I purchased a can of Coca-Cola today from a vending machine. I hit the red button and out popped this.

A white can! Noooo… I did not press the Diet button!! The vending machine company screwed me! ARRRGGGHHH! I did not want a can of aspratane!! Oh wait a minute, I do not see “Diet” on the can. Hmmmm it has 140 calories and I think that may be a lot for diet. It also says “Protect the polar bear’s home…” and the ingredients list high fructose corn syrup and no aspratane to be found. Is this some sort of promotional can? I opened it and it does taste like a typical can of coke in a can.

What was Coke thinking? This is a terrible marketing mistake. Polar bears or not, do not make your standard product (non diet) look like it is the Diet version.

I have a new found theory that a job is a lot like going steady, contract labor or temp to hire is like dating and not having a job is like being single. I would like to draw a comparison between working for a company for 30 years until retirement and the institute of marriage, however sadly we all know that now rarely happens. It’s a shame really, as I believe when companies and employees are both not devoted to each other, production and efficiency go down. Divorce applies to all of the job types above and can be just as messy.

When we look for a spouse, we look for someone with common values, someone we believe is physically attractive, someone who we can love and who will love and support us. When we are looking for a spouse, there is a sense of excitement and joy when we believe it is someone worthwhile and it is not until later when you find out the nasty quirks the other person has and the work it takes to build a quality relationship.

Like a date, both parties put their best foot forward for the interview. Its very superficial really, sorta like speed dating – there is no realistic way to determine if it is a match in such a short period of time. Interviewers often do not really know what questions to ask, or worse yet, use the standard interview questions and expect look for the “correct” answer that they got from a book. Job applicants can be either be prepared for this with the “correct” answers or they can wing it. I do not believe well prepared and rehearsed answers to the standard interview questions are any better sign of a good future employee than those that wing it. I believe a well prepared answer hides nearly every trace of the skeletons in the closet, whereas if someone wings it, you can get a better idea of who they really are. An argument can be made that employers want someone well prepared, however in the long term I am not sure it is really that important. If I was on a date, and she had well prepared answers to my questions, I would wonder what the truth really is.

When we start new employment, and believe it will be a fun and worthwhile job, we also have the sense of excitement and joy of future days. It is not until later we find out the nasty quirks of a job. Of course every employee and job are going to have quirks, but how can you find out about them beforehand? How can an employer know the true character of the applicant and how can the applicant know the corporate culture, values of the company? In dating, the best way for two people to learn about each other is to spend time together. In the corporate world, its not so easy. Some companies feel that temp to hire or mass hire and mass fire are good ways to learn about what employees are good and filter out the bad and keep the best. This is the equivalent of the popular high school football jock who dates multiple girls simultaneously and dumps the ones that doesn’t give him what he wants. Sure it may work out great for the football jock, but the girls are hurt. It may work out great for the employer, but at what cost? It can be argued that the girl should of been wise enough to not see the football jock, and that would be a valid point! How as job seekers can we avoid the jocks?

On the flip side, my optimism of believing in people as generally good and hard workers for employers is unfortunately unrealistic. As much as I would like to believe if you put a person in the optimum job for their skills and talent, there are those people who are simply are unreliable, untrustworthy, unteachable, or otherwise not a match. How can a company find quality employees who will be passionate about their job and contribute great things to the company?

For some of us, who currently have a full time job, moving to a temp to hire or a contract job is out of the question. There is a real danger in being single (without a job) when you have financial commitments. Risk and fear prevent me from leaving my current position to pursue a contract or temp to hire job. Ideally, people like myself want to find a company that is willing to commit to me as much as I am willing to commit to them. I believe the truly great companies are few and far between.

When seeking an employer, wouldn’t it be great if you could interview random employees and ask them how they like working there? Wouldn’t it be great if you could review a recent survey that asks what could be improved about the company? Companies rarely admit the skeletons of working at the company and sadly most hiring managers do not even know complaints of the employees. A company that has a lack of collaboration and teamwork is one to avoid.

Questions I am thinking about asking potential employers.

May I interview some of your employees?
What is your turnover rate and how is it calculated or what model is used?
Tell me about your corporate culture.
Does the company believe in investing in employees? If so, describe how.
Does the company pay for overtime hours or reward for extra effort above and beyond? If so, describe how.

Even with the above considered, it is still quite a mystery of the best way to find a great company to work for. I believe finding a great company and a job function that I love would rival having my own successful business and even rival retirement. Yes! You heard that right, my goal is to have a job that I can be so passionate about so much that I would not quit even if I won the lottery or was otherwise financially independent.

Where and How do I find the company that is a match for me?

2. Membership site. The idea here is to charge a fee for members to have access to your content.

3. Sell something. Give away the content, but sell a product or service. Some websites will have teaser content then sell an ebook.

4. Pay per Article. A relatively new concept. Below is a video from a provider that explains more.

Cleeng – Publishers, generate extra money with your quality content from Cleeng on Vimeo.

Here is a list of non hosting package required solutions. A future blog post will share hosted scripts and solutions.

DomainDad.com offers Web Site Creator eCommerce edition for $17.99 / month. It utilizes Paypal and Paypal fees to apply.

Amazon.com offers Amazon Webstore from $10 to $25 a month plus a transaction fee from 0.7% to 2.0% per transaction.

eBay offers several solutions from eBay Stores to ProStores.com

eBay Stores costs from $16 to $300 a month plus insertion and other fees.

ProStores costs from $29 to $59 a month plus 0.5% transaction fee.

Gift-cards
Sometimes places offer a special deal when you purchase a gift-card, This is especially true beginning in the Christmas Holiday shopping season. Half Price Books for example has previously offered a free $5 coupon or gift-card when you purchase a $25 gift-card. If you are pretty sure that you will spend over the purchase amount in a reasonable amount of time, it would make financial sense to purchase the deal. Look for these deals especially in November and December.

After Christmas comes to a close and the New Year starts, there will be a lot of people who got gift-cards that are not particularly happy with the gift. Some of them are willing to sell them for really greatly discounted price. There are also websites where people can buy, sell and trade gift-cards.

One website that sells and lists gift-cards for sale is CardHub . I like to look for the most discounted deals first. Here is the link for that
http://gifts.cardhub.com/us/gift-card-exchange/?s=0

You can also buy and sell gift-cards on Craigslist. When you buy, be sure to verify the card balance before you hand over the cash. In most cases, you can call an 800 number on the back and check the balance, however in some cases you may need to call or visit the store.

Here is a list of other sites worth checking out. These sites can be particularly useful for knowing how much to pay for gift-cards.

http://monstergiftcard.com/ – You can Buy, Sell and Trade gift-cards here.

http://www.giftcardrescue.com/ – You can Sell and Buy gift-cards here.

http://www.plasticjungle.com/ – You can Sell and Buy gift-cards here.

Coupons

There are a couple of good coupon books for purchase. Usually they cost about $20 – $25 to purchase but if used (and remembered) it will save you several times your investment.

The Entertainment Passbook often contains (4) $5 Grocery shopping coupons in one of the front pages. Another book is the SaveAround / Enjoy The City book.

In both cases, I encourage you browse the coupon book first. Try to find 3X savings over the cost of the book before you buy.

You can also find coupons for sale on eBay. This is a great way to find discounts for the exact places you are looking for. Two things of note, when looking at coupons on eBay make sure that they will be valid for your local area. Often coupons are for specific areas only. Read the description carefully. Also, the sellers will often note something like “You are buying an envelope and stamp” or “You are bidding on my time and research” and “The coupon is free”. This is how they get around the eBay rules that do not allow the sale of coupons. It’s OK, just buy it if it the coupon is something you want. Be sure to be careful about expiration dates.

There are also websites that search for deals and combine sales, coupons, rebates and other discounts to get the best deal possible. One of those sites is

http://www.thegrocerygame.com/ – This site offers a trail and does cost after that. It may not be worth it for everyone.

Search for the name of your favorite place on FatWallet.com and SlickDeals.net.  Often these websites will have specials or other deals members have found.

Finally, sign up for email newsletter on the official website of your favorite places.  Also be sure to “Like” them on Facebook. This is your way of raising your hand and letting them know you want some deals to keep you coming back for more.

An app on my iPhone I have grown to love is called GeeTasks. It automatically syncs with Google Tasks. There are some great features and some drawbacks.

Features

• Syncs with Google Tasks
• Multiple List support
• Easy to use interface

Drawbacks

It makes sense to be able to share lists. For example, a Grocery list. If my wife or I notice we need something at home, adding the item to a single cloud list makes sure we both know it is needed on the next trip to the grocery store. This can done if both iPhones are using GeeTasks with the same account. The drawback is you can only set it up for one Google account – in other words you both will see all task lists including those that are irrelevant to you.

Forum posting

Application

My wife and I have several lists setup, We have 3 business lists, one for me, one for her and one for both of us. Then we both have a general list for each of us and a household list for both of us. Then we have 3 shopping lists, one for groceries, one for other items and one for wish list of small things. I also have a Today list, as sometimes I wake up in the morning with a mental list of things to do that day.

This app has become a can’t live without application. I would suggest it to anyone.

1. Commission Junction
2. Share a Sale
3. Affiliate Future
4. Link Share
   
5. Affiliate Bot
6. ClickBank