Source: BestHospitalityDegrees.com
Category: Job Searching Tips
To Barter or Not to Barter – Answers to Freelancers Questions
Bartering is the act of trading goods and services for other goods and services. Someone may trade writing services in exchange for a television or in exchange for someone mowing their lawn or fixing their roof. Most gigs don’t work this way, but there are situations where writers will have the opportunity to barter.
The question is whether you should be bartering, or whether the almighty dollar reigns supreme as sufficient compensation.
It won’t always be in your interests to barter. In this article, we’re going to take a look at how to decide whether bartering is the best option for you.
Prestige and Experience
The most common form of bartering in the world of freelancing is where you can trade your writing for ‘prestige’ and ‘experience’. In the vast majority of cases, this is a ploy by stingy employers to get free writing work.
The only occasion where prestige and experience should come into it is if you’re either working for a charity or a household name. There are few situations where these will come in handy.
As a general rule of thumb, stay away from this form of bartering.
Determining the Value of the Barter
Let’s pretend that you are being offered something of real tangible value. Take a look at Craig’s List and you’ll soon see lots of opportunities to barter your services. You may be able to trade writing services for concert tickets, yoga lessons, or objects like lawn mowers and blenders.
To determine whether it’s a good deal, you need to come up with a sort of intrinsic value. In the case of items, you can weigh up how much the item would cost you to buy, and that would be the intrinsic value.
You also have to look at the emotional value. Ask yourself whether you truly need what’s on offer. Yes, it might be nice to get tickets to the local comedy club, but is it worth you giving up some of your working day to earn these tickets?
It’s easy to get carried away bartering for lots of cool items. If it’s starting to take time away from your working day, however, then it’s not a good deal.
Your Current Needs
The best way to barter is to figure out what you need right now. If what you need right now is money for groceries, bartering isn’t for you, unless the barter happens to be for groceries.
Some writers may decide to market themselves. Instead of spending money on a marketing expert, they work with a magazine and receive some free advertising space in return. This is a good barter because both parties have a real need for what’s on offer.
The Golden Rule of Bartering
The golden rule of bartering is to get into a relationship with a party that has something you need. Both parties must need the other party to make it a good barter. If what you have on offer is a ‘want’ and not a ‘need’, it’s probably better to look for a straight cash payment.
Conclusion
Bartering is an easy way to get what you need quickly, but it’s also easy to get carried away with. Stay away from anything that you can’t give any intrinsic value to, such as offers of ‘experience’ and ‘prestige’. Stick to what you can calculate a value for.
On top of this, only barter for what you actually need. Yes, a trinket or the chance to attend a conference for free may look attractive, but is it something that’s going to pay the bills and boost your business?
4 Signs That You Need a New Job
Swapping jobs is never an easy decision to take. Decades ago, it was common to join an industry and stay with the same company for the entirety of your working life. Now we live with a highly mobile workforce.
According to Jeanne Meister writing for Forbes.com, she said the average worker will change jobs once every 4.4 years, and it’s about half this for younger workers. We have more choice than ever before and you don’t need to accept garbage from your boss.
If you’re wondering whether the time has come for you to move on, look out for these four warning signs.
- Your Work isn’t Appreciated
You’re a highly skilled individual who puts their heart and soul into doing the best they can. It’s obvious you’re doing everything you can, but you haven’t received any praise since your probation period ended.
Life’s too short to let your good work go unappreciated. This doesn’t mean your boss has to give you flowers and candy. A good comment here and there is enough to show you you’re appreciated.
If your boss doesn’t appreciate your work, it’s time to take your talents to someone who will see them for what they are.
- Job Stagnation
Once your job gets to the point where you’re only looking forward to the weekend, it’s time to review your position.
No job should ever become a boring routine. It should be exciting and you should always move towards the next level. Make sure your company is giving you options to learn new skills and move to the rank above you.
It doesn’t have to mean a promotion every year or so. It just means you know the potential for advancement is there.
- Depression
One of the biggest causes of depression in America is crummy jobs. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention said in 2011 one in ten of all U.S. adults were now reporting depression. This represents millions of the population.
Depression can lead to anxiety, low self-esteem, and a lack of motivation. Essentially, it means you’re wasting away and you believe you have nothing to live for any longer. It’s also an illness which can easily sneak up on you over a period of time. A lot of people don’t even realise they’re depressed. They slip into it like a deep sleep.
No job should ever make you feel like this. Try to pinpoint what’s making you unhappy about the job. It may be the career you’ve fallen out of love with or a toxic corporate environment.
Before you march in and quit, see if the source of your problem is anything you can rectify. It makes no sense to leave a perfectly good job over a problem you can resolve.
- You Differ from the Values of Your Company
Every company has a different set of values. Ma and Pa’s General Store may value customers and loves to serve them. The big bad corporation may not care about customers and just wants to boost profits.
What do you believe in and what do you want from your job?
Look inside and you may find you don’t agree with what your company does. This means you’re prostituting yourself for a pay check. Your values should never finish second to a pat on the head from a boss paying your salary.
It doesn’t mean this isn’t the industry for you. All companies have different values. Search for an organisation which matches up to what you believe in. You have a right to feel good about what you do and quitting could be the best way to do it.
Image Credit: Flickr
Two Pay-Per-View Writing Sites You Need to Check Out
When you are a writer, there are numerous ways that you can make money. However, sometimes all of your traditional writing leads may dry up and you find yourself with a lot of time and no income coming in. When this used to happen for me I would do some work for some pay-per-view sites to make sure some money was still being generated while I marketed myself for more work. Today, I am going to introduce you to two new sites – Writedge.com and DailyTwoCents.com. Danielle McGaw (one of my inspirations when I first started working online) and Michelle Harlow run both of these sites. Therefore, they are trusted sites.
Features of Writedge & Daily Two Cents
- $5 threshold with payments made once a month – This is a big turn on because most similar sites require you to make much more before you can cash out.
- Sites only contain quality content – You have a chance to earn more here because they have quality content guidelines in place
- Great Community – They have Facebook Groups for writers to interact in and receive support
- Contest & Incentives – They reward members with contests and other incentives for participating on the sites
- Decent Word Counts – There is a 100 word minimum for Daily Two Cents & a 400 word minimum for Writedge
- Outside Links are allowed – You can link to your affiliate products and earn even more money
- Fun Tools – Both sites have tools such as a recipe module, review module, highlighted text boxes, video uploaders, and photo uploaders
- Video Tutorials – They want you to succeed on the site and they have videos to make sure you understand how everything works
Bottom Line
Writedge and Daily Two Cents are two pay-per-view sites that you should check out today. They can provide you with extra cash to spend on gas, vacations, or even holiday shopping.
What has been your experience with pay-per-view sites? Feel free to share in the comments section below.
What Do You REALLY Need to Do to Please Your Boss?
Read any guide on pleasing your boss and you’ll get the obvious advice. You need to work hard, stop kissing up, and get yourself noticed. We know all this, and your boss has been reading the same articles.
They know the game their employees play. They know that they’re desperately trying to get into their good books. And here’s the secret, it makes them sick. It makes them feel as if they can’t trust you because you’re only putting a mask on for them.
Here’s what bosses really want from you.
A Point on Bullying
In the UK, workplace bullying is on the rise. About one in 10 employees have experienced bullying from a superior, as stated by The Guardian.
No matter what company you work for at what level, you can’t please these bosses. For some reason or another, they have decided to hate your guts. Don’t waste your time trying to please them. Start searching for another job and kick them aside.
All in the Finances
In the end, you’re not at work to make friends. You’re there to help the business make money. Employees often struggle to look at it from their boss’s point of view. You’re an asset and nothing more.
Make sure your value to the company exceeds your salary and place in the office. It’s a cold way of looking at it. A lot of people refuse to see it this way. They see it as wrong. When all is said and done, this is what it boils down to.
Whenever a company decides to start sacking people, they assess them based on their worth financially.
Outside of the Workplace
It’s often considered taboo to get involved in someone’s personal life. It’s not always as bad as you think, though.
The traditional employer-employee relationship is one of professionalism. It doesn’t allow for personal feelings to come into it. And this can make it difficult to please your boss.
Get involved in your boss’s interests and hobbies. Jacquelyn Smith for Forbes.com wrote an article on this point. It doesn’t have to be anything more than a quick chat at lunch about a favourite hobby. Little things like this can endear you to the boss.
Work Habits
The way you work will always have an influence on your image. Obviously, you have to work hard. This is a given at any company. When you work hard can be just as important as whether you work hard, though.
Here are a few tips for satisfying your superior:
- Work when they work. It allows them to see when you’re working. They probably won’t even remember how you pulled all those night shifts.
- Communicate with them whilst you work. Again, this allows them to see what progress you’re making and how hard you’re working.
- Work with the long-term in mind. When you talk to your boss about the importance of your latest work to the project, don’t just talk about the immediate project. Tell them how it relates to the long-term company prospects. It’s a subtle way of informing your employer you care about the company.
Fail and Fail Hard
Admittedly, this might get a few eyebrows raised. Pleasing your boss doesn’t usually involve failure.
Unless your boss is totally inept, they understand the value of trying something new. When we talk about failure, we talk about strategic failure. It’s not about putting the company on the line. It’s about experimenting when you can and logging the results.
Be willing to fail. Perfectionism only tells your boss that you’re a stooge without any innovation. You can do your job, but you’re either too incapable or too scared to initiate real change.
Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert, spoke to the Wall Street Journal about how he failed his way to success. He discussed how he always searched for alternative options when he had the time.
And we can only reiterate this. There are always alternatives. As long as you don’t bankrupt the company, your boss will secretly appreciate your boldness. They might not immediately congratulate you, but it’s going to put you in line for a promotion!
Image Credit: Flickr user Deep Tom Natt
Work at Home Journey 
