Funny Requirements at Craigslist

For five years I have been conscientiously following job ads posted at Craigslist. In fact I can say I got most of my projects from Craigslist, and also all of my scam experiences are from Craigslist ads too.

From the way I see it, there were more good companies posting before compared to the present. The present crowd posting at Craigslist are kind of blurry in their requirements for online workers. Here’s a couple of funny and outrageous requirements:

Article Writer needed:

Must have error-free english ( this is an outrageous requirement. I’d like to see a non-English native speaker coming up with error free English. I mean even Shakespeare was found to have grammatical error, so what makes the modern thinkers think that they can find a writer with error-free english in a country that is a non-native English speaking one, and one who comes cheap as well??  )

The Ability to write 5-10 articles a day ( I’d like to find if Shakespeare or the other great writers were able to do this during their prime  )

Web Design Talent Needed Immediately – Requirements:

Website research

Keyword Research

User Login Sign ups for Multiple Social Networks

Daily Article Submission using Software

Social Bookmarking Website Pages

Run Report From Analytics, adwords etc.

Blogging

Yahoo answers

Craigslist Posting

( wheww! Actually the job position should be separted, the Website developer could be the one to do the analytics and adwords and page linking. A web assistant would be the one to the other task. You cannot ask your web developer to do Craigslist posting!….Web developers usually ask for a higher pay rate than regular online staff because theirs is a different set of skills. Research and the other tasks are of a different skills also. )

Full time position for a Customer Service Adminstrator / Webmaster. ( This one beats them all, in chinese there is a term – being a manager at the same time being the janitor.  I don’t know if the Company here is looking for a webmaster or web mistress, accountant, virtual assistant or website content writer. )

Daily job tasks will involve the following:
- Improving, Updating and Running several websites.
- Handling the accounting and inventory management and customer service aspects the websites e-com portions.
- Handling basic office accounting and basic office administration.
- When not working on website related activity, assist the business leader with other important business needs and projects.

Job Requirements:
1 Professional and responsible. 3 or more years employment desired. 4 year college degree preferred.
2 Experience with basic business processes such as purchasing, invoicing, basic accounting
3 Experienced in overall website management. Familiar with basic html, php, mysql, etc. Strong understanding of costs of outsourcing programing, hosting, etc.
4 Experience with whitehat SEO techniques, ability to create and develop new topic rich content for the website.
5 Strong written English required. Good spoken English a strong plus.
6 Working knowledge of Perl would be desirable.

There’s more from where it came from. Check your Craigslist ads to day.

Scared of Data Entry Scams?

I have noticed that the most read about post in my blog is the one “Beware of Data Entry Scams”. This indicates that there are a lot of people looking to work online plus a lot of people looking to do data entry. Just on the side note, a lot of people I know have been asking me if I can share some of the data entry projects that I do cause they want to do that kind of work, and I tell them straight out that “you and a million others are looking to do data entry work”. You should read my post about the different types of data entry work because it can be more complicated than you think.

Anyway, I think that it is good that people now has the knowledge  about scams, because when I started my virtual career, I didn’t know about this as work scams were something new and I got scammed several times.

There is however one question I have been asked repeatedly and that is if I think the website is a scam.

Here is my answer, Never, Never work or apply for work with a company or website that ask you to pay. I don’t know about others, but based on my experience, the best companies I work for and work with didn’t ask me for payments.

Just as the same, for virtual clients, never engage the services of people or companies that ask you to pay first before showing you some work, unless the companies are the big legitimate companies. I have clients complained to me that they paid somebody in advance but didn’t get any work done.

So I hope everyone is clear on this. Take care and best of luck!

Optimizing Your Website

For a lot of website owners, website optimization is simply designing your web pages to rank high in the search engines. When your site ranks high in search engines, it will come out in the first few pages when people type in the keywords related to your site. If your website doesn’t come up in the first few pages of search engines, then your target audience will not be able to find you.

Therefore, the first thing to do to get your site optimized is to identify your keywords. Try to check with Google Keyword Analyzer tool to see if you are using the correct keywords and keyword phrases. The keywords and keyword phrases you use are very important as it identifies your website. Once you have a list of keywords and keyword phrases to use, then use them consistently in all your webpage. Remember that having all the keywords and phrases appearing multiply times in your web pages will help you in the search engines position.

Another point to consider to get your site properly optimized is to have a unique title. Your site’s title should be able to let search engines know what your site is all about. Also make sure your title tag contains the keyword in reference to your site. You don’t have to overload your title tag with keywords, just make sure the keywords used are the strongest ones and target your website.

Next, check your meta tags. In case you are not aware, meta tags are most often used for Search Engine Optimization. They are specific HTML tag used to define meta data on your web pages. Do note that it is important to include meta tags because most search engines utilize such to match pages to queries. Description and keywords are the most critical meta tags used in search engine optimization.

Also give your homepage a good and appropriate homepage. It doesn’t have to be a really long description but just something that tells about your site, about what you do and what clients or readers can expect from your site. Say it all about your site in a nutshell so to speak.

Text is another important point to consider. Make sure your webpage has an accurate description and contains not just plenty of text but plenty of keywords and keyword phrases used in different forms or variations. Keywords and keyword phrased should not however appear more than seven times in your page.

Remember that the foundation for nearly every successful search engine optimization is simply simplicity. The goal is to make your site easy to fine, easy to follow and easy for search engines to read.

Quality Contents for Your Site

One of a sites’ strongest point in basic SEO is good content quality. Content is basically the heart and soul of the site. So you have to keep your content fresh, interesting and informative so it will keep your clients, readers or visitors coming for more. More importantly, keep in mind that good content quality is one of the major factors that complete the basic SEO power.

To start with, do note while developing your site’s content your target audience. So first thing you should ask is “Who is my target audience?”. Upon zeroing your target audience, then you can start developing and writing your site’s content.

So what are the essentials that make up good quality content? Here are some ideas:

Title of your Website

Get a unique and attractive title tag that can create interest at the same time identify itself with the site. You can also create unique title format in different styles. Make sure each page especially your homepage contains the necessary keywords to let search engines know what your site is all about.

Articles

One important part of good content quality in a website is the article section. You could include here articles in the form of tips, new ideas, new research or written experiences or even product reviews. It could be even seasonal articles, like if your website is a fashion site, then you could write about the latest fashion trend, forecast for new trends, what’s hot, what’s in and what’s not, or how about how to articles?

Take time to educate your customers with valuable information that is related to your business or site. This way, your website will not only gain targeted visitors but it will also attract new links.

Blogs, Forums, FAQ, Q&A or message board

Since your site is virtual, make sure your website has a Frequently Asked Questions page or FAQ with the most basic questions answered. A message board is also a great way for interaction specially if there are daily or weekly updates from the site’s owner. This builds up trust and confidence of visitors towards your site, plus it gives you the chance to know your clients and know their needs and wants.

Remember that great interaction between the site’s admin and its’ constituents is a great way to keep visitors coming in. Another advantage of having an online interaction is it keeps the site interesting with updated news from readers and clients alike and even from professionals. A Question and Answer section between readers and certified professionals makes an interesting reading.

About US

The About Us page is a very important page in good content quality. People are people and always we will be curious about the company we are going to do business or the website we are going to read. We want to know how reliable the website or the business is. We want to know who are the makers or the creators behind this amazing site. Are they professionals in their fields? Are they big time CEO or fresh start up? Most importantly, people would want to know if they trust your site. So write something about the you and the people behind your website, this is one great way to gain trust and confidence from your clients and readers alike.

Contact Us

Contact us is very important specially for online stores. Your potential clients and customers would want to know where you are located, if you have a legitimate office, if anyone is answering your phone, if you have customer service hotline in case they have complaints or questions about the products they purchased. So make sure you are accessible to your clients.

Contest >> Submit your fix for the housing slide, and Win a Trip to Inman Real Estate Connect, SF

From my friend:

http://www.realty.com/blog/contest-submit-your-fix-for-the-housing-slide-and-win-a-trip-to-inman-real/

Win FREE Conference Pass + $500 for Travel!

Realty.com is giving away one free pass to Inman’s Real Estate Connect Conference in San Francisco and an additional $500 for travel to the event.  The total worth is over $1400 and includes access to the conference, exhibition and workshops.  The event takes place from August 5-7 and will include several industry leaders and as they say, “a year’s worth of networking in three days.”

Click here to find out more about the event.

To Enter:
Simply write a blog post about an inventive idea on how to fix the housing industry downturn and link back to Realty.com.  Email the URL of your article to contest@realty.com.  A single winner will be chosen based on the most unique and viable suggested remedy, as determined by the Realty.com staff.

Deadline:
The contest ends on Friday, April 3rd at 11:59PM EST.  Winner announced on April 6th.

RULES:
- Anyone can participate
- The prize is the conference ticket plus $500 for travel and/or accommodations.  You are responsible for the extra costs.
- The winner will be announced on the Realty.com blog once he/she is contacted and has accepted the prize.
- Winner must respond within 24 hours.  If no response, a new winner will be chosen.

Good luck!