Today at Techie Youth I learned more about virtual assistants. Virtual assistants perform various administrative tasks, including answering emails, scheduling meetings, and making travel arrangements. For this role, a strong internet connection and experience using communication tools like skype are required. You should be able to handle administrative projects and deliver high-quality work under minimum supervision.
Here are the requirements and skills for a virtual assistant job:
Today at Techie Youth I learned more about transcriptionists and what they do. Transcription work involves converting a video or audio file to a written document. To become a transcriptionist, you need good listening skills and an excellent command of the English language to be able to take what you hear and turn it into written words. Transcriptionists work in a variety of settings including courtrooms, and doctors' offices, but there's a lot of flexibility in this profession to work at home and at your own pace. The transcription industry is broken into three categories: general, medical, and legal. General transcriptionists are hired to provide text for a variety of video or audio files. Medical transcriptionists listen to audio recordings from doctors and other healthcare professionals and convert them into written reports. Legal transcribers provide written records of depositions, trials, and other legal proceedings.
Today at Techie Youth I learned some useful tips for getting an entry-level fundraising job. Fundraising jobs are widely needed, especially in the university, college, hospital, and nonprofit fields. Colleges and universities which have a development director and need entry-level fundraisers are looking for energetic people who have good communication skills and great people skills. Here are the tips I learned.
1. Get your resume together and make sure you highlight your communication and organization skills.
2. Dress for success since you'll need to make a good first impression.
3. Catch up on who's who. If you're familiar with the area you live in, catch up with who has the money in town.
4. Learn what events work and which ones do not.
5. Show off your meet-and-greet skills.
6. Attend some fundraisers.
7. Check out more than one entry-level fundraising position.
8. Be willing to travel. Many fundraisers have alumni who like their fundraising events held in various locations.
9. Seek out fundraising venues prior to your interview.
Today at Techie Youth I learned different ways to get the local media interested in your nonprofit.
1. Get to know the media most likely to cover you. Read and watch media in your local area, subscribe to newspapers and magazines, monitor local news, and join organizations where you are likely to meet reporters and editors.
2. Get to know reporters and producers personally without becoming a pest. Be considerate of their schedules and make them brief.
3. Send complimentary copies of your publications to reporters.
4. Keep up with the personnel changes at your favorite media outlets.
5. Always give the media a good story.
6. Develop a virtual media kit on your organization's website.
7. Take advantage of breaking news stories to promote your organization.
8. Make yourself available to the media at any time.
9. Always thank a reporter for his or her overage.
Today at Techie Youth I learned about crowdfunding in the Fundraising unit. Instead of seeking a large sum from a single source, crowdfunding raises small amounts of money from a large number of people, often in exchange for direct rewards, who want to see the project succeed. There are three different types of crowdfunding. First is equity crowdfunding, which gives contributed partial ownership of a business in exchange for the capital they provide. Next is donation-based crowdfunding, which provides no financial rewards or incentives for backers, so its most often used for charitable purposes or by non-profits. The last type of crowdfunding is rewards. Any type of crowdfunding campaign that incentivizes contributions with rewards (but not a stake in the resulting business) upon completion can be considered rewards-based.
Today at Techie Youth I learned more about fundraising. Fundraising is the process of building relationships with people, companies, and other organizations who might want to support your cause by donating money to your non-profit. There are three key concepts that underlie the entire non-profit development process. Firstly, the vast majority of money available to non-profits comes from individuals, not companies or other non-profit organizations. For this reason, you should focus your fundraising efforts on raising money from people, not corporations, foundations, or other non-profits. You should spend most of your time building relationships with individual donors.
Secondly, cold fundraising is your last result, not your only option. Some non-profits are successful with raising money through "cold fundraising", raising money from people who don't already know and support the organization. Those organizations that are successful with col fundraising are almost always bigger organizations with large fundraising budgets and data-driven fundraising operations. For non-profits, the best way to raise money is through "warm fundraising". This means reaching out to people your organization and staff already has a relationship with, there is a much better chance of being able to successfully raise money from them.
Lastly, your goal as a fundraiser is to build long-term relationships between the non-profit and the donor, This allows your organization to build a long-lasting base of support.
Today at Techie Youth I learned about different ways to mentize a niche website from the Niche Websites Unit. There are tons of ways to monetize a niche website, but the easiest ways are to be an affiliate or run display ads.
Affiliate sales are one of the easiest ways to generate income. Here are a few reasons why:
Another easy way to monetize your site is to run display ads. Here are the benefits of running ads:
Today at Techie Youth, I learned more about hiring professional writers to create your content, from the content creation section of the niche websites unit. To run a successful business in the digital era, you have to produce high-quality content. Not all business owners have the time and skill it takes to create inspiring web content, and that's where content writers come in. They create informative articles, blogs, posts, and marketing content to drive your site's traffic and boost your sales. Having a professional writer means you can worry less about creating website content and focus on the promotion, increasing conversions, or building your team. A professional writer also helps improve your visibility online and can help your website rank better by capturing your company's essence and translating it into great articles that attract potential, customers. Lastly, aside from writing, a professional content creator can help you meet content marketing goals. Writers can create content that targets specific keywords and improve SEO to improve your reach.
Today at Techie Youth I learned about Pinterest niche boards and how to grow your page on the platform. Pinterest is an image-sharing and social media service that enables users to save compilations of images, GIFs, and videos in the form of "pins" and "boards". Pinterest is available for everyone to use.
A Pinterest board is a collection where you can save specific pins, usually following an independent theme or purpose. The typical Pinterest profile is made up of multiple boards that cover a unique set of interests. A niche board on Pinterest is a type of board that focuses on a very specific topic and appeals to a small, specialized, audience.
Some of the most popular types of boards on Pinterest are home decor, women's fashion, inspirational quotes, travel, and technology.
To be successful on Pinterest, you want to have a minimum of 10-15 boards on your account so that other users can see the portfolio of the content you have gathered. They should all be related to each other. The images you upload should always be high-quality. You should also add relevant Pinterest keywords when uploading a pin to your account. Pinterest favors vertical/tall images, so you can use that as a tip. Some other tips are to aim to use the same fonts and color scheme giving your board a unique style/brand, maintain a narrow topical focus on each of your boards, and follow a regular pinning schedule.
To get more followers, you should be active and engaging, follow your competitor's followers, be search bar friendly, use hashtags, and utilize the tools available.
Today at Techie Youth I learned more about Twitter niche accounts and how to grow your Twitter account. Twitter is a microblogging and social networking service founded in 2006, it allows users to post and interact through messages known as "tweets". Some of the features included in Twitter are trending topics, live-tweeting during significant events, Giphy gifs, polls, and Twitter moments. Some of the most popular niches on Twitter are celebrities, world news, games, health, and sports.
Here are some tips for growing your Twitter account. First, you should tweet frequently, being active attracts followers. Next, you should optimize your posting time so that it reaches more people and gets more exposure. You should also post visual content since tweets with images generally receive more likes and retweets. Engaging with replies, retweets, and hashtags is also very important. Lastly, you can draw in followers from outside of Twitter by promoting your Twitter account on other social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.
To profit from Twitter, you should have a solid presence and large following so companies will pay you to tweet about their product/service. You can reach out to brands and ask if you can promote them on Twitter in exchange for a sponsorship fee. The income largely depends on the number of followers you have and the amount of engagement.
Today at Techie Youth I learned more about Instagram social niche pages as a part of the Social Themes Unit. The only requirement you need to start a theme page on Instagram is a phone/camera that will allow you to take pictures and videos. For your theme page, you should choose to dedicate it to a hobby, an interest, or anything you are passionate about. Some examples include health and beauty, travel, fitness, cooking, fashion, and lifestyle. Some important factors of maintaining your Instagram theme page is to make sure there is consistency throughout your account, and try to be unique as possible whether it be with filters, angles, captions, or frequency. You should also invest in photo editing tools such as VCSO, Adobe Photoshop, or Snapseed. Some important ways to grow your account would be to post consistently, post engaging content such as polls, videos, and stories, collaborate with others, use the right hashtags and geotags, and use Instagram insights.
Today at techie Youth, I learned the process of how artists can sell their art online. Selling art online can be profitable if you are an artist selling your own work or even if you're just an admirer of art who wants to make a business out of selling other people's works.
Here are the steps on how to sell art online:
1. Decide what medium of art to sell. There are two ways to sell your art, create or curate. As an artist, you are a creator, producing original art and selling directly to your customers or indirectly through a gallery, retail partner, or agent. If you're not personally an artist but you have a great eye and a love of art, you can still sell art as a curator.
2. Decide what medium of art to sell, whether it be originals or reproductions.
3. Choose a printer, such as DIY printing, printing company, and print on demand.
4. Build a brand as an artist. Your chosen style and medium will define you as an artist and you will naturally attract fans and buyers based on this alone.
5. Set prices for your art. You can start with a simple formula to price your original art: your time and labor costs and material costs, as well as other expenses and your profit. For this, you should assign yourself an hourly wage.
6. Set up an online store. Some online marketplaces include Etsy, eBay, redbubble.
7. Apply for exhibitions, pop-ups, and events.
8. Work with galleries.
9. Market your art by running paid ad campaigns, run contests or offer exclusive discounts, reach out to influencers and press, use content marketing, and learn about SEO.
10. Pacakge your art.
Today at Techie Youth I learned about the different jobs in the art industry and the skills required to do them in the Selling Art unit. There is a wide diversity of art careers creating, original works, selling and promoting them, and displaying them to the public in museums and galleries. There are also lots of art-related jobs outside the world of art such as architecture, fashion, media, film, and theatre. I am going to be focused on visual art and design careers.
Some jobs directly related to art include fine artist, art gallery curator, art therapist, art teacher, art lecturer, art technician/demonstrator at a university, art valuer/auctioneer, illustrator, conservator, and finally arts admin and fundraising.
Today at Techie Youth, I learned more about Web Design, a part of the Services unit. According to Techie Youth, a web designer's responsibility is to construct a website's overall look and feel, including creating graphical images. Web designers are similar to graphic designers but specialize in designing websites.
One of the general skills needed for a web/graphic designer is knowing design principles. Even if you have an innate artistic ability, you can still educate yourself on basic design fundamentals and theory. The principles of design describe ways that artists use the elements of art in a work of art. The first principle is balance, which is the distribution of the visual weight of objects, colors, texture, and space. The next principle is emphasis. Emphasis is the part of the design that catches the viewer's attention by making it stand out by contrasting it with the other areas. Then we have movement, which is the path the viewer's eye takes through the work of art, directed along lines, edges, shapes, and color within the art. Next is a pattern, the repeating of an object or symbol all over the work of art. The 5th principle is repetition. Repetition works with patterns to make the work of art seem active. The next principle is proportion, the feeling of unity created when all parts (sizes, amounts, or numbers relate well with each other. The 7th principle is rhythm, which is created when one or more elements of design are used repeatedly to create a feeling of organized movement. Rhythm creates a mood like music or dancing. To keep rhythm exciting and active, variety is essential. Variety is the use of several elements of design to hold the viewer's attention and to guide the viewer's eye through the work of art. The last principle is unity. Unity is the feeling of harmony between all parts of the work of art, which creates a sense of completeness.
Something I learned at Techie Youth today is grant writing, which is part of the writing unit. According to Techie Youth, grant writing entails writing proposals asking foundations, corporations, and grant-making organizations for grant money to fund charities and non-profit organizations. When it comes to nonprofit grant writing, there is no formulaic approach. You'll need to customize your approach for each funder you pursue. To write a grant proposal, you'll need to tailor your proposal by making sure it follows every guideline, and tailor the message in three steps: brainstorm the unique alignment between your organization's mission and the interest of the funder, articulate this in key places, such as the cover letter, introduction, and conclusion of the narrative, and finally, acknowledge your appreciation for the funder's vision and attribute future success to them. The next step is to communicate ideas clearly. You can do this by thinking before you write, using familiar, concrete words, limiting sentences to a single idea, and writing in an active voice. Then you should convey a core compelling idea that is unique and will distinguish your organization from your competition. It's important to keep it intentionally simple and memorable while keeping the reader's attention with powerful language. The last step is to write to persuade. To persuade your reader, you can use different methods of persuasion such as ethos, pathos, and logos.
Today at Techie Youth I learned what Guest Blogging means and how to become one. Guest blogging means when you invite someone from outside of your company to write a blog that will be published on your website. The writer usually will work in the same industry as your organization or they are an expert on the subject that is affiliated with your company/organization. Guest blogging is beneficial to both parties, especially for the writer if they are new to the field or company since it is a chance to get their thoughts or products out to a wider audience. Some ways that guest blogging benefits the host would be brand awareness, fresh content, leadership, and an SEO boost. Some ways that guest blogging benefits the blogger are building relationships with organizations (leading to more opportunities), extending your reach, gaining more audience and money, as well as fame.
First, to become a guest blogger, your should understand your goals, knowing it can help you plan. Next, you should seek our opportunities by identifying companies and sites you think you would be a good fit for. The last step is to tailor your approach by sending organizations examples of your work, like a portfolio. A tip would be to avoid pitching topics they already have.
Today at Techie Youth, I learned about two different ways you can get a book published, independently, or through a traditional publishing process that involves agents, editors, and publishers to get your book out to the public. I am going to be talking about a few pros of getting your book published with a traditional publishing house.
Traditional publishing is more prestige, which is important if you're writing literary fiction or nonfiction. It's less important if you're writing genres like SciFi and Romance. It also costs less money since your publisher will cover most, if not all, of the expenses of publishing your book. Although you will still need to pay for your website and email, the publisher covers the rest. Traditional publishing also allows you access to the New York Times List. The New York Times has a strong bias against indie authors, so if being in New York Times is important to you, then Traditional publishing is the way to go. Traditional publishing also grants you access to prestigious awards since many awards only consider traditionally published authors to be eligible for awards. The last pro is that there is better distribution into brick-and-mortar retail. Traditional publishers make most of their money selling paper books, and indie publishers make most of the money using e-books.
Today at Techie Youth, I started the Writing unit. I learned more about the differences between Magazines and Journals. The purpose of magazines is articles written to inform or entertain, while the purpose of journals is academic or scientific research articles and information. Journals have scholarly articles that usually focus on original research in a specific field. Magazines differ in content because they cover broad subjects and topics of general interest, appealing to a broad readership. Journals appeal to a specialized readership; specialists; scholars and professionals in a subject field. So the authors of journals are experts, scholars, and professionals. In contrast, the authors of magazines are magazine staff or freelance writers. Magazines are laid out usually in short articles with illustrations with non-technical language, while journals are laid out in longer articles, often including tables, graphs, and charts using technical and specialized terminology. In Magazines, sources are often not cited or are incomplete, and in journals, there will be documented research with footnotes and a bibliography. In terms of review policy, magazines are reviewed by the author, whereas journals are reviewed by a panel of peers.
Magazines are published commercially and journals are published by an association, academic institution, or professional organization. Journals use little to no advertising, while magazines have various products and services designed to attract the general customer. Some examples of magazines are Time, Newsweek, Business Week, Parents Magazine, and American Spectator. Some examples of journals include Child Development, Communication Quarterly, American Journal of Nursing, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Today at Techie Youth, I learned more about how to brand your company. The first step is to create a unique brand name that doesn't infringe any copyrights or trademarks. Here are the following steps after that: First, create a domain name. It is very important to be careful not to infringe on someone's trademark. After that, you should set up a company email. The next step is to create a slogan, something simple and short that represents your company and someone that your customers can remember. Then you should create a mission statement. A mission statement lets people know what the company stands for and its purpose. Now it's time to create an eye-catching logo to advertise your personal brand. Again, it's very critical to make sure that you are not liable for copyright infringement. The last step is to make a letterhead, consisting of the company logo, brand name, and slogan at the top of the page, and then follow by the company contact info.
Today at Techie Youth, I learned how to create an executive summary from the Entrepreneurship unit. In short, an executive summary is a summary of your business plan. While a thorough business plan is necessary, it is critical to provide readers with a short, attention-grabbing executive summary. A CEO investor might not be interested in reading a full business plan without getting the general gist of it first. A well-written executive summary can transform a business plan into reality. An executive summary should be no longer than one or two pages.
In an executive summary, the elements you should include are a business model, profit models, revenue streams, customer and market, contingency planning, cofounders, partnerships, and an exit strategy. the order of your executive summary should match the order of your business plan. Overall, an executive summary should be short and concise, but it should convey who your are as a company.
Today at Techie Youth I learned more about entrepreneurship and business leadership. According to Techie Youth, an Entrepreneur is anyone who earns money independently through a business venture that they started or manage. To begin an entrepreneurship, your should identify your business model, profit models and revenue streams, customer and market, contingency planning, cofounders, partnerships, and an exit strategy. Once you’ve planned it out, you can launch it and create a formal business entity and branding. Now comes funding and creating your product or an MVP version of it. It is always important to maintain hands-on understanding of your business.
Today at Techie Youth, I learned that having someone to look up to is beneficial in the way that mentors support you with advice and experience. For a mentorship to be successful and beneficial, a personal connection should be present between the mentor and the mentee to openly discuss topics like deciding on your career path. A right mentoring relationship is a powerful tool for professional growth, it can lead to a new job, a promotion, or a better work-life balance.
If there's someone you'd like as your mentor, then it's your job to take the initiative and begin the relationship. Before you approach, you should have a clear goal and know why you think this person is right for you. You should also mention what you like about their work, especially if you've never met.
To be a good mentee, you should meet consistently, set an agenda, be open to feedback (whether its positive or constructive), decide on an end date, and keep boundaries.
You should not be afraid to ask your mentor questions because they are here to help and guide you. You should always respect their time and always come to your schedules meetings prepared and on time.
Today at Techie Youth, I learned more about Time Management, effective ways to manage your time, and why it's so beneficial to our daily lives. Time management is the ability to use your time effectively or productively. It is often considered as the key to efficient working and a critical skill in modern times. Some of the most important factors of time management are organization, prioritization, goal-setting, communication, planning, and stress management.
I think planning is essential because it establishes your productivity pattern, gives you a reality check of how you allocate your time, determines if you complete all your tasks for the day, and helps avoid multi-tasking.
Today at Techie Youth, I learned that budgeting is one of the best ways to improve your financial management skills. A personal or household budget is a summary that compares and tracks your income and expenses for a defined period, typically one month. It allows you to create a spending plan for your money, to ensure that you will have enough money for necessities and things that are important to you. It also allows you to keep track of your spending habits. To make a budget, you should follow these steps: gather your financial paperwork, calculate your income, create a list of monthly expenses, determine fixed and variable expenses, and total your monthly income and expenses.
While creating a budget, it is essential to define the difference between necessities and luxury items. Necessities include food, shelter, and your own health. A luxury is an inessential but desirable item that is expensive or difficult to obtain. Knowing whats a luxury and whats a necessity helps you figure out what to cut out when you're going over your budget. I plan to start budgeting when I start making income so I do not spend too much money on unnecessary items.
To learn the steps on how to master an interview, I read excerpts from Power Interviewing. Here are some of the excerpts that I thought were more important. Firstly, "Always Have a Sales Call/Job Interview Objective." Every good salesperson has an objective before making a call. Good objectives include getting the job, learning about other job opportunities, getting invited to more interviews, getting past any screeners to meet the real decision-makers, getting a consulting project, to get a referral to another good company. At some point in your meetings, you try to present your objective and make it happen. The second excerpt is "No One Cares What You Like". The employers do not care about what you like, so your objective in the interview is to find what the hiring people, the customers, like. This means uncovering what they need, what they are looking for, and why. The third excerpt is "Make Them Feel Good". The hiring people must feel good about who they are hiring, If you demonstrate you have the ability or potential to solve the organizations hiring need, and if you make the hiring people feel good about you, you will be hired. Some ways to make them feel good about you are to be technically competent or trainable, answer questions directly, honestly, and concisely, demonstrate having done homework on the company, value the purpose of the company and job, be nice, well mannered, and likable, has pep and enthusiasm, takes notes, etc. Those are a few of the excerpts that I found to be very helpful.
Today at Techie Youth I learned about how to make a good resume as well as utilize my social media, and I also learned about Interviews and how to make a good first impression.
Firstly, to make a resume, you must decide what type of resume you want (chronological, combination, or combination). Then, you should create a header with your name, phone number, and email address. The next step is to write a summary of your work experiences and skill assets, then list them. You should also list your activities, education, awards, and personal interests. Lastly, to submit your resume, you should save it as a PDF and email it or post it. It is also a good idea to have printed resumes when you go to interviews.
After that, you should make a cover letter. A piece of advice would be to cut down on the word "I" and instead use "you". Now, a cover letter is a document approximately one page long that supports your resume and highlights any skills, qualifications, experience, or other information related to the position you're applying for. Your cover letter should clearly outline the reasons why you would be a perfect fit for the position by tying your qualities together with the responsibilities of the specific position.
Now onto interviews, the employers with try to find out stuff about you by searching you up, so it is important to manage your media well. You should have a professional headshot, and online portfolio, and keep track of the size of your digital footprint as well as your personality and behavior. Employers want to access your credibility.
Here are steps to prepare before an interview. First you should research the company and interviews, then practice your answers to common interview questions and get the use of a friend to practice with you. Reread the job description, prepare a list of references and examples of your work, and lastly, you should prepare smart questions for your interviewers. On the day of the interview, you should plan your attire, and bring a copy of your resume with you.
Today I learned about the different ways you can get paid. Firstly, I learned how you could receive your money by direct deposit or check. Direct deposit is more recommended than checks since it is more secure and safer, while a check can be riskier because of how it can be stolen or changed. Some essential information you would need on your check is the check number, the date you wrote the check, a description of the transaction or who you wrote the check, and how much the payment was for. You can endorse the check by mailing or depositing it at an ATM, restrictive endorsement, or signing it over to someone else.
You can receive payments using a checking account. They have few limits on withdrawals, pay little or no interest, and you're able to make direct with checks, debit cards, and account information. I learned about some applications I could use as well. Chime, Square, Paypal, Charles Schwab, and Stripe. Some of these can be used while not being able to have your own bank account, which is useful to me.
I also learned about how to set up a crypto wallet. Crypto wallets do not hold tangible cash and they do not hold your funds. They play a crucial role in accepting and spending cryptocurrencies. A wallet is how you access your coins and private keys, keeping your wallet password and private key safe is the most important part of transacting with crypto. There are hot wallets (desktop, mobile, and web wallets), which are almost always connected to the internet. There are also cold wallets (hardware wallets), which are not connected to the internet. The program Guilded allows you to view all your crypto wallets and transactions in one dashboard, add context and meaning to those transactions, and sync them to QuickBooks,