How to Create a Job for Yourself

In this day and age, finding a job is increasingly difficult. If you can't find a the job for you, why not create it?

1. Plan. In order to create a job for yourself, you need to think about how exactly you will go about it, what you will do. Set aside a notebook or folder for your planning. Make a list of all your work experience, skills, and achievements. Then, using this list, think about what you want to do in the way of a job. Will you be working for someone else, or be self-employed? What area or field do you want to work in? Will this be a full-time or part-time job? Also, you stand your best chance of creating a job where there is a need for this particular skill or job. Look into up-and-coming fields or check out businesses in the area to see what is missing and fill that void.

2. Gather your resources. Once you have a fairly clear idea of what you want in the way of a job, you need to prepare. Do you have an up-to-date resume? Do you have friends, relatives, or associates that may be able to help you? Do you need to take any courses or complete additional training in the field?

3. Now you're ready to go, get up and do it! Creating your own job often requires you to be assertive (not aggressive) and seek out opportunities. Be kind to everyone you meet so you can gain an excellent reputation in your community. Networking is key at this stage. Maintain ongoing professional relationships with your business contacts/colleagues and be sure to meet all expectations and deadlines. Be sure to sell your services effectively, but do not be pushy or rude to anyone.

4. Be flexible. If you can't make a go of it in one area, don't beat yourself up. There are many reasons the job you are attempting to create may not work out. For one thing, if the job is too specific or 'niche' for most people/businesses, you are likely not going to succeed. There is also the danger of overextending yourself, or focusing on too broad a target instead, so be sure to find a happy medium. Do some research. If you are looking to create a job within an existing business, don't be too disappointed if you are turned down. With the current state of the economy, many businesses are letting employees go, and may not be able to take on another person. Don't take the rejection personally. Finally, you may lack the proper training required for a the job. If you want to become a freelance writer, for example, but have absolutely no experience in writing for publications, you are not likely to be successful without a few courses or articles to your name beforehand.

5. Keep your eyes open. Even if your job is a success and you are making money, a better opportunity may present itself. If you feel you can do better some other way or you see a great new idea that will make you even more money, take it! Many successful venture capitalists simply buy, sell, and merge businesses constantly and become extremely successful.


There are three main types of jobs you can create for yourself:


o Creating a position in an existing company. This is a good option that can secure you steady pay and good benefits. Keep your eyes open and pay attention to areas where the company may be able to use more help. For example, if you were knowledgeable about computers and a company was using obsolete technology, you could propose to the company a job where you could update their computer systems and continually monitor and maintain them afterward. It's all about filling out that companies need.

o Freelance. Freelance jobs are, in a basic sense, when you are hired on a temporary contract to perform certain duties for a company. You do your job, they pay you a sum. This type of job is great if you want to travel the world, as you can look for jobs anywhere and move around a lot. You can also choose how little or how much you want to work, depending on how much you want to earn and how much time off you want. However, you usually need to be skilled in a field that typically hires freelancers. Photography and writing are the most common types of freelance jobs.

o Start your own business. Whether it be cutting lawns in your neighborhood or selling services to companies worldwide, this is probably the most surefire way to create a job for yourself. The key to starting a successful business is to find a need or void in the market that you could fill. Do you have a great new invention, or could you improve on an existing one? Do you love food and want to open a trendy restaurant? Are you great at making jewelry and want to sell it online? It's true that to start a new business you might need to invest money. Though If you plan right and keep your expense to a minimal, overtime it will pay off.

12 Steps to Have a Successful Home Based Business

Building a successful home-based business is possible. You don’t need any special skills to have this become a reality for you. All it takes is knowing the ingredients to the recipe of success. It’s as simple as mixing the recipe to bake a cake. Notice that it is simple, not necessarily easy. With so many home business opportunities available, it can get overwhelming trying to decide where to get started. So let’s look at a handful of key ingredients that will see you to the top of the success ladder.


1- Make a solid plan. How will you deal and overcome the hurdles that come your way in the business world? You’ve got to have effective strategies in place.

2- Offer a product that can be used on a regular basis by your consumers, so that you will have repeat business. The goal is to create a long-term consumer base so that you will have a mountain of residual and passive income.

3- Find a coach or mentor who will support you. Your coach or mentor should already be at the level that you are striving for. He or she will help you gain access to the blueprint of success in your particular industry. You will avoid time-wasting and money-wasting mistakes by having a good mentor.

4- Collaborate with a good team of individuals with the same goals as you. This is especially important in your first few months to the first year in your learning phase. Having a support group will encourage you and you will also be learning from others who are in the same situation you are in.

5- Use effective marketing tools. You will also need to implement online marketing systems that can work for you 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. One such tool is Google’s Adwords.

6- Select an area of your home (home office, spare bedroom, etc.) where you can conduct your business. Keep your business tools (paperwork, computer, etc.) in there and not spread around the house.

7- Set time aside everyday to work for your business. Plan your days off ahead of time so you aren't temped to ignore work on any given day because "you don't feel like it".

8- Make a plan and work it. A to do list is a great way to stay on task.

9- Make sure your family knows the office is a business and off limits. Keep the kids off your computer and out of your work affairs.

10- Network with other people to get the word out about your business and gain inspiration from like minded people. There are online networking sites and usually locally based groups for business owners.

11- Consider getting a post office box for work related mail.

12- Get a domain and email address exclusive to your business and promote that on business cards. Decide if you want your home address and phone number on it. Professionally printed ones look better than home printed.


Photo: Florida State Library

How to Start Your Own Business Without Money

How to Start Your Own Business Without Money


Creating and sustaining your own business is still the surest way to wealth. It is by far the more difficult route to take, but many have succeeded. There is a fallacy mindset that you need money in order to start a business. The purpose of this article is to challenge that mindset. Possessing the right knowledge and having perseverance and dedication is more important. Being prepared to fail a few times is also vital to your ultimate success.


1- Grow some passion and determination. Determination is the separating factor. Passion drives determination. Find some areas you are passionate about and grow your skills in those areas through studies, training courses and the practical application of knowledge and skill. Find ways to make money out of your passion rather than resorting to making the niche that makes you money your passion.

2- Be prepared to reinvent yourself. Flexibility is also a great asset as you may have to ‘reinvent’ yourself a few times to find the right slant to tackle the niche you have chosen to operate in. Be prepared to give up one niche for another in the short term, moving with the times and changes in the economic climate and consumer demand.

3- Conduct a few tests run on your ideas to evolve them. Preparation and planning is vital before setting out on any venture. Business plans are evolving documents. Draft one and then ignore it for one year. Compare the practical rolling out of your business venture with your original business plan, and then refine the plan again. Work on this at least once a year going forward. Favor the least expensive idea over the cost-heavy one.

4- Start your business whilst still employed. 90% of entrepreneurs started off as employees in some or another capacity prior to venturing out on their own. Firstly, never sign an employment contract containing a restraint of trade. Then, once you have adequate knowledge and experience, the ideal is to make the transition from a full time employee to a consultant, still in the same industry or even better, within the same Company. Slowly set yourself free from your familiar working environment in this manner. This allows you a soft landing, which is good for your mind and emotions and also gives you opportunity to have more flexibility of time in order to grow business opportunities and test business ideas without impacting your pocket too adversely within the first vital year of trade.

5- Find opportunities to build skills you require to succeed in the area you intend operating in, with as little cost as possible. Find ways to make lucrative deals with training institutions or Companies to have them pay for your training in exchange for services rendered.

6- Remember that the product is most important. We live in a results-driven society. Consumers seek results and do not want to be deceived. A good product markets itself. Build this before you build your marketing plan.

7- Let your creativity replace your money. Get back to basics. Leverage and minimize the need for cash and aggressively increase sales activity through developing and implementing creative ideas and concepts. Always think big. Take massive action towards your goals and persist until you succeed.

8- Remember you are your best employee. Keep it small and cost free in the beginning. Be loathe and hesitant to employ people, unless you are guaranteed of their return on investment. If this is a grey area, rather don’t do it. Salaries are usually the greatest management expense in any business. You want to keep these costs as low as possible, in the beginning and throughout the life cycle of your business.

9- Involve your family in your business (wife, husband and children). Give them joined ownership of the success of your business. Many large Corporations have been in family generations for years. At the very least, entrepreneurs who started these great Companies have, in their children, totally dedicated Company leaders who can be entrusted with anything.

10- Try to avoid Partnerships. Rather make people ‘partners’ in various aspects, but never sign anything on a dotted line in this regard. Be careful when using the term ‘partner’ with business associates, as the legal concept of promissory estoppels (the spoken word superseding a written contract) might bite you at a later stage, especially if you start making money.

11- If you have a home, this is where your first office has to be. Write off a part of your home to ‘rental’ in your books, and pay this money into your bond, if you have one.

12- Build your ability to barter. When all else fails, negotiate. This is often the dividing line between a full time employee of a Company and an entrepreneur. In some countries, you have to negotiate a price for virtually anything. Try visiting one of those countries for a while to get some fun practice in. This is a skill you need to build as it requires strategic know-how and confidence. Take risks (but protect your legal rights) and you may be pleasantly surprised at the outcome.

13- Make up for the absence of money with hard work. If you enjoy what you do, investing long hours in your business will often feel like ‘fun’ and you will do it willingly. If you are forced to do something you don’t enjoy too much to bring in income (only allow this for short term spurts) and are required to spend excess time doing it; ensure you carefully manage your stress levels. You may experience burnout before you start making real money or get anywhere in the ventures you are truly passionate about. This is a sure path back to becoming a paid employee all over again.

14- Know your rights. Having sound knowledge of Commercial Law, especially the Law of Contract and your Countries’ Legislative requirements in as far as business owners are concerned is important to succeed as an entrepreneur. Seeking Legal Counsel for every small aspect concerning the law will bankrupt you in no time. Rather build this skill and knowledge as far as you can before you begin forking out money to pay for it.

15- Look after your physical, mental and emotional state. If you lose your health, you lose it all. A healthy body, mind and soul (emotions included) are vital to success as a business owner. Try and get some income protector insurance in place as a self-employed person cannot afford to lose income to this possibility. Your gym fee is an important monthly expense and don’t be tempted to compromise on that when finances become tight. Keep grounded in your faith as you will need strength of spirit to survive the ‘jungle’ out there.

16- Get the balance right. Live life within balance. Even when you are starting out a business without a cent in the bank. Losing your balance and perspective in life will make you poorer in the long run and is never a risk worth taking. Never miss a night’s sleep, meddle with your regular healthy eating and exercise plans. This will break you down and cause you to make irrational, emotional decisions which are never a good thing in business.


Thanks to My Vintage Vogue for providing the picture.

How to Become a Flight Attendant

Flight attendants assist passengers during flights by explaining air safety procedures, answering any questions, serving meals and generally helping ensure passengers have a pleasant journey. In the past, flight attendants were also called stewardesses, stewards, and air hostesses.

Stepping Back in Time:

The position of flight attendant remained largely undefined until Ellen Church entered the aviation industry in 1930. A registered nurse who had taken flying lessons, Church approached Steve Stimpson of Boeing Air Transport seeking an airline job, possibly as a pilot. Instead Stimpson and Church created a stewardessing occupation for registered nurses.

Church's timing was critical. Stimpson, recently back from a long flight, saw the need for cabin attendants and urged his employer to add a courier to the crew. Stimpson had already hired three male couriers when Church visited his offices on Feb. 23, 1930. After meetings with Church, Stimpson tried to sell his idea of a nurse-stewardess to his superiors, citing the national publicity that would result.

William A Patterson, assistant to the president of Boeing Air Transport, decided to embark on what others in the airline industry considered a daring experiment. He gave his approval to hire eight nurses to work as stewardesses on a three-month trial basis. At 8:00 a.m., May 15, 1930, a Boeing tri-motor left Oakland enroute to Chicago with Ellen Church, the world's first stewardess, aboard.

Although some pilots complained that they were too busy to look after a "helpless female" crew member, passengers applauded the experiment. Accounts from the original eight nurse stewardesses confirm that the pilots initially did not speak to them, and some pilots' wives from Salt Lake City began a letter writing campaign to Boeing requesting the removal of stewardesses.

At the end of the three-month stewardess experiment, Boeing officials enthusiastically endorsed it a great success.

Church, was deluged by applications from both men and women eager to experience the adventure and mobility the new flying job offered. Church became responsible for directing and determining standards for the new job. In the station manager's absence, she supervised food service, bought equipment and handled the passengers in and out of Cheyenne, Wyo. Thus, Church pioneered another first; she was among the first women to work in a management position in the emerging aviation industry.


Flight Attendant Qualifications:

1-Flight attendants are normally trained in the hub or headquarters city of an airline over a period that may run from six weeks to six months, depending on the country and airline. The main focus of training is safety. One flight attendant is required for every 50 passenger seats on board in the United States, but many airlines have chosen to increase that number.

2-Multilingual flight attendants are often in demand to accommodate international travelers. The languages most in demand, other than English, are Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, Hindi, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Filipino and Italian.

3-Some airlines, have height requirements for purely aesthetic purposes. Other regional carriers have height restrictions because their aircraft have low ceilings. A typical acceptable range is from 5'2" (1.57 m) to 6'0" (1.83 m).

4-Flight attendants are also subject to weight requirements as well. Weight must usually be in proportion to height; persons outside the normal range may not be qualified to act as flight attendants.


Want to become a Flight Attendant and get to Travel around the world?
The following are places where you can get the needed training.

Delta Airline: http://www.flightcourse.info/

Southwest Airlines: :http://www.southwest.com/careers/flight_attendant.html

International Air & Hospitality Academy:
http://www.aha.edu/y_leads.php?source=GOOGLE&type=airline


bon voyage!




Picture: Duke University Library
Information:About.com, United Airlines,Wikipedia

How to Come Up With a Business Idea

Create an idea or product that you believe can be successful. This is easier said than done. Coming up with a viable product or idea is sometimes harder than constructing a business plan. Having a good business plan is important for every entrepreneur, but what if you do not have an idea upon which to build a plan?

1-Get your creative juices flowing. There are many different ways to accomplish this task. Play a game, read a book, paint a picture, play a sport, etc. The point is, do something that gets you thinking and then focus that energy into creating an idea/concept/product. Do not try to force an idea to occur because this will usually result in bad ideas! Take your time, focus your thought, and create the right product for you.

2-Know your limits. Determining these factors will help you focus your thought process. For example, if you are interested in computers, but have no education or experience with computers outside of internet surfing or word processing, it will be difficult to create a marketable idea for computer software components. Keep your thought process reasonable. In other words, do not let your imagination run wild. When you become good at creating ideas, then you can let your imagination do some work, but not at first.

3-Seize upon any inspiration. Sometimes, ideas will pop up at the oddest times. Get a small notebook to carry around with you and write ideas in. This way you can look at your notebook and later begin to develop your idea.

4-Turn a possible business problem to a solution. For example, if you are interested in cooking, maybe you have a problem with the way an oven can dry out a chicken when cooking. Now that you have identified a problem, brainstorm and think of as many solutions as possible. It does not matter how crazy the solution is, just think about them and write them down. After you have written down every possible solution, no matter how crazy, go through the list and find the solution that you feel you can best accomplish. Surprise! You have probably come up with an original idea. This does not mean that you should pitch this idea tomorrow. All this means is that you should develop your idea, mold your idea, and perfect your idea into something you think people would buy if in the market. Also, this way of thinking will get your creative juices flowing. You may find yourself traveling a different path from your original field of interest. If this occurs, follow the thought until completion. You may be surprised where it leads!

Research: Wikihow

How To Write a Business Plan

1-Put yourself in the investor’s shoes. Ask yourself, “If I were going to invest X amount of dollars into a concept or idea, or even a product, what would I want to know?” Gather as much helpful and credible information as you can. Depending on your product, you may need to search long and hard for relevant information. Most importantly, do not lose heart if finding information, statistics, and graphs is more daunting than you initially anticipated. Your hard work will pay off when a potential investor becomes an actual investor!

2-Write up a draft for your business plan. At this stage, do not worry about capitalization, punctuation, and grammar. All you need to worry about is putting your ideas down on paper. Write down everything you think you need to compile an effective and efficient business plan.

3-Start to form your business plan. Begin creating section headings and putting the appropriate information under the appropriate headings. Once you have a general form, begin proofreading your plan. Correct all the mistakes that you can find.

4-Write an outline of your business plan, covering the following key concepts. Effectively separating your business' unique approach to each of these headings will organize your plan in a way investors find useful:

Description and Ownership. This is where you describe your product, mode of production, and establish who owns the company.

Assessment of the Business Environment. Address three points: Who needs you, who competes with you, and why you are able to sustain yourself. Your Economic Environment should detail the prevailing conditions of the labor force, local demand, availability of land, and growth trends in your target area. The Industrial Environment section should detail your competition, their modes of production, their relative power in the market, and a history of altruism. Finally, a Global Environment section should detail the overall global scale of your industry, and detail what is unique about your mode of production that will eventually lead your firm to prevail in the global market.

Management Plan. In this section you detail how your firm will be managed. This may not reflect the firm's ownership, so be sure to write this section with precision. Split this section in to two points, Labor management and Production management, reflecting your policies regarding people and machines.

Employment Plan. Here you describe your method of motivating employees to work for the betterment of the firm. Prove that your structure of compensation and advancement will cause a self-interested agent to take actions that benefit the firm, even when that agent lacks a sense of altruism.

Marketing Plan. Split this sections, production and marketing. In Production, outline the characteristics that set your product apart in cost and quality. In your marketing section, describe who will buy your product, how you will get it to them, and how you'll tell new consumers that you exist.

Financial Plan. This is a three dimensional budget that describes your minimum price to maximum price, the minimum to maximum number of units you will sell, and relative scale of production you could achieve with those prices to minimize costs over the long term.


Research: Wikihow

How to Dress for Success as a Woman

For women the work arena presents a unique set of challenges; to look professional whilst retaining femininity is hard. Many city women in financial institutions choose pin striped suits and tailored shirts from men’s tailors to fit in within a masculine environment. The right outfit could be the difference between climbing the career ladder and losing your job. Many women struggle to know what is acceptable at work.


1-Understand that men at work are dressing up to beat the credit crunch. Bespoke tailors report increased sales and there is a feeling that being causal at work translates to casual in your job. The Hedge Fund Dress Down Friday look, has largely been replaced with a return to formal suits and shirts. This is an easy uniform to adopt.

2-Try wearing a skirt suit. This works really well in any work environment providing the skirt is not too tight. In a more casual workplace separates, skirt and coloured jacket look great too. A dress and jacket also looks good providing the dress is smart enough and not too tight or too short. Think elegance here. Sweater dresses cut to knee length with a toning jacket is another great look for more casual workplaces.

3-Avoid cleavage displays, midriff tops, informal clothing such as T shirts, beach sandals, and loud “bling” or jewelry  Grooming is important, hair should be well cut, clean and not extreme in colour or cuts. Make up should be discrete, wearing makeup has been shown to increase your chances of promotion just don’t overdo it.

4-Choose colours that flatter' depending on your colouring. Traditional work colours are black (chic), navy (trustworthy), red (dynamic, aggressive), grey (conservative). To venture into hot pinks, oranges and wild prints is far riskier and after all it is your career on the line.

5-Look at yourself in a long mirror before leaving the house, check clothes are ironed, that there are no ladders in your tights, check shoes are not very high, or are scuffed. Invest in good quality suits and coats and aim to keep them for several years. Beware of buying cheap clothing, cheaper fabrics and cheap jewelry or wearing old fashioned or worn out clothes. If you aspire to be promoted look as if you mean business and are a competent, confident professional. Clothing sends out very powerful messages about who we are, so dress to make a positive impression, dressing for success is a necessary precursor to obtaining it.

6-Learn what your colour palette' is and what styles suit you. If you don’t know use a personal stylist and find out the best colours to bring out the best in your skin tone and hair colour. Summer brings more challenges, women should ideally buy a smart summer work wardrobe of tailored dresses that will compete effectively with the men sweltering in suits. Invest in a few key outfits that will last a couple of years, linen shift dresses look great, as do linen mix suits providing they are crumple proof.

7-Comprehend that dressing to impress in the current economic climate should be seen as an essential strategy to getting and keeping your dream job.


Research: Wikihow