Have you tried getting paid for blog reviews?

Unheard of this a year ago, there are web sites, out there right now, that facilitate payments to bloggers to post reviews. Welcome to the new wave of making money on the web. Anyone with great writing talents can become : Reviewer and GET PAID !

These sites that match bloggers with advertisers are growing in number. Among the better known are

• PayPerPost.com
• Review Me.com.
• SponsoredReviews.com, a product of 360 Enterprises, will make its debut soon.
  
  Word-Of-Mouth has a proven record of being the BEST kind of advertising there is ! These new sites broker payments to bloggers to review products in their posts. The bloggers are required to disclose that they are getting paid to post the reviews. None of the sites allows marketers to review copy before it is posted.

Trying to find the best on the web is liek looking for a pin in a haystack, so blog reviews are seen as a way for advertisers to monetize their Web site traffic, generate viral marketing and get some much-needed feedback on how their products are faring in the marketplace.

ReviewMe, which debuted in November, currently has in its network 5,500 bloggers, who have written approximately 750 paid reviews. Advertisers browse ReviewMe.com's marketplace of blogs and purchase reviews from what they deem relevant bloggers. The bloggers must write a minimum of 200 words per review. They get paid $40 to $500 per post. Once a review is completed, ReviewMe.com splits the revenue equally with the blogger.

PayPerPost has in its network 14,000 bloggers, including "high-traffic bloggers and low-end, smaller audiences from social networks," according to Ted Murphy, founder and CEO. "Our focus is on real people who don't necessarily blog for a living but are passionate about a particular subject." PayPerPost's bloggers concentrate on technology, marketing, health care, entertainment and finance.

So hone your writting skills and start blogging about something you are passionate about ! Then get paid for doing it !

Payday Loans = Costly Cash warns the FTC

This article by the Federal Trade Commission warns against Payday Loans ....

"I just need enough cash to tide me over until payday."

"GET CASH UNTIL PAYDAY! . . . $100 OR MORE . . . FAST."

The ads are on the radio, television, the Internet, even in the mail. They refer to payday loans - which come at a very high price.

Check cashers, finance companies and others are making small, short-term, high-rate loans that go by a variety of names: payday loans, cash advance loans, check advance loans, post-dated check loans or deferred deposit check loans.

Usually, a borrower writes a personal check payable to the lender for the amount he or she wishes to borrow plus a fee. The company gives the borrower the amount of the check minus the fee. Fees charged for payday loans are usually a percentage of the face value of the check or a fee charged per amount borrowed - say, for every $50 or $100 loaned. And, if you extend or "roll-over" the loan - say for another two weeks - you will pay the fees for each extension.

Under the Truth in Lending Act, the cost of payday loans - like other types of credit - must be disclosed. Among other information, you must receive, in writing, the finance charge (a dollar amount) and the annual percentage rate or APR (the cost of credit on a yearly basis).

A cash advance loan secured by a personal check - such as a payday loan - is very expensive credit. Let's say you write a personal check for $115 to borrow $100 for up to 14 days. The check casher or payday lender agrees to hold the check until your next payday. At that time, depending on the particular plan, the lender deposits the check, you redeem the check by paying the $115 in cash, or you roll-over the check by paying a fee to extend the loan for another two weeks. In this example, the cost of the initial loan is a $15 finance charge and 391 percent APR. If you roll-over the loan three times, the finance charge would climb to $60 to borrow $100.

Alternatives to Payday Loans

There are other options. Consider the possibilities before choosing a payday loan:
When you need credit, shop carefully. Compare offers. Look for the credit offer with the lowest APR - consider a small loan from your credit union or small loan company, an advance on pay from your employer, or a loan from family or friends. A cash advance on a credit card also may be a possibility, but it may have a higher interest rate than your other sources of funds: find out the terms before you decide. Also, a local community-based organization may make small business loans to individuals.

Compare the APR and the finance charge (which includes loan fees, interest and other types of credit costs) of credit offers to get the lowest cost.

Ask your creditors for more time to pay your bills. Find out what they will charge for that service - as a late charge, an additional finance charge or a higher interest rate.

Make a realistic budget, and figure your monthly and daily expenditures. Avoid unnecessary purchases - even small daily items. Their costs add up. Also, build some savings - even small deposits can help - to avoid borrowing for emergencies, unexpected expenses or other items. For example, by putting the amount of the fee that would be paid on a typical $300 payday loan in a savings account for six months, you would have extra dollars available. This can give you a buffer against financial emergencies.

Find out if you have, or can get, overdraft protection on your checking account. If you are regularly using most or all of the funds in your account and if you make a mistake in your checking (or savings) account ledger or records, overdraft protection can help protect you from further credit problems. Find out the terms of overdraft protection.

If you need help working out a debt repayment plan with creditors or developing a budget, contact your local consumer credit counseling service. There are non-profit groups in every state that offer credit guidance to consumers. These services are available at little or no cost. Also, check with your employer, credit union or housing authority for no- or low-cost credit counseling programs.

If you decide you must use a payday loan, borrow only as much as you can afford to pay with your next paycheck and still have enough to make it to the next payday.

To Complain/For More InformationIf you believe a lender has violated the Truth in Lending Act, file a complaint with the FTC.

The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them.

To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues, visit www.ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.

Getting Noticed On The Web !

This article written by Jason Goldberg of Jobster.com makes a lot of sense.
The ways of getting a job have changed. You need to change your ways of looking for one.

Jason writes some tips and tricks for harnessing these new web 2.0 technologies to get a leg up in your job search:


Turn to the new breed of Meta Job Search Engines.

Overwhelmed by the number of job boards to choose from and by the hundreds of corporate employment sites to keep track of? New sites like Jobster.com, Indeed.com, and Simplyhired.com take the hassle out of searching for your next job by providing one-stop-searching across most of the major job sites. Think of these sites as “Google for jobs.” Conduct one search and get results from many job sites and employers. Jobster and Indeed also search jobs directly from many employers, which is helpful as many leading employers are scaling back their job board budgets and shifting their focus instead towards promoting their own employment sites. Jobster now searches more than 5 times the number of jobs as the largest job board.

Make Use of Referrals and Social Networks to Get Noticed.

Mark Mehler from CareerXroads points out that a referred candidate has a 35 to 1 chance of getting hired vs. 500 to 1 for the typical candidates. That’s because with so many resumes coming in to companies every day, most employers rely on referrals as a way to spot great candidates. New sites such as Jobster and LinkedIn include “social networking” technology which can help you identify which of your contacts may know people at the companies you want to work at. Jobster goes a step further and can help you request a referral directly into the hiring team at many employers. Jobster also has a feature called “My Jobster,” which enables you to keep tabs on jobs that you can get referred for via the people you know and the people they know.

Sign up for e-Mail Alerts and RSS Feeds.

Tired of searching and searching and searching? e-Mail Alerts and RSS Feeds enable you to have jobs delivered to you instead. Leading job sites now enable you to receive daily email alerts about the latest jobs which meet your specific search criteria. The meta search engines, Jobster, Indeed, and Simplyhired, provide customizable alerts spanning millions of jobs from thousands of employers and job sites. Subscribe to RSS feeds and get live feeds of jobs as they are posted. Jobster also has a feature called, “insider alerts” which provides email alerts of jobs that you can get referred for.

Know where the Jobs Are.

If you want to land your dream job, you need to know where it is available. Several sites are now adding interactive mapping features so that you can see what jobs are being posted where and when. Indeed.com provides a map showing where the highest concentration of job postings are. Jobster.com offers two interactive maps: one which shows live job searches as they are conducted in real-time, and another which displays on a Google local map where the jobs are nearest to your search area.

Read Blogs.

According to a leading blog search engine, Technorati, there are now more than 14 million web logs or “blogs” and 88,000 new blogs are created daily. Blogs are written by citizen journalists who desire to share their opinions and expertise on specific topics with the broader internet audience. Many employers are turning to blogs to find candidates for their jobs. Increasingly, employers are advertising their positions on blogs, as they recognize that the individuals reading blogs on specific topics are most likely to be interested in working at companies who are pursuing related initiatives. At Microsoft, for instance, more than 2000 employees write blogs about topics pertinent to their work; now Microsoft is using those blogs to develop a dialogue with potential hires.

Write a Blog.

A common complaint from employers is that resumes don’t tell the full story about an individual’s interests and accomplishments. Write a blog and help potential employers learn about the “real you.” Express yourself freely, but don’t write anything that might be construed as potentially embarrassing or overly controversial. Google offers a free blogging service for beginners called “Blogger.” Moveabletypes’s “Typepad” is also very popular for novice bloggers. I’ve also found wordpress to be quite simple to get started on, albeit a bit less polished than typepad.

Maintain an Online Professional Profile.

Another great way to introduce yourself to employers is by maintaining an online professional profile. These profiles typically go beyond basic resumes to introduce your professional experience and accomplishments. Create a public profile on Jobster and have select employers find you. Or, join LinkedIn and establish your profile in the LinkedIn network. Zoominfo is a search engine used by many recruiting organization for mid-level and senior managers; if you are looking for a mid-level position, it is advised that you update your Zoominfo profile as well.

Join an Online Group.

Associations and affinity groups are often a great source of information about job openings. Whether it’s your fraternity or sorority, your bowling team, or a trade association, networking within your groups can help you learn about and get noticed for great opportunities. Jobster enables members to create and join online groups to share jobs and job search tips amongst people with like interests. Sites like The Facebook for college students can also be helpful.

Dress for Success Career Books

First impressions are critical. In fact you are assessed within 15 seconds of your interview by your potential employer. Should you be judged by what you wear? Perhaps not, but the reality is, of course, that you are judged.

How should you dress?

Dressing conservatively is always the safest route, but you should also try and do a little investigating of your prospective employer so that what you wear to the interview makes you look as though you fit in with the organization. If you overdress (which is rare but can happen) or underdress (the more likely scenario), the potential employer may feel that you don't care enough about the job.

How do you find out what is the proper dress for a given company?

You can call the Human Resources office where you are interviewing and simply ask. Or, you could visit the company's office to retrieve an application or other company information and observe the attire current employees are wearing -- though make sure you are not there on a "casual day" and misinterpret the dress code.

Finally, do you need to run out and spend a lot of money on clothes for interviewing?

No, but you should make sure you have at least two professional sets of attire. You'll need more than that, but depending on your current financial condition, two is enough to get started and you can buy more once you have the job or have more financial resources

Hints for Dress for Success for Men and Women

Attention to details is crucial, so here are some tips for both men and women.
Make sure you have:

• clean and polished conservative dress shoes
• well-groomed hairstyle
• cleaned and trimmed fingernails
• minimal cologne or perfume
• no visible body piercing beyond conservative ear piercings for women
• well-brushed teeth and fresh breath
• no gum, candy, or other objects in your mouth
• minimal jewelry
• no body odor

Finally, check your attire in the rest room just before your interview for a final check of your appearance -- to make sure your tie is straight, your hair is combed, etc.

Here are some books I would recommend

1. Buff and Polish: A Practical Guide to Enhance Your Professional Image and Communication Style , by Kathyrn J. Volin (Pentagon).
2. How to Gain the Professional Edge: Achieve the Personal and Professional Image You Want, by Susan Morem (Ferguson).
3. New Women's Dress for Success, by John T. Molloy (Warner).
   Attention to Detail: A Woman's Guide to Professional Appearance and Conduct, by Clinton Greenleaf and Stefani Schaefer (Greenleaf Enterprises).
4. Casual Power: How to Power Up Your Nonverbal Communication & Dress Down for Success, by Sherry Maysonave (Bright Books).
5. First Five Minutes: How to Make a Great First Impression in Any Business Situation , by Mary Mitchell, with John Corr (Wiley).
6. Looking Good: A Comprehensive Guide to Wardrobe Planning, Color & Personal Style Development, by Nancy Nix-Rice and Pati Palmer (Palmer Pletsch).
7. Your Executive Image: The Art of Self-Packaging for Men and Women, by Victoria A. Seitz (Adams).

Researching New Careers with Skill Matching

Once you've discovered (or rediscovered) your passion, spend some time researching the types of careers that center around your passions.

Don't worry if you're feeling a bit unsure or insecure -- it's a natural part of the career change process. How much research you do also partly depends on how much of a change you're making; for example, changing from a teacher to a corporate trainer versus switching from a nurse to a Web designer.

You can find some great career information and a skills-matching service at O*NET Online from the U.S. Department of Labor. The O*NET system serves as the nation's primary source of occupational information, providing comprehensive information on key attributes and characteristics of workers and occupations. It also has some great questionnaires that can be used by employers as well as someone trying to find a job. So explore the site and take advantage of all the free resources.