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Are Self-Employment Opportunities on the Rise?

Chances are you know someone that is self-employed. In fact, you may even work from home. Whether it’s a career in freelance writing or selling items on eBay, there are a number of jobs to be had. Of course, many of these jobs have been available for the past decade. Still, people can’t help but wonder if self-employment jobs are on the rise and if so, why?

The Numbers

In the fall of 2011, self-employment hit a record high of 41.4 million, which added up to an 8% rise since spring 2008. While this sounds like a huge increase, the truth is these jobs may not be what people expect.

Why Are People Turning to Self-Employment?

The truth is many people aren’t turning to self-employment as a career per say, but as a way to simply make ends meet. It is estimated that people working odd jobs, equaling less than 30 hours per week, accounted for 89% of the recent rise. These people are those that were left unemployed due to a bad economy and want to avoid unemployment. In other words, they may be working these jobs, while also looking for another job. States like Delaware have even made the idea of self-employment more enticing by offering a weekly allowance to help unemployed individuals start their own small business. Of course, the unemployed aren’t the only ones looking at self-employment. Companies are actively seeking contract employees to fill positions. A number of large media businesses actually let employees go in favor of freelance employees as a way to save on the costs of benefits, unemployment and taxes.

What Jobs Are People Doing?

There are a number of self-employment jobs to be had. Those that are doing odd jobs to make ends meet may be cleaning homes, doing landscaping or handyman work. Those that are serious about self-employment may be working as freelance writers, website creators, online sellers or even professional bloggers.

The clear answer is that yes self-employment is on the rise. However, in many cases this isn’t because the person wants to be self-employed. In most cases, due to the poor economy and massive layoffs, people often don’t have a choice. This usually means taking on odd jobs to make ends meet, while looking for a more permanent solution. Unfortunately, in today’s economy, these odd jobs may soon become the only source of income for those that are out of work.

About the Author: Enrique Maden is a small business owner who enjoys working from a virtual office set up in his home. He was one of many left unemployed after his company closed and is now making it on his own.

4 Perks Every Small Business Owner should Steal from Google

For three consecutive years Google has been ranked as one of the top companies to work for. While pay is good, the perks the tech company offers its employees is what most say really keeps employees happy and eager to produce constant good work – headquarters are equipped with a rock climbing wall, gourmet chefs, free laundry services, and even allow employees to bring their pet to work just to name a few. While you’re a small business owner and can’t afford to hire a sushi chef for example, that doesn’t mean that you can’t use Google as a model and put your own twist on some of the amenities they offer. To learn some perks that will earn you the best boss award and can keep the employees you have satisfied, continue reading below.

1. Provide Cheap Beverages and Snacks. Ok, so you don’t have the funds to buy a fancy espresso or cappuccino maker, but you can buy a traditional coffee maker and some flavored creamers so that your employees can have a free pick-me-up in the mornings or afternoons. Stocking the company fridge with at least 3 different flavors of soda or tea and some filtered water is also a great, simple idea. Can sodas are inexpensive (especially if you purchase in bulk using a discount Sam’s Club or CostCo card) and it’ll keep your employees hydrated (which is needed to activate brains) as well as give your employee’s bragging rights – most companies do not provide free snacks. To ease up on your wallet, only restock snacks once a month.

2. Keep Social Media Sites Active. Most corporate companies choose to make social media sites like Facebook and Twitter inaccessible at work because they believe it will only distract their employees from completing the tasks at hand. But blocking popular sites like Facebook can make some employees feel like their employer is a control freak and may actually end up resenting their boss a little bit. Besides, some studies say that allowing employees to take small breaks to check social networking sites and surf the web can actually boost productivity rates.

3. Casual Everyday. Some corporate offices give their employees permission to indulge in a “casual Friday.” Google, on the other hand, allows their staff to wear jeans every day of the week – of course there are limits; it’s more of a “business casual” than “casual-casual” but it’s a great way to promote productivity. That’s because some experts claim that formal business attire, such as suits, heels, and pencil skirts, can be really constraining, causing people who have to sit or stand for 8 hours a day to be extremely uncomfortable which prompts them to do less work. However business casual attire removes the stress of having to get ready each morning and let’s your employees breathe while at work. While causal everyday may not work for every small business (if they don’t have to engage with clients or investors on a normal basis) it may be a good idea to at least give them one or two days a week of casual dress. Of course there can be restrictions – no flip flops etc.

4. Set up a Game Room. Lastly, like mentioned before, in addition to a rock climbing wall, Google has a myriad of other fun games to boost office moral and motivate its team to work harder for breaks such as a foosball table. Creating an area where your employees can get together and unwind for a few minutes doing something fun is a fantastic amenity to add. With careful research you can find some inexpensive foosball tables or something similar like a ping pong table. Investing in an office gaming system (Wii’s are about $80 now) and getting some group-involved games like Mario Kart is also great activity to have in the workplace.

About the Author: This guest post is contributed by Lauren Bailey, who regularly writes for accredited online colleges. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: blauren99 @gmail.com.

Make a Vending Machine Investment Work for You

A vending machine can be a wonderful investment. The initial investment is much smaller than most other retail opportunities, and the business requires minimal work and ongoing capital. Considering the around-the-clock earning potential without any staff on hand, there are plenty of chances to earn profits. With a little bit of planning, a little bit of work and a little bit of gumption, there’s no reason that this investment can’t work wonders for your pocketbook. Whether you want some extra cash on the side or a whole new career, the following information should help you achieve your investment goals and make a vending business work for you.

Choose products and locations wisely

Spend time researching which products will sell and where the most opportune locations are so that you can make ongoing investments work just as well as the initial investment. The right products can make impressive profits without any effort on your part, but the wrong products can sit there until they are outdated and have to be thrown out, taking up space that could have been used for something profitable. With the wrong location, no one could see your products in the first place.

Keep your income passive

One of the best things about vending machines is that they don’t require any staff to continuously sell products. As long as you are able to perform all the primary functions of your vending business without any paid assistance, you will be earning passive income, which provides returns on your investment even when you’re not thinking about it. The work of maintaining your fleet of vending machines should never be more than you and your family can handle; that way, you can spend your time doing what you please as your machines are making money for you.

Never invest more than you can afford

As long as you only invest what you can afford to spend out of pocket, you will never have to worry about your vending machines becoming unprofitable. There will be times when your vending machines aren’t earning money, but with careful planning the slow times won’t put a dent in your financial plan. Vending machines have incredible potential to earn returns on your investment as long as you keep the investments minimal. Once you start borrowing more than you can afford to quickly pay back, though, you begin to go down a slippery slope.

Joseph is a great writer and he especially enjoys writing about business. To learn more about Vending Machine please visit http://www.1800vending.com/

Image: vincentsl / Flickr

How to Become a Freelance Writer

Have you ever wondered where all of the information on the internet comes from? The information on the net is called internet content, and someone has to write it; that someone can even be you. Freelance writing is a fun and interesting career or sideline, depending on how good you are at it and how much time you want to devote to it. One of the biggest advantages to it is how few the tools are, and how small the investment is, that you need to get started.

Computer

This is a given, of course, but you do have to have a computer that is speedy and powerful enough to process your documents efficiently. If you have to spend half of your time downloading and uploading documents, or getting “hung up” because of a sluggish computer, even as a part timer, you will not make enough money to make it worth while.

Word processing program

Almost any word processing program can be used to write, but if the one you are using is not compatible with the most popular programs, you may leave yourself out in the cold. There is a lot of competition in the field, and if a site owner wants to buy your material, he will be quickly dissuaded if he has to go through too much trouble to do so. There are plenty of other writers using Microsoft Word.

Internet access

Slow dial up connections will not only slow you down when you need to transmit your texts, but navigating on the sites where you will find your writing assignments will also be slow and tedious. Time is money, so you have to be prepared to quickly review and bid on interesting projects.

Decent writing skills

The first three ingredients to being a freelance writer can be bought, but writing is indeed a gift. You must have a good command of the English language and a real desire to write and an enjoyment of the writing process. Most good writers are avid readers and learn a lot through their reading. You can improve your writing skills by studying some writing guides or even taking a writing course, and you should have a usage guide (Fowler’s is the bible for most writers) that you can refer to when you are unclear about how a sentence should be constructed.

Great imagination

Here is where the rubber meets the road. Unless you intend to concentrate on technical writing (which can be a lucrative niche if you have a strong specialty), you have to let your imagination run free and be able to call upon all of your life experiences, shared histories with others, and perhaps even a bit of fantasy. You may want to make sure you have the highly developed imagination before you invest in the computer and the high speed internet access.

Before hiring a freelance writer, or agreeing to work as a writer for a new employer, you may want a criminal background check. Both parties involved can save themselves time and problems by doing this one simple task.

Image: ElvertBarnes / Flickr

Some of the Best Small Business Ideas for 2012

Happy New Year 2012, everyone!

Entrepreneurs – let’s kick off this year strong… I feel that 2012 is the breakthrough year for many small businesses. That being said, entrepreneurs considering to start a business this year but still haven’t discover the right business ideas to pursue, you’d better start looking now. You don’t want to late in riding the wave!

To inspire you, here are some resources I recommend you to visit for small business ideas – check ’em out:

2012 top 10 small business ideas
Noobpreneur.com presents you with 10 small business ideas that we think lucrative for 2012.

17 Great Business Ideas for 2012
Here are a few great business ideas for 2012 that might get your entrepreneurial juices flowing.

Top Small Business Ideas for 2012
25 lucrative small business ideas – 90 percent of them are services.

Business Ideas for 2012: Top 20 Small Business Ideas for Small Towns
20 local small business ideas that can help your local community’s economy grow.

30 Big Ideas, Trends and Predictions for 2012
Here are what small-business owners nationwide think of small business trends and ideas for 2012.