There are many aspects to conducting your alternative search methods like a job entrepreneur. First, it means abandoning any kind of mass marketing approach like mailing hundreds, even thousands of resumes. Or posting your digital resume on a job website like monster.com. If you've tried these approaches you already know they don't work. Not unless you're willing to wait months and months for something to develop.

Once you decide to get serious about making a job change . . . and you want to see some results in a matter of days instead of months . . . then choosing alternative strategies like becoming a job entrepreneur is the only solution.

One of the very first techniques to put to work in becoming a successful job entrepreneur is ?research.? The good news is you can do your research very fast and conveniently online. Here's what to do:

1. Decide what useful information you want to acquire, e.g. corporate literature, Who's Who for specific decision makers, product or services information, job change tips, resume-writing examples, interviewing techniques, etc. Also take advantage of college alumni, community, headhunter, and newspaper sites.

2. Save, digest or bookmark sites you discover using good search engines. Put them into easily accessible digital files.

3. From all this information select areas of interest starting with geographical preferences. Then move on to products and services that attract your attention or that match with your interests or work history. Finally make a list of companies that fall within your parameters.

4. The last piece of essential research is perhaps the most important of all . . . identifying specific decision-makers by name who could possibly be your next boss. You'll find this information at the corporate websites, Who's Who, local service club info, online newspaper files, alumni sites, etc.

Once you've acquired this important preliminary research your in a unique position to develop entrepreneurial strategies for getting in front of these selected decision-makers. And that's when the fun really starts.