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How to Get a Job After College – Part 2 – Search For Job Opportunities
In Part 1 of the series (see link below), I discussed several tips and techniques for creating a resume/cover letter and having it reviewed so that it is ready to present to potential employers.
My Money Blog – How to Get a Job After College – Part 1
Now that you have your resume all polished up, it’s time to find positions that you can apply for! But, where do you start looking? What sorts of job search strategies can you apply? It is shocking how some departments in universities do not provide much guidance at all in the job hunt for their students. So, don’t be afraid to do it on your own!
Places to Look for Jobs (ranked in order of liklihood to get you a job with #1 being most likely)
1) Ask your college professors for department alumni or other contacts they have that would be able to get you a job.
Why does this system work you might ask? The answer is very straight-forward. If I am an alumnus of the mechnical engineering department of a university that is currently working in the automotive industry, there will undoubtedly be professors existing in the department whom I trust. And, if they can tell me that in their professional opinion that they have a lead for me on a potentially promising candidate for my company, I am going to listen and be able to promote that individual much better than a candidate that applies in a random fashion.
2) Ask your friends and family for possible contacts they have in the field in which you are interested. (It’s always better to have some kind of connection with your employer than applying randomly)
3) Go to the career fair that your department/school holds for your area of interest.
Career fairs at your college are a great thing because the very action of the company showing a physical presence to recruit on your college campus indicates that 1) they are already interested in the college’s students and 2) recognize that college as a place where productive talent has been found in the past. Additionally, if you have good credentials, it is a lot harder for a potential employer to ignore you face-to-face than if you are merely a name on a resume.
4) Join a professional organization (Society of Hispanic Professional Engineering, Women in Engineering, etc) and travel to career fairs/expos they offer. This is how I got my current job.
These aren’t quite as good as career fairs at your college because the companies will not be specifically interested in your school’s students. However, it is still harder to be ignored in person vs. being only a resume.
5) Go to career fairs at other regional universities.
Before going, make sure to call the career center in charge of the career fair and make sure you will be able to get in to the fair without an ID from that specific university. It won’t be worth the drive if you are unable to get in!
6) Cold calling employers / unsolicited applying online at company websites (my least favorite)
In trying to find a job several years ago, I applied online to probably close to 75 companies. Not one of the applications turned out successfully. I have even heard that there is like 2% chance of success with submitted an unsolicited resume online or via email. I believe this chance increases to 10% with calling, but this is still not that impressive.
Note: do not be confused with the fact that nowadays, many employers require you to apply online as more of a formality after you have been connected through another route with the job for legal reasons.
While the odds are fairly against you for applying in an unsolicited fashion online, I have seen this method work with a fair level of success when you apply directly to positions available at smaller sites within a large company (not directly to the company wide internship applicant pool). Why does this work you might be asking? The key is that you want to get your resume looked at by someone other than Human Resources that will actually hire you.
Related Job Finding Topics
1) Do not settle for the answer, “Just apply online then we’ll move forward that way.”
One of the easiest ways for employers to professional reject you at a career fair is to tell you, “Everything looks great! Just apply online!” This is 90% of the time code for submit your resume to the resume vat, and we will never talk to you again. To reitterate, it’s OK to be asked to apply online because it is required for legal purposes, but it should be more as an afterthought/formality to the job connection process.
Instead, if the employer representative is interested, they take your resume from you personally and invite you back later for an interview at the career fair. No interview, just applying online = unlikely to get job. If they do not offer to take your resume and/or invite you back for an interview, at the very least, ask them for the rep’s contact information so that you can keep your name fresh in their mind.
2) Following up after meeting or interviewing with employers
After you meet a potential employer at a career fair or during an interview, it is important to ask them for their contact information so that you can follow up with them 1) to hear about the results of the job and 2) to keep your name fresh in their mind.
3) Start Small – Internships, Co-ops, and Starter Jobs
It is very likely that you will not be able to find your ideal full time job right out of college. However, there are several things you can do to improve your chances of this happening.
The biggest key here is to do an internship!
Why are internships so valuable? Easy! Internships are a no-risk opportunity for an employer to get an in-depth, temporary look at how you perform on the job and analyze whether or not you would be an effective full time employee. Additionally, internships do not for benefits such as health insurance, etc, thus reducing the cost of an intern by nearly 40%.
So, your goal should be to find an internship or co-op position while you are in school (either during the summer or during spring/fall semsester. Most companies that show up at career fairs will also be recruiting for interns/co-ops as well as full time positions.
Another good thing to attempt is to start working at a more local company in the industry in which you want to work. Several years ago, when I was on the internship hunt, I used the link below to search for smaller bio-tech/pharma companies in my college town, and merely called them and asked if they would offer me an internship. After I obtained an internship at the smaller company, I could then leverage that experience towards my next goal. See how that can work?
Bio-Link.org – Search for a Bio-tech Company, by location
Well, I hope this post helps you on your job hunt success! Please let me know if you have any questions.
Keep on learning!
Jacob
To receive updates on topics such as this one as soon as they are published, click on the link below to subscribe to My Money Blog:
I’m Getting Married. Should I Do A Prenuptial Agreement?
Today’s post comes as a reponse from a reader request to learn more about prenuptial agreements. And, since this is sort of a taboo subject that involves and good bit of controversy between couples, I figured that it sounds like a perfect thing to write about! 🙂
So, let’s get started.
What exactly is a prenuptial (I just found out it is not spelled with a -ual on the end – amazing!) agreement?
Well, as you may or may not know, marriages are not only emotional and physical unions, but financial unions as well. Prenuptial agreements are contracts between the marrying couple spelling out exacting what happens to the assets in the event of divorce or death of one of the parties.
Why should I think about getting a prenuptial agreement?
According to the article at the link below from Bankrate.com, 33% of first marriages end up in divorce, and 50% of second and third marriages end in divorce. These are difficult odds!
BankRate.com – Everything You Need to Know About Prenups
And, if you live in one of the nation’s nine community property states (Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington or Wisconsin), the law says property accumulated during the marriage will be divided equally. In all other “equitable distribution states,” assets are divided according to what the court deems appropriate. Prenuptial agreements are a way to keep the court out of the decision about how the marriages’ assets are divided! Seems to make senese right?
Who should think about getting a prenuptial agreement?
As it turns out, prenuptial agreements are not just something for the rich. You should also consider drafting a prenup if you fall in to one of the following categories:
- You have IRA, 401K, mutual fund, or stock assets from before you were married that you feel should be yours in the event of getting divorce.
- Either the woman/man is much more wealthy than the other.
- You are currently taking classes to earn a lucrative degree, such as training to be a lawyer or a doctor.
- You have children from a previous marriage.
Setting Up and Maintaining a Proper Prenuptial Agreement
The key here is to approach the subject early on in the relationship, preferably before you get engaged. Once both parties decide that it is all right, sit down to generate a list of your assets and talk about general ideas of how the assets would be divided if a separation were to occur.
Once you both have a general idea of how you want to proceed, you have to make it legal by hiring separate lawyers in order to ensure an enforceable agreement.
After the prenuptial agreement has been created and made official, you will want to make sure that it is maintained on a fairly frequent basis so that it captures the current financial state of the marriage assets.
I hope this helps to shed some light on a somewhat “sensitive” subject. As always, please let me know if there are any questions, and keep up the post requests!
Keep on learning!
Jacob
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How Do Credit Unions Measure Up?
In the recent “Choosing a Bank” series (shown at the links below), I deliberately excluded the idea of choosing between a privately owned bank and credit unions. Why is this you might ask? This is due to the fact while you almost certainly qualify for some type of credit union, specific credit unions are not accessible to the general population, and therefore, comparisons are more difficult on a media such as a public website than comparing an INGDirect.com account with a Bank of America account.
My Money Blog – Choosing a Bank – Part 1 – Local Banks vs. National Banks
My Money Blog – Choosing a Bank – Part 2 – Savings Options
My Money Blog – Choosing a Bank – Part 3 – Checking Accounts vs. Savings Accounts
For the uninitiated, a credit union is a not-for-profit cooperative that is owned by the account holders/members. Generally, it is managed by a volunteer committee. Because credit unions are non-profits, they do not have to pay state or federal taxes. This is a major advantage!
To qualify for membership (for an account), you must share a common bond with the organization and body of members. For example, many companies, universities, and even cities/counties have their own credit unions.
In short, it is very hard for traditional banks to compete with credit unions, and it is clear that credit unions offer superior products. It has been postulated that credit unions save customers and estimated $8 billion per year in savings on fees compared to traditional banks. MSNMoney.com provides a great comparison of the advantages of credit unions to traditional banks at the link below.
Advantages of Credit Unions – MSNMoney.com
Advantages of Credit Unions
- Higher interest rates on savings instruments
- Lower interest rates on consumer and mortgage loans
- Deposits are insured
- Harder to access your money due to decreased number of branches and ATMs around the country. Although, this is decreasing all of the time due to ATM networks such as the AllPoint network – see the post My Money Blog – Are ATM Fees a Thing of the Past.
- You will most likely want to change to a different bank/credit union if you leave the school, company, or area in which your credit union is located. In doing some research, I was amazed that most credit unions I came across offer clauses along the lines of “once a member, always a member.” Therefore, you will most likely not be kicked out of the credit union if you stop working for the company. However, you will not want to have your account at a Pfizer credit union if you live in Winslow, AR where there are no other Pfizer employees within 30 miles and no Pfizer credit union branches.
In my personal situation, since I seem to move around a lot, I have chosen to have my checking account with Bank of America due to ease of access when I move. However, if I were to buy a house and want a mortgage loan, I would definitely consider the options at my local credit union!
Key Takeaway
It is clear that credit unions offer superior financial products when compared with traditional banks. As such, they should always be considered as one of your financial options. Take a look at the link below and see which credit unions are located near you that you qualify for!
Keep on learning!
Jacob
To receive updates on topics such as this one as soon as they are published, click on the link below to subscribe to My Money Blog:
How to Get a Job After College – Part 1 – Creating a Resume and Cover Letter
One of my ultimate pet-peeves is seeing people work REALLY hard to do well in college, want to get a certain type of full-time job, but then settle for graduate school or do some mediocre position as a result of not having the correct guidance for pursuing a full time job. Then, when they get out of graduate school, they still don’t have any idea of what they want to do because they didn’t get out in the real world and explore different opportunities.
Getting a job these days is definitely not becoming any easier, especially with the way the economy has been acting the past few years and the increased globalized competition. However, it is not impossible.
In this series of posts, I’ll try to explain some tips and techniques that have helped me over the years to get the full time job I wanted.
The absolute first step on this journey is to create a resume. It doesn’t even have to be bullet-proof at first, but just created.
To guide you through this discussion, I’ve created a sample resume at the link below that you can view and use as a template if desired.
Key Rules to Follow
1) Timing –
Due to the increased competition being faced today, it is VERY hard to get the type of job you want directly out of school without internship or co-op experience. Because of this, the timing of getting your resume ready should coincide with when applications start being accepted for internships/co-ops.
When is this? Generally, companies look to hire interns the summer after their sophomore or junior year of college. Therefore, you need to have your resume ready to go by Fall of your sophomore year. This means starting to work on it during the summer before your sophomore year.
You might be saying, “But My Money Blog, I don’t know what I want to do yet at that age, and I don’t have enough work experience yet to create a resume.” This is not a good excuse. Create your resume using what you have!
2) Keep Your Resume to 1 Page –
To be blunt, since you are only an undergraduate, believe it or not, you aren’t important enough yet to have a resume more than 1 page. So, do whatever you need to do to trim it down in size!
3) Have Your Resume Reviewed –
Once you have created your first draft of your resume, have it reviewed by as many people as you can – preferably, people you respect. Examples would include your parents, professors, career counselors at school, etc. Even more ideal would be any kind of contacts you or your family has that already works in the industry in which you want to obtain a job.
4) Use Action Verbs and Add Quantification Where Possible –
In conjunction with having your resume reviewed, you will want to make sure to word your experiences in such a way that they are too the point and communicate the responsibilities that you took on. It also helps here to relate past job responsibilities to broader, more universally known skill sets. For example, perhaps you worked as a cashier at a local fast food chain restaurant. In this case, you could on one hand just say that you worked as a cashier. On the other hand, you could say that you gained experience in accounting and/or financial transaction techniques. Whatever you put down, you want to make sure that it is the truth, however.
Another very beneficial technique that I am a big fan of using is to add Dollar value quantification to my experiences, wherever possible. Why does this method work? Easy! Because no matter what industry you are in, whether from fast food to pharmaceuticals, there is always going to be money involved. As such, it can be used as a common denominator for hiring managers to gauge your level of experience.
5) Highlight Your Areas of Strength –
Yet another important part of building a resume is to highlight your strong points. For example, in the resume at the Google Docs link above, notice how the author wanted to draw emphasis using bold text to the broad spectrum of majors achieved as opposed to the name of the school where she went. On the other hand, if the student had went to Harvard, you can bet your pretty penny that she would have wanted to bold the name of the school, irregardless of GPA or major.
6) Create Different Resumes for Different
The last key comment I have for resume creation is that idea of creating different versions of resumes for different areas for which you apply.
For example, when I was interviewing for jobs out of college, I wasn’t 100% sure if I wanted to do pharmaceuticals or renewable energy. Therefore, I tweaked my resume and my experiences around so that less emphasis was placed on my biomedical experience, and more emphasis was delivered to my experience with bioprocessing. You will also want to make sure to change your objective as well!
See how that can work? Not too bad right?
Related topic: Is it worth it to create a cover letter?
The jury is still out for me on this question. Personally, I have never been asked specifically for a cover letter in my interviewing career. The only time I have been asked for it is when I apply through the internet/computer. Additionally, in my working career, I have never asked any one to show me his/her resume, nor have I ever heard a hiring manage ask me for one of my contact’s cover letters.
However, in all honesty, it really couldn’t hurt your chances to make one. What I would recommend is to make a general template cover letter that leaves room for approximately 2 sentences of specific information you can fill in for each employer you apply to.
Click on the link below to see an example cover letter template and how it can be customized to each specific employer.
Example Cover Letter – Google Docs
Remember, you will also want to keep the cover letter to 1 page.
I hope this information was helpful. Please let me know if you have any questions!
To receive Part 2 of this series as soon as they it is published, click on the link below to subscribe to My Money Blog:
Are Non-Bank ATM Fees a Thing of The Past?
Evening fellow readers!
So, it’s happened to everyone…You are out with your friends or on vacation, in need of cash, and forgot to go to your regular bank’s ATM before you left. But, bless your lucky stars, there it is! In the corner of the bar or convenience store, you see an ATM, and get some cash. However, later, you check your bank account online only to find out that you’ve been charged a $3-$5 ATM usage fee.
In a previous post at the link shown below, I described how one of the big benefits of having an account with a national branch bank is that you will not be charged non-bank ATM usage fees when you are traveling since national banks have many branch/ATM locations around the country.
My Money Blog – Choosing a Bank – Local vs. National
However, I am happy to report that this may be a thing of the past, thanks to new ATM alliance networks such as Shazam or AllPoint (see links below to go to their websites)!
All Point ATM Network
Shazam ATM Network
How do these networks work? Pretty easy. Your bank signs a contract and pays to join the network, and as a result, you can use many non-bank ATMs for free, with no usage fee. Sounds good right?
The banks that are most likely to enroll in the use of these ATM networks are banks that do not already have a large system of ATM (examples of unlikely enrollees are Bank of America, Wells Fargo, or Wachovia). However, a local bank like Signature Bank of Arkansas in NW Arkansas, would be an ideal candidate for using this type of system. In doing a quick search, I found the following website on the bank’s home page – Signature Bank of Arkansas Shazam ATM Locations.
Similarly, INGDirect, an online bank, has a contract with the AllPoint ATM network of 35,000 ATMs that allows checking account customers of INGDirect to have access to their accounts anywhere in the USA. See the following link INGDirect.com Electric Orange Checking Account Free AllPoint ATMs.
When you contrast the size of the AllPoint network to Bank Of America’s largest one-bank ATM system in the country of 18,000 Bank of America ATMs, you can begin to realize how extensive this network really is.
The only drawback to the ATM network systems like Shazam and AllPoint is that since the ATMs are mostly located in convenience stores, grocery stores, restaurants, and bars, you will not be able to deposit money in to them like you can at Bank of America ATMs and at your local bank. However, this may not even matter because you are more likely to be spending money than depositing it when you are traveling away from home.
Key Takeaway
The key thing to learn from this post is to be sure to to check your bank’s website for which ATMs are eligible to use for free. Print out a copy of where the eligible ATMs are in the city you will be traveling to and take it with you. It could save you a lot of money when you need it most!
Keep on learning!
Jacob
To receive updates on topics such as this one as soon as they are published, click on the link below to subscribe to My Money Blog:
Choosing a Bank – Part 3 – Checking Account vs. Savings Account
In Part 2 of the “Choosing a Bank” series (My Money Blog – Choosing a Bank – Part 2), I discussed the four basic options for savings accounts available on the financial markets today.
However, what I did not address was 1) how to decide if a checking account or savings account is right for your needs and 2) how to choose the correct checking account (if that is the route you decide to take). These topics will be what we’ll investigate together in today’s posting.
Let’s get started! This is definitely an exciting topic because there seem to be new options available every day.
Deciding Between a Checking Account or Savings Account
At a high level, whatever banking instrument you choose needs to be able to fulfill four basic requirements – 1) allow unlimited transactions for daily living expenses with no fees, 2) have checking writing capability (for paying bills, and unexpected expenses directly to people who cannot take credit cards), 3) have an ATM card tied to the account / have ATM access capability, and 4) offer a competitive interest rate of return on your cash savings.
Please always keep these requirements in mind as you are exploring your options. Now that we know what is required, let’s take a look at our options:
Savings Accounts – In general, traditional savings accounts:
- Do not allow check writing.
- Do not feature ATM cards.
- Have restrictions on maximum numbers and quantities of transactions per month.
- Do offer competitive interest rates on your account’s cash balance.
Clearly, traditional savings accounts at brick-and-mortar banks are not a good sole choice for your banking needs.
Non-traditional savings options come a little closer to fulfilling some of the requirements, but still fall short. For example, Vanguard.com – Money Market Mutual Fund Accounts offer check writing capability on your taxable money market mutual fund balance, but do not offer ATM cards.
My two favorite online savings accounts (at the links shown below) offer no fees and unlimited transfer each month, but do not offer checking or ATM card capability.
IngDirect.com Savings Account
DollarSavingsDirect.com Savings Account
Note: if you are looking to open up a savings account with IngDirect.com, email me your name and email address at irwin.jacob@gmail.com, and I’ll send you a code to give you $25 of free money, when you open the account with a $250 minimum opening balance.
Checking Accounts – Traditional checking accounts offer:
- Unlimited transactions/transfers of money
- Checking writing
- ATM/debit card capability.
- The only pitfall is that traditional checking accounts do not offer any interest rate on the money kept in the account. Recently, interest bearing checking accounts have been created (see information on this below). However, the interest rate offered on these products is significantly lower than for savings accounts with the same minimum balance requirements.
Summary – As it turns out, it looks like a multi-account system of checking and savings accounts are required in order to manage your money most effectively. Since we already explored choosing a savings account in Part 2 of this series, let’s look at our options for checking accounts.
Choosing a Checking Account
To recap what was stated previously, we are looking for a checking account that meets the following requirements:
- No fees / unlimited transactions.
- ATM/Debit card capability
- Check writing capability
Please note that having a competitive interest rate is not required for a checking account since we will use a savings account to grow our cash savings.
Step 1-
The first step to choosing a checking account is to decide between a local bank or a national/online bank (an online bank has almost the same pluses and minuses as a national bank when it comes to choosing a checking account). Take a look at Part 1 of this series for more information on that topic at the following link – Choosing a Bank – Part 1 – Local vs. National.
Step 2 –
Once you have decided between a local or national/online bank, the next step is to decide what type of account you want to open. For this, you basically have two choices: interest bearing checking accounts and regular checking accounts.
Choosing between an interest bearing account and a normal checking account can be a little tricky. All else being equal, you will want to lean towards the interest bearing account. However, if there is a monthly maintenance fee associated with the account or other restrictions, you would want to revert to the normal checking account.
For example, click on the link below to look at Bank of America’s checking account options. In doing this, we see that the normal My Access Checking account is totally free if opened online. We also see that Bank of America offers an interest bearing checking account. When we click on the details for the interest bearing instrument, we see that they are offering a 0.05% interest rate. However, we also can see that if the balance is under $10,000, there is a monthly maintenance fee associated with the account. In this case, we would want to go with the normal checking account.
Bank of America Checking Accounts
On the other hand, interest bearing checking accounts from online banks are an AMAZING DEAL. Just take a look at the link below for INGDirect’s checking account!
IngDirect.com – Electric Orange Checking Account w/ Interest
This account offers:
- No fees
- An ATM/Debit Card
- Free checks
- An interest rate of 0.24%. Awesome right?!
Note: if you are looking to open up an interest bearing checking account with IngDirect.com, email me your name and email address at irwin.jacob@gmail.com, and I’ll send you a code to give you $25 of free money, when you open the account with a $250 minimum opening balance.
As it turns out, other online banks offer interest bearing accounts similar to ING’s. Take a look at the link below for more details about those.
Bankrate.com – Checking Accounts with Interest
What works best for me
For my personal needs, the following system works best for me:
- I have a MyAccess Checking Account with Bank of America (no fees, free checks, free ATM/debit card access). I use Bank of America because I tend to move/vacation around a lot, and they have branches everywhere. Additionally, many of my friends and family have their checking accounts with Bank of America, and therefore, we can do instant money transfers between our accounts.
- I only keep around $700-$800 in this checking account at any one time because I do not earn interest on my balance.
- Any additional money I transfer out to either my stock equity accounts or my high yield savings account with Dollarsavingsdirect.com
Out of curiosity, let’s just take a look at how much more money I would be earning if I used an interest bearing checking account (INGDirect). Assuming that I maintain $800 in the account throughout the year and earn 0.24% interest, this equates to $2.92 per year. It’s probably not enough to outweigh the benefits I enjoy with Bank of America. But, if all else is equal in your situation, it is something to consider!
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Keep on learning!
Jacob
To receive updates on topics such as this one as soon as they are published, click on the link below to subscribe to My Money Blog:
Unlock Hidden Money in Your House – Sell Your Items On eBay
In my previous post at the link below, I described how I started an eBay resale business several years ago and discussed the steps I took to grow the business in to a profitable entity.
My Money Blog – How To Start A Business
In this post, I want to do the following: 1) introduce to everyone the idea that they can unlock hundreds of Dollars of hidden money in your apartment or house by selling your unused items on eBay and 2) share the three key learnings from my eBay endeavors that will hopefully help you in your future selling.
Sell Your Unused Stuff on eBay
If you’re like me (and most other people), you have A LOT of unused stuff around your house – DVDs and VHS tapes you no longer watch, books you have read or didn’t read, old bikes, speakers, amplifiers, shoes, unused shoes, radios, and the list goes on!
Now, just think about this idea – being able to get rid of your stuff and making money at the same time! Sounds nice doesn’t it? Well, if you’re willing to put in a little bit of leg-work and have fun in the process, you can make this dream a reality by selling your stuff on eBay.
How do you get started?
First, go to the ebay.com at the following link, and register for a selling account Register at eBay. Once you have done that, you are ready to start selling.
Now, at this point, I could go in to pages and pages of details of how to set up auctions and sell on eBay. However, there are PLENTY of book resources available on this subject already on the market. So, I’m not going to waste your time by just repeating that here.
My favorite book for general tactics at eBay selling is a book by Marsha Collier called, “Starting an eBay Business for Dummies.” The book has a very approachable layout, making it easy to find reference topics. Additionally, it is easy to read for beginning sellers. Pick up a used copy of this book at the Amazon link below!
Three Key Learnings To Help You Sell More and Make More
Listed below are the three things that I learned after many hours and trial-and-error of eBay selling. Put them to use and you will see results!
1) Not everything sells on eBay, so don’t try to sell everything! – Use “Completed Listings” Option
As the title suggests, the first thing you have to realize when selling household items is that not everything that you want to sell is going to sell.
For example, on my shelf right now, I have a used, VHS copy of the Harrison Ford movie, Air Force One. Now, let’s see if it will sell if I list it on eBay. I perform the search shown at the link below, and then on the left side of the screen, I scroll down, and click “show completed listings.” This shows a list of auctions that have ended with products with the same key words as the product I am wanting to sell.
In doing this, I find that only 1 VHS tape of the last 30 auction listings has sold. This is not a good ratio, and will not be worth my time or the eBay listing fee money required to list the tape. I then move on to another item in my house, and using the same system, I can find out what will have a good likelihood of selling success.
2) You don’t decide the price, the eBay marketplace does
So, using the method described in No. 1 above, you have found good evidence that something you have will sell in the eBay market. What’s the next step?
Well, what you’ll want to do is find an auction listing that has successfully sold (shows in green on the completed listing screen). Once you have found one, price the item you are listing at the same starting price or buy it now price. Don’t expect to make more by thinking you are smarter than the market!
3) It’s OK (and probably better) to mimic the auction listing format of successful listings
After finding a successful product listing as described in No. 2 above, if you like the format and information that is contained in the listing, don’t be afraid to professionally mimic what is shown on the listing.
Ever heard of the concept of “not reinventing the wheel?” The same thing applies here. You want to use a format that works. However, do not copy the listing word-for-word because it could cause complaints from the seller if it is seen repeatedly.
Well, I hope this advice gets you started on the road to unlocking some hidden money by selling your unused stuff on eBay. Good luck!
Keep on learning,
Jacob
To receive updates on topics such as this one as soon as they are published, click on the link below to subscribe to My Money Blog:
How To Start a Business
So, you’ve got a GREAT, innovative, new idea for a business. However, where do you start? what do you do? what legal/official steps do you need to take to get going? How do you advertise?
These are all questions that I wanted to attempt to address during today’s posting.
In my lifetime thus far, I have started two businesses: 1) a pet waste removal / yard clean-up service and 2) an eBay selling business. While I have not made a TON of money with either of these opportunities, they were priceless learning experiences where I could try out advertising, billing, bookkeeping, website development, and customer building techniques to possibly be used later in life.
Side note: Keep an eye out for a post coming soon on the key things to know to sell your extra items at home on eBay!
Let’s get started!
Step 1 – Create a DBA (Doing Business As) Name
The first thing you’ll want to do is pick a name for your business. Remember that with business names, you want to pick something related to your field so that potential customers can identify you.
Have something good in mind? Once you have it, go to your local county courthouse, then head to the county clerk’s office. There, go to the desk, and ask the official that you would like to register a DBA name for your new business. They’ll give you the paperwork to fill out, and you will be charged a fee of around $20-$30, depending on your location.
There! That wasn’t too hard right. Now you have your identifying name.
Step 2 – Register for a State Sales Tax ID/License
The next step to make your business official is to apply for a state sales tax ID number. This can be done fairly easily. Just search for the following phrase in Google to find/download an application, where XXXX will be replaced with your state’s name.
“XXXX state sales tax id”
The state sales tax ID number is important because it is required by wholesalers in order to give you reduced prices (idea is that you aren’t charged tax for purchasing goods to resell because you will charge tax to the end customer).
Step 3 – Find Wholesalers to Purchase Goods for Resale
If you are a service provider, you can ignore this step. However, if you start a business designed to resale goods to end customers (such as an eBay business), you need to find products to sell.
Armed with your state sales tax ID number, you can now approach pretty much any distributor or wholesaler that you are interested in buying from (whether you find them locally or on the internet). One of the biggest headaches you will encounter is large minimum order quantities. However, many have no minimum order quantities. One distributor I used pretty successfully was DBL Distributing- Home Page.
Step 4 – Advertising
Whether you like business/sales or not, advertising is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL to success. Let’s do a quick exercise. Just think for a moment the products you use on any given morning: you drink advertised coffee, use an advertised toothbrush/toothpaste, drive an advertised car to work, etc. The list could go on forever.
Naturally, the type of advertising you use depends on your business model. However, two advertising mediums that can be used pretty much universally are a website and flyers/signs.
For a website, I usually like to start off with the most low cost thing before I decide to devote significant financial resources to the business. To get a website going in no time and for free, you can use Blogger.com, Google’s blogging website, to create a blog. Blog’s are becoming extremely customizable, and there are so many widgets/special features out there, that you can customize your blog to do pretty much anything you want it to!
Another option is to use GoDaddy.com (link to website shown below). They have great deals on domains and hosting packages. With this, you will have to know a little more about website building, but you will have more control over your formatting.
Flyers are pretty straight forward because they can be generated from any computer. They key with flyers is to 1) create the flyer is such a way that is automatically gets the reader’s attention and 2) be sure to post them where people will read them.
In my past businesses, I have used several types of signs: yard signs, car magnet signs, and door hanger signs.
For the yard and car magnet signs, I just did a Google search, and found the cheapest quote I could find that was suited for my purposes. Take a look at all of the options that come up when you do the searches below!
Search for Car Magnet Signs
Search for Custom Yard Signs
Since I did a lot of door-to-door promoting of my pet waste removal service business, door hanger signs were great because I could hang them on the door when no one was home! I had a lot of trouble finding these for a good price online, and ended up just approaching a printing brick-and-mortar business in my hometown in Arkansas for these signs. They weren’t that expensive at all, and they worked great!
To recap, there are many steps that are involved in starting a business. However, these four steps were the result of many hours of research and teaching myself how to do things! I hope they help you in your ventures!
Keep on learning!
Jacob
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Dog Fostering – Low Cost Alternative to Pet Ownership
In a previous post (My Money Blog – Cost of Pet Products), I discussed how the cost of pet products and pet ownership can be very substantial, sometimes even totaling approximately $10,000 over the lifetime of the animal). I also briefly stated that I had just signed up to provide foster care to dogs through a local dog rescue in my hometown.
In today’s post, I want to provide details of the financial benefits of dog fostering based on my experiences and explain why it can be a great lower cost alternative to dog ownership. Why is this you might be asking yourself? Easy! Because the dog rescue you work with covers the cost of almost everything incurred for the animal. Your job as the foster is simply to care for and love him/her.
Cost of Animal Health / Vet Visits
When I received my first foster dog, I was instructed by our rescue president to take the dog’s first droppings to the local vet to be analyzed for stomach parasites. I simply collected the sample and dropped it off. I did not have to pay for anything. After I got the results back of the dog being positive for several parasites, the dog rescue I work with also paid for the Panacur medicine treatment as well.
Amount saved – $25 for the fecal matter analysis, $50 for the Panacur medications = $75 total
Cost of Dog Food
As mentioned in my previous post about pets, the cost of dog food can vary greatly. However, since pet stores donate so much food to the rescue, I was given high quality food for free!
Amount saved – $25 for the bag of food = $25 total
Cost of Dog Toys, Leashes/Harnesses and Chew Bones
Essentially, the sky can be the limit on how much pet accessories cost. However, the dog rescue I work with has many of these also donated to their cause, which I was able to receive for free.
Amount saved – $20 toys, $20 leashes/harnesses, $10 chew bones = $50 total
Cost of Dog Grooming
Many of the local groomers have deals worked out with the dog rescues in the area, and as such, perform grooming of many rescued dogs for free! Very nice!
Amount saved – $65 for a full grooming (wash included, Northeast pricing) = $65 total
Totaling all of these savings up, I have been able to save $215 total. Now, in my situation, $215 is not very much for all of the companionship that a dog provides. However, because my apartment doesn’t have a yard for the dog to play around in, it is better for me to just provide foster care vs. owning a dog.
However, if you are in a situation where you really want to help out with pets, but cannot afford one, please consider fostering!!
The bottom line is that each dog/cat/whatever fostered is a life saved!
Keep on learning!
Jacob
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Invest Money to Further Your Education
In yesterday’s post about “play money” (My Money Blog – Play Money), I talked about the monetary allocation system that T. Harv Eker suggested in his book (see link below for book at Amazon), “Secrets of the Millionaire Mind.”
As we saw in the Play Money post, T. Harv recommends that an individual invest 10% of her take-home pay towards furthering her education or that of her family. But, what exactly does this mean? What types of educational outlets could you invest your money in? These questions will be the subject of today’s post.
Why to invest in your family’s education?
The reason to this is simple. Most financial texts say that your income/earning potential is your greatest asset. However, I would disagree and extend that statement to read that your mind is the single most important asset you have. This is due to the fact that it drives your earning potential; teach yourself or your family new skills, and your earning potential will increase.
How much to invest in your education?
Now, let’s get a more concrete idea (in lay person terms) of how much we are talking about when we say 10% of your take-home income.
For example, if your gross salary is $5,000 per month and we assume you pay 28% taxes and contribute 15% of your income to your 401k pre-tax, this would give you a take-home pay of $3060 ($5000 – $750 to 401k = $4250 – 28% taxes = $3060 take home pay).
This translates in to $306 of money to invest in your education (10% of your take home pay). OK, great! Now we have a number we can grasp a little bit better.
So, I’ve got $306. How should I spend it?
Ways to Invest in Your Family’s Education
- Pay for your child’s college education (if they are at that time in their lives)
- If your children are younger, open up and/or fund a tax-sheltered educational savings account (529 savings account described in this post: My Money Blog – Give Your Children a Financial Head Start in Life).
- If you are disciplined enough, use the money to buy and sell individual stocks with the specific goal of teaching yourself investing in the process. This should not be done to MAKE money, but only to learn. If you make money, great! But, don’t expect it.
- Pay to take a seminar/workshop with a professional organization in your field of work. For example, in my field of pharmaceutical engineering, ISPE is a powerhouse of knowledge and professional development. ISPE.org – Education and Training has many details on the professional training classes they offer.
- Take a seminar/workshop on developing “soft” business skills – how to work with people, how to sell your ideas better, etc.
- Buy the foreign language version of a movie you know by heart, and try to learn a new language. Or, just sign up to a take a night class in a foreign language.
- Take speed-reading classes to enhance your reading effectiveness
- Since I don’t have children, my favorite way to invest in my education is to buy finance/real-estate, business methodology, Spanish language, and biotechnology related books used from Amazon. See link below for special offers.
Naturally, this list is not all-encompassing, and it should be adapted to best suit each individuals’ needs. The key takeaway that I would like to drive home for you all is to always be thinking about actively developing your skills in your daily lives.
As always, please let me know if you have any questions.
Keep on learning!
Jacob
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