Wishing all my readers a very happy and succesful 2016

So you want to be a writer …Some New Year thoughts to help you get going

Recently there has been an ad shown frequently at the start of YouTube videos, it is an advertisement for the musical Beautiful, the story of the singer /song writer Carole King. A very moving moment is when she flings herself on a sofa and plaintively wails I wanna be a song writer Ma….

Many a writer has the same emotions, often greeted with the same disbelief by Ma, Pa, Grandma and quite a few others who will insist you must get a proper job!!! But, YOU want to be a writer ….

So, why not let 2016 be the year that you at least start on the journey?  I have written before about how I find the best way to get started as a writer is to write from what you know, write from experience. Unless that is, you know that you are a gifted creative writer and plan to write novels. I am not an imaginative writer, I doubt I shall ever be writing a novel along the lines of Jackie Collins and many, many others, but when readers of my blog compliment me on my unique style of writing, I often reply that I put this down to the fact that I write not as a trained recruitment or careers consultant but as an older person trying to make a living with disabilities, I write from what I know and from my experiences. 

A lot is heard now about niche blogs and which niche ‘s makes the most money for writers. Often the money can be made by either writing the articles on paying sites or advertising and sales from related affiliate links. The best and most profitable way to write is from what you know. I began writing about being an older person with disabilities looking for a job or a genuine income from home, as I was being forced to claim Job seekers allowance, which meant I had to apply for jobs. I used to work as a nursery nurse but found myself with arthritis, the effects of a fracture to my wrist and ankle, high blood pressure, the increasing effects of having been partially sighted since childhood, a heart condition and anxiety and depression since being a victim of domestic abuse. Dealing with job hunting and the department of work and pensions in the UK and the strict requirements of job hunting, having to go to the job centre to sign on and have my job search record checked no matter how unwell I was, or dreading having to try to get there in icy winter conditions when I am housebound, I learned a lot and decided that maybe I could help others in similar positions to mine. When eventually my doctor agreed to write medical certificates, having refused to do so for some time as they are discouraged from doing so by the government, I was able to make a claim for Employment and Support Allowance, the replacement for Incapacity Benefit. My doctor was certain I would be unsuccessful, even though the Job centre had been saying I was on the wrong benefit and needed to make a claim for as it is known ESA, after waiting fourteen months for a medical I was awarded the benefit. While writing the blog, I came to realise that actually, job hunting for older or disabled people is not the most profitable niche for affiliate income, because there are few products sold related to this, what advice there is in books for sale on Amazon, can be found for free on the web. However, the opportunities increase when making an income from home, starting a business and information relating to Baby Boomers is added…Baby Boomers are big industry because there are so many of them. Also, rather than hoping to earn money writing about being a job hunter, or being a writer, sell affiliate products that they need e.g.  stationary items, home office equipment, journals, pens, laptops etc ….

However, do be willing to be adventurous and step outside your comfort zone. Maybe you do have a novel in you or discover you can write poetry, some of us are copywriters, some can blog about daily life, sport, religion, DIY, cookery, photography or some other arts or crafts, and some of us can do more than one but to stick to what we always feel comfortable with can stagnate us. I have admitted I am not much of a creative writer and I write more from factual experience, but I do keep journals and when I get the chance I do some journaling and write about other things besides job hunting. Do not be afraid to experiment and try other areas of writing that you are not so confident about, you may well be surprised at your talents and how they grow.

New year is for reflection and stock taking and making plans for the future, thinking about goals and hopes and things that have not happened so far but that you still wish for, and thinking how can you make them come true? What can a New year mean for a writer or someone who wants to be a writer? Well, maybe you will write that novel, maybe you will start or commit regularly to writing a blog that makes money, maybe you will write some articles for a paying site and get paid for doing so ...and maybe you will find the confidence to call yourself a writer and silence your critics.

First of all, every day or whenever you can, make a point of being disciplined and plan and make time to write. Many of us have commitments that can make it very difficult to find time to write, but it can be done. Try to set aside an hour on the days that you are able to write, and this does not have to be actually writing your book or articles, even the research and planning   are a necessary part of what you will eventually put on paper or the computer. 

Write something and make this the year that you can say you are a writer but remember it is not a get rich and famous quick occupation, many a famous author had a lot of rejection on the journey and so will you. However, calling yourself a writer, acknowledging that you are one is a big part of becoming known and respected as one. To many, and sadly often to those whose approval and encouragement you want most, it will seem to be no more than a hobby but writing regularly and steadily improving means that you are a writer ….and that dream can come true.

Wishing all my readers a very Happy Christmas and New Year

However you may be spending the holiday period, I thank you all for your readership, support and comments on my blog ....wishing you all  Christmas blessings and every Success in the New Year

The dream New Year's resolution

Along with "This is the year I will lose weight!" and "This is the year I will stop smoking!" Quite a few people dream "This IS the year I will start my own business!"...the dream resolution!!! Lots of people plan it but it does not always happen, at least not in a way that lasts. So, before you have just another New Year Resolution that didn't last until the next lot, here are some things to think about.

Are you self-motivated and disciplined? If you cannot get out of bed without being forced out by a hungry and insistent cat, the chances are that you may well not have the motivation to run a business. You have to motivate yourself to do a hundred and one different things some of which you may not like but still have to be done and which may not get done unless you do them. I do not like making phone calls, I have before my blog really started to take off done telesales from home, but only purely to get some money. Depending on your business you may have to force yourself to make calls, or to go and visit people. Running a business is not about staying in bed half the day, spending much of the rest of it in your pajamas and watching the telly no matter how many get rich quick internet ads try to tell you otherwise.

Are you afraid of hard work? You think that running your own business is an easier option do you? Well, you are very wrong. If you think it is too much hard work to work for someone else, then wait until you have a business of your own. I am getting better at switching off in the evenings and weekends but all the many tasks there are to do can easily find you working long hours and seven days a week, at least at the start. 

Are you able to delegate some tasks? Running a business, even this blog involves loads of tasks not just the running of the business itself. Many of my readers I know and I am very grateful, would love to see me write more articles but I am not able to afford yet to pay for help and so I alone not only have to write the articles but market the blog as well. There is no point in my writing, if nobody sees it. It is very hard to try to do all the tasks both practical and administrative yourself and it is much better to delegate, even if you do have to pay for help. Also, being a good delegator is an excellent skill in itself, people are much more inclined to help you if they see that you can ask for and welcome assistance, however, certainly in the early days you may financially have no choice but to carry on alone.

Seriously ask yourself if your personal relationships with family and friends are strong enough to withstand your starting a business. Starting a business will not only take time away from your family but also may put a strain on your partner and family financially.  You really do need to be sure that you have accessed all the financial help and support there may be out there, any state benefits that you are entitled to and grants that you can apply for, and that your partner is willing to carry and support you with the drop in income coming into the home that there may well be before the business really gets going. It will be even more strain on you if your mother-in-law who is not keen on you in any event is feeling that her beloved son or daughter is having to work even harder to support you and maybe children while you as she may see it ...won't get a decent job. On the subject of getting a decent job, you may find yourself surprised and hurt even, that friends and family seem unenthusiastic about your new career that you have such high hopes for. However, try to better understand this from my experience, loads of people want to be a writer as I do, I want to be a writer on age, health and employment issues ~ a journalist? well yes !! but many do not make it successfully in journalism or as writers of any kind including fiction, as a first career, never mind when like me they take it up as a woman in her fifties who was a nursery nurse and should still be working until 66, had it not been for health issues. Family and friends on the whole care about you, when they sound like they are putting down your ambitions, it is very often because like the experience I have had with friends and family, they worry about you and especially if they are older do not believe that a job is a job and has any security unless like a friend of mine says if I mention any kind of work online ~ do they pay everything for you? meaning tax and national insurance and a pension. This friend of mine does not believe that a job is a job unless you have been for an interview in a physical building ...If this sort of concern is going to give you a big guilt trip for

worrying and putting stress on people who care about you or even as in the case of your partner and family may rely on you having a regular income, you will need to ask yourself if you can take the pressure.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/230721

http://socialtriggers.com/what-should-you-do-when-your-friends-and-family-dont-support-you/

http://personalexcellence.co/blog/unsupportive-people/

http://www.cambridgeentrepreneuracademy.com/my-family-and-friends-dont-believe-in-or-support-my-entrepreneurial-endeavors/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephenie-zamora/when-your-friends-and-fam_b_5915058.html

http://www.redpodcast.com/red-150-when-friends-and-family-dont-support-your-business-ideas/

http://smartblogs.com/leadership/2014/05/14/how-do-you-cope-with-friends-and-family-who-dont-support-your-business/

For more Google: when family and friends don't support your business

Do you have financial backing? One of the main reasons for a business failure is lack of sound financial underpinning before you begin. You really should have enough financial resources to see you through until the business is giving you enough profit to live on ...if you haven't then it is not a business; it is a hobby. This might sound sarcastic and harsh to any readers trying to start a business but your business is your bread and butter and it needs to be able to put food on the table, pay the mortgage or the rent and the gas and electricity bill among others. If it isn't and you are still e.g. having to claim state benefits because you are not making any money, then it is not a business. It seems initially unfair that Jobseekers allowance in the UK frowns on claimants doing such things as Avon and other direct sales schemes. You may think that Oh, this is going to lead to my own business, indeed Avon, Kleenezee, Bettaware and the like will all tell you that you will be making thousands in a few months and spending most of your time on the beach. Well, maybe not in the UK but you will have a nice new posh fancy car ...but the reality is that unless you are very lucky, you won't , although it can be done but takes time to build up  and if you are claiming job seekers allowance then in effect you are being paid to look for a job and your job as far as the Job Centre think IS looking for a job and if you are doing Avon and other such schemes then you have a job, even if it not yet making enough money to live on ....

http://happyblackwoman.com/8-reasons-why-youre-not-making-any-money-in-your-business/

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/205398

http://www.shetakesontheworld.com/2014/01/this-is-why-your-business-is-not-making-money/

http://www.inc.com/marla-tabaka/three-reasons-you-are-not-making-money.html

http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/18/will-this-business-ever-make-money/?_r=0

https://business.wales.gov.uk/starting-business/starting-business-0/how-do-i-survive-until-my-business-ground

Can you handle rejection? or are you a sensitive soul? You need a thick skin to run a business. Rejection of what you are offering lurks around every corner, not only from family and friends rejecting your ambitions, but from customers, bankers and investors, grant makers, to name a few. Can you actually sell? Are you persuasive?  even I as a writer need to be able to sell my services, every business whether it be crafts, photography, a service such as cleaning, all depend on having someone who needs what you are offering ...you need customers. This means selling yourself and your service. My blog is a service to my readers and I have to sell it i.e. get readers. If you hate selling, then you will find it hard to run any business. I remember when I was saving up to get a deposit to buy my own home and as well as baby sitting I did some shifts in a call centre at evenings and weekend selling kitchens and bathrooms. One potential customer I called was incredibly rude to me at the end of my introduction and I actually dared not that this was allowed but he was so rude when I had finished that I asked him why he had let me finish what I was saying and he said, I knew you are reading from a script and I didn’t want to interrupt you so I let you finish!!

Do you have staying power ...or do you give up easily? The world is sadly full of a lot of job seekers who are desperate to get a job having failed at running their own business. The chances of failure are high, especially in the first few years. One of the things that most stands a chance of ending a business venture is not being financially prepared at the beginning and having enough behind you or coming in from elsewhere to live on while you build the business up to making a profit.

How well do you get on with others? There are businesses that you can run almost solo from your desk or the kitchen table, and these may well be ideal if you are a loner, but for most people being a business owner means that you will have to interact and do it well with other people. This may even in time include knowing how to manage your own staff. How are your leadership skills? are you a good team player? So many of the skills you need in running your own business are the same ones as when working for an employer.

Do you actually have experience and knowledge in the business you want to run? One of the terms I see most often on the internet related to blogging and running a successful high earning website is Niche blogs or sites and which subjects (niches) are high earning http://onlineincometeacher.com/money/top-earning-blogs/  ......However, while weight loss is one of the most profitable niches to write about for making money , you will stand a much better chance of being successful in your business if you actually know about the field it is in . Many of my reader’s comment on my unique style and the humour with which I write on the subjects I do, the issues of being an older and disabled person looking for work...that may well be because I have been one, so I write from personal experience. The most successful business owners have knowledge and experience of what they do...and an enthusiasm for it.

http://affiliate-sale.com/niche-business-ideas

http://www.a1niches.com/

Good luck !!! and keep that resolution!!

Ideas to help you start a business in 2016

So, you are going to make 2016 the year you stop dreaming and talking about it and you really do start a home business?  This is an ideal solution if you are one of the thousands of sick and disabled people who has lost disability benefits due to welfare reform and are being forced by the rules of Job seekers allowance, to apply for jobs that you physically cannot manage but have to apply for because if you do not apply for enough jobs you will have your benefit sanctioned. It is also an ideal solution for retirees not wanting to return full time to work, but needing maybe something that can be done from home, to bump up a pension that has not performed as well as it was expected to do.

So, Start your New Year with a home based business. Quite likely it is that you already have a hobby, perhaps a craft, or a skill that you could turn into a business, but even if you are at the moment stumped for inspiration, Google ideas for home business for lots of resourceful lists and here are some examples ….



http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/201588
http://www.theguardian.com/money/2010/sep/04/50-side-businesses-from-home
http://startups.co.uk/home-based-business-guides/

http://entrepreneurhandbook.co.uk/100-business-ideas-start-today/
http://entrepreneurhandbook.co.uk/60-online-business-ideas/
http://www.smarta.com/advice/starting-up/business-ideas/30-part-time-businesses-you-can-start-for-peanuts/

http://homebizzguide.com/ideas/huge-ideas-list/
http://www.allbusiness.com/slideshow/the-top-25-home-based-business-ideas-16659292-1.html
https://www.homeprotect.co.uk/blog/more-than-50-uk-home-business-ideas

https://www.theselfemployed.com/start_ups/the-epic-list-of-45-business-ideas-for-work-at-home-moms/
(But not limited to Moms or Mums)



http://www.goodfinancialcents.com/home-based-business-ideas-easy-to-start/
(A very busy site but looks good once you get through the pops ups and music)

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/50-side-businesses-you-can-start-on-your-own/
http://homebusiness.about.com/od/homebusinessprofiles/a/75-Home-Business-Ideas.htm
http://christianpf.com/legitimate-home-based-business-ideas-opportunities/
http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/1646-great-business-ideas-2012.html


http://www.homebiztools.com/ideas.htm



A lot of success on finding work from home or indeed a job depends on knowing the search terms to use for finding what you want. This can especially apply to work from home as there are many different terms used, homeworker, freelancer, self-employed being only a few of the most obvious examples. Another useful search term is Companies that will pay you to work from home …


http://christianpf.com/real-companies-that-will-pay-you-to-work-from-home/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2014/01/17/work-from-home-the-top-100-companies-offering-flexible-jobs-in-2014/

http://www.workersonboard.com/List_of_WAH_Companies.html
http://www.1099mom.com/2015/07/22-companies-that-pay-you-to-work-from.html
http://workathomemoms.about.com/od/workathomecareers/ss/wahjobdirectory.htm

http://www.cheatsheet.com/personal-finance/20-best-companies-to-find-a-work-from-home-job-with-in-2015.html/?a=viewall
http://tiphero.com/20-companies-that-pay-you-to-work-from-home/
http://www.meleciaathome.com/2015/09/15-work-from-home-companies-always.html

http://www.wcpo.com/news/legitimate-work-from-home-jobs-that-really-pay
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sara-sutton-fell/25-bigname-companies-that_b_6607652.html
http://www.inc.com/john-rampton/15-companies-where-you-can-work-in-your-pajamas.html
https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/100-top-companies-with-remote-jobs-in-2015/



Don’t forget either two great favourites of mine:
http://www.theworkathomewoman.com/
http://www.ratracerebellion.com/

                                                       











This excellent site ... http://christianpf.com/ways-for-teens-to-make-money/
Now redirects to http://christianpf.com/ways-to-make-money/. I did say when I first published it that the ideas were not just for teenagers but many would work for adults too and the author now writes: This article originally began as ‘ways for teens to make money’, but as I have updated and added to it over the years, I have found that many of the items listed actually work for many adults looking to make some extra income as well.
This site is indeed one with a Christian base and is now called Seedtime, which reminds me of the words The seedtime and the harvest …

Genesis 8:22

New International Version "As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease."

While I am a Christian myself, I certainly do not write just for Christian readers, but suspect that this site is going to be scam free and reliable, based on the image I have in mind of sowing seeds and reaping the harvest ...as in a favourite hymn ….

Telecommuter Friendly Employers

http://www.homebiztools.com/employers.htm
For more Google Telecommuter Friendly Employers, work at home job sites and Telecommuter / Home Job Search Sites

http://www.homebiztools.com/work-from-home-jobs.htm
This link is unusual as it appears to redirect to the British Indeed job site rather than the USA one and to have several work from home jobs based in the UK.







And here are some more in this roundup of some of the best work from home and starting a business links:
http://www.powerhomebiz.com/home-business-ideas
http://financialhighway.com/50-home-business-ideas/
http://www.businessknowhow.com/startup/200ideas.htm
http://www.ahbbo.com/ideas.html

So, is 2016 going to be the year you actually do start a business?
Virtually everyone has a skill that can be used to turn into a business and most people with the desire to do so and determination can find the necessary support and advice and funding that they need to get going and to be successful.

Wishing and dreaming about it though, will not make it happen, success depends on drive and action and getting started …Good Luck !!!