does the gig align with your long-term goals? Will the job produce a great example of work that will help you win more clients in the future? Is this a job that could lead to on-going, long-term work?
I guess a simpler answer is that your rate needs to be fair and competitive, and sufficient to make it worth your while to do the job. However, the rate for each job really needs to be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
The reality is that there are millions of freelancers out there charging vastly different rates, often for very similar services. There’s a bit of an art to working out where you sit on the pricing spectrum, but it’s an art you can learn, and it gets easier with experience.
7. What steps does a person need to take to make money as a freelancer?
The first and most important is working out what it is you actually want to do. That may seem obvious, but my inbox is full of emails from people asking what they should do, without telling me what they’re capable of and what kind of work would make them happy.
I will attempt to lay it out in a fairly simple series of steps:
- Work out what skills you have and what market there is for them.
- Look at who else is providing those services, what they charge, and what you can provide that will make you stand out and appeal to clients.
- Identify any gaps in your knowledge and experience, and work to fill them. This could mean doing some training, or doing some voluntary jobs to bulk out your portfolio.
- Establish a personal brand. This isn’t as big a deal as it sounds, but does mean having a solid resumé and LinkedIn profile, and sometimes some other ways to demonstrate your expertise.
- Learn how the freelance job boards work. Even if you have a rich personal network to draw on, it’s wise to understand the wider world of freelancing.
- Put yourself out there, and start pitching and applying for things.
- Make sure you provide perfect work and delight your clients, so that they want to work with you again and recommend you to others.
Repeating and refining these steps is the essence of becoming a successful freelancer.
8. How much does it cost to start this type of business and how much on a monthly basis to maintain it?
Freelancing is generally a low-cost venture, but that’s not to say it’s free. Depending on what you do, you may need specialist equipment and / or software. And if you’re switching from an employed position, you may have to buy things like this yourself for the first time.
A good computer is a must, as it’s often the key tool of your trade. You may also need to budget for things like insurance, possibly including healthcare cover if you are somewhere like the US where this isn’t covered by tax payments.
When it comes to monthly costs, the main things I pay for include software subscriptions and insurance policies. Thankfully these tend to build over time and no individual thing is particularly expensive. You can start out as an online freelancer without even having a personal website, and add things like that once you gain some momentum.
I also recommend budgeting for ongoing training and learning. Thankfully there are all kinds of ways to learn online inexpensively. Companies have training budgets, but when you’re a freelancer, keeping your skills on point is on you.
9. What kind of training is needed to become a freelancer?
I’d say the training splits into two: learning about freelancing itself, and building skills around the specific work you want to do.
Courses like my own Freelance Kickstarter cover the first part. Freelancing is a skill in itself, and we’ve covered some of the important areas in this interview already. Stuff like setting rates isn’t immediately obvious, so learning from those who have been there and done it already is very valuable.
When it comes to skills-specific training it depends what work you’re doing. Let’s say somebody wanted to work as a freelance social media manager. Not that long ago it would have been all about Twitter and Facebook. Nowadays Pinterest is a much bigger deal for many people, and TikTok is emerging as the latest trend.
So as that freelancer, you need to decide what you’re going to focus on. Do you want to be the “go-to guru” for TikTok, or be more of a generalist with social media in general?
It’s wonderful to have the choice.
10. Are there any other tips that you have for someone who wants to become a freelancer?
I have many!
The one I repeat over and over is that you have to eventually go for it and make the jump. I see a lot of people who never get past the “thinking about it” phase. Meanwhile the go-getters have taken the leap of faith and started to build success.
Moving to freelancing is one of those things where there may never be a perfect time to do it. Those who keep waiting for that time to arrive can easily find themselves looking back ten years later with the same commute and the same job.
Another thing I’m like a broken record about is the importance of “paying your dues.” There are often plenty of less-than-ideal gigs to finish successfully before you arrive at the amazing ones.
I wrote about some really dull topics in my early days of freelance writing, for example. But I had to wade through that stuff to build my reputation. It all felt thoroughly worth it a few years later when I was being well paid for travel articles and restaurant reviews!
You learn something from every job along the way: How to handle clients, renegotiate rates, refine your skills, and get work done more efficiently so that you’re boosting the value of your time. Freelancing isn’t supposed to be easy but it’s almost always challenging, interesting and rewarding.
And let’s face it, many people don’t feel that way about their jobs.
11. What can a person learn from your course? Can you tell us about some of the people who have successfully taken your course?
OK, so Freelance Kickstarter expands on all of the topics I’ve touched on here, and many others. It’s intended to remove confusion, and that feeling of overwhelm that often descends when researching this stuff online. It helps new freelancers make a clear plan for getting started. As the strapline goes, the idea is that people “stop wasting time, and start making money!”
I never intended to create a course, but after running the HomeWorkingClub website for several years, it became clear there was a space for something like this. I make it very clear that it’s not some kind of “get rich quick” scheme.
To be brutally honest, I don’t want students who are looking for shortcuts. There is real hard work involved in being a successful freelancer, but it’s a more than viable option for those willing to do what’s required.
The course starts with the basics of working out what you can do and want to do, and presents LOTS of different options. It then moves on to auditing your skills and experience, building your brand, and working out your own personal goals. I particularly like that section because it helps people learn the exact process I use myself every few months to keep things moving forward.
The next lessons cover finding clients, and there’s a big module on learning how to use freelance job boards like Upwork. Once people have completed this, they will know how to uncover the good and genuine jobs, and how to side-step the time-drains and scams.
Students also learn about setting rates, and all the other practicalities of running a freelance business, from getting the tech right to taking undisturbed holidays! We also cover side gigs, and long-term slow-burn projects like blogs and self-published books.
I provide personal support on the course, and people can ask me all the questions they need as they go along. There are also regular exclusive podcasts with extra advice and news of industry developments and new opportunities.
In terms of people who have already taken the course, I recently published a case study from a lady called Lyn. She now has “more work than she can handle” as a freelance writer working via Upwork. Two things that have particularly pleased me about her situation is that she’s cherry-picking projects that interest her, and that she’s been able to do exactly what I suggest in increasing her rates as she builds experience and reputation.
I’ve also had great feedback from people at a much earlier stage. I’ve kept the course price low so that people can use it to help decide if freelancing is for them – just dipping their toes in for the first time.
As one student said, the course is “ideal if you are considering going freelance and don’t know where or when to start, or even if freelancing is for you.”
Several of the testimonials so far have aligned perfectly with the original objective, which was – essentially – to help people see the wood for the trees in an environment than can seem very daunting to begin with.
I set out to create the course I wish I’d had! I’ve made more than my fair share of mistakes in over 16 years of freelancing. The people taking Freelance Kickstarter should hopefully be able to avoid the same ones!
Click here to learn more about Freelance Kickstarter.
Are you interested in learning how to become a freelancer?
The post How To Become a Freelancer and Make a Full-Time Income appeared first on Making Sense Of Cents.
Source: makingsenseofcents.com
How Does Bill Pay Work?
Automatic bill pay allows users whoâve signed up for this service to pre-schedule regular and repeat payments from their money accounts to pay down recurring or monthly bills. For some, it can reduce the likelihood of forgetting to pay a bill or incurring late-payment feesâas the payment is automatically deducted once the bill is due.
Nobody enjoys parting with hard-earned cash. For many people, spending money is just one reason paying bills can feel like a burden. Different bills are due on different dates. It can be hard to remember where, when and how much to pay.
Online bill pay is one way to ease some of the frustration associated with paying regular bills. Before answering the question “how does bill pay work?” itâs helpful to understand some of the reasons bills can give people so much griefâincluding factors such as, scheduling logistics and personal finances.
Keeping Track of Outstanding Bills and Extra Fees
One research report (spanning 2,000 individuals) indicates that 28% of Americans report difficulty in paying their bills on time. In this group, 52% of those earning less than $25,000 or less noted difficulty with paying bills, while only 11% of those earning $125,000 or higher reported the same bill-paying challenges.
how to pay bills.
The high volume of bill payments most Americans have to make each month certainly doesnât make things easier. Americans spend nearly 3 trillion dollars , annually, on regularly due billsâincluding common expenses like mortgage or rent, internet, and utilities.
And, many of these bills, if not paid on time, can incur late or overdraft fees that add up. One recent report notes that the average American home spends an extra $577 per year in added bill fees or costs.
Below is an overview of common obstacles to that can get in the way of paying bills on time, including an explanation of what is bill pay:
Understanding the Cost of Overdue Bills
Naturally, itâs not a great idea to ignore bill payments, or to pay bills only when thereâs some extra cash lying around. Most bills arrive in the mailbox (inbox) with a clearly marked due date. Failure to pay on time can impact a payeeâs access to service (e.g., utilities) or negatively affect their credit history. Either scenario might strain an individualâs everyday life or finance in the future. Here are some consequences of not paying bills on time:
Imposing Late Fees
One of the ways companies or service providers enforce on-time payments is by penalizing people for, well, paying late. Whether itâs a credit card, utility bill or simply missing a payment date by a single day, submitting a late payment can result in late fees, higher interest rates, or other charges. Put another way, not paying right now can cost individuals more in the long run. Itâs worth noting that these fees or penalties can be higher if a person has a previous history of late or unpaid bills.
Accruing Interest Charges
On top of late penalties, some providers may also charge interest on the balance owed, essentially creating a double-wallop of fees if youâre late paying a bill. In some cases, the interest may be charged starting the day an account becomes overdue. In others, it may accrue going back to the purchase date or transaction day. Depending on the interest rate charged and how frequently that interest compounds, this fee could quickly balloon to more than the initial fee assessed.
Experiencing Service Disruptions
In some cases, a provider may have the right to shut off your service if you pay a bill late. Not only are such disruptions a major interruption to daily life (ahem, no water, ahem) individuals may also have to pay a reinstatement fee once account has been paidâjust to reactivate the service, such as electricity, natural gas, or the internet.
Declining Credit Rating
Think no one other than the service provider will notice a missed bill payment? Not so, in many cases. Payment history on outstanding debts makes up 35% of a FICO credit score. So, things like, overdue credit card bills, unpaid mortgage or car payments, and other late payments can erode an individualâs credit score.
Itâs worth recalling that lenders and landlords can rely in part on credit scores when evaluating the risk of doing business with someone. So, dings to a credit scoreâthings like late paymentsâcan impact the likelihood of being approved for a loan or a lease. (Generally speaking, lenders consider a score below 580 a sign that the borrower is at a higher risk of not paying back the money loaned).
Even if approved, having a lower credit score could increase the rate of interest charged on a loan or credit card, potentially costing the borrower thousands of dollars over time.
Weighing the Benefits of Bill Pay
Not having enough money is just one reason people pay bills late. In many cases, the complexity of managing competing bills is a factor. It can be difficult to stay on top of each individual due date, especially for one-off bill payments or those bills that get paid less frequently, such as quarterly and annual bills. If you pay different bills from separate accounts, paying bills can become even more tangled.
Forgetting to pay a bill from time to time is surprisingly common. One report from June 2020 noted that close to 40% of American financial decision makers skipped or only partially paid a bill in the last month.
And as innocent as this oversight may sound, an unintentional late payment does not always remove the consequences. Adopting regular strategies for paying bills can help solve remembering when to pay each bill (and with which account).
One payment strategy is to turn to modern technology, such as online bill pay tools. Bill pay automates the act of paying bills. Instead of remembering to pay each individual bill, while keeping track of competing due dates and amounts, bill pay allows users to set to schedule a payment in advance and then, essentially, to forget about it.
Automatic bill payments are a key way to prevent late payments and to simplify this important aspect of managing oneâs financesâbut, not all who can actually use automated bill pay services available to them.
Whatâs standing in the way? For many, it comes down to simply not knowing the answer to the question, âhow does bill pay work?â Below is a step by step overview of how bill pay worksânaturally, there may be internal differences between specific banks, credit unions, and financial institutions.
How to Use Bill Pay
While bill pay can help make managing finances simpler, it does require some initial manual set-up. But, once youâve learned how bill pay works, this automatic feature can make keeping track of and paying bills less obersome. Here are some ways to get started:
1. Finding a Financial Partner that Offers Bill Pay
While many financial institutions offer digital payment tools, like bill pay, itâs worth investigating the features that are included at each, before opening up an account. Online billing is free with some accounts, while some providers may charge for each transactionâeither per bill or on a repeating monthly basis.
2. Determining which Bills to Autopay
Utility bills, loan payments, credit card billsâyou can pay just about any bill using bill pay. One benefit of centralizing bill payments is that, whether itâs a one-off charge payment or recurring bill, the user can rest assured that the bill will get paid on timeâassuming bill pay has been set up correctly and there are sufficient funds in the linked account.
To streamline bill payments even further, it may be helpful to think about which ongoing bills you want to automate on a revolving basis through bill pay. Every month, bill payment could go out automatically, on a schedule determined by you, to the businesses or service providers where the money is due.
Predictable expenses that donât fluctuate from month to month, such as loan and mortgage payments or the internet bill, are solid candidates for recurring automated payments. After all, it can be easier to budget for an expense that wonât go up and down from month to month. For bills that always cost the same, you may want to schedule payment for a time each month when you know theyâll be sufficient funds in your account to cover whatâs come due. Some service providers may even allow you to change the due date on certain bills.
3. Gathering Together All Bills
Once a person has figured out which bills to pay automatically, they still might want to gather together all their regular bills in one place. While individual bills are generally due at the same time each month, bills from different businesses or providers will have different due dates.
With all the bills in one place, you can then enter the various billing accounts into your money management providerâs bill pay system. It could be useful to research each bill ahead of time, determining whether theyâre delivered by snail mail, paperless emails, or both.
4. Logging on to Personal Finances
As with other personal finances, bill pay is generally managed through a financial institutionâs website or mobile app. A person interested in accessing bill pay could simply sign on to their secure account and search for the âPay a Billâ or âOnline Bill Payâ function.
5. Inputting Billing Information
Once logged on, you might follow the prompts to add individual billing accounts, indicating for each the funds you wish to pay with. Youâll likely be asked to input the name of the business or service whose payments youâre seeking to automate. You may also be asked for more specific details, such as your individual account number.
If you canât find the business or service provider listed, you want to try spelling out the full name, removing abbreviations. If you still canât find the payee, itâs possible that you can still utilize bill pay, but you may need to manually add in the payment details.
Having printed or saved digital copies of previous bills handy can be helpful here. (One other potential option is to set up automated payments, linked to your money accounts, directly through the providerâfor instance, the water department of the city where you live).
When paying electronically, youâll need to add your account number so that your payment is properly credited to you. You can also add the amount and frequency of payments, selecting a specific payment date (for one-time payments) or a regular schedule (for repeat bills that get paid on the same date every month).
Some financial institutions place a cap on the amount of money that can be transferred electronically through bill pay. If an automatic payment exceeds that designated transaction limit, users may then need to pay via a physical method, such as a personal or cashierâs check.
6. Taking Note of the Billing Schedule
SoFi Money®, users can pay bills automatically with no account fees. Members also have access to complimentary budgeting tools and financial planning advice.
Simplify your money management with SoFi.
SoFi Money®
SoFi Money is a cash management account, which is a brokerage product, offered by SoFi Securities LLC, member FINRA / SIPC . Neither SoFi nor its affiliates is a bank. SoFi has partnered with Allpoint to provide consumers with ATM access at any of the 55,000+ ATMs within the Allpoint network. Consumers will not be charged a fee when using an in-network ATM, however, third party fees incurred when using out-of-network ATMs are not subject to reimbursement. SoFiâs ATM policies are subject to change at our discretion at any time.
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Source: sofi.com
Chipotle to Hold Nationwide Hiring Event to Fill 15K New Jobs
Chipotle is kicking off the new year with a nationwide hiring blitz.
With hundreds of new restaurants in the works, the fast-casual Mexican food chain plans to fill 15,000 new openings, according to the hiring announcement.
To make headway on those recruitment efforts, all Chipotle locations are holding a âCoast to Coastâ career event Jan. 14. On-site interviews are taking place from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. local time.
As a safety precaution, outdoor and curbside interview accommodations are available.
âPlease bring a mask and follow all safety protocols while youâre in the restaurant,â the company said.
To participate in the hiring event, you must fill out a brief application and select an available interview time slot at your local Chipotle. Do not show up without requesting an interview.
Compared to the overall restaurant industry, Chipotle has fared well throughout the pandemic. The company hired 10,000 new workers in July as it added new locations and built drive-thru windows at many existing locations. In November, Chipotle unveiled its first ever âdigitalâ restaurant in New York to experiment with only providing drive-thru and pick-up orders.
Job Openings at Chipotle
Chipotleâs recruitment spree is focused on hiring new restaurant team members, which primarily consist of line cooks, food preppers, and cashiers. These positions are entry level.
According to job listings on the companyâs career board, the main crew-member requirement is that you must be at least 16 years old to apply. All training is provided.
Chipotle doesnât have a company-wide minimum wage. On average, crew members earn about $10 to $11 an hour (or local minimum wage if higher) according to thousands of self-reported wages on Glassdoor.
To entice new workers, the burrito chain has been experimenting with new perks and benefits available to all employees, part- and full-time:
- Medical, dental and vision insurance.
- 401(k) retirement plan after one year of employment.
- One free meal per shift.
- 100% tuition coverage for select degrees and universities through a partnership with Guild Education.
- Tuition reimbursement of up to $5,250 for schools and degrees outside that partnership.
- Paid time off including parental leave.
- English as a second language training.
If Chipotle meets its hiring goals, the companyâs workforce is set to exceed 100,000.
Adam Hardy is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. He covers the gig economy, remote work and other unique ways to make money. Read his âlatest articles here, or say hi on Twitter @hardyjournalism.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
Source: thepennyhoarder.com