While there really are online jobs out there, there seems to be more confusion involving them and outright lies to be had than real and substantial information. Admittedly, there seems to be more in the way of outright scams than real work when you take a look at listings, however there are ways to tell what is real from what is a scam.

Below are quick points to look out for:

• Promises of huge earnings: Let’s face it no job is going to be giving you any kind of huge sum if you don’t have experience.
• The Words ‘Data-Entry’: Data entry is real work, BUT it is something you need to  train for.  Most of the ‘data entry’ jobs online are surveys which may or may not pay out.

To find legit work online jobs, you do need a definable set of skills.  Considering the largest growing portion of online jobs is blogging, writing is a must.  While you may be able to find jobs for coding or art, typically you need more experience than the ability to code.

No matter what you would like to look into, you need a way to back up any claims.  Anyone can claim to write or code, but claiming something won’t get you jobs.  Create a portfolio or a blog (there are tons of free areas to get set up, WordPress and Blogger being two of the best) and get to work showing your skills.

Any website you create doesn’t have to be insanely popular to get jobs from, it’s just to show that you really can do what you say you can.  It should have at minimum 10 or so posts or examples (fairly arbitrary number, but you need a good amount up to show what you can do).

So what can you expect?

• Rejection.  You will be rejected and ignored more often than you get a declined offer.  It may or may not be anything against you, often you just won’t know.  The important thing is to keep trying.
• Low pay.  You more than likely aren’t going to get much, especially if you are just starting out.  If you are brand new at writing online (and the same can be said about other areas of online work) getting more to add to your resume may be able to help more with early gigs, so it may be worth taking lower paid jobs for a while.
• A lot of work.  You will work, a lot.  Often the hours invested at first may not seem to be worth it, and often you may not want to work on a certain day.  Yet, you are expected to so if you are serious about working online you have to work even if you ‘aren’t feeling up to it’.  It will get better, and those long hours will be worth more in the end, and as you keep it up, it does become a lot easier.
• Topics you may not be interested in.  Most of the time you don’t get to pick and choose what you are writing about.  At times you may find a topic boring, or downright dreadful (admittedly some of us do get lucky).

It’s not a job field for everyone, and you really need a lot of time to invest and dedication to the work.  When you are looking for a source of income online, remember the adage: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Now, don’t get me wrong for all I know this is something else.  This is all merely something I just noticed and am incredibly uncertain about, see below and judge for yourself.  Normally I don’t write these kinds of articles here, and it admittedly has bothered me enough.  Considering that this ad is normally on this website, I’m putting this here to basically say: Buyer beware.

There is this ‘University’ (well, claimed to be university) that advertises a lot on my websites.  I finally was curious enough to Google them, and lo and behold I found Yelp reviews and they are all incredibly positive.  I read all of them and got to to bottom where it wanted me to verify I wasn’t a robot to see the rest of the reviews.

Last I checked it wasn’t indeed a robot, so I entered the code to reveal the rest of the comments, thinking of course they were simply older and less relevant.

What did it show?

All the negative reviews.

Strange I must add, mainly due to the ‘Review Filter’  heading they have (completely copy/pasted from the website):

Review Filter – Huh?

Yelp has an automated review filter to keep the site’s content as useful and trustworthy as possible. Read More

Erm, but the reviews that were filtered out were the negative reviews.

Before:

5 Star Review:

I have graduated from **** in 2005 and highly recommend it. I am thinking about going back for a Master’s degree in Internet Marketing. Full Sail is one of the best entertainment / arts schools in the world with cutting edge equipment and technology. It can be a very hard school, and therefore a lot of people badger the name when they don’t make it past the core classes. It won’t guarantee you a job, but it will give you all the tool and resources to launch your career in one of the most fascinating industries. Be ready to work very hard.

And:

5 Star Review:

****actually invests in giving each student industry relevant technology to work on that will still be relevant after graduation. My wife ended up dropping out, now she’s going to start at Full Sail in March I believe. She’ll be in Computer Animation, and from what the course adviser said they get even more cool toys than what we get, so that she can scan illustrations and such. I don’t think any competitor does that. Your stuck with whatever computer you had before enrolling, so
everybody is using different technology, which skews performance towards those with the most money. The instructors are definitely good, too. Although I can’t compare to any other online or physical colleges, everybody seems to be working in the field they teach.

Basically the whole comment was how you would be getting a super awesome laptop and some considerably expensive programs.  Okay, well sure no problem.

A lot of schools do that.  Some high schools as well, I sort of understand the logic behind it (really just to level the playing ground and all) but either way the whole review was just… off.  It basically made it sound as if getting new gadgets was the only fantastic part.

I do get that, and can see how it’s a bonus, but for the most part anything relevant to the educational part was.. light.

After the filter turned off:

1 Star Review:

I was a potential student for the online graphic design degree program.  I am a veteran at which my school is being taken care of by the Veteran’s Administration so the only thing I needed to do was find a school.  I have to say that I was very impressed by their website but I was extremely unimpressed by the admissions, financial aid department.  I practically did all the paperwork to include FAFSA but when I did have a question I would never get a return phone call or email.  after a week of no responses I went somewhere else, but usually when schools know I am a guarantee student and the money is for sure they bend over backwards, it was major red flags for me when a school lacks communication because if they can’t get back to me now for simple forms I doubt they are much help once I am a student.  So I have to say  def looks the part but acting it is a whole other story.

And:

1 Star Review:

The production company I work for was looking for graduate cadidates [sic] and we reviewed a couple people from ***. Each of them had completed a degree program but their reels were surprisingly paper thin and the work were only so, so. I heard **** charges $72,000 now, I could use that money, make my own movie and learn more myself. How the hell did they to graduate? Watch out for institutions that are in the business of making money not education.

While those are only two examples picked out, there are others from students and whatnot as well.

To get (finally) to the point, does yelp hide the negative reviews?  After all, if someone is just doing a very quick search, they are fairly unlikely to enter the captcha.  It has a noindex for the bots out there so they cannot ‘see’ the page.  However, the before view (before the captcha) doesn’t (I’ve checked), so all bots can read are those glowing bits and pieces.

Anyone can start a business.  It’s easy; write out a few things, set up a website and domain and you are good to go.  Really, even the out of pocket expense is minimal.  One can easily find $10 hosting with a domain, and with that comes a large abundance of business ventures.

Due to this easy nature, there are of course a lot of business out there vying for customers.  Most will sink quickly, and others may falter a bit but still succeed, or maybe if there is a lot of luck at play they will succeed right off the bat and keep growing.

Having a good business, is a huge undertaking. One may be tempted to buy into one of the many fly by night operations or even employ some shady business practices, but that would signal the death knell fairly quickly. Especially considering that many of the shadier practices will do little more than alienate any customers you already have.

While there is no ‘secret’ to a business’ success, at least nothing guarded by armed men and only told to a select few, a surprisingly large portion of people will quickly become frustrated and turn to a fairly shady avenue that they may hope will bring them success.

So, what is the solution?

Patience:

It takes time to get a business to grow.  If your product or service is worth it, it will be able to last, of course you do need good marketing methods in place and some tenacity as well,

Effort:

The more effort you put into your business the more you are giving it a chance, don’t simply ‘set it and forget it’ but work on it, write up blog posts and refine your overall networking, social, and marketing approaches.

Customer Service:

It don’t take too much to lose customers and faith in your business.  Heck, a simple search can reveal a lot.  Good customer service and an approach based on the customer and their satisfaction can help you get further than anything shady can.  A good customer will stick around and come back.

1) Answer your phone.

2) Don’t make promises unless you WILL keep them.

3) Listen to your customers.

4) Deal with complaints.

5) Be helpful – even if there’s no immediate profit in it.

6) Train your staff (if you have any) to be ALWAYS helpful, courteous, and knowledgeable.

7) Take the extra step.

(Source: About.com)

I’d like to add in: Believe in your product. No matter what it is, if it is something you aren’t sure about yourself, you shouldn’t be selling it.  No matter if it is anything from furniture to eBooks, if it isn’t of any actual use- avoid it.

In a nutshell: If it is something you wouldn’t use, or even believe in- don’t push it to others.

What would you like to see in a business?  Is there something that should be avoided (or even encouraged) that isn’t mentioned? Tell about it in the comments!

Working online with a primary focus on blogging, more specifically, for the last few years has taught me a bit about the business end of it.  Considering I’m also a freelancer, finding and securing those jobs that help me pay all my bills is obviously an important factor.

I can wholly admit, I never intended to be a blogger, let alone a freelancer.  It had never occurred to me that I could even make money online, especially a livable income.  I did enjoy writing even though most of my earlier bits were considerably shorter than my present standard of about 300 words (or more).  While I did enjoy it, I wasn’t in need of a job until some of life’s little things came my way at once and I had mounting bills and other financial problems that needed to be taken care of.  At the time, I did turn to the internet and found a few editing and writing gigs that I had thought would be only temporary.

Of course that was also about 4 years ago, and I’m still working in writing.  I wound up falling in love with the hours, and the ability to work wherever I wanted, with no real ‘set-times’.  Getting started is harder now it seems that it was when I started, but once you get the ball rolling jobs will come easier.

Setting up your own website for writing, and potentially impressing a prospective client isn’t easy and you will need to work on a few basics before getting into the full swing of things.  Once you do however, all that work will be more than worth it.

Read:

Read other blogs in your intended niche.  While you do not want to copy them at all, it can help to see what voices are already out there are see what you can add to the discussion.  If you have an inspiring thought that you think should be said, write down the general idea for the next step.

Write:

Consider first your topics and intended audience, and think up a few entries to get you started.  Write out at least 10 or so full posts before your launch, and write and polish them until they are the best they can be.  While you don’t have to use them all immediately, it really helps to have that cushion in case you won’t be able to post on a few days or so.

Design:

Having a special design for your blog can help create a more memorable feel for it.  While it doesn’t have to be too fancy, it does help.  Make sure it is what you are looking for as switching constantly typically can make you look unprofessional and chaotic.  Your design can set the tone for the rest of your website, so think long and hard about it.  It should fit nicely into the theme of your website, and while it doesn’t need to be overblown or outrageous, a nicely designed website can really help out and work wonders.  At times, the perfect design will be unique and mesh well to the point of not really being noticed.

Research:

A fair portion of the typical blogger’s time is spent on research.  From chasing stories to looking up relevant links to add to those stories.  It’s not the easiest thing for a good portion of the time, but the more consistent research you put into your writing, the more knowledgeable you will be.  Being knowledgeable is a good chuck of where your readership will grow from.

Learn:

It’s the same with anything that can payoff, it really is a continuous learning process.  If someone offers you advice, it may be wise to take it under consideration.  Be it through contacts, or comments- constructive criticism will help you grow not only as a writer, but as a blogger as well.

Keywords are important sure, but a lot of times they are avoided or just glossed over due to confusion or being pressed for time.  Having automatic tools is helpful, but actually finding some good ones with the thousands available is a imposing job.  Below you will find 5 automatic keyword tools that are easily available and free (because if you are anything like me, you can really get behind the whole ‘free’ thing).

Keywords can be useful little things, by helping out your search results or even just looking for an idea for a blog post.  At times, just looking at a list of related terms can help out immensely.

Wordpot

Wordpot has some interesting extras, while just like all of the others on this list it will give you keywords, it will also give you the exact amount a word was searched on the day you search spanning different search engines).  It also gives you related terms to help, associated words, definitions, and synonyms.

They have some subscription based services, and free account creation.  They are fairly new in the market and seem to be adding more services soon.  They are more advertising driven, with an intent of helping those who are looking into search engine marketing keyword tools.

Visit Website: Wordpot

Wordstream

Wordstream has some really useful free extras aside from the generated keywords.  A fairly nice service is their grouped keywords tool, which allows you to paste your top terms and will give you related broad terms, that narrow down further.   They also have some other informative and free tools available to the public (and you don’t have to sign up).  One of the more interesting tools is their Negative Keyword tool which advices you on which terms to avoid.

Altogether they seem to have a fairly good and robust suite of tools for the public’s use.

Visit Website: Wordstream

Wordtracker

Wordtracker will give you 100 free keywords, and some articles to help you boost your knowledge.  If you aren’t looking for much more than that it may suit your needs.  If you however want anything more, you will need to shell out a bit.

This tool would be best for someone just looking for words alone without any bells or whistles (keep in mind that this article is focusing on the free).

Visit Website: Wordtracker

Google Adwords Keyword Tool

If you have heard the term ‘Keyword’ you have almost assuredly heard of Google’s tool above.  They offer a ton of choices aimed at those looking for advertising options.  However when it comes to it’s keyword tool for other uses, it can be just as useful.  Being the most popular search engine around (and one of the most powerful companies) Google knows a few things about searching habits.

Visit Website: Google AdWords Keyword Tool

Google Search-Based Keyword Tool

Of course this tool can give you keywords and ideas based on them, but it can also tell you how robust your usage of those keywords are on your website.  It’s of course easy to use, and the results are based on actual searches for both what you enter and the related keywords.

Visit Website: Google Search-Based Keyword Tool

There is something to be said about human ingenuity, either that or our collective insanity.  In  a previous article I covered Strange Homes People Actually Live In, and it’s become a top article on this website.

So, by popular demand below are some more completely insane homes (that are actually lived in).

Guest House From Hang Nga, Vietnam

Images: You Live Where

Nakagin Capsule Tower (Tokyo, Japan)

Epcott House Arizona (?)

Upside Down Wonderworks Building

Snowball House

Shell House, Japan

Jenga Complex

Maze House

Suspended Home

Island Home, Literally

Iceberg House

While the last two are claimed to be real, I’m not entirely sure that they are.

I’ve included it just due to it being awesome, but if you know the story please let me know in the comments.  That also goes if you know where any of these are located (Country and City preferably) or if you know the original source of any of the above (well, save for the Worth 1000 images, as they are watermarked).

Artists and designers have a way of making their point well known at times.  In response to the BP Gulf disaster, contests are being run to redesign their logo into something more fitting for their new public persona.  At times the new logos are rather fitting, but through art they are telling a lot more about the overall perception of the company that paint some interesting pictures.

It’s hard to imagine that BP will be able to really recover from this, and between the outrage at the company and the monetary damage they are taking, they may need some re-branding soon so maybe they should use of these entries. (Warning: A ton of images below)

Here are some entries from a contest run by the pros over at LogoMyWay:

For more, Check out the rest!

Here are some from a contest run by Greenpeace:

For more, check out the Flickr photo pool.

The actual Amityville Horror house if for sale. While the story itself if debatable at best, as the Lutz family may have made up everything in a bid for fame (by may have, I of course mean they did), the DeFeo murders however were very real.

The house on 112 Ocean Avenue (different address, as the name had been changed) is infamous for being haunted by demons, flies, and an evil (demon) pig named Jodie.

The books themselves scared me when I was a kid (but in a good way, I love me some horror novels) and it wasn’t until a few years later that I I found out that the actual murders were a real part (considering we are talking pre-internet days of the 1990s cut me some slack here).

The house itself has been through a few different owners, and only the Lutz family reported anything out of the ordinary. The house has been through a huge facelift as well, and it’s beautiful and doesn’t’ have any sort of creepy factor at all.

With the story by the Lutz family, it’s pretty easy to forget that the home is still the place of a real and brutal crime, by someone who was either ill or strung out (as the DeFeo’s own stories go).  In real life Ronald DeFeo Jr, killed his: mother, father, two sisters, and his two brothers.  Right now he is still in jail, and during his trial the prosecution has argued the murders were due to issues Ronald had with drugs and mental conditions.

The psychiatrist for the prosecution, Dr. Harold Zolan, maintained that although DeFeo was an abuser of heroin and LSD, he had antisocial personality disorder and was aware of his actions at the time of the crime.

Source: Wikipedia

Ronald himself has changed his story many times over, and only one was claiming anything out of the ordinary (presumably for an insanity defense, although there isn’t any sort of proof- just assumptions).

Admittedly, the home is beautiful regardless of it’s macabre history.

One of the reasons so many still believe in the Amityville Horror tale is the various ‘researchers’ who have supposedly confirmed the existence of many things that go bump in the night.  The researchers that had made by far the biggest impact are the famous Ed and Lorraine Warren, who claimed that it wasn’t a hoax and the house was indeed haunted by demons.

Lorraine Warren told a reporter for The Express-Times newspaper (Easton, Pa.) that the Amityville Horror was not a hoax, saying about the Lutzes, “We know them”. Beneath pleasant outward appearances, the Warrens’ Web page on Amityville casts them unfavorably in describing the Amityville case’s most vociferous critic, the late Stephen Kaplan, coauthor of ”The Amityville Horror Conspiracy.” The Warrens write: “It’s believed that the hoax rumor began with a man who called himself Dr. Steven Kaplan, although he held no doctorate degree from any university. This fact was exposed on several occasions, yet that never stopped Mr. Kaplan from making these claims. He was the self-proclaimed president of the Parapsychology Society of Long Island and some other related societies, presumably founded by himself.” The Warrens failed to note that they, too, had founded their own paranormal organization and saw nothing wrong with it.

Source: Wikipedia

Would you buy a home with as much of a sordid history as this one?  If you believe in the Lutz family story, would you live there? Just in thinking about how many random people would wind up on your doorstep, buying the infamous house may be more trouble than many think it’s worth.

Do you believe in any part of the Amityville Horror story?  Why or why not?

BP’s comedy of errors in fixing the leak is having a lasting effect on the environment and economy.  With their many flawed attempts at fixing the leak, they may be doing more harm than good.  The wildlife and sea creatures in the areas effected are dying and creating an alarming and lasting environmental tragedy in the area, while the ocean environment itself is being irreparably damaged by both the leak itself and some of the more questionable leak control methods.

The devastation and tragedy are completely overwhelming.  The lasting effects are horrible, and there is seemingly no end in sight.  For such a large, multi-billion dollar company, it’s a PR nightmare.  For the rest of us, a environmental terror.   It’s an unfortunate fact of modern life, that this type of horror is going to happen.  No matter your opinion on global warming, our Earth is the only one we have.  We still need to protect it, and sadly our dependence on fossil fuels will continue to have an impact on the environment. 

.  AP Photo

Tama/Getty

Gay/AP

Live Feed Capture

AP

  Live Feed Capture

Associated Press

(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

   AP Photo

Themery: Steampunk

Starting with the theme Steampunk as the first official installment of this category is mainly due to my own obsession with the genre, plus my own inability to stop reading Girl Genius (awesome comic by the way).  The dirtier Victorian overall feel really does inspire me, and the look for general design is fun and relatively easy to accomplish.

Designing either real world pieces or even some digital pieces isn’t too hard when working with a Steampunk theme, while one can get bonus points for making something that has a real use, it’s doesn’t necessarily have to do much more than look awesome.  From gearings to web design, it’s a look that may be a bit limited (one may not necessarily be able to use it for more corporate uses), but is amazing when done correctly.

The leanings toward brass and darker cherry woodwork that one tends to see in Steampunk designs looks elegant.  You can also find designs with a ‘dirtier’ feel to them to highlight the lower social classes found in many art and writing involving the genre, which really does serve to contrast the rich coloring of the higher ‘social class’ themed designs.  Some designers find some incredible ways to incorporate it all into a piece that is visually stunning.

______________

Inspired?

From fonts to Photoshop brushes, creating simple Steampunk designs isn’t too difficult (and as you can  see in the banner for this post) it’s an attractive look that can be combined with other elements for a few different purposes.  Steampunk has been going through it’s own resurgence lately, and while there are some incredible pieces out there, the things below are all to help you make something a bit simpler.

Dr Wicked:  Suggestions for a Steampunk typography.

Instructables: Some projects to get your creative gears flowing.

Steampunk Workshop / Steampunk Magazine: Articles and information on Steampunk, great for some more inspiration.

So, what was missed?  Have a great resource or more information?  Post it up in the comments.