Writers needed for long-term project (Telecommuting okay)
A personal PR firm is seeking skilled, detailed writers experienced in writing web copy. This is a remote contract position with flexible hours. We utilize our team of writers on an ongoing basis so this is not a one-time project. As a writer, you will create original content for professional biographies. Client base includes executives, professionals, and businesses. The ideal candidate will consistently write content with the following elements in mind: solid organization and good flow, clear language and word choice, professional tone, high quality of content, right length, correct spelling, punctuation, and syntax.

JOB DETAILS:
- You will write high quality biographies. The typical format of a biography is 250-350 words about a specific person
- Source data will be provided, so you will not be required to research each person/topic
- We will provide detailed style guidelines
- You will be paid a set rate of $20.00 per biography once the content has been approved by an editor

REQUIREMENTS:
- Experience writing professionally is preferred, but we will also consider college students
- Native English speaker based in the United States
- Willingness to submit email address and be added to our common platform for communication purposes

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS:
1) We manage and pay our team on the oDesk platform. Please apply online at oDesk. If you do not have an oDesk contractor account, please create a new one at www.odesk.com.
2) Please ensure that you have completed the Education and Employment History sections on the Resume tab of your oDesk contractor profile
3) Take the U.S. English Basic Skills Test and English Spelling Test (US version) on oDesk

***Candidates who do not follow the application instructions will not be considered***

Location: Telecommuting okay
Compensation: $20 per piece (250-350 words)
Telecommuting is ok.
This is a part-time job.
This is a contract job.
Principals only. Recruiters, please don’t contact this job poster.
Please, no phone calls about this job!
Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.

See the original Job Posting on CraigsList!

As usual – anytime you’re responding to things on CraigsList, take a moment to review the CraigsList Scam warnings page.

This telecommuting job posting notes a lot of details and tells you that they use oDesk to manage their remote team! That’s a great sign that the job is legit. If you’ve already got an oDesk account, you’re good to go. If not, it’s easy to set yourself up! You can sign up to freelance on oDesk here.

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Nominations Open for 2012

WARREN, Mich., Dec. 5, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Despite the economic challenges of the last few years, 68 percent of Best and Brightest Companies to Work For applicants still managed to increase their employee base compensation in 2010, according to Jennifer Kluge, president and CEO of the National Association for Business Resources (NABR), the organization that sponsors the annual competition in several Midwest regions. “In addition, we also found that most menu-driven benefits packages and financial incentives now exceed standard perks to include items such as employee discounts with negotiated vendors (78 percent), wellness incentives (73 percent) and much more,” she said.

“This year’s competition also showed us that work-life balance issues continue to grow in importance with nearly 75 percent of companies offering their employees opportunities to telecommute while more than 90 percent offer flexible scheduling that includes everything from flex-time to job sharing, and family leave policies that go beyond legal requirements are offered by nearly 60 percent. More than 48 percent of applicants offer a phased return-to-work process for those coming back from a leave of absence,” Kluge continued.

She went on to explain that Best and Brightest Companies had a strong employee focus in other areas:

• 80 percent rely on some type of survey to annually gauge their employees’ level of commitment.
• 91 percent use tools like an intranet to communicate with employees including webcasts (1 out of 2) and leader blogs (1 in 4).
• 55 percent offer recruitment and retention programs that include internal job postings (69 percent) and referral bonuses (60 percent).
• Education that includes podcasts, webinars and learning management systems that encourage employees to participate in skills training (98 percent).
• More than 80 percent sponsor local charitable activities with more than 87 percent conducting on-site activities such as blood banks and food drives.
• Half of the organizations host or sponsor activities that celebrate multi-culturalism and diversity while 67 percent offer written diversity statements.

“After more than 10 years of conducting Best and Brightest Company competitions, we consistently find that successful companies understand that their business results, including the quality and strength of their customer relationships, are directly tied to how well they focus on their employees,” said Kluge. “This year’s results continue to raise the bar and prove once again that employees who are valued and connected to their work are more likely to give higher levels of discretionary effort and be more loyal to their organizations resulting in a win-win for all involved.”

The “101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For,” a program of the National Association for Business Resources (NABR) is presented annually in Chicago, Atlanta, Houston, Metropolitan Detroit, Grand Rapids and nationally. Nominations are now being accepted for 2012. Visit www.101bestandbrightest.com to obtain an application.

Based in Warren, Mich., the National Association for Business Resources (NABR) is a business organization of small to medium-sized businesses, representing more than 20,000 members who employ over 200,0000 persons nationally. Members include attorneys, physicians, architects, accountants, construction companies, banks, retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers and the like.

Member businesses receive numerous benefits including free legal and financial consultations; discounted technology, automotive and office products; employee training and recruitment assistance; and competitive insurance rates. Visit NABR online at www.nationalbiz.org.

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If you’ve ever priced office furniture, you know just how expensive some of those uber-cool desks, bookshelves, file cabinets, and chairs can be. If you’re thinking about telecommuting, defining your work-at-home space is essential. Creating a home office space, or upgrading your current work space, can cost a pretty penny. But guess what, you don’t have to spend a fortune to make your space functional and aesthetically pleasing.

In most cases, you’ll be spending quite a bit of money on hardware, software, and other work necessities. So remember, your home office workspace is all about your own productivity and comfort. Unless you’re an event planner or a photographer with a home office, your space probably won’t need to serve as a showcase business front and you’re probably not going to be sharing your space with too many people. Your home office is one place that can really be all about YOU and YOUR tastes.

My own home work space has gone through several evolutions over the past 14 years and I’ve learned a thing or two along the way. So today I thought I’d share some of what I’ve learned.

First of all, it really helps to define your needs and define your space:

Define your office needs
This is the fun, creative step. Depending on what you do, or will be doing, your needs will be different. List all of the equipment you’ll need to accommodate in your space. Things like a desktop computer, a desk, a chair, a laptop, a printer, a land line phone, headphones, speakers, calendar, bulletin board, filing cabinet, etc. Brainstorm with an eye toward the future so that your office space will be able to meet your needs today and in the future. Highlight the essentials, but list the future desires, too. Knowing what you need today and what you would like to incorporate into your space in the future is half the battle!

Define your office space
This is the not-so-fun, practical step. Maybe you’re looking to use a spare bedroom, or convert that formal dining room, or carve out a corner of the family room. A home office work space can be as small, or as expansive, as your space allows. Look at the list of items you listed as wanting to incorporate and begin to imagine how you might accommodate them in the space you’re considering. Does your space allow for a desk? Does it have enough room for the rest of the things on your list? If so, great. If not, you have a choice to make – whittle the list and/or figure out a way to increase the space enough to include your essentials. If necessary, pick an additional storage space for everything else on your list.

Now that you’ve got your list of needs and a suitable space defined, it’s time to start getting everything together. Here are some creative ideas for making your home office space your own, aesthetically pleasing and functional, even on a shoestring budget:

• Re-purposing
  I love to recycle and reuse. Get out your list of items and start looking at the things you already own in a whole new light. Could that broken piano bench serve as your new printer table? How about that old changing table? Think outside the box and look everywhere – your basement, your attic, your garage, your living room, your bedroom. Gather, or take note of, anything you think might serve a new purpose without being missed in its old realm.

  Remember, you can refinish and re purpose lots of things with a bit of paint, stain, cloth, etc. Use it first and see how it meets your needs. You might not use it for long before you find it’s just not going to work – but it’ll certainly serve as a place holder while you’re working to define and create your space. And, if it turns out it’ll work for the long-haul, having it actually function in your office space will give you a clue as to what might need to be changed about it. Maybe that piano bench that’s now housing your printer would be even better with a skirt for hiding the reams of paper and other supplies that have accumulated beneath it.

• Swapping
  Besides finding things you already own, swapping is the next best thing! Maybe your old diaper changing table just isn’t going to work as your new printer table for whatever reason, but it’s still in great shape. If you know someone who could use it, consider offering a swap. Tell them you’re working on a new office space and see what they might have to offer in exchange. A group of friends with a list of items is even better for working out swaps.
• Craigs List, Classifieds, Good Will, Consignment Shops
  Sometimes you just need to go on the hunt. It’s fairly easy to shop for brand new items if you’ve got an endless budget to work with. If you’re budget conscious and you’ve already gathered what you can freely, the next stop might be to do a little creative shopping. While I’m a tad leery of Craigs List and local classified ads for obvious reasons I will readily admit I’m a huge fan of Goodwill, Salvation Army, and consignment shops. I’ve found so many treasures from second-hand stores that I consider myself a connoisseur. And don’t stop there. You can also look for inspiration and deals at garage sales, yard sales, flea markets, swap meets, and estate auctions.

  My most recent snag was a pair of matching file cabinets from an used office furniture store. I found them in the graveyard section, you know, the back of the store where you can barely walk between the beat up and abandoned goods. They were in awesome shape with one exception, neither piece had a top. I think maybe they were part of a huge office desk collection where they were featured underneath another piece of furniture. But without the top, they weren’t very functional. I got a great deal on both, took them home, cleaned them up and polished them and the looked nearly brand new. I could have topped them with a myriad of things, so I used them first, without any top at all, while I weighed my options. I considered natural stone, granite, a single piece of plywood that would span across both, and an old door. I ended up finding two pieces of chopping-block-type wood on clearance at Lowe’s. I cut them to fit and then decided to stain them to match the cabinets. Viola! I had two, wonderful, functional pieces of office furniture at a fraction of the cost.

• Custom Builds
  While topping two file cabinets with wood doesn’t make me a carpenter, I consider those pieces of furniture custom builds. If you need a desk and have two short filing cabinets and an old door, you might put on your carpenter hat and create one. You’d be surprised what walking around a thrift store and a hardware store can inspire you to think of. If you don’t see what you’re looking for, ask an employee for help. Explain what you’re working with and what you’re trying to do, and they often have some great ideas. That’s how I found the chopping block clearance wood. Thanks to the helpful, red-vested Lowe’s guy who took the time to help me out.
• Recruit the Kids
  Getting your kids involved ensures they’ll love and respect your space as a work-zone and they’re quite the little creative thinkers. Need a pen holder? Get them to dress up a small coffee can or help you look around the house for something that will work. Need some inspirational artwork for the walls? You can buy blank canvases from hobby stores and at a pretty reasonable price if you wait until they’re on sale. Get the kids to paint a picture, or have them create a canvas of hand prints, or decoupage things onto the canvas. Take the opportunity to teach your kids all about what you do and why you do it. Take the mystery out of the space, but have set boundaries. Let them know what they can and can’t do in your work space.

I’m frugal. I admit it. But the one place you don’t want to skimp when you’re creating your office space is the all-important work chair. It needs to be comfortable, it needs to fit you well, and it needs to be suited to the desk you’ll be using. Unless it meets all those requirements, it’s not a good deal even if you picked it up for a steal. This is the one office item I recommend buying new and test driving before you buy. Spend an afternoon at a local office supply store sitting in every chair you see. Sometimes the ones that look the most comfy aren’t.

Whatever your office needs, if you get creative and you’ll be surprised at what you can create – even on a shoestring budget.

Photo Credit
The photo above is fromFernanda Mancini’s photostream on Flickr. You can find a ton of inspiration looking at home offices on Flickr, HGTV, and interior design sites. I love the mobiles and am thinking of how I can incorporate something like that in my own space.

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by Lori Radun

Your boss calls you in his office today and hands you a $2,500.00 bonus check because the company had a good year. Are you thankful?

You go in for your 20 week ultrasound. As you watch your growing baby on the screen, the doctor informs you that everything looks great. Your baby boy is healthy. Are you thankful?

Your husband comes home with a dozen roses. He remembered your anniversary! Are you thankful?

Of course you are. It’s easy to be thankful when everything is going great. When we’re on top of the mountain, and we’re having a beautiful day and our blessings are easy to see, we are thankful. And we should be.

As you sit across from your attorney, he informs you that bankruptcy is your only recourse. Your dream and your business are going down the tubes. Are you thankful?

You and your husband have been going through a rough time in your marriage for over two years. You barely speak to one another anymore. Are you thankful?

If you answered yes to these last two scenarios, you are way ahead of most people. It is not easy to be thankful when we’re sitting in the valley. When life seems to be handing us a bunch of lemons, we usually feel bitter or victimized.

Let’s assume there is a new product out on the market. You can pick up a pair of “gratitude glasses” at Target for $19.99. These glasses enable you to see life in a whole different way. Here are some of the benefits you can expect from these “gratitude glasses”.

There are no problems.
With these glasses, you have no problems in your life. Everything in your life is an opportunity. When we perceive life through our fears, unpaid bills and conflict, for instance, become problems or challenges. However, these glasses enable us to see life with loving eyes. The unpaid bills are an opportunity to learn more about financial responsibility. Conflict is an opportunity to learn how to love more deeply.

There are no mistakes.
With the gratitude glasses, mistakes disappear. These glasses help us understand that we are doing the best we can at any given moment, and so is everyone else. We all make decisions based on who we are at the time. Instead of viewing choices as “mistakes”, why not look at them as an opportunity to learn more about ourselves and other people?

There are no annoying people.
Put on the gratitude glasses and suddenly all the annoying people in your life become your friends. You’ve heard the saying, “Mean people need love.” Your new glasses now give you the ability to release your anger and understand the annoying people on a much deeper level. You begin to appreciate your differences and the judgments disappear. Your love begins to transform not only you, but others as well.

Change is good.
You pick up your gratitude glasses and put them on, and suddenly you embrace change. You are thankful that life does not always happen as planned. You stop trying to control life, and instead let life unfold. Change is exciting, fear of the unknown is gone, and you can’t wait to see what happens next. Your faith is strong and unstoppable.

Pain has a purpose.
Whether it is physical or emotional pain, it’s hard to go through life without experiencing it. But with your gratitude glasses, you see that your pain has a purpose. Your physical pain tells you that something in your mind or body is not working well. Your emotional pain is a wake up call to the transformation that is possible. Without the valleys, we cannot appreciate the mountain tops.

These inexpensive “gratitude glasses” offer so many more benefits, but what if you only received these five advantages? Would you purchase the glasses? Would you wear your gratitude glasses all the time? What if I told you the glasses were yours for free? All you have to do is shift your energy by changing your thoughts.

When we allow ourselves to wallow in victim and fighting thoughts, our brains release catabolic hormones that are destructive to our entire physical system, and ultimately, our success. By wearing your “gratitude glasses” you shift your thoughts to positive and constructive ones. Thinking thoughts of thankfulness and love makes an energetic shift in your mind and body, and the results will be astonishing.

A life coach just gave you a different way to look at life. Are you thankful?

About The Author
Lori Radun, CEC is a certified life coach and professional speaker specializing in personal development for women. For more personal development tips and the special report “5 Tips for Maximizing your Time”, visit http://www.loriradun.com

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*thank·ful adjective
– feeling or expressing gratitude; appreciative.

*grat·i·tude noun
– the quality or feeling of being grateful or thankful

I am really excited about something we’re doing this year on Thanksgiving Day and thought I’d share it here. No, it’s not eating turkey and pumpkin pie – though I am really looking forward to that, too. For the first time since we created it back in 2003, we’re about to crack open our blessing box and read through eight or so years worth of thankful thoughts.

Years ago I ran across the idea of making a blessing box as a neat craft the kids and I could do that would also help me teach them the importance of rejoicing over the half-full glass instead of complaining about the glass being half-empty. The moment we created our box and began filling it I realized a project that started as a way to teach my kids the importance of being thankful was going to be so, SO much more.

When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.
~ Gilbert K. Chesterton

Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world.
~ John Milton

What is a blessing box, you ask?
A blessing box, or a thank bank, or whatever cutesy name you decide to call it, is a really basic idea. The physical box can be any kind of box you like . . . a shoe box decorated with construction paper, one of those white boxes you can get for 99 cents at your local craft store, an antique wooden trinket box, or even an empty tissue box. The beauty of the box doesn’t come from what it looks like on the outside, but rather from the act of using it and the treasures you accumulate inside.

The premise is super simple.
Every day, or every week, or every so often you take a moment to write down something you’re thankful for on a note card or a small slip of paper and you stick the note inside your box.

The kids and I took small cardboard box we had around the house and, using a glue and water mixture, we decoupaged the sealed box with all sorts of birthday party napkins we had on hand. Then we cut a slot in the top. This meant that once we put something inside the box it was there until we decided to ‘crack’ the box open like a pinata.

My kids were too young to write their own notes, but it was amazing how easily they thought of things they were grateful for. I had a hard time at first, but learned that being grateful for the simplest of things is pretty easy to do. How often do we take sleeping on freshly laundered sheets, on a bed, in a bedroom, of a home for granted? Yet when you write it down, it’s a pretty darned good thing to be thankful for.

The idea isn’t to write an essay, but to jot a note. It’s like tweeting #thankful thoughts only you’re limited by the size of your paper not by the number of characters you write. So even if you don’t like writing, or you have a man child who considers writing his arch nemesis, the thankful thought is easy enough to do, and do quickly. Before you know it, things are crossing your mind throughout the day as being “blessing box worthy” and guess what – you’re becoming more aware of all the good things and that half-full glass starts looking like a full cup.

This year we’ve decided to take the plunge and open up our box of thankful thoughts. I’m looking forward to seeing my kids’ kindergarten-handwriting written notes, the progression of their written communication skills, and remembering all of the things we have been and are thankful for. We’re kicking off Thanksgiving dinner with everyone writing what they’re grateful for on an index card and placing the notes in the new think bank and then ending the meal by cracking open the original box and reading all the notes as we transfer them to the new box for safe keeping until next Thanksgiving. This year marks the beginning of our new Thanksgiving family tradition, one that I hope our kids will carry right on through the rest of their lives and pass along to their children.

Remember all the things you’re thankful for when you’re eating turkey and pumpkin pie. And if you want to keep that thought, consider writing it down and slipping it inside your own blessing box or thank bank.

More Of My Favorite Thankful Thought Quotes . . .

Gratitude helps you to grow and expand; gratitude brings joy and laughter into your life and into the lives of all those around you.
~Eileen Caddy

Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.
~Marcus Tullius Cicero

Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.
~Melody Beattie

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.
~Melody Beattie

Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.
~Brian Tracy

At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.
~Albert Schweitzer

If a fellow isn’t thankful for what he’s got, he isn’t likely to be thankful for what he’s going to get.
~Frank Howard Clark

I’m thankful for every moment.
~Al Green

Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.
~Oprah Winfrey

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