With millions out of work, the global economy in a sharp recession, and legitimate fears for the future abound, you might think this is absolutely the worst time to strike out on your own and be your own boss as a work-for-hire freelancer.

But according to numbers compiled by financial services company Payoneer, the current state of the freelance market might not be as dire as you think. While some freelancers have reported a downturn in demand, almost 40 percent said they’ve seen no change or even an increase in business over the past three months. A resounding 75 percent said their rates were still unchanged by the pandemic; and the average 2020 freelance hourly rate remained higher than it was just two years ago.

If you can get past the fear, the opportunity is still there for those looking to make it on their own. 

And the training in the Kickstart Your Freelance Career Course Bundle can help you chart your path toward independence and prosperity working remotely as a skilled freelancer.

Over these eight courses, students earn a thorough understanding of what it takes to carve out a profitable living working for yourself as well as step-by-step guides and tips on launching a fulfilling freelance career.

The Freelance Kickstart: Start a Successful Business You Love and Sales and Marketing for Freelancers courses cut right to the heart of the matter by laying out how to achieve the twin pillars of a successful freelance lifestyle: handling assignments and clients like a true business, and forging the right mindset to succeed in that often competitive space. Read the rest

For years, dirty countertops, appliances, or bathroom fixtures were just kind of gross. But unkempt corners of your kitchen and bathroom aren’t just a sign of laziness anymore. Now, they’re a potential breeding ground for infectious disease. 

You can’t just limp through cleaning these days. You’ve gotta get rigorous about it, which means it’s no longer acceptable to bring a knife to a gunfight. The Drill Brush Cleaning Supply Kit not only ups the ante on your household cleaning regimen, but it handles the task by repurposing one of your toolkit favorites, your trusty power drill.

This set included four different brush heads, each designed with unique shapes and bristle stiffnesses to attach to your cordless drill for specific cleaning jobs. 

Snap on the 5-inch medium stiffness brush for getting stubborn dirt off your kitchen countertops or bathroom flat surfaces. Or switch out to the 5-inch soft brush to apply a lighter touch for items like carpet, upholstery, glass, leather, wheels, and more.

However, if you need to go big, this kit comes prepared. The 4-inch stiff brush really digs in, attacking dirt and other built-up filth on areas like tile walls and floors or even linoleum. Finally, the 4-inch scrub pad stands ready to step in when you need to clean stainless steel, porcelain, or composites like fiberglass or carbon fiber. The brushes are all even color-coded to help avoid the threat of any cross-contamination.

You’ll also get a backer attachment to connect your scrub pads as well as a 4-ounce bottle of Drill-Tergent, a non-toxic clean solution that obliterates 99 percent of germs on all of your household surfaces. Read the rest

Hunting around for an outlet or a power battery when you’re trying to charge your phone or tablet is always an annoyance. But when you’re out in the world hiking or camping or traveling, finding an outlet might be more than a minor inconvenience...it might be downright impossible.

Running low on battery power isn’t an option anybody looks forward to these days, especially if you’re out and about and may need that phone in the event of any emergency. 

Thankfully, the RAVPower 24W 3-Port Solar Charger takes advantage of the fact that the world’s most powerful battery is almost always right there overhead: the Sun.

Actually, the RAVPower is really more than a traditional charger. Unlike bulky brick-style chargers, the RAVPower is its own solar panel, half the weight of other chargers. Just unfold it from its tiny, compact carrier and aim it at the Sun as its high-efficiency solar cells start juicing up.

Converting nearly a quarter of available solar power into free energy, the RAVPower is a fast, effective, lightweight charger for use in almost any condition. In fact, you can even throw the RAVPower over the back of your pack, plug in your phone, and watch your device power up while you keep moving.

It charges up to two USB-powered devices simultaneously and can take a smartphone’s battery from zero to fully charged in the space of about 3 to 4 hours. The RAVPower uses iSmart technology to automatically adjust to your connected devices, serving up the optimal charging current evenly to everything you have plugged in in the shortest possible charging time. Read the rest

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever” – Mahatma Gandhi

Of all the skills you feel like you should probably know, yet likely don’t, coding might be one of the most intimidating. From the varied programming languages to the range of platforms to the sheer discomfort of trying to decipher all that seemingly incomprehensible text, doing your own coding can feel like a learning curve that goes straight up.

But like anything else, how you learn a skill can make all the difference in the world. Learnable is an e-learning platform that strives to help students retain the most information possible in the shortest possible time.  

With its highly curated curriculum, Learnable offers courses in all of the most important programming languages and functions, depending on your learning goals. From core disciplines like Java, PHP, and SQL to more specialized training in C#, C++, Python, Swift, and more, you’ll always find a carefully designed program ready to build your knowledge.

Whether you want to dig in from your desktop browser or via iOS or Android, you’ll find interactive lessons aimed at demystifying programming and pointing the way toward coding mastery.

As you work your way through each skill, you’ll earn progress points, level up, and earn badges as you go. In fact, learning to build apps, websites and other important projects with Learnable doesn’t feel like learning as much as it often feels like playing a game. But rather than beating a friend or notching a high score, a win here means a bankable skill recognized worldwide as a vital 21st-century talent. Read the rest

Even though it feels like Amazon is a singular retail juggernaut crushing everybody else, you might be surprised to learn that half of Amazon’s $280 billion in revenue last year came from third-party sellers.

According to numbers compiled by JungleScout, 86 percent of Amazon’s Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) sellers were profitable last year, more than doubling the profitability rate for all small businesses in general in 2019. On top of that, two-thirds of FBA sellers said they were profitable in their first year.

And that was before our new pandemic-tinged economy shifted even more toward online retail outlets. If you want to start a business and make sure you’re among those happy etailers, then training like that found in The Complete 2020 Fulfillment By Amazon Mastery Bundle can help make sure you end up in that profit-rich group.

The bundle includes four courses, all dedicated to helping you get a thriving, revenue-generating business off the ground utilizing all the resources of Amazon’s FBA program.

It all starts with The Complete Amazon FBA Masterclass, a practical training session that promises to help you get your own FBA business up and running in a matter of hours. The beginner-friendly training covers all the basics for working in the FBA system, from choosing the right products to setting up your supply chain to branding and marketing. You’ll also get access to all the secret hacks FBA vets use to drive traffic to your storefront and goose sales.

In case settling on the product you want to sell is a problem, the Amazon FBA and eBay: 33 Hot Product Sourcing Strategies course can help. Read the rest

Amidst all the deadly serious concern and fallout from our global battle against COVID-19, you’ve likely been forced to confront more than a few moments that you never expected to face.

And you likely never felt sillier during this scary time than when you were racing all over town hoping desperately that some store had finally received a toilet paper shipment. Hoarders cleared off store shelves in early March, leaving 70 percent of stores without stock and causing a shortage that still isn’t completely under control.

Americans use 3 million tons of TP every year. And between the supply issue and the startling fact that we require 54 million trees to fall to feed our bathroom need...well, it’s no surprise the bidet option has seen renewed popularity the past several weeks.

Of course, replacing your entire bathroom throne is no small — or inexpensive — task. However, the Aim to Wash bidet attachment is a perfect middle-ground for those tired of TP hunts and looking for a better way.

The Aim to Wash easily attaches to your existing toilet set in about 10 minutes and doesn’t require any power to operate. Once you’re connected, the unit sports an adjustable nozzle head that angles into a position to apply a cleansing wash that puts “the wipe” to shame.

The attachment has easy to use dial knobs to adjust your cleaning to just the right level — and the nozzle even has its own self-cleaning regimen to keep the whole thing sterling clean before and after each use. Read the rest

“It’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.” - “Lonesome Dove,” Larry McMurtry

If the past few months have taught us anything, it’s that we need to be prepared now more than ever. Emergency situations can happen quickly and there’s no telling when you may need provisions to handle any manner of spur-of-the-moment event.

And as with most emergencies, it’s always tough to know exactly when they’ll happen or exactly what you may need to get through it. 

That’s why The GoBox 3-Day Emergency Kit is such a smart, practical way of staying prepared for any eventuality.

The sturdy box is about the size of a hardcover book -- and the whole box can fit unobtrusively on a bookshelf in your home or office for safe-keeping. But in the event of an emergency, it’s jam-packed full of useful items that could help you or someone else get through anything from a medical emergency to a power outage to a lockdown.

For poor air quality, you’ve got a KN95 respirator mask. If anyone’s hurt, you’ve got a first-aid kit with dressings and medications. If it’s cold, you’ve got a Mylar emergency space blanket. If it’s wet, you’ve got a rain poncho. If it’s dark, you’ve got an LED flashlight and a glow stick. And if your emergency looks like it might not end anytime soon, you’ve got a deck of playing cards to help pass the time.

The kit also comes with essential provisions, including a 3-day supply of water and food rations, all with a shelf life of up to five years. Read the rest

Just as in almost any industry that seeks high-demand, well-trained workers, certification often becomes key. For project managers, that means anyone who’s serious about serving in that role with a respected company knows they’re going to need the seal of approval in one of the field’s most recognized methodologies before they stand much of a chance of getting on a payroll.

 Since the 1960s, the project management field has been dominated by its preeminent professional organization, the Project Management Institute (PMI). By the 1980s, they’d written the book on project management — literally — with the Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK) and began certifying those who proved they understood that methodology.

As a benchmark among peers, the training in the Project Management Certifications Tests and Courses Bundle can help any new PM prospect earn the knowledge to get certified as a PMI-recognized and endorsed pro, ready to take on a business’ most critical initiatives.

It all starts with the Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) Certification course, leading first-time students through 14 hours of training over the basics of project management, including all the terminology, the structure, and the step-by-step procedures they’ll need to know. Using the PMBOK as the core text, practitioners tackle 5 mock tests with 750 different questions to discover if they’re ready to move forward.

 But Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification status is what students truly covet. So this next course builds off those teachings, covering everything a PMP has to understand if they want to ace the all-important PMP test. Read the rest

Popping a new battery in a smoke detector or adding salt to your water softener are easy fixes. But if you run into trouble or a necessary repair in a cramped, tight place, sometimes with no obvious fix or easy access, it can be a pretty frustrating exercise.

Since flying blind is the absolute worst, having a solid, dependable borescope camera to see inside hard-to-reach places and spot problems you couldn’t see otherwise can be vitally important. 

Right now, you can add that piece to your toolkit with a versatile inspection camera like the Sinji Flexible Borescope Camera for Android and iOS. 

Whether you want to see under floorboards, assess what’s blocking a drain, or just poke around in the smallest nooks and crannies, this cam with nearly 6.5 feet of reach can do the job.

Once you download the Sinji app to your phone, tablet, or laptop and sync up, you're all ready to go. The 2-meter cable can snake its way into the darkest of places, but equipped with six powerful adjustable LED lights, you’ll get a crystal clear, HD quality view on your device screen of exactly what you’re up against.

With its WiFi compatibility, you can also snap pictures or capture video, then save the footage right to your device. The 8mm camera lens gives you a full look with a 70 degree viewing angle at the end of the MicroUSB to USB cable. And considering many of those pipes and drains are probably pretty nasty, wet places, the Sinji camera is IP67 waterproof certified. Read the rest

Firing up the engines each morning and attacking the day with gusto and purpose can feel like a mighty tall order sometimes. We’ve all been there. But on those sluggish, why-don’t-I-just-stay-here-in-bed-all-day kinda days, it might just take a rational, calming, reassuring nudge to make it happen. 

No matter what it takes to keep you motivated and on point, Quotely has your back. 

Holder of a solid 4.9 out of 5-star rating in the Apple App Store, Quotely Daily Motivational Quotes is all about cultivating good thoughts and sending them your way to brighten and broaden your universe, one life-affirming quotation at a time.

With a subscription to Quotely, you decide when and how often you’d like to see inspiration reminders delivered as well as the look and feel you like. Assembled from a database of literally thousands of quotes, Quotely then serves up words of comfort, motivation, and self-determination right when you need them the most. 

You can set up Quotely to serve up a pick-me-up each morning as your daily mantra to help sharpen your resolve and focus on what’s ahead. 

When you’re not receiving quote notifications, you can also browse their 10,000-strong library of inspiring sayings from nearly 20 different categories, including everything from life lessons and sayings to depression beating quotes to philosophy from mankind’s greatest minds to stellar film lines.

You can also use Quotely to find motivational books, customize your presentation, share great quotes with others, or to your social media pages and more.

A lifetime subscription to Quotely usually comes with a $280 price tag, but with this offer, you can keep yourself feeling positive, focused, and ready to achieve your dreams each and every day forever for only $29.99 Read the rest

You may not realize it, but one of the fastest-growing employee benefits over the past several years is one that’s keeping thousands of workers feeling happier and healthier. Back in 2013, only 13 percent of employers were willing to provide or subsidize standing desks for their workers, but by 2019, that number had exploded to 60 percent.

Part of that increase is directly tied to research that’s shown a standing desk that encourages workers to spend less time sitting can help attack a variety of health problems, including back, knee, shoulder and elbow pain, poor circulation, muscle fatigue, headaches, and even sexual performance issues.

With endorsements like those, it may be worth picking up an item like the RiseUp Electrical Height Adjustable Standing Desk. 

This desk from Uncaged Ergonomics is all about finding each user’s sweet spot. From a standard sitting height, three-stage lifting columns can elevate this steel and wood product frame almost 4 feet with the push of a button. With that much range, it only takes a little work to determine exactly what elevation is the proper height for each person to optimize their sitting and standing postures.

Once you’ve found the spot that sings for you, the memory keypad can lock it in, one of four positions the desk can memorize and serve up for immediate adjustment.

The dual powerful motors raise and lower the desk quickly and smoothly, all while holding up to 250 pounds on your desktop, more than enough to hoist a computer monitor, phone, and other assorted desk bric-a-brac with no problem. Read the rest

First, they were all about serving a protective necessary function. But now, about 10 weeks after the explosion of the COVID-19 outbreak, face masks are beginning to serve a different role. Just like all the fashion accessories that came before them, face masks are now showing off a little piece of ourselves to the everyday world, making a quick, mouth-and-nose-covering statement to all those who cross our paths.

Since face masks appear to be sticking around for a while and you might as well make the best of it, we’ve got a variety of cotton face mask four-packs available. Each comes with a fun print that says, hey, just because I’m covering up doesn’t mean I’m okay with some boring white N95 mask.

No, these sets each come with a distinct vibe to them, so like the rest of your wardrobe, you can match your personal fashion sense with your particular mood or style. Each is made from premium cotton to stay soft, breathable, and comfortable with a pair of adjustable earloops to keep your mask firmly secured.

And the looks...well, that’s what it’s all about, right? Beyond the life-saving protection, obviously. With the Kid in You four-pack, you get a boldly-colored set with paint splotches, a rainbow-colored animal maw and even the ever-popular gray camo look.

Meanwhile, the Tie-Dye set is a bit more muted, yet still artistically vibrant. They may not inspire true 60’s flashbacks, but the hippie aesthetic is alive and well here.

The Fun with Kids pack is, well, made for the kiddies...or Read the rest

Promoting products is almost nothing like it was back in the Mad Men days. In fact, the digital landscape has changed the ad game so much that it barely even resembles early Grey’s Anatomy days anymore. 

Marketing a product digitally isn’t about the right ad slogan or color scheme. It’s about crafting the narrative around that product through blog posts, social media, videos and other legitimate content that demands a potential customer’s attention and motivates action.

Did you know Facebook is the primary content distribution channel for marketers today? Or that those marketers usually create unique content for up to three completely separate audience segments? Or that digital marketing is now a $100 billion per year business?

Reaching just the right audience on just the right platform with just the right message is just as tough as it sounds. However, the training in The Complete Digital Content Marketing Certification Bundle will help you find your people, hone your message and take advantage of the strengths and weaknesses of each platform to craft the messaging story you want around your product.

This collection features eight courses including 40 hours of instruction as you learn everything you need to know to craft a fully-formed digital content strategy.

The Certified Facebook Marketing 2020 (Complete Masterclass) opens your tutelage with a look at the no. 1 digital content hotspot on the web, including how to create an optimized home for your brand, proven Facebook marketing tactics, a Facebook Ads primer and how to reach Facebook groups to drive sales on the platform. Read the rest

Every once in a while, we see a new product come along that’s so versatile and elegantly simple that it’s strange no one’s ever gone there before.

Portable lights themselves aren’t new, but there’s something about the MOGICS Coconut Light that’s so seamlessly well-designed and adaptable that it feels startlingly original.

The Coconut is basically just an orb of light. Yet the more than $105,000 this portable, foldable light source generated during its enthusiastic run on Kickstarter proves that its appeal goes far beyond its humble origins.

Made from durable, non-toxic, kid-safe silicon material, the Coconut Light is a minimalist perfect sphere of light that can adapt to almost any situation. The Coconut self-inflates and sports four different lighting modes, so whether it’s serving as a desk light, a table centerpiece, a camping accessory, or poolside ambiance, it effortlessly conforms to your environment.

The silicon sturdiness and clever engineering mean you don’t have to handle the Coconut Light with kid gloves. In fact, with its inflatable, balanced, durable construction, it’s practically like having a glowing rubber ball shining in the darkness.

The three-point design subtly creates a balance, so if the Coconut Light is set on a table, it doesn’t roll away. At the base, the invisible switch can toggle through normal, flash, breathing, and warning light modes.

In case you’re skeptical about carrying a rubber ball around with you, don’t worry -- the Coconut Light folds down to about a sixth of its original size. Then once you pop it out of its carrying case, the Coconut’s unique valve design expands it to its regular dimensions. Read the rest

With the U.S. cautiously reopening, it’s probably time to take stock of where you're at. After spending all these weeks in the house, you’ve likely already assembled a little list of items you either realized you were missing or need to replace. And those kinds of revelations probably apply to nearly every room.

We got you. From the bedroom to the kitchen to the bathroom, we’ve put together a list of some cool items all under Memorial Day discounts right now. On top of that, use the code SUMMERSAVE20 during checkout and you’ll get an added 20 percent off everything. Load up!

Comfort always starts with some great sheets, so the Bamboo Comfort 4-Piece Luxury Queen Sheet Set ($26.39 after discount, originally $109) offers a high-quality microfiber and bamboo blend that’s soft, breathable, hypoallergenic, and wrinkle-free.

Of course, wrinkle-free is easier said than done...but the problem of wrinkled sheets and mattress toppers gets crushed by the Bed Scrunchie 360° Fitted Sheet Tightener, Holder & Extender ($25.59 after discount, originally $59.95), the world's first 360-degree all-in-one bed tightening system. Clip it to the edges of your sheets, tighten the clamps and you’ve got a flawless hotel bed look and military corners in seconds.

And if you’re having a little trouble drifting off to sleep, the LectroFan High Fidelity White Noise Machine ($31.99 after discount, originally $49.99) sports 20 unique digital sounds with pinpoint volume control to mask noises, focus your mind for relaxation, and get you a more peaceful rest each night. Read the rest

When the COVID-19 threat hit in March, most Americans didn’t have much of a choice about their new work-from-home existence. But now that a majority of the workforce have settled into their new routines, it may be hard for many to snap back to the daily commute and the office grind again.

And the numbers spell it out — remote working...well, works. A survey found remote workers actually logged almost 60 more hours of core work per year than those in an office. And remote workers saved anywhere from 2 to 5.5 hours a day without commuting and time-consuming in-person meetings. 

With results like those, the only real question is how do you ensure your core work hours are truly time well spent? With The Remote Work and Productivity Bundle, you can learn the techniques that will help keep you focused on your key tasks so you can enjoy the work from home lifestyle with zero guilt.

This package collects seven courses that bolster both the physical and mental approaches to working remotely so you can do high-quality work in less time and with less hassle.

With How To Be Hyper Productive In Your Home Based Business, you’ll develop the disciplines and habits needed to take your home-based job or business to be both highly productive and highly profitable. Meanwhile, the Coronavirus and Remote Work: Tools and Tactics for Business Continuity course take that training a step further, minimizing work disruption, managing expectations, and feeding your creativity and innovation, all from home. Read the rest

After two months, all those stockpiled snacks and days spent indoors have likely taken their toll. If you happened to pick up a few pounds during quarantine, join the club.

However, you may be thinking that it’s time -- or maybe, well past time -- to get back on that fitness horse. Rather than heading down to that recently reopened, but likely still deeming with possible infection neighborhood gym, we’ve pulled together a handful of equipment and services that can help get your body moving and on the road to a fitter you.

And just so we can leave you with a fitter wallet as well, you can use the code SUMMERSAVE20 at checkout and that’ll slice another 20 percent off your total. 

If you’re ready to work out, gear up first. For yoga and Pilates regulars, this Non-Slip Yoga and Pilates Towel with Bag ($18.39 after discount; originally $75) is designed just for you. The towel is created to stay on top of the mat without slipping, catching all the sweat so you aren’t sliding all over. Thankfully, it dries quickly and can be stowed in the mesh bag for washing.

The Men's Z-Liner Antimicrobial Orthotic Insoles ($19.19 after discount; originally $29.99) can save your feet from ill-fitting or broken down shoes. Crafted with ZL Hexcore and breathable mesh fabric, these insoles cradle and form to your feet, keeping them cool, dry, and odor-free. They’ve even got arch support and an adaptive heel-cup for better balance and stability while reducing common pains. Read the rest