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Saturday, October 25, 2008

Blog Secrets For Writers - Boost Your Income

Firstly, let's talk about what a blog actually is. A blog is an instant-publication tool. That's all. If you're caught up in thinking that a blog is "an online journal", it can stifle your creativity.

So when you think blog, think "instant publication."

Now let's look at secret ways in which your blog can boost your writing income.

1. More Blogs Equal More Money

I have many blogs, and each blog has a purpose. Blogs take time to develop a readership. Usually when I create a blog, it's for a project which is either currently in development, or which I intend to develop a year or two from now.

Think of each blog you create as an investment. Your investment in a blog may not pay off for several years, just as real-world investments.

2. Sell Yourself and Your Products on Your Blogs

If you're a new writer, a blog will help you because you'll become visible online. It helps you to build your name.

Make a list of all the writing services you provide, and make sure that you advertise these on your blog. As your writing services business grows, create a blog for each service.

If you're writing articles, for example, create an articles blog. If you're writing a book, create a blog for the book. And so on.

Ensure that you use your own name on each of your blogs. This means that when a potential buyer of your writing types your name into a Web search engine, all your blogs will show up. You develop credibility as a writer.

This leads to our final secret.

3. Every Blog Post Is an Advertisement for You

Every blog, and every post on that blog, is an advertisement for you as a writer. Writers are in high demand on the Web, however you need to build credibility as a Web writer, and trust.

Every blog you create displays your writing skill. This cuts down on your need to hunt for writing jobs, because clients come to you. Eventually, if you focus on blogging, you'll have more clients than you can handle.

Blogging is a way to become an established writer, fast. If you're not blogging, your writing career will never be as successful as it could be. Start a blog (or another one) today.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

10 (More) Reasons You're Not Rich

The list of reasons you may not be rich doesn't end at 10. Caring what your neighbors think, not being patient, having bad habits, not having goals, not being prepared, trying to make a quick buck, relying on others to handle your money, investing in things you don't understand, being financially afraid and ignoring your finances.

Here are 10 more possible reasons you aren't rich:

You care what your car looks like: A car is a means of transportation to get from one place to another, but many people don't view it that way. Instead, they consider it a reflection of themselves and spend money every two years or so to impress others instead of driving the car for its entire useful life and investing the money saved.

You feel entitlement: If you believe you deserve to live a certain lifestyle, have certain things and spend a certain amount before you have earned to live that way, you will have to borrow money. That large chunk of debt will keep you from building wealth.

You lack diversification: There is a reason one of the oldest pieces of financial advice is to not keep all your eggs in a single basket. Having a diversified investment portfolio makes it much less likely that wealth will suddenly disappear.

You started too late: The magic of compound interest works best over long periods of time. If you find you're always saying there will be time to save and invest in a couple more years, you'll wake up one day to find retirement is just around the corner and there is still nothing in your retirement account.

You don't do what you enjoy: While your job doesn't necessarily need to be your dream job, you need to enjoy it. If you choose a job you don't like just for the money, you'll likely spend all that extra cash trying to relieve the stress of doing work you hate.

You don't like to learn: You may have assumed that once you graduated from college, there was no need to study or learn. That attitude might be enough to get you your first job or keep you employed, but it will never make you rich. A willingness to learn to improve your career and finances are essential if you want to eventually become wealthy.

You buy things you don't use: Take a look around your house, in the closets, basement, attic and garage and see if there are a lot of things you haven't used in the past year. If there are, chances are that all those things you purchased were wasted money that could have been used to increase your net worth.

You don't understand value: You buy things for any number of reasons besides the value that the purchase brings to you. This is not limited to those who feel the need to buy the most expensive items, but can also apply to those who always purchase the cheapest goods. Rarely are either the best value, and it's only when you learn to purchase good value that you have money left over to invest for your future.

Your house is too big: When you buy a house that is bigger than you can afford or need, you end up spending extra money on longer debt payments, increased taxes, higher upkeep and more things to fill it. Some people will try to argue that the increased value of the house makes it a good investment, but the truth is that unless you are willing to downgrade your living standards, which most people are not, it will never be a liquid asset or money that you can ever use and enjoy.

You fail to take advantage of opportunities: There has probably been more than one occasion where you heard about someone who has made it big and thought to yourself, "I could have thought of that." There are plenty of opportunities if you have the will and determination to keep your eyes open.

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Thursday, October 2, 2008

Content Make Money

Content

When you want to build a Web site there are many things you need to think about and plan. This series of articles will take you through the steps to creating a Web site. I will show you the decisions I needed to make and what steps I took to build a new Web site. Last week I examined some graphics tools you will need to create a full-featured Web site. This week I'll discuss how to come up with content for your site, and what types of content are already cliches on the Web.

Web Page Ideas
Once you have your tools together, you need to decide on what you want your page to be about. There are so many different Web sites, and no matter what you may think of, there is probably already at least one Web site on it. Of course, this doesn't help if you know you have a Web site in you, you just can't think of what it is yet.

Web pages can be on anything you would like to write about. Many people are selling things on the Web, as well as writing stories, telling about themselves, providing information, and much more. Your Web page or site should be about something that you feel passionate about. Get excited about your subject. When you're exited, your readers will be excited and they'll keep coming back.
Things to Avoid

There are some ideas or methods on Web pages that are Web cliches and you should try to avoid them.

* Pages without content
There are hundreds of sites on the Web that have almost nothing on them. No, I'm not talking about the splash screens that are so popular right now, I'm talking about Web pages where there are a lot of words or pictures but there is no reason for me to go there. If you are writing about something that you care about, chances are your page will have interesting content, but if you're just putting up a page because you can, well, that is usually boringly obvious.

* "Under Construction"
This is almost always a given when it comes to Web sites. If your site has no information when you put it up and promote it, most people won't come back, even if you state that the site is under construction. Create a site that has the information people want to see, and don't bore them with things they most likely already know.

* Lists of links
If you are listing your favorite links, say so, and explain why each link is on the list.

* Huge graphics
Previously we learned about graphic optimization tools for a reason. Huge graphics take forever to download.
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