Freelance Los Angeles - Some Tips For Los Angeles Freelancers Who Want to Find Jobs Online

Whether you are actively looking for a job, currently in between jobs, or just looking for an extra side income, freelancing your talents is a great way to succeed. There are many different routes to take in order to effectively freelance Los Angeles jobs. While staying in California for a bit I was able to successfully use some of the methods that I discuss below.

One of the first, and most obvious, ways to score a great freelance gig is to look under telecommute sections of the major job boards. Once you input 'Los Angeles" into the job boards, you'll be pleasantly surprised to find that many popular companies are currently looking for freelancers to fill their jobs in Los Angeles. The only drawback to sifting through these major job boards like Monster.com is the sheer amount of competition that you are up against. Regardless though, it is better to try and not succeed, than to not try at all. Los Angeles is a large with large businesses, so there will be new jobs popping up on the major job boards.

I personally have had a lot of success with online classifieds. Craigslist is obviously a popular choice if you want to freelance Los Angeles jobs, but once again you're going to find a lot of competition. Over the years I've discovered some hidden gems for freelancers by checking out some of the lesser-known classified websites online. Once I input "Los Angeles" into pages like "backpage.com", tons of job opportunities appear. I've noticed that there are a lot less scams on the less popular classified online websites as well.

My personal favorite method to landing freelance jobs in Los Angeles is by sorting through freelance bidding websites. These sites do have a slight learning curve that can take a solid hour or so to master, but they are an excellent choice if you need to find a freelance job in Los Angeles quickly. For your first project you may have to bid slightly lower than your desired pay rate, but if you do a good job, you will often gain a consistent client. One example of these types of sites is "getafreelancer.com". If you input your desired skills and the location of Los Angeles, you can then sift through some great jobs. After you complete several projects you will be able to show off your portfolio on your business profile of the bidding website.

To find out more tips about how to effectively freelance Los Angeles jobs, take a look at the resource box below.

Steps You Can Take to Prevent Being Taken Advantage of With Donation Requests

You have been requested to donate to the relief effort for the recent tragic earthquake in Haiti. You want to and plan to donate money, but you are confused as to where and how. So far the disaster is just three days old and you have already received 4 different email solicitations all supposedly from either the Red Cross or Salvation Army. You have been contacted in your Facebook account and there are numerous donation requests going around twitter and just now you received a phone call requesting a donation. How can you be sure that the money you donate goes to the organization you want it to go to- in other words, how do you keep from being scammed?

Disaster relief scams can include "phishing" emails that attempt to either get you to send money to a phony organization or to collect your personal or financial information for identity theft purposes. Scammers can say they are victims of the disaster and request direct financial aid for themselves. More insidious are the scammers who contact families of victims offering to help for a fee- maybe to locate a lost family member. The one thread in common to all the con artists is that they want to take advantage of a disastrous situation.

Human disasters will often time bring out the best in people as a society. However, it is also an unfortunate state of human nature that the same disaster will bring out the scammers looking to use the disaster as an opportunity to take advantage of our generosity. What can you do to protect yourself and make sure your donations get to the right place? There are several simple steps that you can take to protect your donations.

Unless you are on their mailing list, big name organizations such as the Red Cross, Salvation Army, Doctors without Borders, or Unicef will not contact you directly for specific donations. Even if you are on their list, there is a good chance that you still would not be directly contacted shortly after the disaster. Therefore, any emails from the larger organizations need to be checked out carefully and looked at with skepticism.

If you want to donate directly to these organizations, then check your local phone book for the local chapter and call them directly to find out how you can donate. It is always safer when you initiate the contact.

With smaller organizations that you may or may not have heard about, check them out with the Better Business Bureau (www.bbb.org). Visit their websites but go there directly rather than clicking on a website link in the email. And, do not just go by how a website looks, as sophisticated scammers can throw up an authentic looking website that appears to be a legitimate charity within a couple hours of a disaster. Scammers will sometimes just change a previous website from an earlier disaster to reflect the current disaster's needs and amazingly, they have their new charity up and running.

This does not mean that every donation solicitation you receive is bogus. Many of the web addresses will be legitimate, but you just have to be aware and check further prior to clicking on that "donate" button. In a future article, I will discuss some specific things to look for in an email and specific steps to take to protect yourself from being scammed.

The Online Payday Loan

Online payday loans are useful to many people for a variety of reasons. Sometimes things come up unexpectedly and you don't have the cash available to deal with them. Getting a payday advance is a way to get money quickly to take care of your needs. Applying for the loan online can be a quick and efficient method of securing your loan.

Taking a payday loan online can be more convenient than visiting a traditional store. Many people work longer hours and cannot get in during the day. When you take a loan in person, you must go to the store to get the loan, and then go back two weeks later to repay it. This is a major time commitment that can be difficult. There is also the risk of carrying large amounts of cash back and forth to the bank. Online payday loans are much less time consuming.

Before you take an online payday loan, be sure to check several web sites to compare companies. Look at the annual interest rate and the fee per $100. There is usually a fee to wire the money to your account. These fees can vary widely and it is to your advantage to shop around before you commit. Also check any reviews that they may have. The Better Business Bureau is a great site to check to see what other consumers think of the company. Read all the fine print so that there will be no surprises later on.

Applying for an online payday loan is quick and painless. Once you determine which lender you want to use, simply log on to their site. Have your bank account number and routing number available. Most sites directly deposit your loan into your account. Payday advances are generally due in two weeks or on your next payday. The amount of the loan plus the finance charge is usually simply deducted from your bank account on the specified date.

There are some risks involved with an online payday loan. Whenever you transmit personal or financial information over the internet you have to be careful. Be sure that the website is secure. The way to do this is to be sure that it is an https as opposed to just http. Make sure that rates and terms are disclosed up front so that you don't get stuck with huge fees in the end. If you fail to have the money in your account to repay the loan, you will get charged insufficient funds fees from both the payday company and your bank.

Online payday loans are an efficient way to get quick cash in a pinch. They are convenient and speedy. Just be sure that you exercise caution and common sense when applying for your advance. As long as you follow some simple guidelines, online payday loans can be a viable way to relieve short term financial pressure.

Importance of Hiring a Criminal Defense Attorney

Have you been accused of a criminal offense? It is imperative that someone legally defends you. Criminal defense attorneys will simplify the process that you are about to face and protect your rights from arrest to appeal after conviction. Hiring a qualified and professional criminal defense attorney marks the difference between a jail sentence and getting the charges dropped.

Criminal defense attorneys handle various practice areas including, but not limited to, drug crimes, domestic violence, white-collar crimes, traffic violations, juvenile crimes, and parole and probation offenses. In terms of drug crimes, attorneys represent clients who are charged with possession, manufacture, distribution, and abuse for all types of substances including narcotics and marijuana.

There are several important factors that you should think about when researching which attorney to choose. First, an attorney with many years of experience is a better choice than one fresh out of law school. Moreover, make sure that the attorney has produced positive results from his past experience. Furthermore, you should know how many trials the attorney has handled. This aspect is very important because some attorneys rarely go to trail and are therefore not confident with the process. You must also make sure that the attorney you choose has reliable certification to practice law in the specific area of criminal defense. You should also know how and when the lawyer would be able to converse with you. Make sure your first consultation with the attorney is free, most of them are. A free consultation gives you the opportunity to feel out the attorney and make sure that he or she is the best match for you. Additionally, make sure the lawyer you think you are hiring is the one that will actually be handling your case. Another important question to ask is if the lawyer charges an hourly rate or a flat fee. Also, you must know what is covered within the flat fee. Finally, if a lawyer's fee is much lower than others you have consulted with, that should be a red flag. Bargains are not the best deal in terms of criminal defense.

Review of Donna Andrews' "Six Geese A-Slaying"

"Six Geese A-Slaying" is Donna Andrews' tenth book in the Meg Langslow series. This time Meg has been talked into being Caerphilly County's 'Mistress of the Revels' or in other words the person responsible for organizing the Christmas, excuse me, Holiday Parade. Ordinarily Meg would never have accepted the job but since the person who asked her to do it is the chairman of the committee that will decide whether or not her professor husband gets tenure, saying yes seemed like a good idea.

As she stands in her front yard, clip board in hand, directing the arriving floats, bands, animals and handlers and other assorted participants to their staging areas her two biggest worries are the approaching snow storm and getting the Twelve Days of Christmas tableaus lined up in the right order. That is until her nephew, Eric, hands her an even bigger problem. It seems that someone has killed Santa.

As with all the books in this series, "Six Geese A-Slaying" will keep you snickering, giggling and laughing out loud from beginning to end. You may or may not figure out early on who the killer is, but that doesn't matter. The fun of these books has always been watching Meg deal with the chaos around her while trying to catch the killer. On a scale of 1 to 10 this book is definitely a 8.

The series so far contains the following books. They are listed in the order written:

Murder with Peacocks

Murder with Puffins

Revenge of the Wrought-Iron Flamingos

Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon

We'll Always Have Parrots

Owls Well That Ends Well

No Nest for the Wicket

The Penguin Who Knew Too Much

Cockatiels at Seven

Six Geese A-Slaying

3 New Ways to Manage Time: No Nonsense Advice for Those That Have Tried Everything

Time management - that's like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall. We are trying to harness something we can't touch of feel - only experience and see the results. We have a gazillion time saving devices. Just think for a moment of all the 'things' in your life now (microwave, speed dialing on your phone, high speed internet connections, TVs that can be programmed to watch 2 shows at once, etc.), all of which are designed to save time. And for those moment that are 'saved', well, saved for what? We are a hurried, frantic society with a pace that is on wide open from the moment our feet hit the floor.

A recent search on Google for "time management" yielded 700,000,000 hits! If you visit Amazon.com and search books on time management, there were more than 7,600 books on the topic. We are constantly look for THE system, key or process to manage that thing we can only experience. At some point in your life you have probably longed for a 36 hour day. Sometimes the "busy-ness" of our lives consumes our time. What if we switched our thinking from managing time to three building blocks that define our time?

Value Management

Look at a person's calendar and checkbook and you'll get a powerful snapshot of what they value. It's a statement of what we think is important, what we value. That's what we consider worthwhile or desirable. Take a moment (you know one you have saved!) and jot down what you value most in life. Jot down your top 5 values. Now, with the same paper, look at your calendar and think about the normal course of your life. Jot down the top 5 things that capture your time. How do the lists compare? If you are like most people there is a huge incongruence here. What they say they value and where their time is spent does not truly reflect their heart. Let's start here. What do your truly value? In what ways does your life reflect those values? What changes are you willing to make to close the gap of incongruence?

Priority Management

What gets priority in your life? Typically, what you value. Priorities reflect what's of greatest importance to us. Is there still a gap between priorities and our values? If you focus on what is truly of value to you (not your neighbor, co-worker, cultural/societal expectation) then it becomes easier to prioritize. If we focus on what we value, then prioritizing is easier. That change in focus will provide more options, more choices. Having choices is the "power, right, or liberty to choose, options." We are faced with a multitude of choices in a day. How we make the choice is a statement of who we are based on our personality, environment, culture, preferences, comfort zones, etc.

Your boss comes in your office and says "I need you in a meeting now" doesn't seem to offer you many options. You value your job (and what that allows you to do in your life) so of course, you will respond a certain way - even if it is not preferable. Sometimes we can make a choice about which way we drive to work. That may be influenced by our mood, where we may want to stop off along the way, how quickly we need to get somewhere, etc. This is just one way to illustrate the number of choices we make in a day. But if we were to think about how those choices influences our time, well, hmm, why do I spend my time that way? What does that choice reflect about me, my values, and my legacy?

Decision Management

Did you know that not making a choice or decision is still a decision? After reading this article and you don't make any changes in your life - you are making a decision - that the "same old" is preferable. You are actively deciding what you want your life and legacy to be like every day! To make a decision is to reach a conclusion, reflecting that you've made up your mind. Are those conclusions/decisions what you want your life to reflect? What you wear each day may not be that big of a decision, but how your time is spent can have huge ramifications. Are your decisions about time based on your values and priorities? What decision about time could you make today that would bring about a shift in your view of time management?

There are a plethora of time saving devices. The process, system or strategy is not THE answer - it's just the conduit. The key to the success system is YOUR answers and the actions you choose to take. By making an opportunity to review and evaluate our values, priorities, and the power of decisions we can then make choices that manage our time effectively.