The Simple Site Design Blog

Copyright © 2011 Jim Gerlits

Emotions dominate our actions and reactions and often we will do and say things that we wish we hadn’t. To lose control of our emotions is often socially unacceptable. We become used to putting our feelings aside and focus only on rational aspects.

No matter how hard we try to control our emotions we will still express them from time to time. Positive emotions are a life long goal for many of us. Positive emotions relates to emotional, health, and self-improvement.

We have to decide what’s most important in our life the amount of money we accumulate, or how often we can give ourselves over to bouts of laughter and sheer joy.

We often put our positive emotions behind our negative feelings. That’s one of the biggest problems that we face in controlling our emotions.

There is no easy way to ignore negative experiences. Things happen in our life or to those we love that effect our emotions.

When we become an adult things become even more complex. A disagreement with a spouse can effect your life some times for days. You will not do little the things that you usually do that will make your spouse smile with appreciation.

This can all happen because of that one negative thought , which contaminates the way you perceive the reality around you.

When we allow our emotions to take over we have to find a place to relax our mind, which can do wonders for our emotions and mental improvement. It can be an actual place or an imaginary one which ever as long as it is a place that you can get peace and calm your emotions.

If you have something in your life that is bugging you and won’t go away. Then you need to get away go do something physical run or go bowling something that will occupy all your thoughts.

A safe haven can take many forms. It can be a song, movie, person or pet. The main thing is to allow your self to completely involved with this new activity.

The problem may flash back into your brain every now and then. Ignore them and get even more absorbed in what you are doing.

Your safe place exists only as a helping hand, not a solution to your life’s problems. It is just a temporary escape.

As you return from your safe zone you will have an increased energy level. You will feel better about yourself and gain more confidence. You will see that any thing can be overcome.

Any small escape from what is considered reality can increase your emotional and mental health. Try do do it often and experience a better you.

Free 21 day prosperity course and a web site with self- improvement books and courses also offering some free books.
http://-www-self-improvement-books.com

Copyright © 2011 Mitch Levin

If what you thought to be true turned out not to be true, when would you want to know that? Would it disturb you to discover that you probably are (unknowingly and unnecessarily) paying more than 6% in your investments each and every year (which is almost like betting against one of the most powerful forces in the universe — the power of compounding)? Before inflation? Before paying advisory fees?

Well unfortunately this may disturb you…

Few of us ever read a mutual fund’s (MF) or exchange traded fund’s (ETF) prospectus, which reveals the Net Expense Ratio (NER). That is normal. It is filled with “legalese”, in small font, and is ever so boring.

According to Morningstar the average stock mutual fund NER has risen (sneakily, but ever so steadily) from 1.39% in 1987 to over 1.52% by October 2010; and that number may continue to head toward 2%. Higher still are “small cap” funds — NER of 1.61%, international funds – NER 1.68%.

Even fewer of us read the Statement of Additional Information (SAI), which describes the activities and additional fund expenses, costs, and fees. One of the most misunderstood or understated of these is the trading activity within the fund.

Morningstar shows that the average mutual fund has a stock turnover of about 115% per year every year. How is that for activity? That means if there are 100 stocks in a particular fund at the beginning of the year, by the end of the year at least 100 of those same stocks have been sold, then others bought and some of those are sold with yet others bought—often repeating the same stocks.

The SAI-reports that additional Trading Costs, on average, approach another 1.44% per year (for the period 1995-2005), according to Roger Edelen of Boston College and Richard Evans of the University of Virginia and Gregory Kadlec of Virginia Polytechnical Institute in their article Scale Affects in Mutual Performance reported in a 2007 Registered RepresentativeMagazine. (And according to fundpolice.com the Zero Alpha Group tracks undisclosed brokerage costs and they calculate the average fund annual expense ratio to be 1.72%*).

Moreover, these trading activities also cause taxable events costing investors to lose on average an additional 2.5% of their returns to taxes on (embedded in the fund) long and short term capital gains (not to mention dividend taxation) each year asrevealed on the SEC website in 2006.

Thus, to determine the true cost of only a mutual fund all these fees must be added together which would make the industry average 4.01 to 5.46% per year, according to Ray J. Shreder, RFC, CRC, AIF.

On top of all that, the average financial advisor fee is 1.41% according Tiburon’s Strategic Advisors, the fee-only financial advisors’ Best Practices Survey.

On the “My Money Blog” website, Morningstar admits that fund expenses are more important than “star ratings” and this was reported on August 17, 2010. According to Allan Ross of CBS moneywatch.com August 17, 2009 “Mutual fund fees jumped 5%.”

Oh, and did we talk about the custodial fees of 0.06 to 0.25% for Schwab or TD Ameritrade or Fidelity or Wells Fargo to hold your assets? Or the cost of trading the funds themselves? Someone has to get paid for that, too, averaging 0.2%.

What does that all mean? Summit’s research shows, using outside funds, total costs to you can exceed 4.77%. So your fund must earn almost 5% for you to break even!

What is the solution?

Because of the previous data we’re not big fans of ETF’s or mutual funds because of these high expenses. Rather, we prefer the institutional structured fund model that complies with the Center for Research of Security Pricing — low turnover, low transaction costs, and low trading costs. These funds are not required to buy high and sell low — as opposed to most index funds.

Why not ask to get a Free Market Investment Analysis? There are only two possible outcomes: first, everything you are doing is great—when would you want to know this? Second, what you are doing is costing you BIG—when would you want know that? This FMIA includes your portfolio’s efficiency, cost analysis, and overlap study.

Mitch Levin, MD, CWPPtm, CAPPtm, CEO & Managing Director of Summit Wealth – Florida Division, a Registered Investment Advisory firm. Summit Wealth is dedicated to “empowering investors to build, protect, and preserve their prosperity through their own Financial Fortress.” For more information about Mitch Levin visit http://www.mysummitwealth.com

Copyright © 2011 Joe Maldonado

Everyone would love to work from home! How great would it be to get up and begin work in your jammies with no commute? Nobody wants to spend eight hours at an office every day just to put money in another person’s pocket.

There are many people who have found ways to make up to seven figures working from home. It doesn’t just come easy though. There is no get rich quick scheme that actually works, and if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. You can forget those claims about making $1000 a day stuffing envelopes.

You have probably been searching online and found the thousands of work from home marketing guides, eBooks, products, seminars and such. Most of the time people make more money selling these products than those they sell them to.

Don’t let this discourage you from deciding to work from home or start an online business. It is just important to go into any new business venture with an understanding of what you are facing. As far as failure rate, online and work from home businesses run the same chance of failure or success as any other business (this is speaking statistically).

The amount of work from home business opportunities has grown with the popularity of the internet. However, this does not mean that it will automatically be easy to be successful.

Ten years ago it would have been hard to find anyone who was using the internet to make money. Now you will find work from home entrepreneurs everywhere, and they are rising in numbers. There is so much money to be made in this business that most of these folks are making decently high salaries.

It doesn’t take a whole lot to enter the business either. All it takes is a computer, internet access and decent understanding of computers to create a website or online product and turn into an online marketer. Due to the fact that it is pretty simple to get started, there has been a huge attraction to online marketing. Now the competition is major, and you are up against millions of people worldwide. Everyone wants a piece of the money getting spent online, and there are some big players out there.

While it may be the truth that there are plenty of people making very serious money online, unfortunately they are the minority. Most people are struggling just to pay their hosting and domain fees, so they end up closing their business before it even gets a chance to really take off.

If you are seriously considering a work from home or online business, and you have the motivation it takes to succeed, there is a plethora of ways you can work from home and make full or part time income.

In order to be successful it is most important that you think of your work from home business as any other business. Do plenty of research, develop your skills, outsource when necessary, and most importantly draft a business plan beforehand.

For more information about work from home ideas and Home Business ideas, visit http://www.workfromhomecoach.com.au today!

Copyright © 2011 John Reiling

You may be thinking that the Project Management Certification Exam is most likely taking a major exam during your college days where you can easily attain the best grades, even reach 85 percent. But, you need to consider the other way around. This PMP exam is composed of 200 multiple-choice questions and must be answered within a limit of time. Don’t underestimate this test because every question is difficult. Passing even at least 60 percent of the total score is hard to achieve; at the same time, you will be pressured in answering them within 4 hours only.

In your college exams, you may not need to worry about the exam because you are confident to pass it easily, never even bother to focus too much on the lessons and no one is always looking at you like proctors. But this actual test is a totally different world. I’m sure you can hardly cope up with this environment. Let me give you some advice that will guide you during this test.

PMP Testing Center

Preparations are needed before taking the exam, especially that you know this exam is hard. You need to carefully plan ahead. After choosing the location of the PMP testing center you want to take, familiarize the route from your house to the exact spot. See if the route is a busy path or find a convenient and shorter way to get there. A day before the exam, just relax and sleep early. Make your body energized and healthy. You can’t afford to fail the exam just because you are sick. Do not bring with you anything that will distract your attention. If possible, wear something comfortable, where you can breathe and be calm even in the most pressured hour of the exam.

Then eat something nutritious such as fruits and vegetables as you wake up in the morning. If time allows, have some morning exercise to freshen up a little bit and keep your mind and body awake. Complete your personal hygiene and go to the bathroom as early as now so that you won’t be disturbed with it later. Leave your home early so that you can still reexamine what you have studied and things you must remember.

The PMP Exam

Time is very crucial and important in this examination. Specifically, you can only spend time with 1 question for only 72 seconds! Therefore, you can’t waste time and this makes applicants pressured. You must do your best to answer a little bit faster at the same time, calm. Don’t get too nervous or you’ll end up mental blocked. Just breathe once in a while and think the great opportunities along with this text if you pass. If you ever meet a question in which you don’t know the answer, leave it for a while and proceed to the easier ones. Make sure that you answer everything because every unanswered question is deducted to your total score.

In order for you not to be too pressured, apply what you have learned during your PMP training and experience. They are already teaching you how you should go with the exam. Give everything you’ve got and you’ll just receive your reward when you pass the test.

John Reiling, PMP, PE, MBA is an experienced Project Manager and certified Project Management Professional. John provides pmp exam questions. John also writes regularly in his blog, PMcrunch.com.

Copyright © 2011 Mandi Pralle

The computer is one of the most important tools that a modern person needs to know and how to manipulate. It can help you with a lot of things, allowing you to live easier and more comfortably in the information era. However, there’s a lot to a computer that you may want to know about. If you’re creative, though, you’ll surely get interested with Photoshop. Basically a program that will allow you to edit photos and create artworks digitally, it could be very handy for you to know how to use this software to your advantage. Especially if you’re eyeing the graphic design line, you’ll surely get a lot out of this skill.

The thing is that Photoshop can be quite tricky. It’s not exactly the easiest program to handle or work with. It’s actually quite technical, making beginners and first timers baffled with what to do with it. Luckily, you don’t need to spend hours just to learn how to use each and every function in the program. With the help of training courses, you can easily learn or even master the ins and outs of Photoshop.

But before you sign up in one, you should know that different courses have various offers. Some are more useful than others, so you have to be careful in selecting which one to pay for. You have to make sure that you will learn how to work with the vital elements and tools in the program, besides, you’re paying for it anyway.

In order to be sure that you’ll really get the most out of your time and money with these courses, here’s a list of the top things that you should get out of a Photoshop training course:

1. How to use the basic tools

By the end of the course, you should know what the Layers are, how to crop, merge, brighten, correct colors, refine edges, trim, and resize on Photoshop. These are the most basic things people need to do when editing photos with any digital software, so you should at least know how this particular one can help you complete such tasks.

2. How to use the “fancy” effects Photoshop has to offer

This program is a favorite among a lot of other image editors because you can do a lot with it. The filters section alone can already give you ample choices in how to edit your photo. Technically, the functions under this category (brush strokes, sketch, stylize, pixelate, sharpen, blur, etc.) are very basic, so you should definitely know more about that if you’re going to take a course.

3. Good idea with what more you can do with Photoshop

If you’re a beginner, you will need to know about the basics. However, you should at least get a good idea what more can be done with Photoshop in your course, so you’ll know what you can continuously improve yourself in the area.

Photoshop is really a useful tool to have in your computer. However, it is better if you actually know how to use it to create things, especially if you’re in the arts and other creative fields. If you want to be a professional graphic designer, learning this would be essential, so you can get certification. This can better improve your image and career, so make sure to take this tiny step today.

Discover how to use the special features in Adobe Photoshop CS5 to create award winning graphics from an experienced professional. Learn more about the Adobe Photoshop through our Denver Photoshop CS5 Classes.

Copyright © 2011 Zahra Efan

Everyday I go out for a mini retreat to get inspiration and ideas for my business projects. Before I get into my project, I usually pick up a magazine and look at beautiful jewelry or home décor to inspire my senses with beauty. Beauty helps me tap into my creativity. Similarly, one can get inspiration from nature and the beauty that is all around us: flowers, greenery and waterfalls. Last week, during my retreat at the library I picked up the current issue of Femina magazine and I loved the message of the editorial:

Editor Tanya Chautaya’s message, Don’t know about you, I am done with logic, made me stop to read the editorial before going any further. She gave several examples of people who had created projects in unconventional ways and who took chances that critics would have said wouldn’t work. But work they did. These people thought outside the box and defied logic.

That’s exactly what happens when clients work with me to find ways to share the message about their passionate projects. We don’t look at the how everyone else has done it; we look at how they will do it and what is unique about their way.

Remember, if we want to share our passionate message with the world, we need to express ourselves in our own way. We need to defy logic and get in touch with our creative, intuitive message. We can create effortlessly, like the sun shines effortlessly every day. When we are in sync with the ultimate creator and co-create from our spirit source; we get to express our magic. Being a woman means having an abundance of intuitive energy, all we need to do is tap into it.

In continuing her discussion in Femina, Tanya Chautaya added that the key to defying logic is to learn from children. Children let logic find its way in the choices that they make. She says for example, looking at the current issue of Femina, logic would say go to the focus article mentioned on the cover; but most of us instead rush to the fashion feature on pants. When I work with clients, I have them determine what their fashion feature would be, determine their strengths, identify their childlike voice – the one that is different from the voices of others. From there we design marketing activities around their own voice.

I love how she concludes her exploration of logic by asking, What if you were never to grow up? I help my client find ways to express the fun and creative side of business so that they never have to grow up. I encourage them to own their brilliant childlike voice and create a business that allows them do what they are naturally good at and what brings them joy. Marketing becomes fun and exciting. How freeing not to follow the traditional marketing model, but to create your own model instead!

I have clients who are thinking outside the box and creating careers that allow them to express their passions. One is making a movie about forgiveness by being in touch with her passionate message. Another is the owner of a magazine that educates people about the diversity of cultures in America. She is able to do that because she got in touch with her own pain and passion and fully understands why it means so much to her to educate people. She wants to eliminate myths and stereotypes that are perpetuated about people living in America. Once we connect with the depth of our purpose and find creative ways to express and market our talents, we contribute to the planet in a much larger way.

To get a free e-book on ‘Abundance in Business,’ please visit http://www.zahraefan.com
Zahra specializes in supporting creative, heart centered female entrepreneurs such as coaches, artists, healers, writers, filmmakers, designers and others to create successful businesses.

Copyright © 2011 Julie Austin

Cold calling is one of the most important skills a business owner can have. It may not be the most fun, but it’s the most effective skill to have if you want to sale more and expand your business.

You will need to be prepared to make a cold calling campaign successful. Start with a script and rehearse it several times. You don’t want to sound like a telemarketing robot, just get yourself familiar with the script so you really know what you’re talking about. Then you will feel comfortable about going off script.

Warm up by making your first call of the day to a trusted friend. This should be someone that will put you in a good mood. It’s hard to stay motivated when you are cold calling, but every time you have a success it makes it easier to make the next call. Tell yourself that what you have to sell is valuable and the buyer will be lucky to have it. Selling is about solving the other person’s problem. Before you can convince the buyer, you need to convince yourself that what you have is worthy of their time.

Make some warm calls first. These are to people that you have a connection with. Maybe they came from a referral or you met the person at an event. The conversation will probably go smoother if you are making warm calls. Every call that goes well will get you more excited about making the next one. It’s important to keep your confidence high when you are cold calling and selling.

The first person you will likely encounter will be the gatekeeper. That will either be the secretary or receptionist. You can expect to be screened by the gatekeepers. Be prepared for it. Make a friend of them and make it easy for them. Get this person on your side. It’s likely that you will be talking to these same people again at some point in the future and they will be able to help you. Take the time to establish a rapport with them and ask questions. You want to make sure you are contacting the right person and this is the time to find that out.

Julie Austin is an inventor/entrepreneur and multiple business owner with a product called swiggies, wrist water bottles that are sold around the world. She is also the author of “The Money Garden: How to Plant the Seeds for a Lifetime of Income” available on Amazon. http://www.createforcash.com

Copyright © 2011 MyMark, LLC

Great content is what keeps readers coming back to your blog and YouTube channel. This is true of your Podcast too. The benefit to producing a Podcast is your fans don’t have to sit down and read or watch in order to learn from you. They can listen to you at their convenience wherever they choose.

Where does your great content come from? Your blog post! I write my great thoughts on my blog. From there I create a video that gets syndicated to YouTube. I also create an article and send it out for syndication. I spend a lot of time thinking about my blogs. I want them to inform, educate, and entertain when possible. If I’ve succeeded creating a great blog I then want to put it in many formats to allow my readers, viewers, and listeners to get the information easily and conveniently. A Podcast is an ideal format.

On the Internet there are marketing tools I use to build my personal brand. The five I use most often are blog marketing, article marketing, press release marketing, video marketing, and Podcast marketing. By using all of these forms of marketing on the Internet I enable my information to be consumed by those interested how and where they prefer.

One of my favorite methods of distribution is the Podcast. If used properly, my weekly blogs are converted into a Podcast episode made available on my Podcast site. These weekly Podcasts are subscribed to by my listeners. Each time I release a new Podcast, it is automatically pulled into their player. Then, at their convenience—driving, on the beach, on an airplane, or where ever—they can listen to the Podcast episode.

It is important that a Podcast follow certain rules depending on what type of Podcast it is. For example, a book would be broken down into Podcast episodes for each chapter. Sometimes books are not read by the author, but rather by someone with a great voice. A radio Podcast may be a series of songs that make up a specific radio show or theme. This can be anywhere from one song in length to a multiple-hour tribute to a musician.

The type of Podcasts I am interested in are for business use. They are short, single topic Podcast episodes. The series of episodes are all related to a topic. In my case, running a business. However, they could be about fishing, auto repair, health care, etc. There are many ideas on how to keep your listeners coming back for more information. These are three rules I found very effective. Here are three rules to follow to create an effective Podcast episode:

1. Keep to the topic. Effective Podcasts focus on a single topic. Don’t ramble. Stay on task and to the point.

2. Keep it to 3 to 5 minutes. Effective Podcasts are short and to the point. If you end up writing more than three or four paragraphs, break it into multiple episodes.

3. Keep it interesting. Would you want to learn about your topic if you were not already an expert? Add personal experiences when possible. Effective Podcasts are fun.

Happy Podcasting!

Original post http://www.mymark.com/blog/blog/category/blogposts/page/10/

Copyright © 2011 Gavin Ingham

As a sales expert and someone interested in improving lives and businesses in general I strive to ensure that I am doing the best that I can to be at the cutting-edge of what is going on with new selling ideas and strategies. One area that I have some strong opinions about is social media and the uses and abuses of social media. I have shared some of these in previous blogs and will do in the future however for this post I sought out social media expert Chris Norton of Dead Dinosaur to get his opinion on a few widely asked questions…

Q: How important is social media for sales in the real world right now? (i.e. not internet sales, internet businesses, not selling courses on how to make money online… but real honest to goodness bricks and mortar businesses).

A: Good question, personally I am pretty sick of the courses you see everywhere which are offering you a new and unique way to make money online. In my area of expertise they usually consist of 17 large books you have to buy to become a social media guru and the end the result is normally that you learn a lot about the first book and not so much about the other 16. In my experience if it sounds too good to be true it usually is.

To answer your question, social media is vitally important to sales at the moment for internet retailers as often it means the online business gets more traffic to its website and if it has a good conversion ratio on its site it’s likely to see quite a lot of new sales. However, you were asking me about a business that doesn’t sell online? My answer would again be Social Media is vitally important as it gives you the ability to find new people to engage with. These can be new potential customers, suppliers or even friends and all you need is your computer. Social media should be seen as blessing to those who hate making new business calls as you can do it all from your office or living room.

However, social networking is the same as real-life networking. When you go out and about and meet someone you usually tell them what you do. Why not do it 140 characters and show your community that you know your area of expertise?

If social media is used properly and the user does add real value to their community/followers/fans they will find that the sales will soon start to follow. However, like anything it doesn’t happen overnight and if you start selling heavily it just won’t work. You need to work at it and enjoy it – just like real networking or the gym.

Networking of any nature is about relationships and if you build up a relationship with people you are half way there to building up your sales pipeline. I am working with various high profile brands that use Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, blogs and the like, to simply keep their customers informed on what they are doing. If you look after your fans and followers they will notice this and you will be well on your way to building a better relationship with them. It is great for customer loyalty but even better for feedback. Your customers can now tweet you or leave a comment on your blog and you can use this information to make your products or services better. How useful is that? In fact, I often say the more critical the comments the more useful the feedback can be to product development.

Blogging is a great example of how social media is important for anyone no matter what industry. Let’s take this/your blog as an example. You write your posts on here that shows your readers you know what you are talking about when it comes to sales. The articles you have written on here have set you up as an expert in your field. As you know any business can do this and blogs cost virtually nothing to get started. The best thing about blog articles is they stay online forever, which means your latest readers can find them in Google, and then decide to buy from you – it really is that simple.

Q: Who would you say are the movers and shakers in the industry?

A: This is a tough question as there are a lot of people I rate in this sector but the people I respect the most I know mainly through my online networking. If I was pushed to answer I think my top five social media specialists would be:

Brian Solis – author of Engage and Principal at Futureworks
Todd Defren – Principal at Shift Communication
David Brain – President & CEO Edelman Europe of Crowd Surfing
Neville Hobson – PR Podcaster and blogger
Drew Benvie – Managing director 33 Digital

Q: What should people be doing to get going?

A: I think every business should have a blog as this offers huge SEO and traffic benefits. I also think people should have a play with Twitter as that is where a lot of my new contacts come from. People like people, so don’t be too corporate – just try to be yourself and show the world that you are an expert in your chosen field. If you are polite and friendly the new connections will come you can be sure of that.

Q: What’s the biggest mistake that people make when getting into social media?

A: I have seen a lot of brands start a Facebook page, a twitter feed without any real cohesion or message. In other words people are trying to sell too hard and this is the wrong approach. If you are friendly, add value and give something unique (like a special offer) ever once in a while your numbers will start to grow and you will start to see some effect on your bottom line – I have no doubt about that.

Q: What would be your best tip that people could read in 20 seconds?

A: My quick tip for social media is add value and personality to your company. Your website is for showcasing, selling and your social media channels are for adding value and giving something back to your customers.

Q: Who are you again?

A: Chris Norton is CEO of www.tweasier.com and managing director of Dead Dinosaur, a specialist word of mouth marketing, social media and public relations consultancy. He has more than eleven years’ experience in the PR industry having worked both in-house and in a number of consultancies. He is listed in the UK’s top 15 PR bloggers and his blog posts on social media have appeared marketing titles such as PR Week and Revolution. You can check out his blog here: www.deaddinosaur.co.uk/blog.

For more sales training tips, tricks and strategies visit www.gaviningham.com now. Blogs, articles, podcasts, videos and a free sales newsletter.

Copyright © 2011 Dorothy Tannahill Moran

Recently, there was an article in the Portland Tribune that discussed volunteer rates, particularly as they relate to the unemployed. It was a great article with several lessons built right in.

The primary comments were that the unemployed, who probably have the time, were the least likely to volunteer and that volunteer numbers were continuing downward. Since 2002, the ranks of the unemployed have decreased their volunteer rate by 3%. Although there were many issues that were involved for this decline, the most notable is the fact that the unemployed lose social interest and become disconnected from their community and social fabric. The article cited a 35% drop by people who lose their job even one time, but at some point were volunteering.

The most concerning comment was regarding the long term implication, which is that this level of disconnect created a behavior change in people that lasted permanently, often even after employment was regained. These people tended to lack good communication and maintained a level of disconnect with others. The issue I see with this is that the best way for a job seeker to find a job will be through the relationships or networks they have established and keep refreshed – only now they are cutting off their own life line. This could be a self-perpetuating problem. The thing that happens the most (social disconnect) is the thing you want to have happen the least. They pointed out depression as either being a contributor or an outcome.

If there ever was an argument for “getting out of the house”, this set of facts is it. You might feel down in the dumps and not up for socializing BUT now is the time to do it! Or risk changing yourself forever to a reclusive, silent person.

Let’s look at the benefits of volunteering while unemployed:

If you get volunteer work in your job area, it can act to keep your skills sharp and up to date.

If you’re concerned about job gaps, it can fill your gap while you’re still looking for a job.

It will expand your very important network.

If you’re changing careers, you can learn new things which can be put on your resume.

It will make you feel good about helping people in your community.

Based on studies, it will keep you connected to others, keep your communication skills honed and stave off depression.In other words, there are truly a number of very compelling reasons why you would want to volunteer.If you are a job seeker, you need to spend some time examining what you are and aren’t doing, particularly as it relates to your social interactions. While I think you would do well to get up and get volunteering, minimally you need to ensure your days include time to interact and communicate with others. You don’t want to become a recluse or a sullen, withdrawn person for the rest of your life. It won’t enhance your life and it will certainly make everything you’re doing just that much more difficult.

Job Search not going anywhere? I can help. I would like to invite you to claim your Free Instant Access to the Career Makeover Newsletter AND eWorkbook “Should I Stay or Should I Go” – both dedicated to Your career success, when you visit http://CareerMakeoverToolKitShouldIstayorShouldIGo.com/ From Dorothy Tannahill-Moran from http://www.nextchapternewlife.com