Looking for a job can be stressful. One has to contend with more experienced and educated candidates and an unstable economy. But today, there may be yet another category that challenges us. More and more employers are considering basing their hiring decisions on the candidates' Klout scores. While that's the fear many job hunters now face, the question being asked is does Klout make for a good recruitment tool?

What is Klout?

Klout has been called the 'standard for online and internet influence', and the company believes that anyone can play a role in influencing others. Klout assigns a score based on the following:

"    True Reach: How many people you influence
"    Amplification: How much you influence them
"    Network Impact: The influence of your network

Initially, Klout was used as a social tool, but as brands and organizations have entered the mix, some are considering it to be a prime recruitment tool.

The fact is that Klout cannot be the sole deciding basis when it comes to recruiting staff, especially as recently, thanks to changes Klout has made, scores have been questionably affected. Networkers with high engagement levels are acquiring low scores, while others who do not actively participate in online networking, have seen their scores increase. Equally important is the certainty that other factors -education, experience, and personality -must continue to play a vital role in a hiring decision.

Here's my Klout scores -not sure if I'd get hired based on them ;)

In the end, it's important to recognize Klout as another, not sole, tool in helping with the hiring process. Do you agree? Disagree? Do you use Klout to make hiring decisions? I'd love to hear from you, so don't be shy with the comments!

While there are a number of ways in which to earn money as a freelance writer; there are an equal number of ways to lose money trying to become one. Hands up whoever has paid money to 'writing gurus' who promise you'll be earning fantastic sums of money shortly after you sign up for their course and seminar, buy their ebook etc? And the desire to make a quick buck is usually so strong within all of us, that we are suckers for schemes such as these.

What if I told you there was indeed a formula, that all successful people use, to strike it rich? How much would you pay me? I'm not asking for money (though maybe I should ;), but read the post and you'll see what it takes to lose money, and your own personal formula to make money.

4 Easy Ways To Lose Money:

1. E-books: It is easy to lose money writing an ebook and then trying to sell it. Sure, you may have the knowledge and expertise to write a book, but by the time you've finished producing it and promoting it, you've cut into time that could have been spent earning money. You'll also incur out of pocket expenses trying to promote it. There's a lot of competition folks, and your idea is not necessarily the only 'original' gold mine out there.

On the other hand, writing ebooks for clients is a great way to make money. Select your area of expertise or topics which interest you, and be prepared to spend some time researching them. A novice writer can make around $10 per page, which would translate as $800 for an 80 page ebook. A well established ebook writer can command much more; so be ready with all your client testimonials and samples if you have any.

2. Writing Gurus and Get Rich Quick schemes: You can become a writing guru and make a lot of money (assuming you have followers). But you can also follow a so called expert's advice and lose a lot of your own. Always research any site which asks you to pay for expert advice. If you can't verify any of the client testimonials posted; then don't bother bringing out your credit card.

3. Blogging: You've probably come across articles telling you how much money you can earn just by setting up your own blog and promoting it. But it's very rare to make a lot of money through a blog. Not to say it can't be done, but it takes time and a huge following to get the amount of money most blog experts tell you you can. A blog however is a great way of getting starting and building up a following.

4. Writing a bestseller: We can all dream (and we should). But the truth is, writing a novel is no easy feat. And producing a bestselling novel is quite a task. You need to be determined, prepared for setbacks and rejections and have some amount of spare time to devote to it. Quitting your day job (even if it's one as a freelance writer) to write the next bestselling novel is not an option for everyone.

If you do want to give novel writing a go, visit http://www.nanowrimo.org - The National Novel Writing Month. You'll be forced to write a novel within one month and that should give you an idea if you're writer material.

So, how do you get rich?

Hard work, dedication, patience, and commitment. Add motivation and mentoring into the mix and you've got your formula for success!

Happy writing!

There are plenty of reasons why social media will work, and an equal number of reasons for why it won't. A top contender for 'things to do' to get your social media presence off the ground and moving, is to be consistent in your efforts.

You can maintain this consistency by creating a 'social media roadmap', a plan that lets you build a route to achieving your end objectives, with stops along the way to identify and refine your current goals.
Here are four steps to create your social media roadmap.

1.    Find your ideal target audience. In an earlier post, I've show you  how easy it is to build a twitter audience -follow friends and family members, follow those who follow you etc. But to build a target audience of people who are genuinely interested in what you have to share is more difficult. Difficult, but not impossible. They key is to use social media tools like twitter's Advanced Search functionality to define and track your audience.

2.    Set your goals. A lot of businesses jump onto the social media bandwagon without defining their primary, secondary, and end objectives. The problem with this is that social media is like a large and fluctuating black hole which can suck you in and spit you out without missing a beat. Without a plan, you can spend hours of your valuable time on it, without getting anything in return.

3.    Integrate your efforts. Are you using social media in isolation? If so, you may not find it working well for you. Instead, use it in a related context - are you trying to connect with vendors? Push your new promotional campaign? Empower your team with an internal communication tool? Can you use facebook with your email marketing campaign? Can you use twitter to supplement your YouTube campaigns? Will you use all your social media tools to promote your blogs?

4.    Analyze the results. Use inbuilt tools that social channels like twitter, linked in or facebook use, or external tools like Hootsuite and Google analytics to analyze your results and measure your goals. Isolate and identify special key performance indicators, which you can then track and measure at given points.

Just like any marketing effort, using social media takes time to see results. But with consistency, a defined target audience, set goals and a regular measurement and analysis of your results, you can build an ongoing social media plan that works for you.

If you've decided that 2012 is the year to transition to a new career as a freelance writer, or to increase the amount of paid writing jobs you undertake, then as with any business, you need to set yourself marketing, financial, personal goals, and yes, even writing goals. Breaking into a new market is hard, more so when you compete on a global level. However, don't let that scare you. With determination, creativity, and bit of common sense ;) you can grow your business into a well-paying and profitable venture.

1. Get Serious: If you really want to start your own business, and this applies to any field, then you need to get serious about it. Freelance writing can be a very lucrative business, if you set your mind to it. The only way to run a successful business is by working hard - you need to invest, sometimes long hours, into building your online and offline reputation, into marketing your services, and into writing good if not excellent copy. Never written professionally before? Don't let that deter you. But do take the time to join some classes, read plenty of books on writing and copywriting, and seek out a professional writers association, which can provide you the support you need to get started.

2. Have realistic goals: Set yourself daily, weekly and monthly goals and stick to them. If you plan to make $200 a day, then you need to apply yourself to finding jobs that will pay you this money. You can do 2 articles and earn that money, or 3-4 blogs. It’s all achievable; depending on what you enjoy writing and where your skills lie. As you get better at what you do, increase your goals and your charges too.

3. Put a value to your time: Most of us pick a figure we feel comfortable with – say, $30 or $ 50 an hour, and we stick with it; irrespective of how long we’ve been writing. In fact, novice writers often forget their hourly value and charge low fees per project. Say you charge $ 50 per blog post, and it takes you 3 hours to research, write and revise it. You’re per hour rate has already fallen to 1/3 your value. Time is money and you need to invest in it wisely.

4. Don’t undersell yourself: This connects with the earlier point. Don’t reduce your worth or value, just to get a job. It’s always harder in the beginning to build a client base, but stick with it and you’ll see results. It’s never easy to command a higher amount from a client, once you’ve valued yourself at a very low figure. I've made that mistake, and I even lost the client when I asked to increase my rates. But because he understood he needed to pay for quality, we parted on good terms and he gave me an excellent recommendation. However, this does not always work. Once you create a fixed rates, clients expect to pay that amount. A sliding scale works better I find - don't be afraid to charge different rates for different projects. Or bill by the hour, providing the client with an estimate in advance so he knows how much he's expected to pay. Place a value on work that you feel comfortable with and don’t go below it.

5. Keep busy: If you are to make a decent living as a freelance writer, you need to be busy. One way to do this is to become a generalist and to take on a variety of jobs. Newsletters and blog posts can provide a steady stream of income. Web page writing can be lucrative, as can writing for larger publications such as magazines and newspapers. Another way to do this is to specialize. Become really good at one or two things and you’ll always be in demand.

And finally, as a BONUS point- always invest in excellent customer service. Say thank you to clients who’ve hired you, as well as those who’ve decided to give you a miss.Today, I work a lot off referrals and repeat projects, but in the the beginning, I had to bid on most of the projects I worked on. I've had clients reconsider dropped bids after they've received a thank you note wishing them all the best. Courtesy and manners pay. Go the extra mile- that’s what will put you way ahead of the competition.

What are some of the actions you've believed have helped you get ahead in your career?