Anita M Biggins

My strengths as an influencer are my communication skills and my ability to connect to people. People matter to me; my wish is to be a friend to the meek. In weakness, we find our strengths. Great communication skills are very useful; I never knew this until I started exploring social media careers. Here are some examples of great careers: copywriter, editor, blogger, social media strategist, S.E.O. analyst and/or Influencer. Everything happens by word of mouth; abundance is found in relationships. Businesses are all about building relationships and faith. It takes faith and perseverance not to give up on our vision. My background is as a Spanish teacher. In my 20s, I earned a degree and certification as a Spanish teacher. For a few years, I taught Spanish to elementary students at a Christian school. It would be great if more children could learn Spanish in elementary schools. My career ended early as a Spanish teacher because I became very sick with CIDP and later GBS. Teachers have three well deserved months off in the summertime. And it is well deserved. There is no greater responsibility than taking care of 30 children all day long. Currently, I am living in Ohio with my husband and two daughters who are 10 and 13. As a mom, I discovered mystery shopping. The flexible schedule attracted me to this type of work. I never made much money but it was fun. It also gave me valuable experience as a remote independent contractor. I worked for 20 mystery shop companies. My goal was to pick out the best shops available according to pay, driving distance and easiness of completion. I audited car dealerships, post offices, new homes, condominiums, restaurants, nursing homes, grocery stores, movie theaters, fast food restaurants, pizza shops, and museums. Each assignment came with its own unique set of specific instructions which I had to memorize so I could make and mentally record observations covertly. There is a big need for mystery shoppers. My skills were tested and strengthened as a mystery shopper. Shoppers are people who can network, schedule jobs, manage time, pay close attention to detail, keep a secret, write reports, use cloud computer skills and meet deadlines. Writing is the one skill, which publicly reflects the work of a mystery shopper. A mystery shop report must be flawless in grammar and spelling; show connected thought; be accurate and complete in supportive detail. An editor does review the report before it is given to the business franchise owner. A well written report is a reflection of the mystery shop company. A shopper's report is often displayed in the employees' lounge. This written report may also earn an employee a bonus for good work.

A mystery shopper must also have a good memory. We act like undercover detectives for the company. All reports must include characteristics of people, exact times of greetings and salutations, details about verbal interactions, cleanliness of location and business signage. A shopper's report must give details that support their answer asked by the CEO of the company. The shopper must mentally record these details during the shop so he or she can answer the questions. This isn't an easy task; not all of my reports were accepted, I became better with time and practice. The shopper's name always remains anonymous.

As a business auditor, I learned the importance of company culture. Good business culture helps retain customers and employees. Simply put company culture is how we interact with employees and customers. Good manners, greetings, salutations, and gestures of appreciation are very important. A good company values its employees. As employees, we can experience the company culture through training, payment, empathy, and flexibility. Employees pass this down to the customers by treating the customers well.

Social media became an interest of mine when I started meeting nice Chinese Amazon sellers. I was impressed by their sincerity, work ethic and quick payment in appreciation for my work. The Chinese employed me as their paid United States product tester. Most sellers like to pay their reviewers after the review has appeared on Amazon’s website. Product reviews help the seller’s product, become more visible; visibility increases sales. I would write unbiased product reviews for them on Amazon. Little did I know that it was against Amazon’s policy; we are allowed to write social reviews. The problem is most buyers do not consult social media influencers before making a purchase.

The Chinese sellers are faithful honest people. My heart was broken when I found out that Amazon wiped my reviews. I wanted to continue to help them. It was challenging to find new reviewers for them. Strangers are reluctant to do favors for strangers. Secondly, Amazon aggressively revokes review privileges from professional paid reviewers. There are a billion people on Facebook so it is possible to find someone with a good account on Amazon.

The easiest way for me to find reviewers was to grow a Facebook group to advertise Amazon deals. It is a good practice to have a review group so buyers can pick which product they wish to review. Most people will accept an invitation to join a group. Send your friends an invitations with a short little description of the group. For new friends, you can see if they will respond to your friendship request. Then you can initiate a conversation about your group. Friends will appreciate it when you comment on their posts or ask them questions about themselves. Trust is something that is slow to earn and it must be nurtured through daily interactions with people.

My goal is not to become a review agent for Amazon sellers; I am not passionate about recruiting. Recruiters make great hunters; they see relationships as a short term transaction. Their skin is thick and they do not mind hearing the word “no.” I am also not someone who enjoys posting advertisements. On social media, I can be described as an influencer as well as a farmer. I like to enlighten people with new positive topics as well as nurture relationships. People who reciprocate my kindness become my friends. Teams of people can be a great way to grow brand awareness about a company or product. Many businesses use writers for copywriters, editors, bloggers, social media strategists, SEO analyst and/or influencer.

There are unique challenges to finding online jobs; most of the jobs are actually business opportunities or even worst scams. According to Flex Jobs, “For every one legitimate work-from-home job; there are approximately 60 to 70 work-from-home job scams. In other words, less than 3% of all work-from-home job listings are for legitimate jobs.” When you look at a job description, people should avoid these words: secret shopping, product testing or reshipping and rebate processing, unlimited earning potential, investment opportunities and seminars or quick money. There are legitimate mystery shopping companies; all of the legitimate companies are certified with the National Mystery Shopping Company of North America. It is also not wise not to give your personal information, like your Social Security number or birth date, to anyone online. Once a person has your personal information they can use it to break into your bank accounts. This type of behavior is called fishing.

Employees have always wanted to work from home however most employers have been reluctant to give permission. Coronavirus is a big game changer in the movement for remote work. This contagious virus forced us to all be quarantined. Crowds of people are no longer allowed to gather. Many employees in the hotel, restaurant, travel and entertainment industry, have lost their job. Pastors, priests, teachers and medical professionals have to speak with their congregation through the video conferencing or telephone. Many essential employees have been given business equipment to work from home. "Nobody chose to work remotely but everybody was forced to do so, and proved it can still be effective."

Thanks to Covid-19, employers have learned that they can trust their employees to work from home. A successful employee must be skilled in time management, problem-solving, self-motivation, comfortable with technology and be an excellent communicator. Employers can also help with this transition by providing good training and facilitating a good employee relationship. Passion motivates employees to use their gifts to benefit others. And most importantly, the job must be a good match for the employee’s interests and skill level.

Our quarantine lifestyle may last another 3 months. My belief is that employers will still want to reap the benefits of having a remote workforce. A company with a remote workforce is able to work smarter and compete globally with other companies. Let me share the facts which I received from High Five. The top reason for having a remote workforce should be to increase productivity and retain good employees. Remote employees are more productive and are willing to work longer hours. Employees attribute their better work ethic and ability to work smarter because they are less distracted at home. Statistics show, 90% of the managers are happy with their remote workforce.

Remote workers miss fewer days of work because they are healthier. Fewer absences save employers money. Unscheduled absences cost U.S. companies over $300 billion a year, or $1,800 per employee. There is less chance of them getting sick from fellow coworkers. Plus people who work from experience lower levels of stress because they have an increased work/life balance. 75% of employees would still continue to work in the event of flu, terrorism, roadway problems, and weather-related disasters, compared to 28% of non-teleworkers. 75% of retiring Boomers of this generation confirm that they would continue to work if the flexibility to work remotely was available.

A great way, managers can retain happy, healthier and productive workers is to keep their remote workforce. A national U.S. survey found that 73 percent of remote workers were happier. And 53% of remote workers were not looking for a new job. The best way employers can reward happy loyal dedicated workers is by giving them what they want: more money and flexibility.

Employees will have more money and flexibility if they work remotely. According to Inc. Magazine, a remote employee could save between $2,000 and $7,000 per year on transportation, clothes, food, and child-care. But businesses could also save money as well. Let’s take a look at the money the company will save on office real state, furniture, janitorial services, electricity and computers. It is cheaper for remote employees to use cloud-based technology and video conferencing.

A job must be a good fit for the employee as well as for the employer. A job must match the skills, interests, and values of an employee. My ideal business must operate using good moral principles. I value people above making a profit. It is not always easy to find a good match.

The more we broaden our job search the better. We can use more diverse keywords and broaden our geographic location. Good communicators are needed for all these positions: copywriter, editor, blogger, social media strategist, S.E.O. analyst and/or Influencer.

Secondly, the wider the geographic location we use the more opportunity we will have. A remote job may be limited to a particular area for some of the following reasons: We may be required to have personal knowledge of an area. Secondly, the job may require that we live in an airport for frequent airplane travel. Remote jobs may be restricted to only hiring employees in certain states because of legal reasons: licensing requirements or government regulations, or taxes: companies may pay employment taxes only in certain states.

My desire is to find a career using my communication and social media skills and to remain in Sandusky, Ohio. As a job seeker, I know there is a competition to get the best job. My remote work experience as a mystery shopper will be helpful. Secondly, I have proven that I know how to use social media to cultivate healthy business relationships. I actively use Linkedin, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. There are 5700 plus followers on my Facebook page; my engagement level is above 2000 k. Please consider me for a job with your company.

Captions

Good writers can be copy writers, editors, bloggers. social media strategists, S.E.O. analysts and influencers.

Shoppers are people who can network, schedule jobs, manage time, pay close attention to detail, keep a secret, write reports, use cloud computer skills and meet deadlines.

Writing is the one skill, which publicly reflects the work of a mystery shopper.

The top reason for having a remote workforce is to increase productivity and retain good employees.

We may never know what the job is truly like until we meet the people.

My desire is to find a social media strategist job for myself and there are few jobs in Sandusky, Ohio.