Blog Posts by Marci Alboher, Working the New Economy

Getty ImagesOne of the best ways to find work is to work part-time in the hopes of it turning into full-time employment. Another strategy is to try to work for yourself as a freelancer, consultant or entrepreneur. But either of these have one giant downside -- if you collect unemployment insurance and you earn more than a certain amount a week from work, you'll jeopardize your unemployment earnings.

Here's how it works in NY, where I live (it varies state by state, but most states have a similar system):

If you work less than four days in a week and earn $405 or less, you may receive partial benefits. Each day or part of a day of work will result in your weekly benefit rate being reduced by one-quarter. For example, if your weekly benefit rate is $100 and you work three days and earn less than $405, you could potentially receive $25 in benefits. If you work two days, you could potentially receive $50 in benefits. If you work one day, you could potentially receive $75 in benefits.

As I talk to

You might have seen the video. It's called Social Media Revolution and it's already gotten over 400,000 hits on YouTube since its release only a few weeks ago. It tells a story through numbers about the furious growth of social media around the world. Facts appear on the screen in rapid succession with haunting music in the background: "If Facebook were a country, it would be the world's 4th largest." "By 2010 Gen Y will outnumber Baby Boomers. . . 96% of them have joined a social network." "Social media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on the Web."

It spews its facts so fast you can barely digest them, which is how many people feel about the pace of virtual updates on sites like Facebook and Twitter. Will it ever stop coming at us and demanding our attention, fractured as it is because we're sifting through emails, texts, all while uploading our latest photos to Flickr?

According to Erik Qualman, who created the video to promote his new book, Socialnomics, it won't be stopping

Last spring, I took a writing workshop led by Constance Hale, who is well known in literary circles as an extraordinary teacher. The workshop was based on her book, Sin and Syntax, and in about an hour, Hale transformed the way I think about writing sentences and spinning out paragraphs. At Hale's feet, we students were like children learning language for the first time, as we played games like the one in which we competed to replace the verb walk with the most sizzling synonyms (like gambol, shamble, lumber, lurch, sway, swagger, and sashay).

Hale specializes in helping professional writers to write better, cleaner prose. But she's also worked with lawyers, CEOs, P.R. and marketing types, and others who write as part of their jobs. Her philosophy was informed by years as an editor at Wired magazine, where she says the magazine's staff was consumed with presenting technological concepts in a way that was lively, fresh and human.

I asked Hale for some every day tips that will

Getty ImagesAs I watched the President's Martha's Vineyard holiday get interrupted by Senator Kennedy's funeral, my mind turned to one of my perennial vacation quandaries -- how much can you really disconnect from work and life while you're away? And do you always want to?

I'm about to head into vacation and I've been in my usual pre-vacation frenzy, working furiously for a few weeks in order to clear the decks enough to enjoy some complete unplugging.

Doing work you love leads to work/life blur, and as an independent worker who works from my laptop, I can work from wherever I am. Which has benefits and pitfalls. I can work in cafes in my neighborhood, at my mother's house by the beach, or at an isolated lodge in the mountains (as long as the lodge comes with reliable Internet access). And most of the year, I live like that. Never disconnecting from work, yet never feeling too burdened by it either. While I often spend a Saturday cleaning out my inbox, I also indulge myself in the occasional

Creating a LinkedIn profile is pretty straightforward when you have a job with a well-defined title. But I've been getting questions lately about how to create a profile on LinkedIn when what you're doing isn't so tidy. Two scenarios that come up a lot are how to create one of these profiles if you have a slash career (e.g. yoga instructor/caterer), or if you're unemployed (or, as some say, consulting).

There's some overlap between the two scenarios because in both cases you are taking what feels like a standard tool and tailoring it to fit your needs. And the good news is that when you spend a little time with it, LinkedIn allows for a lot of customizing.

Here are a few ideas:

Play with your status updates. If you're looking for opportunities, mention that in your status update so that your connections are reminded of it. The example above, which says "on the prowl for career and/or entrepreneurial endeavors," is a good model.

Use slashes or vertical lines between

Getty ImagesFor a long time I had trouble saying no. I'd get a request, and have a hunch I should say no. But because I generally hate to disappoint people, I'd say yes. And then one of two things would happen. I'd do the thing and resent it. Or I'd realized that I shouldn't have said yes and have to back-pedal my way out of it. Not anymore. Now I say no. Often.

I've been thinking of this lately as I'm in one of those crunch periods where I can't take on anything else personally or at work. I'm getting married in two weeks and will be taking some time off after that. So I've been trotting out my "noes" with increasing frequency. In fact, I did it twice last week. A former writing student needed a last-minute letter of recommendation for a fellowship application; and a friend-of-a-friend needed blogging advice for a gig she was about to start. In each case I replied quickly, apologized, and declined. (And for the one that wasn't time sensitive, I offered to help in early October.) In both cases, I

Jennifer Frank's Mad Men AvatarIf you spend any amount of time online, you've probably needed to post a head shot or other image of yourself. If you're lazy, you leave the photo area blank or go with a random photo you have lying around. But some folks are adopting avatars, those tiny cartoon-y images which are becoming increasingly common.

During the election, Obamicons (avatars in the style of the iconic Shepard Fairy Obama poster) were flooding the Web thanks to a free program offered on Paste Magazine's website. Now, during the a"Mad Men" frenzy, images like the one on the right above are cropping up, courtesy of the "MadMenYourself" campaign on the show's site.

So, why would you want one of these avatars? I've been talking to lots of folks who use them, and here's what I've learned:

Avatars can provide privacy. Avatars can be a way to get involved in online conversations while preserving anonymity, like this guy has done with a blog and Twitter identity operating under the name PRDude.

Avatars are great

Every time I enter a negotiation it feels like the first time. I can rehearse, prepare and strategize, but if I really want something or have any emotional stake in the deal, all the wisdom I think I've collected over the years starts jumbling together. (For example, "Never start the money conversation," mushes together with "Name your price first to make sure you're negotiating from your number, not theirs.") And if negotiating requires a long waiting game, my impatience gets the best of me as all I want to do is get the deal sealed.

I decided to talk to a pro to see if I could improve my ways, so I rang up Jim Camp whose latest book, "No: The only Negotiating System You Need for Work and Home," just landed on my desk. Camp is a seasoned negotiations coach who has trained the FBI on how to negotiate in hostage crises, so I figured my usual fare would present beginner-level challenges.

"So what's your system?" he asked me. I'm not much for systems or rules, letting my gut take me