Wise Bread (Debbie Dragon)

Cavalcade of Risk - November 4, 2009 - How Much Assurance Does Your Insurance Offer?

Debbie Dragon — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:36:29 +0000

Welcome to the November 4, 2009 Cavalcade of Risk — the How Much Assurance Does Your Insurance Offer edition! As I was going through the submissions for this particular carnival, I noticed a large number of insurance related topics. Does that mean we're becoming more concerned about whether we have enough (or the right types) of insurance? Or was it just a coincidence? Whether you've got concerns about life insurance, car insurance, health insurance or business insurance — you can find information in this carnival.

LIFE INSURANCE

FMF takes on the life insurance debate, with How Much Life Insurance Do You Need? posted at Free Money Finance, saying, "A simple formula to determine how much life insurance you need."

Jeff Rose always looks at whether things make good financial "cents" or not. Here's his theory on Should You Buy (ROP) Return on Premium Term Life Insurance?

Tom @ Canadian Finance Blog discusses life insurance and children. I have life insurance for my children but have always wondered whether or not it's a good use of money. Tom thinks not — here's his take: Insurance You Can Do Without — Life Insurance For Your Child posted at The Canadian Finance Blog.

Peter helps us decide when is the right time to get that life insurance policy in When Should I Buy A Life Insurance Policy? Should I Wait Until I Have Children Or Dependents? posted at Bible Money Matters.

CAR INSURANCE

Colin Robertson asks Do I Need Car Insurance if I Don’t Own a Car? posted at The Truth About Insurance.com.

HEALTH INSURANCE

Henry Stern, LUTCF, CBC sent us High Risk Obamacare from InsureBlog, saying, "Bob Vineyard explains that a new high risk pool included in ObamaCare could really end up hurting the very folks it seeks to help."

David Williams presents Fears of the public option are overblown posted at Health Business Blog, saying, "Big business thinks the public option will put them at risk for cost shifting and the elimination of the private health insurance industry. I think their fears about the risk are overblown."

Jason Shafrin talks about the cost of health care — “Health care, at any level, cannot be equated in dollars and cents.” at Healthcare Economist

Jaan Sidorov gives us More Implications on the Suspended Animation of the Medicare Medical Home Demonstration

BUSINESS INSURANCE

Nancy Germond, ARM, AIC, ITP presents Admitting You Are Wrong May Limit Claims posted at AllBusiness.com — Risk Management for the 21st Century

OTHER RISKS

Peak Personal Finance tackles the risks involved with Lending Money to Friends and Family posted at Peak Personal Finance, saying, "Lending money to friends and family can be risky business!"

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Stock Market Timing: Advice For Investors posted at The Digerati Life, saying, "Is market timing a way to reduce or manage risk? Or is it a highly risky strategy when investing? The debate rages on."

Dugan presents Why Release People we Think are High Risk? Well, who said risk wasn't controversial? Dugan Z wonders about allowing sex-offenders to live in family-centric neighborhoods is a good idea, and is stunned by how easy it is to use Google-maps to find them.

Thanks for checking out the carnival! If you have some time, check out some of the great posts from the bloggers on Wise Bread — there's a little something for everyone here. Submit your blog article to the next edition of cavalcade of risk using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Permalink | 5 comments | Debbie Dragon's blog | Channel: Personal Finance

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Tips for Preventing Swine Flu Naturally

Debbie Dragon — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:00:01 +0000

By Debbie Dragon

It is impossible to avoid coming into contact with the Swine Flu (H1N1), or any other strain of flu for that matter. Because it can take three days before germs entering your body proliferate and become the actual illness, often times people are out in public without any known symptoms, yet they are still carrying and spreading the infection.

While you are healthy and not showing flu symptoms, you can help decrease your chances of getting the swine flu with the following natural tips.

Gargle

The only portals of entry for the flu into the body are the mouth, throat and nostrils. By gargling twice each day with warm salt water or Listerine, the proliferation of H1N1 may be prevented. It is believed that gargling with warm salt water as a healthy person is similar to the effect that an infected person receives from taking Tamiflu.

Clean Nose

Blowing your nose hard at least once per day will help clear germs from your nasal cavities. Follow up the nose blowing with a swabbing of both nostrils using a cotton bud dipped in warm salt water.

Drink Warm Liquids

To help wash viruses from your throat and prevent proliferation, drinking warm liquids works in a similar manner as gargling with warm salt water — except it moves the viruses in the other direction. Once the germs are in your stomach, they can't survive or proliferate.

Boost Natural Immunity

It has been shown that vitamin C plays a role in boosting your body's natural immunity. Increase your intake of foods with Vitamin C (citrus fruits) or take Vitamin C supplements. If using supplements, you'll also want to take zinc to improve your body's absorption of vitamin C.

Decrease Sugar Intake

During flu season especially, it's a good idea to reduce the amount of sugar in your diet. Sugar is absorbed fast by the body but if it is not burned off quickly, it remains in the bloodstream. The problem with excess sugar is that it prevents the ability of white blood cells to do their job and fight foreign organisms.

Unless you never leave your home and never allow others to come into your home, it is impossible to completely avoid contact with H1N1, other flu strains, and illnesses in general. Using these tips, along with frequent hand washing, keeping your hands away from your face, and disinfecting surfaces in your home with a germ-killing cleanser, you can help decrease your risks of getting the flu naturally.

Editor's note: This has been revised to reflect the information provided by readers that the doctor originally quoted was a fake. The information in this article was obtained from a school newsletter that credited the doctor. These tips are not intended to be a substitute for professional medical treatment, advice or diagnosis.

Permalink | 15 comments | Debbie Dragon's blog | Channel: Health and Beauty

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You Can Watch Your Netflix Instant Queue Using Your Xbox 360

Debbie Dragon — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 17:00:30 +0000

By Debbie Dragon

I've been a member of Netflix for about a year now, because I was previously guilty of forgetting to return movies on time and spending a fortune in late fees. My family watches movies at night a couple times a week in the summer months, and then in the winter we tend to watch a little more. We work around this by adjusting the membership to a lower cost, less-movies-per-month plan for the summer and can increase it for the winter months when we watch more.

Recently, my son noticed that the Netflix logo appeared on his Xbox 360, when he was just browsing through his “dashboard.” He knows way more about the Xbox than I ever will, but when he showed me the Netflix logo I investigated it and sure enough – you can watch the “instant queue” movies from your Netflix account on your television, streaming through the Xbox 360 Live. We currently have a free membership to the Xbox 360 Live. There are a number of options for continuing the membership after our membership runs out, from $7.99 per month on a month-to-month plan, to $19.99 for a 3 month plan, to $49.99 for a full year. Doing an internet search online showed me a few ways to get redemption codes for Xbox live, too. If you're not aware, the Xbox Live community allows you to download game content, and play multi-player games with real people in real time. Turns out many of the games that you would buy in the stores are available for download, at a reduced price over purchasing the physical game – but eventually you would run out of hard drive space on your Xbox to store downloaded games and content. Connecting the Netflix account to our Xbox 360 wasn't as easy as I expected. The Xbox gives you a special code to enter into your Netflix account, but we ended up having to restart the Xbox about three times and enter three different codes before it was accepted and “connected.” Once the connection was established, it was just a matter of scrolling through the “instant queue” using the Xbox 360 controller and the television screen. We found a movie we wanted to watch, selected it, and it streamed directly to the TV. Netflix has a variety of devices which can be used to watch movies from the “watch instantly” collection (which by the way, doesn't include every movie in Netflix's database) but most of them are rather expensive. If I didn't already have an Xbox 360, I certainly wouldn't have run out to buy one just to stream movies from Netflix, in the same way that I wouldn't run out to buy any of the other instant devices just for that purpose. But, for anyone who already has both the Xbox 360 and a Netflix account – you might consider connecting them to enjoy your Netflix movies via the television instead of the computer screen.

Permalink | 9 comments | Debbie Dragon's blog | Channel: Art and Leisure, Technology

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Save Money on Travel Accommodations

Debbie Dragon — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:01:57 +0000

By Debbie Dragon

I don't know about you, but when I travel somewhere it's because I'm going to experience an attraction, see friends, or participate in an event for my business. I don't travel just to sleep in fancy hotel beds, and I prefer to keep as much of my travel budget available for entertainment as possible! Finding cheap hotels or inexpensive hotel alternatives will keep your travel expenses down.

Most of the time, I just need a comfortable and safe place to sleep when I'm traveling out of town. If this describes your own travel-sleep needs, you might be able to save money on your travel accommodations with the following tips:

Go Camping. I realize camping is not for everyone, but if you can handle pitching a tent and blowing up an air mattress, chances are good that you can save a ton of cash. Campgrounds charge between $5 and $40 a night, depending on the amenities of the campground and whether they're in a popular location or not, but when you compare those prices to the $40-$200 a night for a budget to moderate hotel, you can see how camping can really stretch the budget. Some campgrounds even have electric hook-ups and wireless internet.

Get Out of Town. If you're traveling to a popular destination or event, most hotels will take advantage of supply and demand and increase their rates accordingly. If you don't mind driving fifteen or twenty minutes between your hotel and event location, you can almost always get a less expensive hotel room in a neighboring town.

Stay Longer. Many times you can rent an entire house or condo for a week for less than you would pay for a hotel for three or four nights – especially if staying in popular vacation destinations. For example, there are fabulous three to six bedroom homes in the Orlando, Florida area (complete with swimming pools, kitchens, dining rooms, living rooms, game rooms, and sometimes even a community center nearby!) that rent for around $700 per week; but if you stay in a moderate hotel room in Disney, you can expect to pay $280 a night or more. The larger accommodations also make it reasonable to share with another family or two and reduce your costs even more.

Use Discounts. If you're a member of AAA, a member of the military, or own an Entertainment Book, you have discounted travel options available to you. Most hotels offer discounts under these situations. The 2010 Entertainment Book (affiliate link) is now available, and the 2010 coupons are valid now.

Create Discounts. If you're not a member of an organization that receives hotel discounts, you can always try to create your own! Find out how much it would cost you to stay the duration of your travel in one of the popular hotels in town. Then call a less-popular hotel and ask them if they can offer you a free night or discounted rates if you choose them over the popular hotel. You might be surprised at what they're willing to do to earn your business.

This post was included in the Money Hacks Carnival.

Permalink | 18 comments | Debbie Dragon's blog | Channel: Art and Leisure, General Tips, Lifestyle

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Carnival of Personal Finance #205: Pay it Forward Edition

Debbie Dragon — Mon, 18 May 2009 12:15:28 +0000

By Debbie Dragon

Wikipedia tells us that the expression "pay it forward" is used to describe the concept of asking that a good turn be repaid by having it done to others instead. More specifically, the creditor offers the debtor the option of "paying" the debt forward by lending it to a third person instead of paying it back to the original creditor. In this week's edition of The Carnival of Personal Finance, I ask everyone to think about the concept of "Paying it Forward". Does someone owe you money or a favor? Consider asking that they repay their debt to you by doing something nice for someone else instead!

In the Pay it Forward movie released in 2000, (based on the novel by Catherine Ryan Hyde) a 12 year old school boy was given an assignment to come up with a plan that would change the world through direct action. The boy comes up with the plan to "pay it forward" by doing a good deed for three people who must in turn each do good deeds for three other people, and so on down the line. A beautiful concept. I hope you enjoy this week's edition of the carnival - there were close to 80 submissions!

Featured Selections

Work at Home Mom from Empowering Mom: presents Today We Lost a Client. This is a good way to view change, not only as it applies to your business or career finances, but also life changes in general. Every change is the opportunity for something better to come along.

InsureBlog presents Lower Cholesterol, Have Sex, While Unemployed, "How does getting paid to make love AND reduce your cholesterol sound? InsureBlog's Bob Vineyard reports on one drug company's new outreach program to help folks who've been recently laid off." Hmmm...

Deposit Accounts from Deposit Accounts presents Tips for Beginning Investors. You may already know these investing basics, but it never hurts to review.

Debt Kid shares What Puking Taught Him About Finance. I love the title of this post. The tie-ins between puking and finance are an entertaining read, too.

American Consumer News presents No Action Needed to Receive Social Security Stimulus Check. Trisha Wagner helps people understand the latest stimulus checks, who qualifies, and how to get yours.

Fine Tuned Finances presents What Exactly is "bounced protection".

Money Smart Life presents Improve Your Credit Score in 5 Simple Steps. An increasing number of people are struggling with lower credit scores as a result of the economic climate - here are 5 steps to improving your score and getting on track of better credit offers and lower interest rates.

Loved by Wisebread: Frugality Topics

In case this is your first visit to Wisebread.com, you should know that it's a community blog based on the concepts of Living Large on a Small Budget. Take a look around, there are many great articles to be found on this site, as well as tips for saving money, finding great online deals, and forums to discuss it all with like-minded individuals.

That One Caveman from One Caveman's Financial Journey presents Save Money By Buying the "Good" Toilet Paper, and says, "Sometimes buying the cheapest option can end up costing you money - toilet paper is no exception. By buying better toilet paper, you can use less and your cost-per-use actually drops below the "cheap" toilet paper." I really agree with this except when you have young children in the house. They tend to use too much toilet paper no matter what kind you buy and can throw your cost-per-use way off.

Savings Toolbox provides more Tips to Find the Best Deals on the Internet.

Money Beagle from Money Beagle presents Unplanned Spending That I Hope Is Worth It.

Penelope Pince from Pecuniarities presents DIM (Did-it-Myself!) Country Kitchen Storage Shelf, and says, "How we built a country-style kitchen shelf for storing fruits, vegetables, flour, rice and miscellaneous foodstuff with leftover paint and lumber for under $10. Also, frugal storage solutions for above-mentioned items.

David Nofsinger from Spiffy Links Personal Finance presents Finding Cheaper Transportation

Beyond Paycheck to Paycheck presents Americas increasingly frugal habits. "How much of the "new frugality" will stay with us when the economy eventually rebounds?"

jim from Bargaineering presents 2009 Sales Tax Holiday Schedule. Find out when your state offers tax-free shopping, and plan your shopping trips for those dates to save some money.

Aryn from Sound Money Matters presents That Makes Me Stabby: The Handbag as Investment. I was unsure at first how someone might convince people a handbag was an investment, but I think Aryn does a pretty good job of it here!

Doctor S from Finance Your Life presents I Spend Too Much Money On..., and says, "We all have certain aspects of our budget that we splurge on. My problem is fast food and, in particular, one fast food spot. "

linke from Man and his Money presents The frugal beauty of an old truck. "Basically, it's a love story. I have driven the same truck for 17 years and over 225,000 miles. I contrast the meager amount I spend to drive and maintain my truck with what the average consumer would spend over the same time period. I believe length of ownership is key to keeping transportation costs to a minimum." Completely agree! I drove a basic Chevy Cavalier for 12 years, and for 190,000 miles. I would have driven it longer if it didn't finally start having some mechanical issues - at that point, fixing the car would have been more expensive than the vehicle was worth. But for 12 years that car was PAYING me to drive it!

Olivia from Independent Beginnings presents Up-Front Spending Can Work Against You.

Fabulously Broke in the City presents The True Cost of an Item. "I propose that instead of just looking at a cost of an item, check out the accessories that come with it as well, and factor that into your purchase as it's "true cost".

MLR from My Life ROI presents Spring Cleaning Checklist: Medicine Cabinet, and says, "This spring cleaning chore falls into money management for a few reasons: You wind up throwing away expired meds that you bought in bulk to lower your cost/unit, if you do this task every so often you could wind up saving yourself money in health care costs, you could prevent accidents from happening, and you will be better prepared for emergencies."

Debt & Credit

Debt Free Destiny from Debt Free Destiny presents Retired and in Debt: Now What?.

Debt Freedom Fighter from Discover Debt Freedom presents The Worst Credit Card Company Practices Revealed.

Apply4-Credit.com from Apply4-Credit.com presents A Students Credit: A Report Card for Life.

J. Money from Budgets Are Sexy presents Paying extra towards your loans now, goes a long way later!, and says, "The more you pay off now, the less you pay in interest later - It's like kickin' compound interest in its head and getting away with it :)"

Mr Credit Card from Ask Mr Credit Card presents The Banking Industry Responds to the Proposed Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights Act of 2009.

Erica Douglass from erica.biz presents Cash Back Rewards Credit Cards, and says, "Which credit cards pay more than 1% cash back? They're getting harder to find, but here are two (plus a bonus guide on easily switching from one card to another!)"

David from Credit Card Offers IQ presents 4 Credit Cards After the Federal Reserves Own Heart (if it had one), and says, "Here are four credit cards that are already following many of the Fed's credit card regulations that do not go into effect until 2010."

Chris Holdheide from Stumble Forward presents How I Made Over $500 With My Blog To Pay Off Debt, and says, "How I made $500 in 8 months with my blog."

MFD from My Findependence Day presents 9 Questions To Help You Choose The Right Credit Card.

Chief Family Officer from Chief Family Officer presents Does the mortgage interest deduction make carrying a mortgage worthwhile? .

Tyler Metzger from Taking Charge presents Does your credit card make you smile?.

Investing

The Dividend Guy from The Dividend Guy presents 4 Benefits of Employer Share Purchase Plans and Pensions and 1 Downside, and says, "An important component of many people's savings is an employer share program - here are some benefits of those programs and 1 downfall."

Wealth Pilgrim presents Stock Market Rally - Should You Buy or Sell Now?.

SVB from The Smarter Wallet presents Use Candlestick Charts, Trading Signals To Evaluate The Stock Market

Pinyo from Moolanomy Personal Finance presents Penny Stocks Are Not Cheap Stocks, and says, "Dispel a common misconception among beginning investor that low priced stocks are cheap."

Matt SF from Steadfast Finances presents 20 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Choosing an Online Discount Broker.

p>D4L from Dividends Value presents High-Quality Low-Risk Dividend Stocks. "We are a product of our environment. Our life experiences not only shape out behavior, but at its very core, they shape our thought process. The Great Depression forever changed a generation of people. It appears the Great Recession may be having a similar effect on another generation."

Shadox from Money and Such presents Slumdog Millionairre and Investment Strategy, and says, "Connecting games shows, movies and investing in one fun post."

Joe Light from Invest Wisdom presents Can new asset classes improve your diversification? "Last year, nearly every asset class--whether it was stocks, bonds, real estate, or commodities--lost money. That's led many people to say that diversification "failed" and led some money managers to introduce new asset classes that can improve investors' diversification. But did diversification really fail and can new asset classes really make things any better?"

Jeff Rose from Good Financial Cents presents How To File a Complainst Against Your Broker. "If you have a run in with a sleazy broker, here's some steps you can take to file a complaint. "

Saving

Jeff from StretchyDollar.com presents Set Your Own Interest Rate!

Simon from Realm of Prosperity presents Getting $10 Removed On Late Fee For Late Credit Card Payment.

Blogging Banks from Blogging Banks presents E-Trade Savings Account APY Decreases to 0.95%.

Money Management

FMF from Free Money Finance presents Money Lessons from Monopoly, and says, "You can pick up a lot of good money management skills by playing Monopoly."

Helen from Affine Financial Tips presents Why do I need to create an LLC?, and says, "With the economy in the doldrums, many folks are starting a business -- either on the side or as their new full time employment. If you do, be sure to consider creating an LLC to protect your personal assets."

Frank Curmudgeon from Bad Money Advice presents Millionaires as Role Models.

Jennifer from Getting Ahead presents Do you have a Freedom Account?

Silicon Valley Blogger from The Digerati Life presents Best High Interest Savings Accounts In Online Banking

Matt from My Financial Recovery presents Allowance And Chore System For The Kids, and says, "We have a new chore and allowance system in place to teach the kids money management and responsibility."

Brad Chaffee from Enemy Of Debt presents 3 Proven Steps To Debt Freedom

pfincome from Passive Family Income presents Personal Finance Lessons I Learned Growing Up, and says, "The lessons I learned growing up helped shape my frugality today."

Careers

Mr. ToughMoneyLove from Tough Money Love presents For Some Jobs this May Be As Good As it Gets, and says, "Middle class incomes are stagnating. Employers are entering an era of new frugality, perhaps permanently. You may be living in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Erick Simpson from Managed Services Blog presents Why Your Organization Needs a Sales Manager.

vh from Funny about Money presents Incorporating for Fun and Profit.

Wojciech Kulicki from Fiscal Fizzle presents Don't Play the Recession Victim at Work - Boost Your Productivity.

Dan from Darwin's Finance presents 10 Ways to be Annoying at Work and Ruin your Career, and says, "This article highlights 10 incredibly annoying tactics and behaviors in the workplace and how to tackle them head on."

Finance

Mr. GoTo from Go To Retirement presents Plans for Retirement Income, and says, "Baby boomers and other are adjusting their plans for retirement income. Where do your plans fit in?"

B Simple from Simplifed Financial Lifestyle presents Avoid Those Financial Teasers

ElizabethG (Modern Gal) from Modern Gal presents Why I Increasingly Distrust Financial Reporting.

MoneyNing from Personal Finance Blog by MoneyNing presents The Mistake of Waiting Till the Last Minute, and says, "Don't let last minute surprises ever happen."

DR from Doughroller presents Lies, Damn Lies and Personal Finance, and says, "Is personal finance a myth that has wrongly replaced the role government should play in our lives? Find out why one reporter thinks so, and why she is so wrong."

Todd from Gloomberg News presents FMyLife Financial Advice, and says, "Some of the most valuable lessons are learned when things hit rock bottom. FMyLife & Gloomberg present you with 3 Financial Mistakes and How to Prevent them!"

The Incidental Economist from The Finance Buff presents Health Insurance in Retirement, Part I: How Much Health Care Will You Use?

Ray from Financial Highway presents Importance of Wills and Powers of Attorney in Financial Plan-Step 6 Financial Planning, and says, "We often focus so hard on building wealth that we forget some other important aspects of personal finance, such as a will and power of attorney."

Real Estate

Smarty from Growing Money presents Rental Property Update May 2009, and says, "Damages and Renovation at Rental Property"

Dan Melson from Searchlight Crusade presents You Want an Agency That Can Pay ENOUGH Attention to YOU.

Baker from Man Vs. Debt presents Why Australia?: Financial Implications of Our Overseas Move

Carrie from Carrie...On The Cheap presents 10 Reasons To Rent.

Economy

Marie from Moneymonk presents End of Middle Class? .

Reviews

Kate Kashman from The Paycheck Chronicles presents A New Sort of Auction, and says, "There's a new sort of online auction, but it isn't a good one for the consumers."

Chance from Personal Finance Software Reviews presents Personal Finance Software Comparison

Next week, Greener Pastures is hosting the Carnival of Personal Finance. If you would like to submit your personal finance themed blog post for possible inclusion in the carnival, you can use this submission form.

Permalink | 17 comments | Debbie Dragon's blog | Channel: Personal Finance, Frugal Living

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How to Find Freelance Clients: Part Three

Debbie Dragon — Fri, 15 May 2009 13:55:47 +0000

By Debbie Dragon

Previously, this series for finding freelance jobs covered what you needed to do to prepare yourself for freelance life in Part One; where to find the clients in Part Two; and in the last article of this series - I'll give you some tips for actually applying or bidding on the freelance jobs you find.

How to Apply or Bid for Work

Applying for freelance work is an art form in itself – once you master the techniques, you'll be on your way to a thriving freelance business. Applying for work on job sites and contacting potential clients directly involves a different process than bidding for work on freelance bidding sites.

Bidding for Work

When you use a freelance bidding site to “bid” on jobs, you are rarely asked to provide a complete resume. The trick is to sum up your abilities and answer any questions their job specifications indicate within a paragraph or two as you are placing your bid. A sample bid response for a freelance writing job involving writing 10 articles for a blog about fish that are due on March 15th might read something like this:

I am a freelance writer and fish enthusiast – I would love to write 10 articles for your blog on the topic of fish. I can write and deliver ten 100% unique articles on or before March 15th, completely free from plagiarism. They will be spell checked and ready to post to your blog upon receipt. Thank you for your consideration.

Notice there isn't a ton of information in a “bid”. If you have experience directly related to the topic, you might mention that. In this example, if you have an aquarium in your home, or worked for the local fish store, that might spark interest in the buyer because you are already familiar with the topic. In most cases, you can write articles on topics you aren't familiar with simply by doing research, so it's not a requirement for the majority of writing jobs.

The most important aspects to include in a bid for a freelance bidding site are to show you understand the assignment (10 articles before their due date, 100% unique), and to write your bid without typos or spelling errors (particularly if you're applying for writing work!) There are many non-english speaking service providers bidding on the same work (and often at rock bottom prices if the buyer's currency is worth more than the providers currency), but you would be surprised at how many don't take the time to spell check or proof read their bid.

Apply for Work

On the other end of the spectrum, when you find assignments posted to job sites or when contacting a potential client directly, you need to use a different strategy for applying. These situations expect more information from you in order to consider you for the work.

It's a great idea to create a resume, summary of qualifications, or professional experience document that can be used for all freelance work you apply for. It doesn't have to be boring like the resumes you made as a high school student – and in fact, it is in your best interest to jazz it up a bit to stand out from among the hundreds of other people who may be applying for the same jobs! Here are 10 tips for landing a gig online, by Wisebread's Andrea Dickson. These tips are excellent and will help you with your applying or bidding process!

Use your freelance logo if you have one, and don't be afraid to use decorative fonts for the headings of categories on the document. If you have links to work samples that are accessible online, include a few so the prospective client can click and quickly see something you've worked on. You may want to include a small, professional head shot of yourself as well just to make it a bit more personable.

When you apply for work, write a “cover letter” email (or follow the instructions given in the job listing for how to apply), and include your resume or professional experience document. It's a good idea to paste it into the email directly as many businesses will not open email with attachments. You can always include a short note in your closing that you are happy to forward your resume or any other information upon request.

Getting the Job

After you start applying and bidding for work, you will start to get responses from the prospective clients. A freelance bidding site is your opportunity to get selected and get the just based on your “bid” alone; while most freelance jobs from a job site or direct contact will not hire you from your first contact alone. Expect to exchange a few emails and maybe even talk on the phone once or twice before you are selected as the freelancer for the assignment. Be professional with every communication you have with the prospect, and be sure to treat each client as if they will generate hundreds of new jobs for your freelancing business – because you never know which clients may turn into long term clients or your biggest referral source for new clients.

When you've gotten your first client and completed your first job – be sure to follow up with the client to see if he or she has any additional work you could provide. In fact, add the client to a mailing list and make it part of your routine to contact clients once a month or so after you do work for them, just to remind them you are still in business in case they have a need to hire a freelancer again. This is how you turn a one-time client into a repeat client – which is necessary for long term success in the freelance world.

Permalink | 2 comments | Debbie Dragon's blog | Channel: Entrepreneurship, Making Extra Cash

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How to Find Freelance Clients: Part Two

Debbie Dragon — Wed, 13 May 2009 14:20:10 +0000

By Debbie Dragon

Last time, "How to Find Freelance Clients: Part One" discussed some of the things you would need to do to prepare for freelancing. In Part Two of this article, we'll cover where to find the actual clients who pay freelancers.

Where Your First Client is Hiding

Everyone has a different level of comfort with marketing activities. Some people become freelancers in hopes of not having to deal with the public as is necessary with most other professions. Despite the fact that you might work from your home or a small one-man (or woman) office; you will need to network and market yourself to become successful.

Wouldn't it be nice if there was a rock out there that you could just turn over and find your first client's hiding place?

Instead, you need to do a little investigation to find your first client; and probably step outside your comfort zone at times.

Freelance Bidding Sites: One possible place to find your first client is through the use of freelance bidding sites. These sites are similar to auctions, in that a buyer posts the specifications of the work he or she needs doing; and then multiple service providers/freelancers place “bids” to complete that work.

Freelance bidding sites are controversial among the freelance community. Some freelancers swear by them, and get most (or even 100%) of their clients through the use of these websites. Others refuse to use the sites because of the tendency for the work to be on the low end of the pay scale when compared to the freelance industry pricing as a whole.

As a new freelancer, you might find the bidding sites to be an easy way to land yourself your first client or two, gain a testimonial from a happy client to add to your growing “proof” pile, and make a few dollars in the process.

Some of the bidding sites are free to use as a service provider, but you'll pay a fee if you land a job through the site (typically a percentage of the project price). Other bidding sites require a membership fee from providers, or a pay-per-bid price.

Take a look at a number of bidding sites to see the types of jobs that are posted, and which bids are being selected as the service provider. Not surprisingly, buyers who use freelance bidding sites are often after the lowest price; but there are buyers who use the sites for convenience and make their selection based on who they feel can provide the best quality within their deadline and price range. When you are reviewing the bidding sites and projects listed, also look to see what the winning bidder is including in their “bids” - how they are worded, what type of information they include and what they leave out, whether they are well-crafted or casually written introductions about their freelancing skills. Try to model your own bid responses on the style of bids that seem to be winning projects.

Using freelance bidding sites is a bit of a numbers game; you might have to apply for (bid) a number of jobs before you “win” one. As soon as you win a project, do your best (even if the project pays less than you intend to charge your clients moving forward) as you are starting your reputation as a freelancer with this first client.

Examples of freelance bidding sites you may want to try:

www.rentacoder.com (I found my first freelance clients here)

Getafreelancer.com (affiliate link)

Elance.com

Odesk.com (affiliate link)

www.guru.com

Direct Contact: Use the internet to find businesses who typically use the services you offer. For example, you could contact marketing agencies to offer your graphic design skills for their brochures, business cards, and direct mailings. If you are a web developer, instead of looking for a new business without a web presence to help them get online with a site – try contacting existing web design businesses that seem to be doing very well to see if they have a need to outsource any of their work. You can make initial contact via email or contact forms on the websites of the businesses you decide to contact – or you might phone them directly. Both options are free (with the exception of your time) and are very effective for drumming up your first client (as well as finding clients regularly!)

Ask Everyone You Know: Don't be afraid to let your friends, family and co-workers know that you're starting a freelance business and ask if they know of anyone who might need your services. Word of mouth and referrals is by far the best type of marketing there is, and these people are all included in your “warm market”. If a friend refers someone they know to you, you already have the trust of that prospective client simply because their friend referred them. Having the trust of your prospects is key to turning them into paying clients.

Try eBay: eBay.com is not really designed to market yourself as a freelancer, but if you type in “freelance” in the search box on eBay.com, you'll find a few hundred people who are advertising on eBay. It only cost a few cents to list an ad, so if you can figure out how to present yourself to potential eBay users, you might be able to benefit from the hundreds of thousands of visitors the site receives each week. Keep in mind that most people are visiting eBay to buy products, not services, but there have been freelance writers and graphic designers who have done very well for themselves by adding an auction listing for their work. You can sell web content articles for $10 or $20 a piece; a single logo design for $50 – whatever service you offer as a freelancer can be listed on the eBay in an auction format. It may not be the best long term strategy for incoming business (although never say never!) but you may be able to find yourself your first client with a little auction posting of your own.

Job Sites: Even though job sites are primarily for full time and part time positions, many online job listing sites include jobs for freelancers; sometimes classified as “telecommute” or “contract work”. All of these terms basically mean the same thing – you're working from your own home or office and you're not considered an employee of the company for tax purposes. Try searching the major job sites and classified listings for jobs that are in your area of expertise and are offered on a contract, telecommute or freelance basis.

Here are a number of sites to help you get started on your search:

www.craigslist.org (under jobs category for every state and city of the US, you can find your industry and then view the listings for free. Apply to any that are contract or telecommute that you can do).

www.creativeheads.com

www.monster.com

www.careerbuilder.com

www.aboutfreelancewriting.com

www.freelanceswitch.com

www.problogger.net

www.allfreelance.com

www.allgraphicdesign.com

www.webprojobs.com

www.krop.com

www.sologig.com

www.authenticjobs.com

www.freshwebjobs.com

www.designcrowd.com

www.freelancers.net

In "How to Find Freelance Clients: Part 3", I'll give you some tips for applying for the freelance work found online.

Permalink | 4 comments | Debbie Dragon's blog | Channel: Entrepreneurship, Making Extra Cash

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How to Find Freelance Clients - Part One

Debbie Dragon — Tue, 12 May 2009 11:31:58 +0000

By Debbie Dragon

With the number of people getting laid off increasing daily, it's no wonder why more people are looking at freelancing or self employment options to make ends meet. Once you hang your “open for business” sign, the hard part begins! Finding clients to pay you for your products or services can be the most challenging aspect of starting and running a business. After all, without clients buying what you have to offer, you certainly can't remain in business for long.

Getting your first client will accomplish a few things for you, business-wise. First, you'll of course have a client who is paying you, which is necessary for earning a profit and is the life blood of all businesses. Second, that first client can very well open the door to many other clients, through referrals and word of mouth; and can even turn into long term, consistent work – even if you thought it was a one-time project. Once you're ready to start your freelance business, what steps do you need to take to find your first client – and then every client after that?

Regardless of the type of freelancing you do, the process of getting your first client is similar across all industries, and will require focus and discipline on your part to make it happen!

Prepare to Prove Yourself: As a new freelancer, hanging your “open for business” sign isn't enough to prove you are capable of providing high quality work. Prospective clients are weary of new business owners, and many will prefer to work with experienced freelancers in your industry. How do you prove your abilities if you've just started out?

Previous Work Experience: Before you decided to go-it-alone, chances are you were employed by another business at some point in time. Perhaps you are still employed, and are looking to freelance on a moonlighting basis until your business takes off and profits. Either way, think back to any work you have done for your employer which is an example of your abilities. If you are looking for freelance writing clients, you can probably dig up a letter or manual that you worked on for your employer. As long as it isn't confidential information, you can probably use this type of writing as initial samples for prospective clients. If you are a freelance graphic design or web developer, anything related to your line of work that was completed for an employer may very well be sufficient to prove your abilities in the field.

Do Some Volunteer Work: If you don't have anything suitable to use as samples to show your ability to do the work, consider volunteering to help a nonprofit organization. Create a website, develop logos or graphics, or write marketing materials at no charge; in exchange for using the item(s) you create as samples of your work.

Build a Portfolio: Many new freelancers, particularly those in the creative industries, feel trapped in a catch 22 when it comes to building a portfolio! How can you have a portfolio if you haven't had any clients, yet? On the other hand, who is going to hire a writer, artist, or web designer without seeing a portfolio of your best work? The solution is to get to work creating a portfolio that shows off what you can do – and keep adding to your portfolio as you develop more samples. For individuals who haven't had any clients yet, it's an opportunity to come up with your own creative pieces to include. For example, you will need business cards, a web site, and other items for your business – you may as well start your portfolio out with the creative pieces you'll need to start and run your own business. Whatever your area of expertise is, do the work and include in the portfolio. Proving your ability is essential for clients to trust in your services and have confidence to hire you. As a new freelancer, you won't have testimonials of happy clients to back up your own claims of expertise, so your best option is to have samples of work you've completed ready to show off whenever you have the opportunity to communicate with a prospective client.

Once you have samples and/or a portfolio ready to go – where do you start finding prospective clients? We'll discuss this in "How to Find Freelance Clients: Part Two".

Permalink | 13 comments | Debbie Dragon's blog | Channel: Career Building, Making Extra Cash

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How to Start a Book Club

Debbie Dragon — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 03:59:37 +0000

By Debbie Dragon

Participating in a book club is a fun and inexpensive way to socialize, meet new people, develop friendships and enjoy your love of reading and books with others. If there aren't any book clubs in your area, you could be the pioneer and start a book club of your own – it's easier than you might think.

Decide when to meet: determine how often your book club will get together. Some groups meet once a week, some every other week, and some get together once each month. Regardless of the frequency you decide on, you'll wan to set a regular meeting time right from the start. If your book club has ten members, it will be impossible to coordinate that many different schedules. Starting a book club with a predetermined meeting time (the first Thursday of every month for example), allows people to plan for the meetings in their own schedules.

Get the “founding members” together: if possible, start a book club with two or three friends. Ask co-workers, parents of your children's friends, church members, etc. This simple word of mouth advertising may be enough to recruit all of the members to complete your club – and at the very least, the first two or three people who join your club can help you find additional members through their connections, as well.

Advertise for additional members: if you don't generate enough interest from word of mouth advertising, or you have recently moved and don't know anyone, you can create a flier or place an ad in the local newspaper or Craigslist classifieds for your town. Try hanging fliers at the library, schools, your work, church, internet cafes, and bookstores.

Hold an introductory book club meeting: you may want to have an “open” meeting for anyone who is interested in joining a book club. If you have more people than you want for your book club, you can always split up into two or more clubs. During the introductory meeting, it's a good idea to discuss ground rules for the group. For example:

how will books be chosen
where will meetings be held
will everyone take turns hosting and providing refreshments?
who will lead the discussions
is there a requirement for commitment

Talking about these things now will eliminate potential problems later, and help people decide if they really want to commit to the book club.

Select the first book: during the introductory meeting, determine the first book to read. If you're meeting weekly or biweekly, determine how many pages or chapters everyone should read before the next book discussion meeting. If your group meets monthly, you should plan to finish the book before you meet again.

Permalink | 4 comments | Debbie Dragon's blog | Channel: Frugal Living, Art and Leisure, Lifestyle

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Is There Such a Thing as Risk-Free Investing?

Debbie Dragon — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 17:33:58 +0000

By Debbie Dragon

Most definitions for “investing” indicate that the term is used to describe money that is invested with an expectation of profit. This definition determines that an investment doesn't necessarily need an element of risk in order to be considered investing, even though many people fear investing because of the risk of losing their money.

Risk-free investing and savings options are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) up to a certain amount of money per person. The FDIC is an independent agency of the US government that is fully backed by the government. Since the FDIC was created in 1933, no one depositing money into an FDIC insured institution has lost any of their FDIC-insured funds.

You have a few options for investing your money (saving money with an expectation of earning a profit on the money you save) that are considered free of risks for losing any of the money you contribute. In addition to the standard or online savings accounts and interest-earning checking account, the following are risk free investment strategies for growing your money:

Money Market Funds: Often confused with Money Market Accounts which are not risk-free, the Money Market Fund is a deposit account that earns interest. If you open a Money Market Fund with an FDIC institution, your insured up to $100,000 for standard accounts and up to $250,000 for retirement Money Market Funds. These accounts offer a higher interest rate than your typical savings or interest-earning checking account, but usually limit the number of transactions you can make per month.

Fixed Rate IRA: If you're looking to deposit your money and save for a specific length of time, the fixed rate IRA might be a good option. Fixed rate IRAs are funded with Certificate of Deposits, give you a fixed interest rate of return, and all interest is tax deferred. In some cases, you may be able to deduct contributions to fixed rate IRAs on your federal income taxes (check with an accountant for eligibility requirements). Like a traditional IRA, if you withdraw your money before it reaches the date of maturity, you will end up with an early withdrawal penalty – however, leaving your money in for the full term gives you a grace period at maturity during which you can withdraw the funds without penalty or re-invest.

Certificate of Deposits: When you use a CD to save your money, you earn higher rates of return the longer the savings term you select. You are basically loaning money to the bank, and earning an interest for doing so. The longer you “loan” the money, the more you will receive in interest. CDs opened at FDIC insured institutions will be guaranteed by the federal government up to specified limits.

Permalink | 9 comments | Debbie Dragon's blog | Channel: Personal Finance, Investment

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