Blogging – Credit Banana

August 1, 2017April 26, 2020

10 Brand New Ideas for Making Money on the Side…

While there proven ways to make extra cash on the side, even if you have a full-time job, if those haven’t worked-out for you in years past, then consider these 10 new ideas for earning some additional money on the side.

1. Join the sharing economy.

“The sharing economy is growing at an exponential rate,” says Nigel Wilson, managing director at Hitwise. “Thousands of sharing economy companies have sprouted up around the world, and consumers are actively engaging in collaborative consumption.

According to PwC, 44 percent of all adults in the U.S. are aware of the sharing economy and 19 percent have engaged in a sharing economy transaction. It is imperative for brands to consider how to support and participate in collaborative consumption, rather than compete against it.”

The sharing economy is exploding and the largest demographic in the country, millennials, have embraced it. For 2017, look beyond Uber, Lyft and AirBnb when looking to tap into this market. You can rent out your car on Turo, camera equipment on Cameralends, snowboard or bike on Spinlister and, if you own one, your sailboat on Sailo. Besides renting out the stuff that you already own, you can deliver home-cooked meals with Umi-Kitchen.

2. Launch a box subscription service.

If you want to tap your local or niche market then a box subscription service is the place to start. Over the last couple of years we’ve seen an explosion of box subscription services in niches ranging from beauty to food to gaming to novelty gifts. Since the goods or services are delivered to the customer each month, and it has a recurring billing model, it can quickly become a lucrative and passive source of income. Here’s a list of possible box service ideas to get you started.

3. Take over a mobile food truck.

More and more people, especially those between the ages of 18 to 34, are patronizing food trucks and that’s why the food truck industry is expected to surpass $985 million by 2019. For savvy entrepreneurs, food trucks are an appealing business because it’s inexpensive to start, isn’t strapped down to a one location, can be a part-time side gig and you don’t have to start from scratch. Every day thousands of baby boomers retire. If you know any baby boomer looking to get out of the food industry, consider purchasing their established business, which should include customers, recipes, and equipment at the very least.

My friend Keith Crossley was able to purchase several food trucks and recently opened several restaurants. It took him almost four years but over that time he was able to build a thriving business for himself. It all started trying to make money on the side and turned into his full time thriving business. It’s possible for you to do the same. His original investment was less than $35,000.

4. Earn cash by downloading apps.

I’ll be honest, you aren’t going to make a fortune downloading the following apps but you can make some extra cash each month by doing very little. Here’s some of my personal favorites:

The Swagbucks app pays you for answering simple survey questions.
Media Insiders pays you for watching television.
Stash gives you $5 to start investing.
Clink will give you $5 to start saving
When you walk, Bitwalking will pay you in a virtual currency called Bitwalking Dollars.
Nielsen Homescan gives you cash for scanning your grocery receipts.
Achievement pays you for completing healthy activities.
MobileXpression will give you cash, gift cards, and merchandise for surfing online.
The Ibotta app pays you for taking pics of your receipts.
Paribus scans your emails for receipts and will issue a refund if there’s a price drop.

5 Write to Congress.

Writing has long been a favorite side-gig for people. However, with the 2016 presidential election, don’t be surprised to see an influx of letters to Congress. And, you may be able cash-in on this trend. DDC Public Affairs and NextWave are bipartisan advocacy groups that launch grassroots political campaigns on issues ranging from energy, healthcare, taxes, and defense.

All of these hire people to call all constituents or advocates and then transfer their opinions into written letters. You’re assigned campaigns, but you can reject them if you want. They expect you to work 20-25 hours per week and you start-off at $12 to $15 per hour.

6. Invest in real estate.

If you aren’t working full-time or are already strapped for cash, then becoming a landlord probably isn’t the wisest decision. But, if you’re looking to make some extra cash, then you could consider invest in real estate. The reason? The housing market is looking strong for the foreseeable future.

Best of all, sites like Realty Mogul allow you to invest in commercial real estate for as little as $5,000.

7. Become an Instagram consultant.

Instagram had an incredible 2016. And, expect 2017 to be even better. Thanks to the Facebook-owned platform getting serious about attracting businesses, and launching exciting features like live video and Instagram Stories, a lot of brands are going to start promoting themselves on ‘the gram.’ If you’re a frequent Instagram user, have a passion for photography, and are a social media whiz, then you can start your own Instagram consulting business on-the-side.

8. EMV security consultant.

There are now around 300 million chip-card in-use by consumers with 1.2 million merchants accepting chip cards. Even though the transition to EMV is in full-swing, it’s expected that there will be an increase in fraud.

If you have security experience, or are knowledgeable in EMV, then you could start your own EMV security consulting business where you can instruct small business owners and their employees how to properly use EMV readers and inform them on the latest security measures.

9. Invest in bitcoin.

Bitcoin had a very good 2016. That should carry over into 2017 and beyond. In fact, some experts believe that the price for bitcoin will reach $1,000 within the next year, which would be a 40 percent increase. This is because of an increase in usage, more adoption, an increase in investments, and remittance in emerging markets like India.

10. Go green.

Millennials are extremely conscious about the environment. For example, 61 percent of millennials want to sign up for a digital application which can allow them to track their energy usage and control their household climate. That means that there’s a huge demand for “green” businesses in the near future.

July 30, 2017April 26, 2020

How to Get a Job in Social Media

These days, every marketing effort has some aspect of social. Whether it’s pushing content via Twitter and Facebook, sharing the company’s unique culture on Instagram or fostering community engagement, social media jobs are growing faster than ever.

Here’s a look at some of the jobs in the social media world and how to get your hands on one.

Starting Out: Entry-Level

If you’re fresh out of college and know a thing or two about social media, especially if you blog, you may be a great candidate for a gig such as social media coordinator or social media specialist.

“On an entry-level position, what you’ll see these days are people that are fresh out of college,” says Hilary O’Keefe, senior communications manager at Core77 Design Awards. “The ones that really know it inside out, it makes them valuable for these companies.”

Prospective employers often browse through the complete social presence of an applicant before looking at their resume in order to screen candidates.

What does that mean? They want to see that you are professional and that you can write well. That translates into being able to promote a specific company, or in an agency setting, being able to get the word out effectively about their clients.

A common entry-level position is social media coordinator, who is responsible for drafting and posting content including tweets and status messages. The coordinator is often also responsible for setting up alerts to manage responses and monitoring what is being said about clients, and works with management to set the strategy for how to respond.

Ken Wisnefski, owner of the online marketing agency Webimax, also says his company turns to recent graduates to fill most social media positions, and then trains them on proper ways to use it. As the industry evolves, he says that the “new” employees will be the real pioneers of the field.

Moving Up: The Management Level

If you want to work your way up in social media specifically, you’re ideally going for a social media director or social media manager title.

Management-level roles for social media professionals are often more focused on the strategy of social media and less about posting status messages—like determining which Facebook pages to like or which Twitter handles to follow. Above that, setting the overall social media strategy, is often a director.

Responsibilities vary depending on the employer’s or client’s needs. For example, some may focus more on contests to promote products, and others involve knowing more about competitors and more actively getting the word out to make sure a client can effectively compete.

For management jobs, companies are looking for people who are dedicated to blogging, know how to write well, can use Facebook and other social media tools, learn and adapt quickly and also understand concepts like search engine optimization.

A bachelor’s degree in a creative field such as communications, English or advertising can help and is often a requirement. To make it on an oversight level, having previous experience managing projects—and being able to demonstrate results, even if it wasn’t specifically with social media—are crucial.

Social Media and Traditional Marketing

One of the nice things about starting out strictly in a social media job is that a person gains valuable skills in traditional marketing. This can help propel your career, whether you stay in social media or not.

O’Keefe’s job as online marketing manager incorporates social media, but also traditional marketing techniques. “It takes a little more experience understanding the basic of marketing,” she says.

Not all social media jobs require a marketing background, especially entry-level ones. But after working a few years in the entry-level field, which can include other interesting positions such as community managers, a candidate can likely move to a social media director role—or they can leverage that background into another marketing, advertising or communications position.

“You still get a marketing background if you want to move onward,” O’Keefe notes.

She adds that the higher up you go, the more understanding and appreciation for traditional marketing is required. O’Keefe says if you start in social media out of college, you look at the trends of how people pass along information.

For example, “It could be a fantastic entryway to consumer research.” So you don’t necessarily have to continue your career strictly in the social media realm; other possibilities exist.

Find a Social Media Job

1. Think Outside the Job Board Box. Start with the Mediabistro job board, and then check out sites like Mashable for a nice selection of industry-specific sites gigs.

2. Look for Related Positions. O’Keefe says that jobs in the field don’t always have “social media” in their titles, so keep an eye out for variations, like “link builder” and “community manager,” which often incorporate the same duties.

3. Let the Gatekeepers Find You. If you build it—an awesome and professional online presence, that is—they will come. Market yourself as an expert in the field through your own Twitter, Facebook or Tumblr pages.

4. Follow the Leaders. Find out who has the job you want and friend them. That’s the best way to find out about news in the field, and most importantly, potential openings.

July 29, 2017April 26, 2020

Ways to Make Money Blogging

If you want to make money blogging, then you’ll be happy to hear that it is not that hard to do. Of course, the amount of money you make depends entirely on your ongoing efforts to publish a great blog, grow your audience, and continually test new money making opportunities in order to find the best ways to match your audience’s expectations for your blog and your own goals for your blog. With that in mind, check out these fairly easy ways to starting making money from your blogging efforts.

There are many advertising programs available for bloggers to join. One of the most popular online advertising programs and possibly the easiest to set up on your blog is Google AdSense, which offers a variety of pay-per-click text, display, and video advertising opportunities for bloggers. With a bit of effort, experimenting, and tweaking you can definitely make some money with Google AdSense.

Join an Affiliate Advertising Program

There are many companies that offer programs that enable you to sign up as an affiliate of that company and earn money. Amazon Associates is one of the most popular and easiest affiliate advertising programs for bloggers to use.

Join an Affiliate Advertising Network

There are a number of affiliate advertising networks that link online advertisers with publishers (such as bloggers). Commission Junction is one of the most popular affiliate advertising networks.

Sell Your Own Ad Space Directly to Advertisers

You can attempt to sell your own ad space directly to advertisers, but unless your blog is established with a sizable audience, it can be difficult to manage and make money selling ad space directly. Fortunately, there are sites like BuySellAds.com that link online publishers (like bloggers) up with online advertisers to make selling your ad space easier.

You can write blog posts on your own blog in exchange for pay, and there are several Web sites that link online publishers (such as bloggers) up with companies and individuals who want their products and services reviewed or discussed online. Just be sure to understand how to safely publish a paid post or sponsored review on your blog, so you don’t negatively affect your blog’s traffic.

There are a number of Web sites that make it extremely easy for bloggers to create their own online stores where you can sell custom or stock merchandise and make money doing it! CafePress, Zazzle, and Printfection are three of the most popular sites for creating your own online store.

Become a Professional Blogger

If you write well and can work autonomously, then you could work from home as a professional blogger! Fortunately, there are many sites where you can search for paid blogging jobs. Keep in mind, blogger pay rates can vary drastically, so make sure any opportunity you take matches your long-term blogging goals.

Join a Blogging Network

There are a number of blog networks that include a number of blogs and bloggers all publishing under a larger brand or company. Many of these blog networks pay bloggers a flat fee per post or word that the blogger writes or the blogger receives a percentage of advertising earnings tied to the number of page views his or her posts generate (some networks even pay both a flat fee and a percentage of advertising revenues). As always, make sure the opportunities you pursue match your long-term blogging goals.

Ask for Donations

While you’re unlikely to make much money from donors, it certainly can’t hurt to ask for donations on your blog. It’s easy to add a PayPal donate button, and you never know who might be feeling generous!

There are a variety of ways that you can make money from your blog without publishing any ads on your blog at all. Don’t be afraid to get creative!