All we seem to hear these days, especially in US news is talk of unemployment, more unemployment, under employment and then, yet again, more unemployment.  I suspect many of the searches I get here regarding jobs for Americans are motivated at least as much by the bad employment outlook in the US as by the folks actually wanting to retire.

What is I told you, though, that one of the world’s largest employers, one of the best in terms of pay, benefits, retirement and promotion opportunity, is hiring.  Big time.

I’d be telling you the truth.  After years of trying to balance the budget by decimating the Federal work force, the US is now on a massive hiring spree.

At least 150,000 jobs, plus the vacancies caused by attrition in the coming year … up to as many as 1.5 million new Federal jobs are being opened up for hiring.  Although there are only a few US federal jobs in the Philippines, there are federal jobs all over the globe, as well as the USA.

Who has the best chance of getting one of these jobs?  Easy.  The person who prepares.

About 90% of the folks I deal with looking for a job are hopeless cases, because they don’t even care enough about themselves to have a decent resume and haven’t taken the time to sit down and catalog their skills and figure out how to present themselves.

And those who might be looking for a Federal job (hint, retired US serviceman have preference for most of these jobs, which a significant portion of my audience here.) have to do the resume thing also.  Telling a prospective employer you were the NCOIC of some military alphabet soup office, or the major in charge of testing prep school academy applicants on Podunk Air Force base means absolutely nothing to most employers, even in other Federal agencies.

But if you know what the Federal government is looking for (hint two, if you don’t know what your KSA’s are, better get with the program), then you have an excellent chance.

The vast majority of these jobs are going to require a US Security Clearance as well … you’ve heard me mention this before also.  having a security clearance already is a tremendous asset IF you know the right way to document it.

So, today, as a public service, I’m reprinting some information about a guide I believe would be well worth a small investment on your part. (About $12 USD)

(Note;  this is not an offer from me, I am not selling this guide and I make no commission or other consideration … merely presenting this as a possible help for those who would like to pull themselves up out of the jobless mire .. the publisher of this guide knows what they are talking about.  In all cases though, YMMV).

———————————

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Our Federal Workforce will be increased by at least 153,000
to 1.43 million people, in fiscal 2010!

In today’s challenging job market, Federal
Employee positions are one of the few markets
that are hiring. You must make sure you know
how to properly prepare your federal resume…
even if you are already a federal employee and
are applying for a transfer or new positions.
Please read this important information.
Sincerely,
FEDweek

Your Security Clearances on Your Federal Resume are Critical

How to Prepare Your Federal Resume Properly
How to List Your Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs)
and Your Security Clearances on Your Federal Resume is Critical
The Complete Guide to Writing a Federal Resume–
Available for Immediate Shipment

Go to http://www.fedweek.com/pubs/index.php
From the Publishers of FEDweek, the federal government’s
largest information resource…

We are proud to announce the launch of The Complete Guide
to Writing a Federal Resume. This book was written
specifically for you and is designed to help you meet the
requirements for written materials in seeking a new federal
job or advancement within the federal government. There is
no longer a single, required method of applying for federal
employment. In fact, most federal agencies are moving
toward the resume (either paper or electronic) as the
preferred method of applying for jobs.

That’s why we’ve published The Complete Guide to
Writing a Federal Resume and all current federal employees,
retirees, military members and private sector professionals
who are looking for a federal job need this all-inclusive guide.
Note to Military Members:

Many of the federal job openings at this time require security
clearances. As a military member, a large percentage of you have
the security clearance and the qualifications needed to fill
these positions. This all-new guide will show you how to compose
your resume to accentuate your strengths and experiences.

Here’s a partial list of the table of contents:

Finding a Federal Job
Should I Apply Using a Resume or an Application Form?
The Federal Resume
Preparing to Draft Your Resume
What to Cover (and not cover) in a Resume
The Designing of Your Federal Resume
Your Accomplishments (including a worksheet)
What if You Use an OF-612?
Knowledges, Skills and Abilities (KSAs)
Cover Letters and Thank You Letters
Interactive Worksheets
The Do’s and Don’t's for Federal Resume Cover Letters
Contains Many Sample Federal Resumes and Cover Letters
And Much More!

This Book is a "Must Have" For:
1. All federal employees
2. Military personnel interested in civil service careers
3. Federal managers and supervisors
4. Human resources professionals and federal libraries
5. Military retirees beginning their second career with the
   federal government
6. All private sector workers that wish to apply for federal
   government positions.

Simply put, designing and writing your resume is not an
easy task. You must highlight your accomplishments,
qualifications, experience, etc. all while keeping it
brief and easy to follow. The Complete Guide to Writing
a Federal Resume will show you how to do this. It also
gives a complete list of "result and action" words to use
in your cover letter and resume as well as a list a
frequently misspelled or misused words or phrases.
"In today’s competitive job market, especially the federal
job market, this new interactive resume book is a must
have and is guaranteed to help you, whether you are
writing a new resume from scratch, making minor changes
depending on the position you are applying for or just
fine tuning and error checking it."
Don Mace, Publisher
FEDweek  http://www.fedweek.com/pubs/index.php

Tim Castleman’s "Be An Online Consultant" FREE Webinar
Wednesday, June 30th, 2010
7:00 pm – 8:30 pm Eastern Time (New York Time)

Are you struggling to make money online?

You shouldn’t be. Do you realize how much you know? I bet
you don’t. People just like you… entrepreneurial types
interested in internet marketing… are turning to "online
consulting" to earn big bucks offline.

Think about how little you knew when you first started. You
probably knew nothing at all. Many people have trouble just
logging in to their email accounts. Do you think those
people know how to pick keywords for their website?….or
even know what SEO stands for?….NEGATIVE!

They don’t… and that’s exactly why…

Small brick ‘n mortar businesses are paying crazy cash to
people just to set up an email opt-in form on their page…
or perform basic SEO on their site….or create a simple
website design (like a WordPress blog).

And here’s an idea…can’t you outsource some of that work
too?

But the number one problem you’ll have is the same one
you’re having now. FINDING CLIENTS.

Well, that’s where Tim Castleman comes in…

Click the Read More link below for more information.

Click Here to Read More

Mainly this site is by (I’m 64 myself) and for the Senior Citizens and retirees of the world … I am a US born and bred man, but I live in the Philippines (why?  find out more about Philippine retirement here).  I get visitors from all over the world, and I welcome and value every one of them.

Here’s a blog post I just read that is written from the UK perspective on senior citizens and the market they represent.

A few take aways from the article?

1. There are going to be more than 21 million “silver” citizens in the UK by the years 2015.

2.  They are online, and doing more things online, than ever before

3.  Many of them, nearly half of those in London, are single

4. Online dating sites are exploding in popularity

5. Travel, healthy living and gardening are among the interests most avidly pursued.

So if you are one of our fifty-plus members and you haven’t explored the online world in too much detail yet … because you think it is just a ‘young people’s” venue … get busy and find you own niche.  The most powerful aspect of the Internet that I know is that it eliminates the artificial bounds of geography, politics, age, race and gender.  You are never to old to learn … in fact learning, proven by clinical testing results … keeps you young longer.

If you are one of the numerous online “young guns”, always thinking of new, untapped markets .. better think seriously about those more senior to you.  Many younger online entrepreneurs, if they think of senior citizens at all, only think in terms of making something easy enough that their grandmother can use it.

Well, many grandmothers are:

1. single

2. Looking for love, adventure, travel, gadgets … even plastic surgery.

3. Have a lot more time than their harried, busy, financially strapped 40 something children do

4. Often have more actual spendable income than they ever did before in their lives.

Still think you should forget about marketing to the “silver” community?

The following is a (necessary) sponsor announcement (full disclosure, I receive a commission from each sale) regarding a sound, down to earth “real” business you can stand up and run, anywhere you live, online or off .. NO MATTER your age!

Why is this NOT a typical ebook?

• The guide contains no affiliate links, not one.
• It’s not a get rich quick scheme. It requires work on your part to implement the strategies in the book.
• I’m not selling hopes, dreams, or lifestyles. Just a solid business plan for success.
• The price is not low for a limited time, then going up. It will stay an affordable $79.
• Supplies aren’t limited (its a digital product), you can buy it now or in 6 months.
• Its just a straight up product, simple as that. No magic or secrets or sales hype. I tell you exactly what the course is about in the video and you can decide if its right for you. These are the exact techniques and strategies I have used over the years to build a successful local lead generation business, and I know it can help you do the same! As with anything I recommend, iron clad, 100% guaranteed risk free … you have two months to look this over and if it isn’t for you, you money instantly and cheerfully refunded.

Guest Post from: Bryan Sayers, ForexFraud.com

When you start getting to the age when retirement is down the road, you might be asking yourself if you have enough money saved up. This is a scary topic for many, who unfortunately do not have enough cash on hand to continue living their current lifestyle. It is really up to you to make sure that part of your paycheck is put away into some sort of retirement account. Many companies will match a percentage of their employee’s contribution to their retirement accounts. This is a nice benefit to have; it will encourage the employee to save money because they are being given an additional sum on top of their base salary. Of course this additional sum cannot be accessed until you hit retirement, and can start withdrawing money from the account. However the additional contributions that your employer has matched over the course of your career can be a substantial sum.

In the past few years there are a many people who have lost some if not all of their retirement money because of fraud. The Bernie Madoff and Allen Stanford cases are the two most recognizable, but there were many other money managers that stole their client’s money. The choice of money manager might not have been your choice, but instead the company has picked where to keep your retirement account. Even if they are the ones deciding who manages the employee’s retirement fund, do your research on the money management professionals who are in charge of your funds. The same research is needed if you are self directing money into a fund that you are planning to use when you hit retirement. There are many money management companies out there that will offer you advice on how to manage your money. They are then hoping that you in fact choose them for your money management needs, so they can collect the fees.

Most brokerage firms will allow you to set up a self direct retirement fund, also called a Roth IRA. If you have the time and enjoy doing financial research, giving yourself control over your retirement saving might be a good idea. You will save yourself the management fees that money managers charge their clients. You will also know exactly what you are investing in, because you are executing the buy and sell orders. Setting up your retirement account that you manage is not without risks. The market is very volatile and you are not guaranteed to make money buying or selling stocks. However if you want to buy risk free assets like Certificates of Deposit or Money Market short term paper, then there is no need to pay someone to make these trades for you. The only reason retirees should use a professional money manager is if they want to diversify their holdings into stocks and bonds that they do not understand. Forex trading is also another investment vehicle that could be considered. The forex market is inherently a riskier market to invest in so make sure your money manager has a good track record of investing in currencies if you choose this path. Money managers do not always make money, so giving a professional you money might not bring you the return you were promised.

My advice to everyone who wants to plan for retirement is to locate a company that has been in business for more than a few years. This shows the world that they have the knowledge to guide the average investor through the market successfully. The more branch offices they have the better, with an office close by you can speak to a person about your financial goals, and work on a strategy that fits your needs. The fraudulent companies out there are mainly small hedge funds that require you to lock up your money for a determined period of time. Make sure that you can always gain access to your funds at any time. If your funds have to be tied up for a significant period of time, for example over two years, this could raise some red flags. There are hedge funds that will promise you big returns, but do your research and ask around before you commit any of your retirement saving to a money manager of this type. We can all hope that the Securities and Exchange Commission is doing their job and watching out over the average investor and retiree, so that we can go to sleep at night knowing we have enough money to last us through this period of life. However, you must research every company that you are planning on putting money into and if it sounds too good to be true it probably is

My blogging and work from home colleague Jim Krukal recently published a post with this interesting graphic.  Keep in mind it is almost a year old and you can be sure the numbers haven’t gone down any since the survey was taken.

When you think about starting a business for yourself … perhaps to empower your retirement … you may not be thinking about anything that  is really on-line based.  That’s fine well and good, bit if you ignore the on-line would as one of your primary means of marketing you will be throwing away close to half your potential audience of clients:

Uploaded with plasq‘s Skitch!

What do you think? Is it worth ignoring that many people who might be looking exactly for the service you are interested in?

Recently a friend of mine who lives in a condo development in California told me a story.  He was home with his eight-year-old daughter when they heard someone come up the front steps to their townhouse condo, and then a big “plop” noise of something being dropped and the sound of the steps walking away back down the steps.

“What was that, Daddy”, she asked.

“Open the door and see,” he advised her.

Well out on their front porch was a yellow plastic sack with a thick yellow soft cover book inside.

The girl slipped the book out of the bag and asked her dad what it was.

Yep, at 8 years old this “thoroughly modern Millie” had never seen … a Yellow Pages directory!

After her dad explained what it was and the girl thumbed through some pages, know what her comment was?

“These ads are so ugly and it’s hard to find anything, why don’t people just use the Internet?”

Two days later my friend was taking his trash to the complex’s dumpster area, where there was a special dumpster set aside for recycling pick up of the paper business directories.  It was not only overflowing with unwanted Yellow Books already, many were the current edition still fresh in their pristine plastic distribution bags.  He told me that by quickly counting the books in one small stack he could easily estimate at least half or more of the complex residents had just tossed the brand new book away, unneeded and unwanted.

My friend then bumped into the complex’s outdoor gardener/caretaker with a wheelbarrow, bringing more yellow books to the collection point.  The groundskeeper said, “Always the same every year now, can’t these companies see no one wants there ads”?

So are you as smart as a grounds maintenance man?  I was going to ask if you were as smart as a fifth grader, but at 8, Millie is only in grade three. 

Can Millie teach us anything, even from the third grade?

Yes this is an offer.  An offer that can pay you huge dividends.  If you still aren’t sure yet, let me remind you that I’m offering you EVERYTHING you need to work from home successfully, including a complete listing of work at home jobs and business opportunities, at absolutely no risk! I’m offering a full, money-back guarantee if this guide doesn’t deliver exactly what I’ve promised here, you get every penny back.  A better deal than a business directory ad, that’s for sure!

Recently a reader wrote in with some questions.  Here are some answers I provided, many are of general interest, so I republish them anonymously here:

One concern this reader has is about the “Stay Navy” retirement calculator I link to here at Retired Pay World.

The Navy site “throws” a warning about the security certificate when people visit for the first time.  You can see my explanation below.  So far as I am concerned it is perfectly safe, but I can’t control how the webmaster there chooses to run his/her site. 

Here’s the issue with that warning.  Sad to say, most government computer systems administrators refuse to buy the commercial security certificates the rest of the world uses to certify their web site ownership.

They seem to figure that since you wouldn’t get these security warnings if you were coming to the site via a computer already inside the military (.mil) domain, you wouldn’t get these warnings they can ignore the civilian side of the equation.  I can assure you I use that site all the time and there have been no problems with it, but especially in a work situation you need to talk with your local systems admin/network security guy.

You can give that site an "exception" after the initial message about the security certificate and it will work normally ever after, but right now, like a lot of things military, the situation is what it is.  Sorry about that, it’s outside my control.

Now let’s move on to the real questions.  Are you a retied active duty member or a "gray area" retired reservist/guards,am waiting to draw retired pay at age 60?  Your statement abut TRICARE starting at age 60 makes me think you might be a reservist, but I can only guess.

If you are retied from the active forces or retired from the reserves and drawing pay, the good news is, TRICARE "Standard" is free for life.  It’s a benefit given to retirees to make up for what many call the "broken promise" of free medical care for life that used to be made to servicemen.  My personal experience with TRICARE in the States has been good. I had a very good health care plan through my Federal Civil Service retirement, when I went to the doc I always showed them my military retied ID first, they made a claim to TRICARE and I used my federal plan to cover most of any difference.

TRICARE also operates a very economical Mail Order Pharmacy, which is also free for life.

The bad news is, at age 65 you will automatically be signed up for Medicare Part A (hospital care) and Part B (doctors and other outpatient care).  Part A is free, Part B costs … this year it is about $110 a month.  Part B requires a monthly premium for life.  But Part B is optional.  You can decline it and you won’t be charged.  Two factors to consider

Your company’s medical insurance (which you hint that you are considering keeping) … may essentially require you to have Medicare Part B.  Typically health plans expect that over 65, you look to Medicare to provide care first, then the commercial company "picks up the slack".  You need to explore this issue with them … can you even keep the insurance in retirement without Medicare Part B. and specifically, what will it cost?

Second factor … TRICARE.  remember I said it’s free for life?  Well, technically TRICARE itself _is_ free, but at age 65 you will automatically be converted from TRICARE Standard to TRICARE For Life (TFL).  TFL requires you have Medicare Part B … works the same as most commercial plans.  You see doctors of your choice, you submit through Medicare and what Medicare doesn’t cover, TFL will.

It sounds to me as if no one has explained TRICARE to you very well.  You may want to start here: http://www.tricare.mil/mybenefit/  They have a world of information available thee … there are other "flavors" of TRICARE aside from the standard plan you are automatically under now which are available to those residing in the US.  There are also many supplementary plans that add on to TRICARE through organizations like the Reserve Officers Association (ROA) http://www.roa.org/site/PageServer  Non-Commissioned Officers Association http://www.ncoausa.org/ and other worthy groups.

Hope this will be of some help.

Best regards

Dave

MSgt, USAFR (ret)

I came across a really good military retirement calculator recently.  This one is totally free, responsive, and seems to cover all situations … straight active duty retirement, straight Reserve Forces retirement and most any combination of the two.

A direct link to the all purpose military retirement calculator is here.

You can also reach the calculator plus other important information by using the top menu bar

“Military” selection here, and then selecting “Reserve Retirement” here as shown.

The calculator link is then right in the middle of the page.

What do you think, should I instead build out a whole page of calculators?  Active Duty, Reserve, FERS, CSRS, Social Security, etc.?

Being a management consultant is one way many folks have found to make a good living for themselves.  And if you have the education, experience, patience and personal skills to keep yourself employed as a management consultant on at least a semi-regular basis, it can certainly work well for you.

After all. many of my readers here are retirees.  Perhaps retired from the US military and now looking for a way to supplement that retirement annuity without having to search out and hold down another regular J*O*B. (My shorthand for “Just Over Broke” by the way.)

I also have many senior citizen readers … welcome, I am one myself you know .. who want to empower their retirement and not live, heart in mouth, in breathless anticipation of what the “benevolent government” is going to do next to try to balance the budget on the backs of the elderly.

Or perhaps you are any age but unsatisfied with how your life is going and wishing there was something better out there.

Maybe you are a person living in one country, say the US or the UK or Australia, who dearly wants to move to another country, perhaps the Philippines, because you want to completely change your lifestyle … but you have no idea how you would support yourself there.

They say to always write blog posts for your readers … how can I write an article of interest to all those different folks? 

Let me take a shot at finding some common thread that pretty much applies to all of you .. Making Money.

They say money can’t buy happiness, and perhaps they may have a point, but having been broke in the past and very much ‘not so broke’ now, I can assure you that it is one hell of a lot easier to be happy if you have money in the bank.

How do most of you figure that you will ever put money in the bank?

Well, if you are like the majority, you have been brainwashed for the last couple hundred years that you go into debt to go to college, then “sell yourself” to some faceless company who “owns you” for the next 40 years or so, and then if you are lucky enough to live that long, spits you out the door at the age of 60-something or 70-something with a mediocre pension that can be taken away in the blink of an eye.

Notice how government pensions didn’t get a Cost Of Living (COLA) increase this current year?  What do you think is coming next?  Notice how many people who were once sitting pretty with their income from Money market Funds and IRA’s (Individual retirement Accounts) now have to scrimp and save just to deal with semi-important things, like keeping the electricity turned on?

What if there were a better way?  A way that is not based on the generosity or management skills of the government?  Or how much a corporation like BP decides to dole out each year (I’m sure glad I don’t have a J*O*B with those sons-of-bitches at the moment.)

What if there was a legal, sustainable way to be sure you didn’t have to go without getting your teeth fixed because the “bright young star” manger of your investment fund lost everyone but him billions last year by buying insanely stupid mortgage derivatives that an imbecile on the street is smart enough to know are phony?

Well, forget the what if’s … there is a way.  This is not the only way, for sure, but it is something I can recommend and still sleep well at night.  It’s called Affiliate Marketing and I know it works, because I have the deposits in my bank accounts and the paid income tax receipts that prove it works.

I’m not talking any investment at all .. except perhaps a how to do it manual which I’ll talk about in a minute … with absolutely zero risk.

I’m not talking any sort of investment, like sticks or chasing pips in the Forex game

I’m not even talking “putting up a web site”:, although many affiliate marketers do, there are proven ways to make good money with no web site at all.

I’m not talking building mailing lists or pestering relatives and friends with those stupid multilevel marketing programs … you need never email or speak with a single stranger.

I’m certainly not talking sales .. that’s totally the job of the folks you affiliate with.

And I am certainly not talking blogging .. because although I love what I am doing, making money with a blog is really a long-term investment of a lot of time and more than little effort .. and 99% of the bogs you see out there never make one thin dime.

A word or two about what affiliate marketing is:

… In a nutshell, affiliate marketing is an arrangement between an online merchant and affiliate (you), in which the affiliate earns a commission for generating sales, leads and/or clicks for the merchant’s web site.

For example, many credit card companies will pay you between $5 and $20 in commission for each visitor that you send to their site who completes a credit card application, and up to $55 for those whose applications are approved.

That’s a great commission, and although many companies pay less, there are also many companies that pay much MORE!

Here’s another example.

If you promote this Elite TR6633 Treadmill which sells for $6,495.00 as an affiliate of MegaFitness, they will pay you a 10% commission… or $649.50!

"Fantastic!", you say.

You’re absolutely right!

How much you will earn depends in part on the products you choose to sell, and in the Super Affiliate Handbook I show you exactly how to find the best companies and products to promote. …

Sounds pretty simple Dave, so with all this lead-in, where is this going?

Fair question. 

If you want to learn how to make money with affiliate marketing, I suggest that rather than spend months or years putzing around, you get a simple course from a real expert, study it AND APPLY IT (no course is worth a hoot if you don’t take action).

Seems sensible, Dave, but there are seemingly millions of people out there selling information on Affiliate marketing .. how do we know your recommendation (or anyone else’s for that matter) is worth reading?

Again, fair question.  Let me answer with a little story from real-life, pre-Internet days:

Years ago, long before the Internet came along my mom worked for a fellow with a really cute little work at home business.  He literally worked from home … his one car garage was filled with printed products, mailing supplies and my mom’s desk. 

She would sit and open mail for a couple hours in the morning, writing names on address labels and putting checks and cash (yes people used to send cash in the mail) into neat piles for bank deposits, and then she spent the afternoon stuffing the product into envelopes and applying the address labels and stamps. 

On her way home she went to the post office to drop off the outbound mail and through the drive-through window of her employer’s bank to make deposit of the checks and cash that had come in that day.

The product?  Simply a little 12 or 14 page manual about how to fix hydraulic jacks that, well, wouldn’t jack any more.  It’s something the business owner had learned in a couple years working for a repair company who paid him a pittance to repair jacks. 

When he lost that job, instead of schlepping around to find another dirty, low-level job fixing other people’s jacks and making at least three times his salary in profit for a new employer, he tried something different.  He just took what he learned and wrote down the simple parts, and had a little mini-booklet printed and set out to sell it.

Now how did he sell it?  Well that’s the interesting part.  With no Internet (this was years ago, mind you .. in the 1960’s) and no chance of making mass market media like TV or radio spots work, he looked at special interest magazines … “Popular Science” was one of his best advertising venues .. world-wide circulation and not too high a price for a little classified add in the back.

But could you start a business from a classified ad?  How would you know if it would work? 

Well my mom’s boss explained his secret to me, and it was dirt-simple.  Read magazines you think your prospects might also read.  Look at the ads to see if one of yours would ‘fit’.  Then go to the library and look up issues of that magazine from 5 or more years ago, noting who was advertising then who still is advertising today … if you see many ‘familiar faces’, bingo … ads in that magazine produce, since people have been paying for them for years and years.

Today, the Internet is my “Popular Science”.  But the same key ways of deciding what is worthwhile hold true.  At least 5 years ago I started making money online, and one of the ‘regulars’ I came across was a lady name of Rosalind Gardner.  And she’s still here today as a leader in the field, and still selling a very popular “repair manual” after 5 or more years.  There HAS to be something to it, no?  Or hoe could she even afford to run a scam that long.  I can assure you this is no scam.  Here’s a little excerpt of her journey….

This is the amazing true story of how a woman with NO business experience became a Super Affiliate earning $500,000+ (*) per year selling other people’s stuff online .

July 23, 2009

Dear Aspiring Affiliate Marketer,

Although I hate the term and don’t own a tiara, my colleagues call me the "Affiliate Marketing Queen". A January 2009 trade magazine pegs me as the female affiliate marketer (since 1998) with the most experience.

Over the years, thousands of ‘regular, non-technical folks’ (just like you — and me) have learned how to start and run their own successful affiliate marketing businesses using the methods I teach in the Super Affiliate Handbook (and as an industry expert speaker, magazine columnist and consultant) and YOU can learn them too!

I teach by example – using  my own affiliate sites. From blog installation, to design, content creation and all methods of marketing – I STILL do it all. (Note: Many other affiliate training packages use MY affiliate sites as examples without my permission. That’s because those so-called ‘trainers’ don’t have affiliate sites. They pretend to be working affiliates to take your money, but they don’t have any real experience.)

So, if you’re tired of bogus claims and hype and want to learn how affiliate marketing really works, keep reading … here’s a lady who has been succeeding at this game more than 5 years now … she has staying power, her methods work, and they can work for you, if you chose to actually stop "searching" and start "doing".

As Rosalind says, your search can end here, just the way my mom’s employer built a whole successful work at home business out of a simple magazine ad … merely by leveraging knowledge and common sense he already had.  Well you leverage yours? This is a fork in your road, as Yogi once said, “Take It”.

Something a lot of people are dying to know. The data is from my own consulting experience, current consulting friends, and publicly available sources.

They should be pretty close to the real numbers. Two resources Ive found valuable are my blog – Management Consulted – and Wall Street Oasis Here are the numbers. 1st year out of college undergraduate: Base salaries: $50-65K Signing bonuses: $5-10K Relocation/moving expenses: $5-10K Year-end bonus: $5-10K depending on firm.

That’s an average of $70-75K in first year compensation. As a summer intern, you can expect a comparable, pro-rated salary (minus the bonuses). Please note that this does not include retirement contributions. First year out of business school/MBA: Base salaries: $110-140K Signing bonuses: $20-40K Relocation/moving expenses: $10-20K Year-end bonus: $20-40K Thats an average of $160-200K in total first year compensation. Please note that this does not include retirement contributions. Continued progression through partner: My numbers have a higher risk of being inaccurate as this is only from personal anecdotes – so take them with a grain of salt Engagement manager/Project leader: $175-250K Associate principal/Senior project leader: $250-400K Partner/Principal: $500-800K Senior partner/Director: $1M plus At more senior levels the pay is increasingly variable and performance-based How consulting salaries lose to finance: At almost every tenure in consulting,

your salary will be 30-50% lower than a comparable position in investment banking. This varies by year, of course, and median salaries in non-banking departments (such as research, asset management, sales & trading) are lower. But the truth is, consulting is not a profession to make big bucks. Especially relative to finance.

How consulting firms make up the lower salaries: Better benefits – health care, life insurance Retirement contributions – this one is important because at places like Boston Consulting Group, they’ll contribute an added 5-10% of your base salary to your retirement funds, effectively a 5-10% year-end bonus! (A reader just informed me that his MBB retirement contribution starting full-time in 09 was 4.5%, which is lower than Id seen in previous years) More generous expense/reimbursement policies, travel perks, etc Hope everyone found that informative. Good luck breaking into consulting.

For years now I have used programs run by a smart fellow down Texas ay name of Jonathan Leger (he prefers the French style pronunciation, “lee-geere”).  Jonathan is one of the more proactive and industrious of the high-level Internet Marketing crowd.  He doesn’t rest on his laurels and he’s always trying something new … and he’s not afraid to reinvest in his own businesses and put his money where his mouth is.

If any of you have started learning the most basic principles of getting your sites “ranked” in Google … that is, coming up high on the Google SERP pages (Search Engine Results pages), then you know that one of the current best practice ways to do this is to submit articles to any number of the leading on-line article directories and, in the article or at the little author bio box provided, leave a link pointed back to your site with specific “anchor text” that tells Google not only how to find your site, but gives Google a very strong clue as to what you want your site ranked for.

This is not only one of the current “big things” to do, it’s a proven technique, and it has been proven already to be highly profitable.

It’s profitable from the site owner’s standpoint, for sure, because it guides Google to provide what we generally call “targeted” visitors .. folks who are interested in the subject matter of your site, rather than just any old bored surfer. 

If you are selling something on your site, this vastly increases your “conversions”, that is the number of folks who are lead to your site by search, see what they need to solve a problem they have, and click on the “buy now” link.

It’s also highly profitable if you monetize your site with AdSense or a competitive “contextual (related to your subject matter) ad program.

An example.  If I wrote an article to promote this site. I wouldn’t sigh the article: by Dave Starr of Retiredpay.com , that just tells Google the site is “there” … which Google already knows.

I want this site to rank highly for search terms like “Seniors make money with AdSense”, “Retirees make money with AdSense” and so forth.  So I would sign the article something like: by Dave Starr who teaches Seniors how to make money online with Google AdSense.

The “teaches Seniors to make money online with AdSense” phrase is called ‘anchor text’.  For every article Google comes across with anchor text that conveys this message, you can think of it as ‘vote’ for this site being recorded by Google.  I already rank pretty well on Google for that term … type it in your search window and see … but just getting on the first page or search results isn’t enough for me, I want to be umber one.  (Type in “Seniors and Retirees making money” and you’ll see who is number one for that phrase).

Every phrase with advertising money being spent with Google that you can rank highly for means something in your AdSense earnings.  Get enough good-paying phrases in enough page one of the Google SERPS pages and your income will grow nicely.

So it’s easy to see why Jonathan wants massive numbers of articles out there with specific anchor text linking to income producing sites.  He’ll become more profitable.

But this is also profitable from the non-site owner’s standpoint as well.  Suppose you just happened along here looking for legitimate, legal and above board ways to supplement your retirement by doing a little work for home.  Article writing, specifically SEO (Search Engine Optimized) article writing might be a very good venture for you.

As you can see if you go to Jonathan’s site and try to sign up for his $5.00 per article offer, he has already closed it … he got over 1,000 folks to sign up to write articles for him at $5 bucks a piece in 24 hours.

But the door is by no means closed to you.  Here’s an example I can vouch for that will give you all the info you need to start today, with nothing more than your keyboard and your mind, making even more than the “Lucky 1,000“ who got in on Jonathan’s offer before it closed.

What if I told you that 30-60 days from now, you could easily be making $1,000 to $2,000/week working from home as a freelance writer? You probably wouldn’t believe me, and I wouldn’t blame you. But, it’s true and I can prove it to you — not by my own word, but by others who are doing it too.

Finally, A Real Way to Make Money from Home as a Freelance Writer!

This is a real way to make money as a freelance writer that — surprise, surprise — you have to actually do some writing work. What is this freelance writing opportunity?

SEO article writing. And, I’ve been doing it since the fall of 2007. Within three months I was so busy that I had to hire other writers to outsource work to. These days I routinely bill $200-$500/day — sometimes more. And, these are normal, run-of-the-mill weeks. ….Click here to view more details or ==>>

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