5 steps for starting a freelance career

Make a killer resumé.  More than having a hard copy resumé, you need to have your CV both in HTML and MS Word format. Do not make your CV long. Have a PDF file ready with profiles of projects completed. It must be simple and yet have the feel of a stylish book. Attach this with your Curriculum Vitae. Make sure to sign up with Kasamba as an expert. Now register yourself with freelance jobsites.

If you are hired, make sure you complete the project on time. Crossed deadlines make for  bad reputation and will kill your future prospects in the freelance markets.

Take on projects if you are 100% certain that you are capable of doing the work as expected by the client. Be in constant touch with the client. If you think the client is somewhere wrong in the execution of the project, politely point out the error. Be professional always.

Make sure the satisfied client recommends your work in cites like Linkedin.com and Facebook.

Create profiles for yourself in social and job networking sites like Orkut, Facebook, MySpace, Linkedin, Shelfari (if you are into writing). You can also run a blog listing your services and projects completed.

Two free sites where you can  search for freelance jobs are Naukri.com and Monsterjobs.

5 steps to profit from Indian stocks

 

Buy Larsen and Toubro, though priced high, they have little chance of depreciating even if the present bull run flounders. They have very strong order books for the next six years. And in between if they give out bonus shares or through demergers unlock value, then you will count be doubly blessed. This seems to be a very lucrative stock.

Buy up Reliance Industries. Mukesh Ambani has great plans for this diversified group. Reliance is known to reward shareholders.

Reliance Petroleum Limited is another stock available cheap now. It is worth investing. Though oil production in its refineries is due after sometime, once that happens, markets expect this stock to shoot up.

A good stock to invest in is Noida Toll Bridge. This is not a very well-known counter but it holds a lot of promise. Traffic is increasing and revenues are up from the real-estate owned by the company. Right now, it is not that highly favored by the markets; but sooner or later, it is bound to take off. It is available dirt cheap.

Infosys is passing through some bad times. But it remains by far the best IT company in India till date. There is no other IT company which has such strong fundamentals. Now is the time to buy Infosys shares. They are undervalued now. Once the rupee-dollar problem stabilizes, infosys will blaze up.

5 steps to become learned

# Read Will Durant’s Story of Philosophy. In very simple prose he reveals the strange world of abstract thought. After reading this book you will not feel foolish in front of those guys who keep dropping big names like Plato and Heidegger. Now you know who they are.

# Read The Man Who Knew Infinity. You do not have to be a mathematician to read this book. It will lead you through the world of pure mathematics. Also you get to know the fascinating life of Ramanujan.

# Read Terry Eagleton’s Literary Theory: An Introduction to become upto date with what’s happening in literary studies. You will discover new ways to read those old favourite books.

# Read Sigmund Freud’s The Uncanny to taste what real psychoanalysis is all about. Then proceed to other works by Freud.

# Read Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings to be blown off your feet by classy literature. This time, not theory, but raw spellbinding words themselves.

If you want to read more check out Project Gutenberg and this list of books.

Image: The Age

5 steps to long term wealth creation

# Even before you get your salary in hand, make sure that 15% of your total pay is electronically transferred to Systematic Investment Plans of old and well-known Mutual Funds. Automate this saving. This is the Pay Yourself First Rule. Let your money work for you and not for others. When you pay bills, your money goes to others.

# As fast as you can, pre-pay your outstanding loans. This may be a bank loan, like home loans or credit-card loans. Even if you have to pay a small early-payment fine, get rid off debt. All debt is bad debt. Get rid of your credit card.

# Instead of buying anything on loan, see if you can put save up for a few years and then make a down payment for the object of your desire. Even before that consider whether 5 years hence you might have any use for the thing you so want to buy now.

# Avoid small, unplanned spending. Have a WRITTEN budget. Make sure to allocate 15% to personal equity-linked savings and another 15% keep aside for a rainy day when you might suddenly need some urgent cash. This way you don’t have to take loans. Loans eat into your savings long after you take them.

# Have a Medical Insurance and a life insurance. These are musts. Medical costs can take away all your money in a jiffy. Your dependants need to be protected if anything ever happens to you. So you need a life-covering insurance.

Image: Get a Coach

 

5 steps to a Happy Marriage: act before it is too late

# Do not take your spouse for granted. Surprise is the key. Gift something unique. May be some leaves which you have picked on your way home…

# Pray/Meditate/Jog/ Something (surely) do together at least for half an hour daily. But make sure none else is there with you two.

# Pep up and prepare well for frequent love-making. Sex is important and do not ignore it. Have good fore-play…be healthy to enjoy sex.

# Eat at least one meal together. If you have kids, go out alone with your husband or wife once in two weeks for a romantic and light dinner.

# Have no secrets from each other. None whatsoever. Tell your partner that if she or he snitches, everything is over. Open up. Take the risk. Your spouse or husband loves you too much too spill the beans on you.

Be sure to read my daily-dose-of-inspiration at Lectio Divina. It will help you become happy and strong no matter where you are or who you are…Image: Riverwood Mansion