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How to Use Images and Artwork for Inspiration at work

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Work from home jobs and home based businesses have several benefits, but there are certain disadvantages as well, for instance, the lack of motivation. Ideally, freelancers or home based businesses should be a lot more motivated as compared to someone working in a firm.

After all, you are working for yourself and it’s you who will reap all the benefits of your hard-work, but as many freelancers or home based workers find out, it can be incredibly hard to keep yourself motivated, in the absence of a manager, or fellow workers to compete with. As a freelancer, you are still answerable to your clients, but you are not as concerned about losing a client as someone might be about losing a job. You need to continuously push yourself to work harder, at least as much as you would have done in a typical job 9 to 5 jobs.

Even worse is the situation when things are just not going your way. You are putting the hard work, but it’s not paying off for one reason or another. You are not getting enough orders for your freelance job or enough sales at your online store, so you need some sort of a reminder and encouragement. In all these situations, it is important to keep your spirits high and find some reason to smile. And one of the most effective ways of doing so is to look at some memorable friends or family photographs, a painting or artwork, religious sculpture, or a simple quote that will help you get out of depressive mode and give you the strength to keep going.

But then, it’s not always possible to find a specific photograph, or remind yourself of some saying when you are in depressive mood, mainly because when you are down, it’s hard to find the strength in yourself and think clearly, let alone searching for some motivational quote to cheer you up.

Following are some ways to keep some sort of inspiring or motivational stuff in sight for immediate help when you are in need …

Get it framed:

Picture frames are mostly used to preserve and present the memorable photograph, but frames are not just meant for pictures. You can get in touch with a picture framing service and get your favorite quote, religious verses, or some inspirational painting framed, and hang it on a wall in the room where you work. Not only it will give you some much needed motivation, but looking and admiring the painting or going through the text every now and then will serve as a stress reliever because it will take your mind away from work (AKA computer screen) for some time. Good thing is, you can invest on a good quality custom frame once, and simply change the painting or quote with another one after some time.

Put it in wallet:

Doesn’t matter how depress or miserable you are, your wallet or handbag is something you will need to take out and use every once in a while. Usually all wallets have picture holders with plastic covers where you can insert a pocket size photograph of your loved ones, some inspirational saying, or an uplifting quote in these pockets and there’s every chance you will hit upon these pictures when you are feeling down.

Smart Phones:

Another thing you are bound to carry and use, irrespective of your mood and mental state, is the mobile phone or smart phone. Doesn’t matter if it’s a smartphone or a simple mobile phone, you can always set the picture or religious verses about faith or hope as the background on main screen for constant reminder.

Background & Screen Savers:

If you are working from home as a freelancer or home based business, chances are that you will be spending most of your time in front of your computer or laptop screen (which in itself can cast a negative effect on your mood). So it’s better to change your background or screen saver from the default black screen to some photograph or inspiring image/text.

Standing Out Of the Crowd – How to Design A Successful Portfolio Website

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Portfolio websites are usually considered something meant only for graphic designers, web developers, design studios, artists, photographers, and the likes. But there’s no reason why you shouldn’t go for a portfolio website to get more clients or job opportunities, regardless of your job or profession, as long as you’ve got something to write home about.

A portfolio website can serve as a resume that will help you stand out of the crowd. A job applicant with his personal website will surely make a much better impression, as compared to someone presenting a typical CV, which are a dime a dozen. Having a portfolio website is one of the most effective ways of presenting and sharing your work samples, skills, and accomplishments. All you need is to share your website with prospective clients and let the website do the job. Not only that, but it will also help you brand yourself and find a better job opportunity.

And if you are thinking that a portfolio website is only for the well-established, veteran professionals then you are quite wide off the mark. Creating a portfolio website and working on your online presence via social networks like LinkedIn is equally important for fresh graduates looking for their first job.

Here’s how to make the most of your portfolio website …

The Appearance:

Appearance includes everything from logo to banner, and the overall design to colors and typography of your website. While it’s great to be a little creative and come up with an original design, however, trying to be overly creative at the expense of the usability, accessibility, or the readability of your website is not going to cut it. For example, creating a website without a header or navigation menu might be a novel idea but your potential employers might not appreciate the time or effort required in navigating through the website, so you should leave such novel ideas for graphic designers.

Talking of graphic designers, if you are looking for some inspiration, you can search for portfolio websites by some of those web designers; no wonder some of the most catchy and impressive looking portfolio websites are by web designers themselves. If you are short on budget, you can create a website yourself while using some of those freely available CMS. If you can invest a little, you can hire some freelance web designer, or simply use one of those premium templates (e.g. MotoCMS Templates).

The Content:

Content is the “meat and potatoes” of a website, be it a portfolio or any other kind of website. For a portfolio website, the main content is of course your qualification, work history, work samples, achievements, and accomplishments. Not to forget the testimonials. For a fresh graduate, it might be difficult to come up with all those achievements or testimonials to impress potential employers, but you can get some endorsements from your teachers. Regardless of the nature or type of your job, you should only present the best of your work, instead of focusing on the quantity, because usually the employers don’t have the time to go through more than 3 – 4 samples.

The Social Aspects:

Talking of the content, it is important to keep your website updated and for that, there’s nothing better than a blog. You don’t necessarily need to produce highest quality content on regular basis. All you need to do is to mix good quality posts on a relevant topic to some personal experiences and day to day activities. Not only the blog will serve as a tool to continuously update your portfolio website, but it will also help you add some social aspect to your website. You can share the good ones at social networks for some free promotion.

The Marketing:

Once you’ve a fully functional website with some content, it’s now time to market or promote your website. You don’t really need to invest your time and resources on conventional marketing techniques like SE optimization, link building, or PPC marketing. However, you should be focusing on social networking and outreach, and for that you will need to produce good quality content. Simply create a profile and spend some time at professional social networks like LinkedIn or Quora, not only you will learn a lot by Interacting with other professionals at these networks, but you will also find a lot of contacts and job opportunities from referrals.

Excelling as a Freelancer – How to Use Online Courses to Boost Your Credentials

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Every day, hundreds and thousands of websites are launched, and each of these websites has the potential to create freelance jobs including web design or development jobs, content writing, search engine optimization, or social media marketing. Looking at the growth rate of World Wide Web, you can imagine the scope in the freelance jobs market. And remember, freelance jobs are not limited to content writing or graphic designing. You can find many different types of jobs at freelance job portals.

The only problem is, for every job, there are hundreds of candidates, and you will have to compete with the best of the best to grab some of these jobs.

Working as a freelancer can be highly rewarding and much more convenient than a 9 to 5 job, however getting new projects and clients on a continuous basis can be quite difficult. You need to be on top of your game, and you will have to stay on the learning curve throughout your career. If you’re looking to work as a freelancer, you must invest some of your time and earnings on learning and keeping yourself in the know of things. Online courses are ideal for freelancers, knowing that you will have to spend most of your time on Internet.

Here are some tips that will help you choose the right online course, degree, or program.

  • Doesn’t matter if you are looking to become a freelance content writer, web designer, or an SEO analyst, you need to have flawless English writing and comprehension skills. In case English is not your first language, and you are not good at writing or speaking English, you can start by taking online courses for the English language.
  • For basics or beginner level courses, you can easily find free programs or tutorials on the Internet. Some will provide you with a certificate, but even if they don’t, you will still learn many valuable things, so make the most of free online courses.
  • Choose a field and stick with it. For example, if you are looking to excel as a content writer, there’s no point in taking an online course for web design just because graphic design appears to be the “in thing”. It’s great to have some knowledge of the related fields; however, you should try to become the master of one trade, such as forensics with a Masters degree in criminology, instead of becoming the jack of many.
  • Before beginning an online course, ask yourself is this course, diploma, or degree is something that you will proudly share on your resume? If the answer is no, drop the idea of paying for any such course that doesn’t improve your credentials in one way or another.
  • An online course is entirely different from “make money online programs”. An online course is quite similar to an offline course, except that you can study from your home. If the course provider makes large claims, and promises big rewards, take it with a grain of salt.
  • Try to find a credible university or institute offering a relevant course, instead of going for the first resource that appears on top of your Google search. Just because a site is ranking on top of Google doesn’t make it a trustworthy source, so you must do the due diligence.

 

Arba Hana has been writing on freelancing and online education topics for more than two years. The Internet provides learning opportunities for all, ranging from the short courses to full-fledged degree programs like criminology masters programs.

The Right Diet – Eating Your Way to the Online Success

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Getting the riches or recognition via Internet is all about producing great content, making the most of social media, taking advantage of all available opportunities, optimizing your website for the right keywords, so on and so forth. And regardless of how easy it sounds, carrying out all these tasks while not compromising on the quality, and trying to keep it “in line” with Google guidelines is not a walk in the park. The incessant mental labor can drain the last ounce of your energy reserves, the even increasing competition and challenges can ruin your work-life balance, and the small setbacks and rewards on daily basis can initiate a rollercoaster of emotions, which is not healthy at all.

Amidst all this madness, many of us start to neglect something that can be our first line of defense (or attack) for all these challenges, and that is the diet.
While we only associate the notion of balanced diet with the weight management, and the only time we focus on our diet is when we are looking to gain or lose some weight, in reality diet can affect everything from our moods to energy level, and our thought pattern to productivity. To make a long story short, there’s no way that you can perform at your optimum levels with a malnourished mind or body.
Here’s how a wholesome and nutritious diet can invigorate your mind, body, and subsequently your business.

Avoid Work Burnout:

If you have to drag yourself to work all the time, and you hardly feel like focusing on work, it’s supposed to be nothing else but the dreaded burnout? While it’s true that you can a monotonous job can result in a work related burnout, but sometimes lack of energy can also result in the feelings like fatigue or exhaustion, and it might not be something associated with your job. That is why changing job or your work timings doesn’t seem to help. If you are feeling drained or exhausted all the time, you should try eating something healthy, especially in the breakfast. The right food in the breakfast will give you the energy as well as morale boost that you might be lacking.

Obesity & Weight Management:

Eating healthy is not about eating more and it’s not about eating less either, healthy diet is all about including the nutritious food in your meals. You might be eating a lot of unhealthy stuff, but while it takes care of your appetite, it will keep adding to your weight, and before you know, you will be facing the much dreaded problem of being overweight. It takes a short duration of unhealthy eating and working habits to gain those extra pounds, but reclaiming your fitness might take much longer. Obesity and weight problems can seriously dent your confidence. It’s not easy to put your best foot forward in presentations, meetings, and anything you do, when you are not comfortable about your looks. Not to mention the ill effects of obesity on your health.

Procrastination:

Procrastination is one of the biggest problems faced by people who are working from home (e.g. freelance writers, bloggers, and online entrepreneurs). Little or no physical activity and poor diet coupled with the comfort of home can push you into a vicious spiral of procrastination. Not having the “luxury” of a manager or boss to keep you on your toes, it’s so important to complete the day’s work on daily basis without putting it off. And while eating healthy wouldn’t really make you more organized, it will surely help you avoid the low blood sugar level that is associated with short attention span (meaning that you will get distracted more easily).

Fighting the Fatigue:

Last but not the least, having the right food will help you deal with the stress and fatigue, resulting from long working hours on computer and Internet. Food items like almonds, walnuts, salmon, yogurt, and green vegetables can help you deal with the damaging effects of work related stress. On the other hand, consuming junk or unhealthy food can add to your stress levels, let alone dealing with it.

Rahil writes on health and fitness related topics concerning bloggers and online entrepreneurs. You can find best meal delivery program or compare diet plans online at his blog. There’s no doubt that food plays an integral role in our health and overall wellbeing, and the diet plan reviews or coupon code at his website will help you find the best diet plan for weight management at discounted prices.

How Playing Golf Can Help Bloggers or Online Entrepreneurs

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I won’t say that degrees and conventional education is overrated but it’s a fact that we learn some of the most important lessons of our lives when we are not focusing on the “learning” part. As soon as we force our minds to “learn” something, it becomes a chore and the best we can do is to memorize the words and theories like a talking parrot. You cannot instill street-smartness into someone via text books. Ask any of those successful businessmen and they will attribute their success to some lessons or traits that they have learned during the course of their lives (and seldom from the course books).

But this post is not meant to be a jibe at conventional study, the actual point of this preamble is that even the leisure activities or sport, which is often considered a waste of time, can bestow you with valuable lessons or traits that will be of help in all walks of life, and blogging is no exception.

Blogging is undoubtedly a great way to make money online. If you are passionate about a particular topic, have good writing skills, and a basic understanding of Internet Marketing or SEO practices, you can use your spare time to blog about that topic and make some extra income. However, in a bid to earn as much as possible, some bloggers start spending all the time in front of PC, trying to churn out as many posts as they can, or promote their blogs. And while such dedication and hard work sounds good on paper, it can be quite cumbersome and counter-productive. If you are a full time blogger or online entrepreneur, you must take out some time for a leisure activity, ideally an outdoor sport. When I am looking to have the best of both worlds, I usually prefer to have a round of golf. Here’s why I think it can be of great help for bloggers or online entrepreneurs …

De-stress Your Mind:

All that time in front of your PC while sifting through one webpage after another, and thinking nonstop for new ideas or ways to earn money, can really have a deteriorating effect on your mind. The more you think, the more stressed your mind becomes, and it becomes quite difficult to perform at your optimum best when your mind is stressed. This is why it is so important to take some time out and allow your mind to relax.

If you are finding yourself getting into the writer’s block more often than not, activities like golf will work wonders. Once you step onto a golf course, and spend some time in a calm and peaceful environment with no blog posts to digest, or blank sheets to fill, you will return with a new found energy from this break. Not to mention that your mind will reward you with lots of new ideas for providing it with much needed rest.

Focus:

In Golf, all you have got is a club and a small ball that you need to put in a series of holes, in the bare minimum attempts. But to reach your goal, you will have to cope with many different hazards, wind, weather, and above all, your own instinct. Try swinging it a little too forcefully or push a little too gently and you will miss your target. Everything from the force to swing has got to be precise. All in all, the trait of focusing solely on your next shot can turn out to be a priceless training for your mind, and it will pay off in spades, helping you fight with the distractions and steer clear of procrastination.

Step Out of Your Comfort Zone:

If I start jotting down the health risks associated with excessive sitting, gazing on your screens, and having little or no physical activity, many full time bloggers will get paranoid. But it’s a fact that we are only starting to realize the ills of our over-reliance on Internet for everything we do. If you are a full time blogger, I cannot stress enough the importance of adding a regular physical activity in your daily routine. And if that can be a sport, especially something as relaxing as Golf, it will turn out to be the icing on the cake. To be honest, this advantage alone should be enough to inspire you to take out some time and invest on this sport (or any other sport for that matter), because what good is the money if you are earning or saving on the expense of your physical or mental well being?

Scot Ryan loves to write about everyday topics related to bloggers and online entrepreneurs. Also, an avid player of Golf, he manages Lost Golf Balls, where you can find all sorts of golf balls at incredible prices.

How Wall Colors Can Help You With Some Common Blogging Problems

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There can be different solutions to a problem. Some are closely linked to the problem itself, while others are totally detached, hence difficult to figure out. Many a times, we get so fixated with the problem that we fail to see a possible solution, just because it isn’t directly related to the problem. For example, people looking to lose weight will find it hard to find the problem or its solution in anything else but diet, failing to see that it is the lifestyle that’s contributing to the problem. While improving on your diet might be of help, you cannot take care of a problem until you adopt a multifaceted approach. In other words, you shouldn’t really be looking for the magic formula for any problem because it usually takes small steps at various levels to deal with a problem.

Blogging is fun, but only as long as you are not doing it for money. As soon as you start going for that, you will have to face some tough competition which is getting intense day by day. In order to bode well, you will have to put your best foot forward. If you are blogging with certain goals in mind, there are some problems that you are going to face, and the sooner you can deal with these problems the better.

Not that changing the colors of the walls will sort out these problems, but it can certainly help. As earlier suggested, you need to adopt a multifaceted approach instead of going berserk with one single solution. Following are some common problems that you can face as a blogger, along with some tips on how painting your walls with a certain color can be of help.

Procrastination:

This one has been my personal “favorite” and knowing that most bloggers are doing it from the comfort of their homes, it’s a given that putting off important tasks on tomorrow, and then the day after tomorrow, will be on top of the list of common problems faced by many bloggers. You can create dozens of to-do lists for all you want, but when it comes to acting upon your plans, you will find yourself getting indulged in some random tasks instead of working (in fact, these to-do lists will start to be counter-productive after some time).

There are, of course, other solutions to this problem, but having certain shades of red in the color mix of your interior can be of help. Red color comes under the fire elements of feng shui, and it is bound to give you some much needed energy boosts. You can use this energy to get out of your comfort zone. Painting the walls with red color will keep you on your toes, which is a must for all bloggers to survive in a fast paced blogosphere.

Stress & Perfectionism:

There are two types of stress, you get stressed when the workload is hard to manage, you have got too many things to worry about, there’s some problem that you cannot sort out despite trying your best, and the likes. Stress resulting from these problems is normal, and it will keep coming and going with the passage of time. But then there’s the 24/7 stress that comes from being a perfectionist. For some reasons, this trait is considered a plus point but the downsides can easily outweigh the plus points.

For example, being a perfectionist you will pay unnecessary attention to details that doesn’t really matter, it might be a good thing if you were directing a motion picture or composing a song, but there are many aspects of blogging that don’t really warrant getting stressed day in and day out (except of course the content or blog posts where you need to be spot on). If you are stressing out all the time to the extent of getting depressed then that is certainly not a very healthy habit at all. Apart from other solutions, you can also paint your walls with light blue or green color. Having the soothing colors like green or blue will help you to relax, feel fresh, and help you unnerve in those situations, when you are getting bogged down by the small things.

Writer’s Block:

I am not really sure what exactly causes a writer’s block, but it usually occurs when I am trying to think a little too hard. There are certain topics that require lots and lots of mental labor, and apparently, when our mind gets tired from all that labor, it simply refuses to respond in the way we want it to be (working as a “state within a state”). You might be able to pull off a couple more reps with your tired bicep or chest muscles, but there’s no way that you can “force” your mind to come out of writer’s block. Therefore, if your blogging topics require lots and lots of research and thinking, you can get some help by painting your walls with white or light yellow colors, which will help you think more clearly.

In addition to help you develop a more uncluttered vision, it will keep you calm. Not only that, but yellow can be the reason why you’ll be looking to complete your work in time, and get out of the room after the working hours, given that some shades of yellow can start to agitate after some time.

Need I say more?

Arba Hana loves to write on interesting topics related to blogging and work from home. If you are looking for marble tiles for your home or office, you can visit the following URL and find the tiles in different colors: http://www.discountgranitedirect.co.uk/marble-tiles.