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When I write about my own personal finance experiences, it’s easy to report on the things I did well. Writing about the good moves makes a lot of sense, after all. Those are the moves that resulted in a clear-cut personal finance gain without a lot of sacrifice, and those are the moves that really are well worth sharing.
The problem with sticking to that approach is it creates the utterly false impression that my life is one long series of financial success stories, that everything I’ve touched (especially since my financial turnaround) has been golden.
I’ve made many financial mistakes in my life. Many of them have happened even after I “turned my financial ship around.”
A few years ago, I wrote an article about my fifteen biggest financial mistakes, listing errors I made mostly before my financial turnaround. Today, I want to focus on the errors I’ve made since my financial turnaround.
Some of these won’t seem as big as my pre-turnaround mistakes – and they’re honestly not. I’m not doing things like maxing out credit cards any more. We have basically no reason to be in debt any more. However, these mistakes are still real and still quite costly.
They’re mistakes I’ve either worked hard to correct in very recent years or am still working to correct right now.
Let’s take a look.
This is easily the single biggest mistake I’ve made in the last decade. I’ve simply spent too much money on personal hobbies.
This really boils down to a series of small mistakes that merge together into one big problem. One issue is that I often convinced myself that hobby spending was actually another kind of spending and would shoehorn it into our budget. I identified things like Netflix essentially as utilities, for example. Another issue is that, while I had a budgetary limit on how much I should spend on hobbies each month, I went over that limit quite often. A third issue is that I just didn’t make wise choices when it came to hobby spending and I often spent money when I already had things that fulfilled that need.
What have I been doing to squelch these bad routines?
I’ve gone on some “no hobby spending” diets and thirty day challenges, where I didn’t spend a dime on anything that was largely for me (I left things like Netflix in place because the whole family uses it), which works well.
I adopted some rules in which I capped the size of some collections. For example, I adopted a “one in, one out” rule for my board game collection, in which I have to get rid of a game before I can add a new one. I have done the same thing for other collections, such as notebooks, where I have to use one up before I can get a new one.
I’ve also moved to collecting experiences with as many of my hobbies as possible. I’m working on “collecting” every single hiking trail at all of the state parks in Iowa. I’m “collecting” geocaches. I’m “collecting” books I’ve read and board games I’ve played. This shifts the focus to experiences rather than stuff.
When we first paid off all of our debts, I basically just switched the amount we were using for our debt payments toward an investment system that made sense at the time and I basically just let it sit. I’m a big believer in a “set it and forget it” investment philosophy and I took that fully to heart.
The problem was that the idea I had in that moment, while it was made up of good investments, didn’t really reflect any sort of long-term vision. I was basically maxing out retirement plans and then putting the rest into 529s and taxable accounts because it seemed like the straightforward thing to do, but it was not the best thing to do for my future.
What I should have done – and what I finally got around to doing – is to spend some serious time thinking about my goals and how those goals translated into specific saving and investing tactics. That’s the real way to do things.
Notice that I didn’t say that I needed to specify a goal. Specifying a goal wasn’t the problem (at least, not here… we’ll revisit this shortly). The problem was translating that goal into something meaningful that I could take financial action on. Instead, I just went with a “one size fits all” investment plan.
For many years, I operated under the belief that Sarah and I were saving up to buy a nice country house. We both grew up in a rural area and in various ways longed to return to that kind of setting. Our current house is on the edge of a small but rapidly growing town, one that may be subsumed by a larger city eventually but, for now, is a bedroom community populated by a lot of people who commute to their jobs, and we both felt like we eventually wanted to be more rural.
Of course, things change. We began to appreciate the advantages of where we live right now. We built strong relationships with our neighbors. I have a good friendship with a couple of our neighbors and a growing friendship with a couple more, and I’d describe myself as a good positive acquaintance with our other neighbors. Our children have tons of friends in the area. It’s quiet and there’s very little crime because the local police department is on the ball.
Over time, we began to realize that we’re pretty happy where we are, at least for the foreseeable future. Sarah and I might someday move elsewhere, but if we do, it will likely be to a smaller home, not a larger one, which means that our focus on that big goal of buying a big country house was misplaced at best.
Several years ago, I pretty abruptly switched from a full time career in a research field to a full time career as a writer. I was growing frustrated with some aspects of my job, but the big frustration was simple absence from my family. I had this growing sense that I was missing out on my children growing up, which was really amplified by the fact that I missed my son’s first steps while on a work trip and I heard his first attempt at saying “dada” over the phone.
That feeling of guilt drove me to make a very rash career decision. I was not ready to make the switch to being a full time writer, but I was flush with the sense of our recent financial successes when I made that decision.
I was incredibly lucky that the whole thing didn’t just backfire in my face. Looking back, I see how easily things could have gone south in the first few months. By some miracle, they did not and things worked out. I should not have relied on “some miracle” for the success of my career and my family’s financial stability going forward.
The thing is, had I just been a little more patient with my primary job, I could have made the transition much easier and less painful. What I lacked was patience. Simply sticking around my previous job for another six to twelve months would have made it possible for me to make that transition much more smoothly, with the groundwork laid for more income streams.
Speaking of which…
One of the most important elements of financial stability, in my book, is having multiple streams of income so that everything doesn’t fall apart if you lose your job or if a side gig fails. For a long while, I had all of my eggs in one basket – this website.
The problem was that I convinced myself that I actually had several streams of income. I had several different agreements centered around The Simple Dollar that brought me revenue, but they all relied on the same thing: continuous additional content for The Simple Dollar and a continued readership. I convinced myself that those different agreements were really different income streams, when the truth was that they were effectively the same income stream. They all lived and died by the existence of this site.
In the last few years, I’ve worked to build other streams of revenue for myself and my family. I’ve built some standalone websites and some other things that provide at least some revenue for my family and I’m hoping to soon reach the point where any income stream can go away and it won’t really adversely affect my family.
I just should have done this sooner. It was a big risk for my family for me to not do so.
This bit me more than once. I would set up an online bill pay or auto payment for a particular bill and then assume that every payment was going through without really thinking about it. A few of the companies I dealt with seemed to switch computer systems or banks at some point and then would fail to make a withdrawal and then ding me for a late payment.
In each case, I was able to figure out what was going on and spend some time on the phone to get all of the late fees waived, but it’s far easier just to check and make sure that bills on auto-pay are actually getting paid each month. It takes just a minute or two, compared to the hours I’ve spent on the phone dealing with these issues.
Even worse, this could have cost me a lot of money in late fees and other expenses had I not caught them, had I not spent that time on the phone, and had I not had customer service people who were willing and able to remove the charges.
Over the course of a few years, I had several key online accounts hacked, not because I got phished or gave away the password, but simply because my password was either guessed due to it being leaked or because it was a weak password to begin with. In a couple of cases, these accounts were financial in nature, which cost me some money in one case and caused me a ton of time in another.
Since then, I’ve adopted a much stronger password policy. I’ve enabled two factor authentication on as many of my accounts as I can. I have a monthly password change policy on every account of any importance (I keep a list of them) – I do this on the first of each month. I use a simple algorithm for my passwords so that each account has a unique password based on the current month, year, and domain name, so by simply knowing the simple algorithm, the current month, the year, and the site, I have a unique complex password.
(I know people are going to ask about the algorithm, but it goes something like this: I add the number of the month to the year and put that number in a long string that includes the name of the site, along with a symbol or two. So, you might use a password that starts with “$”, is followed by the year plus month number, followed by a “%”, followed by the name of the site with the first letter capitalized, followed by a “X”. This gives you a password for, say, Netflix, that goes like “$2021%NetflixX”. That’s not anywhere close to my exact password algorithm, but that gives you the idea.)
I haven’t had a key account compromised in the four or so years I’ve been using this password system. That’s saved me a lot of headaches, and it’s a system I wish I had in place since the start.
For several years, I tinkered with investing in individual stocks. I mostly invested in large US companies like Coca-Cola, Verizon, DuPont, Apple, and Google, so the investments were pretty stable, and I did it following the advice of a bunch of books I was reading at the time.
While I didn’t lose a ton of money – by simply sticking to huge, safe companies with a giant market share, I largely avoided that – I did see a ton of volatility in each of the stocks while I owned them. Individual companies would rise or fall 40-50% in a year, which was an incredible roller coaster, and it often seemed that those rises and falls were unrelated to anything I could really track.
The thing is, not only were the investments really volatile, I spent a lot of time studying them. I would try to figure out why the stocks were rising or falling and sometimes it was clear, but at many times, it wasn’t clear at all. It felt like something “insider” was happening with the stock that I wasn’t privy to.
Eventually, I got out of it. It quickly became clear to me that without the research tools available to large scale investors, it was pretty hard to gain any sort of advantage in investing. I lost some money in the process, but it wasn’t a major loss. What I really regret is the time I essentially wasted on it when there was a much better investing strategy right in front of me – simply investing in index funds would have meant a lot less headache, a lot less time, and likely more money in my pocket.
Sarah and I are both strongly committed to maximizing our children’s educational opportunities, but we also try really hard to give them large blocks of unstructured free time so they can figure out how to manage their own time smartly and creatively. For us, this means really encouraging independent interests that they can follow on their own.
The problem has been that, in some cases, we’ve invested money in helping them pursue fledgling interests, only to watch those interests die off pretty quickly.
We’ve purchased particular art supplies, musical instruments, and model-making supplies that our children have dove into with gusto, only to find themselves burnt out on the interest after a relatively short while. The interest then turns into a conflict, where our children’s hearts are going in a different direction.
What we’ve done recently is have our children sign agreements when they want to pursue a particular interest where, if we invest in those interests, they agree to follow through with a passion to some extent with some consequences if they don’t. For example, we are considering buying one of our children guitar lessons, but doing so will involve a commitment of a certain number of months of lessons and home practice.
I’m an avid reader. I devour at least a book a week and often more than that. I get a lot of books from my local library, but that doesn’t always sate me, especially when I’m traveling or when I hear about a great book, especially at night.
What makes this worse is that I really like using my Kindle. I received one as a gift for my birthday a couple of years ago and I find it to be so convenient and easy on my eyes. I can read and read and read and read on it, and I love having lots of books with me on the go.
The problem, of course, is that it is so easy to order books on the Kindle. If I’m reading a series and I finish one, I can get the next one with just two button pushes. If I’m interested in a topic, I can get a highly recommended book on that topic so quickly.
This is actually one area I’m still struggling with. The most successful tactic I’ve tried is to simply remove my credit card from my Amazon account. This makes ordering everything from there more difficult, but it makes it much harder for me to impulsively buy a Kindle book.
The goal, of course, is to train myself to not order books impulsively. I allowed myself to become used to ordering books on impulse and that became a very expensive routine.
With our first two children, I signed each of them up for a 529 college savings plan as soon as humanly possible. In fact, I actually started their plans before they were born, naming myself as a beneficiary and then changing that beneficiary upon their birth.
With my third child… well, I let that detail slip through my fingers.
For the first few years of his life, he didn’t have a 529 plan like his siblings did. Even though it’s easy to sign up for one, I kept putting the task on the back burner. I kept finding other things that needed to be done and prioritized them instead.
When I finally got around to signing him up for an account, in order to balance things out, we set up double contributions for him, which we intend to stick to for several years until his savings are in line with his siblings.
In the long run, this will cost us money, because we’ll have to contribute more than we would have had we signed him up as soon as he was born. That’s because we missed out on the investment gains from his earliest years and will have to make them up out of pocket.
Don’t get me wrong – personal finance is definitely a subject that I’ve addressed with my children. I think they have a stronger understanding of basic money issues and money management than most children their age.
However, I just don’t feel as though I have done enough to really ingrain good money practices into their head so that they don’t make the same mistakes I did. In fact, I have this gut feeling that they’re going to repeat my mistakes during their college and post-college years.
It really is challenging to teach financial lessons to children and pre-teens and I know that many lessons become easier as they become teenagers. What I really need to do is ramp up their financial education in the coming years, especially for my oldest child as he approaches the teen years. I plan on opening up some of our own finances to him and having some real heart-to-heart discussions so he can see what the real world is like and outline some of my own decisions I’m making right now to him.
Will it work? It’s hard to tell. It’s a step that my own parents never really took with me, so I’m hoping it makes a difference. I will say that, other than a good tendency to save up when there’s a goal in mind, my own children don’t seem to have strong financial sense yet, and it’s on me to build that in them.
My financial mis-steps these days aren’t as severe as they were when I was in my early professional life. I’m not drowning in debt (thankfully). I’m not spending more than I bring home.
However, my financial life is still full of mistakes and things I need to correct.
For me, the underlying principle of my financial life – and every other aspect of my life – is simple. I want to be better today than I was yesterday. If I can achieve that over and over in my life, my life will gradually become better and better.
That means being honest with myself about my own mistakes and mis-steps and looking for ways to improve them. There’s still a lot to improve, just from this list.
Don’t be afraid of your own mistakes. Look at them honestly. Don’t run away from them. Ask yourself what you can do to fix them.
Make today better than yesterday. Make tomorrow better than today. You’ll never regret it.
The post The Dirty Dozen: My Twelve Biggest Financial Mistakes of the Last Ten Years and How I Wish I Had Done Things Differently appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
There's something alluring about chilling in your comfy pants while in the confines of your own home and getting paid at the same time.
No annoying co-worker to interrupt your day with the company gossip that you could give a rip about.
No mandatory meetings that leave you “zombified” that even a cup of the strongest black coffee can remedy.
Whether you are looking to quit the daily grind or trying to make extra cash as a way to get out of debt, starting a home business or side hustle can be the ideal way to meet your goals.
Before you get excited about starting your home based business idea, you first have to make sure you have the right tools in place. The main tool is a speedy Internet connection. Most home based businesses will require some sort of Internet connection. With a good Internet connection, you can also take care of a phone and fax. Isn't technology great?
On top of the right tools, you should also have a dedicated office or work space that's free from distractions. No TV's! When's it's time to work you only want to be doing one thing: working.
Now that you have the right tools and work-space, let's look at some of the top home based business ideas you can start today.
Now that we've got those details out of the way, here are 65 of the best home-based businesses almost anyone could start from their kitchen table.
1. Drive for Uber – Becoming an Uber driver has quickly become a great way for people to get their own business off the ground. You will need to pass a background check and have valid instate driver's license and auto insurance. The process is pretty painless and will get you rolling on your own business. Many people start as an Uber driver to pay the bills while they work on another business that they are more passionate about. Check out our post to learn more about Uber driver requirements.
2. Take Surveys – If you are looking for quick extra cash then signing up for sites like MySurvey can get you a nice side income with immediate results. You will not get rich doing surveys, but each site could net you anywhere from $30 to $100 per month. Some other popular survey sites include:
2. Graphic Design. Businesses always need graphic designers to help them convey information visually, through logos, advertisements, posters, websites, and the like. While it is possible to be an entirely self-taught graphic designer, most have either a certification or a degree. Other than the cost of design software, this business has very little overhead and can be done anywhere with a dedicated computer. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, graphic designers have a median salary of $45,000.*
*All median salaries listed are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, unless otherwise noted.
3. Bookkeeping. This is a perfect business idea for trained accountants who would like to work from home, although it is not necessary to be a Certified Public Accountant in order to become a freelance bookkeeper—it’s just necessary to have the background knowledge that bookkeeping courses at any community college can offer. This kind of freelance work is especially helpful for small businesses that do not need or cannot afford a fulltime bookkeeper, making it possible for you to have full time work through several smaller clients. Median salary: $34,000.
4. Home Inspection. An important part of the home buying process is having a professional home inspector go through the house to determine the condition of the building and point out any potential problems. A home inspector needs to meet the state regulations for the profession, which varies from state to state, although anyone who has worked in the construction or housing industry will have a leg up. Median salary: $52,000.
5. Massage Therapist. While licensing requirements for massage therapy can vary from state to state, the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork can help any budding masseuse fulfill their local requirements. Massage therapists can either work out of their own home or make house calls with a portable massage table. Median salary: $34,900.
6. Tax Preparation. No one likes doing taxes, and they need to be paid whether the economy is booming or tanking. This is why at-home tax preparation can be a great business for anyone with a tax background, or anyone willing to take training courses. Since there are annual changes to the tax code, you will need to refresh your training each year, and you will also need to register with the IRS as a tax preparer. This is more of a seasonal business than a year-round endeavor, but it can be a great way to earn some extra income each winter/spring. Median salary: $30,900.
7. Doula. A doula is a labor coach that can help a birthing mother in any labor environment, from a hospital to a midwife clinic to home. Doulas are non-medical professionals who offer information, emotional support, and physical assistance in the process of giving birth. While licensing for doulas is not required by most states, getting certified by DONA International, the only certifying body for this profession, is a good idea. Doulas do have to deal with unpredictable schedules, but they easily can do this work from home. Doulas generally charge between $500 and $1000 per birth.
8. Hairstylist. If you have experience cutting hair and giving manicures, opening up shop from your home is an excellent way to start your own salon. Make sure that you follow all of your state’s requirements for doing salon care in a home, as they can be stringent. Median salary: $22,500.
9. Interior Designer. While you do not need a degree or certification in order to set out an interior designer shingle, it is really necessary in order to make sure you can meet the needs of many clients. An education in the history and theory of design will allow you to understand trends that you may not like, but your clients do. Median salary: $46,280.
Many small businesses have gaps in what their employees can take care of. Hiring a full time employee to fill in those gaps isn’t necessarily feasible, which is where your work-at-home business comes into play. Here are some work-at-home ideas that every business needs:
10. Copywriting. These writers put together promotional materials for businesses, including ads, websites, newsletters, commercials, direct mailings, and many others. Copywriters generally have a degree in advertising, marketing, English, or communication, but any excellent writer can do a great job copywriting. Median salary: $55,000.
11. Virtual Assistant. This is a worker who handles any number of small tasks for a business or individual. Tasks include answering emails, data entry, scheduling, managing blogs, and even shopping. Anyone can become a virtual assistant. According to Indeed.com, the average salary for virtual assistants is $42,000.
12. Courier Service. If you live in a bustling area, chances are local businesses could use a local courier service. Unlike the big name services, you can offer more flexible pick-up and drop off times, which can be a godsend to many small businesses. According to About.com, half of couriers earn in the $17,000 to $27,000 range.
13. Marketing Consultant. Whether you are helping a business with traditional marketing materials or instructing them on the fine art of blogging (ahem) and social media, this is a business that has almost unlimited potential for freelancers. Median salary: $108,000 (!).
14. Editing. Like copywriting, this is a freelancing gig where it’s helpful to have a background in English or communications—but any eagle-eyed writer could do great job. Median salary: $51,470.
15. Web Design. Helping clients design the best website for their needs is a great way to make a living from home. About.com lists the median salary as of 2008 at $65,270.
16. Translation. If you know a second (or third) language, you can make a living at home translating documents. It’s a global marketplace, and even the best translation software can’t understand linguistic nuance. Median salary: $43,300.
17. Video Production. Everyone wants a piece of YouTube, so talented freelancers can make a great living producing videos for companies and organizations. Rates vary by area, equipment, and background.
18. Internet Security Consulting. If you’re tech savvy and understand the ins and outs of internet security, consider becoming a consultant for small businesses. Unlike the big boys, these companies can’t afford the huge security budgets, but they still want to be able to protect their internet customers.
19. Green Consulting. Many smaller companies would like to find ways to make their processes greener without spending more green. You can help them to figure out ways to improve their carbon footprint without sacrificing the bottom line.
20. Grant Writing. Non-profits, universities, hospitals and other community organizations all have a great need for grant money to supplement their budgets, but grants are notoriously tricky to write for the first time. If you have experience writing grants, or are willing to learn how to do it by practicing your skills without pay for a few non-profits, you can start a lucrative freelance grant writing business. According to eHow, grant writers can make anywhere from $40, 300 to $67,000.
21. Medical Transcription. You hear about these opportunities, and they often sound like scams. But the truth is that the medical industry has a great need for individuals to transcribe audio dictations into coherent reports. Transcriptionists do need education—generally a two-year degree—to make sure they are clear on the arcane medical terminology. Median salary: $32,900.
22. Debt Collection. It takes a very thick skin to go into this business, but debt collectors only need a telephone and a computer to work, making it a great work-at-home business. It’s also a recession-proof (or even recession-loving) business. Licensing requirements vary from state to state, so make sure you do your homework before setting up shop. Median salary: $31,300.
23. Call Center Representative. Believe it or not, it is possible to actually reach a woman named Peggy (and not a man with a Russian accent) when you call customer service. That’s because of the homeshore movement, which is trying to hire more independent contractors to work from home on customer service issues. If you’ve got a phone line and an internet connection, you can work from home as a call center rep. Median salary: $30,460.
Anything you love to do for fun could also become a great at-home gig.
24. Blogging. It takes some time to grow an audience and find ways to monetize your blog, but if you love to share your point of view with the world, this can be a good way to work from home. Niche blogs are a particular area of growth in this ever-growing profession. Pay can vary widely, but the income potential is nearly limitless.
Want to start a blog for super cheap? Check out how my wife and I make money blogging and how you can set up your blog in less than 10 minutes HERE.
25. E-book author. Publishing is dead; long live the e-reader! Now that anyone can have their work e-published, it is possible for anyone to make a fortune off their writing. The biggest recent example is the 50 Shades of Grey trilogy, but there are many authors taking advantage of the ease of e-publishing. If you love to write and are willing to do your own promotion (and having a blog can really help in that case), writing an e-book is an excellent way to make money at home.
26. Building furniture. Everyone loves a well-built and handmade piece of furniture. If you’re already spending time in your workshop, why not sell your wares? Etsy is an excellent place to start selling without having to have a physical storefront.
27. Sewing. Whether you’re making onesies and quilts for sale online or at local markets or doing repairs and alterations for locals with ill-fitting clothes, your sewing machine could be your ticket to a work-from-home business.
28. Personal Organizer. If you’re someone who reorganizes closets for fun, offer up your services to harried and disorganized individuals and businesses.
29. Home Staging. If rearranging furniture is your idea of fun, home staging is a great home-based business. You will help sellers get their homes looking beautiful so they sell as quickly as possible.
30. Herb Farming. Gardening can be very relaxing, and potentially very lucrative. With both the increased interest in alternative therapies and the demand for locally grown and organic foods, an herb farmer can find plenty of customers, particularly if you’re in an urban area. While this does require some space for growing, herbs are fairly small and nearly any home can be slightly modified to allow for an extensive herb garden.
31. Electronic Repairs. If you’re the sort who takes apart the computer for fun, operating an electronics repair shop out of your home is a natural decision. In particular, repairing iPads and other tablets would provide you with a great deal of business, as many tablet users are looking for a less expensive way to fix smashed screens and other damages that can be costly through the manufacturer. Median salary: $49,170.
32. Baking. Beautifully decorated cakes and cookies, artisan bread, and artful pastries have become all the rage, partially thanks to shows like Ace of Cakes. Median salary for bakers: $23,450.
33. Personal Chef. As a personal chef, you would spend your time whipping up delicious meals for those who don’t have time to cook but do have money to burn. The best way to make a name for yourself as a personal chef is to offer meals that fit stringent dietary or allergy requirements.
34. Mystery Shopping. For many people, the idea of getting paid to shop is a dream come true. There are many mystery shopping scams to beware of, however. Never accept a gig that requires an upfront fee—that’s a good sign it’s not legit. According to the website Scambusters, legitimate mystery shopping can pay anywhere from $8 per job up to $50 to $100 per job.
35. Bargain Hunting. If you love a bargain and know how to make coupons, specials, and unadvertised deals your penny-pinching bitch, then you could help others learn how to save money—and turn a profit. The Grocery Game’s Teri Gault is the most famous at-home bargain hunter turned millionaire, but you could be next.
36. Personal Stylist. You have an eye for clothes and know what styles look best on what body types. So turn your passion for fashion into a business by becoming a personal stylist/shopper. You’ll feel good about making others look great.
37. Catering. If you love to cook on a grand scale, why not start a catering business out of your home? How much you make depends on the scale of the assignments you take, and your ability to correctly decide how much your materials will cost. But this is also an industry where you can start small and work you way up to bigger gigs—and profits.
38. App Designer. Creating a profitable app for smart phones isn’t necessarily about having the best or most innovative idea: it’s about creating the best user experience for that idea. That’s how app designers are able to make their work-from-home a full time job—and then just live off the passive income.
39. Furniture Refinishing and Repair. You might have made a hobby of refinishing and repairing garage sale finds. Now, make your skills profitable by offering to make old furniture as good as new. After all, retro is definitely in.
40. Landscape Design. If you’re never happier than when you are landscaping your yard, landscape design might be the home-based business for you. This is a relatively new field, so you can get some background knowledge through a degree, although schools that offer these degrees are somewhat rare, or you can intern with another landscape designer.
41. Tour Guide. You may love exploring all the fun corners of your hometown, but it might not occur to you to make that hobby a business. This is an especially good idea if you can offer themed tours or other niche tours. Median salary: $23,620.
Everyone needs a hand sometimes. Here are ways you can lend one and make a living.
42. At-Home Daycare. This is an especially good idea for stay-at-home-parents who need to bring in some money. You’re already staying home with your kids: why not invite a few others to the party? Licensing for in-home daycare varies from state to state, but you will want to make sure you comply with your local regulations. Median salary: $19,300.
43. Off-Hours Daycare. Though this is basically the same as above, it does deserve its own description. Finding someone to regularly watch children during off-hours, like second shift, weekends, or very early mornings, can be extremely difficult for parents. Offering care during off-peak hours means that you can command a higher fee.
44. Elder Care. In most cases, work-from-home elder care workers will make daily house calls to their patients to help with anything from meal preparation to self-care to minor home repairs. Median pay: $20,170.
45. Lawn Care. While once the province of teenagers, lawn mowing, gardening, raking, and snow removal can be a legitimately grown up home-based business.
46. Dog Walker. This job isn’t just for New Yorkers anymore. Any large community can use dog walkers to help the area Fidos and Rovers make it through the master’s long workday.
47. Pet Sitter. If you can find pet owners who are willing to bring their dogs and cats to you, this is truly a home-based business. Otherwise, you’ll need to be willing to live at other houses (or at least visit 3-4 times a day) while you’re working.
48. Pet Grooming. Most pet owners don’t quite have the stomach or the time to clip nails, bathe, or give haircuts to their animals. With a couple of small tweaks to a bathroom, basement, or laundry room, you could have a full service doggy salon in your home. Again, it’s important to double-check your local requirements for this.
49. Travel Planning. While anyone can check an aggregator site for the best price to fly to Saint Louis, planning a more elaborate trip might be too much for some travelers. This is where a travel planner comes in, using his skills to find the best trip—including flight, accommodation, rental car, and tours—for the budget.
50. Meal Planning. One of the best ways to keep a grocery budget—and a waistline—in check is to do meal planning. But for some, this kind of planning is a mystery wrapped in an enigma. A meal planner could put together a list of a week’s recipes, along with a grocery list, for a harried but budget-conscious shopper.
51. Resume Writing. If you have a knack for making a resume shine, you could offer your services to job seekers.
52. Party Planning. From weddings to birthday parties to corporate events to conferences, the details of putting on a huge bash can be beyond the average party-giver. That’s why they’ll turn all the planning over to you. Median salary: $45,260.
53. Child Proofing. Keeping our kids safe is so important, but the details of how to do so can be confusing. A professional child proofing business is inexpensive to start up, but there may be state regulations to follow. It’s also a good idea to apprentice with a child proofer in order to learn the business.
54. Digital Media Conversion. It’s time consuming to convert old school media like CDs into digital files. If you have excellent tech skills, this is a service you can offer to the tech-phobic and time-crunched alike.
55. Tutoring. A background in education is helpful for tutoring, but not necessary. All you really need are mad skillz in one or more academic area, and you can help local students do better in their classes.
56. Patient Advocacy. With the byzantine complexity of modern medical billing practices, there is a definite need for patient advocates. These individuals take the time to track down hospital billing paperwork and potentially argue with insurance companies. Considering the fact that many of those who need to hire advocates are either ailing or grieving, this is a very necessary service.
57. Personal Trainer. You love to work out and you know the ins and outs of nutrition and exercise. Share your passion with novice exercisers, either out of your home or through a local gym. Median salary: $31,090.
58. Junk Removal. Anyone who has ever had the unenviable task of cleaning up a house for sale after the death of the owner knows just how important this job is. Junk removal can be as simple as hauling away unwanted stuff to the dump, or it can be as complicated as separating out the trash from the treasures and handling the actual sale of the goods.
59. Appraiser. We all love the moment in Antiques Roadshow when the owner learns how much their heirloom is worth. Becoming an antiques appraiser will allow you to live that moment every day. This does require a background education in the subject and access to an excellent reference library.
60. Music Teacher. Teaching piano (or guitar or violin or singing) lessons out of your house is a well-established way for stay-at-home spouses to make a little extra cash. If Lois Griffin can do it, so can any musically minded entrepreneur.
61. House cleaner. With very low overhead and a skill set that is very easy to learn, housecleaning is one of the easiest businesses to start. Depending on how much you want to grow, the income potential is pretty limitless.
As technology develops, so do entrepreneurial opportunities. Here are some work-at-home jobs that our parents would never have anticipated:
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62. Online Store. It used to be that if you had a product to sell, you also had to have a storefront and all the costs associated with it. These days, you can sell anything to anyone anywhere in the world. Whether you’re marketing the organic honey from your backyard apiary, or selling personalized linens that you embroider yourself, you can find a market for your products online.
Note from Jeff: My good buddy Steve Chou from MyWifeQuitHerJob.com has created an online course that people step by step in building their own online store. His wife was able to quit her job and together their online store produces in the six figures. If interested, check out his Profitable Online Store course here.
63. eBay Sales. The other option for online sales is to simply become the eBay middleman. Millions of vendors sell their wares on the online auction house. If you can find an inexpensive source for (legally!) saleable merchandise, you can get into business.
64. Micro Jobs. With the advent of Fiverr, we saw a brand new way to assign and accept work: little jobs for small payouts. But it’s no party trick. Apps like Gigwalk and sites like Mechanical Turk make it possible to cobble together a living with lots of little assignment each day.
65. Internet Marketing Affiliate. If you already have your own website or blog, you can earn money by becoming an affiliate. You can either sell products directly and earn money that way, or you can sign up others as affiliates, much like multi-level marketing.
BONUS – 66. Get Paid for Social Media. Some Twitter users are able to leverage their huge following into a paid gig for advertisers. Prolific bloggers have been known to get paid for commenting on other blogs. If you are a social media expert, you can use that expertise to earn money. People want to reach your audience and are willing to pay you for it.
All of these ideas require some background in the area, but they are an ideal way to use your already-acquired skills in a work-from home business. And even if you do not already have the necessary training, there is nothing keeping you from getting certified in order to start your home-based business. If you do not currently have enough money to get the certification you need I would recommend saving a little each month until you have enough to pay cash. If that is not an option or you are desperate to get out of the grind, then you can check personal and student loan rates from various banks at SimpleTuition.com or learn more about Peer to Peer borrowing in my Lending Club review.
Once you gear up to get your business off the ground, you may also want to consider getting a business credit card. Not only can a business credit card help you manage cash flow as you get started, but the right card can help you earn cash-back you can use to run your business as well. The Ink Plus® Business Credit Card is a smart choice for anyone who wants to earn flexible points on their business spending. At the moment, the signup bonus alone on this card is worth $600 in cash back! Meanwhile, the Ink Cash® Business Credit Card awards you with $200 in cash back after you put $3,000 of your new business expenses on the card within the first 90 days. Plus, this card comes with no annual fee.
There’s no need to work for The Man. Home business opportunities are plentiful, as will be your opportunities to work in your pajamas.
The post 65 Home Based Business Ideas That Are Easy to Start appeared first on Good Financial Cents.
When you’re looking for a place to put your emergency fund, open a checking account or get a debit card, you have a lot of options.
Sometimes, it seems like there are too many options.
Free checking accounts are great, but no one wants to end up being a customer at a lousy bank.
People often suggest credit unions as an alternative, but some banking customers don’t think they’re worth it — even though we’ve debunked the most common myths about them.
In fact, credit unions are a terrific alternative to traditional banks.
What’s the difference between the two? Well, while they are functionally similar, they do have some important distinctions.
One of the biggest differences between banks and credit unions is how they’re structured.
Credit unions are nonprofit organizations, and they consider account holders members, not customers.
Credit unions channel the money they make back to their members via better rates and fees.
Banks, on the other hand, distribute profits to CEOs and shareholders — not customers.
While that may make credit unions seem like a no-brainer, read on to learn about some other differences.
Since credit unions are nonprofit and member-owned, account holders can vote on who runs the credit union.
Participation in member-related activities isn’t mandatory, but if you like to have some say over who’s managing your money and how, the option is there.
Banks are great for people who want to leave the details of running a financial institution to someone else.
They’re for-profit companies, and customers have nothing to do with their structure or the decisions the CEO makes — whether they impact customers or not.
Banks tend to operate on a national scale, but credit unions serve a local or regional customer base.
Since banks focus on nationwide customer outreach and engagement, they typically offer more products.
The downside is that a bank’s rates and fees are often higher than at a credit union.
Local or regional credit unions may offer fewer products, but they’re more tuned in to the needs of members in their own neighborhoods and communities.
Since they’re member-led, credit unions also have a huge incentive to deliver excellent customer service, especially in the form of lower credit card rates or easier access to personal loans.
If you’re the type of person who enjoys interacting with technology rather than talking on the phone with a customer service representative, banks are the way to go.
Most major banks let you withdraw money, transfer funds, deposit checks and sometimes open new accounts without ever talking to an actual person.
Plenty of credit unions have killer phone apps and web services to help you avoid human interaction if that’s your thing, but some of the smaller organizations don’t yet have the budget to completely eliminate it.
If you want a completely human-free banking experience, credit unions may not fit the bill.
Customers with middle-of-the-road credit or better typically have their pick of whatever products a bank has to offer. If your credit is decent, you can usually get approved for bank loans in about a week.
If you’re worried about getting disqualified for a loan because of a shaky credit history, try meeting with a credit union loan officer, who will consider your unique income status or total financial picture.
That may keep you from getting snagged by the standard income or credit thresholds banks set to weed out thousands of credit card or loan applicants they’re not interested in working with.
As you can see, banks and credit unions both have their own pros and cons. I recommend you choose the one that lets you hoard the most pennies.
Your Turn: Do you prefer banks or credit unions?
Lisa McGreevy is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She remembers when banks used to give away toasters to new account holders. Why did they stop? Avocado toast is life.
The post Banks Vs. Credit Unions: 5 Key Differences You Totally Need to Know About appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
Is it fair to say the mention of taxes induces at least a hint of anxiety in nearly everybody?
That’s why a lot of us put it off — including myself.
But don’t worry: The Penny Hoarder has you covered. Because as important as it is to make and save those pennies, it’s equally important to do your taxes. And you don’t want to miss out on your refund, right?
Here are four steps and 25 things you need to know about how to file taxes. Hopefully, it will help you survive tax season.
Take a deep breath… now exhale. If you’re in the mood, break out a bottle of wine. We suggest something white, so there are no stains if things get messy.
Let’s drink start.
First things first: Do you even have to file taxes? The answer is probably yes, but if you want to make sure before you chug that full bottle of wine, writer Lisa McGreevy will let you know.
Bonus: There’s a link to an interactive quiz at the end. In about 12 minutes, you’ll know the answer to this pressing question.
If you answered “no” to the above question, why are you still here?
If you answered “yes,” break out your planner and a big red pen. Circle April 18 on the calendar. Check out what exactly the IRS needs from you by then, and learn more about how to file for an extension if you need one.
If you’re self-employed, you must file taxes four times a year: April 18, June 15, Sept. 15 and Jan. 17.
Before you continue, a word of caution: Tax season is a golden opportunity for scammers to prey on unsuspecting individuals; many are easy targets because they were too trusting or too intimidated by tax lingo.
Learn more about common tax season scams and how you can avoid them.
So far, you’ve determined you need to file a tax return, and you have your deadline set in stone. Now, you need to gather all of your materials. Be patient for this part because you need all of your forms before you file — or else it’s just a waste of time.
A big part of your paperwork will likely include a W-2 form (or forms), which your employer should have mailed to you by Jan. 31.
Still haven’t found those forms in your inbox or mailbox? Call the number listed in the link above.
What’s the difference between a W-2 and a W-4? Is that a silly question? We sure hope not because some of us had the same question. Here’s your quick explainer — and why it even matters.
Wait, wait, wait. Have you moved in the past year?
You’ll need to change your address with the IRS so you don’t miss your tax return. The whole process is a lot easier than you might think, and we’ve outlined exactly what you need to do.
You have some choices here.
You can take the do-it-yourself route, use a free online tool or leave it to a professional. If you’re not quite sure what your best course of action is, stop Googling questions that are way too long, and use this straightforward advice.
There are many DIY fails out there. (We recently read about DIY braces… yikes.)
But when it comes to taxes, DIY could be the right route. Before you dive into the deep end, decide whether it’s the right choice for you by answering five questions.
If filing your own taxes is out of the question, you’ll need to decide if you want to use software, an online service or a CPA — aka a real-life person.
Based on your needs and what you’re willing to spend — and how paranoid you are about the IRS knocking on your door — this guide will help you figure out your best option.
A free online service may be a great option if you find DIY isn’t your best bet, but you don’t want to fork over money to a professional.
Fortunately, writer Lisa Rowan found eight free filing sites that just might save your sanity.
What gets taxed? What’s a deduction? Maybe tax season has even left you wondering who you even are. (Head of household? Dependent?) Don’t worry. It’s not just you.
Treat this like a dictionary. But a short one. Without super thin, easily rippable pages.
So you need to know what’s actually taxable, right? This article outlines everything from salary to jury duty pay to bribes.
One basic rule of thumb: “Unfortunately, the IRS views almost all money received by taxpayers as taxable income,” said Aaron Lesher, a CPA with Hurdlr.
But there are a few exceptions — so hold onto that ish.
You probably hear this term thrown around a lot, but do you know what it means? In short, you qualify if you’re not married on the last day of the tax year, you paid for more than half of household expenses during the year, and you have a dependent living at home.
If you qualify, you could get a lower tax bill and more money in your pocket.
If you can’t handle doing your own laundry, does that make you a dependent? Does the IRS consider your grown child who still steals food from your fridge a dependent?
Claiming a dependent can yield you a bigger tax return. That’s why writer Lisa McGreevy spells out exactly who counts as a dependent. Plus, don’t you just want to know if you’re independent yet? Isn’t that #adulting?
Now it’s time to understand credits and deductions. If you click this, don’t be embarrassed; many people don’t know the difference between the two.
In short: A tax DEDUCTION reduces the amount of income you owe taxes on. A tax CREDIT reduces the amount of taxes you owe.
Learn more about how they’re actually relevant to you. Because they are.
Understand what a tax deduction is now? You’re not done quite yet. Get familiar with standard and itemized deductions. Writer Lisa McGreevy explores the pros and cons of both.
So now you know that deductions equal savings. Here are some solid examples of tax deductions that might apply to you if you opt to itemize — like charitable contributions, home office expenses and contributions to some retirement accounts.
Plus: Check out the eight most commonly overlooked deductions — because who wants to miss out?
Did you know getting married totally changes the tax game? If you you’re shaking your head no, take a look at our guide for the old married folks. (Just kidding, guys.)
Pro tip: It’s almost always better to file jointly instead of separately.
This is where things can get super-taxing. (Get it?)
We have a lot of freelance followers and serial side hustlers out there, so this one’s for you. If you’re not self-employed, and if you don’t work a side gig or do freelance work, skip to step 4.
If you’re a freelancer, you might as well just dive into this beginner’s guide. It calmly walks you through the steps to take if you’re a freelancer and how to not screw everything up.
If you still have wine left, this might be the time to chug. But seriously, don’t panic.
We touched on deductions above, but did you know you can get a ton of additional tax deductions if you work from home? Don’t miss out; see what qualifies here.
Related: What the heck are quarterly estimated taxes?
If you’re a freelancer, contractor or home-based entrepreneur, you’re going to want to get familiar with this term — and how to best handle these things.
Our writer Lisa Rowan fudged up her self-employment taxes. Now, she’s admitting her expensive mistake to help you avoid owing big. Here’s how she’s fixing it and what she learned.
Maybe you’re a different kind of freelancer. Maybe you work a side gig. If you drive for Uber or Lyft, you don’t get to avoid taxes. Sorry.
Pro tip: Don’t wait until the last minute to tackle this.
Twiddle your fingers, pour another glass or three of wine, start a new hobby… Now that the hard part is done — but really, it wasn’t that hard was it?! — it’s time to wait.
Senior writer Dana Sitar expects to get a nifty tax refund check of about $3,000 this year. She’s brainstormed a bunch of ways she can make that money work for her — you know, like all the experts tell you to do.
Sure we might intend to use our tax refunds to better ourselves and our financial situations, but will we actually? This refreshing study says Americans will actually be kind of responsible with this year’s tax refund.
But what if you complete your return and realize you owe the IRS? And what if you can’t afford to pay taxes? Don’t worry: You do have options — and we swear, they aren’t that difficult to implement.
Just remember: There’s no avoiding the IRS. Ignoring your tax bill will only make things worse.
Maybe you’re on the right track this year, but how did you handle your taxes in past years? If the answer is a grunt, well, you might want to go ahead and figure that ish out.
We won’t judge if you messed things up in the past. We just want you to know that you could be missing out on a chunk of $1 billion.
You have three years to file returns from past years and still claim a refund.
So it could pay off if you learn how to file your 2013 taxes… in 2017.
Your Turn: Do you have any other tax questions? Let us know, and we can tackle those for you, too!
The post Panicked About That Tax Return You Still Haven’t Filed? We’re Here to Help appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
The age at which people receive their state pension should increase and the government’s “triple lock” should be withdrawn, an independent report has recommended.
With a significant amount of people retiring without a pension, according to new research published this week by Prudential, it’s no surprise that new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show a doubling of the numbers of women leaving work after 70, and a similar
How much does it cost to find a new job? A lot of it depends on your industry, job level, and how long the process lasts. According to Jobvite’s latest data, it takes an average of 28 days from application to hire – but that’s assuming you get that all-important first call for an interview. In addition, the higher up the corporate ladder you go, the longer your job search is likely to take. C-suite executives should expect an average of five interviews per opportunity, Jobvite says, while associates and assistants might only endure three.
Either way, the longer you spend job hunting, the more money you’re prone to spend on stuff like looking sharp and commuting to interviews. Other costs add up, too: Hire a resume writer or career coach, and you can add hundreds (possibly thousands) of dollars to your tab. Even smaller fees, like upgrading to a premium LinkedIn account, will cost you.
But when you’re looking for work, of course, you’re probably not in a position to throw money around. And the more cash you can keep in your bank account, the longer you can hold out for the job of your dreams. Here are a few expenses you can skip and ways to save money during your search, without negatively impacting your job prospects.
Unless you work in finance, you probably don’t have to wear a suit to work anymore. Why spend your job interview looking like your mom dressed you?
Appropriate interview attire in 2017 runs more toward “fancy business casual” – in other words, no jeans, no t-shirts, and nothing you’d wear to clean out the garage. For most people, this means clothing you can wash at home, which is a whole lot cheaper than professional dry cleaning. Just don’t forget to run the iron over that button-down, and you’re good to go.
We get it: You want to stand out from the competition. But there’s a good way and a bad way to do that.
The good way? Creating an interactive ad for yourself when you’re applying to a digital marketing agency. The bad way? Anything that makes you look like a crazy person.
“We had one applicant arrive unannounced at the office with a cherry pie she had baked that morning,” Carolyn Turner, a business coach in Portland, Ore., told CareerBuilder. “She explained that she wanted to stand out from all the other applicants — which she did, but just in a scary, stalkerish kind of way.”
Skip the stalker gifts; save the cash. No one expects to get your resume printed on dozens of chocolate bars.
When you’re desperate for a change – or a source of income after a layoff – it’s pretty easy to convince yourself that paying for that fax software or productivity app is a reasonable expense. Then you get hired, and never use it again.
Before you buy, do your research. Chances are, there’s a free (or very cheap) version out there that will accomplish the same thing. Trent compiled a helpful list of free, open software a few years ago.
A Premium Career account on LinkedIn will run you $24.99 a month (billed annually) after a free month-long trial. For that, you get job insights that compare your qualifications to open roles, salary data, featured applicant status, and three free InMails to recruiters or employees at your target employer. You also get to see who’s looked at your profile, which is fun in an old-school social media way.
But do you need it? Probably not, especially if you’re just starting out your job search and haven’t spent the time optimizing your free profile yet.
The same goes for paid job search sites. Chances are, you could get the same services for free on Monster, Indeed, SimplyHired, and others. Plus, you’re vastly more likely to get your next job through networking, anyway. One recent survey showed that up to 85% of jobs are filled that way.
So by all means, beef up your professional profile, and expand your network by connecting with former colleagues and other people you know. But don’t feel like you need to pay for the extras.
You can’t avoid every useless job interview, but you can start getting tough with yourself about figuring out what you want – and what you don’t want – in your next job. Interview practice is all well and good, but it’s also important to respect everyone’s time (including your own).
What does this mean? Well, if you hate working for startups, don’t be lured by stock options and free cereal into an interview that will lead to a job you hate. The opposite is also true: if you can’t stand hierarchy, don’t squeeze yourself into the corporate mold, just to tell yourself you’re trying. Also, pay attention to signs that the company isn’t right for you: If they cancel multiple interviews, you’re not dealing with respectful potential colleagues. Ditto if they’ve been late to previous meetings.
Bottom line, sometimes it’s not worth the bus fare. Learn to recognize that, and you’ll save yourself money, time, and aggravation.
Networking can help you find job leads, but it can also help you prepare to land gigs once you hear about them. The catch: You have to be willing to ask for – and take – constructive criticism.
If you can stomach that, you’ll have no problem finding folks in your field who will tell you what you need to do to get from where you are now to where you want to be.
What might surprise you: Most of them will probably be pretty kind about it. Everyone loves being asked for their expert opinion.
Some of your job search expenses may be tax-deductible. The IRS has a handy guide to help you find out if your resume costs, travel expenses, and other costs related to your job search are covered.
Related Articles:
The post Seven Ways to Stop Wasting Money on Your Job Search appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
A new mortgage lender has launched into the market, targeting borrowers who struggle to get finance from mainstream lenders.
Secure Trust Bank, which already offers savings products to consumers, will now offer mortgages for the first time.
Amazon’s got some explaining to do.
If you’ve ever purchased anything on Amazon, you have probably seen what the retail giant calls the product’s “list price.” It is the crossed-out small, gray number that lets you know exactly how much you would pay if you were silly enough to shop anywhere other than Amazon.
To the left of the list price is another number. This one is smaller in value but twice as big and bold. It tells you how much you’ll save — and essentially tells you how smart and awesome you are for being such a savvy shopper.
Those numbers play a big role in convincing you to buy.
But a Consumer Watchdog study found that, more often than not, that list price is overinflated, which means if the study’s findings are true, Amazon’s purported savings are often a flat-out lie.
To gather data for the study, the nonprofit advocacy group looked at 4,000 products on Amazon. Of the products included in the study, Consumer Watchdog found that 25% of them had a crossed-out higher list price.
According to the study, 40% of the time Amazon decides to add a list price, it is higher than the highest retail price at any of its competitors. What’s more, Amazon’s average list prices are about 20% higher than the median market price for any single item, the report claims.
“The majority of these crossed-out prices exceeded — sometimes by large margins — any plausible definition of the ‘plausible market price,’” John M. Simpson, Consumer Watchdog’s privacy project director, wrote in a petition filed Monday with the California Department of Justice.
The petition asks the state’s attorney general to investigate Amazon’s practices.
“The reference prices were an entirely bogus notional price that created the false impression that consumers were getting a deal when they were not,” Simpson wrote. “When correcting the inflated list prices, the fictitious discounts often vanished.”
So what did Amazon have to say about all this?
It said the study — not its list prices — is what’s misleading.
“Manufacturers, vendors and sellers provide list prices, but our customers care about how the price they are paying compares to other retailers,” the company said in a statement sent to the Los Angeles Times. “We validate list prices against actual prices recently found across Amazon and other retailers, and we eliminate List Price when we believe it isn’t relevant to our customers.”
But Consumer Watchdog says the numbers tell a different story.
This isn’t the first time the online retailer has been accused of using shady pricing tactics to get more customers to buy. In January, Amazon Canada agreed to pay CA$1 million (about $751,000) to Canada’s Competition Bureau after a two-year investigation found the company exaggerated customer savings.
From here, it will be up to the state of California to decide if Amazon has done anything wrong and, if so, whether it will have to pay up for its sins.
Your Turn: Will the questionable list prices on Amazon cause you to shop elsewhere?
Desiree Stennett is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She doesn’t really shop online so she feels like she won this battle of Amazon vs. the world.
The post Think You’re Saving by Shopping on Amazon? Watchdog Group Says That’s a Lie appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
The first 2016 U.S. Presidential debate ended up attracting 84 million viewers.
That’s a record number.
Compare that to Super Bowl 50, which glued 111.9 million viewers to the TV. (That was the Carolina Panthers versus the Denver Broncos one.) The reunion episodes of “The Real Housewives of New York” averaged some 2 million viewers.
How am I, the queen of mathematical anxiety, pulling these numbers?
The Nielsen Company, of course.
You’ve heard of Nielsen. It’s the company that’s been tracking what people watch, listen to and buy since 1923.
Nearly 100 years later, the company’s still thriving — and, even better, it’s hiring tons of field representatives across the U.S.
This isn’t your typical work-from-your-home-office gig. As a Nielsen field service representative, you’ll visit and manage Nielsen households near you.
Basically, Nielsen pays panel members to be tracked. But it’s not that creepy. The company just wants to know what your consumer behavior is like — what TV shows you watch, what’s in your fridge and what apps you use on your phone.
That’s how the company manages to pop out ratings.
This is where field service representatives come in. You don’t have to be tracked, but you do have to work with the families and households who are.
As a field service rep, you’ll make home visits to install, maintain, troubleshoot and demonstrate the equipment.
Be nice, because you’ll need to build relationships and collect and report demographics and audience analytics. You should be comfortable chatting it up — maybe even sometimes turning into an impromptu salesperson when needed.
The perks are pretty sweet. You’ll be required to spend three weeks training in Tampa, Florida (of five weeks total).
But wait, you naysayers. The training is paid, and housing and transportation (flights, too!) are provided.
Once that’s over, you’ll return home, where you don’t have to report to an office, and you’ll work flexible hours — including evening hours and weekends. You’ll also get a company car (totally feeling like Oprah right now) with insurance, gas and maintenance included.
Even more: Your comprehensive benefits package goes into effect your first day and includes medical, dental and vision insurance — plus a 401(k).
You’ll also get a laptop and mobile phone and all the required techy things. Oh, and compensation starts at $36,400 with monthly bonuses if you’re doing a good job.
You’ll need some past experience in market research, social services or commissioned sales positions.
A bachelor’s degree — in anything — is preferred but not required, though a high school diploma is. You should also have a valid driver’s license.
For all the qualifications and more details on the position, you can find all the job listings on The Nielsen Company’s career page. Just search “field service representative.”
Want more flexible job opportunities? Visit our Facebook jobs page.
Your Turn: Have you ever had your TV watching habits tracked by the Nielsen Company?
Carson Kohler (@CarsonKohler) is a junior writer at The Penny Hoarder.
The post These Benefits Might Make You Want to Quit Your Job and Work for Nielsen appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.
The term “content marketing” is a wide umbrella.
It encompasses a plethora of different strategies and techniques.
But at the end of the day, one of your primary goals is to create content that ranks as highly as possible on search engine results pages (SERPs).
This is important because organic traffic is the number one means of generating traffic for many companies.
A study from The Bright Edge even “found that organic search drives 51 percent of all visitors to B2B and B2C websites trumping all other non-organic channels.”
This means one thing.
You need to figure out the relationship between content marketing strategies and keyword rankings.
This is instrumental in fine-tuning your content marketing campaign and finding the right areas to focus on.
In this post, I analyze data from multiple studies and draw on my own knowledge and experience to give you a clear idea of the content strategies demanding the most attention.
So, let’s see which strategies have the biggest impact on keyword rankings.
I won’t waste your time telling you about the importance of creating quality content.
You already know that.
But I’d like to share with you this statistic from an infographic on Quick Sprout:
That’s a lot of links!
And I’m sure you know the integral role links play in SEO.
This graph from Moz illustrates the importance of links and their influence on Google’s algorithm:
Let’s put this information together.
When you create rich content, it gets you more links.
These links improve your overall SEO, which improves your rankings.
So, being diligent about achieving and maintaining rigorous quality standards should be of the utmost concern.
Here’s the deal with long-form content.
It’s hot right now. Scorching hot.
I remember a few years ago when your average blog post was only somewhere around 500 words.
But if you look at the vast majority of content that ranks on page one of Google SERPs today, it’s rare that you’ll find anything under 1,000 words.
To prove just how important long-form has become, I would like to show you a couple of graphs.
The first is from a fairly old (September 2012) article I wrote on Quick Sprout.
I got the data from research performed by SerpIQ:
As you can see, every single piece of content that ranked on the first page had at least 2,000 words.
More specifically,
The first result typically has 2,416 words and the 10th result has 2,032 words.
Newer research (September 2016) from Brian Dean of Backlinko shows a similar pattern:
According to his research,
The average word count of a Google first page result is 1,890.
That’s over 500 words fewer than the original research from SerpIQ indicated back in 2012…526 to be exact.
But it still shows us long-form content is a key element in achieving solid rankings.
Why is this so?
The way I look at it, there are two main reasons for this phenomenon.
First, people have a tendency to scan through content these days.
Few actually sit down and read a 2,000-word piece word for word in its entirety.
Instead, they scan through and look at the sub-headers that grab their attention and may read little snippets of text from there.
Long-form content facilitates this new method of reading.
Second, a longer word count tends to translate into more links.
And this makes sense.
The more content you provide, the more opportunities for it to be linked to.
Put all this together, and you can see that long-form content means higher rankings.
Who knows, the whole “long-form content bubble” may pop in a few years.
But it’s stronger than ever at the moment.
However, it appears that the ideal word count has been reduced considerably, and you should aim for just south of 2,000 words.
How do you create 2,000-word content?
You should never stuff your articles with words just for the sake of hitting a word count.
But you should strive for detail, depth, clarity, and mastery of a subject matter.
Here’s what I’ve discovered about long-form content. When you truly make an effort to provide value in your content, it expands in length.
That’s not to say that you can’t provide value with a 400-word article.
But the level of value created in a 2,000-word article is usually much greater.
But the plot thickens.
The same Backlinko article also points out that
content rated as “topically relevant” significantly outperformed content that didn’t cover a topic in-depth. Therefore, publishing focused content that covers a single topic may help with rankings.
Topical relevance basically combines my first two points of creating rich content and long-form content.
It simply means that Google values content that’s comprehensive and that thoroughly covers a topic.
This means it’s best to focus on a single topic for each piece of content you create.
Rather than bouncing around from subject to subject, you’re better off going all in on a single topic and leaving no stone unturned.
Does this mean you can’t discuss other topics?
No. In fact, you should touch on as many relevant topics as possible! But your focus should be on a single topic.
If you feel you need to cover a topic you weren’t able to get around to in the post, create a separate piece of content and cover it in-depth as well.
This strategy has been in existence seemingly since the dawn of SEO—back when SEO was in its primordial soup stage.
One of the main ways small-scale marketers have been competing with the big dogs is by using long-tail keywords.
And why wouldn’t they? It freaking works.
In fact, I’ve been using this strategy for years.
I even used it to grow my search traffic by 51% in just three months!
And guess what? It still works brilliantly.
An infographic from Adept states that “pages optimized for long-tail keywords move up 11 positions on average, compared to just 5 positions for head keywords.”
It’s really not rocket science.
Using long-tail keywords means less competition, which means a greater likelihood of achieving a favorable ranking.
The awesome thing is that long-tail searches account for roughly 70 percent of searches:
This means there’s plenty of opportunity out there.
Of course, you won’t get the same volume of traffic that you would for a head keyword or broad keyword, but you can still generate some sizable traffic if you do your keyword research and choose a phrase that receives a reasonable number of searches.
Check out this post from NeilPatel.com for a step-by-step walkthrough of integrating long-tail keywords into your blog posts.
The process is fairly straightforward:
If you haven’t heard, people respond positively to images.
It’s true.
And although I think the whole visual-centric discussion has been done to death, I would like to reference one more point from the Backlinko article I mentioned earlier.
According to Brian Dean,
Industry studies have found that image-rich pages tend to generate more total views and social shares.
But here’s the interesting thing.
Using at least one image is much better than not using any images at all.
However, they couldn’t find a correlation between the total number of images and rankings.
That means there’s no proof that using a lot of images will improve your rankings any further.
In other words, using just one image would in theory have the same effect as using 10 or more images.
The key takeaway is this:
Using a single image is clearly better than zero images. Including lots of images doesn’t seem to have an impact on search engine rankings.
When it comes to my posts, this information isn’t going to stop me from sprinkling plenty of images throughout my content.
In fact, you probably know that many of my posts are jam-packed with images.
I think my audience enjoys the “eye candy,” and graphs in particular are excellent for explaining fairly complex concepts.
But keep this in mind when creating your next piece of content: going nuts with images probably isn’t necessary.
If you’re not sure what I mean by “direct answers,” it’s simple.
Google is now starting to show direct answers when you use a “how to,” “what is,” “who is,” etc. type of search.
Here’s an example:
The first thing that pops up at the top of the page is a clip from the top ranking site.
It’s a way to streamline the process and offer searchers direct information without them having to actually click on the link.
Of course, oftentimes they’ll still click on the link to find more in-depth information.
I know I often do.
So, here’s the deal.
Providing a direct answer can be beneficial and a viable strategy for killing it on SERPs.
If you can provide a quick, logical, and direct answer, especially for a long-tail keyword phrase, there’s a good chance you can get your content featured at the top.
Just be sure your direct answer transitions smoothly into the rest of your content.
Here’s how I typically use this strategy:
When I follow this three-step process, the articles I write on those topics usually rank on page one for the associated keyword within five days or less.
This is the primary technique I’m currently using on NeilPatel.com, and it’s earned me over 800,000 unique monthly visitors.
I value objectivity when determining the approach of my content marketing strategy.
I find that examining the cold hard facts clears most biases and preconceived notions I might have.
This is important because this gives me the clearest path to achieving my goals.
While there are countless factors that contribute to keyword rankings, the ones I listed here appear to have the biggest impact pound-for-pound.
Putting your attention on these key areas should ensure that your content marketing is heading in the right direction while giving you the best chance of climbing in the SERPs.
What do you think the most important content marketing strategy for improving your rankings is?
