The Perils of Owning a Side Business

The Perils of Owning a Side Business A few weeks ago I wrote a post advising you to get a side business. I have always loved this advice when I read it in magazines, the newest version of it says that high school and college kids should get an eBay business. What a great way to learn about business fulfillment, customer service, pricing, promotion, vendor relations, income potential, risk the list goes on and on! After that post I got a comment from someone who warned about jumping in and starting your own gig. I certainly dont want to give a false impression that its all roses, and it isnt a tactic for everyone. I love the idea because I dont want to depend on one employer for my income, especially since I tend to live paycheck to paycheck. Its hard, and most business fail early on. Whether its a multilevel company, selling homemade doggy biscuits or a service company, there isnt much thats easy about getting it up and sustainable. But imagine what could happen if you could supplement your income by a few hundred, or a thousand, bucks each month. Last night I chatted with a buddy who is a social/clinical worker who has a side gig where he works one night a week and pulls in about $1,000 a month. Nice supplement. It takes time from his family and energy and effort to do the job right. I know that many of you have skills or talents that you could sell to others what are they? Bookkeeping? Web design? Ghost writing? Jewelery making or dog walking? These are all things that can cushion your not-so-stable income. Ok, enough of my rambling check out the perils that Ben Yoskovitz lays out on his post Exposed: The Pros and Cons of Freelancing. Note the awesome discussion in the comments area what do you think? Are you ready to hang your shingle and start your side business? The Perils of Owning a Side Business A few weeks ago I wrote a post advising you to get a side business. I have always loved this advice when I read it in magazines, the newest version of it says that high school and college kids should get an eBay business. What a great way to learn about business fulfillment, customer service, pricing, promotion, vendor relations, income potential, risk the list goes on and on! After that post I got a comment from someone who warned about jumping in and starting your own gig. I certainly dont want to give a false impression that its all roses, and it isnt a tactic for everyone. I love the idea because I dont want to depend on one employer for my income, especially since I tend to live paycheck to paycheck. Its hard, and most business fail early on. Whether its a multilevel company, selling homemade doggy biscuits or a service company, there isnt much thats easy about getting it up and sustainable. But imagine what could happen if you could supplement your income by a few hundred, or a thousand, bucks each month. Last night I chatted with a buddy who is a social/clinical worker who has a side gig where he works one night a week and pulls in about $1,000 a month. Nice supplement. It takes time from his family and energy and effort to do the job right. I know that many of you have skills or talents that you could sell to others what are they? Bookkeeping? Web design? Ghost writing? Jewelery making or dog walking? These are all things that can cushion your not-so-stable income. Ok, enough of my rambling check out the perils that Ben Yoskovitz lays out on his post Exposed: The Pros and Cons of Freelancing. Note the awesome discussion in the comments area what do you think? Are you ready to hang your shingle and start your side business?

The Many Ways Improving Your Style Can Change Your Life

The Many Ways Improving Your Style Can Change Your Life How much time do you really spend thinking about the way you dress and style yourself? Some people do it for hours each week, while other people prefer to do the minimum it takes to groom themselves and look presentable. You might think that its a waste of time to spend too much time thinking about and working on your appearance. But there are lots of benefits to putting a bit more effort into being fashionable and stylish. It can change how you feel about yourself and improve your life, even helping you to boost your career. Before you dismiss the idea of focusing on how you dress and style yourself, consider all of these ways it could help to make your life better. Feel More Confident Spending time on how you look and dress can be a great way to help you feel more confident. You might imagine that thinking too much about how you look will have the opposite effect. While its true that regarding your appearance in a negative way wont help you to be more confident, taking a positive approach to style and fashion can. You can focus on what you like and what you think makes you look good, as well as feel good. Dressing up to look good can help you to feel better on the inside too. Whether youre putting on a powerful suit for a business meeting or choosing some bright colors for a dreary day, it can perk you up and give you the confidence you need. Discover More About Yourself Thinking more about your personal style is a great way to discover more about your personality and who you are. Of course, looks arent everything, but many people express themselves through the way they dress, style their hair, or do their makeup. The way you present yourself can tell people about who you are, including you. You might currently be unsure about how you want people to see you or even feel a bit uncertain about what sort of things you like and dont like. Exploring fashion and style, and perhaps trying out some different looks, can help you to find out who you are and how you feel most comfortable and confident. Care More About Yourself Considering how you look more can also lead to you caring more about yourself. While you dont want to overthink how you look, some people dont think about it enough or only do so negatively. You might only perform the most essential tasks to make yourself presentable before you leave the house each day. But paying a bit more attention to yourself can help you feel that you deserve to spend time on your appearance. As well as boosting your confidence, it can also help to raise your self-esteem. Stand Out More Not everyone wants to stand out. If youre happy being part of the crowd, you might not think about how your fashion choices could get you noticed. But there are any occasions when you might want to be more noticeable, both in your private and work life. People in certain professions might want to stand out more because theyre competing against a lot of other people with individual styles. For example, musicians might want to give a lot of thought to the way they dress. There could be a number of reasons you might want to stand out from the crowd, whether its for professional purposes or related to your social life. If you dont want to blend into the background, changing the way you dress could change that. Change Your Image at Work The professional sphere is one of the areas where the way you dress can make a huge difference. How you choose to style yourself at work can affect how you feel when youre working, as well as how people regard you in a professional capacity. Many people have to follow a dress code at work, whether its explicitly written or an unspoken rule. But even if you have to follow a dress code, you can make choices within it. You can think about how your choices for your work clothes could make you appear and what other people might think of you. Some outfits might look sterner and make you feel more in control. Others might have a touch of fun about them, so you come across as friendly and approachable. Giving extra consideration to your outfits at work could give you a professional edge. Connect with Others Over Style and Fashion Having interests you can share with others is always a good way to connect with people and to make friends. You dont have to be fashion-obsessed to talk to others about fashion and style. Even a passing interest can give you a way to connect to people and talk about something you have in common. Plus, you can socialize with people both online and offline about the fashion that you enjoy. For example, you can connect with readers in the comments section of a fashion blog or even start your own blog. You can also talk to people in person, of course. In fact, its fashion is often a good thing to talk about if youre trying to make small talk. Complimenting someone on their fashion choices can get a conversation going. Be Ready for Opportunities to Come Along Improving your fashion choices could have some surprising benefits. When youre going about your life, you never know who you might run into or what opportunities could come along. Being dressed in a certain way could open doors for you in ways that you might not have imagined. Wearing the right outfit could be the difference between making an impression on someone important you have bumped into or having them barely notice you. It could get you an invitation to an event or just make sure you dont need to go home and change if you unexpectedly need to be somewhere. Learning from Mistakes If you decide youre going to work on your fashion sense, its almost inevitable that youre going to make mistakes. If you dont, you might be playing things too safe. But like anything in life, any mistakes you make with your fashion choices will give you an excellent opportunity to learn. It might seem like theyre just clothes, but the lessons you learn can apply to your life in a broader way too. Fashion mishaps can teach you more about who you are and what you can get away with style-wise, as well as how other people react to certain looks. Become a More Ethically Conscious Person Becoming more interested in fashion can have some interesting effects. One thing you might do is start researching the clothes you buy more. This can cause you to think more about where your clothes come from and who makes them. It can prompt you to try and be a more ethical consumer and live a more sustainable lifestyle. You can look for fashion labels that use more ethical labor than others or perhaps that use materials that are kinder to the environment. Or you might make more of an effort to buy second-hand clothes instead of buying new ones. Pay More Attention to Your Finances Thinking more about fashion can also make you look at your finances differently. Clothes can be cheap or costly, but there are various factors to take into account when you think about how much to spend on them. For example, a cheap item of clothing might only last you a few months before you need to replace it. Whereas, a more expensive item could last for years if you look after it. You also need to consider how often you will wear something. Is there any point buying an expensive dress if you only wear it once? You can apply these same considerations to other things you spend money on, from cars to furniture. Start a New Hobby or Even Career Taking more of an interest in fashion and style could lead you to new interests in your personal life or even in your career. If you begin with choosing clothes and accessories you love and following trends, you might soon want to start making your own things. You could alter your clothes or start sewing them from scratch. Or you might just enjoy spending time at fashion fairs and events. Perhaps you will even consider making fashion or something connected to it part of your career. There are lots of ways you could get involved with the fashion industry by beginning a new career or even using your current skills and experience. Theres more to the industry than just the creative side of it. Your interest in fashion could help you if you wanted to work in sales, PR, distribution, and many other areas of business. Giving more thought to fashion and style can have a surprising number of potential benefits for you. It can affect how you feel and have practical advantages in various areas of your life too.

Learn How to Find a Job and How to Network with Classy Career Girls Free Checklists!

Learn How to Find a Job and How to Network with Classy Career Girls Free Checklists! Do you love checking off your daily to-do list?  Do you wish you were more organized and prepared when heading to a networking event, going on an interview or submitting your resume? If you want to be successful in your job hunt, you must dot your is and cross your ts.  It is so important to make sure you present your best and that you dont forget any little detail!  One misspelling on your resume and it is in the trash.  One unprepared answer at an interview and you may not be offered the job.  I have seen so many people just try to wing interviews or rush through resume submissions.  If you are applying to 15 online job postings a day and have received no calls back, it is very likely you are missing a step on my checklist! I love checking of my to-do list. That is why I put together a  together a list of important questions that you want to ask yourself before heading into an interview, a networking event or submitting your resume!  To find these free career resources, head on over to resources to the  Free Resources section (CLICK HERE).  These are the checklists that I go through and I recommend that you do too!  If you do, you will be so much closer to that dream job! Remember that someone else might be more experienced, more educated or more qualified than you are but theres never going to be another you!! Good luck!! Anna

Guest Post Starting Over From Scratch 5 Things to Keep In Mind during Your Career Transition

Guest Post Starting Over From Scratch 5 Things to Keep In Mind during Your Career Transition After a layoff, a firing, a mid-life change of heart, the discovery of a new talent, or exposure to a new and irresistible opportunity, you’ve decided that it’s time to switch careers and start your professional life over again…from the very beginning. You’re going back to square one, and you know this is the right move for you. But you also know that you’re going to encounter some challenges along the way. And some of these challenges may be daunting enough to make you question your decision. Here are a few ways to stay motivated and on track as you face the courageous choices ahead of you. Keep your perspective. So you’re making a leap from one career path to anotherâ€" business to healthcare, for example, or sales to law. But this isn’t a life or death matter. Your new direction may bring you perfect happiness, or perfect misery, or (most likely) something in between. But no matter what, you can always transition back or make another decision altogether. You’re in control, and no career decision amounts to a life sentence. There’s no need to overthink or overestimate the stakes. Be patient. It’s been years since you’ve entered a classroom and faced challenges like essays and final exams. Your professor may be decades younger than you, and the students around you may struggle with the simplest concepts. At the same time, they may easily grasp complex material that boggles your mind and makes you want to give up in despair. In either case, be patientâ€"with yourself and with others around you. Everyone’s journey is different. Respect theirs and respect your own. Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'kJMR4V9URmt6befA9pKeDQ',sig:'9vWJB_WIBC5fakqQGkv4gKAGPUIFOPQYvTYDoPOyFMA=',w:'414px',h:'414px',items:'492644687',caption: false ,tld:'com',is360: false })}); #492644687 / gettyimages.com You’re an adult now, and that’s okay. There’s no need to become besties with the 20-year-olds who suddenly surround you at school or in your entry-level position. And there’s also no need to hustle out the door after class or after work assuming you have nothing in common with them and not bothering to find out. Accept that you’re an adult, and the people around you are kids, but that doesn’t mean you can’t connect or that you don’t belong among them. Just relax and be yourself. You’re better at learning new material than you used to be. That’s the whole point of wisdom and experienceâ€"it makes us smarter. So use those grown-up smarts to your advantage, and make the connections between information and experience that were unavailable you years ago when you first entered the workforce. When you have a question, ask. When you have something to share or explain, do so. Don’t limit yourself. You can do this. What you’re doing may feel completely novel, and you may see only a handful of people around you (or none at all) who are starting over in mid-life the way you are. But this is an illusionâ€"thousands of others have come this way before you, and you’re by new means the first to blaze this trail. Even more important: if this is the best path to your next step, then it’s the best path. The only way to put these challenges behind you is to keep moving. Tackle one step and one day at a time. Before long, you’ll be using what you learned in your previous career to handle your new responsibilities like a pro. LiveCareer, home to America’s #1 Resume Builder, connects job seekers of all experience levels and career categories to all the tools, resources and insider tips needed to win the job. Connect with us on  Google+  and  Youtube  for even more tips and advice on all things career and resume-related.

Does Your Twitter Bio Pack an Executive Brand Punch - Executive Career Brandâ„¢

Does Your Twitter Bio Pack an Executive Brand Punch Twitter allows you just 160 characters in your bio to tell the world who you are. Granted, its not easy to pack everything you feel people need to know about you into such a small package. Carefully craft what you put there to resonate with the people you want to attract. First, define your purpose for tweeting. Are you just interested in idle chatter sharing and discussing what you do for fun, music you like, favorite foods, restaurants and vacation spots, etc.? Then it’s okay for your bio to be light and reinforce that purpose. But if you’re an executive job seeker and you want to leverage Twitter to expand your network, connect with your target employers’ hiring decision makers, gather market intelligence, and learn about job openings, your Twitter bio should reflect that purpose. Understand that this is your pitch â€" whatever is in your bio may be the first impression people will have of you. They will use it to assess whether to follow you, connect with you, and/or consider hiring or doing business with you. Take advantage of what you can do with 160 characters to brand your unique promise of value to hiring decision makers and potential employers. If you’ve already gone through a branding process and created your brand positioning statement, youre most of the way there. All you have to do is cut it down to fit. If not, it will take some work to draft the right kind of statement. Meantime, by all means devote time to defining your brand. See my 10 Steps to an Authentic, Magnetic Personal Brand, and get busy. As you’re composing your bio, or improving your existing bio, ask yourself these questions: Is it free of typos? Is it grammatically correct? Is it free of Twitter/texting shorthand and confusing abbreviations? Does it contain your most important keywords? Does it include some of your brand positioning statement, if you have one? Does it clearly differentiate the value you offer potential employers? Will it generate chemistry and resonate with your target audience? Will it compel others within your niche, or those you want to attract, to want to follow you, listen to you, and retweet you? It’s all about career marketing through precision, short-form writing. Ruthlessly edit and pare down . . . consult a thesaurus to pinpoint the right words . . . say just enough to capture attention. Here’s an example of one I wrote for a senior real estate executive: Acquisitions, Business Development, Retail, Project Management ~ Physically Economically Maximizing Tenant Retail and Mixed Use Real Estate Development Related posts: Twitter Turbocharges Executive Job Search and Personal Brand Visibility Twitter Personal Branding Strategy â€" The Beauty of a Re-Tweet Stalled Executive Job Search? Get Busy on and Twitter 14 Reasons I Won’t Follow You On Twitter [Revisited] 00 0