Saturday, March 28, 2015

Get Paid to Surf the Web – for Real

 
Do you like to surf the Web? 

Ever use Google? 

Last question… 

How would you like to get paid to do both of those things? 

I’m talking about $50 an hour at a minimum. It could be a great part time gig to make extra money. If you go full-time, you could make a very nice living – close to six figures a year. And in either case, you don’t have to worry about going to an office, a 9 to 5 schedule, or any of that corporate hassle. 

You work where you want, with whom you want, when you want (although you do have to meet deadlines). 

And it’s all thanks to a specialized skill (one you can learn easily with practice) that you combine with a little mental elbow grease to create a money-making opportunity that could only come around in recent years. 

I’m talking about becoming an Internet researcher. 

No degree, special training, high-tech equipment, or expensive software is required. All you need is your computer, access to the Internet, and an email account. Yet, you’ll cash in doing something you probably already do for hours every day for free. 

As a Internet Researcher you’ll work with writers, marketers, authors, website owners, publishing companies, and other businesses to find information they need for their blogs, websites, articles, books, ebooks, special reports, white papers… basically anything that can be published offline or online. 

These folks want to concentrate on the actual writing, which is what makes them money. So they prefer to hire freelance professionals to do the research. 

They need facts and figures, statistics, quotes, case studies, testimonials, study results, graphs and charts… and much more. 

A project could be tracking down information about the Great Depression and accounts of daily life of that era for a novelist writing a book set in that time. Or you could help an advertising copywriter who needs detailed statistics about historical gold prices for a new sales letter. Or a blogger might need help tracking down quotes from famous politicians for his latest post. 

Really the sky is the limit when it comes to the assignments you’ll get as an Internet Researcher. That’s what makes this opportunity so fun – every day will be different. 

Your Research Resources 

The Internet is chock-full of information to help you with your research projects. 

Search Engines 

Search engines are the gateway to the Web, so it’s no surprise that you would start your research here. 

Google is a huge resource. First off, the search engine itself is a wonderful tool. Just by entering keywords related to your research assignment, you’ll have instant access to hundreds, if not thousands, of possible resources to get information and stats you need for your project. 

To get the most out of Google, there are a few best practices you should follow. Otherwise it’s quite easy to get buried under a mountain of results, many of which aren’t useful. 

1.  To look for a specific word or phrase put it in quotes. This will return only results with those exact words in them, which eliminates many related but not useful results you might get otherwise. 

Say, for example, you were researching European cruises. If you put that in Google, you would get information on both Europe and cruises, including cruises everywhere in the world. But if you the phrase in quotes and search for “European cruises” the results would be only about, you guessed it, cruises in Europe. 

2.  You can also exclude words from your searches to get more targeted results. All you have to do is use the minus sign. So, for example, if you don’t want any information about Mediterranean cruises specifically, you could search for this: 

European cruises- Mediterranean. Be sure that the minus sign is touching the word you want to exclude. 

3.  To search for similar words at the same time, you use this symbol: “~” 

For example, to get results about ferries in Europe, as well as cruises, you would enter this in the search box: 

European cruises ~ferries 

Google offers a wide variety of search tools just like this. You can find the official search tips here: http://www.google.com/insidesearch/features.html. 

Google also offers some other resources that are perfect for Internet researchers. 

Google Books– Save a trip to the library. You’ll also be able search by keyword and Google Books will scan the thousands and thousands of books in its collection to find related passages. 

You could also set a Google Alert for articles and news related to the topic you’re researching. When you sign up, you’ll receive a regular email (daily if you wish) from Google that offers the most recent and most informative news stories and other web content (including blog posts) on that topic. So instead of searching for the information it comes directly to your inbox. 

Of course, when it comes to search engines Google isn’t the only game in town. Microsoft’s Bing.com is fast becoming a quality search engine. It returns different results than Google. So if you’re Google search is coming up dry, check out Bing. 

Another great search engine, especially for statistics, historical data, and other detailed, quantifiable information is Wolfram-Alpha. 

Industry Publications 

Industry publications specific to your topic are going to be required reading. For example, if you are researching human psychology for your client, you would definitely check out the website for Psychology Today for the latest news and research in this field. 

If you are researching health topics, check out some of these: New England Journal of Medicine, Merck Manual (info on drugs, diseases, and health), and Journal of the American Medical Society. 

Financial News 

Copywriters working with investment advice publishers can be very lucrative clients. They get paid a lot – so they pay the people they hire to help them well, too. For these types of clients you don’t need to be an expert in investing. But it helps to know where to track down the information they need, like current and historical stock prices, quarterly reports, news from the Federal Reserve, and similar information. 

Bloomberg, Reuters, and the Wall Street Journal are excellent sources of financial news and trend analysis. Yahoo Finance is the best place to find stock quotes and other “numbers” like that. 

Magazine and Newspaper Archives 

Thanks to the Internet, hundreds of publications have put decades and decades of past issues online, every article searchable by keyword. Go to sites for the New York Times, Time Magazine, and the like and search their archives for information on just about any topic you need for your research project. 

If you’re clients are interested in worldwide economic trends, check out The Economist or U.S. News and World Report. 

Government Websites 

The U.S. government puts out a ton of information every day, week, month, and year. You’ll find official statistics for things like gross national product, unemployment, agriculture figures, geographical and geological surveys, and so much more. 

So keep an eye out for government agencies related to the niches you’re researching in. 

-The Food Drug Administration is in charge of drugs and medical treatments. 

-The Bureau of Labor Statistics studies how many people are working out there and where. 

-The Small Business Administration helps entrepreneurs get on their feet. 

-The Census Bureau has information on population, political affiliations, and more. 

-The Bureau of Economic Analysis releases information on the U.S. economy. 

This is just a small taste of the government agencies that you can use as research resources. This is official data – very trustworthy. 

Warning! Warning! Danger Ahead! 

Caution: Do not use Wikipedia as a primary source. There are just too many people with an agenda (or just plain wrong information) on Wikipedia. You can use Wikipedia as a jumping off point for further research. Never use any info directly from this site. 

The Nuts and Bolts of Finding Gigs 

The best way to find clients for your Internet research business is to ask. 

It’s that simple. 

Believe it or not, many of the world’s best paid copywriters, authors, and other writers do not realize how they could benefit by hiring a researcher to track down information for them. 

So all you have to do is contact them and explain the benefits. 

The first step is to make a list of the top copywriters, authors, publishers, website authors, and bloggers. Get their contact information. And then write them a simple letter explaining the benefits of your services. 

Sure, not everyone will respond and hire you. But those that truly understand will appreciate the value of your work and will get in touch. 

You can also post your services on craigslist.comelance.com, andguru.com and other freelance sites. 

Lastly, be sure to let your network know about your new career. Put it on Facebook, on LinkedIn, on your own blog… wherever. You never know who you know that might hire you… or whether they have somebody in their network in need of your services. 

Once you land a client, it’s time to set ground rules. 

As an Internet Researcher you’ll probably have to offer your services at around $20 an hour to start. But once you have some experience under your belt, within a few months you could be charging $50 or more per hour. I’d recommend working out retainer relationships with good clients that pay well and you enjoy working with. 

That way you have a steady stream of income, even if you just keep this as a part-time income stream. 

If you run into any potential clients that balk at paying $50 an hour for your research services, remind them of all the time and hassle they’ll be saving. These folks are interested in saving time most of all because they know they’ll be making plenty of money once the project is done and it’s ready to be published. 


To Your Success, 

John Hollister 

P.S. The Internet is the world’s most powerful and comprehensive research resource. There are thousands of websites that can help you research any topic under the sun. But here are some of the best – you’ll no doubt discover your own as you start your Internet research business. 

Search Engines 

www.google.com 

books.google.com 

www.bing.com 

www.wolframalpha.com 

Publications 

www.time.com 

www.nytimes.com 

www.economist.com 

www.usnews.com 

Financial 

finance.yahoo.com 

www.reuters.com 

www.bloomberg.com 

www.wallstreetjournal.com 

Health 

New England Journal of Medicine: http://www.nejm.org/ 

Journal of the American Medical Society: http://jama.ama-assn.org/ 

Merck Manual: www.merck.com/pubs/mmanual/ 

Government Websites 

Food Drug Administration: www.fda.gov 

Bureau of Labor Statistics: www.bls.gov 

Small Business Administration: www.sba.gov 

Census Bureau: www.census.gov 

Bureau of Economic Analysis: www.bea.gov 

Where to Find Jobs 

You can’t get paid to surf the Web without clients, right? Here’s where to find them: 

www.elance.com 

www.guru.com 

www.craigslist.org 

www.facebook.com 

www.linkedin.com

Sunday, March 15, 2015

What is true success?


Parents want their kids to be successful. This is the reason why parents make sacrifices. They work hard, save money and send their kids to schools with astronomical tuition fees, hoping for the best.
You and I want to be successful. Just take a look at the number of books with the word “success” written on their covers. I consulted my reliable researcher named Google and in just 0.35 seconds, it gave me some 1,110,000,000 articles and references with the word “success”.
But before anything else, what is success?
Some people equate success with being happy and fulfilled. This makes them feel “successful”. Others acquired the dreams they dreamt in their younger years. This makes them feel “successful” as well. For others, success is an award of distinction, a title, a position of influence. Some people define success based on themselves, some let the society define success for them. 
Are there general principles that could accurately measure whether a person is truly successful or not?
Let’s take a look at money. 
Motivational speaker and writer Zig Ziglar’s line on money is my favorite. He says, “Money isn’t everything... but it ranks right up there with oxygen.” All throughout the history of mankind, the pursuit of money is high on the list of those who want to be successful. And so success in this aspect may be objectively measured by the amount of money one has.
“The more money you have, the better you can be.” This is taught in the privacy of the home, and children are being trained to pursue it.
But the funny and amazing thing about this is that those who achieved this have written books, wrote articles and warned the rest of us that this never delivered the kind of “success” they longed for.
Accumulated money comes with a cost.
Please don’t get me wrong. Money is moral neutral. It is a tool. It is an instrument. The more you have, the more secure you feel.
Most people misquote the Scriptures when they say that “Money is the root of all evil.” This does not even make sense. If you look closely, the Bible teaches that it is the “love of money” that is the root of all evil. I am sure you know some people who are head over heels in love with it. On the funny side, Mark Twain said, “The lack of money is the root of all evil.” And maybe he is right. The pursuit of money is not a bad thing. How you pursue it is the issue.
Now let’s take a look at power.
There are people I know who think power is the most important “success ingredient” to achieve because money comes hand in hand with it.
Again, money is moral neutral as you can use it for good or for personal gain. Power can come either in a political form or simple influence. It is fine as long as you use it for the good and it delivers happiness. This can already make you feel “successful”.
And then some people equate success with happiness and their concept of happiness is closely associated with pleasure. Happiness is so elusive. Happiness could not be pursued because it is simply a byproduct of living a godly life.
How about relationships?
We are not designed to live in isolation. We are constantly involved in relationships, whether superficial or intimate. Unhealthy relationships zap our energy as these relationships really make our emotions go haywire.
What about health? What about our relationship with God? A vibrant relationship with God is something that every happy person I know has.
Is this success? Which one is it? Just like the answer to a student’s favorite type of quiz, the answer is “all of the above.” Success should be holistic.
The thing with success is that you don’t really arrive at success. You wrestle with it, you spar with it. Sometimes, you get it. Many times, you don’t so you continue.
Rather than thinking about success, think about progress.
Personal growth should be intentional.
We continue to achieve growth in every area: finance, health, influence, accomplishments and relationships. Here is the key, be a channel of blessings to others, serve and help others succeed. This is when happiness comes and a sense of meaning permeates the entire being.
True success deals with all areas of your life and the life that goes beyond this one in this planet. The Scriptures say, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” Nothing, DUH!
Read more: http://www.philstar.com/business/2015/03/14/1433296/what-true-success#ixzz3UM4dNBAH