There are many great reasons for you to have a home based business and, as long as you’re ambitious, hard working and you stay focused on your goals, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t work out for you.1. Independence: Wouldn’t it be great to fire your boss and walk out of your 9-5 forever. A home based business could do that for you, however, don’t forget, it’ll be you who has to make the decisions and keep yourself disciplined to achieve the results.2. No Commuting – Imagine not having to sit in traffic or on overcrowded public transport every day just to get into work. That one hour commute could just be a 30 second walk in to your home office.3. Freedom – Wouldn’t you like the freedom to do what you want, when you want to do it?A home based business could offer you that very opportunity. Take the children to school, take time for the gym, do the shopping when it’s quietest – Make sure you do some work though!4. Overheads – Having a home based business is far less risky than starting up a traditional ‘bricks and mortar’ business. Most of the overheads are no different to what you’ve already got. Just make sure you check your insurance!5. Start-Up Costs – The start-up costs should also be pretty low, particularly with a business like network marketing. As long as you’ve got a good enough computer, some fixed and mobile communications equipment, that’s generally enough to get you underway.6. Flexibility – Fit your business around your other commitments, you might have a dependent family member to look after, or other responsibilities. With no boss breathing down your neck, you can move things about as you please.7. Work Away From Home – What if you go on holiday? With most home based businesses you can take it with you (if you really have to). A laptop computer, wireless internet access and a mobile phone and your off. Do try and have a break some time though!8. Residual Income – Some of the better network marketing businesses pay residual incomes. That means if you do want time off, but don’t fancy taking work with you, you still have some money coming in. Look out for the better network marketing businesses that have this opportunity.9. Reduced Risk – With much lower start up costs and far less overheads involved, having a home based business has far less risk attached to it. If you work hard and keep organised there shouldn’t be a problem, but if there ever was you shouldn’t have much of a headache to deal with.10. Sociable – Many network marketing businesses involve getting together at events and conferences. It’s here that you’ll probably meet other like-minded home business people that you share much in common with, this could end up being a whole new circle of friends.As you can see there are loads of really positive reasons for you to have a home based business. However, don’t forget that it is a business and without putting in some planning, organisation and work it might not be for long. Good Luck!
10 Reasons to Have a Home Based Business
Properly Listing Education on a Resume
Oftentimes, I see some awkward management of how people list their education on their résumé. Here are some tips and tricks to help effectively convey your investment into your educational career to prospective employers:
1) Understand what constitutes education. The EDUCATION section of a resume actually is composed of two parts: your formal schooling (with an accredited institution), and then everything else, which should be listed under a separate subheader (not ‘training’, ‘coursework’ or ‘classes’) called “Professional Development.” “Professional Development” constitutes any kind of educational coursework that you’ve taken that enhances/updates your knowledge, hones your skills, and helps you do your job better. This can include workshops, trainings, classes, CEUs, industry certifications, conventions, conferences and the like. Many people can have a lot of listings under this area from years of being at conferences/workshops. Two dimensions that you want to use to cull this down to a shorter list include relevancy towards the job target you are pursuing, and going back no more than 5-7 years. Anything more than that is going to be fairly obsolete – we simply don’t do business now the way we did 10 years ago, and you definitely don’t want to look like an ancient dinosaur who hasn’t keep their knowledge up-to-date!
2) Don’t be afraid to list degrees that weren’t completed. Many people hesitate when told it is okay to list educational degrees that they started but didn’t finish. “It makes me look like I can’t finish something,” is a common concern. Look at it this way: ANY type of learning beyond the high school/GED level shows initiative and an interest in bettering oneself. Give yourself credit for the time, effort and money you’ve invested!
3) Beware the most common educational deception – a ‘perceived’ graduation date. Did you know that the EASIEST thing to check on backgrounds is education? Many people don’t realize this. Several clients of mine have come to me with résumés that, when in our consultation, turn out to be listing a school attended rather than a degree earned. “Bachelor of Science”, the document reads. When I probe a little further, the person clears their throat uncomfortably, and says, “Well… I didn’t REALLY graduate….” If you are playing this game, thinking you are smart, you need to stop. Human resource people are all over this little tactic. Either you graduated or you took program coursework. It’s just that black or white. And believe me, you’d rather hear it in this blog than not to hear that you didn’t get the job for ‘fibbing’ or inaccurately portraying your credentials.
4) Don’t fall into the educational credibility trap. Unless you are seeking employment in an educational or highly technical field which requires constant educational commitments, avoid needlessly listing scholarships, honors, GPAs and for pete’s sake, what year you graduated. The harsh reality, unless you are pursuing the above-mentioned fields, is that employers only care about this: Did you graduate? Yes/No. They don’t care about the other details. And by listing a lot of irrelevant information, you appear desperate to justify yourself. Sure, if you graduated Magna cum laude or similar, you can list this, but the rest of the info just isn’t going to make or break you for the most part!
5) List EDUCATION later in your résumé. Résumé writers and school career centers have a running battle going on about where to list EDUCATION on a résumé, believe it or not. Schools (including colleges, universities and institutes) tell students to put EDUCATION right near the top of their résumé. But again, most employers put more weight on experience versus education. Professional résumé writers advocate listing this section later in the document because you need to address the employer’s priorities first. My own humble opinion is that the school career centers are rather self-serving in that respect- OF COURSE they want the school front and center on that résumé! But is that what the employer really cares about? Not really- experience first, education second (except for educational/technical fields, of course).
6) To include or not to include unrelated educational experience? Good question. The key is to know your audience. If the target company culture values education and adult learning, listing unrelated educational background might make sense. Other times, job seekers are shifting fields, and their formal educational field is incongrous from their new career direction. It’s acceptable to list just the degree (i.e. Bachelor of Science) only if the emphasis going to distract employers.
7) Spell it out! There’s an alphabet soup out there of degree names, and you can’t assume that your intended audience is fluent in the language of academia. Spell out (not abbreviate) every degree.
How MUCH education to list? Again, knowing your audience is important. There are lots of articles online that talk about ‘dumbing’ down your résumé, but the truth is, many employers are on a talent shopping spree. They are able to afford top industry talent they couldn’t have just five years ago. Sure, there’s the risk that you’ll jump ship as soon as the economy improves, but if they can hire you now at the top of your game, they stand to benefit. So at least do some research on what the corporate culture is like to find out how you should approach listing your educational background.
How to Find Great Live Auctions for Resale Items
Hi, my name is Walt. I’m an auctioneer with 25 years of experience in the auction business and licensed in the state of MA. I own Quick Auction Service, a company that specializes in building and running custom auctions, I’m also the webmaster of my own site and have been on eBay for 8 years. Besides eBay, the types of auctions I run most frequently are antiques and on-site estate auctions, although I’ve run everything from business overstock auctions to charity & special event auctions.
I enjoy sharing my knowledge and stories of the auction business. My goal for article is to help folks get the absolute most out of their auction experience.
Whether your fresh out of the package or a seasoned dealer I think I can offer something in this article to help you with your auciton adventures.
There may be as many reasons to attend auctions as there are types of auctions to attend. Maybe you want to attend an auction to buy items for re-sale on eBay, or some other market. Maybe you want to furnish your home with wonderful antiques, or you want to furnish your home as inexpensively without sacrificing quality.Some folks are just looking for a fun night out. With a little perseverance all these things are possible.
There are antiques and estate auctions, auto auctions, overstock auctions, absolute and no reserve auctions, real estate auctions, specialty auctions where only one genre of items are sold, tailgate auctions, live auctions, online auctions, sealed bid auctions, silent auctions, charity and fund raising auctions and many more.
Can you really buy for pennies on the dollar at an auction? You bet! Many times I’ve seen folks buy and re-sell at the same auction on the same night for a good profit, although be advised, this should only be done after the auction is over.
There are a lot of ways to find an auction, but here are some tips on how to find and attend the best ones.
Visit the genre of shops in the area that apply to the type of auction you want to attend. IE: If your looking for a good antique auction to attend, stop in the local antiques shops and ask for what there are for good auctions in the area. Sounds obvious right? But listen to what they don’t say as well as what they do say. Oftentimes when a dealer speaks poorly about an auction he or she attends, it may be likely that they are trying to keep a good thing secret. Think for a moment, why would a dealer keep attending a lousy auction?
Newspaper ads: I personally like to find ads in the classified ad section rather than flashy display ads. Flashy ads are usually indicative of an auction that will be high priced, may have reserves, (a set price on an item), and usually an enormous crowd. While any auction can be profitable to attend, it is usually best to steer clear of the glitzy ones, at least for the beginner.
Here’s the minimum you want to find out before you go. If there is a phone number in the ad, call and ask for the terms of the sale. What forms of payment do they accept? Is it an absolute auction? An absolute auction is one that has no minimum or reserve bids on items. These are the best auctions to attend! Is there a buyers premium? A buyers premium is like a tax that everyone who makes purchases at that auction must pay above the winning bid price. Most auctions these days do charge a buyers premium, 10% is not unreasonable but I feel much more than that is greedy, and the auctioneer that charges over 10% is counting on most bidders not doing the extra math as the bids quicken in pace.
A fair auction will have ample time to inspect the merchandise, usually at least 2 or 3 hours. Find out when inspection starts and make sure to attend! Never attend an auction if you can’t make the inspection, not unless your prepared to gamble. Most auctioneers sell at a rate of about 100 items per hour, which is why they sell “as is”. They simply don’t have the time to give a detailed description of all the items. Since almost all items at auction are sold AS IS, there are sure to be some damaged, refinished, fake and incomplete items at any given auction. Beware of any auctions that offer very little or no inspection time.
Good auctions will usually have 150 to 400 lots. A lot may be one item or a group of items. The exception to this are specialty auctions, auto auctions, real estate auctions etc.
When you attend your first sale, take note of the 1/2 dozen or so dealers that buy the most often. See if you can find out about other area auctions they attend.
When you do find an excellent auction, attend it as often as possible. By frequenting good sales, you help increase the bottom line of that business. It’s difficult for many auctioneers to keep the quality of merchandise consistent, so good attendance certainly helps. And when an auctioneer gets to know you as a buyer, he/she will go out of the way to accommodate you, to keep you coming back.