Moving into a new position can be very daunting. First you have to learn the ropes around the office: Just figuring out how to turn on the microwave can be a pain, much less learning all of the new tasks related to the position itself. I recall one job in which I parked in the wrong spot-the boss’s spot, of all things-on the first day (and then got teased about it for quite some time to come). Settling in to a new routine, new hours, a new office and new rules is a challenge, but it is even more of … Continue reading →

As a business owner, I do have a steady flow of clients that I work with on a regular basis. I’ve acquired several steady positions, such as this one and a few others, in which I write for a company for an extended period of time. I know that I must produce a set number of articles or words for these companies in a given period of time, as per my contract. I take on other jobs as they arise. Some are one-time deals, where I design a marketing package for a new company or I write an article for … Continue reading →

The end of the year is right around the corner. If you are a freelance worker, whether you take photographs, write articles or conduct some other type of business on a contract by contract, it is imperative that you know where your money is going at the end of the month and from where it came. I’ve spoken with a lot of freelance workers since opening my marketing company and they’ve told me tales about how they had no idea what they were putting out each month on necessities such as cell phone (to use as business phone), Internet (to … Continue reading →

I meet a lot of women lately that are interested in starting a home-based business. The reasons are many: time home with the children, flexible hours, or following an interest. When I’m asked if I enjoy working from home, I emphatically answer YES. I do love it. I enjoy the fact that I can sit at my computer in my pajamas at eight AM, noon, eight PM or even sometime in the early morning hours when the night owls are even in bed. I can work on a variety of projects that make me smile. I enjoy doing something that … Continue reading →

A lot has been said lately about content management systems, or CMS. You may know them by their formal names, such as Joomla and Drupal. Perhaps you’ve read the buzz but are unsure if a CMS can work for you. If you are setting up a website for your business, a CMS can allow you to easily edit the content that you place into your site. A CMS can be purchased or found for free by doing an online search. The CMS template allocates certain areas in which you can add content or photos or easily change data. This makes … Continue reading →

A while ago I met another writer who does a lot of what I do. She runs a website for other moms, she works as a writer, she takes on freelance work and she works at home. She’s a great writer with a wonderful sense of writing style: You know the type of writer I mean, with words that seem to flow from some source deep inside. The downside? Lately it appears that she has her hands in one too many cookie jars, and that she can’t seem to focus on one particular aspect of her career and hold true … Continue reading →

In my business I spend a lot of time working with people who are starting new business ventures, and part of the work that I do is to help them come up with creative ideas for launching and running their new company. I recently worked with a girl who is creating a line of jewelry. She hopes to sell the jewelry by doing home parties. Her idea is to design a catalog and set up a few displays around town at craft shows and school functions in an effort to drum up business. The jewelry is beautiful, and I believe … Continue reading →

In case you missed here, here’s Part One. In stark contrast to M-TEC and Andrews, Career Step does very little in the way of hands-on instruction. You are given dictation to do online, and when you finish, you paste the transcript into the CS website, and the computer grades the transcript automatically. You get instantaneous feedback, but that feedback isn’t always correct. Despite what every sci-fi movie portrays, computers aren’t, as of yet, as smart as people, so the computer would mark things as wrong that really weren’t. An great example of this would be the following sentence, written three … Continue reading →

I just covered a question I get often: How many students at Career Step get a job quickly after graduation? Now I thought I would cover the second most common question that I receive from readers in the comment section and in the e-mails sent to me (I have actually received quite a few e-mails from readers wanting more info, and I’m always glad to answer those e-mails, so if you ever want to ask me a question, feel free to e-mail me at Hava L {at} Families dot com.) That question is: Why is there such a price difference … Continue reading →

If you missed Part One, check it out here. If you look at the list of reasons why a student wouldn’t get a job right away (can’t work full-time, has to have a very flexible schedule, doesn’t have high-speed Internet) you’ll notice that none of these reasons relate to Career Step at all. CS doesn’t have control over whether you have kids or dial-up or work full-time. The bottom line is, there is a high demand for medical transcriptionists right now, and as long as you can pass the various company tests, you’ll have no problem finding a job. So … Continue reading →