Key findings

Positive Indicators

• 45% hope to reap rewards (profit) from social media spending in next 12 months
• 57% have built online network using LinkedIn or similar websites.
• 61% uses social media to identify and attract new customers.
• 75% small businesses surveyed had a company profile page on any social networking sites.

Things that make them scowl

• 6% of survey participants said that use of social media has hurt them
• 17% of them said using social media left the companies vulnerable to consumers’ criticism.
• 50% thinks it takes more time than expected.

These findings (See image for complete detail) indicate that to be successful in the new socially-connected economy, the company has to be caring. “Meet deadline and bottom line” oriented company will have a hard time persuading its customers. The concerns that small business owners that participated in the survey talked about had more to do with their business and its operation and less to do with the nature of social media. They will grow and get accepted, if only they accept this fact and make required changes in their businesses.

-Make sure that you have a good schedule, and that you stick to that schedule.  If you’re a writer that works from home, the biggest part of making that transition is remembering that this is still a serious job.  Just because your environment is the comfort of your own home, doesn’t mean you can slack.  Schedule out your projects and stick to them, in the long run this will help you feel like you’re in more of a professional environment, and you’ll be more apt to get your writing done.

-Know when you need to take a break.  Because writing is so creative, sometimes you need to take a break to keep the creative juices flowing.  Give yourself 5-10 minutes when you’re feeling especially unproductive.  Take a moment, go outside and get some fresh air, then go back to work.  You should feel calmer, and more willing to resume normal duties.

-Don’t get down on yourself, or bully yourself into writing.  Everyone goes through phases where they don’t feel like writing.  You just have to stay confident and positive, and keep plugging away.  The feeling will pass, but don’t give in and stop working because of it.

-Finally, try making a reward system for yourself.  If you have a lot of articles to do, map out the articles and make up rewards for completing a certain amount.  Like if you desperately want to take a break, set a goal to finish four of those articles before you do.  If you’re hungry and really want to eat lunch, make sure you complete another two beforehand.

One of the key factors in how Google ranks a website, is how many other websites link back to your site.  That means networking.  Networking is an long established tool to build website traffic.  The more websites you find that are similar to yours, that are willing to exchange links, the higher your traffic is going to become.  Google ranks how well you are networked, and rewards those who network effectively.

The IP addresses of websites linking back to yours also has an effect on Google’s ranking system.  The more different IP’s that link to you, the better.  Multiple links from the same IP aren’t really factored in, as they could be considered duplicates, or falsified links.

Keyword density is also of high importance.  You want to use as many keywords as possible, without letting the quality of your content suffer.  The more keywords you have that relate to common searches, the higher Google is going to rank you.  As long as your content applies to what searchers type when searching, the more Google is going to be partial to ranking your site highly.

Make sure that you properly format your page titles to incorporate keywords.  Google puts a huge importance on what sort of keywords are in your title.  So make sure you use the important keywords that are specific to the topics you are touching upon.  Don’t be too generalized, and use specific terms that relate to your website, and what readers would be searching for.

So for starters, what is cold calling?  Well put simply it’s literally calling companies you would be interested in working for, to inquire about jobs.  Most of the time these companies don’t have any open positions listed, but that does not mean that there are no positions available.  A company doesn’t always get around to announcing a job opening straight away.  By calling before the position is announced, you put yourself into the running before anyone else is even considered.

Beware that in most cases your call may be met with negativity.  The person you are calling oftentimes has an unwillingness to comply with anything you have to say.  This is usually just because they are busy, and see your call as an inconvenience.  But don’t get down on yourself for this.  Stay positive and recognize that the negativity from them is not personal, and has nothing to do with you.  Continue your inquiry, stay polite and courteous, and if there really is no chance of an available job, just move to your next possibility.

Remember to stay positive, and keep trying.  Oftentimes you can end up on a call back list for potential employees when a position does become available.  It’s always good to have on file that you were interested in working for them before a job was vacant.

Start out getting the certifications you will need in entry level IT opportunities.  Study and gather certificates in Cisco, Java, and Microsoft platform related applications.  This is a good thing to do while you are pursuing a degree from either a 4 year University, or a technical college.  This way you’re setting yourself up for the industry, while getting your education, better preparing yourself in a shorter amount of time.

As you are learning, make sure that you always keep track of IT related news and trends.  The industry is in a constant flux of new ideas and constant change, keeping up on that is very  important.  Only by staying current can you make yourself into an asset at any job you’d like to get in the future.  So keeping your skills and knowledge up to date is invaluable.

Look for a few trade groups that you can join, during your education and beyond, so that you can network within the industry.  Networking is a vital component of any industry, but especially for one that is constantly changing like the IT field.  Getting connected with people already in the industry will help you find entry level positions when you’re out of school.  Not to mention connecting with those that have established themselves helps you learn what’s necessary to succeed in the end.

Finally, make the most of every opportunity.  Take advantage of the first job you get straight out of school, and work hard and apply that knowledge you have in every way.  You first opportunity can make or break you, so take full advantage.

Well, if your boss is the one who with his nagging behavior pushed in here then you should thank him, but if you have come here with a dream of finding procrastinator’s paradise then I will suggest you to look elsewhere because someone has given you the wrong address. But, as you have come here, though erroneously, I must tell you that to become successful as a freelance professional, you not only need to have some kind of expertise that can be offered as a service to the buyer sitting in different city, state or country, but you also need to have a rigorous  self-control. Time management, scheduling, organization, and a well thought to-do lists are important tools that will help you in preparing for the big task.

Indeed, you will be free of nagging boss, upon choosing freelancing as a career, but there is no escape from rules, regulations, and discipline; rather these things – you may call it evil monsters, if you prefer it that way – will hit hard with all of their combined force.

Freelancing is not for those who need external pushing to meet deadline because there is no one outside you to push you. No one is there to threaten you to stop your promotion or paycheck, or to fire you outright. You have to act on your own. You have to take charge. You need to be disciplined enough to do everything that is required of you, and that too on time, every time. Along with giving you the entire bucket of rewards for the work you do, freelancing also puts a burden of a sack-full of responsibility on you.

Freelancers falling in the first group never have any problem with these. It is the freelancers falling into the second group who find it hard to come to terms with the demands posed by the freelance profession. For them it is a paradise lost.

Some of the things you need to watch for are e-books that claim to have the answers to all your internet riches, hopes and dreams, as most of them are just scams to get you to pay for something you don’t really need.  There isn’t any secret to using Adsense that isn’t either already available on the internet for free, or provided by Google themselves to inform you more about how to use the program.  Be wary of anyone that wants payment for helping you learn to make money on the internet, nine times out of ten the only way that person has learned to make money is by duping people into buying a useless book.

Don’t be lured by people that want you to pay for keyword lists that are reportedly able to increase your revenue and traffic greatly.  First off because Google offers their keyword information, and secondly because there’s no such thing as a magic keyword list that will net more traffic to your site.  Sure formatting your page to involve common keywords more effectively is going to drive your traffic, but there’s no such thing as a ‘magic’ list of keywords that are ‘guaranteed’ to make you successful.

And especially don’t be lured by anyone claiming to have the one secret to Adsense wealth, because if there was one little secret that could make you an Adsense millionaire, I sincerely doubt you’d scream it from the hilltops letting everyone know.