Author: Mike.

Times are rough these days; if you have managed to keep your job so far, your neighbor, your friend or a family member probably lost their’s. You work pretty hard each and every day, no doubt you look at your budget periodically to make sure you are still on track. You navigate through a pleuthera of frugal ideas to help save a few bucks and ask God to watch over your family and possesions in hopes to avoid bad luck. You don’t really have any other choices yet this lifestyle can be stressful and tiring. Then, someone you know, a good friend, gives you a call and his voice appears as a ray of light over your head; he has found a solution, an easy way to make more money!

We are all looking for a sideline, an opportunity to make extra income and it would even be better if this source of revenue could become a source of passive income! Here comes your friend with a great opportunity to build your own business through Mary Kay!

Mary Kay is a MLM cosmetic company. Start with: What is an MLM company anyways? Multi Level Marketing businesses such as Mary Kay work through an aggressive recruiting process to build sales teams. Since everybody is paid on what they sell (no base salary), there is no additional costs to having an ever increasing sales force. Therefore, each Mary Kay representative is encouraged to recruit more folks “under” her so she can build her own team and become a sales director herself. In an MLM structure, when you sell something, a part of your profit goes directly to the person on top of you (the one who recruited you). If you haven’t heard about Mary Kay, you may have heard about Quickstar or Primerica. They have similar structures, the first business offers household products and the latter offers insurance and other financial services. I have actually done a full analysis of the Primerica structure over at The Financial Blogger.

I do not wish to discuss if MLM are good or not nor if Mary Kay is the root of all evil or the best company in the world. The MLM topic has been highly debated over the internet. However, there is something that still bugs me and it is rarely discussed. My sister-in-law was recently recruited into Mary Kay while keeping her day job. I actually really like her and we spend a lot of time with her and her fiancé. However, it has only been a month that she is promoting cosmetic products and I have already noticed a big change in her attitude.

It seems that Mary Kay, in her mind, is the best thing since sliced bread!

Every time I talk to her, see her or even hear about her, the words “Mary Kay” are emphasized in the conversation. Since every MLM success is based on recruiting (over-selling the product), people starting out with these companies are drilled to talk about it incessantly.

When you meet with them, they will automatically tell you how great so and so product is or how they made a $500 sale in their cosmetic class last week or even what her latest client told her about their kids not having sunburns anymore… thanks to the Mary Kay sunscreen!

As sales come with motivation, MLMs will usually organize weekly meetings where sales directors encourage their recruits and tell them to continue working hard. They will tell them that they are closing in on their dream of being financially independent and that they will be able to quit their full time job shortly to live from Mary Kay income alone.

I actually believe in team building activities within a company and that it is wonderful to consider and encourage your teammates. However, when it comes down to taking over your life to the point where it is the only thing you are talk about (becoming a fanatic), this is where I draw the line.

I have seen several people jeopardize their friendships by talking about their wonderful MLM project on a continuous basis. Don’t get me wrong; I am not saying that MLM is bad or that you should not join Mary Kay (I am not in the cosmetic business so I have no clue if they are good or bad products). However, if you get into a MLM business, please maintain a sense of balance in your life as well! There is nothing wrong about mentioning what you do for a living, once in a while (everybody does that) but you don’t have to plug the name 50 times a day either.

One is allowed to dream of financial independence and I am not there to tell anyone how to do it. I dream about financial independence too and I don’t drill my ideas and methods into the heads of relatives by mentioning my projects every time I talk with them… Why does it have to be different with MLM businesses?

I would be curious to know if you have joined any of these companies and if it works well for you.

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At the beginning of the month, the most recent unemployment statistic was published. The USA reached double digits while Canada was close behind with 8.8% (as of June). The scariest aspect about these statistics is to think that once you stop receiving unemployment support payments; you don’t count as “unemployed” anymore. Therefore, the unemployment rate might be 10% in the States, but it is even higher in the “real world”. People stop receiving unemployment support but not necessarily because they have gotten a job.

Lucky you! You are still working this morning (you better not keep reading blogs all day during work though ). However, it might not be the case for all your friends. What can you do to support an unemployed friend?

#1 Be there

Losing your job is definitely not a happy moment in one’s life. We spend so much time working that when a job is lost, an important part of our life is lost at the same time. Our routine is disrupted; some of our friends are still at work and we miss the feeling of being useful to society. This is why it is so important to take the time to listen to your friend and let him talk about his pain, anxiety facing the future even anger. If it ever happens to a close friend, make sure to be supportive; to go out and have a drink with him to lend an ear. Your friend might have lost his job, but he certainly doesn’t want to lose the rest of his life.

#2 Pass the word around

So far in my career, I have had three different jobs. Each time, I got the job from “someone who knows someone”. Networking is always important in career planning but it becomes crucial when you are unemployed and looking for a new opportunity. As a friend, talk about him to every single person in your own network. You never know, maybe a friend of a friend (that you don’t even know!) is looking to hire someone.

#3 Be honest

He may be your best friend but you wouldn’t even hire him to wash windows? This is going to be hard but you are better off telling him the truth. If you don’t think that he is in the right field or that he has an attitude problem at work, you should tell him tactfully. Being unemployed is not always a positive experience. It can be a great opportunity to ask yourself if you want to continue with what you were doing.  Perhaps take the time to improve your transferable skills in a specific field. If your friend gets a real picture of the image he is projecting, it will definitely help him in his job search. Since he just lost his job, the point is not to hammer him with all the negative points. Make sure to tell him what you appreciate about him as a colleague and point out his strengths. You don’t want your friend to stay unemployed and risk being depressed the rest of his life

#4 Lend money?

Aaaahh…. I’m not sure I like the idea of lending money to friends actually. I have done it a few times but only to one person and it wasn’t in a context of unemployment. I think your buddy need friendship more than money. And you will definitely help him more by finding him a new job or helping him getting on the right track for his next employer than supplying money. Once someone said: “Give a Man a fish, Feed him for a day. Teach a Man to fish; feed him for a lifetime”. While money will only offer tempororary support (unless you are really rich!), it may become a source of dispute if your friend remains unemployed. Usually, friends and money don’t make good partners.

#5 You don’t have to follow him

You have to be empathic to your friend’s situation but it doesn’t mean that you have to join him during his “black days”. Helping an unemployed friend is one thing, and you must know your limits. You don’t have to feel guilty either. This is called the “survivor syndrome”. If many people in our personal circle lose their jobs in the same field as ours, we may tend to feel guilty. However, it should not become a personal matter and you are not the one (hopefully!) who decided to lay off your friend!

Do you have any other thoughts about helping an unemployed friend? Did it happen to you? What did you tell your friend?

image source : khalilshah

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My first post here on Gather Little by Little started out as an advice article for readers. It turned out that several comments in the thread that followed contained some good questions and even more good advice.  In my previous article on staying employed during a recession I listed the following suggestions for people who might be worried about holding on to their job:

• Go the extra mile
• Make sure they know your name
• Distinguish yourself from fellow employees
• Take initiative, but be a team player
• Understand the mission

One commenter, Keri, added some more good thoughts. She suggested:

• Make yourself available after hours
• Have a niche
• Position yourself as the innovator

Keri also asked a couple of questions about letters of recommendation and how to best leave a job in a position to acquire a new job. Today’s article will focus on presenting yourself in as good a light as possible to your next employer.

Get a letter of recommendation

Sometimes a letter of recommendation is difficult to obtain, especially if your relationship with your employer is strained. The solution to this problem is to ask for a letter of recommendation before the relationship is strained. Ask several of your supervisors for such a letter every year. Three or four positive memos in your file will go a long way with a future employer. You are simply asking for documentation of the fact that you are doing a good job. Do it every year, do it in a non-threatening manner. Tell your boss or supervisor, that you are not looking for another job, you are happy at your company, but you would like the letter for your file.

I know some employees who use the same letter that their boss gave them in a previous year – they simply show the memo to their boss, ask if anything has changed, adjust the date and request a signature. If your supervisor is squeamish about creating a written record of your good job performance, you might want to take that as a warning.

If you lose your job without a letter of recommendation in hand, do your best to get one from somebody in the organization on your way out the door. If your immediate superior will not give you one, you need to ask around and find someone who is willing to sign the document or write an email on your behalf.

In this economy, good people are being let go simply because of budget tightening. Many bosses are in the position of saying, “We like you, you are good worker, but we have to let someone go”. The only thing you can do in that situation is ask them to make a written record of those statements that you can add to your resume. Most employers will be happy to do this for you because it helps to comfort their conscience.

Annual review

Most companies conduct annual reviews with all employees, if your company does not conduct such meetings, it is critical that you obtain some type of written record of your job performance. You may even want to request an annual review and make sure that a record of that review is a part of your file.

References

There is an old principle that states that a lawyer should never ask a question to which he does not know the answer. It is the same way with references. Do not put a person’s name and contact information into a job application without knowing what that person might say about you. I have seen resumes where an individual does not list any references from the job that they held immediately preceding the job for which they are applying – this can be a red flag to potential employers. Find at least one person, somewhere at the company you are leaving, who is willing to allow their name to be used as a good reference.

Timing

Timing can be tricky in these matters. If you are thinking of leaving your current job, it is unwise to communicate that to your employer until you are certain that you wish to leave.  This is another reason why updating your letters or reference and conducting annual reviews are important. Your files should be up to date as a matter of policy – a regular occurrence that does not invite suspicion – not necessarily because you are looking for greener pasture. If you must use your current employer as a reference, warn them that a call might be coming.

During annual reviews at my last job, I told my supervisor every year that I was applying for other jobs. I even told him which jobs I was interested in! Part of the reason that I was able to do this is that every job that I was considering was a definite step up, even my boss could not blame me for considering some of the other positions. As a matter of policy, I requested a written letter of recommendation from him every year. When circumstances at that company made it clear that I would no longer be happy working there, I was all set to move on. I had an updated resume and I actually had several job applications pending. When I originally filled out the applications, I had not intended to leave, but when it became apparent that my current job was not right for me, I was in good shape.

The bottom line

You need to be proactive in making certain that a written record exists when people say good things about you. When you are recognized for doing a good job, you need to make that a part of your file.

However, there is no substitute for working hard, showing up on time and ultimately generating money for your company or helping your organization accomplish the mission. If you are not a good employee in the first place, all of the resume/recommendation/review strategies in the world will be of no use.

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Earlier this year, the organization where I work was forced to lay off ten percent of our full time workforce.  I survived this particular round of layoffs, but  I knew that I would have to make a conscious effort to make sure that I stay employed.  I am not necessarily scared of unemployment, I trust that God will find a way to meet our needs. In fact, there is actually a part of me that looks forward to seeing what might unfold under such a scenario, but this does not mean that I am going to volunteer for unemployment. I plan to be thankful for and content in the job I have. I hope to be a good steward of what has been entrusted to me.

No job is safe in an economy like this. There is no fool proof way to guarantee that you will not be down-sized, fired, or any of the other ways that a person can lose a job over the next few years. My job is particularly precarious because I work for a small non-profit company that depends on donations in order to survive. The combination of poor stock market and the tightening of IRS deductions for large gifts is having an effect on charitable organizations like mine.

Here are few strategies that I hope will help keep my name off a pink slip:

Go the extra mile

In January, I had to tell my wife that I might be putting in some extra hours over the coming year, but I saw it as a way to hedge against losing my job. Over the past couple of months, I attended voluntary meetings, accepted a voluntary position on a committee, and even volunteered for two out-of-town trips that my supervisor did not want to make. It is true that the extra time was inconvenient and often involved weekends and evenings, but I would rather work a few extra nights than have every weekday open . . .

Make sure they know your name

My company is just big enough that three months ago, my CEO did not know me from Adam or Mike or Jeff. Under normal conditions, I would not have cared. I liked my job, but I was not really interested in climbing the ladder – especially if it meant “kissing up”. But when a bunch of employees lost their jobs, I decided to take a little more initiative. My goal was simply to make sure that the president and vice presidents and chief financial officers of my company did not just see a financial liability when they looked at my name on a balance sheet.  In January, I started to simply show up – attending meetings, receptions and lectures that were optional for people in my department. At the first four different events I introduced myself to the president of our company as if it was for the first time – all four times. On the fifth occasion he remembered my name. He said, “Hey, you’re ______, the guy who ______ mentioned in cabinet last week because you represented us at a couple of meetings out of town . . .”

Mission accomplished.

Distinguish yourself from fellow employees

Don’t be an Eddie Haskell – an annoying, pretentious do-gooder – but rather try to execute assigned tasks so that your supervisor does not have to worry about supervising you. When your boss looks to you, he knows that assigned tasks will be finished completely with no loose ends. Your employer will notice, even if he doesn’t say anything.

Take initiative, but be a team player

There are some employees who take a Machiavellian approach to their jobs. They willingly step on others in order to get ahead. This approach only works in the short run. Don’t make the case for your job at the expense of those around you and remember that sometimes being irreplaceable means cultivating good relationships with your peers. Every team needs  “glue” guy, the person that works well with everyone. Try to be the person who is liked by everyone.

Understand the Mission

Companies do not exist for the sole purpose of providing employment to the masses. If your employer can make the same amount or more money without you on the payroll, then he has no reason to keep you around. Make sure you know exactly how your job affects the profitability of your company and then make your case for employment by doing your job well. Understand the mission of your position and take some time to evaluate whether or not you are meeting that goal. If you are not, you had better start checking the classifieds.

And if the worst happens – make sure you walk out the door with a good recommendation.

From Glblguy: I mentioned last week that another writer was going to be joining me here on Gather Little by Little.  Well, you just finished reading the  first article published here on GLBL by that writer: Stew.  You’ll be reading lots more from Stew as he’ll be posting a couple times a week going forward and you can get to know him a little more on Thursday.  I’m really glad to have him, so join me in welcoming Stew to Gather Little by Little!

Photo by: mark sebastian

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I’ve been working from home now off and on for a few months. It started with 1-2 days at home, then 3 and within a few weeks I’ll be working from home full-time.  Personally I love it, but it’s different in more ways than I anticipated.  Working from home also isn’t for everyone.  I’ve found it to be highly productive for me, but it does require a great deal of discipline.  Here are just a few tips I have for those that are either already working from home or might be considering it:

Dedicated Space

Depending on your situation, dedicated space could mean just a desk over in the corner where you go when you work.  Having 6-kids, this wouldn’t be an option for me.  I have a dedicated office downstairs away from my family.  It’s quiet and distraction free.

The important thing for most professionals is being able to work at home and not having the person on he other end of the phone know.  I’ve been on way to many calls where I hear dogs barking in the background, children crying, and spouses talking.  I have one person I work with that must watch TV as he works.  Every time I call him I always hear a TV blaring in the background.  While all of these things are a normal part of being home, they aren’t a normal part of the work environment for  most.  You have to separate yourself from these things.

The other advantage of a dedicated space is that when you go there, you go into work mode.  If it’s your kitchen table, it’s hard to make the mental distinction that you’re at work rather than sitting down to eat breakfast or dinner.  When I walk into my office downstairs and shut the door it feels like I am walking into the doors at my companies operations center.  I go into “I’m at work mode”.

Communication Tools

When you work from home, you spend far more time on the phone than normal.  Therefore it’s critical to invest in a good quality phone line, phone, and headset.  Prior to moving I had used Vonage with a fair amount of success, but now that I’ll be going full-time at home I moved to a land line for clear and reliable phone service.

Get familiar with Instant Messaging technologies, they are a life saver.  The phone is a wonderful tool for lengthy or complex conversations, but instant messaging tools are a life saver for short and quick questions/conversations.  It’s far less distracting and intrusive as a phone ringing.  It also allows you to be on a phone call, but continue to communicate with people.  Just be sure you pay attention to the phone call!

I tried to avoid it, but I’m going to have to purchase a fax machine or use an online fax service (any suggestions??).  As much as I try to work paperless, paper is still somewhat of a reality especially when dealing with other companies or people that aren’t as paperless.

Having good communication tools allows you to be available and being available is a critical requirement for making a work from home situation successful.  Regardless of the reality, if you aren’t available than people will perceive you as not working.  Do everything you can to make yourself available.

Staying Focused

This is by far the biggest complaint I hear about people working from home: staying focused.  Here are just a few suggestions to help:

• Establish a schedule – Most likely when you worked at the office you had a schedule.  Do the same when working from home.  Be at work at a certain time and leave at a certain time.  Not only will your co-workers appreciate it, it will help you mentally feel like you’re going to work, even if the commute is only a few feet!
• Get up and get dressed – Sure one of the advantages of working at home is working in your PJs.  This doesn’t work for me.  I have a morning routine that I’ve been going through for years and in order for me to get into work mode I have to go through that routine.  I get up, fix coffee, eat breakfast, write for my blogs, shower, get dressed, then head to my office downstairs.   Granted, I wear sweats, jeans, shorts, etc. rather than business casual, but it still helps to put me in “work mode”.
• Take breaks – Ironically enough, this one has been tough.  I tend to just keep working through the whole day, even eating at my desk.  Not a good idea.  Take breaks.  Take a walk outside, come upstairs to eat lunch for a 1/2 hour or so.  This will keep you fresh and avoid overworking.
• Plan – Each day before I turn off the lights and close the office door, I make a list of everything I need to accomplish the next day.  Before I leave the next day I make sure everything on that list is done, then I make the next list.  When you begin working from home you’re no longer evaluated on whether you are at work but by how much you get done.  Make sure you are getting things done.

A few final thoughts

Just a few final thoughts from some experiences I’ve had with others working from home…yes believe it

• Don’t carry the phone or cell phone with you to the bathroom.  Awkward.
• Don’t drink alcohol while you’re working.  Resist the temptation to open that beer at 3:00pm.  You wouldn’t do it at work, don’t do it at home.
• Wear clothes. If you aren’t, don’t proudly tell everyone that you aren’t.  Even if you don’t tell them, they’ll know.  I’m not sure how, but we just do.
• Don’t eat while you’re on the phone. Nothing worse than talking to someone while they crunch chips in your ear.
• Get a phone with a mute button that is easy and quick to find.  When working at home, the unexpected will happen.  A mute button just might save you uncomfortable explaining like when your dog stands outside your window and barks at you, or your kids come busting into your office to have you settle a dispute.

What tips do you have?  Are you thinking about working from home but have concerns?  Add a comment or question!

Photo by: Yogi

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When I was eleven years old, I was exposed to my first computer. I loved working on it, entering complex instructions and seeing the computer do what I had told it to do. I drove my Dad nuts until he finally gave in and bought me one of my own. I cannot even imagine how many hours I spent programming that computer, but I would suspect it just might be one of the best investments my father ever made.

I love computers and love working with them. The creativity involved in writing a good clean program and the reward I receive when I finally make it do exactly what I want lines up perfectly with the way I am wired. I was fortunate and realized all of this at an early age. I knew exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up and I pursued it aggressively. The best part? I got paid to do something I loved to do.

Do what you love to do

I thought about all of this as my 13 year old son and I were talking the other day. He is going through the process of trying to figure out what he wants to be when he grows up. He hasn’t had that life changing moment like I did at 12. He’s talked about being a pilot for years, and now suddenly was talking about being a surgeon. I asked him why and his reply was “They make a ton of money.”

We talked for a while and I expressed to him that no matter what you choose to do in life, make sure you do something that you love to do because you’re going to be doing it for a very long time. Sure, making lots of money is attractive, but the money only buys short term happiness. If you hate your job, the satisfaction the money brings will only last a short while.

My advice to him that I’ll share with you is: Do what you love to do – Determine what that is and go find somebody that will pay you do it.

Finding what you love to do

I believe that God created us for a purpose (if you want to find yours, I highly recommend The purpose driven life). He gave each of us different talents and abilities to serve that purpose. It took me almost 40 years to find my purpose, but I firmly believe it is to teach. That is why I write here on Gather Little by Little, it’s why I love being a manager, and why I love being a father. Once you find your God given talents and abilities, you’ll not only be able to do your best, but you’ll be happy as well. Trust me, there is nothing in world like looking forward to going to work on Monday morning. When I was a software developer, I truly looked forward to each day. Now I look forward to writing here on Gather Little by Little each day.

Here are some ways to help you find what you love to do:

1. What are your hobbies? What do you do when you’re at home and on your own time? Make a list of these things, and pick the one or two that you truly love to do. Make another list of possible ways to make money doing those things.
2. Find the one thing. Put all of your responsibilities aside and ask yourself: What is the one thing you would like to do?
3. Read 48 days to the work you love. This book, by Dan Miller will walk you through a 48 day process of not only helping you to do determine what you talents are but how to take action and get the job you love doing. Really great read and highly recommended. Dan’s book was one of the things that encouraged me to start Gather Little by Little.
4. Don’t worry about the opinions of others. As you try to find the work you love, others will try to rain on your parade. Don’t let this happen. Of course listen carefully to those that you trust and love, but don’t worry about anybody else. Oh, and remember those same people are most likely doing a job they hate.
5. Don’t be discouraged. Finding the work that love is hard and can take time. Often we’ve done something for so long, that making the transition to something else is not only difficult to do, but scary. Take your time, but be diligent.
6. Don’t jump in head first. Some may disagree with me on this, but I wouldn’t recommend jumping in head first. This is particularly true if you have people that depend on you and your income. I recommend starting off part time and putting a plan in place to transition to full-time. Jumping in head first may give you the work you love, but an inability to pay the bills.

For some, finding the work they love will come easily and quickly, for others it will take time. You will struggle and you may even have to try a few different things. Some will fail and some will succeed. The trick is find the thing you love to do and being able to make it succeed. Remember also, that just because you’ve found what you love to do, doesn’t mean that you can do it now. It may take a while, so put a plan in place on how you’re going to get there.

One more thing, many people know what they love to do, they want to do it, but never execute. Don’t make this mistake. Once you know what you would like to do, begin taking steps to do it. Don’t hesitate or else you may never do it.

1 Corinthians 10:31 – So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

Are you doing what you love to do? If so, how about sharing your story with others. Not doing what you love to do? How about sharing with us what you want to do along with the first step you’ll take to begin doing it.

Photo by: DavidAll06

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I’m a huge advocate of not only reducing expenses and living on less than I earn, but also of supplementing income. Personally I prefer the more passive income route as after working an 8-10 hour day in a fairly stressful IT environment, I just don’t feel like coming home only to turn around and head out to another side job. I also would rather work for myself doing what I like to do.

I know many of you are also looking for ways to not only reduce your expenses, but increase your income as well. I thought I would share some information on starting an online store quickly and easily. Don’t worry, it doesn’t involve shipping, managing product inventory or anything like that. Surprised?  Let me explain.

Affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing is a term very common on the internet and refers to people who market and advertise a companies products in turn for a share of the revenue the company receives through sales. Numerous companies have affiliate programs and they provide a great way to earn some extra income. For example both Amazon.com and eBay have affiliate programs.

To begin affiliate marketing, you first register as an affiliate, and then use the companies affiliate interface to create special links to the companies site and/or products. Some companies like Amazon.com and eBay provide their own affiliate programs.  Others work through affiliate marketing companies like Commission Junction or Linkshare. When visitors to your site click on your affiliate links, they are directed to the companies web-site or usually a product page on the companies website. If the visitor purchases the product or service, than you as the affiliate marketer earn a percentage of the sale.

The amount you earn is determined by the company and often scales upward when you make more sales (i.e. the more visitors that buy, the higher percentage of the sale you receive). For example, eBay starts at 50% and goes up to 70%.

Creating an online store

As I mentioned, creating an online store isn’t hard, but It will take you a bit of time.  Personally I find it fun, especially once you start to make a few sales! The following sections will take you step by step through the process of getting a new store up and running.

Find your niche

The first step in starting a new store is determining the niche your store will fill. Finding a niche can be tricky as you have to find the right balance between a niche that currently has too many competitors and a niche that is too narrow and just doesn’t appeal to the majority.

For example, starting an online sports equipment store probably isn’t a good idea as there are just too many large competitors out there. You’ll want to find something more specific in that same niche. On the other hand, having a store that sells only specific types of tennis balls may be too specific. The right balance may be something like tennis rackets or tennis balls only. There really is no science or success formula I can provide and to be honest it takes some trial and error.

I like to find products that are fairly high priced, but not too high, with a niche isn’t currently filled by too many competitors. Generally, I look for products that sell for more than $100.00 each. The other most important part of finding a niche is making sure it’s something that you are interested in and know a great deal about. Knowing about what you sell will allow you to write related articles to supplement and promote your product offerings. This will help establish authority for your site and draw in search engine traffic.

Register a Domain name

Once you determine your niche, the next step is registering a domain name. A domain name is the HTTP address of your site (for example www.gatherlittlebylittle.com). For an online store, the domain name should consist of keywords specific to what you are selling. Keywords are the specific words people will use to find your site, particularly from search engines.

For example, continuing with our tennis equipment example, creating a store called “Gibbles Store” wouldn’t drive much traffic or at least not traffic looking for tennis equipment. It also doesn’t contain many of the keywords that search engine users would enter into a search engine to find the site. Instead using a name like “Discount tennis rackets” or “Discount tennis balls” would do far better. Let’s go with “Discount Tennis Rackets” so the URL we want would be www.discounttennisrackets.com.

To reserve that domain name, you’ll need to use a domain name registrar. Personally, I use MyDomain.com (if you use this link, you’ll get domain names for only $7.00 each). When you register your domain name, try to get a .com extension. If you can’t, it’s not a big deal, but it certainly is preferred. In addition to reserving the .com extension, grab .net and .org at the same time to avoid others from grabbing these and potentially redirecting some of your intended traffic.

One lesson I’ve learned is to keep all of your domain names at one site. Many hosting companies offer free domain registration. While this seems like a good deal, in the long term it’s far easier to keep them in the same place. As you establish multiple sites it’s nice to be able to go one place to manage and see all of your registrations. Additionally, you may want to switch hosting companies down the road and having your domain name registration tied with your hosting providing can make things difficult when moving.

Sign-up with a hosting company

Once you have your domain name or names registered, you’ll next want to sign up with a hosting company to actually house and run your website. There are many options and people are as loyal to their hosting companies as they are to their sports teams!  As a result, you’ll get lots of different recommendations depending on who you ask.

I have all of my sites hosted at Dreamhost Media Temple (Read why here). They certainly aren’t perfect, but overall provide great service for the money. If you sign-up, use discount code “Gibble” and get $50.00 off any plan.

Once your hosting plan is established, you’ll need to add your various domain names. One of the great things about Dreamhost Media Temple is that you can host an unlimited number of websites on your hosting plan at no extra cost.

Media Temple plans start at $50 and go up depending on your needs.  If that’s a little step for you, my next recommendation would be Lunar pages.  They are currently have plans for $4.95 per month and my experience with them has been outstanding for the price.

If you need assistance setting up a site or hosting, contact me over at Empty Cabin Media, and I’ll be more than glad to assist.

Use Wordpress, Build a Niche Store or both

There are two options I’ve used to create my various online stores. I am sure there are many other options, but these are the two I’ve found that work for me: Wordpress and/or Build a Niche Store.

Wordpress

I’ll start with Wordpress. Wordpress is a very powerful content management system and also the top most used blogging software. Gather Little by Little runs on Wordpress. Wordpress can be extended and modified significantly through the use of themes and plugins. Themes allow you to change the look and feel of a wordpress site and plugins allow you extend the functionality of Wordpress by installing often free plugins.

Wordpress is a flexible platform that will not only allow you to market and sell affiliate products but even sell your own products if you so desire. A couple of theme creators and plugin developers have created specialized plugins designed for making Wordpress into an online store platform.

The most attractive feature of Wordpress is that it’s free. Now as you know, few things in this world are truly free, so while Wordpress doesn’t require any money it does require some extra work.  But I find the rewards and flexibility well worth it.

Build a Niche Store

Build a Niche Store or BANS for short is a platform that you can install to your hosted server to make eBay affiliate websites. BANs provides a very simple way to get an eBay affiliate store up and running quickly. It supports customized themes and other advertising beyond just eBay affiliates.

The major downside with Build a Niche Store is that it costs $97 dollars. The benefits though are that you can install it on unlimited sites and it provides you with free upgrades for life. So the $97 is a one time upfront cost. The big benefit is that BANs makes setting up an online store trivial.

From my experience and the experience of others BANs does rather quickly pay for itself.

Wordpress and Build a Niche Store

While I personally haven’t gone this route yet, I have been following The Niche Store Builder who seems to think this is the best option.

I can definitely see how the two greatly complement each other. I will most likely use this approach for any future stores I build.

Get your store up and running

Once you’ve decided which of the 3 options you would like to use, you’ll need to install and get your store set-up. Since the majority of my affiliate stores are Wordpress, that is the option I’ll focus on in this article. If there is enough interest on how to install a Build a Niche Store site, I’ll be more than glad to write that up in a future article.

Installing Wordpress

Most hosting companies, including Media Temple now offer something called one-click installs. One-click installs make the process of installing popular web software to your server incredibly simple.

For information on setting up and maintaining Wordpress, please visit the Wordpress site. There is lots of helpful information.  If you aren’t comfortable installing Wordpress, contact me at Empty Cabin Media.  I can do it for you.

Making Wordpress into a affiliate store

At this point, all of the basics are in place, now we just need to get your site product enabled.

All of the default themes that come installed with Wordpress are designed for blogging. To make your Wordpress site more online store friendly, you’ll need to use a specialized theme. There are a number of themes available both free and and for a fee.  I’ve become very fond of iThemes eCommerce Themes. Ecommerce themes are very professional and come with great documentation and how to videos. The themes do run $49.00, but I recovered that investment pretty quickly.  The themes really are worth the money spent.

Another awesome theme I am using for all of my new sites is Thesis.  Thesis is highly customizable and comes with some outstanding out of the box features.  Highly recommended and I prefer it over and above the iThemes themes.  Gather Little by Little will be running on Thesis shortly.

Once the theme is installed, I would recommend customizing it some by including a logo for your site. Try to give it a professional and clean appearance. Once that’s complete, begin adding pages for the products you’ll be marketing. Pages should provide basic product information about the product and maybe even a mini-review.

I place affiliate links directly in the product pages, and then add a section at the very bottom called “Buy now” that provides links to both Amazon.com and eBay.com products for sale.

For Amazon.com, I use the Amazon Simple Admin plugin. This is a great plugin that easily adds Amazon.com product links to your pages and site. For eBay, I use the TWP Auctions script. Note this is not a Wordpress plugin, but an easy to install php script. In order to run the script you will need to install the Exec-PHP plugin which allows you to add PHP code to your articles and display eBay items.

I’m sure there are probably many other (and maybe even easier) options available, but the above are the basic extensions I use.

What’s next

At this point your store is up and running and very soon you’ll begin receiving some traffic from Google, especially if you’ve practiced some basic Search Engine Optimization techniques. Hopefully you’ll receive your first affiliate commission too.

Don’t be fooled though, the work isn’t over. You need to continually look for new product opportunities and tweak your product set based on what is working and what isn’t. You’ll also want to market your site and get it visible. Getting the site up and running is easy, making it successful is a job by itself. But we’ll get into that another time.

Have you considered starting an online store? Do you already have one? Share your experience, stories and even recommendations for other options. Add a comment!

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This is a guest post from Todd who blogs over at HarvestingDollars. Todd writes on personal finance topics including behavioral finance, retirement planning, goal achievement, frugal living, and wealth building strategies. If you like what you read please subscribe to HarvestingDollars.

Clearly careers differ greatly from one person to another, as do each of our career goals. Although I’m still relatively young (33), I’ve been blessed with a wide variety of work experiences, including:

• working low-level jobs like fast food, tutoring, and entry-level construction jobs
• driving a dump truck
• working as a high-end technology consultant
• working for a bank, a drug store chain, a cell phone company, two credit card companies, and a latin-american dot com
• working for a company that designed (but never launched) a new television game show
• teaching college courses for undergraduates
• working as a finance analyst for two fortune one hundred companies

Regardless of your situation, below are a few steps I recommend to improve your career prospects.

Determine Your Career Goals

I believe this is the hardest step. You have to know what you want, and the more clear you can be the better. Saying that you want to “earn more money” or “be a manager” is meaningless. You need specific goals, and you need to write them down on paper with timelines for achieving them. I would also recommend thinking through the consequences of reaching your goals, because you need to determine if you’re willing to pay the price for achieving and keeping your desired goal.

For example, achieving your goal might require more schooling. It might require changing careers and taking a significant pay cut for a while. I did both of these actually. It might involve moving out of your comfort zone. You might need to volunteer to speak in public at a convention or trade show. You might need to work for an influential person in your company that you can’t stand. It could be more hours, which will strain your family life. It could be more hours after you have the job too, and more stress. I believe to some extent that higher-ranking positions carry more risk of being cut, and it takes longer to obtain a higher paying job than a lower paying job.

All of these things need to be considered beforehand so that you can be sure you really want your goal. As the motivational speakers say, make sure your ladder is against the right building before you start climbing.

Tell Someone About Your Career Goals

I always tell my employees that I can only help them get where they want to go if they tell me where they want to go. The more clear you can be with your goals, the easier it will be for others to help you. Unless your boss is totally against you I would recommend starting with him or her. Schedule a one hour meeting one week from today, to allow him or her to prepare for the meeting. Begin by recapping your time in your current position and your desire to “add more value” to the firm by taking on more responsibility. Highlight some of your more visible key accomplishments in the recent past, and then ask to meet to discuss your career opportunities.

These are the key components to include of your request:

• Give your boss time to react and think about your request. You don’t want to force this conversation, and you need time to prepare your argument for x,y, and z as well.
• Do your best not to threaten your bosses position. Most bosses get a bit scared with these types of discussions because they jump to the conclusion that you want their job. Maybe you do, and maybe you don’t, but you should frame up the conversation in more general terms initially.
• Highlight your skills and accomplishments. Bring up anything you’ve been doing above and beyond what is required. The focus here should be on results. Do NOT focus on effort or the amount of time you spend on something. “Working weekends” or “working ten hour days” is not a result. It’s whining, and it’s a rookie move.
• Prepare for the meeting yourself, and be prepared to ask for something you specifically want. This could be an open ended request like “I’m interested in understanding the operational complexities of XYZ department. Is there any opportunity for me to work on a cross-functional project with them?” The more specific you can be the better. I want to move into a part of my organization that supports sales in the next 2 years. My request therefore would be something like “I’m interested in learning more about how the sales function operates here at XYZ corp. I respect your knowledge of the business and would like to know what experiences you would recommend I pursue over the next two years that would prepare me for such a position.”

I would recommend telling others about your goals as well. You can be as selective as you deem appropriate, but if you share your goals with your friends you’ll be surprised at how much then can help you out.

Ask For More Responsibility

The discussion with your manager in this area will mirror your request for a career discussion. Highlight your recent (excellent) performance. Discuss your desire to do XYZ. Ask for more responsibility. Hopefully after doing a job for a while you’ve become more efficient at managing your workload. This is more difficult in some careers (i.e. manual labor) than it is in others (office work or knowledge-based work). Bosses always have more work to do. Also note that this request doesn’t mean you have to take anything he or she will throw at you. Emphasize what you want to do. “I’d like more responsibility, and I was wondering if there is an opportunity to manage the installation of the new manufacturing line.”

Complete Your New Task(s) Quickly And Effectively

Be diligent with your new responsibilities. Complete the work quickly and well, and then ask for more responsibility.

In summary, these are the steps I follow and would recommend to others looking to improve their career prospects:

1. Determine your career goals
2. Determine what experiences you lack in order to be able to perform well in that role. If you believe you already have those skills, then determine how best to demonstrate them to your superiors.
3. Ask your manager for more responsibility
4. Perform the task or tasks quickly and well.
5. Inquire about advancement opportunities and discuss your career path and goals with your boss.
6. Setup a plan to get the experiences and skills required to obtain the job you desire
7. Continue to repeat step 3, 4, and 5.

From Glblguy: Great article Todd and as a fellow manager, this is dead on accurate advice.  Manage your own career, don’t expect someone else to do it for you.  Interested in seeing one of your articles published on Gather Little by Little?  Great!  I’m always looking for quality quest posts.  Just contact me and propose an idea.

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Me on that TRS-80 color computer at age 13

I’ve been programming and working on computers since I was 12 years old. I saw my first computer (a TRS-80 Model III) at a neighbor’s home and immediately found it one of the most fascinating things I had ever seen. So fun in fact, while my mother shopped in our local mall, I would spend my time playing on the computers in the Radio Shack located in the mall. I wanted one of my own and asked my father if I could have one. At the time, computers were really expensive for what you got. My Dad said that if I continued to show interest for a few months, he would get me one.

I proceeded to read every computer book and magazine I could get my hands on. A few months later, I proudly came home with a brand new TRS-80 Color Computer. I remember pulling it out of the box, setting it up and powering it on for the first time. I remember that evening like it was yesterday. Little did my father know the impact that little TRS-80 would have on my life.

I graduated in 1991 with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and started my very first corporate job as a software developer. I’ve been in the IT industry now for 15 years and now manage a team of 6 really sharp software developers.

The first few years of my career were amazing. I couldn’t wait to go to work the next day and sometimes even had a hard time going home as I loved what I was doing. I still do today, but the passion has subsided somewhat. I don’t program much, at least not at work, and spend far more time managing other developers now. Sometimes the job is great, others days terrible. Overall, I’m happy but to be honest, I miss developing software. I miss putting together tons of random control statements together to make incredible software. Much like I enjoy putting together random words to make articles here on Gather Little by Little.

So where am I going with all of this? Well, I was recently reading an article in a some magazine at my doctor’s office that talked about how unhappy people are with their jobs. The article made me reflect back on my own career and on where I am right now, and ask that tough question: Am I happy? To be honest, I’m not, but I’m not unhappy either. What I have learned is I love blogging. I love writing, learning, and I would love to be able to set my own schedule and frankly to work for myself.

Reasons employees are unhappy with their jobs

Recent studies have shown that 6 out of 10 works are unhappy with their current jobs. Other studies show that only 4 out of 10 works felt they were in good jobs. Good jobs being ones that were interesting, exciting but not overly stressful.

Salary.com did a survey that asked a sampling of employees, what kinds of things make them want to leave their current job and really sheds some insight into why people are unhappy at work:

Inadequate Compensation

Percent Responding: 57.2%

Coming as no surprise, Salary.com’s survey results showed that inadequate compensation is by far the number one reason that employees aren’t happy with their jobs and want to leave.  If you feel you’re receiving an inadequate salary, do a little research on what your salary should be.  Make a list of considerable contributions you’ve made and the positive financial impact they’ve had to the company.  Take this information to your manager and and ask for a raise.

The worst thing that could happen is they say no.  If that’s the case, and you strongly feel you made a legitimate case, than maybe it’s time to look for another job opportunity.

Inadequate Opportunities for Career Advancement

Percent Responding: 37.3%

In many companies, including mine, the higher up you move, the harder it is to move up, as more senior positions are scarce.  I was a bit surprised at the high percentage on this item.  As a manager, I don’t find many employees are really all that interested in advancing.  Sure they want higher salaries, but not higher level positions or more responsibility.

Insufficient Recognition or Appreciation

Percent Responding: 34.2%

This one didn’t surprise me at all.  Recognition is a key tool in helping employees feel they are making a positive contribution and making them feel good about what they do.  It would be difficult to be happy with a job where you don’t feel appreciated.

One reason that insufficient recognition may be an issue is that your manager doesn’t know that recognition is important to you or maybe even how you specifically like to be recognized.  Have a conversation with your manager, and let them know recognition and appreciation is important to you and how you like to be recognized.

As an example, I’m not personally fond of public recognition.

Boredom

Percent Responding: 20.1%

This is my biggest problem.  I have tons of work, but most of the time I don’t enjoy doing it.  Why?  Because it just doesn’t excite me.  Another facate of this are employees that just plain old not having enough to do.

If you are bored, spend some time thinking about what you could do to make your job and maybe even your teams environment better or more efficient and do something about it.  Another option would be to talk with your manager and tell them you’re bored and need more to do.  There is usually lots of work to do, finding it sometimes is the trick.

Inadequate Benefits

Percent Responding: 16.9%

One of the major recent trends in companies over the past few years has been increasing the cost of benefits to employees.  This is due to rising healthcare costs to employers cutting back on their contribution to the cost, thus increasing the employees cost.

Rising healthcare costs are particularly effecting small businesses who are paying more and more each year for basic medical insurance for their employees. As a result, these soaring healthcare costs are forcing many small businesses to lower employee take-home pay.

Inadequate Opportunities for Professional Development

Percent Responding: 15.3%

15.3% of unhappy employees feel as if they can grow further in their professional development at their company.  Professional development opportunities and growth play a critical role in how happy employees are.

If professional development is important to you, find some classes either within the company or outside the company you would be interested in taking and make a case to your manager.  Focus on how the training will help you to do your job better.

Insufficient Job Security

Percent Responding: 11.8%

In the field of IT, this is a big one these days.  More and more jobs are being sent overseas to India and China where labor is far less expensive.  Outsourcing aside, with the fear of a pending recession, many people are justifiably worried about their current job security, as in a recession one of the first visible impacts is a sharp increase in the unemployment rate.

The article from Salary.com said “Many of the 11.8% of respondents who cited insufficient job security as their top reason for leaving lack confidence in upper management’s ability to save the company.“

Undesirable Impact on Health or Stress Level

Percent Responding: 10.5%

I’m a little surprised this one ranked as low as it did.  For me, this would be the number one reason.  My job is highly stressful, and as we get challenged to do more for less this has become even more so.

Employees these days are working long hours in very stressful conditions.  These two items combined are having an overall negative impact on employee health and stress levels.

Poor Relations with Management

Percent Responding: 10%

Managers often forgot this, but your employees are watching you.  Your behavior has significant effect on how happy they are with their jobs.  I mean, who wants to work for a jerk right? Employees who disliked their boss provided salary.com with some particularly entertaining feedback:

• “Upper management has no spine, they are jellyfish.”
• “My boss has a diagnosed mental condition, but doesn’t take his medication.”  <== My particular favorite
• “My employer wants to disregard regulations and laws in order to meet company goals.”
• “My direct employer is sexist, tyrannical, and engages in extreme favoritism, cronyism, and nepotism.”

Undesirable Commute

Percent Responding: 9%

Rising gas prices have become an effective pay cut for commuting employees.  As a result many are starting to consider about leaving their job for something closer to home or for jobs that offer work from home opportunities.

Are you unhappy with your job? If so, why? Is it for one of the reasons above, or for a reason completely different? Share your thoughts and perspective and add a comment!

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