Every web business will eventually receive the phone call. It starts by sounding like a professional call from a local business. In fact, at first, it sounds like someone wants to build a joint venture, or make a purchase. It might even sound like someone needs your help.
Once the small business owner is hooked, the tone changes slightly, the company has something to offer you, but they are not spammers. They are always a partner with someone big that you have formed an alliance with such as Google Adsense, Ebay, Prostores, Amazon.com, or maybe your web host.
Now, the bomb drops. They promise to increase your traffic and put your web site at the top of the search engines, guaranteed.
There is only one plan of action – hang up.
Avoid Web Traffic Schemes
There are a few dozen schemes out there, none of them are legit. There is no legal way to guarantee that a website will stay on the first page unless a) the keywords are obscure or have a low ROI, and b) they are selling the top spot in the PPC program.
One way to identify a scheme is by asking them to step away from their script and answer some SEO questions:
1. Does this program use a link farm?
2. Will this program involve newsletters or email campaigns?
3. Do you guarantee that the site will never be banned?
4. Is a banner exchange involved?
5. Does a PPC type of script need to be posted on the web page?
It is almost guaranteed that the conversation will end before a single question is answered.
Many of these programs use hundreds of spam MFA (Made For AdSense) sites floating around the web. In fact, one company was closed down in 2005 for using an automated software program that published 2000 new websites a day. In 2007, Google started a new program that involved banning MFA sites and cancelling the owner’s AdSense account, forever. Unfortunately, many of the advertisers are also at risk for being banned from AdSense. Once banned, no one in your family, or yourself, may ever have an AdSense account again.
Black Hat SEO
The best way to avoid web traffic schemes is to become aware of ‘Black Hat SEO.’ These are tricks that will result in a website receiving high hits, for a few months. But, once the search engines find the ‘trick’ they ban the site forever.
There are a few dozen popular Black Hat SEO tricks: doorway pages, link farms, invisible text, mirror websites, etc..
Quality Hits
Many of these companies have software programs that not only hit a website repeatedly, but even click the PPC campaigns. This is not ‘real traffic’. People who get caught on an MFA site and ‘clicked out’ just to escape is not a good click.
A quality hit is a visitor who actually wants to buy what is on your site. Success is not about hits, but quality hits.
Make Money
The best way to beat web traffic scam artists at their own game is to understand the different types of traffic. The most important type of traffic is a person who has been surfing the web looking for something to buy – and they find your website.
One website can make $10 000 a month, with only 100 000 hits. Another site can make $100 a month, with more than 2 million hits. Success, and the chances of making money, is all tied up in the quality of hits.
Outsmart Fraudsters and Protect Your Identity
One of the most frustrating aspects of Internet Marketing is born in the WHOSITS database. This database, owned by Google, lets anyone see the information submitted when a small business owners purchases a domain name.
Unfortunately, anyone can gain access to the information. Most small business owners learn this within hours of buying a domain. The first calls come from internet marketing companies that promise to get their clients at the top of the search engines for a paltry $20 - $100 a month. Of course, what they don’t tell the prospective client is they use black hat SEO tactics which usually lead to the site being banned – forever.
The next set of calls come from telemarketers selling everything from magazines, to loans, to business opportunities. It is frustrating.
Filling in Forms
There are several ways to remain anonymous on the web. The most popular method is to use a bogus business name that leads to a PO box in a ‘mailing center.’ This way, the fraudsters are frustrated by the ‘ghost.’ And, if lucky, the business owner may entice the fraudster to use the information resulting in legal retribution.
There is also no reason to enter your real information into forms. Remaining vague, or using the wrong prefix before your name, can protect your identity.
Save Your Password
Everyone knows what spyware is. Few people know that it can tap into the ‘save your information’ services on your PC. Many people use the ‘fill form’ tools in Windows and in their computer browser. Spyware comes in, collects this data, and then sends it to fraudsters.
Never include any information in these boxes. Another way the PC collects sensitive data is the drop down box that asks “Do you want to save this password.” Always select no.
PC Protection
Any website that is linked to the internet needs a firewall, spyware cleaner, malware cleaner, and virus scan. AVG has a free virus scan that many businesses swear is the best in the world. It not only removes viruses, worms, and trogans, but also can remove malware.
Yahoo has a nifty little spyware remover on their browser tool bar. This tool, in conjunction with lavasoft’s spyware remover has offered many businesses almost 100% protection.
Windows comes complete with a firewall. However, many business owners shut this down and use ZoneAlarm.
These tools will protect most PCs from phishing attacks and spyware that roves the net looking for small business owners who must include their information on the web.
Web Information
Many small businesses must include their address, and contact information on their website. However, saving the information in a gif image makes it invisible to spyware and hackers.
Encrypting the email or leaving a space is another way to protect email addresses. Many small business owners are starting to show their email addresses like this: smallbusinessowner @mydomainname.com
Notice the space – this makes the email addy invisible to spyware. However, users can copy and paste the link into their browser.
Instead of posting the email at all, why not consider adding a form to the website. Most forms can be set to automatically email the owner the moment the form is submitted – but the information remains invisible to hackers.
One last tip: Change passwords once every two to three months.
Unfortunately, anyone can gain access to the information. Most small business owners learn this within hours of buying a domain. The first calls come from internet marketing companies that promise to get their clients at the top of the search engines for a paltry $20 - $100 a month. Of course, what they don’t tell the prospective client is they use black hat SEO tactics which usually lead to the site being banned – forever.
The next set of calls come from telemarketers selling everything from magazines, to loans, to business opportunities. It is frustrating.
Filling in Forms
There are several ways to remain anonymous on the web. The most popular method is to use a bogus business name that leads to a PO box in a ‘mailing center.’ This way, the fraudsters are frustrated by the ‘ghost.’ And, if lucky, the business owner may entice the fraudster to use the information resulting in legal retribution.
There is also no reason to enter your real information into forms. Remaining vague, or using the wrong prefix before your name, can protect your identity.
Save Your Password
Everyone knows what spyware is. Few people know that it can tap into the ‘save your information’ services on your PC. Many people use the ‘fill form’ tools in Windows and in their computer browser. Spyware comes in, collects this data, and then sends it to fraudsters.
Never include any information in these boxes. Another way the PC collects sensitive data is the drop down box that asks “Do you want to save this password.” Always select no.
PC Protection
Any website that is linked to the internet needs a firewall, spyware cleaner, malware cleaner, and virus scan. AVG has a free virus scan that many businesses swear is the best in the world. It not only removes viruses, worms, and trogans, but also can remove malware.
Yahoo has a nifty little spyware remover on their browser tool bar. This tool, in conjunction with lavasoft’s spyware remover has offered many businesses almost 100% protection.
Windows comes complete with a firewall. However, many business owners shut this down and use ZoneAlarm.
These tools will protect most PCs from phishing attacks and spyware that roves the net looking for small business owners who must include their information on the web.
Web Information
Many small businesses must include their address, and contact information on their website. However, saving the information in a gif image makes it invisible to spyware and hackers.
Encrypting the email or leaving a space is another way to protect email addresses. Many small business owners are starting to show their email addresses like this: smallbusinessowner @mydomainname.com
Notice the space – this makes the email addy invisible to spyware. However, users can copy and paste the link into their browser.
Instead of posting the email at all, why not consider adding a form to the website. Most forms can be set to automatically email the owner the moment the form is submitted – but the information remains invisible to hackers.
One last tip: Change passwords once every two to three months.
Where Do The Millionaires Sell ‘On The Web?’
No one disputes the fact that the internet is moving people from dead end jobs to true wealth in a matter of months. Whether your idea of true wealth is $1 million, or a business with 20 employees, there are hundreds of people who have done it before.
The internet is a gold mine that makes some rich, but has one of the highest failure rates of any business – probably in the history of mankind.
Most people flounder around the net trying to run private shopping carts, buying SSL certificates, and finding traffic. They try building their own content management systems and generating inbound links. The average online business quits in six months, or flounders for almost two years, before they learn how the ‘success stories’ make their money on the web.
Fulfilment Through Amazon.com
No one serious building wealth builds their own shopping carts, taking orders, and shipping product. That is what a fulfilment company is for. You all know a fulfilment company, but you have never realized what they can offer you – Amazon.com.
That is right. Amazon.com is not, just, a book selling website. Their fulfilment program lets anyone send product to their warehouse. The Amazon.com site takes the orders, packs and ships, collects the money, and then sends the web business their share.
Most fulfilment companies cost $.50 - $1.00 per item, or a commission based on size and weight. There is often a skid rental of $25 - $50 a month which more than covers the time needed to build and maintain a private website.
Prostores
Everyone knows that Ebay is the world’s largest auction site. However, few people know that they own Prostores, a company that helps Internet Businesses sell their product. The power of Ebay selling. The credibility of a private store.
PayPal
Security is the key to internet sales. Millions will buy from an Amazon store, or Ebay, who would never buy from a private website. The fear of Identity Theft and phishing have taken a big chunk out of small business income. That is why Paypal, an ebay company, works so hard to make their service appear to be part of the consumer’s website.
Traffic
Do you need traffic? Then don’t worry about Social Networking, page rank, or Pay Per Click Programs. Buy the top spot. That is right, the first to ‘highlighted’ spaces on keyword searches can be purchased, sometimes for as little as $15 a month. These two spots are not a part of the pay per click program. They are rented at a set fee.
Another way to increase traffic is to sign up with www.Adbrite.com . This type of company rents space at a fixed cost, or PPC, and expands to accept image, text, or even video ads.
Adbrite is an industry standard because it is the favourite of content management publishers, the big community websites. Adbrite doesn’t have a sliding scale, like Google, or Yahoo. This means that the site gets the money earned, not what the ad company wants to pay.
Internet Marketing
A great internet marketing campaign needs a good product to sell. Without a good product, and a great distribution system, no business, no matter how much potential it has, will succeed – especially on the net.
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
The internet is a gold mine that makes some rich, but has one of the highest failure rates of any business – probably in the history of mankind.
Most people flounder around the net trying to run private shopping carts, buying SSL certificates, and finding traffic. They try building their own content management systems and generating inbound links. The average online business quits in six months, or flounders for almost two years, before they learn how the ‘success stories’ make their money on the web.
Fulfilment Through Amazon.com
No one serious building wealth builds their own shopping carts, taking orders, and shipping product. That is what a fulfilment company is for. You all know a fulfilment company, but you have never realized what they can offer you – Amazon.com.
That is right. Amazon.com is not, just, a book selling website. Their fulfilment program lets anyone send product to their warehouse. The Amazon.com site takes the orders, packs and ships, collects the money, and then sends the web business their share.
Most fulfilment companies cost $.50 - $1.00 per item, or a commission based on size and weight. There is often a skid rental of $25 - $50 a month which more than covers the time needed to build and maintain a private website.
Prostores
Everyone knows that Ebay is the world’s largest auction site. However, few people know that they own Prostores, a company that helps Internet Businesses sell their product. The power of Ebay selling. The credibility of a private store.
PayPal
Security is the key to internet sales. Millions will buy from an Amazon store, or Ebay, who would never buy from a private website. The fear of Identity Theft and phishing have taken a big chunk out of small business income. That is why Paypal, an ebay company, works so hard to make their service appear to be part of the consumer’s website.
Traffic
Do you need traffic? Then don’t worry about Social Networking, page rank, or Pay Per Click Programs. Buy the top spot. That is right, the first to ‘highlighted’ spaces on keyword searches can be purchased, sometimes for as little as $15 a month. These two spots are not a part of the pay per click program. They are rented at a set fee.
Another way to increase traffic is to sign up with www.Adbrite.com . This type of company rents space at a fixed cost, or PPC, and expands to accept image, text, or even video ads.
Adbrite is an industry standard because it is the favourite of content management publishers, the big community websites. Adbrite doesn’t have a sliding scale, like Google, or Yahoo. This means that the site gets the money earned, not what the ad company wants to pay.
Internet Marketing
A great internet marketing campaign needs a good product to sell. Without a good product, and a great distribution system, no business, no matter how much potential it has, will succeed – especially on the net.
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
A Crash Course in the ‘Success Mindset’
Many people enter the work at home market hoping to make money. Most are not even looking for a work at home business until the an email in their inbox, or a website, catches their attention.
The opportunity looks good, work at home, make money, and get paid to do relatively little. It doesn’t matter what the opportunity, whether property investing, playing with stocks, or ecommerce, eventually, one of these business opportunities will catch your eye. When it does, you can choose to follow the legions who hoped, dreamed, and failed before you, or you can learn how to succeed.
Only certain people will ever succeed. These are people who never stop learning, and never quit, because success is a habit. It takes time to learn how to be a success. Business owners not only need to learn how to become a success, but they need to learn ‘how to avoid failure.’
There are a few rules of success that can help the newest business owner to avoid the common pitfalls, and make money.
The Success Attitude
The biggest mistake most people make is creating a business because they always dreamed of owning that business. These people are dreamers, and failures. Not because they do not have a good idea, but because they are dreamers.
I’ve met dozens of people who dreamed for 20 years about owning a store. It may be a bridal shop, a candy store, ecommerce venture, or a fashion retail outlet. I listen patiently for a while as they excitedly ramble on about their dream. There does come a time when I stop them and ask ‘how much time have you invested learning how to make this business a success?” The answer is 99/100 times, ‘none.’
No business will run itself. No one will come to a store, whether a bridal shop, candy store, ecommerce venture, or fashion outlet just because it is there. The owner needs to add value to their outlet and offer a good product.
It is sad, because these people had 20 years to learn how to succeed and develop the ‘success habit.’ Instead, they twittered it away dreaming.
Needing Money Mindset
I have a cruel word here. If you need money, get a job. Any business that is started because the owner needed money is doomed to fail. Not because the owner cannot operate a business, but because a business is a living thing. All the money it makes in the first year or two need to be reinvested to nurture the business.
Everyone has heard the mantra ‘It takes money to make money.’ This doesn’t mean that a business needs money to get started. It does mean that it needs a steady cash flow to grow.
Need for Power
Another group of people who start businesses want the prestige and power of owning their own business. This is a certain recipe for disaster. A business demands, and demands big. The first two our three years of a business will demand a constant influx of cash, time, and learning on the part of a business owner.
Successful business owners are givers and nurturers. They care about their customers. They care about their business. They live to feed the business –not the other way around.
Success Mindset
So, what is the success mindset? Simply put, it is a mindset that reaches out beyond your needs and embraces the business, customer, product and marketing needs. Successful people are hungry to learn. They constantly seek out other successful people in forums, network groups, and business associations.
You can identify these people. When you meet them at a networking meeting, or in a forum, they are not always talking about their product, their success, or how great they are. Instead, they discuss business aspects, markets, and supply vs. demand. In short, they are trying to learn if you know anything that will help them succeed.
The opportunity looks good, work at home, make money, and get paid to do relatively little. It doesn’t matter what the opportunity, whether property investing, playing with stocks, or ecommerce, eventually, one of these business opportunities will catch your eye. When it does, you can choose to follow the legions who hoped, dreamed, and failed before you, or you can learn how to succeed.
Only certain people will ever succeed. These are people who never stop learning, and never quit, because success is a habit. It takes time to learn how to be a success. Business owners not only need to learn how to become a success, but they need to learn ‘how to avoid failure.’
There are a few rules of success that can help the newest business owner to avoid the common pitfalls, and make money.
The Success Attitude
The biggest mistake most people make is creating a business because they always dreamed of owning that business. These people are dreamers, and failures. Not because they do not have a good idea, but because they are dreamers.
I’ve met dozens of people who dreamed for 20 years about owning a store. It may be a bridal shop, a candy store, ecommerce venture, or a fashion retail outlet. I listen patiently for a while as they excitedly ramble on about their dream. There does come a time when I stop them and ask ‘how much time have you invested learning how to make this business a success?” The answer is 99/100 times, ‘none.’
No business will run itself. No one will come to a store, whether a bridal shop, candy store, ecommerce venture, or fashion outlet just because it is there. The owner needs to add value to their outlet and offer a good product.
It is sad, because these people had 20 years to learn how to succeed and develop the ‘success habit.’ Instead, they twittered it away dreaming.
Needing Money Mindset
I have a cruel word here. If you need money, get a job. Any business that is started because the owner needed money is doomed to fail. Not because the owner cannot operate a business, but because a business is a living thing. All the money it makes in the first year or two need to be reinvested to nurture the business.
Everyone has heard the mantra ‘It takes money to make money.’ This doesn’t mean that a business needs money to get started. It does mean that it needs a steady cash flow to grow.
Need for Power
Another group of people who start businesses want the prestige and power of owning their own business. This is a certain recipe for disaster. A business demands, and demands big. The first two our three years of a business will demand a constant influx of cash, time, and learning on the part of a business owner.
Successful business owners are givers and nurturers. They care about their customers. They care about their business. They live to feed the business –not the other way around.
Success Mindset
So, what is the success mindset? Simply put, it is a mindset that reaches out beyond your needs and embraces the business, customer, product and marketing needs. Successful people are hungry to learn. They constantly seek out other successful people in forums, network groups, and business associations.
You can identify these people. When you meet them at a networking meeting, or in a forum, they are not always talking about their product, their success, or how great they are. Instead, they discuss business aspects, markets, and supply vs. demand. In short, they are trying to learn if you know anything that will help them succeed.
A Good Product Addresses The Demand
Supply and Demand Marketing in Ecommerce Ventures
One of the hardest aspects of running a brick-and-mortar or ecommerce building is keeping tabs on supply and demand. Most of the business ventures which fail involved a product with little or no demand, or the supply was so great that customers were never pressured to buy. They could buy whenever they felt like it.
Most business owners overlook the importance of supply and demand when they set up a marketing campaign. They are more interested in SEO, and banner exchanges. They explore Pay Per Click programs, and traffic generating opportunities. All of their time is spent learning how to gain exposure. Very little is spent on learning about their customers, and measuring the supply and demand of their product.
One of the most important aspects of marketing is a good product. It is amazing how many ecommerce businesses start without a product to sell. The business owner believes that their drop ship store is their product. Or, they believe that their ebook is the product.
This is not a product. Your product is not something tangible which people will pay for. In fact, most products can be found in a dozen places, so there is no reason for anyone to feel pressured to buy before leaving the website.
The product is what the customer will leave the website with. A book on property management, a training course on stock investing, a starter kit for a work at home business, these are not products.
All products fall into three categories:
1. They solve a problem.
2. They make life easier.
3. They help people improve.
If a website sells a starter kit for work at home businesses, then it should address these three aspects of the product. What problems will this product solve? How will this product make the business owner’s life easier? How will the business owner get an edge over the competition with this product? The answers to these questions are the ‘real product.’
That is why one website can make thousands of dollars a month, selling ebooks on investing, while others fail. Take the website www.fool.com as an example. This website has mastered the art of selling their ‘problem solving’ products. Yes, you can arrange a mortgage through one of their brokers…but the reason why you sign with their broker, is because they promise to help you save money, or #2 on our list.
Supply
Another important aspect is to address the supply. There are thousands of websites selling Ipods for less than retail. There are hundreds of thousands of sites that help people start a business. The supply is big. However, is there a demand?
The demand can be drastically reduced by addressing singular problems involved with starting up a business. For example, many websites tell small business owners to visit their local municipal offices and learn what is involved with importing or exporting. However, a website that doesn’t tell people this, instead, it offers a quick importing/exporting tutorial will have a problem solving product.
The Ipod store, which includes every single Ipod accessory, including places where it is legal to download songs will do better than an ecommerce store that lists thousands of electronics.
Supply & Demand
Put them together. Demand is convincing people that there is some reason they need to buy the product now. It doesn’t matter if there are 40 000 other websites selling the same product. Focus on 1 – 3 problems that your product will solve and broadcast it across the net.
Supply does not necessarily mean the number of product for sale. Instead, it means the number of product that your customers have available to them. There may be 1000 ebooks on property investing – each one good. However, yours may be the only one entitled ‘How to Build a Property Portfolio Without Loosing Your Family Home.’ Now, the supply has narrowed to – 1 – You.
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
One of the hardest aspects of running a brick-and-mortar or ecommerce building is keeping tabs on supply and demand. Most of the business ventures which fail involved a product with little or no demand, or the supply was so great that customers were never pressured to buy. They could buy whenever they felt like it.
Most business owners overlook the importance of supply and demand when they set up a marketing campaign. They are more interested in SEO, and banner exchanges. They explore Pay Per Click programs, and traffic generating opportunities. All of their time is spent learning how to gain exposure. Very little is spent on learning about their customers, and measuring the supply and demand of their product.
One of the most important aspects of marketing is a good product. It is amazing how many ecommerce businesses start without a product to sell. The business owner believes that their drop ship store is their product. Or, they believe that their ebook is the product.
This is not a product. Your product is not something tangible which people will pay for. In fact, most products can be found in a dozen places, so there is no reason for anyone to feel pressured to buy before leaving the website.
The product is what the customer will leave the website with. A book on property management, a training course on stock investing, a starter kit for a work at home business, these are not products.
All products fall into three categories:
1. They solve a problem.
2. They make life easier.
3. They help people improve.
If a website sells a starter kit for work at home businesses, then it should address these three aspects of the product. What problems will this product solve? How will this product make the business owner’s life easier? How will the business owner get an edge over the competition with this product? The answers to these questions are the ‘real product.’
That is why one website can make thousands of dollars a month, selling ebooks on investing, while others fail. Take the website www.fool.com as an example. This website has mastered the art of selling their ‘problem solving’ products. Yes, you can arrange a mortgage through one of their brokers…but the reason why you sign with their broker, is because they promise to help you save money, or #2 on our list.
Supply
Another important aspect is to address the supply. There are thousands of websites selling Ipods for less than retail. There are hundreds of thousands of sites that help people start a business. The supply is big. However, is there a demand?
The demand can be drastically reduced by addressing singular problems involved with starting up a business. For example, many websites tell small business owners to visit their local municipal offices and learn what is involved with importing or exporting. However, a website that doesn’t tell people this, instead, it offers a quick importing/exporting tutorial will have a problem solving product.
The Ipod store, which includes every single Ipod accessory, including places where it is legal to download songs will do better than an ecommerce store that lists thousands of electronics.
Supply & Demand
Put them together. Demand is convincing people that there is some reason they need to buy the product now. It doesn’t matter if there are 40 000 other websites selling the same product. Focus on 1 – 3 problems that your product will solve and broadcast it across the net.
Supply does not necessarily mean the number of product for sale. Instead, it means the number of product that your customers have available to them. There may be 1000 ebooks on property investing – each one good. However, yours may be the only one entitled ‘How to Build a Property Portfolio Without Loosing Your Family Home.’ Now, the supply has narrowed to – 1 – You.
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
Article Tips and Tricks From the Pros
Many work at home business owners post a hundred free content articles in the article directories, before they realize that there is more to the free content link building program then first meets the eye.
While the article directories work, there is a little more involved for Internet Marketers who want to max out their links in a short time.
Article Directories And Newsletters
The article directories are divided by category, but most of the time, they are so vague that web publishers need to waste hours finding a great article.
The most common application for web articles is in newsletters. Most webmasters promise their visitors a bi-weekly, or monthly newsletter. Instead of collecting articles from writers, they use free content.
The way to appeal to these publishers is to write ‘dynamite’ titles. To many article writers use titles like, how to start a work at home business, start a business in ten days, etc.. Instead, solve a problem for the readers and use titles to sell the article. Titles like ‘WHAM! Make Money This Week,” “I Will Help You Earn a Living in Less Than a Year,” “Toss Internet Marketing Out the Door.”
This type of title makes the publisher look good in their subscribers eye. It looks like the publisher is giving their subscribers something new and innovative.
Evergreen Content
Many people ask what evergreen content really is. In short, it is anything which has been written about thousands of times, and can be found on any website. It is easy to write evergreen content. Find a few versions on the web, compile the information, rewrite it, and there is another article ready for the web.
Infortunately, most publishers have already published a few articles with the same information. They need something new.
Build an Article
1. The trick is adding one new piece of information near the top of the article. And – forget the introduction. The business is not writing for magazine publication. Keep To The Point.
2. Start the article by highlighting a problem, and then promise to solve the problem.
3. Break the article into easy to ‘skim’ sections. Each section shouldn’t just tell someone how to do something, it should show them HOW to do it.
4. End on a positive point that encourages the reader to move on to the next article. While it might be nice to have people click the link- it never happens. In fact, articles that end with a ‘hard sell’ and try to steal the reader, are often overlooked by newsletter publishers who want the visitor to buy from their site.
This section ‘Build an Article’ is an example of showing people HOW to write a good article.
Example of Telling people WHAT needs to be done: You need to build good web articles that solve problems the reader will face.
Pro Active Marketing
After a few months go to Google or Yahoo and search the article titles. Find out who is using the content, and why. Thy to gear future articles to favour the products sold on those web pages.Another good idea is to contact the webmaster and ask them if they would like to receive a free article each month. Many will love the time saving idea.
Taking control of the article distribution will also give writers the opportunity to embed their link in the article using keywords. This creates an executive link, which is given a higher rank by the search engines.
Happy hunting -
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
While the article directories work, there is a little more involved for Internet Marketers who want to max out their links in a short time.
Article Directories And Newsletters
The article directories are divided by category, but most of the time, they are so vague that web publishers need to waste hours finding a great article.
The most common application for web articles is in newsletters. Most webmasters promise their visitors a bi-weekly, or monthly newsletter. Instead of collecting articles from writers, they use free content.
The way to appeal to these publishers is to write ‘dynamite’ titles. To many article writers use titles like, how to start a work at home business, start a business in ten days, etc.. Instead, solve a problem for the readers and use titles to sell the article. Titles like ‘WHAM! Make Money This Week,” “I Will Help You Earn a Living in Less Than a Year,” “Toss Internet Marketing Out the Door.”
This type of title makes the publisher look good in their subscribers eye. It looks like the publisher is giving their subscribers something new and innovative.
Evergreen Content
Many people ask what evergreen content really is. In short, it is anything which has been written about thousands of times, and can be found on any website. It is easy to write evergreen content. Find a few versions on the web, compile the information, rewrite it, and there is another article ready for the web.
Infortunately, most publishers have already published a few articles with the same information. They need something new.
Build an Article
1. The trick is adding one new piece of information near the top of the article. And – forget the introduction. The business is not writing for magazine publication. Keep To The Point.
2. Start the article by highlighting a problem, and then promise to solve the problem.
3. Break the article into easy to ‘skim’ sections. Each section shouldn’t just tell someone how to do something, it should show them HOW to do it.
4. End on a positive point that encourages the reader to move on to the next article. While it might be nice to have people click the link- it never happens. In fact, articles that end with a ‘hard sell’ and try to steal the reader, are often overlooked by newsletter publishers who want the visitor to buy from their site.
This section ‘Build an Article’ is an example of showing people HOW to write a good article.
Example of Telling people WHAT needs to be done: You need to build good web articles that solve problems the reader will face.
Pro Active Marketing
After a few months go to Google or Yahoo and search the article titles. Find out who is using the content, and why. Thy to gear future articles to favour the products sold on those web pages.Another good idea is to contact the webmaster and ask them if they would like to receive a free article each month. Many will love the time saving idea.
Taking control of the article distribution will also give writers the opportunity to embed their link in the article using keywords. This creates an executive link, which is given a higher rank by the search engines.
Happy hunting -
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
How Much $$ Does Multitasking Costing You?
I use to be an amazing multitasker. I can still hold up to six IM conversations while checking my emails.
However, I have learned that multitasking increases stress, drains me so that I do not want to spend time with 'life' at the end of the day, and it actually decreases my productivity.
It can be difficult to conduct a business without multitasking. Many freelance writers find themselves working on several projects at once. Work at Home professionals are forced to promote, manage the home, manage their business, and have a life - all at the same time.
However, multitasking costs time, and is money.
It took me about two years to learn how to organize my time, reducing the need for multitasking, and improving my productivity.
There is no secret. Everyone must find their own comfort-zone. I can give you some tips though.
1. Plan to do one job a day - if possible. When done that job, then start a second task.
2. Open your emails, etc. first thing in the morning - then don't go back that day unless you finish your work.
3. Turn MSN and the telephone off when you have a major task to complete in one day.
4. Set a time limit for research. Do not research until you have 'enough.' A time limit will force you to work faster and smarter. When you have reached the end of your time limit, start writing. When finished, decide then if you need more research. Or, write your project in parts.
5. Do not do housework in 'work' time.
6. Expect your family to assist in house cleaning, laundry, etc...as if you worked out of the house. OR, tell them that the business money is business money. Hubby cannot dip into it because he is low this month. Business money is not bill money. If the family wants it, they help around the house, if not - then you can write off a maid (in Canada and the USA) and it is part of the business expenses.
7. Have a set number of work hours.
8. Learn to say no.
9. Do not let your emotional state control what you do. I've noticed that many work at home professionals make comments like 'I don't feel well', 'I didn't feel like it.'
10. Keep track of how many hours you devote to each task. Over time, this will teach you to work more productively, and it will help you determine how much time you really invest in a week.
One woman I talked to was frustrated. She had tried to get into freelance writing for seven months, but was still not making any money. After writing down her week, she found she only 'actively' worked for 19 - 22 hours. So, I told her she hadn't 'worked' for seven months - but if she considered a 40 hour work week, then she only worked for about three months.
My 'teaching blog' for people who want a 'real' freelance writing career.
Novel Writer Magazine
However, I have learned that multitasking increases stress, drains me so that I do not want to spend time with 'life' at the end of the day, and it actually decreases my productivity.
It can be difficult to conduct a business without multitasking. Many freelance writers find themselves working on several projects at once. Work at Home professionals are forced to promote, manage the home, manage their business, and have a life - all at the same time.
However, multitasking costs time, and is money.
It took me about two years to learn how to organize my time, reducing the need for multitasking, and improving my productivity.
There is no secret. Everyone must find their own comfort-zone. I can give you some tips though.
1. Plan to do one job a day - if possible. When done that job, then start a second task.
2. Open your emails, etc. first thing in the morning - then don't go back that day unless you finish your work.
3. Turn MSN and the telephone off when you have a major task to complete in one day.
4. Set a time limit for research. Do not research until you have 'enough.' A time limit will force you to work faster and smarter. When you have reached the end of your time limit, start writing. When finished, decide then if you need more research. Or, write your project in parts.
5. Do not do housework in 'work' time.
6. Expect your family to assist in house cleaning, laundry, etc...as if you worked out of the house. OR, tell them that the business money is business money. Hubby cannot dip into it because he is low this month. Business money is not bill money. If the family wants it, they help around the house, if not - then you can write off a maid (in Canada and the USA) and it is part of the business expenses.
7. Have a set number of work hours.
8. Learn to say no.
9. Do not let your emotional state control what you do. I've noticed that many work at home professionals make comments like 'I don't feel well', 'I didn't feel like it.'
10. Keep track of how many hours you devote to each task. Over time, this will teach you to work more productively, and it will help you determine how much time you really invest in a week.
One woman I talked to was frustrated. She had tried to get into freelance writing for seven months, but was still not making any money. After writing down her week, she found she only 'actively' worked for 19 - 22 hours. So, I told her she hadn't 'worked' for seven months - but if she considered a 40 hour work week, then she only worked for about three months.
My 'teaching blog' for people who want a 'real' freelance writing career.
Novel Writer Magazine
Work At Home Survival
The last post brought up the issue of family respect for the work at home professional. I've talked about this before, but Merryone brought up a good point.
She reads articles for WHAMs that have helped her.
This is something I have neglected. WHAM, is a community. There is no university to teach us how to survive and thrive. We must teach other, and learn through trial and error.
A blogging community like writingup can help us meet people who can teach us. I have learned, and I have taught, over my 11 months at writingup.
I am still learning.
The most important thing I've learned is not to neglect my physical or emotional state for the sake of a deadline.
Sometimes, it is better to go to bed for a couple of days and rest, even if it means missing a deadline. A couple days rest can make the difference between health and spending weeks suffering from symptoms.
This was the hardest lesson for me to learn. I always saw resting, waiting, or just needing a break as procrastination or wasting time.
Now, I consider my health as an asset to the business.
My 'teaching blog' for people who want a 'real' freelance writing career.
Novel Writer Magazine
She reads articles for WHAMs that have helped her.
This is something I have neglected. WHAM, is a community. There is no university to teach us how to survive and thrive. We must teach other, and learn through trial and error.
A blogging community like writingup can help us meet people who can teach us. I have learned, and I have taught, over my 11 months at writingup.
I am still learning.
The most important thing I've learned is not to neglect my physical or emotional state for the sake of a deadline.
Sometimes, it is better to go to bed for a couple of days and rest, even if it means missing a deadline. A couple days rest can make the difference between health and spending weeks suffering from symptoms.
This was the hardest lesson for me to learn. I always saw resting, waiting, or just needing a break as procrastination or wasting time.
Now, I consider my health as an asset to the business.
My 'teaching blog' for people who want a 'real' freelance writing career.
Novel Writer Magazine
Success Starts With 'Out of the Box' Thinking
I just posted a reply to one of Dekat's topics on 'making money as a SAHP'
I use to paint for a local 'craft' wholesale company that sold folk-art type stuff to hardware and grocery stores. The pay was not good, but the hours were. I could usually work in my own time, and paint when I had time. I got good enough that I could line items up and paint ten at a time.
Eventually, I was good enough to paint items that people would pay $10 - $50 for. I use to paint folk art designs on discarded kitchen cabinet doors, painting the trim to look like a frame. I got as much as $50 for one that was 10 inches square and $75 for a regular one. My success was based on the fact that I could do original work that wasn't seen elsewhere.
It just brought to mind the fact that I didn't just 'get here' because I got lucky. This has been something I've been arguing with my son over.
We live in a very rural area, and my son has been facing a lot of flack at high school. The teachers have been making him feel like university is a pipe dream for him, and he should do factory work or learn to milk cows. (not that there isn't good money in that)
One teacher said to him, 'well, maybe you'll be one of the people who just luck-out.' Well, I had to flip over this. We make our own luck.
If I never took that painting job, I wouldn't have learned how much rich people were willing to pay to have their house cleaned. If I hadn't worked in the flea market, I wouldn't have met people who taught me that anyone can succeed.
If I hadn't met those people, I wouldn't have tried to start a house cleaning service in a city that already had the 2 major franchises in it. Then, I wouldn't have learned that no one is dealing with the 'Persian rug/tropical shower' types of homes properly. My clients actually taught me the right way to look after their homes. Of course, I learned the hard way that you cannot hold clean crystal shards, one in ten will slip out of your hand :(.
But, if I hadn't been working for these people, I would not have learned about networking. Networking people taught me about diversification, surviving recessions, and rebuilding.
That is why, three years after a major crash in the IT industry that crushed 3 of the major IT companies, and put 42% of our clientele out of business, and cost me $35 000.00 - That is why I am now just about back on my feet.
Luck? - Bah! humbug
Go make your own luck . .
My 'teaching blog' for people who want a 'real' freelance writing career.
Novel Writer Magazine
I use to paint for a local 'craft' wholesale company that sold folk-art type stuff to hardware and grocery stores. The pay was not good, but the hours were. I could usually work in my own time, and paint when I had time. I got good enough that I could line items up and paint ten at a time.
Eventually, I was good enough to paint items that people would pay $10 - $50 for. I use to paint folk art designs on discarded kitchen cabinet doors, painting the trim to look like a frame. I got as much as $50 for one that was 10 inches square and $75 for a regular one. My success was based on the fact that I could do original work that wasn't seen elsewhere.
It just brought to mind the fact that I didn't just 'get here' because I got lucky. This has been something I've been arguing with my son over.
We live in a very rural area, and my son has been facing a lot of flack at high school. The teachers have been making him feel like university is a pipe dream for him, and he should do factory work or learn to milk cows. (not that there isn't good money in that)
One teacher said to him, 'well, maybe you'll be one of the people who just luck-out.' Well, I had to flip over this. We make our own luck.
If I never took that painting job, I wouldn't have learned how much rich people were willing to pay to have their house cleaned. If I hadn't worked in the flea market, I wouldn't have met people who taught me that anyone can succeed.
If I hadn't met those people, I wouldn't have tried to start a house cleaning service in a city that already had the 2 major franchises in it. Then, I wouldn't have learned that no one is dealing with the 'Persian rug/tropical shower' types of homes properly. My clients actually taught me the right way to look after their homes. Of course, I learned the hard way that you cannot hold clean crystal shards, one in ten will slip out of your hand :(.
But, if I hadn't been working for these people, I would not have learned about networking. Networking people taught me about diversification, surviving recessions, and rebuilding.
That is why, three years after a major crash in the IT industry that crushed 3 of the major IT companies, and put 42% of our clientele out of business, and cost me $35 000.00 - That is why I am now just about back on my feet.
Luck? - Bah! humbug
Go make your own luck . .
My 'teaching blog' for people who want a 'real' freelance writing career.
Novel Writer Magazine
How Many Labels Do You Wear?
"I am old"
"I am a plus size"
"I can't"
"I am a single mom."
"I am uneducated."
"I am unpublished."
As I work on a course for freelance writers I keep coming up against one road block that I cannot help writers overcome - labels.
Whether I am teaching students in my famous (infamous) course at universalclass.com or teaching independently, I find that there are certain intangibles that no mentor, instructor, or guru can ever overcome.
One of them is the labels we wear. Many people try to overcome the limitations of their labels, but only succeed in creating more...
"I don't care about my weight."
"My way is good enough."
"I do it my way."
"I look great for a XX year old."
"My skills are good enough."
The fact is, if you want to succeed, you need to sell your soul. Not sell it to a diety, but set it free. You need to stop fitting into society's definition of who you are.
I once had someone try to tell me what I should be, and let me know what his opinion of me was. I retorted, "You do not define me."
If you can understand that simple statement then you'll find success is easier to find. It is time to shed labels. It is time to stop limiting your success based on what others taught you.
As my good friend Lori recently said, "We create our own reality." In fact, we do.
We are defined by:
our beliefs in a deity,
ourselves,
the treatment we tolerate from others,
our determination to learn how to succeed,
our willingness to be mentored,
our ability to share and give to others,
the knowledge we acquire while traveling
the amount of effort we put into our daily tasks,
our priorities,
our goals,
what we see when we look in the mirror,
what we see when we look in our lover's eyes,
what we nurture in ourselves and our children, and
our passions (defined by our actions)
These things can be wings that set us free, or they can be chains that hold us down.
The problem isn't in the chains, it is in the fact that - once chained - we believe that the rest of the world sympathizes with us, emphatics with us, and are on 'our side.' While this belief helps us feel better about the situation, it also holds us in abusive situations and prevents us from reaching our potential.
There is enough time in a single lifetime to help another person heal, but not to carry their burdens.
There is enough time to become the person we want to be, but not enough to feed and nurture those things that hold us down.
There is enough time to learn to love, but a lifetime is not long enough to nurture and feed self-loathing, bitterness, inner-pain, or fear of success.
My 'teaching blog' for people who want a 'real' freelance writing career.
Novel Writer Magazine
"I am a plus size"
"I can't"
"I am a single mom."
"I am uneducated."
"I am unpublished."
As I work on a course for freelance writers I keep coming up against one road block that I cannot help writers overcome - labels.
Whether I am teaching students in my famous (infamous) course at universalclass.com or teaching independently, I find that there are certain intangibles that no mentor, instructor, or guru can ever overcome.
One of them is the labels we wear. Many people try to overcome the limitations of their labels, but only succeed in creating more...
"I don't care about my weight."
"My way is good enough."
"I do it my way."
"I look great for a XX year old."
"My skills are good enough."
The fact is, if you want to succeed, you need to sell your soul. Not sell it to a diety, but set it free. You need to stop fitting into society's definition of who you are.
I once had someone try to tell me what I should be, and let me know what his opinion of me was. I retorted, "You do not define me."
If you can understand that simple statement then you'll find success is easier to find. It is time to shed labels. It is time to stop limiting your success based on what others taught you.
As my good friend Lori recently said, "We create our own reality." In fact, we do.
We are defined by:
our beliefs in a deity,
ourselves,
the treatment we tolerate from others,
our determination to learn how to succeed,
our willingness to be mentored,
our ability to share and give to others,
the knowledge we acquire while traveling
the amount of effort we put into our daily tasks,
our priorities,
our goals,
what we see when we look in the mirror,
what we see when we look in our lover's eyes,
what we nurture in ourselves and our children, and
our passions (defined by our actions)
These things can be wings that set us free, or they can be chains that hold us down.
The problem isn't in the chains, it is in the fact that - once chained - we believe that the rest of the world sympathizes with us, emphatics with us, and are on 'our side.' While this belief helps us feel better about the situation, it also holds us in abusive situations and prevents us from reaching our potential.
There is enough time in a single lifetime to help another person heal, but not to carry their burdens.
There is enough time to become the person we want to be, but not enough to feed and nurture those things that hold us down.
There is enough time to learn to love, but a lifetime is not long enough to nurture and feed self-loathing, bitterness, inner-pain, or fear of success.
My 'teaching blog' for people who want a 'real' freelance writing career.
Novel Writer Magazine
Going to Extremes: How Far Would You Go
I never dreamed I would be sitting where I am now. I am not talking about success or accomplishment. I am stuck in bed, working on my laptop, trying to keep from falling behind in my work.
After I lost 10 days work since Christmas, I decided to dock my laptop, download my work, and move the office to my bedroom.
So, here I am, working hard to catch up.
It surprises me how far people will stretch their limits when needed. People wanted to work more, so they demanded laptops and cell phones, wireless and FTP upload, Blackberries and Internet conferencing.
What would we do without all our gadgets?
What would we do if we were not 'indulged' so that we could cram more work hours into our day - or work while sick?
I know people who save for years to enjoy the vacation of a lifetime, and then take their laptop on the trip.
The longest anyone of my friends have worked was 72 hours without sleep. I can only manage 42 hours straight.
My cousin spent 16 years in university preparing for a specific career.
I stretched a 100' internet cord through my house, and moved the laptop into my room, so that I could meet my deadline and work when I didn't feel so bad.
What is the most extreme thing you've heard or done?
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
After I lost 10 days work since Christmas, I decided to dock my laptop, download my work, and move the office to my bedroom.
So, here I am, working hard to catch up.
It surprises me how far people will stretch their limits when needed. People wanted to work more, so they demanded laptops and cell phones, wireless and FTP upload, Blackberries and Internet conferencing.
What would we do without all our gadgets?
What would we do if we were not 'indulged' so that we could cram more work hours into our day - or work while sick?
I know people who save for years to enjoy the vacation of a lifetime, and then take their laptop on the trip.
The longest anyone of my friends have worked was 72 hours without sleep. I can only manage 42 hours straight.
My cousin spent 16 years in university preparing for a specific career.
I stretched a 100' internet cord through my house, and moved the laptop into my room, so that I could meet my deadline and work when I didn't feel so bad.
What is the most extreme thing you've heard or done?
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
Freelance Writing and Research
I've talked to a few new freelance writers recently on writing articles. I noticed a disturbing trend among the new writers that will eventually come back and kick them.
I've named this trend cocooning. This refers to writers who close themselves up with their writing, in an office, and work. They completely tune the world out.
These writers do not read books, magazines, watch television shows on their niche, watch videos, take workshops - the list goes on.
The disturbing part of this trend is that these same freelance writers have time to watch movies, favorite shows, or read a romance novel. While this type of de-stressing is important, it is not conducive to creating a 'profitable mindset' in the freelance writer.
For example, I can usually tell which of my students watch a lot of sitcoms and which ones read - just by the way they talk.
Last Friday's chat was on passive voice (www.enspirenpress.com - 7 eastern - all welcome). We discussed how passive voice - the voice we talk in - creeps into our writing.
The same thing happens when we watch television. We loose our freelance writer's voice and end up writing like a character on television. Also, when we avoid learning from our niche, we never develop the 'industry lingo' that our clients consider 'good writing.'
There are ways to 'tune in.' One great way is to tune into a Podcast. These are Internet radio stations, or 'streaming links' that feed you a constant diet of information on your topic.
Another way is to sign up for industry newsletters - and read them.
If you own cable then I am sure you'll find some 1/2 decent shows. I write 30 home decorating articles a month. To feed myself, I watch a lifestyle talk show. I listen for new lingo, products, or - anything - that I haven't seen on the web. I don't have cable - so there might be more out there.
My #1 resource - magazines. Their articles are timeless. I have hundreds of magazines that I use to inspire myself.
My #2 resource – association newsletters. These newsletters give you better information than is on the web, and usually hasn't been cannibalized – yet.
My #3 resource – Forums… but I never use the information as 'truth' just opinion.
http://inspiredauthor.blogspot.com/
I've named this trend cocooning. This refers to writers who close themselves up with their writing, in an office, and work. They completely tune the world out.
These writers do not read books, magazines, watch television shows on their niche, watch videos, take workshops - the list goes on.
The disturbing part of this trend is that these same freelance writers have time to watch movies, favorite shows, or read a romance novel. While this type of de-stressing is important, it is not conducive to creating a 'profitable mindset' in the freelance writer.
For example, I can usually tell which of my students watch a lot of sitcoms and which ones read - just by the way they talk.
Last Friday's chat was on passive voice (www.enspirenpress.com - 7 eastern - all welcome). We discussed how passive voice - the voice we talk in - creeps into our writing.
The same thing happens when we watch television. We loose our freelance writer's voice and end up writing like a character on television. Also, when we avoid learning from our niche, we never develop the 'industry lingo' that our clients consider 'good writing.'
There are ways to 'tune in.' One great way is to tune into a Podcast. These are Internet radio stations, or 'streaming links' that feed you a constant diet of information on your topic.
Another way is to sign up for industry newsletters - and read them.
If you own cable then I am sure you'll find some 1/2 decent shows. I write 30 home decorating articles a month. To feed myself, I watch a lifestyle talk show. I listen for new lingo, products, or - anything - that I haven't seen on the web. I don't have cable - so there might be more out there.
My #1 resource - magazines. Their articles are timeless. I have hundreds of magazines that I use to inspire myself.
My #2 resource – association newsletters. These newsletters give you better information than is on the web, and usually hasn't been cannibalized – yet.
My #3 resource – Forums… but I never use the information as 'truth' just opinion.
http://inspiredauthor.blogspot.com/
What Should Be In Every Writer's Office
I've done this type of review before, but it is time to update this list. One of the reasons I want to do this now is because January is slow, and there are several professional freelance writers, book writers, ghostwriters, and professional book editors following my blog in the last two weeks.
I wasted a lot of time and money in my early days because I had the wrong equipment.
First on my list is Dell. I know that they do not have the best reputation for equipment, but their customer service is invaluable. I spent 3 hours online yesterday while a tech rep help me fix my DVD driver. This is not the first time they have helped me solve a problem.
Dell also has a service pack, not the one bought with the computer, where they come onto your computer and clean up - this has saved me hundreds of dollars.
700 meg speed is the minimum you need.
Pent 4 (Please Mac people, don't send death threats :)
A good optical card
500 ram. However, you will need 1000 ram to run Vista, so it might be a good idea to buy the extra.
10gig Hard drive. I have more, but you won't need it.
DVD driver
Network card
dock - even if you buy a used one
AVG Antivirus (free) but the paid version works best
ZoneAlarm Firewall (free)
Ghost is a software program that lets you copy your hard drive and store it somewhere else, maybe on a external hard drive. I would like to tell you to buy an external hard drive for backing up - but you won't do it.
I am looking for a software program that will blend MSN, Yahoo etc. Live messaging into one viewer, but haven't found one I like. I love MSN, but now that it is a paid service for new people, I don't recommend it anymore.
Download new javascript www.java.com - you need this for Vista
Download Fire Fox - it will quickly become your favorite browser
Use the popup blocker in your browser menu, and your Google/yahoo bar - do not buy one.
Lavasoft spyware is the best, and it is free. I also use Yahoo's. It seems that the files one misses, the other catches. However, as you've been told before, do not store your passwords on your PC. And, clear your cookies and cache every couple of weeks - and change your passwords every few months.
I bought my first laptop last summer. As I sit in bed recouping, I think about all the years that I lost about 1 - 2 months work in the winter because I was not breathing well enough to stay awake.
I have taken my laptop to the library and copied information from books. This saves me on research.
All laptops should have a 'worm light' This is a short light that its into a USB port and lights the keyboard. My hubby came home with this device for two reasons. First, he is a dollar store addict and is always coming home with this type of stuff. Second, because he always buys me little gadgets - in some cases - they really help.
It took me a while to set up the light, but once I had it 'just right' my eye strain reduced.
You need a good tower. This is something that can be upgraded when new equipment and hardware comes out. This way, you never need to buy another new system.
You need a good monitor to reduce eye strain. I have one old monitor for magazine work, it has 'true colors' still. But, every other monitor is a flat one.
You need a $100 monitor. I am not going into this more than I did last June/July. It took seven months for my tendons to heal.
You need wireless Internet - I know you are going to ignore this, but I regret daily that I do not have wireless.
You need computers with network cards. When I bought my main computer I omitted the network card - bad idea. I cannot use a 'real' dock. I need to FTP transfer stuff between my four computers.
Your computer should also have extra USB ports.
I have a photocopier - but you don't need one.
I have a photo printer - but that is not necessary.
However, if you ever do have the extra money for them - or if you are in the novel industry - they are a good idea. I save hundreds of dollars making 'review galleys'. However, the double side feature on my photocopier doesn't work anymore, so it isn't as handy.
Keyboards need to hang under desks or tables. Do not work on a kitchen table. If you do not have a good desk, then go to a hardware store and get one of those brown tables that they use at flea markets, the fold up ones. They are at the right height, again, if you loose your wrist then you loose your income.
With a good keyboard tray, you need a gel wrist pad. These cost $10 - $30 and are not optional.
You should also have one of those the trays made to fit under a monitor and lift it. You'll be amazed at how much one of these will reduce back pain.
You need VOIP phone (Internet Phone). I can connect with clients anywhere in north America - it cuts down on a lot of rewrites and improves my image.
You should have a router even if you only have one computer and no lap top - other computers will come. I can work on two computers at a time. This is not as efficient as it was in the old days (thanks XP) but one computer can be open to MSN, email, etc... while the other is working on graphics or articles.
You should also have an optical mouse and a good mouse pad. I toss my mouse every three months. Optimally, I should toss it at 2 months, but my frugal Welsh hubby would have a hernia because it still works. However, when I have a new mouse I do not need to move my wrist. Light movements of the fingers work. I don't spend more than $10 on a mouse. I use to buy the expensive ones, but never saw a difference.
You need a good desk lamp that will take a fluorescent bulb. I have one that takes one of those fish tank/green house 'sunlight' bulbs. I am not sure if this gives me enough sunlight to prevent SAD, but it does make me feel better.
A case of bottled water should always sit under your desk - you'll drink more.
A good office chair - even if you buy a used one. If you can't get one, then use a straight back dining chair. Do not use a kitchen table chair. Do not use a folding chair.
You also need a foot rest. A good chair, foot rest, keyboard and monitor at the right levels - and you'll work 10+ hours a day without back pain.
***
BTW - I am getting back to the series on writing articles - but the file is on my other computer, in the office, and I cannot dock and extract because I didn't buy a network card.
My 'teaching blog' for people who want a 'real' freelance writing career.
Novel Writer Magazine
I wasted a lot of time and money in my early days because I had the wrong equipment.
First on my list is Dell. I know that they do not have the best reputation for equipment, but their customer service is invaluable. I spent 3 hours online yesterday while a tech rep help me fix my DVD driver. This is not the first time they have helped me solve a problem.
Dell also has a service pack, not the one bought with the computer, where they come onto your computer and clean up - this has saved me hundreds of dollars.
700 meg speed is the minimum you need.
Pent 4 (Please Mac people, don't send death threats :)
A good optical card
500 ram. However, you will need 1000 ram to run Vista, so it might be a good idea to buy the extra.
10gig Hard drive. I have more, but you won't need it.
DVD driver
Network card
dock - even if you buy a used one
AVG Antivirus (free) but the paid version works best
ZoneAlarm Firewall (free)
Ghost is a software program that lets you copy your hard drive and store it somewhere else, maybe on a external hard drive. I would like to tell you to buy an external hard drive for backing up - but you won't do it.
I am looking for a software program that will blend MSN, Yahoo etc. Live messaging into one viewer, but haven't found one I like. I love MSN, but now that it is a paid service for new people, I don't recommend it anymore.
Download new javascript www.java.com - you need this for Vista
Download Fire Fox - it will quickly become your favorite browser
Use the popup blocker in your browser menu, and your Google/yahoo bar - do not buy one.
Lavasoft spyware is the best, and it is free. I also use Yahoo's. It seems that the files one misses, the other catches. However, as you've been told before, do not store your passwords on your PC. And, clear your cookies and cache every couple of weeks - and change your passwords every few months.
I bought my first laptop last summer. As I sit in bed recouping, I think about all the years that I lost about 1 - 2 months work in the winter because I was not breathing well enough to stay awake.
I have taken my laptop to the library and copied information from books. This saves me on research.
All laptops should have a 'worm light' This is a short light that its into a USB port and lights the keyboard. My hubby came home with this device for two reasons. First, he is a dollar store addict and is always coming home with this type of stuff. Second, because he always buys me little gadgets - in some cases - they really help.
It took me a while to set up the light, but once I had it 'just right' my eye strain reduced.
You need a good tower. This is something that can be upgraded when new equipment and hardware comes out. This way, you never need to buy another new system.
You need a good monitor to reduce eye strain. I have one old monitor for magazine work, it has 'true colors' still. But, every other monitor is a flat one.
You need a $100 monitor. I am not going into this more than I did last June/July. It took seven months for my tendons to heal.
You need wireless Internet - I know you are going to ignore this, but I regret daily that I do not have wireless.
You need computers with network cards. When I bought my main computer I omitted the network card - bad idea. I cannot use a 'real' dock. I need to FTP transfer stuff between my four computers.
Your computer should also have extra USB ports.
I have a photocopier - but you don't need one.
I have a photo printer - but that is not necessary.
However, if you ever do have the extra money for them - or if you are in the novel industry - they are a good idea. I save hundreds of dollars making 'review galleys'. However, the double side feature on my photocopier doesn't work anymore, so it isn't as handy.
Keyboards need to hang under desks or tables. Do not work on a kitchen table. If you do not have a good desk, then go to a hardware store and get one of those brown tables that they use at flea markets, the fold up ones. They are at the right height, again, if you loose your wrist then you loose your income.
With a good keyboard tray, you need a gel wrist pad. These cost $10 - $30 and are not optional.
You should also have one of those the trays made to fit under a monitor and lift it. You'll be amazed at how much one of these will reduce back pain.
You need VOIP phone (Internet Phone). I can connect with clients anywhere in north America - it cuts down on a lot of rewrites and improves my image.
You should have a router even if you only have one computer and no lap top - other computers will come. I can work on two computers at a time. This is not as efficient as it was in the old days (thanks XP) but one computer can be open to MSN, email, etc... while the other is working on graphics or articles.
You should also have an optical mouse and a good mouse pad. I toss my mouse every three months. Optimally, I should toss it at 2 months, but my frugal Welsh hubby would have a hernia because it still works. However, when I have a new mouse I do not need to move my wrist. Light movements of the fingers work. I don't spend more than $10 on a mouse. I use to buy the expensive ones, but never saw a difference.
You need a good desk lamp that will take a fluorescent bulb. I have one that takes one of those fish tank/green house 'sunlight' bulbs. I am not sure if this gives me enough sunlight to prevent SAD, but it does make me feel better.
A case of bottled water should always sit under your desk - you'll drink more.
A good office chair - even if you buy a used one. If you can't get one, then use a straight back dining chair. Do not use a kitchen table chair. Do not use a folding chair.
You also need a foot rest. A good chair, foot rest, keyboard and monitor at the right levels - and you'll work 10+ hours a day without back pain.
***
BTW - I am getting back to the series on writing articles - but the file is on my other computer, in the office, and I cannot dock and extract because I didn't buy a network card.
My 'teaching blog' for people who want a 'real' freelance writing career.
Novel Writer Magazine
Do We Limit Our Own Success?
"It's not my fault."
Have you ever noticed that people who have said this comment usually end up in lousy, dead end, abusive relationships, jobs, and networking groups.
This came up today when someone was explaining to me why they were not published. I usually don't pay any attention to people who have nothing good to say, but this person caught my attention.
This person was trying to tell me that it wasn't their fault - it was fate's - that they were in a bad relationship. This person had it all worked out, with the thanks of a psychic.
Sad
The thing is, this person was not in a bad relationship because of fate (or pheromones). This person was in a bad relationship because they never learned to say no.
I mean, the pheromone thing is clinically proven, but that doesn't mean that we can't say no. I remember being attracted to guys who were 'great.'
Let me see. After my divorce this 'great' guy asked me out. He took me to a great dinner and then, on the way home he picked up his girls. They had been waiting outside of an arena, for an hour and a half.
I must admit that I was startled when we drove into an abandoned arena parking lot. I was starting to debate whether this guy would respond to pain by knocking my lights out, or if it would turn him on and I'd be in more danger....then, I saw these two girls, 14 - 15, sitting on the curb.
I made a glib comment about it being a nice night and after a little prying found out that the dance was over at midnight...we picked them up at 1:30 (approx) am. Now, I may have been drawn to the guy by pheromones, but I was not stupid enough to miss the dozens of 'red flags' that went up over this situation.
The same goes with work. Have you ever noticed that some people are stuck in dead end jobs, but if you ask them whether they've taken courses, applied for other jobs, or even had counselling, there is always a reason that someone else is holding them back.
I never understood why people in a bad relationship didn't do anything with their 'head' so they could make decisions.
Okay - like a commercial...it basically said, 'no matter how much of a looser you are, you can get laid (can I say that) if you sign up for our dating service because we have thousands of local singles who don't want to be single this Valentines day.' I mean - why not just hang a sign around your neck 'I want to fail. Kick me when I'm down - please.'
I'm sure I am stepping on a few people's toes. I know that Christians who do believe in King Jame's bible and not Martin Luther's or The New Jerusalem, would not divorce Hannibal L. because some dude 2000 years ago said it wasn't right.
I know there are people who are not strong enough - yet - to take care of themselves emotionally.
Still, there are a lot of you out there who have the right mindset, a good opinion of yourself, a library card, and are still in a bad relationship or job. Do you know what is wrong? Habit. That is it.
From now on, keep a journal and watch what happens over the next few weeks.
I mention this because the person who I was talking to has a good self-esteem, and is strong enough to look after themselves - they are just in the habit of letting people walk over them.
My hubby was like this. When I met him, he was in the habit of letting other men do things for him because he was disabled. However - he started to rethink his life when I started asking him 'Why don't you do it yourself?' or 'Why do you want to call him?'
Rolf - of course - the tables turned and he started pushing me to achieve my best, but then, isn't that what a hubby is for?
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
Have you ever noticed that people who have said this comment usually end up in lousy, dead end, abusive relationships, jobs, and networking groups.
This came up today when someone was explaining to me why they were not published. I usually don't pay any attention to people who have nothing good to say, but this person caught my attention.
This person was trying to tell me that it wasn't their fault - it was fate's - that they were in a bad relationship. This person had it all worked out, with the thanks of a psychic.
Sad
The thing is, this person was not in a bad relationship because of fate (or pheromones). This person was in a bad relationship because they never learned to say no.
I mean, the pheromone thing is clinically proven, but that doesn't mean that we can't say no. I remember being attracted to guys who were 'great.'
Let me see. After my divorce this 'great' guy asked me out. He took me to a great dinner and then, on the way home he picked up his girls. They had been waiting outside of an arena, for an hour and a half.
I must admit that I was startled when we drove into an abandoned arena parking lot. I was starting to debate whether this guy would respond to pain by knocking my lights out, or if it would turn him on and I'd be in more danger....then, I saw these two girls, 14 - 15, sitting on the curb.
I made a glib comment about it being a nice night and after a little prying found out that the dance was over at midnight...we picked them up at 1:30 (approx) am. Now, I may have been drawn to the guy by pheromones, but I was not stupid enough to miss the dozens of 'red flags' that went up over this situation.
The same goes with work. Have you ever noticed that some people are stuck in dead end jobs, but if you ask them whether they've taken courses, applied for other jobs, or even had counselling, there is always a reason that someone else is holding them back.
I never understood why people in a bad relationship didn't do anything with their 'head' so they could make decisions.
Okay - like a commercial...it basically said, 'no matter how much of a looser you are, you can get laid (can I say that) if you sign up for our dating service because we have thousands of local singles who don't want to be single this Valentines day.' I mean - why not just hang a sign around your neck 'I want to fail. Kick me when I'm down - please.'
I'm sure I am stepping on a few people's toes. I know that Christians who do believe in King Jame's bible and not Martin Luther's or The New Jerusalem, would not divorce Hannibal L. because some dude 2000 years ago said it wasn't right.
I know there are people who are not strong enough - yet - to take care of themselves emotionally.
Still, there are a lot of you out there who have the right mindset, a good opinion of yourself, a library card, and are still in a bad relationship or job. Do you know what is wrong? Habit. That is it.
From now on, keep a journal and watch what happens over the next few weeks.
I mention this because the person who I was talking to has a good self-esteem, and is strong enough to look after themselves - they are just in the habit of letting people walk over them.
My hubby was like this. When I met him, he was in the habit of letting other men do things for him because he was disabled. However - he started to rethink his life when I started asking him 'Why don't you do it yourself?' or 'Why do you want to call him?'
Rolf - of course - the tables turned and he started pushing me to achieve my best, but then, isn't that what a hubby is for?
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
Power of a Website Template - Free or Premium - Which one is Best?
Have you ever noticed that when you are focused on something it seems like everyone in the world is? Right now I am upgrading websites that were just 'hovering' in cyberspace until the search engines 'resolved' them. This basically means they actually stopped and took a serious look at the content.
It seems that everyone has been picking my brain lately about content management systems and authors web sites.
So - here is my brief on the world of creating a web image for yourself.
1. Don't make your own. Yes, I made the http://www.enspirenpress.com website, but you'll notice that there are a few hundred dollars of graphics on it, and I had help from a professional.
2. Content management systems are not a good idea for anyone wanting to start a viable Internet business - unless you pay to have the code changed.
Most people think that search engines do not read the template code. They believe search engines (to be accurate - crawlers or spiders) skip the template and go to the content ... wrong.
CMS, content management systems are a great idea. The problems is that the web templates are on every single site that uses the CMS. In some cases the template has so much code that the crawler never reaches the content before tagging the website as a duplicate and leaving.
There is a solution. Pay someone to change the code enough that the crawlers do not recognize it. This can be as simple as changing some table sizes, image names, meta information. Even changing the line 'powered by mambo' to 'this site is powered by the software program mambo' is enough to make the crawler slow down and take a second look.
3. Do not use free templates - for the same reason. They appear in hundreds of websites. Unless you can learn how to change enough of the code to make the template look different to the crawler, then free templates are not a good idea.
This is why it is worth buying a $50 template, or signing up for one of the services that let you download all the templates you want for $50. You do not need a $200 or $1500 template to make a good impression. All you need is something crisp, and clean code.
With Web 2.0 coming out, you can buy a optimized template - but they are very plain. We made our own at http://www.inspiredauthor.com. We made our own because we have the ability to make the template change through the site, so crawlers keep seeing different links, link bars, and even graphic names.
If you want to get tons of hits - get a Web 2.0 template
Avoid flash and swish web templates Maybe when Vista is the most popular operating system, the average computer can view these sites without crashing, but currently - too many people have trouble.
Most people have not even downloaded the new javascript - if you are one then go do it now at www.java.com - it will take a while, but your browsers will work better.
Next I am going to discuss the benefits of content management systems and I am going to help all the frustrated Wordpress users solve some of their problems.
My 'teaching blog' for people who want a 'real' freelance writing career.
Novel Writer Magazine
It seems that everyone has been picking my brain lately about content management systems and authors web sites.
So - here is my brief on the world of creating a web image for yourself.
1. Don't make your own. Yes, I made the http://www.enspirenpress.com website, but you'll notice that there are a few hundred dollars of graphics on it, and I had help from a professional.
2. Content management systems are not a good idea for anyone wanting to start a viable Internet business - unless you pay to have the code changed.
Most people think that search engines do not read the template code. They believe search engines (to be accurate - crawlers or spiders) skip the template and go to the content ... wrong.
CMS, content management systems are a great idea. The problems is that the web templates are on every single site that uses the CMS. In some cases the template has so much code that the crawler never reaches the content before tagging the website as a duplicate and leaving.
There is a solution. Pay someone to change the code enough that the crawlers do not recognize it. This can be as simple as changing some table sizes, image names, meta information. Even changing the line 'powered by mambo' to 'this site is powered by the software program mambo' is enough to make the crawler slow down and take a second look.
3. Do not use free templates - for the same reason. They appear in hundreds of websites. Unless you can learn how to change enough of the code to make the template look different to the crawler, then free templates are not a good idea.
This is why it is worth buying a $50 template, or signing up for one of the services that let you download all the templates you want for $50. You do not need a $200 or $1500 template to make a good impression. All you need is something crisp, and clean code.
With Web 2.0 coming out, you can buy a optimized template - but they are very plain. We made our own at http://www.inspiredauthor.com. We made our own because we have the ability to make the template change through the site, so crawlers keep seeing different links, link bars, and even graphic names.
If you want to get tons of hits - get a Web 2.0 template
Avoid flash and swish web templates Maybe when Vista is the most popular operating system, the average computer can view these sites without crashing, but currently - too many people have trouble.
Most people have not even downloaded the new javascript - if you are one then go do it now at www.java.com - it will take a while, but your browsers will work better.
Next I am going to discuss the benefits of content management systems and I am going to help all the frustrated Wordpress users solve some of their problems.
My 'teaching blog' for people who want a 'real' freelance writing career.
Novel Writer Magazine
Website Templates for Content Management Systems
Content Management Systems are a website built to take dozens of articles. We all know that both crawlers and visitors to the website want to read good content, so why not use a great content management system to make managing the articles easier?
One reason you shouldn't is because they are not as easy as they appear. We use mambo and b2evolution. We've tried others, including Wordpress, but we find these two are the most 'crawler friendly.' However, the template must be changed.
These sites are free, but that does not mean they are free. I spent two months working with a PHP programmer to get the blog we built on b2evolution to work right. Yes, it is a free software program, but these free programs are not always 'idiot proof.'
If you are going to use a site like Mambo - always keep a back up, because it will corrupt, eventually - and then you'll have a problem.
Also, do not be lured into getting a virtual server. Stick with a managed server, it is more expensive - about $5 a month, plus $12 a service call - but you will not be responsible for keeping it live.
We ran Bricolage content management system from a virtual server, and frankly, unless you are a PHP programmer then you don't want to touch Bricolage. - Ever -
It is not hard to find someone who can change your mambo templates to be original. It will only cost about $200 if you go to a site like www.ifreelance.com
Now - if you are an author or freelance writer, you can get around the problem by building thousands of links (like 50 000) to your website, and by building hubs (myspace, squidoo, hubb, etc). These will increase your rank and help you get hits. You should also join as many forums as possible (not yahoo and MSN) because the crawlers visit there as well.
Once your content management system is working you can upload dozens and dozens of articles. Each article you upload will help establish your website as 'executive quality' in the search engines and help increase your hits.
My 'teaching blog' for people who want a 'real' freelance writing career.
Novel Writer Magazine
One reason you shouldn't is because they are not as easy as they appear. We use mambo and b2evolution. We've tried others, including Wordpress, but we find these two are the most 'crawler friendly.' However, the template must be changed.
These sites are free, but that does not mean they are free. I spent two months working with a PHP programmer to get the blog we built on b2evolution to work right. Yes, it is a free software program, but these free programs are not always 'idiot proof.'
If you are going to use a site like Mambo - always keep a back up, because it will corrupt, eventually - and then you'll have a problem.
Also, do not be lured into getting a virtual server. Stick with a managed server, it is more expensive - about $5 a month, plus $12 a service call - but you will not be responsible for keeping it live.
We ran Bricolage content management system from a virtual server, and frankly, unless you are a PHP programmer then you don't want to touch Bricolage. - Ever -
It is not hard to find someone who can change your mambo templates to be original. It will only cost about $200 if you go to a site like www.ifreelance.com
Now - if you are an author or freelance writer, you can get around the problem by building thousands of links (like 50 000) to your website, and by building hubs (myspace, squidoo, hubb, etc). These will increase your rank and help you get hits. You should also join as many forums as possible (not yahoo and MSN) because the crawlers visit there as well.
Once your content management system is working you can upload dozens and dozens of articles. Each article you upload will help establish your website as 'executive quality' in the search engines and help increase your hits.
My 'teaching blog' for people who want a 'real' freelance writing career.
Novel Writer Magazine
Making Money Online
t is nice to be back. I wouldn't be surprised if dozens,or even hundreds, of writers found themselves blocked out after the January server repair/crash - which would explain why it is slow here.
How to Write Good Articles
At last night's chat we ended by talking about 'making time to write'. I told the new writers about niche writing, but I also brought up a few new things.
When most writers start to write, they hit free web content sites looking for articles they can 'harvest.' (remember, copy one article and it is plagiarizing, copy three and it is research)
However, this puts you 'behind' the professional writers. If you want to win full time clients then you need to be ahead of the professionals - people like me - and that can be hard.
The best place to find fresh information is 'news' and 'online stores'. The online stores do not need to worry about buying stock, so they can advertise high end products that can never be shown in the average store.
Get Paid to Write
I have written about copper ceiling tiles, ceiling molding, concrete mantles, natural grassrugs, silk wallpaper - and dozens more topics that you'd never find in a free content site or a home decorating site.
News is the next place to look. I never look more than 1 week ago. In fact, I've put a spin on a news release only to find that more than 1000 writers have already posted - ah well, you can't be the first all the time.
So, if you want to win long term clients, become a niche writer. If you want to become a professional writer then learn how to stay ahead of the pack.
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
How to Write Good Articles
At last night's chat we ended by talking about 'making time to write'. I told the new writers about niche writing, but I also brought up a few new things.
When most writers start to write, they hit free web content sites looking for articles they can 'harvest.' (remember, copy one article and it is plagiarizing, copy three and it is research)
However, this puts you 'behind' the professional writers. If you want to win full time clients then you need to be ahead of the professionals - people like me - and that can be hard.
The best place to find fresh information is 'news' and 'online stores'. The online stores do not need to worry about buying stock, so they can advertise high end products that can never be shown in the average store.
Get Paid to Write
I have written about copper ceiling tiles, ceiling molding, concrete mantles, natural grassrugs, silk wallpaper - and dozens more topics that you'd never find in a free content site or a home decorating site.
News is the next place to look. I never look more than 1 week ago. In fact, I've put a spin on a news release only to find that more than 1000 writers have already posted - ah well, you can't be the first all the time.
So, if you want to win long term clients, become a niche writer. If you want to become a professional writer then learn how to stay ahead of the pack.
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
Website Templates for Wordpress
Everyone loves wordpress. It is easy to use, and never crashes, because it lacks all the bells and whistles. You can use Wordpress to make a blog or a website. It can be used to mimic a content management system, or as a portal.
The versatility makes Wordpress one of the most popular platforms - however, it has so much garbage at the top of the page that very few - very few - wordpress sites ever rank high.
There is a solution.
Because wordpress is the most popular, it is also the most commonly used. That means the crawlers find each and every template at a million (a billion?) times when crawling the web.
One way to fix this is to have a programmer fix the template for you, and while s/he is at it, they will reduce some of the garbage code.
Another way is to spend $50 and buy yourself a Wordpress template. There are some very nice ones out there.
The crawlers love original content - but they read the whole page, including the template's code. That means, they want to see original templates too.
Another trick with worpress is to make the left side of the screen the content, and keep the links to the right.
Crawlers do not read from top to bottom. They read the top header, the left column, the center column, the right column. So, if the crawler is searching your website, and the content is in the middle, the crawler will read the top header and the right column.
By then, the crawler may have read 200 - 500 characters and finding nothing different from the page before, it will leave.
However, if the left column is the content, the crawler will read the header and then the content, seeing something new on each page.
It is important to remember that crawlers do not waste their time reading the entire page. They are programmed to stop reading and leave the page if there is no new content.
My 'teaching blog' for people who want a 'real' freelance writing career.
Novel Writer Magazine
The versatility makes Wordpress one of the most popular platforms - however, it has so much garbage at the top of the page that very few - very few - wordpress sites ever rank high.
There is a solution.
Because wordpress is the most popular, it is also the most commonly used. That means the crawlers find each and every template at a million (a billion?) times when crawling the web.
One way to fix this is to have a programmer fix the template for you, and while s/he is at it, they will reduce some of the garbage code.
Another way is to spend $50 and buy yourself a Wordpress template. There are some very nice ones out there.
The crawlers love original content - but they read the whole page, including the template's code. That means, they want to see original templates too.
Another trick with worpress is to make the left side of the screen the content, and keep the links to the right.
Crawlers do not read from top to bottom. They read the top header, the left column, the center column, the right column. So, if the crawler is searching your website, and the content is in the middle, the crawler will read the top header and the right column.
By then, the crawler may have read 200 - 500 characters and finding nothing different from the page before, it will leave.
However, if the left column is the content, the crawler will read the header and then the content, seeing something new on each page.
It is important to remember that crawlers do not waste their time reading the entire page. They are programmed to stop reading and leave the page if there is no new content.
My 'teaching blog' for people who want a 'real' freelance writing career.
Novel Writer Magazine
What is Your Website Selling?
I thought before I finished blogging for today that I'd let you know a big more about templates and WYSIWYG editors.
First,do not buy FrontPage. Microsoft is bringing out a new web hosting problem, that means that it will only be a matter of time before the extentions do not work. However, I use it as a straight HTML editor.
I have a problem reading numbers, so I work with pictures, and then go into the code and 'clean it up.' Of course, you know that with any MS product you should never buy the first issue - or the second. That means that it may be 2 or 3 years before MS has another HTML editor on the market.
Dreamweaver has gone a long way toward writing clean code.
I've tried a few of the free HTML editors - don't use them. A couple downloaded spyware and marketing/tracking software onto my PC. The others made a nice looking page - but the code was useless.
If you do not write code - then I suggest dreamweaver. If you use Frontpage - then do not use any of their features that need FP extentions.
The 'web creation' software that is used by free sites is useless. It creates a formula based template that rarely meets your needs.
When buying templates you need to know what you are selling. I have used boxedart.com, but I recently moved to one that has more focus on faces and women - because this is my target market.
You really need an imagination when buying templates. I've found that you will never find what you need where it is suppose to be. The new template for http://www.novelwritermagazine.com is actually for a television company - none of the 'book' templates worked.
And, the new landing pages are business, personal, and beauty templates.
Of course, all you are buying is graphics and tables, so if your template doesn't have great graphics, then just make a table and use that instead.
Merryone brought up a good point. If you cannot afford to go 'mainstream' then set up in a hub like squidoo, myspace, yahoo, or hubb. Actually - set up in them all.
If you want a free website then I suggest www.bravenet.com or www.godaddy.com - of course, you won't compete with sites like or www.inspiredauthor.com - but it is a start.
My 'teaching blog' for people who want a 'real' freelance writing career.
Novel Writer Magazine
First,do not buy FrontPage. Microsoft is bringing out a new web hosting problem, that means that it will only be a matter of time before the extentions do not work. However, I use it as a straight HTML editor.
I have a problem reading numbers, so I work with pictures, and then go into the code and 'clean it up.' Of course, you know that with any MS product you should never buy the first issue - or the second. That means that it may be 2 or 3 years before MS has another HTML editor on the market.
Dreamweaver has gone a long way toward writing clean code.
I've tried a few of the free HTML editors - don't use them. A couple downloaded spyware and marketing/tracking software onto my PC. The others made a nice looking page - but the code was useless.
If you do not write code - then I suggest dreamweaver. If you use Frontpage - then do not use any of their features that need FP extentions.
The 'web creation' software that is used by free sites is useless. It creates a formula based template that rarely meets your needs.
When buying templates you need to know what you are selling. I have used boxedart.com, but I recently moved to one that has more focus on faces and women - because this is my target market.
You really need an imagination when buying templates. I've found that you will never find what you need where it is suppose to be. The new template for http://www.novelwritermagazine.com is actually for a television company - none of the 'book' templates worked.
And, the new landing pages are business, personal, and beauty templates.
Of course, all you are buying is graphics and tables, so if your template doesn't have great graphics, then just make a table and use that instead.
Merryone brought up a good point. If you cannot afford to go 'mainstream' then set up in a hub like squidoo, myspace, yahoo, or hubb. Actually - set up in them all.
If you want a free website then I suggest www.bravenet.com or www.godaddy.com - of course, you won't compete with sites like or www.inspiredauthor.com - but it is a start.
My 'teaching blog' for people who want a 'real' freelance writing career.
Novel Writer Magazine
SEO Articles vs. Human Articles
Web2.0
That one new buzz word will shortly change how the search engines rank websites. Web2.0 does not rely on the savvy and wit of the SEO manager. In fact, many people believe that the Internet bottomed out in 2001. It didn't - instead, it was the birth of web2.0
This was the year when big business lost control of the Internet.
Web 1.0 Web 2.0
DoubleClick --> Google AdSense
Ofoto --> Flickr
Akamai --> BitTorrent
mp3.com --> itunes
Britannica Online --> Wikipedia
personal websites --> blogging
evite --> upcoming.org and EVDB
domainname speculation --> search engine optimization
page views --> cost per click
screen scraping --> web services
publishing --> participation
content management systems --> wikis
directories (taxonomy) --> tagging ("folksonomy")
stickiness --> syndication
SEO articles --> Human Consumption articles
While freelance writers do not need to learn how to optimize for client's articles - but they do need to learn how to build their own sites if they want to be taken seriously and win big clients.
I just wrote a course on building a web presence. While I do not believe that CMS are out (our firms still use Joomla) we have noticed that you must change as much of the code in the templates and in the system as you can. There are so many CMS out there that Google is seeing them as duplicate content and leaving long before they reach the content. (Theory - If Google reads 200 words of duplicate content than it will not crawl the rest of the article).
I have seen many successful websites built on WordPress and b2evolution blog platforms - but the same thing applies - you need to change code. I know someone who will alter your site for $20.00.
The main difference between Web2.0 and the old system is found in the site's content. Yes, there must still be sticky content. What good is syndication to bring in new visitors if they can read the entire site in an hour and then leave - forever.
The mission of web2.0 is 'harnessing collective intelligence'
One major component that most online business owners miss is the wikipedia encyclopedia - ADD TO IT - as long as some of the links go back to your resources!
Articles
The most important thing is to remember that keyword density is out. Write for users. Use sub titles every 100 - 150 words, and put your keywords in those. Use the heading code (h1, h2, h3, = IN ORDER). Last, include links to other webpages that include the same content/keywords.
These things will increase your rank much faster than any SEO program. If you want to rank high then I have two words for you - social networking.
My 'teaching blog' for people who want a 'real' freelance writing career.
Novel Writer Magazine
That one new buzz word will shortly change how the search engines rank websites. Web2.0 does not rely on the savvy and wit of the SEO manager. In fact, many people believe that the Internet bottomed out in 2001. It didn't - instead, it was the birth of web2.0
This was the year when big business lost control of the Internet.
Web 1.0 Web 2.0
DoubleClick --> Google AdSense
Ofoto --> Flickr
Akamai --> BitTorrent
mp3.com --> itunes
Britannica Online --> Wikipedia
personal websites --> blogging
evite --> upcoming.org and EVDB
domainname speculation --> search engine optimization
page views --> cost per click
screen scraping --> web services
publishing --> participation
content management systems --> wikis
directories (taxonomy) --> tagging ("folksonomy")
stickiness --> syndication
SEO articles --> Human Consumption articles
While freelance writers do not need to learn how to optimize for client's articles - but they do need to learn how to build their own sites if they want to be taken seriously and win big clients.
I just wrote a course on building a web presence. While I do not believe that CMS are out (our firms still use Joomla) we have noticed that you must change as much of the code in the templates and in the system as you can. There are so many CMS out there that Google is seeing them as duplicate content and leaving long before they reach the content. (Theory - If Google reads 200 words of duplicate content than it will not crawl the rest of the article).
I have seen many successful websites built on WordPress and b2evolution blog platforms - but the same thing applies - you need to change code. I know someone who will alter your site for $20.00.
The main difference between Web2.0 and the old system is found in the site's content. Yes, there must still be sticky content. What good is syndication to bring in new visitors if they can read the entire site in an hour and then leave - forever.
The mission of web2.0 is 'harnessing collective intelligence'
One major component that most online business owners miss is the wikipedia encyclopedia - ADD TO IT - as long as some of the links go back to your resources!
Articles
The most important thing is to remember that keyword density is out. Write for users. Use sub titles every 100 - 150 words, and put your keywords in those. Use the heading code (h1, h2, h3, = IN ORDER). Last, include links to other webpages that include the same content/keywords.
These things will increase your rank much faster than any SEO program. If you want to rank high then I have two words for you - social networking.
My 'teaching blog' for people who want a 'real' freelance writing career.
Novel Writer Magazine
How To Make Money Blogging
I had an interesting post from someone who claims to make $300 a week blogging. While I don't doubt this, it does bring up the topic of marketing plans.
The marketing plan I teach at this blog is for work at home and freelance writing professionals. The purpose is to help them build a clientele of people who want to buy their writing.
In our world, making $300 a week from Google is not a good thing - because the only way to make money from Google is to have someone leave your site because they didn't find what they were looking for.
In our type of marketing, we need to prove that we are efficient, expert, and able to deliver, by giving people 'answers to their problems' and helping them 'learn.' Only then will they trust us enough to buy our articles and ask us to write in their blogs.
"I haven't heard of Web2.0" - this is a main problem with most people who want to make money on the web. It was our problem.
inspiredauthor.com our number one 'free' learning site, once offered the writers a viable income. We were #1 on book reviews and had a major fan base. We did not keep up with the SEO developments and within 3 months we lost all of our hits - hundreds of thousands of hits were gone.
It took us more than 18 months to recover because we had to play catch up to the sites which were 'keeping up.' Web2.0 is active.
The browser 'hijacking' of the web through the new - customized search - that keeps a user's history in the PC/Mac and uses that to help the user find sites in the future (which seems to also direct them to the higher PPC sites) is also alive and kicking.
We optimized for Web2.0 last year. Sites that are just now optimizing are at the bottom of the pile. The problem with web2.0 is that webmasters will not be able to invest 3 months, or $5000, to bring their sites up to spec.
Because it takes months to build a network. And, once you are in the network, and your browser saves your history, the network will keep popping up near or at the top of searches.
That is why Donna's Fantasy section at inspiredauthor (which has already reached the 200 article 'golden' mark) has more than 80 000 hits only 3 months after it went live..... and Sharon Hurley Hall is on page #1 for ghostwriter - because they have invested a lot of time in networking.
When everyone else realizes that Vista will only make the 'selective browser based on history search' more powerful, it will be too late. People who start networking now will be years ahead.
I learned my lesson the hard way. I now update my SEO marketing certification every year. Am I saying that the old methods won't work - of course not. They will work. What I am saying is that they will not work for people who make their money by 'keeping them on the website' or for people who need to build a client base or fan base.
BTW - I am also lea
rning a lot about CMS web design. Take a look at what I put online at the school writersonlinecourses.com I still have a lot of work, but I think I am rather pleased.
My 'teaching blog' for people who want a 'real' freelance writing career.
Novel Writer Magazine
The marketing plan I teach at this blog is for work at home and freelance writing professionals. The purpose is to help them build a clientele of people who want to buy their writing.
In our world, making $300 a week from Google is not a good thing - because the only way to make money from Google is to have someone leave your site because they didn't find what they were looking for.
In our type of marketing, we need to prove that we are efficient, expert, and able to deliver, by giving people 'answers to their problems' and helping them 'learn.' Only then will they trust us enough to buy our articles and ask us to write in their blogs.
"I haven't heard of Web2.0" - this is a main problem with most people who want to make money on the web. It was our problem.
inspiredauthor.com our number one 'free' learning site, once offered the writers a viable income. We were #1 on book reviews and had a major fan base. We did not keep up with the SEO developments and within 3 months we lost all of our hits - hundreds of thousands of hits were gone.
It took us more than 18 months to recover because we had to play catch up to the sites which were 'keeping up.' Web2.0 is active.
The browser 'hijacking' of the web through the new - customized search - that keeps a user's history in the PC/Mac and uses that to help the user find sites in the future (which seems to also direct them to the higher PPC sites) is also alive and kicking.
We optimized for Web2.0 last year. Sites that are just now optimizing are at the bottom of the pile. The problem with web2.0 is that webmasters will not be able to invest 3 months, or $5000, to bring their sites up to spec.
Because it takes months to build a network. And, once you are in the network, and your browser saves your history, the network will keep popping up near or at the top of searches.
That is why Donna's Fantasy section at inspiredauthor (which has already reached the 200 article 'golden' mark) has more than 80 000 hits only 3 months after it went live..... and Sharon Hurley Hall is on page #1 for ghostwriter - because they have invested a lot of time in networking.
When everyone else realizes that Vista will only make the 'selective browser based on history search' more powerful, it will be too late. People who start networking now will be years ahead.
I learned my lesson the hard way. I now update my SEO marketing certification every year. Am I saying that the old methods won't work - of course not. They will work. What I am saying is that they will not work for people who make their money by 'keeping them on the website' or for people who need to build a client base or fan base.
BTW - I am also lea
rning a lot about CMS web design. Take a look at what I put online at the school writersonlinecourses.com I still have a lot of work, but I think I am rather pleased.
My 'teaching blog' for people who want a 'real' freelance writing career.
Novel Writer Magazine
Proof That Google is Optimizing for Web2.0
I left my other post and then sat here believing I did my fan's a disservice. Who am I to believe that you will follow my advice just because I say so?
Here is a link:
http://www.prchecker.info/check_page_rank.php
This is a PR, page rank, checking tool. For the most part, it is only good to help you figure out how much money Google will pay you for each click - if they pay at all
However, it will also show you what I mean. Go to a web page with a moderate number of inbound links (if you don't have one, then use www.inspiredauthor.com). This page has about 1000 - 1500 inbound links and has an 80% retention rate... IE, 80% of the visitors click to another page in the site instead of a Google link.
Now, click on any page, one with great content, one with lots of keywords, one that is optimized - doesn't matter - but make sure that there are no inbound links...ie, that page is not a part of the social network.
If you want to learn more about Google's inbound link ranking then follow this link. According to this tool, Google is counting 1220 links to my site. IA has a PR4 rank. But according to my web analytics software, they count less than 200.
On the other hand, there are more than 500 links to this blog, and Google doesn't count a single one - but this blog is still ranked PR3.
Part of this is because the inbound links are from similar content sites, but are not 'executive' content.
Does this make sense?
Why care? If you are making money from your blog, the higher your PR, the more (allegedly) Google will pay you. If you are building a network (online image/Branding) then it will help you see if other people are starting to link to your site.
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/02/who-links-to-your-site.html
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career>
Here is a link:
http://www.prchecker.info/check_page_rank.php
This is a PR, page rank, checking tool. For the most part, it is only good to help you figure out how much money Google will pay you for each click - if they pay at all
However, it will also show you what I mean. Go to a web page with a moderate number of inbound links (if you don't have one, then use www.inspiredauthor.com). This page has about 1000 - 1500 inbound links and has an 80% retention rate... IE, 80% of the visitors click to another page in the site instead of a Google link.
Now, click on any page, one with great content, one with lots of keywords, one that is optimized - doesn't matter - but make sure that there are no inbound links...ie, that page is not a part of the social network.
If you want to learn more about Google's inbound link ranking then follow this link. According to this tool, Google is counting 1220 links to my site. IA has a PR4 rank. But according to my web analytics software, they count less than 200.
On the other hand, there are more than 500 links to this blog, and Google doesn't count a single one - but this blog is still ranked PR3.
Part of this is because the inbound links are from similar content sites, but are not 'executive' content.
Does this make sense?
Why care? If you are making money from your blog, the higher your PR, the more (allegedly) Google will pay you. If you are building a network (online image/Branding) then it will help you see if other people are starting to link to your site.
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/02/who-links-to-your-site.html
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career>
Promotion Promotion Promotion = Money
I had a conversation with another write a week ago. She has been struggling for more than a year to build up a business - and failing.
There is a common thread shared by writers who do not make good money:
1. Their website is very poorly made
2. They hire an amateur to make a website for them
3. They do not update their website regularly
4. They do not maintain multiple blogs
5. They do not 'act' like they are professionals and worth a lot of money.
I keep telling writers that the 'real' clients do not use www.guru.com or www.ifreelance.com - they ferret out good writers through blog communities, forums, and free content article sites like get free content and ezinearticle, amazines, etc.
A professional writer will have a lot of article posted for promotion. That is because professionals write hundreds of articles a year. Not having promotion through a blog, or free article site, is a dead give away that you are not 'in it for the long haul.'
Your website also talks a lot about you. Think about it. I have one client who pays me $50 to write a 15 000 word article, weekly. He wants articles on home based businesses. I won the contract because I operate professional looking websites.
I NEVER landed a high paying client until I started using b2evolution blog site and Joomla content management system. These are both 'plug and play' web management sites with dramatic themes ( take a look at Writers Online Courses
Of course, the fact that my name appears all over the top 10 Google pages is another dead give away that I know what I am doing.
The thing is - it isn't hard. All you need to do is get out there, get your content on the web and promote - promote - promote.
In the long run, you'll make enough money that you can write and promote comfortably.
My 'teaching blog' for people who want a 'real' freelance writing career.
Novel Writer Magazine
There is a common thread shared by writers who do not make good money:
1. Their website is very poorly made
2. They hire an amateur to make a website for them
3. They do not update their website regularly
4. They do not maintain multiple blogs
5. They do not 'act' like they are professionals and worth a lot of money.
I keep telling writers that the 'real' clients do not use www.guru.com or www.ifreelance.com - they ferret out good writers through blog communities, forums, and free content article sites like get free content and ezinearticle, amazines, etc.
A professional writer will have a lot of article posted for promotion. That is because professionals write hundreds of articles a year. Not having promotion through a blog, or free article site, is a dead give away that you are not 'in it for the long haul.'
Your website also talks a lot about you. Think about it. I have one client who pays me $50 to write a 15 000 word article, weekly. He wants articles on home based businesses. I won the contract because I operate professional looking websites.
I NEVER landed a high paying client until I started using b2evolution blog site and Joomla content management system. These are both 'plug and play' web management sites with dramatic themes ( take a look at Writers Online Courses
Of course, the fact that my name appears all over the top 10 Google pages is another dead give away that I know what I am doing.
The thing is - it isn't hard. All you need to do is get out there, get your content on the web and promote - promote - promote.
In the long run, you'll make enough money that you can write and promote comfortably.
My 'teaching blog' for people who want a 'real' freelance writing career.
Novel Writer Magazine
Monetize Your Website
One of the most misunderstood aspects of 'earning money from your website' is which company you should use.
The three major search engines have their own programs: Google, Yahoo, MSN.
There is also Bidvertiser - the relatively new boy on the block.
Adbrite has been around for a long time. The potential is unlimited, but the competition is voracious.
Step 1
The first thing that you need to understand is that keywords are not important to hits - they are used to determine what adds appear on your website.
You need to know what you are selling, and what your visitors are willing to buy. Then, you use keywords to lead the right types of visitors to your site.
Step 2
You need to select the right search engine. Google is not right for everyone. If your site is a social community - then you need Yahoo. If your site is information based - Google is your choice. If you have anything to do with shopping - MSN is your ticket to wealth.
If you have a high graphic site, and want to regulate whose ads appear on your page - then you want Adbrite or Bidvertise.
But, don't just sign up! The first thing you need to do is experiment. When I went to Bidvertiser and entered a few dozen web pages from www.inspiredauthor.com - our #1 FREE online tutorial site for writers, and work at home business people - the ads that appeared from bidvertiser were for candles, dating, and get rich quick schemes.
So, we ran the same pages through Google and we got sites that our readers would need including helium, and online schools. Adbrite didn't have a great list of PPC text ads, but we were impressed with some of the graphic ads.
We did the same experiment with www.novel-writer.com This site was even more random, because it is new. We decided to use Commission Junction and select advertisers like cafepress and palmpilot for this site.
Step 4
Once the research is done, it is important to try and make the ads look like they are a part of the page - and don't use too many. The content should take prominence on the page. The navigation tools should be next. And, the PPC ads should be next.
Your goal should be to get people to sign up for a newsletter or subscribe to an RSS feed 'BEFORE' they click off site.
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
The three major search engines have their own programs: Google, Yahoo, MSN.
There is also Bidvertiser - the relatively new boy on the block.
Adbrite has been around for a long time. The potential is unlimited, but the competition is voracious.
Step 1
The first thing that you need to understand is that keywords are not important to hits - they are used to determine what adds appear on your website.
You need to know what you are selling, and what your visitors are willing to buy. Then, you use keywords to lead the right types of visitors to your site.
Step 2
You need to select the right search engine. Google is not right for everyone. If your site is a social community - then you need Yahoo. If your site is information based - Google is your choice. If you have anything to do with shopping - MSN is your ticket to wealth.
If you have a high graphic site, and want to regulate whose ads appear on your page - then you want Adbrite or Bidvertise.
But, don't just sign up! The first thing you need to do is experiment. When I went to Bidvertiser and entered a few dozen web pages from www.inspiredauthor.com - our #1 FREE online tutorial site for writers, and work at home business people - the ads that appeared from bidvertiser were for candles, dating, and get rich quick schemes.
So, we ran the same pages through Google and we got sites that our readers would need including helium, and online schools. Adbrite didn't have a great list of PPC text ads, but we were impressed with some of the graphic ads.
We did the same experiment with www.novel-writer.com This site was even more random, because it is new. We decided to use Commission Junction and select advertisers like cafepress and palmpilot for this site.
Step 4
Once the research is done, it is important to try and make the ads look like they are a part of the page - and don't use too many. The content should take prominence on the page. The navigation tools should be next. And, the PPC ads should be next.
Your goal should be to get people to sign up for a newsletter or subscribe to an RSS feed 'BEFORE' they click off site.
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
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